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This will be a good Bok tour

JJ Harmse

You have to feel for Peter de Villiers. No, honestly, the poor man will need his good sense of humour over the next couple of weeks, because this tour to the UK could prove to be his downfall.

It reminds 2006 tour with Jake White at the helm, himself about to be fired, only a win against England saving his bacon.

At the time White was at odds with his administrators with poor results in the Tri-Nations – they just managed to beat New Zealand in Rustenburg - putting a lot of pressure on the coach.

White’s team to play against Ireland in their tour opener, which at the time, was a celebration of the Springbok emblem’s 100 year existence, was a weird one, with Jaco Pretorius, who was sensational for the Lions at 13, being picked at 14, and Bryan Habana picked at 13.

Bevan Fortuin and a young Frans Steyn were on debut on a miserable Dublin night, the last time a Bok team was to play at Lansdowne Road.

A lot of senior players also missed that tour and the coach had to go with a fairly makeshift team.
We lost heavily, but White survived - only just.

Will De Villiers survive without 14 of his senior players? Of course he will. I believe the Boks will surprise a lot of people on this one.

Providing there are no serious injuries to the likes of Bismarck du Plessis, Victor Matfield, Juan Smith and Steyn, the rest of the travelling party will rally behind their leaders.

There are many reasons why a good Bok tour is more than a remote possibility.

Our tight five will not take a step back on tour. With the Sharks trio in the front row, the Bulls locks in the second row and the likes of Smith, Spies, Stegmann, Kankowski and Alberts combining as a loose trio, we will get very secure ball and first phase possession.

This is of course a very big tour for Botha, who needs to show he has moved on from all those indiscretions earlier in the season and that he can still be a “Heavy” on tour without having to resort to any type of thuggery.

It will be tough in Dublin though. The Irish are probably the dirtiest international team around and there was a lot of bad blood after their test match against the Springboks in November last year.

There were also allegations of a favourite Irish past time, eye-gouging, but no one was found to be guilty of causing all the scratch marks around the eye of Heinrich Brüssow.

Botha will be tempted, tested and provoked, so let us hope he will bite his lip, hold his breath and use that anger to legal effect.

Our backline will have to be solid, rather than spectacular, but that is a good thing.

With Ruan Pienaar and Francois Hougaard as halfbacks, we have good readers of the game and both could prove very effective.

Morné Steyn will be solid, but the big question is what to do with Pat Lambie and Elton Jantjies? Both have good skills, but they are only 20 and yet to be tested at his level.

It will be important to give them some playing time on tour.

Our midfield is in crisis now, but we should be OK next week.

Jean de Villiers should be fit by then and Frans Steyn will join the team in Cardiff. Adi Jacobs normally plays well in Europe, while Lambie could also be an option there.

We do have some of the most exciting outside backs on tour. Lwazi Mvovo and Bjorn Basson should take to test match rugby as a ducks do to water. Both have so much talent, whilst Bryan Habana and Gio Aplon are proven match winners.

I also like the idea of Zane Kirchner on tour, as he is a very safe and reliable option at the back. He might have become a bit predictable on attack, but there is not much wrong with his defensive play.

Matfield will lead by example. I know he will revel in the idea of being captain on his own for an extended period. There will be no John Smit lurking in the shadows, so the Bulls lead man will have to show his mettle on his own.

How the management team will shape up, only time will tell, but I have an idea that the adversity they have endured will pull De Villiers, Gary Gold and Dick Muir together. They all respect the Bok jersey and will work their socks off to make sure the tour brings results.

You write the Boks off at your own peril!

Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.

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