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Cape Town - Former Springbok lock Adri Geldenhuys feels more young players could have been given a run for the Boks in the past month.
Geldenhuys, in an interview with Die Burger's website, said he was pleased to see the inclusion of 21-year-old lock Lood de Jager in the starting team for Saturday's Test against Scotland in Port Elizabeth.
Geldenhuys, who currently coaches EP club side Despatch, said experienced heads like Victor Matfield would help ease the pressure on the young De Jager.
However, he did add that the Boks perhaps should have opted to give more young locks a run in this month's Tests against Wales and Scotland.
"It's good to surround the up-and-coming young players with experienced heads, but I don't think it was really needed to bring in so many players from France and England to come play for the Boks.
"It's almost like a slap in the face for the younger players. It's important to give the younger players chances, and these Tests (against Wales and Scotland) were the ideal opportunity.
"Looking forward, it will only get tougher when the Boks square off against New Zealand and Australia. Therefore, you rather want to give your young players their first experience of Test rugby in the slightly easier games," said Geldenhys.
The Boks were forced to pick a few more youngsters this weekend after seven players were released to their European clubs.
Geldenhuys said other young locks who have impressed him this season were the Sharks' Stephan Lewies and Francois Uys of the Cheetahs.
Saturday's Test at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium kicks off at 17:00.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Marcel Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Zane Kirchner
Scotland:
15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Substitutes: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Moray Low, 18 Euan Murray, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Tyrone Holmes, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Dougie Fife, 23 Peter Murchie
Geldenhuys, in an interview with Die Burger's website, said he was pleased to see the inclusion of 21-year-old lock Lood de Jager in the starting team for Saturday's Test against Scotland in Port Elizabeth.
Geldenhuys, who currently coaches EP club side Despatch, said experienced heads like Victor Matfield would help ease the pressure on the young De Jager.
However, he did add that the Boks perhaps should have opted to give more young locks a run in this month's Tests against Wales and Scotland.
"It's good to surround the up-and-coming young players with experienced heads, but I don't think it was really needed to bring in so many players from France and England to come play for the Boks.
"It's almost like a slap in the face for the younger players. It's important to give the younger players chances, and these Tests (against Wales and Scotland) were the ideal opportunity.
"Looking forward, it will only get tougher when the Boks square off against New Zealand and Australia. Therefore, you rather want to give your young players their first experience of Test rugby in the slightly easier games," said Geldenhys.
The Boks were forced to pick a few more youngsters this weekend after seven players were released to their European clubs.
Geldenhuys said other young locks who have impressed him this season were the Sharks' Stephan Lewies and Francois Uys of the Cheetahs.
Saturday's Test at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium kicks off at 17:00.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Marcel Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Zane Kirchner
Scotland:
15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Substitutes: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Moray Low, 18 Euan Murray, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Tyrone Holmes, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Dougie Fife, 23 Peter Murchie
