It remains a matter of conjecture what Springbok coach Peter de Villiers hopes to learn from the match in Windhoek on Friday night when a South African XV meet up with a Namibian side bolstered by five former Springboks.
De Villiers is quoted in an SA Rugby media release saying that he wants to use this match to see how the new players fare ”at another level”.
”We know what we have in our established players and want to use this match as an opportunity to see what the new players offer and also give them an opportunity to show what they can do at another level,” said De Villiers.
It is a moot point whether the quality of the opposition is anything near Super 14 standard — of three uncapped players in the South African side’s starting line-up, only surprise selection Morgan Newman has had a little time on a Super 14 field.
De Villiers has also previously said that the match provides the opportunity to test combinations, although this looks improbable because of the side’s make-up.
The starting XV — with the exception of the Sharks front row, Sharks No. 8 Ryan Kankowski, lock Andries Bekker who is back from injury, and perhaps Stormers discard scrumhalf Ricky January — includes no serious contenders for a place in the Tests against the Lions.
Springbok Meyer Bosman, with many current and recent injuries to the leading inside centres such as Jean de Villiers, Francois Steyn and Wynand Olivier, as well as outside centre Jaque Fourie, could perhaps convince the selectors that he is next in line should the injury trend continue.
With a week of training together, the SA XV have had the advantage of introducing some players to the national system and coaching staff.
Derick Hougaard, returning from a back injury sustained while playing for Leicester, is joined in the Namibian side by four other former Springboks — Marco Wentzel, Wayne Julies, Danie Coetzee and Jaco van der Westhuyzen — as well as Namibian players with experience in Super and Currie Cup rugby.
Players of the calibre of former Bulls centre Frikkie Welsh, and Blue Bulls such as John Mametsa, JP Joubert, Dries van Schalkwyk, Jacques Nieuwenhuys, Jacques Burger and Ruan Vermeulen will add more experience to a team that should give the SA XV a reasonable work-out in a match that, due to a lack of proven combinations, will probably not have all the structure sought by the connoisseurs but could provide plenty of entertainment to a Windhoek crowd that rarely see rugby of a reasonable standard. — Sapa