- Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said the decision to pick four scrumhalves is based on allowing main flyhalf Handre Pollard to get back to full fitness.
- Pollard wasn’t named as part of the 33-man World Cup squad, but was billed in as part of the standby players.
- The Boks have two warm-up games against Wales on Saturday and the All Blacks in Twickenham on 25 August.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber defended the decision to pick four scrumhalves in his World Cup 33, saying it allows him to have a selection and versatility cushion in the event of injuries while main flyhalf Handre Pollard gets back to full fitness.
Pollard wasn’t named in the 33-man squad that was announced on Tuesday but was placed in the standby group alongside Lukhanyo Am, who injured his knee against Argentina in Buenos Aires last week Saturday.
Nienaber chose to go to the World Cup with Faf de Klerk (who can deputise at flyhalf), Jaden Hendrikse, Grant Williams (who can deputise at wing), and Cobus Reinach, while only picking one out and out 10 in Manie Libbok, while Damian Willemse can certainly expect to be pressed into service there too.
READ | Nienaber clears air on Bok squad conspiracies: ‘The whole 33 will go and come back’
Willie le Roux, as per Nienaber’s suggestion, is also expected to be pressed into service at 10 in the event of an injury crisis.
Nienaber said taking three flyhalves to the World Cup is a luxury, not many teams can afford, especially with only four Pool games where all the players need to get a run.
He applied the same theory to a third-choice hooker, even though this selection is generally injury insurance cover more than anything else.
“With Handre over his injury, but, in my opinion, is not fit enough to play and perform and win a Test match for you,” Nienaber said.
“He’s busy getting there, and remember, when we selected him, the public doesn’t give a rat’s ass that he hasn’t played in 16 weeks.
“He must perform, and he must be the Pollard that won the World Cup in 2019. That’s the picture of the Pollard they want.
READ | ‘I’m not worried about my knee’: Kolisi on state of readiness
“We’re still building him up to that, so by having four nines, Grant can cover wing, and Faf is our third choice 10.
“Remember, we went to the 2019 World Cup with two 10s, and Frans Steyn was our third-choice flyhalf, yet he only played in the position last year against Argentina.
“Everybody commented on how much of a disaster it was and why we shouldn’t have picked him at flyhalf.”
“It’s like taking three specialist hookers to the World Cup, and you’ll find the third one won’t play much.”
“They’ll get 15 minutes here and there, and the same is applicable to the third 10 if three 10s are taken with.”
After their well-attended departure event at the OR Tambo International Airport on Saturday, the Boks left for France via the United Kingdom, where they’ll play two warm-up games against Wales in Cardiff on 19 August and New Zealand in London on 25 August.
The Boks had four Southern Hemisphere Tests against Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina (two) to get some depth and combinations going.
READ | Jean ‘Not So’ Kleyn: A thinking man’s enforcer, ‘very skilled in the dark arts’
Nienaber said they’ll use the two games to balance their combinations and form books ahead of their Corsica stay before heading off to Toulon to prepare for their World Cup opener against Scotland in Marseille on 10 September.
“We’re looking for a bit of both (playing full strength and form-finding), but less than what we did up until now,” Nienaber said.
“We’re sitting with an experienced squad as compared to what other teams have from an age and Test caps experience.
“We thought that if they’d keep their form, we’ll probably end up where we are now in terms of age, but we know that availability can be a problem.
“We learned that lesson the hard way in 2011 where the experience to win the tournament was there, but getting them to last through the World Cup was an issue.
“We’ll chop and change less in the next two games and get combinations going.”
Discussion about this post