Johannesburg - Springbok coach Allister Coetzee must be bold and back the Lions players in his squad for the first two games of the Rugby Championship against Argentina.
The Lions players are in form after going all the way to the Super Rugby final and they’re full of confidence after beating the Crusaders and Highlanders in the play-offs. Added to that, a Springbok team made up mainly of Lions players will benefit communication and understanding, the players knowing the man next to them and how they think and react.
Coetzee picking the Lions players doesn’t mean the Boks have to play a Lions-style of rugby, but it will help to settle the team down ahead of what are two huge matches in the context of the Rugby Championship and Coetzee’s young career as national coach.
The Boks lost to Argentina in Durban last year and they go into this year’s competition on the back of a disappointing, patchy effort against Ireland so the pressure’s well and truly on. If the Boks have any hope of actually winning the Rugby Championship they have to beat the Pumas, home, and away ... and that starts in Nelspruit this weekend.
A first-up defeat would pile the pressure on Coetzee, as well as captain Adriaan Strauss, even before the Boks have set foot on foreign soil.
A Bok starting team including Ruan Combrinck, Lionel Mapoe, Elton Jantjies, Faf de Klerk, Warren Whiteley, Jaco Kriel and Julian Redelinghuys would boost the team’s chances of winning first up ... and then having the likes of Franco Mostert and Malcolm Marx coming off the bench would further boost the side. Picking these men would be rewarding form and consistency in performance because there are not players who are more in form than these positions. The message should be, “if you’re on song, you’ll play”.
Marx could very easily also be a starter, but Coetzee has backed the experienced Strauss as his captain for the year, but the Bulls man knows he will have to play out of his skin if he is going to hang on to the Bok No 2 jersey down the line. Marx is young, strong and in good form and is, surely, the future at hooker. And, let’s not forget Bismarck du Plessis must surely also still be in the reckoning.
It would also not weaken the side if Coetzee opted to start Mostert at lock and shift Pieter-Steph du Toit to No 7 flank as there is a place there following the injury to Siya Kolisi.
Coetzee has a number of options available to him and some tough decisions to make before he names his squad for Saturday’s Test. Will Juan de Jongh come in and partner Mapoe, with Damian de Allende losing out, will Johan Goosen feature at fullback or will it be Jesse Kriel, and what about Sikhumbuzo Notshe, a hugely talented player who was “dropped” to the SA “A” side in June? Wiill he get a first Bok cap this weekend?
In spite of all the talent playing abroad, South Africa still has a huge pool of players to pick from and Coetzee should really be able to push a seriously impressive Bok team into the field this weekend. The trick though is getting the right combinations together, something that seemed to be lacking against Ireland, but it shouldn’t be so difficult to achieve ... just pick the players who know each other and have played alongside each other for a while now.
The Star