When does the Springboks’ selection policy become inflexible?
Coach Allister Coetzee has made it clear - with some justification - how he picks his squads. Yet the tour to Europe might test the method.
Springbok coach Allister Coetzee is pretty clear on his current selection policy. Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images.
There’ll always be a few raised eyebrows when a player in a specific position replaces another in a different one.
But the Springboks’ wisdom of replacing injured flanker Jean-Luc du Preez with a lock in the Sharks’ Ruan Botha is hardly an issue in this instance.
Instead, it’s the viability of Allister Coetzee’s selection policy that’s under the spotlight.
The fact that the @Springboks play Wales outside the international window isn't an issue for Allister Coetzee. pic.twitter.com/AkqT7cUQ9c
— Heinz Schenk (@sportmal) October 30, 2017
The national coach insists his philosophy is pretty much non-negotiable currently.
“The big thing is consistency, yes, a massive thing. Then team culture too, a massive thing for us,” he said.
“I believe in giving players a second chance unless – and I told the players – you play yourself out of the mix. The other players must give me a reason to select them.”
On Tuesday, a statement read that Botha had been picked for playing “consistently well” as well as being “part of our training camps”.
Yet there’s a pretty decent argument that Western Province lock JD Schickerling ended this season stronger than him.
Was Schickerling overlooked because he didn’t attend a Springbok camp way back in the middle of year?
The snubbing of his teammate and flyhalf Robert du Preez gives us an indication in that regards perhaps.
“There are a number of players who’ve performed well in the Currie Cup,” said Coetzee.
“But if you start out and back players, we have to be prudent. Someone like Curwin Bosch is a fantastic player and we’ve started a process with him. How can I now just say the process must stop? It’s just great that all of a sudden – since Pat Lambie has left for France – that another guy like Robert has stepped up.”
That sounds more than sound in theory.
But when does it become a problem to ignore an in-form player, who hasn’t been exposed to the Springbok squad yet, in favour of one used to the system?
The upcoming tour might just tell us.
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