It is round about this time that the media and public start speculating about the ‘Bok team for the coming year. Midway through the Super 14 and closer to the end you can find any number of 22 man squad combinations ranging from the obvious to the downright absurd. Journalists, interviewers, specialists, coaches, government, presenters and selectors alike all analyse and speculate for months on the eventual 22, and final 15.
Most are influenced by either media hype, sensational articles or as is the case in this lovely country of ours – the strong arm of politics (more than likely it is the latter that has the final say). We here at kiefpant.com like to think that we can rise above the rest of the peasants and provide a squad based on performance, skill and ability on the field rather than, oh, let’s say, colour or something ridiculous like that. I will go one better than the popular, knowledgeable and clever rugby journalists in South Africa and provide not only the squad that should be selected based on merit but also the squad that will most likely be selected by the government. Oops. I mean Springbok rugby selectors and administrators.
The following is based on a healthy mix of Super14 and Northern Hemisphere club performance as well as track record and experience.
Starting with the backs, we seem to hit a snag straight off the bat with the Springbok Fullback position having been left vacant by Percy Montgomery. The youngsters that had been primed to fill his role never quite made the grade, or got injured, or both, or were white. I firmly believe that this position, at international level, must be filled with experience. The biggest aspect of fullback is positional play which can only come with experience. Pace, defence and handling all complete the package, but no fullback will ever be competent at international level if his positional play is below par.
It is probably then why I am inclined to include Stefan Terreblanche for consideration since he brings a wealth of experience to the position, his performances this season show as much. What he lacks in pace (he is an old geezer by now) he more than makes up for in experience and tactical awareness. He would be an ideal choice against the structured British & Irish Lions squad who are getting ready to tour South Africa. His abilities will be a reassuring aspect against a potentially more intelligent rugby team in the Lions. But. Since I have not fully convinced myself of the above I will select Francois Steyn at fullback with Stefan as his backup.
Steyn and his Boot
Steyn has the following: a massive boot, awesome attacking options, a massive boot, third or fourth kicking option (especially from distance), a massive boot, playmaking ability (a bit lost at fullback but he can slot in anywhere in the backline if he has to) and he has a massive boot. Against the Lions the Bok pack will have to be on the front foot as often as possible which Pieter De Villiers can achieve with a solid kicking game, nothing is more demoralising than having to tackle Pierre Spies the whole day and having to take lineouts in your own 22 the rest of the game. Steyn can do this to you if you kick at him – which is more than likely with a team made up of only Northern Hemisphere players. Under instructions he can pin you back and make you change your game plan, if he actually remembers the instructions.
Taking a look at the other potential players – we have Conrad Jantjes, a Springbok that is fortunately halfway to the correct colour but unfortunately almost as injury prone as the glass-legged Andre Pretorius. Also, unfortunately, he has been crap this season. Edit note: just before publishing it was by sheer coincidence that I saw Conrad being stretchered off the field, so much for that then. Hennie Daniller is playing in a losing squad, which often puts a lot more focus on the fullback. He is big and seems to have some skills, but he is still very green, and therefore won’t be considered for a few more years. Louis Ludik has had a good season thus far in what is also a losing squad. This makes it all the more impressive. What he lacks in size and power he more than makes up for in effort. I certainly hope he at least gets included in the initial “appease-the-dutchmen” ‘Bok training squad, to… well… appease us Dutchmen.
Zane Kirchner has bulked up incredibly from last season. He has had some good games but nothing to set the world on fire, he is adequate and in South Africa, if you are a player of colour, it means you are a Springbok. And I convinced he will be selected this year. Earl Rose is, well, Earl Rose. This season Earl Rose has undergone a remarkable change which may or may not strengthen his game. He has shaved off that ridiculous afro – possibly to be able to fit that silly helmet of his on his head. But, I fear that no amount of haircuts will make him a better player. He is a liability in any side, in a struggling squad like the Golden Lions it is a bad combination. Even though Loffie is struggling with quota players, he still can’t be arsed to make Earl his first choice Fullback or Flyhalf – this should say a lot. Sure, he has had a few moments of inspiration this season, but any opposition team is bound to leak a try or two after scoring so many tries against the Lions – its tiring work. I will not want my counter attacking inspiration, or more importantly, my last line of defence to be Earl Rose.
