Meyer’s treasure hunt begins

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer and his side will be hoping to navigate their ship to calmer waters when they host the Pumas at Kings Park on Saturday. Photo: Barry Aldworth/BackpagePix

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer and his side will be hoping to navigate their ship to calmer waters when they host the Pumas at Kings Park on Saturday. Photo: Barry Aldworth/BackpagePix

Published Aug 2, 2015

Share

Durban – August snuck up on the Springboks like winter in this Indian Ocean city. It came a little too suddenly and, much like the elements, this time of year has caught the Boks just a little under-dressed.

Coach Heyneke Meyer and his side arrive in Durban later today intent on navigating their ship to calmer waters and find that first official win of 2015 when they host Argentina in a Rugby Championship Test at Kings Park on Saturday.

As things stand, they have lost four out of their last six Tests, so on several levels, a win would be a welcome tonic.

Meyer raised a few eyebrows in the aftermath of the latest thriller against the All Blacks when he found crumbs of comfort, despite yet another labouring finish by his side.

Meyer has had to turn to inexperience in recent weeks, a consequence of a swathe of his preferred choices being ravaged by injury.

While that has allowed him to cast the net wider, it has also found a few players wanting, especially his bench, which has twice failed to apply the finishing touches to very good starts in Brisbane, and then at Ellis Park last week.

Meyer welcomed back a few more of his warhorses this week and he will be keen to address a growing reputation of his side being vulnerable at the back end of Test matches.

In the 2011 World Cup, the Boks’ bench was a real weapon with the likes of Bismarck du Plessis coming on to provide fresh ammunition to put away stubborn opposition, such as the Welsh in that tense 2011 opener.

Meyer will know that all his rivals, particularly potential quarter-final opponents like Wales and England, will be looking on, seeking chinks in the Bok armour.

It would do the Boks no harm to put a sincere beating on the Pumas, not only to lift the mood of a public that is getting highly twitchy, but also to send a warning shot to those starting to consider them a soft touch.

What will have heartened Meyer, though, is that even while losing leads to his biggest rivals in the last few weeks, his young backline in particular has provided several sparks of electricity.

The burgeoning midfield of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel has been a source of excitement, belying their inexperience and playing with a lack of fear sadly uncommon in South African rugby.

They have complemented each other, much in the manner that Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth have grown as a lock pairing in the last two games.

De Jager, who some may have thought to be a soft touch for an international tight-five, has returned from injury with a real vengeance, providing the perfect foil to the towering, titanic Etzebeth.

Those two partnerships alone have thrown a late spanner in the works in terms of selection for the rapidly approaching World Cup.

De Jager and Kriel, especially, would have expected to be squad members warming seats for seasoned campaigners at best. Now they are in the conversation, their form flying in the face of “experienced” logic.

What will also be of interest is if Meyer is persuaded to give home boy Pat Lambie a start at fullback, having turned out composed cameos against the Wallabies and the Kiwis.

Meyer has made it clear that Handré Pollard is his No10 of choice and Lambie has again been reduced to “utility back” duties.

Lambie’s assurance on defence may yet be key in the United Kingdom, even if he doesn’t possess Willie le Roux’s ability to thrill.

Meyer suddenly has several good problems.

This week, against a Pumas side who have also lost both their matches, the Boks will be keen to snuff out any threat of being wooden-spoonists in the shortened competition.

That would not have been part of the plan.

Ahead of their trip to Buenos Aires next week, where everything will be against them, the Boks will want to sign off at home with a bit of a flourish.

The snarling, spoiling Pumas will not be pussycats and they will be ferocious foes at primary phase.

But the Boks, full of pace and power, will be expected to run them ragged out wide, with their newly formed midfield axis taking centre stage. It’s been a barren, bitter winter to this point, but Meyer and his charges will hope to find fresh hope ahead of their travels in search of the ultimate treasure.

The Sunday Independent

Related Topics: