Who will be Bok fullback?
THERE will be a fierce battle for the Springbok fullback berth between Johan Goosen, Ruan Combrinck and Jesse Kriel before their opening Rugby Championship encounter against Argentina at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit next week.
With longtime fullback Willie Le Roux not making the cut for Allister Coetzee’s 31-man squad over the weekend due to his erratic form this year, Coetzee revealed that he would be choosing his next fullback from the three utility backs.
The fact that Le Roux’s form had dipped drastically in recent months and showed no sign of improvement during the inbound Test series against Ireland contributed to his omission, but Coetzee also mentioned the Boks’ frailties against Ireland with a string of left-footed kickers in the backline.
The halfback pairing of Faf de Klerk and Elton Jantjies are both left-footed, as are Le Roux and wing Lwazi Mvovo.
It made for a tricky tactical and technical dilemma.
As much as Coetzee has options between Goosen, Combrinck and Kriel, it seems his mind could already be made up on who will start at No 15 next week.
Coetzee waxed lyrical yesterday onGoosen’s exploits for his French club Racing 92 this past season, and the fact that the former Cheetahs pivot played a lot of his rugby at fullback and centre alongside former All Black flyhalf Dan Carter.
Combrinck has all but cemented his place on the wing after a strong showing against the Irish in June, and that is where he has played most of his rugby for the Lions, while Kriel’s lack of game time at fullback during Super Rugby could weigh against him when Coetzee makes his final decision.
“I think Johan Goosen, Ruan Combrinck and Jesse Kriel give us options at the back. First and foremost, the most important thing about our fullback is his positional play and assisting the back three.
“Goosen has been outstanding in Europe, not just from behind but as a 13 and as a 10. I’m sure playing alongside Daniel Carter has also helped him a lot.
“But we are sitting again with a right-footed and left-footed combination if you have Goosen, Jesse or Combrinck there with Elton as a left-footed player.
“That’s where we were bogged down with Ireland in the first Test; we had Faf, Elton and Willie, all three left-footed kickers, and we had Lwazi, that’s four left-footed kickers in one team.
“Therefore most of the kicks were down the left-hand side. So the balance and combination is right with those kind of right-footed fullbacks and your left-footed number 10 and 9,” said Coetzee.
While he is spoilt for choice at fullback, there is a looming crisis at prop with Trevor Nyakane ruled out of the first two Tests because of a niggling ankle injury. He was replaced yesterday by Sharks prop Lourens Adriaanse.
Adding to the problem of depleted stocks at prop are the injuries to Frans Malherbe, Coenie Oosthuizen, Lizo Gqoboka and even seasoned campaigner Jannie du Plessis.
“We are facing a prop crisis in the country. We have Frans Malherbe, Coenie, Trevor and Lizo Gqoboka out, and we have Marcel van der Merwe who has gone overseas. We are really battling in that department, and a guy like Lourens Adriaanse has done the job for the Springboks before.
“Every time he has come on for the Sharks or started, he has been outstanding. His primary role is to be solid as a tighthead in the scrum, and that is what we will be needing against Argentina.
“We’ve got Vincent Koch, and Julian Redelinghuys has played very well and has grown as a tighthead, so fortunately we have those two players and with Lourens we should be fine. Jannie du Plessis is also battling with a hamstring injury so if I had to go overseas again to Jannie, he is also out for the next two to three weeks,” Coetzee said.
The Springboks will continue with their training in Johannesburg for the remainder of the week with the nine Lions players joining the squad on Thursday, while the overseas-based players and Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard, who are at the Rio Olympic Games, will be joining the rest of the squad only on Sunday before their departure for Nelspruit.