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While my allegiances have often been divided throughout the history of the Tri-Nations and Rugby Championship, as a born Australian I’ve always had to cheer for the Wallabies when it comes to games against the Springboks.
Having said this, my South African origins always have me questioning the rugby happenings of the rainbow nation as well.
I will start by saying that when I think about and hear the constant criticism of the so called ‘Jakeball’ style of the rugby that South African rugby is known for, I think back to how it won the 2007 World Cup.
It is a style of rugby that when properly coached and executed can be devastating to play against.
Jake White did so successfully with Fourie du Preez at scrum-half and I feel now that the Boks have found a way to implement this with a wider running game. Though the laws are ever evolving, this type of rugby can also evolve and it is being achieved with the current showings of the team.
Current coach Heyneke Meyer is someone I feel is doing a very solid job in implementing an attacking and more mobile structure to South Africa’s attack. Meyer understands from his days at coaching the Bulls to a first Super Rugby title, the required balance between retaining possession and tactically offloading it when necessary.
This current influx of exciting rugby from South Africa can in my view largely be attributed to this balance, but also the class of players like Willie le Roux and Jan Serfontein.
A hot topic of debate at the moment is the amount of players that are being selected from outside South Africa, playing over in Europe or Japan and still having eligibility to play for their country.
This is a policy that the SARU has to crack down on unless they want to start letting the best talent in the country going overseas at a younger and younger age. The future of Super Rugby and the Currie Cup need the best players to be playing in South Africa.
While this really is a topic for another day, Meyer has been guilty of selecting players as more of a ‘safety first’ option in the past instead of blooding younger players into the current Springbok set-up.
The team that I feel would best serve South Africa heading into the Rugby Championship has been articulated on the basis of form, age and contracted club, however there will be one very noticeable exception to this rule to – a player I have never been able to rule out of the side, Bryan Habana.
| Springboks Team List | Caps | Age | Club | |
| 1 | Tendai Mtawarira | 55 | 28 | Sharks |
| 2 | Bismarck du Plessis | 60 | 30 | Sharks |
| 3 | Jannie du Plessis | 54 | 31 | Sharks |
| 4 | Eben Etzebeth | 23 | 22 | Stormers |
| 5 | Victor Matfield | 113 | 37 | Bulls |
| 6 | Schalk Burger | 71 | 31 | Stormers |
| 7 | Willem Alberts | 32 | 30 | Sharks |
| 8 | Duane Vermeulen | 19 | 28 | Stormers |
| 9 | Francois Hougaard | 26 | 28 | Bulls |
| 10 | Pat Lambie | 32 | 23 | Sharks |
| 11 | Bryan Habana | 97 | 31 | Touloun (France) |
| 12 | Jan Serfontein | 12 | 21 | Bulls |
| 13 | JP Pietersen | 54 | 28 | Sharks |
| 14 | Cornal Hendricks | 3 | 26 | Cheetahs |
| 15 | Willie le Roux | 15 | 24 | Cheetahs |
| Reserves | ||||
| Hooker | Adriaan Strauss | 34 | 28 | Cheetahs |
| Prop | Trevor Nyakane | 4 | 25 | Cheetahs |
| Prop | Marcel van der Merwe | 1 | 23 | Bulls |
| Lock | Lood de Jager | 3 | 21 | Cheetahs |
| Flanker | Marcell Coetzee | 16 | 23 | Sharks |
| Scrum-Half | Cobus Reinach | 0 | 24 | Sharks |
| Fly-half | Handré Pollard | 1 | 20 | Bulls |
| Wing | Lwazi Mvovo | 9 | 28 | Sharks |
| Total Caps 743 | ||||
| Median Age 26 | ||||
The full squad of 23 contains 9 Sharks, 5 Bulls, 5 Cheetahs, 3 Stormers players. There is the solitary inclusion of Habana from Toulon.
I personally feel that these are the players either older and more experienced who can help establish depth for when they move on, players who are partially established within the squad or newly debuted players who show massive potential for the future.
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.