Johannesburg - Excuse me for stating the obvious, but if you wish to see some young blood injected into the Springboks in the next couple weeks, you best leave those notions at the nearest stop while we cover the final distance towards the World Cup.
It is now pretty clear that coach Jacques Nienaber – backed by director of rugby Rassie Erasmus – will not be involving many, or any, new faces in the end-of-year tour, unless they play for SA A. Indeed, when it comes to the Boks in this respect, much like Donnie Brasco, you can “Forget about it.”
The likes of Manie Libbok, Evan Roos, Sacha Mngomezulu, Henco van Wyk, Francke Horn, Ruan Venter, and a gaggle of other young players, might get a shot at Munster and Bristol Bears in the SA A team, but they will surely not get full colours – not this year, and certainly not in 2023.
Nienaber & Co are following a plan, one that seemingly doesn’t offer much room to manoeuvre; or affords much space to introduce inexperienced players from outside that system.
It is not necessarily a bad thing.
Sure, at times the Bok management has shown a degree of willingness when required – and when desperate – to introduce the likes of Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse. Damian Willemse, while no doubt a unique talent, is a product of such an occurrence.
He would not have enjoyed his current pre-eminence in the Bok setup, had it not been for the injury to Handre Pollard and woes of Elton Jantjies.
His comeuppance is anomalous behaviour, rather than the norm. We can all agree that come next year, and if all the players are fit and in form, the No 10s will be Handre Pollard, Elton Jantjies, Johan Goosen and then Willemse – in that order.
Every other position will follow the same predetermined pattern, regardless of any up-and-coming talent coming through. That is the default.
On Tuesday, Erasmus was clear that the Bok setup is targeting an average age of 29 and around 45-plus Test caps in the squad that will defend the World Cup in France next year. That strategy does not afford any more experimentation, nor the handing out of new caps.
A few weeks ago, while speaking to former Bok captain John Smit, the sentiment was the same. Then, Smit nodded in approval at the current selection policy of the Bok think-tank, arguing that it is now too late in the game – and in defence of the Webb Ellis Trophy – to blood new players in an established system full of experienced, championship-winning veterans.
The more I consider this, the more I tend to agree.
The South African rugby public, of course, wants to see their young heroes playing at the highest level – I am one of them, to be honest. They are, after all, exciting prospects that could do wondrous things, but for now Nienaber is correct to stay the course.
The new batch of players that is coming through will have to wait post-2023 for their chance, while we should all accept that it will be Siya Kolisi, and his band of grizzled troops, that will defend our honour next year.
If you do wish to see something different from this Bok camp, then look rather towards the SA A team that will be announced next Friday. That will be the exciting future.
To be fair, there is nothing wrong with that.
@FreemanZAR