With in-form players rewarded No more box-kicks, aimless kicks downfield, Faf de Klerk taking his time to clear the breakdowns …
Okay, okay, perhaps I’m getting carried away a bit.
But there’s no doubt that the Bok squad Jacques Nienaber (and Rassie Erasmus) selected for the 2022 international season has some key elements that indicate the Boks are going to expand their horizons on the attacking front this year.
Yes, the ‘old guard’ are still there, and social media pundits are still frustrated by the presence of Willie le Roux, while some are still questioning the presence of Jesse Kriel, Jasper Wiese, Rynhardt Elstadt, Herschel Jantjies and even captain Siya Kolisi – yes, even ‘Captain Courageous’ himself.
But let’s look at the positives. Warrick Gelant is back, Kurt-Lee Arendse is an excitement machine, Andre Esterhuizen’s growth on attack has been rewarded, Evan Roos, Elrigh Louw and Ruan Nortje’s outstanding United Rugby Championship (URC) form has won them spots, and Ntuthuko Mchunu is the promising youngster coming through.
When I asked the Springbok coach during yesterday’s press conference whether he wants to see the attack improving this year, Nienaber said:
“We need to develop our game.
“Like I mentioned before, we did a proper review of our (2021) season, and we weren’t perfect – at all.
“So there’s a lot of growth for us within our team, and we are working on various areas to grow our game and improve our game.
“So definitely, we are trying to do that and we are even working on it now, within the camp, in trying to improve our game.”
France are the Six Nations champions and are playing a style of enterprising rugby that will be hard to stop on home soil at the World Cup next year, while the All Blacks and Ireland will be stretching defences, too.
Nienaber said last year that the Covid-19 restrictions had a major effect on the Boks’ development following the triumphant 2019 World Cup as they were unable to play in 2020 at all, and then had the British & Irish Lions early in their 2021 season, so they weren’t going to suddenly adopt a new strategy.
However, with Duane Vermeulen not available for the Wales series due to injury, imagine the fresh dynamic Roos can bring with his skill-set at No 8. Combine that with the hard-running Louw, while Marcell Coetzee has also brought great energy to the Bulls and is the off-load king in the URC.
Among the backs, Arendse’s devastating strike-running from the back could be a lethal addition to the Bok attack, and so too Esterhuizen’s bulk and passing game, Gelant’s wizardry and Damian Willemse’s verve.
The next step is to see whether Nienaber actually gives game-time to the new faces against Wales, or holds them back for the end-of-year tour, where there will be South Africa ‘A’ tour matches arranged in addition to the Tests.
But the sooner they are introduced, the better.
May we see the shackles truly come off for the Bok attack, as the possibilities are endless …
@AshfakMohamed