Boks: Good competition at hooker

Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett believes there will be healthy competition for the Springbok No 2 jersey this year.

Mallett was commenting on the performance of Lions reserve hooker, Akker van der Merwe, who starred against the Crusaders in Johannesburg last Friday.

Van der Merwe entered the fray in the 56th minute when his side were trailing 36-20.

He scored two impressive tries that helped secure the Lions a losing bonus point.

“Akker van der Merwe coming on and dominating those last 20 minutes with a great run down the wing and a quick tap penalty before bowling over the tryline was something else,” Mallett said in the SuperSport studio afterwards.

From a national perspective, Mallett was also happy with the depth in the No 2 jersey.

“From an international point of view, Adriaan Strauss has got some good competition, with Van der Merwe, Malcolm Marx and Scarra Ntubeni all showing just how effective smaller, more explosive hookers can be.”