In two weeks time Rudolf Straeuli has the unenviable task of sorting the wheat from the chaff of this year’s Super 12 performances. He will announce a squad of 24 to prepare for the first Test of the season against Scotland in Durban on June 7. Intriguingly, he will wait a week before naming a provisional World Cup squad of 45, although he intends to name his captain on May 27th.
Straeuli has two principal problems: firstly, he would probably find it a lot easier to name the squad of 45 than the squad of 24. Secondly, he has announced that his captain will be chosen out of Joost van der Westhuizen, Corne Krige, John Smit and Bob Skinstad. Krige and Smit are injured, Skinstad is so palpably out of form that no one noticed his absence last Saturday and Van der Westhuizen has reached the age where the next injury crisis is just around the corner.
We’ll come back to the captaincy issue, but first it would be a selectorial boon to write down the names of those players who didn’t let themselves down during the course of the Super 12. Given that three of South Africa’s franchises finished in the bottom four that’s not easy. And even the Bulls, celebrating after a sixth place finish, went walkabout in the middle part of the competition.
Forwards
Gary Botha
Probably South Africa’s player of the tournament. Ironic, given that his home province, the Bulls, didn’t want him and that he had to be drafted by the Sharks after two of their Springbok hookers were injured. Straeuli was so desperate for a hooker last year that he found a way to employ James Dalton, despite his human rights record that would shame a tinpot dictator. This year Botha, who is just 21 years old and precociously talented, has solved his problem.
Cobus Visagie
The only member of the Stormers to make this list, although Hendrik Gerber came close. Visagie has a prickly personality and there were dark rumours that his game disappeared when his body was clean of the drugs that nearly earned him a two-year ban. He has slowly worked his way back to the point where he is clearly the best in his position in the country, just as he was at the same stage four years ago.
Geo Cronje
Rudy Joubert had three outstanding locks and rotated Cronje with Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha. Cronje’s youth, allied to his almost impossibly imposing physique, gives him the edge.
Piet Krause
Much-travelled flanker who may have reached the pinnacle of his career. The kind of player that makes coaches purr because he does what he’s told and never stops tackling and getting in the way of opponents.
Jaun Smith
Like Botha, Smith came to prominence at last year’s Under 21 World Cup. He began the season as ”super-sub” for the Cats and made an impact whenever he appeared. By the end of the tournament he was the one and only Cats forward who could hold his head high and say he had given of his best in every game. He can play anywhere in the back five.
Backs
Craig Davidson
Day in and day out the most dependable scrumhalf in South Africa. His kicking game is on a different plane to all the others. He tackles like Joost in his prime and never gives up. The story goes that he may slip through the cracks in the pavement, principally it seems because of his colour. It would be a major mistake to leave him out.
Louis Koen
(See Jaco van der Westhuyzen and replace Fourie’s name with Andre Pretorius).
Andre Snyman
Back to his impressive best by staying free of injury and resolving some personal issues. On no account should he be allowed to start at inside centre — his distribution skills are not up to it — but wing is an option for a physical presence whose pace from a standing start makes him fiendishly difficult to defend against.
Jaco van der Westhuyzen
Not a natural fullback by any means, but clearly the form player of the season in that position, well ahead of Jacque Fourie at the Cats. It would, nevertheless, be a leap of faith to catapult him into a Test match at fullback, which explains why he was not among the Bulls group who posed for Springbok photos last month.
That gives us nine players, which is a pretty poor return from a squad of around 120. There is another tier of players who did very well, but didn’t get enough game time, either due to injuries or selectorial whims. Among these are Van der Westhuizen, Richard Bands, Matfield and Botha from the Bulls; Etienne Fynn and Rudi Keil from the Sharks; and Pieter Rossouw from the Stormers. That swells the number to 16, although we’re missing a right wing, a flanker and a loosehead prop.
There isn’t a captain there, either, although Matfield and Rossouw have filled in this year. Which brings us to the age-old debate about how a captain is selected in the first place. Why make a rod for your own back — as Straeuli has done — by announcing your World Cup captain in May? Probably because the marketing department of SA Rugby told him he had to, but that’s an argument for another day.
For now we can speculate purely on playing ability. Smit hasn’t played this year and, anyway, isn’t the best hooker in the country. Skinstad is as mercurial as ever and Krige is held together by tape, so Van der Westhuizen, who also isn’t the best player in his position in the country, should get the nod. But with six months still to go it’s a pointless announcement, whatever the marketing department may think.