Bok No 10 jersey up for grabs, but who will claim it?
REGARDLESS of what ultimately transpires with the Springbok coaching staff, plus a possible change in Saru’s policy regarding the selection of overseas players, there are certain positions in the Springbok team that are completely up for grabs between the start of Super Rugby and the June series against France.
Perhaps more than any other position, the Springbok No 10 jersey is there for the taking for the player who shows form in Super Rugby and manages to stay injury free.
Where is your money? Handre Pollard? Elton Jantjies, or Patrick Lambie?
Those are the three leading candidates for a position that is pretty much vacant.
Elton Jantjies started six successive Tests for the Boks at 10 last year, and it was not simply a case of him being the default choice because Pollard and Lambie were injured. Jantjies was brilliant for the Lions in spear-heading them to the final against the Hurricanes, but he did not continue that form on the international stage after he took over at 10 from Lambie.
Pollard had suffered a serious arm injury in the Bulls’ pre-season last year and did not play at all in 2016.
With Lambie undergoing concussion protocols for three months, the door was open for Jantjies. He had clearly been comfortable with the way the Lions played the game under Johan Ackermann, but for the Springboks under Allister Coetzee he was not alone in seeming to be confused about what game plan the Boks were supposed to be playing.
And as flyhalf general, the focus was mostly on him, and he was possibly the scapegoat for the Boks’ perplexing approach last year.
Speaking of fall guys, both Pollard and Lambie know what it is like to be axed after a catastrophic Springbok defeat.
In 2015 Heyneke Meyer did not know which of the two was the way forward to the World Cup. Lambie had showed great BMT to kick the Boks to a win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park in October 2014, endearing himself to Meyer.
But he was the flyhalf when the Boks lost to Wales in Cardiff later that year, and was on the bench the following season behind Pollard until the latter was at the helm when the Boks historically lost to the Pumas for the first time, in Durban on August 8, 2015.
Pollard was dropped for the return Test the next week in Buenos Aires and Lambie stepped up and kicked three penalites, two conversions and a drop goal as the Boks avenged the defeat in Durban.
That made him Meyer’s initial No 1 choice for the Rugby World Cup in England, and Lambie duly started in the infamous Springbok loss to Japan in Brighton in the opening round of the tournament.
To be fair to Lambie, it would not have mattered who had been at 10 for the Boks that day – Pollard, Jantjies or Naas Botha for that matter. The Boks were outwitted across the park by Japan coach Eddie Jones, and the result was written in the stars.
Nevertheless, changes had to be made and Pollard was recalled. He started each of the Boks’ remaining World Cup games and grew in form over the tournament.
His complete absence last year meant Lambie regained the 10 jersey for the start of the home series against the Irish, and when he was knocked out by a CJ Stander tackle, in came the in-form Jantjies.
The Springboks’ despairing season saw Lambie rushed back into the starting line-up with indecent haste when he was eventually cleared of concussion – after just 40 minutes for the Sharks in a Currie Cup game – starting at fullback against Australia in the victory in Pretoria, with veteran Morne Steyn recalled at flyhalf.
The status quo remained for the horrific 15-57 defeat to the All Blacks in Durban the following week, and then Lambie was restored to flyhalf for the November tour of Europe. The Boks lost comprehensively to England and then shockingly to Italy, and Jantjies was promoted to 10 ahead of Lambie for the tour finale against Wales, which was won by the home team.
So, to repeat the question, where is your money on who will start at flyhalf in the first Test against France on June 10 in Pretoria? Jantjies, Pollard or Lambie?