Cape Town - Warren Whiteley form and Siya Kolisi’s injury could see Springbok coach Allister Coetzee make a few radical changes in his back row for the upcoming Rugby Championship.
Whiteley has had a season to remember after leading from the front in the Lions’ charge to the Super Rugby final.
He was also one of the players who swung the match in the Boks’ favour in the second Test against the Irish at Ellis Park, and started for the first time in the green and gold in the absence of the injured Duane Vermeulen in the third match of that series in Port Elizabeth.
Vermeulen is one of the best eightmen in the world, and has been a big player for the Boks over the last couple of years. But the Toulon loose forward could find himself on the side of the scrum to accommodate Whiteley in the first Test against Argentina in Nelspruit on August 20.
Of course Whiteley can also play blindside flank, but Vermeulen fits the bill of the big ball carrying type in the absence of Kolisi, whose ankle may only ready again for the Springboks’ end-of-year tour.
Whiteley is more of a link player, who likes to run with the ball in space. He also has an excellent work-rate and reads the game well. Vermeulen, on the other hand, has the ability to play a bit tighter, while he is also very good on the ground.
The Lions captain, though, is struggling with a shoulder injury.
Since the third Test against the Ireland at the end of the June, Whiteley has only played about two hours of rugby. He played an hour in the Super Rugby quarter-final against the Crusaders, while he didn’t completely comfortable in Saturday’s final against the Hurricanes in Wellington. He was substituted in the second half of that match.
If Whiteley is not fit enough to play, Vermeulen will keep the No 8 jersey, which will open the door for a player like Oupa Mohoje, instead of fan-favourite Jaco Kriel.
Coetzee prefers a grafter at No 7, a guy who can carry strongly and make a lot of tackles.
Kriel and Sikhumbuzo Notshe after fantastic players with ball in hand, but they are seen as opensiders, who can play towards the ball, as well as be the linkmen between backs and forwards.
Kriel and Nothse will also be competing with Francois Louw, who played in all three Tests against Ireland, for the No 6 jersey.
Louw wasn’t quite at his best in those Tests, after a month on the sidelines following the conclusion of Bath’s season. But he is one of Coetzee’s favourites, because his experience will be views as invaluable in the Bok coach’s first Rugby Championship campaign.
The rest of the pack, though, choose themselves, with the settled lock combination of Eben Etzebeth and the industrious Pieter-Steph du Toit likely to get the nod ahead of the reigning South African Player of the Year Lood de Jager.
Etzebeth and De Jager have the potential of becoming an iconic combination for the Boks, and could be even better than the legendary Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield.
The only change to front-row from the final test against Ireland will see Julian Redelinghuys coming in for the injured Frans Malherbe.
The Lions tighthead has been absolutely phenomenal this year and is by right the best No 3 in the country.
He will line up next to Adriaan Strauss and Tendai Mtawarira at the sharp end of the Bok scrum.
BOK SQUAD
Forwards: Jaco Kriel, Malcolm Marx, Franco Mostert, Julian Redelinghuys, Warren Whiteley (all Lions), Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Pieter-Steph du Toit (all Stormers), Lood de Jager, Oupa Mohoje (both Cheetahs), Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss (both Bulls), Steven Kitshoff (Bordeaux/France), Francois Louw (Bath/England), Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), Duane Vermeulen (Toulon/France).
Backs: Ruan Combrinck, Elton Jantjies, Faf de Klerk, Lionel Mapoe (all Lions), Damian de Allende, Juan de Jongh (both Stormers), Jesse Kriel, Rudy Paige (both Bulls), Johan Goosen (Racing 92/France), Bryan Habana (Toulon/France), Francois Hougaard (Worcester/England), Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks), Morne Steyn (Stade Francais/France)
The Star