The immediate priority is the upcoming series against France and the Tri-Nations but the naming of the Springbok squad should provide an insight into Jake White's thoughts on the 2007 World Cup in France.
Although the 2007 World Cup is still over two years away, Springbok insiders say that the national coach is starting to put a lot more thought into that tournament than he did when he took over at the start of last season.
Now that he has established his credentials with a Tri-Nations victory and secured at least some breathing space in a job not normally characterised by longevity, White is starting to focus his attention on the tournament that could define his career.
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Winning in 2005, perhaps the most difficult year ever for a Bok coach if you look at the schedule, remains important, but White will have his eye firmly on the bigger picture throughout the season.
| White has time and again stressed the importance of continuity and showing faith in his players |
That being so, the extended squad of up to 40 players that will be named on Saturday should provide the nucleus of the group that White will take to France.
As a Bok management member put it, there will obviously be a player or two that will arrive on the scene between now and 2007, and some who may drop out, but most of the World Cup group should come from the list read out today.
Not that it should require much of an inside knowledge to know that this is so, for White has time and again stressed the importance of continuity and showing faith in his players.
He did it again on the Boots and All television show this week, also taking the opportunity to again launch what was a compelling defence of his
captain.
Those who remember how John Smit led White's Springboks to Tri-Nations glory last year should not have needed convincing, but there has been a whispering campaign against Smit for some time now and it has intensified since the emergence of Schalk Brits as a quality player during the course of the Super 12.
But White has said often enough that he is going to stick with his captain, and he did so again this week.
"John won a Tri-Nations last year in his first season as international skipper. That is an impressive effort. So why would I want to change him?" asked White.
"Last year John won 10 out of 14 matches as captain, not bad for a modern international captain. People say he does not shout and gesticulate on the field, but then I never saw John Eales (former Wallaby captain) shouting, nor did I see Sean Fitzpatrick doing it. They are remembered as great captains."
Barring injury, Smit should be expected to be around to captain the side in 2007. So should most of the players, with the exception, of course, of some of the old-stagers who will be selected again this season in the hope that their experience will have a positive impact on the younger players.
Top of this list is Os du Randt, a veteran of the 1995 and 1999 World Cup campaigns but not expected to be around in 2007 (even if he appears to be hopeful that he will be).
A name that could be added to that list is that of Marius Hurter, and it will be interesting to see if White picks him ahead of Faan Rautenbach.
Breyton Paulse is also expected to be there this evening but perhaps not so in two years' time, when his Stormers teammate Tonderai Chavhanga should have become well established and should have eradicated the rough edges to his game. Not that we should completely rule out the prospect of Chavhanga being included in the list to be announced.
It could all hinge on how many players White and co-selectors Pieter Jooste (the convener) and Ian McIntosh decide to name in the squad.
The smart money is on it being around 35, with three hookers and three scrumhalves, and a 20/15 split between forwards and backs. But if he goes as high as 38, then White will be able to avoid a potentially difficult choice between Schalk Brits and Gary Botha for the extra hooker position behind Smit and Hanyani Shimange.
He could also then include Rautenbach in addition to Hurter. White appeared favourably disposed to Rautenbach last season and the Stormers tighthead is the better prospect if we are looking long-term.
There again, now that he has picked up his fitness, there is also no reason why White might not select Richard Bands, which would douse at least some of the predictable outrage we are going to hear from Pretoria.
But Bands probably won't be there if the squad is made up of just 35, and neither will Morné Steyn, even though this would leave only one specialist flyhalf in incumbent Jaco van der Westhuyzen.
If the squad is expanded, then Steyn should be part of the group that gathers in Bloemfontein next week by virtue of his potential to develop into a class player by the time the World Cup comes around.
The full squad named on Saturday will gather in Bloemfontein and then the excess players will return to their provinces once the test squad has been whittled down to between 22 and 26 players in the week before the first match.
Those players who drop out will, however, have the consolation of knowing they are in White's World Cup plans.
It is interesting to note that while there has been a lot of hot air out of Pretoria about an alleged bias towards Cape based players, the probable squad features a pretty even spread between Bulls and Stormers.
Possible Squad
Backs: Percy Montgomery, Breyton Paulse, Conrad Jantjes, Brent Russell, Ashwin Willemse, Bryan Habana, Marius Joubert, Jaque Fourie, De Wet Barry, Wayne Julies, Jean de Villiers, Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Fourie du Preez, Bolla Conradie, Enrico Januarie.
Forwards: Juan Smith, Jacques Cronje, Joe van Niekerk, Schalk Burger, Pedrie Wannenburg, Solly Tyibilika, Danie Rossouw, Victor Matfield, Albert van den Berg, Gerrie Brits, Bakkies Botha, Marius Hurter/Faan Rautenbach, Os du Randt, Lawrence Sephaka, Eddie Andrews, CJ van der Linde, Gurthro Steenkamp, John Smit, Hanyani Shimange, Gary Botha.
- This article was originally published on page 32 of Saturday Argus on May 14, 2005
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