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South Africa's Bakkies Botha, left, Victor Matfield and Bismarck du Plessis celebrate winning the Tri Nations Cup. (AP Photo/NZPA, David Rowland)
With the World Cup rapidly approaching, I have gone ahead and selected the team I feel would best carry the Springboks to World Cup glory.
Most players select themselves, but I have gone ahead and made some notable exclusions, beginning with the captain himself, John Smit.
As expressed in my earlier article, he has become a liability on the field, and should be included in the squad as a non-playing Manager. He can sit on the sidelines and cheer the team on.
I also went with a risky 17/13 split in favor of the forwards. Given the style of South Africa’s play, the forwards are likely to suffer more injuries, and I’d rather have an extra loose-forward than a non-playing wing. The Boks have enough versatility in Francois Steyn, Pienaar, Hougard and Lambie to cover any injury contingency.
In the front row, options are pretty short on the tighthead side with BJ Botha injuring himself and the SA government making Brian Mujati unavailable in a sudden surge of xenophobia. CJ van der Linde is the experienced man, but his form has been awful all year. So Werner Kruger is left to fly the flag, though he’s not exactly electrifying.
At hooker, Adrian Strauss is the beneficiary of my sacking of Smit. He is a tough player who does all the basics well, and brings some needed mongrel to the equation.
At lock we have the standard Bulls contingent (I nearly included Flip vd Merwe too!), but in the end decided on Mostert for his strong performances in the otherwise mediocre SA “B” squad. The injury to Bekker leaves a big while… SA is not as flush with experienced locks as they like to pretend – I suddenly find myself looking enviously at New Zealand’s stocks…
Amongst the loosies, the extra spot makes way for Keegan Daniel to enter the side. I think cover for Brussow is essential, and while Schalk can do the job, Daniel is the most lively loosie in the country and should be rewarded for his stellar efforts.
The half-backs all pick themselves – the only real decision being whether to start Butch or Morne. As mentioned earlier, Pienaar and Hougard also cover every other backline position, except center, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Hougard there either.
With Francois Steyn and Lambie in the mix, only three centers are required – the all WP trio.
And the wings and fullbacks are SA’s only options… again, I look with envy towards New Zealand.
For all SA’s talk of depth, the back-up beyond this 30 is not that flush – but these 30 are all pretty great. They have what it takes to defend the Cup.
Props:
Jannie Du Plessis
Guthro Steenkamp
Beast Mtawarira
Werner Kruger
Hookers:
Bismarck Du Plessis
Chilliboy Ralapele
Adrian Strauss
Locks:
Victor Matfield (Captain)
Bakkies Botha
Danie Russouw
Gerhard Mostert
Loosies:
Schalk Burger
Heinrich Brussow
Pierre Spies
Willem Alberts
Keegan Daniels
Ashley Johnson
Scrum halves:
Fourie Du Preez
Francois Hougaard
Ruan Pienaar
Fly halves:
Butch James
Morne Steyn
Centers:
Jean de Villiers
Jacque Fourie
Juan De Jongh
Wings:
Bryan Habana
JP Pieterson
Gio Aplon
Fullbacks:
Patrick Lambie
Francois Steyn
On more change: Peter De Villiers to makes way for Rassie Erasmus as coach.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.