While debates about Springbok selection are nothing new, the consternation as the World Cup squad announcement gets closer has seen a heightened anxiety around specific positions, and none more so than hooker.
The debate started in earnest last year when Malcolm Marx put in an exceptional effort against the All Blacks in Mbombela and when the Bok management decided to give Joseph Dweba a run against the same side at Ellis Park a week later.
And with Marx putting in a similarly impressive performance against the All Blacks in Auckland, the calls have started again, with somewhat excitement when Marx was named at hooker for Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Johannesburg.
But while it is natural for fans to hope for specific favourites to make the starting line-up, and the debates about team selection will rage on until the end of time, the Bok management have made it clear they are looking more at getting a squad of players to the World Cup that are in form and are match-fit, rather than giving specific individuals at this stage a long run in a specific position.
It is understandable, especially with the amount of injuries that happen in the opening weeks of the World Cup, the fact that certain players play better against certain opposition and the effect of brutal physical games on players as well.
That’s why the Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was at pains to explain this when asked about the hooker position this week. The outlook is further than this one game, although it has to be asked why Dweba remains one of the players who still hasn’t been seen in action in the limited international season this year.
Marx will get his seventh start in 28 test matches, with the Boks preferring him from the bench the most of the time, and it is likely he will have a bigger role this season as the World Cup approaches.
“In terms of hooker and the other positions, like the ‘Bomb Squad’, if you look at the amount of game-time that Bongi has had, he has probably had a little bit more minutes and test match exposure than what Malcolm has had,” Nienaber explained.
“We as a group know that defending the World Cup will take a squad effort. Our challenge is to spread that load between the squad.
“We don’t want to go cold into Scotland in that first game of the World Cup with one or two guys having most of the match minutes.
“If you pick up an injury or two, you are bringing in a guy that is cold who hasn’t been a part of you.
“That is the balance that we would like to have. We don’t want one guy taking 80 per cent of the minutes, and the other guy not getting a lot of opportunity.”
Dweba is one of a handful of players - including Deon Fourie, Jan-Luc du Preez and scrumhalves Jaden Hendrikse and Herschel Jantjies who haven’t had a shot yet for the Boks but the indication is that some of them may play in the away game against Argentina next weekend.
“Obviously, the guys that haven’t had exposure yet, it would be nice to give them a go in the next couple of games that we have left,” Nienaber said.
“There are a lot of things that will determine that – momentum, form, injuries and stuff like that.”
And so it may be that some don’t get an opportunity to put their hand up before the World Cup squad selection. But with a squad of 41 players being whittled down to 33, eight will always miss out.
And the Boks believe they are on the right track to pick a squad to defend the World Cup.
Like with the Marx/Mbonambi situation, it’s likely they have a plan that should come to fruition in France.
