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Cape Town - Former Springbok prop Ollie le Roux believes the impact players on the Springbok bench could prove decisive in the first Test against England in Durban on Saturday.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer earlier this week said he doesn't believe in having substitutes, but rather "impact players".
And the South African bench is full of players capable of making an impact on the game at Kings Park this weekend. Hooker Adriaan Strauss, prop Coenie Oosthuizen, lock Flip van der Merwe, flank Keegan Daniel and backs Ruan Pienaar and Patrick Lambie are all exciting players capable of providing the spark which could swing the game in the home side's favour.
And Le Roux, arguably South Africa's most successful impact player who fulfilled that role in 43 of his 54 Tests, believes Meyer made the right call with his "impact-bench".
"You always pick your bench with injuries in mind but you have more firepower if you have an impact-bench. It's nice for a coach to know he has more firepower and could add more intensity to the play from the bench," Le Roux told Volksblad.
"It's wise from Heyneke to view his bench like that. That's how I was also used as impact player."
Le Roux feels Strauss and Oosthuizen, especially, could make a big impact up front on Saturday.
"At Test level the guys scrum harder and work so much harder up front. The first bunch can make them soft before the second lot is brought on."
The first Test at Kings Park kicks off at 17:00 on Saturday, followed by Tests in Johannesburg (16 June) and Port Elizabeth (23 June).
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 Wynand Olivier
England:
15 Mike Brown, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler
Substitutes: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Paul Doran Jones, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Jonathan Joseph
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer earlier this week said he doesn't believe in having substitutes, but rather "impact players".
And the South African bench is full of players capable of making an impact on the game at Kings Park this weekend. Hooker Adriaan Strauss, prop Coenie Oosthuizen, lock Flip van der Merwe, flank Keegan Daniel and backs Ruan Pienaar and Patrick Lambie are all exciting players capable of providing the spark which could swing the game in the home side's favour.
And Le Roux, arguably South Africa's most successful impact player who fulfilled that role in 43 of his 54 Tests, believes Meyer made the right call with his "impact-bench".
"You always pick your bench with injuries in mind but you have more firepower if you have an impact-bench. It's nice for a coach to know he has more firepower and could add more intensity to the play from the bench," Le Roux told Volksblad.
"It's wise from Heyneke to view his bench like that. That's how I was also used as impact player."
Le Roux feels Strauss and Oosthuizen, especially, could make a big impact up front on Saturday.
"At Test level the guys scrum harder and work so much harder up front. The first bunch can make them soft before the second lot is brought on."
The first Test at Kings Park kicks off at 17:00 on Saturday, followed by Tests in Johannesburg (16 June) and Port Elizabeth (23 June).
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 Wynand Olivier
England:
15 Mike Brown, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler
Substitutes: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Paul Doran Jones, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Jonathan Joseph