So, the Springbok Fullback will be Earl Rose then with something like Bevan Fortuin and his afro being the backup. It is worth it to mention that the spin doctoring has already started with the highly respectable Jake White having talked Rose up for Springbok selection this week. Sigh. Facepalm. Sigh.
Moving swiftly on to the Wings we have a few players to mention. The obvious initial choice is Habana, he has all the qualities that we want in a wing and then some. Injury has broken his rhythm a bit this year but his track record is unquestionable and I wouldn’t give any injuries to Habana the slightest consideration when it comes to selection. We cannot afford to. He has experience at the highest level and under the structured, defensive, forward dominated style of Jake White at the World Cup he still shone and scored as many tries as that man-mountain Lomu. There are a few doubts over his usual devastating pace this season, I remember with horror some arbitrary no-name brand from the Brumbies or some other team chase him down but fluffed the tackle in one of Habana’s intercept tries. Still, he is my left wing and, AND, he is not white which makes him and JP Pietersen one of the few players that kiefpant.com and the governm… the Springbok Selectors will pick to run on.
Habana sometimes flies
JP Pietersen has found his scoring form again and showed his ability and class again this season, albeit at the beginning of the season when the Sharks were dominating. The fact that his prominence wanes along with the Sharks’ dominance is somewhat worrying because we have all the reason in the world to assume that we will not necessarily dominate the touring Lions. His lack of scoring opportunities is obviously not all his doing, but one notable difference between the two wings is the urgency and manner in which Habana has started looking for work the past few seasons (after being marked to death by opposition teams) and JP being seemingly content to handle his side of the field. Will he still be able to score freely in a tight, or heaven forbid, losing game? I surely hope so because we do not have another wing of equal ability to select. We have the pace of Nokwe, Chavhanga and the hair of Demas. They are the right colour but none have the pedigree of JP or the experience that I keep harping on. Nokwe and Chavhanga are potent if you have the playmakers to put them in space or a gap so that they can carry the ball very fast towards the try line. The Ndugane twins are similar, but please put them in a gap a bit closer to the tryline before a prop gets to chase them down.
Henno Mentz has been given a second lease on life at the Lions after being discarded by the Sharks, and he grasped it with both hands. He can’t seem to stop scoring tries, which in my opinion, is a rather handy ability to have if you are a wing. In South Africa though, where we are in short supply of capable black forwards, the traditional Affirmative Action positions have always been Wing and lately, scrumhalf, this counts heavily against Mentz. Wing and scrumhalf are the only places where a struggling coach can be assured of making up some quotas. We will therefore see the slow, skinny and non-tackling Ndungane twins finding themselves out of their depth and inside the ‘Bok squad, Nokwe and Chavhanga as well if they can stay uninjured.
The midfield is more of a headache with a few players putting up their hands for selection. The obvious initial choice at the inside lane is Jean De Villiers. His anticipation, general playmaking and more importantly – his ability to break the deadlock from nothing is invaluable. He also provides another possible leadership role if required from the backline. I suppose leading a Springbok-heavy Stormers side to the nether regions of the Super 14 table is not that impressive, but being a potential captain of the ‘Bok side is not why he will run on. He is a natural midfielder and if he can just have a stretch of 6 months without a career threatening injury we will all be happy, hell, we will take 3 months.
Francois Steyn is his perfect backup, some people may think it a weakness to shuffle the backs around in-game. I don’t, I find it exciting and it adds such a powerful dimension to a team’s ability to adapt in a game depending on what the situation calls for, that it is almost a must have in the modern game. Also, De Villiers is bound to break an arm or fracture his skull in the first 10 minutes of the first test – so more than any of the other positions, it is nice to have some options to fill the gap. Wynand Olivier has had a good season, as much as it pains me, but he has. I don’t know how though – he has a terrible side-step, he can’t really be used for crash-ball or setting up phase play as his ball-retention is pathetic, he once passed the ball to his teammate in 2005, but it was to his left so the rugby watching public still cannot be sure if he has the capability of passing right.
