Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made it no secret which players he believes make-up his strongest XV.
It’s the same players the coach entrusts in the crunch matches which, of course, included the opening game of the World Cup against New Zealand.
To be fair to the coach, his approach is more than reasonably understandable with the Boks looking as settled as they did a decade ago when they beat everyone put in front of them.
The squad also proved the coach correct with a convincing showing in the Rugby Championship which lead to the Boks lifting the reformed version of the tournament for the very first time. It’s formerly known as the Tri-Nations.
But a recent showing by the supposed ‘B’ Bok side against Canada, which saw a handful of reserve Boks show that they’re more than capable of forcing their way into the seemingly settled Bok XV, has sure given the Bok’s mentor food for thought, and raises questions about the Boks’ strongest XV.
First and foremost, scrum-half Cobus Reinach, who could’ve easily been named Man of the Match in that Canada encounter alongside eventual winner RG Snyman, to be fair, produced a more clinical, assuring and controlling display which awarded him the fastest try hat-trick in World Cup history as the Boks slayed the North Americans.
Something that incumbent No.9 Faf de Klerk has yet to show in the tournament.
Snyman, as mentioned, deserved the Man of the Match nod as he too produced what was probably his best performance to date in a Bok jumper. The imposing lock, standing 2.06m and weighing 117kg, was all over the park: he tackled, broke the Canadian line which lead to a brilliant Bok try, and was a nuisance at line-out time. It was a performance which put Bok supporters at ease should anything happen to under fire fellow lock forward Eben Etzebeth.
Then there’s the desperately sad situation of wing S’bu Nkosi. A different monster to his competition to the No. 14 Bok jumper Cheslin Kolbe, the Nelspruit flyer is good enough to crack any XV in world rugby, with his power, strong runs, vision and twinkle toes offering the Boks an option B as strong as A.
Nkosi’s situation is a little different to the Reinach-De Klerk one in that Kolbe has been arguably the best player in Japan to date. But with another first team player in the form of Willie le Roux looking shaky in the 15 jumper, the versatile Kolbe can slot into the fullback berth creating space for Nkosi to run on the right wing.
Erasmus is a smart man.
He would’ve seen these scenarios but, as mentioned, his approach is understandable as the tournament is at a crucial stage, and continuity is probably the best way going forward.
Springbok fans will hope the likes of de Klerk and le Roux quickly find their form with the space for errors and second chances essentially over. – @SabeloBoksburg
