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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town - It is strangely tempting, just for the moment, to suggest that Jake White was right after all ... maybe fetchers are indeed best employed at plucking beers out of the fridge.
GALLERY: Wales v Springboks
The big question now is whether Springbok coaching successor Peter de Villiers will also rebel against conventional wisdom and abandon an orthodox open-side flanker as his side goes in search of the Scottish scalp on Saturday in the next step on the Grand Slam mission.
If he does decide to jettison the Blue Bulls’ Deon Stegmann after only two starts in the green and gold, then South Africa are perhaps set to field one of their most “upright” yet also brawniest loose forward combos ever at Murrayfield – Willem Alberts and Juan Smith as flankers and resurgent Pierre Spies at No 8.
It is a tricky matter because Alberts, the Sharks behemoth, excelled as a ball-carrying impact player off the bench in the second half of the come-from-behind triumph over Wales in Cardiff, after replacing the moderately effective Stegmann in the 46th minute.
Might that approach work again? Certainly most coaches in the modern game, even if World Cup-winning White is a rare exception, swear by the policy of at least beginning with a quick-to-the-breakdown burrower, so a reprieve for Stegmann – or maybe even a surprise start for whippet Keegan Daniel as a fairly like-for-like alternative – can hardly be ruled out.
But it would be understandable if De Villiers and company also seriously mulled over the possibility of offering Alberts a maiden, full 80 minutes for the Boks after his dynamism against the Welsh.
The big man ought to be a touch more match-fit this week, too, after only getting the go-ahead to be named among the substitutes at the Millennium Stadium shortly before the encounter – he had been labouring with a calf strain, although that appeared to be notably a thing of the past based on his 34 minutes of bristling aggression and drive.
Certainly the UK media have been quick to laud Alberts for his role in the Bok turnaround against Wales after a near-woeful first half by the tourists.
“(Alberts) turned the game on his debut,” wrote Sean Davies of BBC Sport. “South Africa ratcheted up the power game through the hefty back-rower.
“Wales wilted under the physical onslaught, (with) man-of-the-match Pierre Spies also to the fore.”
Meanwhile commentator and former Wales loose forward Eddie Butler, writing in The Guardian, enthused: “Willem Alberts brought an entirely invigorating venom to the Bok back row.”
Such laurels will only increase the head-scratching among the Bok brains trust, you can be sure.
Should the Boks shun the more diminutive qualities of Stegmann or Daniel against limited Scotland, they will at least know that in someone like hooker Bismarck du Plessis they have other forwards outside the back three who are not incapable of effecting turnovers and generally getting to the breakdown with necessary swiftness.
At the same time, balance remains a crucial element of a loose trio and South Africa will not want to be cleaned out on the deck by a Scottish side likely to be stung into redemption action after their ugly reverse to the fast-moving All Blacks ...
Willem Alberts scores a try on debut against the Wesh Dragons (Gallo Images)
Cape Town - It is strangely tempting, just for the moment, to suggest that Jake White was right after all ... maybe fetchers are indeed best employed at plucking beers out of the fridge.
GALLERY: Wales v Springboks
The big question now is whether Springbok coaching successor Peter de Villiers will also rebel against conventional wisdom and abandon an orthodox open-side flanker as his side goes in search of the Scottish scalp on Saturday in the next step on the Grand Slam mission.
If he does decide to jettison the Blue Bulls’ Deon Stegmann after only two starts in the green and gold, then South Africa are perhaps set to field one of their most “upright” yet also brawniest loose forward combos ever at Murrayfield – Willem Alberts and Juan Smith as flankers and resurgent Pierre Spies at No 8.
It is a tricky matter because Alberts, the Sharks behemoth, excelled as a ball-carrying impact player off the bench in the second half of the come-from-behind triumph over Wales in Cardiff, after replacing the moderately effective Stegmann in the 46th minute.
Might that approach work again? Certainly most coaches in the modern game, even if World Cup-winning White is a rare exception, swear by the policy of at least beginning with a quick-to-the-breakdown burrower, so a reprieve for Stegmann – or maybe even a surprise start for whippet Keegan Daniel as a fairly like-for-like alternative – can hardly be ruled out.
But it would be understandable if De Villiers and company also seriously mulled over the possibility of offering Alberts a maiden, full 80 minutes for the Boks after his dynamism against the Welsh.
The big man ought to be a touch more match-fit this week, too, after only getting the go-ahead to be named among the substitutes at the Millennium Stadium shortly before the encounter – he had been labouring with a calf strain, although that appeared to be notably a thing of the past based on his 34 minutes of bristling aggression and drive.
Certainly the UK media have been quick to laud Alberts for his role in the Bok turnaround against Wales after a near-woeful first half by the tourists.
“(Alberts) turned the game on his debut,” wrote Sean Davies of BBC Sport. “South Africa ratcheted up the power game through the hefty back-rower.
“Wales wilted under the physical onslaught, (with) man-of-the-match Pierre Spies also to the fore.”
Meanwhile commentator and former Wales loose forward Eddie Butler, writing in The Guardian, enthused: “Willem Alberts brought an entirely invigorating venom to the Bok back row.”
Such laurels will only increase the head-scratching among the Bok brains trust, you can be sure.
Should the Boks shun the more diminutive qualities of Stegmann or Daniel against limited Scotland, they will at least know that in someone like hooker Bismarck du Plessis they have other forwards outside the back three who are not incapable of effecting turnovers and generally getting to the breakdown with necessary swiftness.
At the same time, balance remains a crucial element of a loose trio and South Africa will not want to be cleaned out on the deck by a Scottish side likely to be stung into redemption action after their ugly reverse to the fast-moving All Blacks ...
Willem Alberts scores a try on debut against the Wesh Dragons (Gallo Images)
