The Currie Cup is wide open and the provincial teams=20 have made some interesting changes in their quest for=20
RUGBY: Jon Swift
ANYONE who thought that in the afterglow of the World=20 Cup this season’s Currie Cup competition would have all=20 the attributes of flat beer, missed the mark by a wide=20
The surprise sparkle this week comes firstly in the=20 form of South African captain Francois Pienaar coming=20 back into the Transvaal side wearing the No 8 jersey=20 for the confrontation with traditional rivals Northern=20 Transvaal at Loftus Versveld on Saturday.
It is as interesting a move in many ways by coach Ray=20 Mordt as that by his mentor Kitch Christie in playing=20 lock forward Mark Andrews at the back of the scrum in=20 the World Cup semi-final and final.
But, more importantly, it would pose a number of=20 questions about No 8 play in general. Certainly, the=20 discarding of Lee Stewart, who has done duty so far=20 this season, and the continued placement of Rudolph=20 Straeuli on the Transvaal bench would indicate that the=20 South African thinking is weighted against eighthman=20 being a specialist position.
It would also bring into question the prevailing global=20 thinking that No 8 needs finely honed lineout skills.=20 Pienaar, fine forward that he is, cannot count the=20 lineout among his many strong points.
But then, with Northerns opting to reinstate Springbok=20 cast-off Lance Sherrell at pivot, Mordt has looked to=20 the speed around the park Pienaar will bring to the=20 loose trio, and left the jumping at the back of the=20 line to Ian Macdonald.
The movement of Pienaar out of the No 6 jersey he has=20 made is own over the past few years, at both provincial=20 and international level, perhaps typifies the unsettled=20 look of Currie Cup rugby thus far.
No side has yet won away from home and no team has=20 steadied fully into a core of regulars. Natal, who take=20 on Free State at the the new Free State stadium in=20 Bloemfontein on Saturday, are a case in point.
James Small continues at fullback for the injured Andre=20 Joubert and former Free Stater Ollie le Roux replaces=20 Italian captain Massimo Cuttita in the front row.
Le Roux’s defection to the Natal ranks must have been a=20 serious move for the young man who felt so strongly=20 about his roots in Bloemfontein that he had the letters=20 OVS shaved into his crewcut for last season’s Currie=20 Cup final.
One gets the feeling that he will find holding a place=20 in the Natal side as difficult as shaving the name of=20 his new province across the broad expanse of neck=20 holding regular loosehead Robbie Kempson out of the=20 side when he returns from South Africa Under-21 duty in=20
The struggle for supremacy among two outstanding young=20 props looks to be one worth following. So do the claims=20 of another former Free Stater, scrumhalf Henti Martens,=20 and Scots flanker Rob Wainwright. Both will soon be=20 challenging for places.
Free State show six changes and a positional switch=20 from the line-up which did duty in the 33-3 defeat at=20 the hands of Northerns. Charl Marais comes in at hooker=20 for the injured Naka Drotske while Os du Randt comes=20 back in after injury, and former Boland scrumhalf Kat=20 Myburgh replaces Stompie Fourie.
Veteran Helgard Muller is again in favour, replacing=20 Piet Steenkamp as Brendan Venter’s centre partner and=20 Graeme Bouwer comes in at fullback for WJ Visagie.
But it is again among the loose forwards that the=20 positional changes have been made with Johan Erasmus=20 coming in as No 6 flank and Andre Venter switching=20
Even Western Province, who take on their Eastern=20 Province neighbours at Newlands, have not fully settled=20 on their side. In many respects, Province have looked a=20 rounded side and, with Joel Stransky dictating terms, a=20 tough team to beat. But even the men from the Western=20 Cape have made changes, bringing in FC Smit at lock for=20 Louis Blom.
At least Tiaan Strauss is unlikely to be moved from No=20 8 to experiment with other options. In Cape Town at=20 least, his selection is automatic.