JOHANNESBURG - Not Ruan Combrinck nor Courtnall Skosan – the Lions’ two try-hungry wings – have made the 41-man Springbok training squad that will gather in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Their omission has raised eyebrows across the country, and it’s not surprising.
Both men were sensational in Lions colours last season; so much so that Combrinck was picked for the Springboks and scored a wonderful try at Ellis Park to save the Boks against Ireland, and Skosan turned out for the SA A team against the England Saxons.
A shoulder injury to Combrinck, though, cut short his Bok run last year, but he is close to returning to action (he is due back in April) and should surely have at least made the training squad – ahead of the three-Test series against France in June.
Why Skosan isn’t there is also something of a mystery.
But the Lions flier has said his only focus is on helping the Lions enjoy another good Super Rugby season.
“If I perform well here what happens must happen,” he said on Thursday ahead of the Lions’ clash with the Waratahs at Ellis Park on Saturday.
“If I can add value here at the Lions, that’s what matters… the rest is up to God.”
Skosan will be up against Wallaby wing Rob Horne this weekend, and coming off the bench for the Tahs will be giant Taqele Naiyaravoro, standing 1.94m tall and tipping the scales at 123kg. Remember him from the Barbarians game against the touring Boks in November last year; he ran all over poor Sergeal Petersen.
Skosan isn’t worried. “I don’t prepare to face one guy. He’s big, but not unstoppable,” said the confident Skosan.
The flying winger’s assistant coaches at the Lions, Swys de Bruin and JP Ferreira, believe the 25-year-old is good enough to wear the green and gold.
“I definitely feel he should have been in the (Bok) training squad,” said De Bruin yesterday. “He’s a brilliant winger, he’s a team man.”
Ferreira was a little more outspoken. “He’s a quality wing who has all the facets in the game. He’s on par with all the wingers out there,” said Ferreira, who toured with the Boks last November as the team’s defence specialist.
“But Courtnall’s got to run his own race, his time will come. He’s got to hang in there, he just mustn’t lose faith and belief.
“Somewhere the gap will open for him and when it does, he must be ready to take it.”
The wings in the Bok training squad are Travis Ismaiel, Sergeal Petersen, Raymond Rhule, Seabelo Senatla and Jamba Ulengo. Of course Lionel Mapoe, Jesse Kriel and Warrick Gelant would be comfortable on the wing, too.
The Bok training camp runs from Sunday to Tuesday in Johannesburg.