November tours to Europe are usually regarded as a “necessary nuisance” by the Springboks. It’s normally cold and miserable up north at this time of the year, and the Boks are just looking to survive long enough to win each game and get through to a holiday afterwards.
But this time around, circumstances are very different for Heyneke Meyer’s team, and Bok fans are likely to see a change in emphasis over the next month compared to previous end-of-year tours.
As captain Jean de Villiers agreed at the end of the training camp in Stellenbosch 10 days ago, this is virtually the start of the Rugby World Cup year as it is being played in England next September and October.
The camp served as a “pre-season” of sorts for the South Africans, and that alone should mean they are in much better shape than previous tours at this time of the year, where they would’ve been exhausted from a whole year of non-stop action.
The two-week break from the game at the end of the Rugby Championship would’ve revitalised the players, and they have been able to go into proper detail about the challenges they face on this tour, something which wasn’t always possible in the past due to the Boks being involved in the last few weeks of the Currie Cup.
So, while Ireland are the Six Nations champions and England are in good form, it would be a surprise if the Boks were to come short in any of the four Tests.
Ireland will be full of fire at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, and so, too, England at Twickenham a week later, but the Boks’ physicality has often been the deciding factor against northern hemisphere opposition. And with the greater variety on attack these days, De Villiers’s side should emerge victors.
But, while the players are raring to go, there are some serious selection quandaries facing the Bok coach, as this is arguably his last chance to look at any new players before the World Cup as there are only four Tests left next year before the tournament starts.
Meyer seems to have settled on his first-choice side, but there are quite a few variables that will come into the equation on this tour and next year. The Japan-based players, among them Schalk Burger and JP Pietersen, were not available for the away matches of the Rugby Championship, but they are able to play in the first three Tests of this tour (overseas players aren’t eligible for the Wales Test as it falls outside the official Test window).
Burger and Pietersen are stalwarts of the team and World Cup winners, but had to play off the bench in the Championship as Oupa Mohoje and Jan Serfontein started at No 7 flank and outside centre respectively.
But while both youngsters caught the eye, there is no doubt Burger and Pietersen can significantly boost the side. Burger can step in at openside flank as well, although Marcell Coetzee produced some energetic performances this year, while Meyer also wants to look at him at No 8 as cover for Duane Vermeulen.
Perhaps Pietersen has a better chance of getting a start, as Meyer has shown through the continued non-selection of Western Province captain Juan de Jongh that he likes to pick a big No 13. Serfontein is a specialist No 12, and so, too, is captain De Villiers, who operates in the outside centre channel most of the time nowadays.
But Pietersen could be a permanent solution at No 13, which would allow the skipper to be in his preferred inside centre spot.
Fourie du Preez’s knee injury gave Ruan Pienaar a chance to establish himself at No 9, but, while the former Shark didn’t do too badly, he lacked some spark in attack – something Francois Hougaard certainly provided in the two home Tests against the Wallabies and All Blacks at the end of the Championship.
Pienaar is due to undergo a fitness test in Dublin this week on his knee that kept him out of those two games, but even if he is ready to play, one would hope Meyer sticks with Hougaard.
It would be easy to justify Pienaar’s selection on the basis of his knowledge of Irish conditions (he plays club rugby for Ulster), but Hougaard proved in the last two games he is a better bet at the moment.
Despite the expected wet conditions, the Boks have fully embraced a more positive style of play, and while they won’t be throwing the ball around just for the sake of it, they will still look to play at a quick tempo. And for that type of game, Hougaard is better-equipped than Pienaar.
The two major areas where Meyer will be looking for solutions, though, are organising the line-outs and identifying a tighthead back-up. Victor Matfield still rules the skies, but what if he were to be injured suddenly? Meyer again didn’t pick a specialist No 5 lock back-up for the tour, with young Cheetah Lood de Jager tasked with being Matfield’s understudy.
De Jager battled in that role this year as he is primarily a No 4 lock, but Meyer has spoken about the 21-year-old’s intelligence as he earned three distinctions in matric. So De Jager’s mental capacity is not in doubt, but is he athletic enough to outwit the opposition jumpers in the line-out?
That is what gives Matfield the edge in the line-outs most of the time – he is quick on his feet and lightning fast in the air. De Jager is a bit “bigger set” than the lean Matfield, so it will be interesting to see if he can take the opportunity.
In the front row, Meyer said this week Jannie du Plessis “deserves a medal” for his reliable service at tighthead prop, but he cannot be expected to play 80 minutes in every game. Du Plessis may not even have gone on this tour if Frans Malherbe and Marcel van der Merwe, who are next in line, were fit, but they will only be back next year.
Meyer said he would continue with the process of turning Coenie Oosthuizen into a tighthead – even though his best position is loosehead, something the coach agrees with.
The Cheetahs strongman is being earmarked for a specialist impact role off the bench, though, but it would be a serious gamble to start him at No 3 in a Test considering the trouble he’s had in that position. He is also coming off a long-standing neck problem.
So Meyer would do well to have a proper look at Lions star Julian Redelinghuys by starting him in a Test, perhaps against Italy or Wales. He is a powerful scrummager first and foremost, but has shown he can also carry the ball and get around the field.
And can there be a joker among the five uncapped players? Robbie Coetzee, Redelinghuys, Jaco Kriel, Nizaam Carr and Seabelo Senatla all had superb Currie Cup campaigns, but perhaps it is only Redelinghuys who could get a real shot at game time.
Kriel, Carr and Senatla are all exciting attacking players, though, and could get a run against Italy or Wales.