Springboks and Warren Whiteley have a juggling act to master
Oh, and what's up with Allister Coetzee picking a Bulls centre combination that's hardly played with each other?
Warren Whiteley is still six weeks away from competitive action. Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images.
An exciting new dawn awaits Springbok rugby when they take on France at Loftus on Saturday.
But skipper Warren Whiteley believes that hype shouldn’t spill over to the way they play.
It’s all about balance.
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“We want a balance, that’s the big challenge in Test rugby,” Whiteley said on Friday.
“We’ve had some great input from (assistant coaches) Franco Smith and Brendan Venter. Both want to play attacking rugby. They’re all speaking the same language.
“We’ve planned extensively and practised that, and it all comes down to making the right decision under pressure.”
Speaking of balance, the 29-year-old Whiteley has also had a lot on his plate this week.
Not only did he have to play his part in cultivating a new team culture, his wife Felicity gave birth to his first son Samuel on Monday, joining his two-year-old daughter Ava Grace.
“I could never have scripted this week and I’m just very grateful. The start of it was amazing and children are just the biggest blessing, and now I have a son,” said Whiteley.
“The cherry on top will be this weekend and it’s fantastic to feel the energy of the team and the supporters.”
Coach Allister Coetzee was fairly on the money with his selections but certain question marks have been raised over the midfield selection of Jan Serfontein and Jesse Kriel.
After all, the two Bulls centres hasn’t really set the world alight in Super Rugby this year.
Serfontein has made it clear that he is going overseas after Super Rugby while Kriel has been regularly switched between three positions
Coetzee has been hampered by injuries to players like Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Damian de Allende and Lionel Mapoe but what are Francois Venter and Harold Vorster doing in the SA A side then?
“With all the injuries in the centers, at least Jan and Jesse have Test experience,” said Coetzee.
“But Jan is a character, he has more than 80% win record in Bok tests, and he has performed well in a struggling Bulls outfit, while Jesse has been excellent in training while he also was one of the better performers for the Bulls.”
Coetzee also made it clear that Frans Steyn can cover centre as well as flyhalf.
“Frans is a jack in the box and he can drop from the 10m line and he will also cover Elton Jantjies.”
All fine then?
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