The new Springbok era begins in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Coach Rudolf Straeuli’s bold selection includes five new caps and by the end of the match that number may have risen to nine, thanks to the fact that there are four uncapped players on the bench.
The team bears a radically different look to the last one of Harry Viljoen’s troubled reign. Of the side that beat the United States in Houston in December, just three players remain in the starting line-up — Andre Snyman, AJ Venter and Victor Matfield — although Ollie le Roux, Willie Meyer and Adrian Jacobs were in the 22.
Snyman has been moved from outside centre to inside centre, while Jacobs has been dropped to the bench. The centre position was a huge problem for Viljoen, with an attrition rate of Somme-like dimensions, and nothing much seems to have changed. Straeuli’s preferred centre pair was the Stormers duo of Marius Joubert and De Wet Barry, but Barry’s injury forced his hand.
Joubert will wear 13, Snyman 12, but don’t expect it to be as simple as that. Straeuli’s boldness did not extend to partnering Jacobs with Joubert although that combination is likely to play most of the second half. Instead, two outside centres have been picked and the likelihood is that Joubert will stand inside Snyman on attack, outside him on defence.
It’s a throwback to the old days of centres in this country playing left and right and it may turn out to be ill-conceived. Specialists are required at international level these days and, despite the well-known defensive frailties of Jacobs, it would have been as well to pick him in the position he knows best, rather than hoping that two wrongs might make a right.
Straeuli’s other odd decision has been to move Breyton Paulse from right wing to left, but this is a lot more justifiable. Firstly, until he earned his first Test cap in 1999 Paulse had moved around in the Western Province back line with regularity. At under-21 level he played flyhalf, centre and fullback, and playing on the left wing should actually suit him since he is naturally left-footed.
Furthermore, in Springbok teams of the past two years Paulse has had something of a roving brief, due in no small part to the lack of flair at half-back and centre. He can be expected to turn up all over the park.
Paulse’s exchange of wings is due to the selection of Stefan Terblanche. It is a serendipitous touch that the Sharks winger should return to the Springbok team on the very ground where he made his debut, scoring four tries against Ireland in 1998.
The other two survivors of that game are Snyman, Le Roux and James Dalton (Bobby Skinstad came off the bench). Four years later Skinstad is captain, Le Roux is understudying loosehead prop and hooker on the bench and Dalton’s return for his 35th Test is a comeback of Lazarus-like proportions.
It would be easy to fall back on journalistic clich here and say that Dalton has learned some lessons from life, deserves another chance and will be a mature father figure for the youngsters around him. But if that is the case it might be wise to book a trip to the Londolozi game reserve to find out whether their leopards are changing their spots.
Dalton is a recidivist and, while his inclusion was forced to some extent by the injuries that befell John Smit and Lucas van Biljon, Straeuli may well come to regret his decision to give ”The Bullet” another chance at glory. Wales may be no match for the Springboks out wide, but their pack will be competitive. Expect trouble at the first scrum and look for a shaven-headed Springbok at the eye of the storm.
It the Boks are to get the most out of Dalton much will depend on the man-management skills of Skinstad. There seems little doubt that he would have been on the bench had Cornb Krige been fit, but Skinstad has already established a reputation as one of those players for whom opportunity knocks with monotonous regularity. He could stuff the words of his critics down their throats with a commanding performance against Wales, but nothing in his short season to date has suggested a Sampson, eyeless in Gaza, ready to tear down the prison walls.
Instead, we can expect a first-half performance of one part rustiness to two parts nervous tension and a few intriguing positional changes in the second half. It may be that AJ Venter will give way to Joe van Niekerk, but that the latter will slot in at eighth man, pushing Skinstad on to the flank. If Van Niekerk shapes up, Straeuli will have a few more difficult decisions to make ahead of the second Test in Cape Town.