Meyer in race against time

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer faces the biggest test of his tenure as he builds up for the WC in the next month or two.

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer faces the biggest test of his tenure as he builds up for the WC in the next month or two.

Published Jul 5, 2015

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Time will be of essence for Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer in the next month or two – as he builds up to the most decisive time of his tenure as coach – for the World Cup.

None of the southern hemisphere nations would have boasted having enough time to prepare for global rugby’s showpiece but the match against the World XV and the Rugby Championship will be the only time Meyer will have to prepare his assault on wrestling the world crown from the All Blacks.

As much as the focus will be on how the Springboks will fair at the Rugby World Cup, what will be critical is how they prepare and perform in the next five weeks.

While Meyer’s main gripe is a lack of time with the squad ahead of the World Cup, veteran and three-time World Cup flanker Schalk Burger believes the time the Springboks have will be sufficient for them to be a serious contender for the world crown.

“The one thing we still have is a little bit of time. We have the game against the World XV next week. The camp has an energy and when you get here everyone tends to lift a level, train a little bit harder, get a bit more focused and looking forward to the international season,” Burger said last week.

As much as time will be a precious commodity for Meyer and the Springboks, what has become apparent is the decisions he will make next week and in the Rugby Championship in order to finalise the make-up of his 31-man squad to England.

The biggest cause for concern remains at lock where Meyer has confessed that he is in dire need of a through and through line-out jumper to be Victor Matfield’s back-up but there is also the headache over who will be the starting centres.

Matfield is likely to start against the World XV alongside Eben Etzebeth but there isn’t enough depth in the position with the necessary experience to alleviate Meyer’s concern.

Meyer also faces another selection poser at centre where the only fully fit midfielder is Damian de Allende. And the jury is out on the fitness of Jan Serfontein, Lionel Mapoe, Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie.

While De Villiers needs careful consideration to be taken to the nature of his career-threatening knee injury, the conditioning of Fourie will need another week or two to make him ready to play rugby on the international stage.

Making Meyer’s predicament more precarious is the fact that he has to contend with an injury list unfamiliar to many Springbok coaches ahead of a World Cup which will further compromise his ability to select the best team for their last five matches ahead of the World Cup.

“The tough thing now is that we will have to use the Rugby Championship as preparation for the World Cup as well. It doesn’t make it easy that we have to play an unbelievable World XV side as it is filled with a lot of New Zealand Test match players. Then we play Australia away from home and we don’t have a lot of time before we play New Zealand and Argentina.

“In an ideal world you would want to have your best team out there, get the combinations going and play. Unfortunately we have to get some younger players in as well but you have to give the guys playing time too. I will have to use the Rugby Championship to get players right for the World Cup. I’m still positive and we don’t have a lot of time but we have to box smart,” Meyer said this week.

Meyer was hoping to use the World XV game to blood in a few players who were in the injury list but because the game is an official match, Meyer won’t be able to dabble and find solutions to his conundrum.

“The thing is that you want to get the confidence back as a lot of them didn’t perform well in Super Rugby. I’ve always been positive, I believe in our cause. I believe come the World Cup we will be ready.”

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