Nevertheless, this Super 14 season he has done something right (it may just be the cumulative experience gained touring with the ‘Bok side purely because there WAS no other centre to pick) and has even scored some tries. Again, the one aspect I always keep in the back of my mind is when exactly does a player perform? Is it in a losing side or a winning side? Do they perform when the chips are down? Do they disappear when trailing and being run ragged? Taking this into account, and the fact that he only looked good when the Bulls looked good at the start of the season, I don’t think Olivier is our man for the pressure situation. Also, we may sometimes sound pedantic, and often overstate issues that we hold dear here at kiefpant.com, but I will again say that it would be nice to have a midfielder that can pass the ball. Hell, I will even take the odd offload in the tackle before moving on to the more complicated aspects of rugby such as passing.
No discussion on the South African midfield will be complete without mentioning the powerhouse that is Jaque Fourie. He does not look like a typical centre, he has a Pieter Rossouw-esque gangly run that I often want to describe as loping. Yet, his acceleration off the mark is incredible for such a big guy and the pace he generates is mind-boggling. The physics don’t seem right. He has just enough vision, skill and tactical awareness to complete the perfect outside centre package along with his obvious pace and strength. Fourie has struggled a bit with injury this season but I would ascribe that to having to constantly walk on water and dodge speeding bullets to inject some life into the Lion’s backline. He is a major reason for the success of the Lion’s wingers in the early stages of the season. I think my granny could play outside Jaque Fourie and run in to score at least once a game.
He will unfortunately be hard done by in that his biggest challenge comes from Adrian Jacobs who, again, is black and an adequate player and will therefore be the ‘Bok 13. Jacobs has looked good thus far but has completely disappeared and looked rather out of sorts when the Sharks started struggling in their more recent games. He is another of so many players that rely on a good foundation to shine. Give him good front foot ball and he will look the part. To put things in technical terms – his defence is bleh, his general open field play is bleh and his pace at international level can best be described as, well… bleh. To make things a bit more interesting he does have a challenger in Gcobani Bobo who has looked rather impressive in another struggling outfit, the Stormers. He has looked eager and willing to look for work but, unfortunately, I feel age is against him. His pace and strength isn’t good enough at international level. This is a pity since it has taken him about a decade to gain enough experience to be a good midfielder. I don’t think he has the ability to be a good international midfielder – if he does then he would’ve been one when he was selected for the Springboks many years ago. He will be in the squad though and all the luck to him.
Another player I would like to mention is Waylon Murray. I was quite excited to see a young quota player that had some size, pace and impressive acceleration playing in a powerful Sharks team. Injury has however hampered his progress but fortunately only after he had made a ‘Bok squad – a selection I firmly believe was on merit. For him to be there again will smack of Affirmative Action since his game time thus far ends in a sum total of about 34 seconds, give or take. Nevertheless a fully fit and healthy Murray should be challenging the white guys for that midfield Springbok positions in no time, joining his Sharks teammate Jacobs in the process.
Next up is Flyhalf. Ugh. This is providing the biggest headache for selectors, coaches and administrators alike. The government is pissed off because after years of meddling, quota systems and affirmative action they still haven’t managed to produce a black flyhalf. The closest the South African rugby system has managed is Kennedy Tsimba – unfortunately he only lasted a season somewhere in the beginning of the century and, more importantly, like so many of the good AA players in South Africa he is actually Zimbabwean. Flyhalf is therefore one of the few positions where a white boy can be selected for rugby at a higher level based purely on merit. Unfortunately there are no good white guys either.
I have been Ruan Pienaar fan since he first started playing. He has an incredible feel for rugby, he was born to play the game, it’s in his genes – his dad was class and he is class. Pienaar though suffers from a terrible affliction that often strikes down young talented players before they peak. He is essentially a utility back because he was never primed for the position of flyhalf. He was the official scrumhalf backup where he had played most of his provincial rugby, technically he was the third or fourth choice scrumhalf until two seasons ago behind Fourie Du Preez, Enrico January and Bolla Conradie.
