Lions: Returning players to look out for in 2017

Injuries are a fact of life in Super Rugby, but with modern medicine there’s hope that players can return to their former glory.

A knee ligament injury ended hopes of Harold Vorster building on his impressive introduction to Super Rugby in the Lions’ resurgent 2016 season. One must remember that at the time the now incumbent and widely heralded Rohan Janse van Rensburg sat behind Vorster and Howard Mnisi in the pecking order for the Lions’ number twelve jumper.

With Ruan Combrinck sidelined after shoulder surgery until early March and Harold Vorster getting game time in pre-season hit outs, we could see Lionel Mapoe, who is no stranger to the wing, shifted out a channel to cover for Combrinck’s injury. This will open the door for Vorster to build on the promising start to his Super Rugby career.

It would be natural to deem this as unfair to Mapoe after such a solid season and a springbok call up, but for the strength of the side as a whole, it must be an attractive option for Johan Ackerman.

There is also the possibility that if Janse van Rensburg and Vorster form a formidable combination and Mapoe does what he did last year in terms of finishing out on the wing we could see Combrinck at fullback in the near future.

In Andries Coetzee, the lions have somewhat of a low-key but consistent performer at fullback, the kind of guy you would imagine gets his name on the team sheet week in and week out fairly quickly.

The alternative is that Justin Ackermann who has shown trust in his extended squad and in a rotation policy picks a side in line with those values giving starts to youngsters like Anthony Volminck.

Hopefully, though, the return of Vorster, especially if he can reproduce the early form he showed in Super Rugby, will open up a few positive selection headaches for the Lions coaching staff and give added value and much needed help to the national team selectors in regards to the versatility of players like Mapoe and Combrinck.

South Africans, no doubt, will be pleased if the return of the boy from Phalaborwa forces the Lions management into seeing what Mapoe and Combrinck can bring to the table in a back three.

The thought of Combrinck at fullback and Mapoe on the wing should be appetising for Allistair Coetzee, who will be in charge at least through the three-match series against the French.

All said the return of Howard Vorster is an exciting prospect, not just for Lions fans, but also for what it could do to open the eyes of the South African selectors.

It will be tough on the Lions coaching staff but if Vorster picks up where he left off, we should see some positional changes among the Lions backs. This could do a few massive favours for the limited, so far unoriginal South African coaching staff and the selectors.