Elton Jantjies’ exit from the Springbok team has brought into sharp focus the team’s succession planning in key positions ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
Jantjies had been the long-time understudy to Handré Pollard but recent events have cast serious doubts over the player’s standing in the national pecking order, especially now that he has been overlooked for next week’s Test against Argentina in Durban.
To be fair, the injured Pollard’s form has been capricious.
At 32 — and with no realistic prospect of taking command of the starting jersey — the argument that Jantjies has been clogging the flyhalf pipeline is becoming harder to dismiss.
By being sent home he has upset a well established order. Springbok coaches tend to hold on to their flyhalves, which is underlined by the fact that in the last decade, or the time Heyneke Meyer became coach, only six players — Damian Willemse, Pollard, Pat Lambie, Jantjies, Johan Goosen and Morne Steyn — have worn the Bok No 10 jersey.
Pollard and Steyn boast the most starts for the Boks at flyhalf but it is the latest inductee, Willemse, who has become the centre of attention.
In Pollard’s absence and with Jantjies sent home, he again cracked the nod at flyhalf in yesterday’s clash against Argentina.
Now a regular starter, Willemse has operated at fullback and has looked the part before being moved to flyhalf for the clash against the Wallabies in Sydney, becoming the first player other than Pollard or Jantjies to do so in the Rassie Erasmus/Jacques Nienaber era.
The last player before that to start in the No 10 jersey for the Boks was Lambie in the team’s 20-18 defeat to Italy in Florence in 2016.
If you’re wondering, Steyn’s last Test as a starting 10 was in the 57-15 humiliation at the hands of the All Blacks in Durban in the same year.
INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
The attention now, however, is on the multiskilled Willemse. “He’s absolutely capable,” confirmed his coach at the Stormers, John Dobson. He has overseen Willemse’s development but admits he didn’t always get it right.
“In retrospect, I probably made a mistake in rushing him into flyhalf when he was a youngster playing Currie Cup and later in Super Rugby. You can’t buy experience when it comes to decision-making. That’s clearly what he’s got now. Playing 12 has been massively beneficial, and 15 because you are almost the second decision-maker and you have time to see. It has advanced his skill a lot. He’s good to go,” insisted Dobson.
Willemse isn’t the only option with Bok experience. Goosen has basked in glory and dimly-lit hibernation in equal measure.
He is back in training from his latest injury setback. An ACL injury in October last year abruptly brought to a halt a stellar season and his prognosis had to be altered when he went for another operation this year.
Goosen is supremely gifted but his number of Test caps isn’t commensurate with his talent.
GOOSEN'S LONG ABSENCE
A long, storied stint in France, as well as a long, sore stretch on the orthopaedic table have limited Goosen to just 13 Tests.
The 30-year-old has started just two games for the Boks at flyhalf and both were a decade ago in the inaugural Rugby Championship.
In the nine Tests he has played since, the last in 2016, he has started at fullback or come off the bench.
Frans Steyn also provides the Boks a stopgap option but Erasmus/Nienaber and Co will have to take a longer term view with their backup 10.
Given Springbok coaches’ attachment to their flyhalves, it is unlikely Erasmus and Nienaber will groom a flyhalf who is untested at the highest level before the Rugby World Cup.
Not that the talent isn’t there.
Manie Libbok and Chris Smit have performed out of their socks for the Stormers and the Bulls, respectively, but may not fit the Bok mould.
In 21-year-old Jordan Hendrikse the Lions have a pivot who plays with bulletproof confidence but is perhaps, in the coaches’ estimation, a season short of the international arena.
It needs to be noted though, Goosen, Lambie, Pollard and Willemse were all aged 20 on debut.
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