Cape Town – There surely cannot be much more room left for the luxury of Heyneke Meyer’s well-known traits of continuity and loyalty to players who have proved highly reliable under his watch in the past.
The Springboks will play three Rugby Championship Tests in the next month and several Boks who have been selected ahead of Super Rugby’s form players are yet to convince they should be going to the World Cup, which starts in mid-September.
On the basis of Saturday’s form, Damian de Allende, Marcell Coetzee, Eben Etzebeth and Schalk Burger showed that they will be key players. Other established Boks like JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana, Willie le Roux, Ruan Pienaar (among the backs), Victor Matfield, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira were hardly inspiring.
There was another group that includes Handre Pollard, Francois Louw, Patrick Lambie, Warren Whitely and Oupa Mohojé who showed they are ready step up their playing levels with more game time in the same group.
Then there was Jean de Villiers, who is Meyer’s choice as World Cup captain but who is very far away from full match fitness.
He will not be in the frame for matches against Australia and New Zealand in an attempt to ease him back into the “big-time” by playing locally. He appeared fine in Saturday’s 20-minute run at Newlands, but is far from ready to play in a midfield where the traffic includes big-hitters like Ma’a Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams.
Of Super Rugby stand-out players, Jesse Kriel inspired confidence in the unfamiliar inside centre role, and prop Vincent Kock confirmed he is a serious challenger for World Cup selection.
Most pleasing for Meyer on Saturday was the return of De Villiers.
“What Jean has done is unbelievable. It’s a real credit to the human spirit. He knows the whole team is behind him, but it’s a step-by-step process for him to be ready for the World Cup,” said Meyer.
“I was very nervous when Jean came on because it’s important that he gets through a match without further setbacks. I became nervous when he set off down the left touchline just after he came on. I knew he had the pace but it looked for a moment like he was feeling a hamstring but it wasn’t the case.”
Meyer could be in for more nervous times when players like Lood de Jager, Lionel Mapoe and Jan Serfontein start playing next week after injury-enforced lay-offs.
At the back of Meyer’s mind will also be another player group that are on the injury list and their numbers include Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Frans Steyn, Fourie du Preez, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Steven Kitshoff – all of whom could add great value to the Boks if and when they return to action.
Upcoming Rugby Championship fixtures:
July 18: vs Australia, Suncorp Stadium
July 25: vs New Zealand, Emirates Airlines Park
August 8: vs Argentina, Growthpoint Kings Park
August15: International friendly, vs Argentina, Estadio Jose Amalfitani