Selecting Schalk Burger at 7 must have been tempting for Meyer, but Tank Lanning, in his weekly Sport24 column, believes sticking with Oupa Mohoje is a brave call that will resonate with the players.
One can fully understand Bok coach Heyneke Meyer giving Duane Vermeulen as much time as possible to recover from his rib injury. Without François Louw and Willem Alberts, he has not only been the leader of an inexperienced Bok loose trio, but also been truly “Undies outside your shorts” herculean both with ball in hand, but especially at the breakdown, where he leads the tournament stats with 5 pilfers.
A potential head to head with Kieren Read will have cooler boxes being emptied all over the world. But in a game that is only about bragging rights, is it really worth risking a player of this calibre and value? He obviously wants to play, and one would expect nothing less of this warrior, but is it not a perfect opportunity to have a look at Schalk Burger at 8 and give Warren Whiteley a run off the bench? A loose trio of Nizaam Carr, Burger and Marcell Coetzee would also not be the worst experiment in the world, but Whiteley seems to have the edge over the man currently dominating the Currie Cup.
That said, there is a big break between the Rugby Champs and the Bok’s first End of Year Tour game against Ireland, so perhaps that is part of Meyer’s thinking. It might even be worth excusing Vermeulen from that tour and giving both Whiteley and Carr a proper run in the UK?
Starting Bismarck du Plessis is an excellent call. Adriaan Strauss is a classy hooker and did a good job last week, but Bismarck, to my mind, is the best in the world. Apart from what he offers at the breakdown, this Bok pack needs his brutal physicality to dominate in order for the team to play the more ball in hand game they are starting to employ.
This was made abundantly apparent against Australia when Burger came on to replace Oupa Mohoje. Through intent, rather than execution (I still don’t think he is quite the physical man-beast he was prior to his injury and illness), he took on the entire Aussie side. He made yards, committed more players to the break down, and allowed the backline to play with go forward ball. It changed the game.
A slightly risky call to stick with Mohoje given that he is not quite ready to dominate physically at the highest level. Who would in their first Test match, though? And having made the call to select him, it is only fair and right that he gets a second game, even if against the All Blacks.
Oh how tempting it must have been for the conservative Meyer to have gone with Burger at 7 and Mohoje on the bench. No one would have blamed him, but this is a brave call from the coach that will resonate with the player and team. The cynic in me does wonder what Meyer would have done had Vermeulen been fit and raring to go, though?
Speaking of temptation … Given the impact of the bench last week in Cape Town, it must have been properly tempting to start all 8 of them this week. But Meyer has got this one right. The modern day game is a 23 man affair, and having 8 guys that can make such a huge impact on a game is a fantastic weapon for a coach.
But no Bok bench will be able to save a side that plays the same way against the All Blacks as they did in the first 70 minutes at Newlands. The Aussies kick the least of all 4 Rugby Championship sides, so a structured and physical defence tends to do the job. The Wallabies have kicked out of hand just 75 times in the tournament. The All Blacks are on 126, just 10 behind the Boks, but it’s the effectiveness of said kicks that separates the two sides.
Kick aimlessly at the likes of Dagg, Smith and Savea, and they will make you pay. Prepare not for the little grubber or dink over the top that they used so well in Argentina, and you pay with points.
This is a strong Bok side that can live with the best. This is a strong All Black side that is the best. But they have travelled a long way, and already have the silverware in the cabinet. “Vat die gaping manne.”
The Springbok team to face The All Blacks at Ellis Park
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Duane Vermeulen/Schalk Burger, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Marcel Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Bench: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Schalk Burger/Warren Whiteley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 JP Pietersen
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Joe Moody.
Bench: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Liam Messam, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Ryan Crotty.
This might not be exactly in line with the theme of the article and might come over as a bit of a “fan club” comment but I cannot resist. Hailing from Nelspruit myself makes this love affair run even more deeply…but Duane has been immense since finally getting his Bok call-up. Cast your mind back to the silly rumblings that all forums such as this one used to have over whether we should play Spies or Kankowski, those days are gone. My brother had a chat with Duane after he visited Nelspruit a few years back and joined the local tag rugby blokes for a run-around on a Wednesday night and a few cold ones afterwards (testament to the good bloke he is) and Duane said he knows he still has a few elements of his game that he needs to work on before he is ready to play for the Boks. Well I would like to think that he did indeed go and work on those elements as he is surely now one of the first names that goes down on that team sheet. Definitely the finest 8 on the planet, only eclipsed by the phenom that is Read. His discipline has improved while at the same time he has retained the “don’t give an inch” attitude that is so needed at Test level in the Bok game plan. I can’t see any player beating him to the SA rugby player of the year award. For a player that could probably have taken the easy way out and moved to Europe a few years ago chasing the Euro, he has stuck to his gameplan and is reaping rewards beautifully. Good on you Duane!