With a host of seasoned campaigners remaining at home, Springbok coach Jake White will be hoping to unearth new talent when his side takes on Ireland and England in Europe over the next month.
The World Cup in France is just a year away, and with playing conditions likely to be similar to those the Boks are expected to encounter in France, White will experiment with four new caps and a number of new combinations on tour.
To this end, the South African coach has opted to rest the likes of Os du Randt, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Joe van Niekerk, Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana, Breyton Paulse and Percy Montgomery, while Schalk Burger and AJ Venter are injured.
These players — who mainly underperformed in the Tri Nations this season, though they rebounded from four opening defeats — are likely to form the nucleus of the Bok side in France, but what White requires is much-needed back-up, and this month’s tour affords him the opportunity to see how a bunch of fringe players fare on the wet and heavy fields of the northern hemisphere.
”We know what we have in the experienced guys, so this tour gives us a chance to see who shapes up and who doesn’t,” said White.
”It’s been a long season and next year is going to be just as busy. A lot of these players need a good break from the game. They will come back next year fresh and hungry to play.”
The four new caps — flanker Hilton Lobberts, wings Francois Steyn and Jaco Pretorius and fullback Bevin Fortuin — are likely to be given as much playing time as possible.
While White admits South Africa is blessed with tremendous depth among the loose forwards — he’s ignored the talents of true fetcher flanks Luke Watson and Kabamba Floors — the two areas where the Boks are a bit thin are at wing and fullback.
”We need to see what we’ve got in these departments,” said White.
Steyn and Pretorius, however, are not outright wingers, with the former preferring the flyhalf position and the latter shining at outside centre.
It’s a gamble on White’s part to play them on the wing, but, like he says, if he doesn’t try them, he’ll never know whether they’re up to it.
Besides the young, inexperienced back triangle that is likely to run out against Ireland at Lansdowne Road next weekend, the Boks’ biggest challenge on tour will be in the scrums and line-outs.
Without Du Randt’s experience, the bulk of Botha in the second row and the skills of Matfield in the line-outs, the tourists will be relying on second-stringers to secure them possession.
Loosehead prop Deon Carstens is back in the Bok team for the first time in four years, while 36-year-old Johan Ackermann will become one of the oldest Boks should he get game-time on tour.
The lanky Albert van den Berg is set to take over the role of line-out caller from Matfield.
The Boks’ preparations in Johannesburg have not gone as smoothly as White would have liked.
Loose forward Pedrie Wannenburg didn’t even make it to the training camp after picking up a wrist injury in the Currie Cup final, ruling him out of the tour, while centre Wynand Olivier struggled to shake off a knee injury in the first week of practice.
Worst of all, though, has been the inactivity of experienced tighthead CJ van der Linde.
The burly Free Stater will leave for Dublin having hardly trained with his teammates because of a hamstring problem. No player has been placed on standby as White is confident the 26-year-old will be fit for consideration for the Ireland Test.
”It’s going to take a bit of time before he’s 100% fit, but he should be fine,” said White.
”He will more than likely be available for the first Test,” said an optimistic coach.
Not only will White be hoping to learn a lot from the tour, he’ll also be keen to make up for the defeat suffered in Dublin two years ago, thanks to a dubious refereeing decision by Paul Honiss, which allowed Ronan O’Gara to score his team’s only try, and take the Boks to their first win against England in England since 1997. — AFP
