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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – Are the Springboks set to restore Francois Louw to the starting line-up to tackle the Wallabies on Saturday?
WIN: SA vs Australia tickets
GALLERY: Springboks v All Blacks
VIDEO: Ma'a Nonu loses a boot!
It is difficult not to believe that the possibility is at least on the minds of the under-fire Bok brains-trust, given some of head coach Peter de Villiers’s comments to the media on Monday.
De Villiers went out of his way to highlight the threat posed by orthodox Aussie fetcher David Pocock for the Vodacom Tri-Nations match in Pretoria, saying “we’ve got a plan up our sleeves to deal with him”.
He added: “We cannot ignore the impact of Pocock at the breakdown. He will definitely be a factor.”
They were risky points to make, frankly, if the Boks intend continuing with their tactic of fielding Schalk Burger as their only real deck-scavenger loose forward, something that has attracted criticism because, generally, South Africa have played second fiddle at the breakdown this season to the likes of specialists Richie McCaw and Pocock.
The Stormers captain had a blood-and-thunder all-round game in the defeat to the All Blacks in Soweto, but a feeling persists that he is at his best when accompanied by a fellow “mole” – as evidenced when he and co-flanker Francois Louw were such key elements of the Cape franchise’s best ever Super 14 season.
Ironically, the injury cloud surrounding blind-sider Juan Smith, who made a splendid return against New Zealand, may ease the dilemma: if he is not deemed fit for Loftus, then logic suggests Louw be reunited with Burger with Pierre Spies safely extending his less than earth-shattering tenure in the important No 8 slot.
The Bulls behemoth has his cult following – and was reasonably improved at FNB Stadium -- but he has also mostly been the weakest link in the Bok loose trio this season: too much brawn and too little finesse or defensive acumen.
And what if Cheetahs stalwart Smith is passed fit? A personal view under those circumstances would be that Burger is worth an experimental crack at No 8 – there is little to lose in a relatively “dead rubber” affair, after all – with Smith and Louw as the flanks.
Louw may not have the ideal build for a fetcher, as he is relatively tall and bulky, but he was one of the competition’s standouts in this area in the Super 14 and was quite sublime in getting the better of McCaw when the Stormers trounced the Crusaders 42-14 at Newlands on the occasion of the All Blacks captain’s 100th Super Rugby game.
The Bok side was to be announced at lunchtime on Tuesday.
Cape Town – Are the Springboks set to restore Francois Louw to the starting line-up to tackle the Wallabies on Saturday?
WIN: SA vs Australia tickets
GALLERY: Springboks v All Blacks
VIDEO: Ma'a Nonu loses a boot!
It is difficult not to believe that the possibility is at least on the minds of the under-fire Bok brains-trust, given some of head coach Peter de Villiers’s comments to the media on Monday.
De Villiers went out of his way to highlight the threat posed by orthodox Aussie fetcher David Pocock for the Vodacom Tri-Nations match in Pretoria, saying “we’ve got a plan up our sleeves to deal with him”.
He added: “We cannot ignore the impact of Pocock at the breakdown. He will definitely be a factor.”
They were risky points to make, frankly, if the Boks intend continuing with their tactic of fielding Schalk Burger as their only real deck-scavenger loose forward, something that has attracted criticism because, generally, South Africa have played second fiddle at the breakdown this season to the likes of specialists Richie McCaw and Pocock.
The Stormers captain had a blood-and-thunder all-round game in the defeat to the All Blacks in Soweto, but a feeling persists that he is at his best when accompanied by a fellow “mole” – as evidenced when he and co-flanker Francois Louw were such key elements of the Cape franchise’s best ever Super 14 season.
Ironically, the injury cloud surrounding blind-sider Juan Smith, who made a splendid return against New Zealand, may ease the dilemma: if he is not deemed fit for Loftus, then logic suggests Louw be reunited with Burger with Pierre Spies safely extending his less than earth-shattering tenure in the important No 8 slot.
The Bulls behemoth has his cult following – and was reasonably improved at FNB Stadium -- but he has also mostly been the weakest link in the Bok loose trio this season: too much brawn and too little finesse or defensive acumen.
And what if Cheetahs stalwart Smith is passed fit? A personal view under those circumstances would be that Burger is worth an experimental crack at No 8 – there is little to lose in a relatively “dead rubber” affair, after all – with Smith and Louw as the flanks.
Louw may not have the ideal build for a fetcher, as he is relatively tall and bulky, but he was one of the competition’s standouts in this area in the Super 14 and was quite sublime in getting the better of McCaw when the Stormers trounced the Crusaders 42-14 at Newlands on the occasion of the All Blacks captain’s 100th Super Rugby game.
The Bok side was to be announced at lunchtime on Tuesday.
