Bok coach Peter de Villiers has defended his decision to leave 21 front-line players at home for the Tri-Nations away leg, saying they were physically wrecked after the expanded Super Rugby season.
The South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby (Sanzar) franchise competition included 15 teams and was played over 21 weeks versus last year’s 16, while the intensity of more derby games exposed players to extra physical demands.
De Villiers last week pulled 21 leading players, who are likely to form the core of the Springboks’ World Cup defence, out of the Tri-Nations away leg. They play tests against Australia in Sydney on July 23 and New Zealand in Wellington on July 30.
“Superglue won’t even help those players. You’d rather make the big difference in his life by making sensible decisions for him. For one moment of greatness, why bugger up a player’s future?” De Villiers said on Tuesday.
“CJ van der Linde has a really bad groin and Johann Muller’s hamstring is even worse, but we will take them overseas. So can you imagine how badly injured the players who are staying behind are?” De Villiers told a sponsor’s function.
‘Nobody rates Smit, but I trust him’
The coach, who did raise some eyebrows by including hooker and captain John Smit in the touring party, said he was confident Smit would back to his best at this year’s edition in New Zealand in September.
“After those two matches overseas, John Smit will be where I want him to be. He hasn’t been used properly this year.
“I believe he’s gained an extra year for himself after a neck operation last year, a great off-season and great pre-season preparation. He is fresh, raring to go and he just needs game time.
“I trust in John Smit, he’s a great world star, a fine player and I’m going to give him the opportunity to show that again. Nobody rated him, then he won the World Cup, and now nobody rates him again,” De Villiers said.
Sharks coach John Plumtree preferred the mobile and physical Bismarck du Plessis over Smit as his team made the Super Rugby playoffs but De Villiers stressed the Springboks have different players and would use their hooker in a different role.
“The attributes that Bismarck du Plessis provides for the Sharks are the same ones that Juan Smith provides for the Springboks. The Sharks don’t have a Juan Smith at flank, so you can’t compare the decisions John Plumtree makes for them. I know John Smit can take his game to another level,” De Villiers said.
He said flyhalf Morne Steyn had been included in the touring party “because all the other flyhalves are injured” but said openside flank Heinrich Brussow, also considered a certainty for the World Cup squad, might not be rushed back into action even though he will travel to Australasia.
“Every time he has been injured, he has come back too early, and we were the same last week in training. He’s a valuable player, a fine player you build a team around, so we can’t afford to lose him. We won’t push him,” De Villiers added. — Reuters