Cape Town - Previous World Cup winners Juan Smith and Frans Steyn could be the surprise selections when Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer announces his first squad at the start of the build-up to the next edition of the global showpiece event later Saturday.
Meyer is to announce a squad that could number as many as 50 players so that injured players who are likely to be included in the World Cup group and will be available for the tournament can be part of the build-up.
The squad announced Saturday will be for the entire period building up to the World Cup squad announcement in August, which includes the match against a World XV in Cape Town two weeks from now as well as three Rugby Championship matches and an away friendly against Argentina.
Sharks coach Gary Gold has confirmed rumours that Steyn and Meyer have kissed and made up after the utility back, one of the stars of the winning effort at the 2007 World Cup in France under Jake White, retired from international rugby last year over a contractual dispute with the South African Rugby Union.
Steyn is expected to be one of the injured players who will be included in the expanded squad later Saturday.
“Frans has a pectoral injury that will keep him from playing in the Rugby Championship but he will be over it in time for the World Cup, which I understand he is available for,” said Gold.
Steyn’s return to the Bok mix will provide a massive and much-needed boost to the Bok chances as he increases the depth both at midfield, where he has played most of his recent rugby, and at fullback, which was where he was effective when Peter de Villiers’ Boks won the series against the British and Irish Lions and the Tri-Nations in 2009.
Apart from Steyn’s prodigious field-kicking boot, which will be useful in the type of game that can be expected particularly in the play-off games in northern hemisphere conditions, Steyn can also be a more than useful back-up place-kicker.
Meyer made it clear after the last end of year tour that he wanted to speak to Steyn and move to have him available for the Boks again, so his recall will be less surprising than that of Smith.
An influential figure as the blindside flanker in the 2007 team, Smith missed the 2011 World Cup because of an Achilles injury that ruled him out of rugby for two years and at one stage forced him into premature retirement.
After resuming his career at French club Toulon, who persuaded him to play again, towards the end of 2013, Smith experienced a rebirth that culminated in him making his return to the Bok team in last year’s Rugby Championship. Although he was largely anonymous when the Boks struggled against the Pumas in Mendoza last August, and hasn’t been involved with the squad since, the former Cheetahs player has never officially announced his retirement from the international game.
It is understood that Smith, who was part of the Toulon team that won another European Champions trophy recently, has come back into the Bok frame because he can cover both lock and blindside flank. It is anticipated that the Boks will only take three locks to the World Cup, and Smith can provide back-up for that position.
The Bok squad for the World Cup will be made up of 31 players, so Saturday’s announcement will in no sense provide a definitive idea of the group that will leave for England in September. Several players will drop out at the conclusion of the Rugby Championship.
However it will give a strong indication of Meyer’s thinking in some areas of contention. Smith’s inclusion, if it happens, will further limit the number of loose-forward berths open in the World Cup squad. It is already difficult to figure out how Meyer is going to accommodate some of the form players available in that position, and it will be interesting to see if Heinrich Brussow, a star of the winning 2009 team, but not used by the Boks since 2011, makes the cut Saturday.
If he does, Meyer could be weighing him up against the Sharks’ ace ball-scavenging flanker, Marcell Coetzee, who wore the No 6 jersey when first-choice Francois Louw was injured last year.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee confirmed earlier in the week that centre Jaque Fourie, who had retired from international rugby towards the end of last year, had rescinded his decision and will be available for the World Cup. He is also expected to be in the group named Saturday, thus swelling the stocks in an area that looked like it could be a potential weakness just a few weeks ago.
Apart from Fourie and Steyn, who played together as the midfield combination in the 2007 World Cup final, the chances of Jean de Villiers making a full return to rugby after his injury lay-off are now much better than they were.
Then you have to factor in Damian de Allende, the form South African centre in this year’s Super Rugby, as well as Jan Serfontein, who wore the Bok No 13 jersey for much of 2014. With the midfield stocks suddenly overflowing, JP Pietersen will be free to focus on wing, which is the position where he has excelled for most of an international career that started with an appearance at fullback in a 2006 Tri-Nations match against Australia at Ellis Park.
As is often the case with an extended squad, the favoured players who don’t make it into the group could prove to be bigger news than those who do, though the poor overall performance of the South African teams in Super Rugby should limit the potential for controversy over those who are excluded.
The Lions won many admirers for the way they played in Super Rugby and there was an improvement in their performance, but Saturday’s announcement is likely to reflect that Meyer and his selectors see the Johannesburg team as being more than the sum of its parts.
Weekend Argus