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J.J. Harmse
Udine – Try everything and keep what is good.
That is probably the life’s lesson Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has learned from his midweek-experience on the tour of England, France, Italy and Ireland.
The performance by the midweek side was a temporary wake-up call about possible future weaknesses. However, there were also a few encouraging signs for the future of Springbok rugby.
There can be no doubt that injuries, especially among the props, hamstrung South Africa.
At the same time it exposed a glaring lack of depth at the next level, though it can probably also be said that the right players were not taken on tour.
It would be cold water in the face of any team to lose Jannie du Plessis and Gurthrö Steenkamp, and replacement CJ van der Linde shortly thereafter.
However, the experiment to take a half-fit Heinke van der Merwe on tour as a tighthead, failed. Brock Harris, Werner Kruger or WP Nel could have benefited more from the experience.
The lack of fitness of other candidates such as Chiliboy Ralepelle, Alistair Hargreaves and Davon Raubenheimer were definitely contributing factors in the midweek side allowing apparent comfortable leads to slip against Leicester and Saracens.
De Villiers is now realising how difficult it is to build a team, but to his credit he made a few good calls with other players.
Earl Rose has hopefully now silenced his critics with two excellent performances. He can certainly play and it will be interesting to see how Dick Muir plans to use him at the Lions next year.
Juan de Jongh also showed that he can still play for South Africa for a long time, while Dewald Potgieter and Jean Deysel are other newcomers that impressed.
Francois Hougaard is still a greenhorn, but will definitely add the gold in the future.
Heini Adams will also sleep well about his contribution, while Jongi Nokwe showed that he belongs at that level.
Some other senior Boks were not so effective in decision-making positions. Odwa Ndungane and Ruan Pienaar were probably the biggest disappointments.
“The tour has served its purpose. We saw what we needed to,” said De Villiers.
“It’s good to know who the players are that can take us forward. The current test team cannot carry on forever and I’m satisfied that a number of these players will soon be able to play test rugby.”
Muir (assistant coach) also expressed his support for the midweek games.
“It’s not always ideal because this time of the year is an important phase for the Super14 teams’ preparation, but I’d like to see that we regularly fit in a midweek game or two in the team’s November programme,” he said.
“It’s the only way how you can assess certain players and see how they respond to pressure.”
Another advantage for De Villiers was that he got a reminder of the potential of Schalk Brits, the match-winning capabilities of Derick Hougarrd and the never-say-die approach of Wikus van Heerden.
Udine – Try everything and keep what is good.
That is probably the life’s lesson Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has learned from his midweek-experience on the tour of England, France, Italy and Ireland.
The performance by the midweek side was a temporary wake-up call about possible future weaknesses. However, there were also a few encouraging signs for the future of Springbok rugby.
There can be no doubt that injuries, especially among the props, hamstrung South Africa.
At the same time it exposed a glaring lack of depth at the next level, though it can probably also be said that the right players were not taken on tour.
It would be cold water in the face of any team to lose Jannie du Plessis and Gurthrö Steenkamp, and replacement CJ van der Linde shortly thereafter.
However, the experiment to take a half-fit Heinke van der Merwe on tour as a tighthead, failed. Brock Harris, Werner Kruger or WP Nel could have benefited more from the experience.
The lack of fitness of other candidates such as Chiliboy Ralepelle, Alistair Hargreaves and Davon Raubenheimer were definitely contributing factors in the midweek side allowing apparent comfortable leads to slip against Leicester and Saracens.
De Villiers is now realising how difficult it is to build a team, but to his credit he made a few good calls with other players.
Earl Rose has hopefully now silenced his critics with two excellent performances. He can certainly play and it will be interesting to see how Dick Muir plans to use him at the Lions next year.
Juan de Jongh also showed that he can still play for South Africa for a long time, while Dewald Potgieter and Jean Deysel are other newcomers that impressed.
Francois Hougaard is still a greenhorn, but will definitely add the gold in the future.
Heini Adams will also sleep well about his contribution, while Jongi Nokwe showed that he belongs at that level.
Some other senior Boks were not so effective in decision-making positions. Odwa Ndungane and Ruan Pienaar were probably the biggest disappointments.
“The tour has served its purpose. We saw what we needed to,” said De Villiers.
“It’s good to know who the players are that can take us forward. The current test team cannot carry on forever and I’m satisfied that a number of these players will soon be able to play test rugby.”
Muir (assistant coach) also expressed his support for the midweek games.
“It’s not always ideal because this time of the year is an important phase for the Super14 teams’ preparation, but I’d like to see that we regularly fit in a midweek game or two in the team’s November programme,” he said.
“It’s the only way how you can assess certain players and see how they respond to pressure.”
Another advantage for De Villiers was that he got a reminder of the potential of Schalk Brits, the match-winning capabilities of Derick Hougarrd and the never-say-die approach of Wikus van Heerden.
