The Springbok rugby squad for the 2015 edition of the Rugby World Cup, to be held in England, is starting to take shape under coach Heyneke Meyer. Meyer is a coach who places a high value on trust. Break his trust and you will struggle to regain it.
This is one of the reasons he always falls back on the elder statesmen of South African rugby to fill a position which he is struggling to fill. Whenever he does this, there is the inevitable outcry in the press and on social media about not giving youngsters a chance, but Meyer will not respond to that as he is working to a plan which he will not deviate from. It is not by accident that it is almost possible to split his best squad in two – one half being the senior players and the other half being the younger players that everyone would have him throw straight into international rugby. What he has actually done is create a squad where he has an experienced player in each position, as well as a younger player competing for that position.
What most social commentators are missing though is that Meyer has been mixing and matching these players and not one of the senior players is guaranteed a starting spot in the next Rugby World Cup, except possibly in the forwards and for good reason… Evidence points to the very real possibility that Meyer subscribes to the adage of “Backs win you matches, forwards win you competitions”. Just about every single one of the older players he has selected also happens to have experience playing in Europe, conveniently where the next Rugby World Cup will be held.
Before we delve into who we think Meyer will select as his starting line-up, we need to point out that his Rugby Championship squad is missing the likes Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jaques Fourie. The one area of concern is at tighthead prop, where Jannie du Plessis is being played into the ground and is expected to complete just about every Super Rugby game or Test he starts. If Du Plessis is injured, Meyer is going to have a major headache to contend with.
Rugby Championship Squad:
Willem Alberts, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Brits, Marcell Coetzee, Damian De Allende, Lodewyk de Jager, Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Bryan Habana, Cornal Hendricks, Francois Hougaard, Patrick Lambie, Willie le Roux, Francois Louw, Frans Malherbe, Victor Matfield, Teboho Mohoje, Tendai Mtawarira, Lwazi Mvovo, Trevor Nyakane, Ruan Pienaar, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Jan Serfontein, Juan Smith, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Morne Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Duane Vermeulen
This squad will obviously form the basis of the Springbok Rugby World Cup squad, so who do we think will make the starting line-up? Given no unexpected injuries or sudden and catastrophic loss of form, this is how we see their run on side emerging from the tunnel:
Starting 15:
15: Willie le Roux
14: JP Pietersen
13: Jaques Fourie
12: Jean de Villiers (Capt)
11: Bryan Habana
10: Morne Steyn
9: Fourie du Preez
8: Duane Vermeulen
7: Willem Alberts
6: Francois Louw
5: Victor Matfield
4: Eben Etzebeth
3: Jannie du Plessis
2: Bismark du Plessis
1: Tendai Mtawarira
The reserves are likely to be Adriaan Strauss, Gurthro Steenkamp, Frans Malherbe, Ruan Pienaar, Pat Lambie, Lood de Jager, Juan Smith and Schalk Burger.
Meyer already knows who his starting team is going to be against the other heavyweights of world rugby and we doubt if it would differ much, if at all, from the team shown here. There can be little doubt about positions 11 to 15, except if Heyneke regards Pietersen as an outside centre now, in which case Cornal Hendricks will start on the right wing, but we do not see Pietersen displacing Fourie who has a far superior ability to marshal the defensive line. Many would probably prefer to see Pat Lambie start at flyhalf, but Steyn’s long term track record, superior kicking success rate as well as kicking game will get him the nod. Lambie would offer much more off the bench, covering flyhalf, inside centre as well as fullback. As a dark horse, Handre Pollard would be more likely to start than Lambie.
At scrumhalf, Meyer is also likely to go for the more precise passing and tactical kicking of Du Preez over Ruan Pienaar. Pienaar will provide exceptional cover off the bench and with his European rugby experience will get fair game time. The return of Juan Smith is a very interesting one. After suffering a near career ending Achilles tendon injury, he is back with a bang and is once again in world class form. For those who are against the over 30’s brigade, you might be in for disappointment. South Africa currently have a dearth of number 5 locks after Matfield and Smith is going to act as cover for Matfield in that position. A surprise indeed, but without a strong line out option no team can hope to win the Rugby World Cup. This side does not have the same feel of “Dad’s Army” that losing finalists England brought to the 2007 World Cup. Instead, there is a good mix of quality players and a feeling of belief in the squad. What Meyer needs now is for South Africa’s provinces and Super Rugby franchises to buy into his idea to ensure that his players, especially the older players, are managed properly with sufficient off time to ensure they play a meaningful part in England 2015.
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