Cape Town – You grind it out every week in Super Rugby, hoping to take your franchise to the play-offs.
You could be earning truckloads of cash in Europe, but you stuck it out in South Africa, mainly because you have dreams of playing for the Springboks.
And when there are injuries to a few players ahead of you, such as Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi and Sikhumbuzo Notshe, you might think you have a great chance of getting that call from Allister Coetzee. Instead, the Bok coach opts for a foreign-based veteran in Willem Alberts…
There are a lot of outstanding young talents who excelled in Super Rugby in 2016, but won’t be making the trip to Christchurch to take on the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship.
The likes of Lions dynamo Warrick Tecklenburg (he is playing in Japan during the Currie Cup, like Jaco Kriel will do at the end of the Rugby Championship), Bulls duo RG Snyman and Jannes Kirsten (although the latter is currently out for one more week with a shoulder injury), Cheetahs pair Uzair Cassiem and Paul Schoeman, as well as Sharks flank Jean-Luc du Preez are all barnstorming, powerful ball-carriers, but who are much more athletic around the field than Alberts.
They could easily fill in at lock in an emergency, although that wouldn’t be needed as Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Franco Mostert are fit to play in the second row.
SA Rugby said in a statement on Sunday that Alberts was called up as a replacement for lock Lood de Jager, who will be out for two weeks with a knee injury he picked up in the 23-17 loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
But SA Rugby added that Stade Francais’ Alberts was actually picked as loose-forward cover. “Following recent injuries to Siya Kolisi and Sikhumbuzo Notshe and the specific loose forward need in the team, it was decided to call on the versatile and experienced Alberts.”
The former Sharks stalwart played his last Test in the World Cup third-place playoff against Argentina in October, and hasn’t been with the Boks since.
At 32 and often injury-prone, he is more of a stop-gap measure anyway, so what is the point of his call-up if he is just going to hold tackle bags in Christchurch?
Such an experience would’ve been far more beneficial for an upcoming player such as Tecklenburg, Du Preez or Cassiem, who were outstanding at blindside flank in Super Rugby.
One would hope that Alberts’ selection won’t see him suddenly in the starting line-up in place of Oupa Mohoje, who was surprisingly replaced after just 47 minutes by Franco Mostert, with Du Toit moving to No 7.
Mohoje carried the ball quite well and is good in the lineouts, and gets through his fair share of defensive work too and is a natural blindsider.
Du Toit doesn’t possess the finesse or running lines to play in the loose trio, and would best serve the Boks as the No 5 lock ahead of De Jager.
Coetzee spoke excitedly about the impact that having six forwards on the bench had against the Wallabies, but using the same ploy against the All Blacks will be costly, as the Kiwis are likely to promote Ardie Savea to the starting side in place of the injured fetcher Sam Cane, with another specialist opensider in Matt Todd on the bench.
So while the All Blacks are adding extra speed to their loose trio, the Boks have brought in pure grunt in Alberts. Does Coetzee really think he can outmuscle New Zealand upfront, like he said the Boks “physically bullied Australia”?
I’m not too sure that South Africa achieved that either in Brisbane, as it was the forwards who let them down with unnecessary breakdown penalties, poor ball retention and mishaps at the lineouts.
But if the Bok coach believes bigger is better, then he needs to lie in the bed that he’s made in Christchurch on Saturday.
@ashfakmohamed