Western Province could face a serious defensive problem among their inside backs for Saturday’s Currie Cup semi-final against the Blue Bulls as Jaco Taute has still not recovered from his rib injury.
WP assistant coach Robbie Fleck said that Taute was unable to train yesterday as well after sitting out practice on Monday, and there is sure to be growing anxiety at the Bellville training headquarters about his readiness to play on Saturday.
As if Handré Pollard’s presence as an attacking threat is not enough to deal with – whether he plays at flyhalf or inside centre – if Taute is ruled out, it could leave a massive hole in the defensive line.
He has been one of the leading tacklers for WP in the Currie Cup despite missing four out of the 10 league games, according to the Vodacom Rugby Stats App. Nizaam Carr heads the list with an incredible 176 tackles in nine matches, 27 more than second-placed Tienie Burger from the Cheetahs even though the WP No 8 missed last weekend’s Sharks game.
Taute has missed just 10 tackles in total during the competition, and his physical presence would be sorely needed to keep Pollard and Co at bay, especially with Demetri Catrakilis not being one of the strongest defenders around.
The WP flyhalf has missed 23 tackles in total to be in fifth spot on the overall list, and was badly shown up in his last appearance in Bloemfontein two weeks ago when Cheetahs No 10 Willie du Plessis ran through Catrakilis’s feeble tackle attempt to score under the posts off a five-metre scrum.
Taute didn’t anticipate Catrakilis missing his man and was too late to fall back in time, but his physical presence could shore up that inside channel, particularly with the dynamic Pollard waiting to strike on Saturday. He scored two tries against the All Blacks by running hard and stepping past Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith at Ellis Park two weeks ago, and would look to do the same to Province.
“Jaco is still having a check-up with the doc, and we will make a call on that on Thursday. But obviously we need to get him right and 100 percent as we don’t want to risk any players in the semi-final. We don’t want any player to be 80 percent, but rather 100 percent,” Fleck said yesterday.
“And that was a mistake (in Bloemfontein) from both Dimmy and Groomy (scrumhalf Nic Groom), it wasn’t just Dim’s fault. Pollard is deadly in that first channel and likes to take that ball flat, so we all need to be sharp. It’s not just one person’s responsibility, it’s about the system.
“He’s not a traditional Bulls flyhalf and brings something different to their game, which makes them dangerous.”
Asked if Province feared the Pollard factor, Fleck replied: “Uhm, all I can say is that he is a quality player. He’s come through the ranks at Blue Bulls rugby and now he’s proving himself at international level. He’s got a self-belief and brings a lot of belief to the players around him.”
If Taute doesn’t make the cut, Michael van der Spuy is likely to step into the breach at inside centre. He is not a bad defender, although he is not as good as Taute, and Fleck feels he can do a job there for WP.
“He is not a flashy player, he’s a workhorse. His basics are very good, he has a great passing and kicking game, and is extremely solid on defence. He gets stuck into the dirty work,” said the former Springbok centre.
“He is a solid player, an absolute team man and workhorse, and that’s what we like about him. I was very happy with his performance (against the Sharks) as he showed an incredible amount of work-rate, and got stuck in both physically and tactically. The use of his left boot obviously helped us somewhat, and he has a great distribution game.” - Cape Times