None of his coaches through the provincial rugby ranks seemed to know where to put him either – he is obviously talented and capable in many positions, so he ended up at scrumhalf and stayed there. Much like Francois Steyn being moved around to wherever the current coach would require him, Ruan became a rare scrumhalf/utility back. This is great if you are a coach in dire need of players to fill random gaps, but not great if it’s your career being limited because you are a random backline player and not the much required specialist Springbok flyhalf. Ruan’s class is enough to make him the first choice flyhalf of Pieter De Villiers as well since the best we have against the Northern Hemisphere is injured again. Butch James was having a great season up North before the inevitable injury occurred that would see him sidelined for the Lion’s tour.
Having a look at specialist flyhalves we have Morne Steyn, Andre Pretorius, Peter Grant and Willem De Waal. It is difficult to get excited about that line-up. The Springbok style of play is probably the closest to the Bulls style of play in terms of its forward pack emphasis. Size and domination up front sets the platform for a dictating flyhalf and his speedy backline. Morne Steyn will do well if that is the case. He is relatively accurate although a bit predictable. He is no Daniel Carter. He is exactly what Bulls rugby always produces – one dimensional kicking flyhalves with terrible hairstyles. Steyn has worked on his attacking play though and has actually surprised opponents and teammates alike with a few line breaks and sidesteps of his own. Wonderful.
Peter Grant’s stint at Inside Centre having been forced on him due to his captain’s untimely injury may very well prove to be a blessing in disguise. If Morne Steyn is one-dimensional, Grant is none-dimensional. He is too slow and seems to lack the energy that will get a backline going, nor has he the tactical awareness to dominate a rugby game. Grant does have sufficient size to provide a defensive element to the backline that an Andre Pretorius and unfortunately, as it seemed in the Super14, even a Ruan Pienaar can’t provide. Peter Grant has had a few games in the ‘Bok jersey and wasn’t disastrous. That isn’t, however, how the rugby watching public should be describing incumbent ‘Bok flyhalves.
Andre Pretorius has lost all the elements that made him an international flyhalf. He is still as injury prone as ever and I cannot recall a stretch of 2 months where he hasn’t injured something. Gone are the sidesteps and incisive linebreaks from a standing start. His tactical kicking has been terrible this season, it is almost as if the ELV’s have caught him by surprise and he didn’t bother reading up on them while recovering from one of the many hospital beds he has occupied in the past year or so. With Butch out of the running (again) Pretorius and all 18 of his achilles heels will shift upwards on the flyhalf ladder. It’s probably not all bad since he has quite a bit of experience to bring to the ‘Bok team, albeit bad experiences thus far this season.
Willem De Waal is no stand-out player but he is adequate. Being adequate and white is not the same as being adequate and black in South Africa. We will therefore see Rose in the squad as fullback/flyhalf utility and with the injuries to the numerous players ahead of him in the pecking order he will probably run on in a few games.
Scrumhalf is a more exciting position to discuss. We have the tried and tested world class Fourie Du Preez who cemented his place a few Tri-Nations ago with some seriously powerful runs around the base and showed off his superb kicking game even before that. The first 2007 RWC game the Springboks played against the English was probably the most complete game I have ever seen from a South African scrumhalf. He dictated more than any flyhalf could and took all the pressure away from Butch. An aspect that I believe helped Butch have a great World Cup, he gained a lot of confidence from that start to the campaign, and it’s thanks to Fourie Du Preez. One of his most valuable aspects is his open play kicking which is worth gold when you have a young, inexperienced flyhalf in a tough British & Irish Lions tour to protect and ease in.
