The absence of a third Springbok hooker for three Tests in New Zealand and Australia is a bigger surprise than BJ Botha's exclusion from the props.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and his selectors are covered in most areas except hooker in a squad that is top-heavy among loose forwards and light in other areas.
To include Ryan Kankowski, Pierre Spies, Luke Watson and Joe Van Niekerk, who between the four of them will be playing for two places in the match 22, is an indulgence.
I don't know how Kankowski could have been cleared to tour after again watching the tape of the tackle that knocked him cold against Italy.
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The bloke's lights went out before his head hit the ground, yet he is a consideration for the opening Test against the All Blacks in less than a fortnight.
If ever a conservative view was needed on a player it is Kankowski, who is young, a rare talent and will be influential to the Springboks in the next four years. To rush him back after such a sickening blow is confusing.
It would have been logical to let him rest in South Africa for the next three weeks and then join the squad in Perth for the Australian one-off Test.
Assuming he does not figure in selection against the All Blacks, then it is one of Spies, Van Niekerk or Watson to start, one to make the bench and one to watch from the stands.
When you consider the versatility of all three, you'd back Van Niekerk's experience of 47 Tests for the starting position at No 8. It is his best position and Spies, for all his potential, is more devastating when introduced against tired legs than when asked to make the opposition's legs tired.
Schalk Burger, with no Richie McCaw to combat, should give the Boks a huge advantage at the breakdown and if Van Niekerk and Spies are preferred over Watson, the Boks will also maintain their strength of having the option of five lineout jumpers.
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