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Durban - Backline coach Ricardo Loubscher believes the Springbok midfield headache is a good one to have as preparations for the 2015 Rugby World Cup continue.
While Jesse Kriel’s partnership with Damian de Allende continues to flourish, the return of Jean de Villiers to the fray has thrown a spanner in the works and made the centre pairing one of the grey areas in the current set-up.
De Villiers is expected to return to action for the Boks this Saturday against Argentina in Durban and just how that all works out will be watched closely.
Meyer has a lot of options at his disposal and if he wanted De Allende, Kriel and De Villiers all to start this weekend then moving Kriel to fullback, where he shone for the Bulls in Super Rugby this season, is a viable option.
“Definitely,” was Loubscher’s response when asked if Kriel was being considered in positions other than 13.
“Jesse has shown in the last year or two that he can play both positions (centre and fullback)... what a great start for him, but obviously there is lots of room for improvement and he’s still a work in progress.
“We have great depth in terms of our centres. We look at Jean coming back, he’s a great leader.
“Damian and Jesse have had a great start. They are obviously a work in progress but one that we are all excited about.”
Loubscher added that having De Villiers back in the mix was a major boost.
“In terms of World Cups, experience is important and if we look at the last two games, in the last 20 minutes of both games we needed experienced guys and cool heads,” the former Bok fullback said.
“It’s nice to have him back and it’s also nice to see that he’s had game time.”
Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:05 and Meyer will announce his side on Wednesday.