Du Preez on the charge
Du Preez has always had that shoulder injury cloud over him, he gets involved and for a scrumhalf to constantly trade blows with the forwards he is bound to develop a few niggles. Fortunately South Africa has a brilliant backup in Rory Kockott who has shown he can mix it up with the massive and mobile loose forwards that ply their trade in the Super 14. He can kick at poles too. In fact, he would be my first choice kicker if Fourie wasn’t keeping him out of the team. Kockott has managed to perform well behind a strong yet very young Sharks pack, the loose-trio is probably one of the youngest combinations in the Super 14 yet it hasn’t hampered Kockott’s progress up the ladder of potential Springbok scrumhalves. Some journalists are even of the opinion that it is Rory Kockott’s excellent scrumhalf play that was the catalyst for Ruan Pienaar to eventually pull the Nr 10 jersey over his head and not his accustomed Nr. 9. I disagree with this, but still think Rory Kockott has more than enough in his arsenal to take over from Fourie Du Preez when the time comes.
It is worth it to note that Jano Vermaak has had a good season behind a pack that has delivered all sorts of ups and downs on the field. This is bound to give him excellent experience as he can never be sure if he is going to get brilliant ball or no ball at all. He has shown that he is eager to attack and has the basic half-back skills to probably fit in behind a more dominant pack. Dewald Duvenhage is the incumbent Stormers scrumhalf who, like Vermaak, has had a mixture of good and bad delivery from his hot and cold pack of forwards. This is probably all the more daunting when you are still rather inexperienced.
Apart from Fourie Du Preez, the players mentioned above will most likely have to watch the ‘Bok games from their lounges or at best, from the reserves seats in the stands. It is common knowledge the obese second choice scrumhalf of the Stormers will get a lot of game-time again this year. Despite having the ball distribution skills of a 12 year old girl with muscular dystrophy, despite his clearing at the rucks and malls being slower than cancer, he will be in the ‘Bok squad again and will be the stand in scrumhalf if Fourie Du Preez is injured or rested. It is a sad state of affairs when even die-hard rugby supporters who know the game well, and know their statistics and have a proper knowledge of the game, support Enrico January purely because of THAT try he scored in New Zealand. Yes, this is unfortunately the state of affairs in South Africa when the bounce of a rugby ball after a chip over the scrum can cement a below par player’s place in the Springbok setup.
Even the most right-wing of rugby supporters have become numb to the state of enforced selections that debates often focus on which quota players are better than other quota players. Whether any of the quota players under discussion are any good, most would not even make club sides in other countries, is not the point. January is just such a player, we are forced to accept him and rate his play as if he was a normal rugby player, because he will be there regardless of being an overweight, slow and inept scrumhalf. He is more experienced than Bolla Conradie and Heini Adams and this is a little green shoot in the dead tree-trunk that is Enrico January. Although, the difference between a backline moving from Ruan Pienaar or Fourie Du Preez distributed ball was vast when compared to that of January. Nevertheless, once a season he does have a brief moment of inspiration where the bounce of the ball favours him and the government with all the media and rugby fundi’s will have all the reason they need to explain why he will be selected for another year of putting world class Springbok backlines under pressure and on the back foot.
To recap – my Springbok backline (assuming all are fit):
15. Francois Steyn
14. JP Pietersen
13. Jaque Fourie
12. Jean De Villiers
11. Bryan Habana
10. Ruan Pienaar
9. Fourie Du Preez
My Reserves:
15a: Stefan Terreblanche
14a: Tonderai Chavhanga
13a: Adrian Jacobs
12a: Wynand Olivier
11a: Henno Mentz
10a: Morne Steyn
9a: Rory Kockott
The government’s Springbok team (assuming all is fit):
15. Conrad Jantjes
14. JP Pietersen
13. Adrian Jacobs
12. Jean De Villiers
11. Bryan Habana
10. Ruan Pienaar/Earl Rose (they will have to squeeze him in somewhere)
9. Fourie Du Preez
The government’s Reserves:
15a: Earl Rose/Zane Kirchner
14a: Ndungane twins (I never know which is which)/Chavhanga
13a: Gcobani Bobo
12a: Wynand Olivier
11a: Jongi Nokwe
10a: Some white guy
9a: Enrico January/Bolla Conradie
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