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Springbok mentor Heyneke Meyer looks set to take a gamble against the Pumas at Loftus this weekend with the likelihood of Damian de Allende, Handre Pollard, Jean de Villiers and Eben Etzebeth starting this weekend seemingly very high.
Today the Springboks assembled for their first full-contact training session in preparation for the coming weekend’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship opening game and some of Meyer’s selections at training indicate that he might finally take the gloves off and take a risk for glory.
The fact that they trained with this team on Monday doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be the team that takes to the field on Saturday, but Meyer has always been known to allow his selected team to train as much as they possibly can and many, like myself, hope for this to be the case again.
Starting up front, Springbok prop Jannie du Plessis sat out with Stormers powerhouse Frans Malherbe taking his place at training. This however seems only precautionary and the most probable scenario will see du Plessis starting and Malherbe taking his spot on the bench.
Veteran scrum-half Fourie du Preez sat on the sidelines with his cast on so him participating in any game this year in most likelihood will not happen. Ruan Pienaar trained in his place with Francois Hougaard alternating with him. The smart money says Pienaar to start, Hougaard to bench and Reinach to peel the oranges.
With vice-captain Victor Matfield sidelined for this Test, it seems that Meyer is going to go with what would be the tallest, biggest lock pairing in the world: Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager.
Matfield’s old partner Bakkies Botha was not present at the session but it wouldn’t be out of the question to suggest that he may also start with Etzebeth moving to the bench. Either way all three these locks are around 205cm and weigh in at 125kg, it would definitely be a monstrous pack.
Springbok talisman Jean de Villiers trained at the inside centre position with Jan Serfontein receiving minimal opportunity. With Matfield out it only seems logical for de Villiers to start as someone would have to take over the captaincy. Serfontein will most possibly fill the void on the bench as centre and wing cover.
On de Villiers’ outside Meyer slotted in his Stormers teammate Damian de Allende. In June, Meyer had alluded to it that he most certainly would have played de Allende at 13 had he been available, and by the looks of things he still believes the Stormers behemoth is the best prospect to fill Jaque Fourie’s boots.
But the blindside Meyer threw at the entire country was when he let Handre Pollard train the entire session, with Morne Steyn only practicing a few kicks and about three runs with the backs.
It would seem that Meyer has full confidence in Pollard’s abilities and may do the unthinkable by letting him prove his worth. If this training run was anything to go by, the Springbok 23 to face the Pumas would look something like this:
1. Tendai Mtawarira (186cm, 120kg)
2. Bismarck du Plessis (189cm, 114kg)
3. Frans Malherbe (190cm, 124kg)
4. Eben Etzebeth (205cm, 125kg)
5. Lood de Jager (206cm, 125kg)
6. Francois Louw (190cm, 114kg)
7. Willem Alberts (192cm, 120kg)
8. Duane Vermeulen (193cm, 116kg)
9. Ruan Pienaar (187cm, 90kg)
10. Handre Pollard (189cm, 96kg)
11. Bryan Habana (180cm, 94kg)
12. Jean de Villiers (190cm, 103kg)
13. Damian de Allende (189cm, 105kg)
14. Cornall Hendricks (188cm, 90kg)
15. Willie le Roux (185cm, 90kg)
16. Jannie du Plessis (188cm, 121kg)
17. Gurthro Steenkamp (188cm, 125kg)
18. Adriaan Strauss (184cm, 111kg)
19. Bakkies Botha (203cm, 124kg)
20. Marcell Coetzee (191cm, 109kg)
21. Francois Hougaard (180cm, 93kg)
22. Morne Steyn (184cm, 93kg)
23. Jan Serfontein (187cm 98kg)
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.