During the dark hours of Pieter-Steph du Toit’s rehabilitation from a knee injury back in March, could he have imagined that his prayers would indeed be answered and that he would indeed go to the World Cup – but as a flank!
Well, a flank that can also cover lock, of course, but the selection of the 22-year-old says as much about the type of game Heyneke Meyer will play in England as it does about Du Toit’s athleticism.
We know the Pool games will be played on fast, soccer pitches but the knockouts will revert to the slower, heavily grassed pitches of Twickenham, the pressure will be cranked up exponentially, and the tighter games will depend heavily on which side dominates the advantage line.
And the Bok loosies Meyer has picked are not shrinking violets, although a valid concern is that the warrior in all of them has come at a cost and most have had a series of injuries over the years, some of them just about career-ending.
If they all stay fit, the Boks have a seriously combative bunch of experienced loosies that can take the Boks all the way. But can they stay fit ...?
Duane Vermeulen, who has not played in more than two months because of a neck injury, will make his comeback in the opening Pool game against Japan, Willem Alberts has barely played this year because of a variety of back and hamstring problems; Schalk Burger is a living miracle given what he has gone through in a hospital bed; Francois Louw is another coming back from injury, leaving Siya Kolisi the healthiest of the lot.
And then there is the fresh-faced Du Toit, who himself has not played more than 80 minutes of rugby this year but thankfully looks completely over his knee injury.
On standby at home are two flanks that would be automatic inclusions in many a top side – Heinrich Brüssow and Marcell Coetzee. The latter is getting over a knee injury, which would not have helped his selection cause, while Brüssow is indirect competition at openside with Louw, who is one of the best at his craft in world rugby.
And having played so much of his career at Bath in England, Louw is vital to the Boks’ cause, knowing the conditions inside out. Louw, like second rower Eben Etzebeth and hooker Bismarck du Plessis, could be among the most talked about forwards at the World Cup.
Burger, a living legend at 32, inspires by his mere presence in the Bok squad. He should have been medically boarded a long ago given the seriousness of his illness and his neck injury.
Burger, along with Jean de Villiers, comprises the heart of the Bok effort. They are the “bravehearts” that the rest of the team will unquestionably follow.
Burger in his youth played like a runaway train, smashing into anything in his path with reckless abandon. He has modified his game, tempered his devil-may-care attitude with the shrewdness that comes with maturity.
He now no longer takes contact when it is unnecessary and has evolved into a loose forward that can play the linking game as well as smash possession over the advantage line when nothing else is on.
Alberts, when he is fully fit, is a beast. The Boks have a private award (a hunting knife) handed out by the coach after every match to the player that made the biggest hit, and Alberts has a cupboard bursting with them.
And then, naturally, there is Vermeulen. The SA Player of the Year for 2014 is straining at the leash to get cracking. His appetite for battle is hugely inspirational for the Boks pack. If he stays fit, the Boks’ chances of advancing in the competition increase.
In fact, that can be said for the whole loose forward contingent – if they all stay fully fit the Boks have a seriously good chance of winning the World Cup, but they are all carrying old war wounds, and they – and the Boks – need a lot of luck to get through the campaign unscathed. - The Star