Tank Lanning
The Bok team selected to play England on Saturday:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Bench: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo
Hope you got your team in on time … Courtesy of Energade, I am hosting the winners of the Energade Bok Barometer competition on a trip to see the Boks play in Argentina next year. The winners being the guys or girls who correctly predict the Bok side that Heyneke Meyer picks each week this year …
And this is the side I would have selected:
15 Jaco Taute, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Bench: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Raymond Rhule
Comments:
As said earlier, I did not see our ultra conservative coach changing much at this stage of the season. All he wants to do is eke out a win and get the hell out of Dodge. That spot light has shone brightly on the new Bok coach this year, and I think he is in need of some time away from the game …
Hence the only unenforced change being on the bench where Jantjies comes in for Morne Steyn. But they key question has to be – Will he get any game time? 4 minutes if he is lucky I reckon …
Kirchner remains … No surprise there … But he is no Mr Sparky, and we all know what we get from him, so why not give someone else a shot? I would have given Taute a run at the back …
Steenkamp was at best OK against the Scots … I would started with power scrummager Heinke van der Merwe and given newboy and most deserving JC Janse van Rensburg a spot on the splinters. That is some fine loosehead power right there!
I would also have given Mvovo a run on the wing instead of Francois Hougaard, who seems to have a golden ticket to the run on side despite doing nothing earth shattering. Hougaard on the bench also adds a lot of value given his versatility and ability to change a game.
The current Springbok squad in the UK:
Willem Alberts, Arno Botha, Schalk Brits, Pat Cilliers, Marcell Coetzee, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (c), Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Francois Hougaard, JC Janse van Rensburg, Elton Jantjies, Zane Kirchner, Juandré Kruger, Pat Lambie, Francois Louw, Frans Malherbe, Lionel Mapoe, Lwazi Mvovo, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Raymond Rhule, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Morné Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Jaco Taute, Heinke van der Merwe, Flip van der Merwe, Franco van der Merwe, Jano Vermaak, Duane Vermeulen.
So the poor vacationers who have not even made a single match 23 on tour are …
Arno Botha, Lionel Mapoe, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Raymond Rhule, and Jano Vermaak … While JC Janse van Rensburg and Frans Malherbe have also flown across to make up the numbers …
I reckon he’ll play. England also have Farrell as reserve and I think both coaches will look for fresh legs and fresh ideas in the last 20 minutes.
I’m not bothered about players being non-playing tourists. Each match is a test and you don’t cheapen the jersey.
On a slightly related note, did you hear Heyneke Meyer say that he had a long chat with Pat and told him to stand flatter, attack the advantage line, and play his natural game? Seems the last two games may have been down to miscommunication as much as gameplan.