The Springbok management has confirmed that the three 2019 Rugby World Cup heroes omitted from the squad that will travel to France for the 2023 edition of the tournament are injured. Every Rugby World Cup match from France LIVE only on SuperSport, on DStv. First match is on Friday, 8 September, with the Boks starting on the Sunday.
Flyhalf Handre Pollard, centre Lukhanyo Am and Lood de Jager were the notable omissions from the 33 man squad that was announced at a lavish and atmospheric ceremony at the Supersport headquarters in Randburg on Tuesday.
As all of them are key men and were star players in Japan four years ago, eyebrows were understandably raised when they were not among the players presented to the audience and capped by South African Rugby Union president Mark Alexander.
Given their standing in the group, injuries were all that could explain their omission, and that was confirmed by the SA Rugby media release issued simultaneously with the announcement.
“Flyhalf Handle Pollard (calf), Lukhanyo Am (knee) and Lood de Jager (chest problem) have been placed on standby with six other players. The Springbok coaches were hopeful that they may return to full training before the start of the tournament and be available for call up in the event of injury,” read the release.
FAR FROM IDEAL
It is far from ideal, as an injury to another player will be required for any of those three to now play at the World Cup. But it should not be forgotten that one of the heroes of the historic 1995 World Cup win, when the tournament was staged in South Africa, was Chester Williams, who did not start the World Cup due to injury but was then called in when he recovered and Pieter Hendriks was suspended after the infamous ‘Battle of Boet Erasmus’ against Canada in Port Elizabeth.
The laws around taking injured players to the World Cup are strict and with captain Siya Kolisi included even though he hasn’t played since April and although apparently well rehabilitated from his injury has yet to test it in a match situation, it would have been a gamble to back the other three. You can’t replace a player who arrives at the tournament injured.
All three will be missed if circumstances don’t conspire in their favour, and let’s not forget the Boks still have two tough warmup games against Wales and New Zealand to play before they get to the opening World Cup game against Scotland, and those can both bring a level of attrition.
De Jager looked rusty in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash with the All Blacks at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, but was immense at the 2019 World Cup and also played a starring role when the Boks turned the tide in the second test of the British and Irish Lions series two years ago.
“In my opinion Lood is the best No 5 lock in the world and it is a pity he is not there,” said Victor Matfield, who himself was once the best player globally in that position, in his role as SuperSport television analyst after the announcement.
Matfield was enthused about the rest of the squad though, describing it as a group of players who “have shown what they can do”.
'ALL THREE WOULD PLAY IN A WORLD CUP FINAL'
Former Bok captain and also World Cup winner Jean de Villiers summed up the impact of the loss of the three particularly well when he referred to where they would have stood in the squad had they been included.
“Those are big losses as all three of those players would have been selected to play a World Cup final if it were to be played tomorrow,” said the former centre.
2007 World Cup-winning captain John Smit pointed out the lack of goalkicking prowess and experience in Pollard’s absence.
“We are going to need Manie Libbok to be kicking at an 85 per cent success rate, but he did recover well (after initial misses) in the game against Argentina at the weekend,” said Smit.
The goalkicking is certainly a worry in Pollard’s absence. Although even Pollard has his off days from time to time, Libbok has had some inconsistent days in big games, and gives the impression sometimes that he battles with the kicks where there is extra pressure because he is expected to succeed with them and then comes right with the more difficult ones where there is less expectation.
BIG RESPONSIBILITY FOR PLACE-KICKERS NOW
To win a World Cup, you need your frontline goal-kicker to have the reliability and unflappability of an airline pilot or heart surgeon, and Pollard is closer to that than Libbok or for that matter any of the other potential kickers in the squad (Faf de Klerk, Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse).
The Boks lost their game against the world No 1 team Ireland in Dublin last year because of their goalkicking and they will be facing Ireland in the pool phases and, should they get that far, one of New Zealand or France in their quarterfinal.
There were some pleasing inclusions in the squad, and some odd choices when it came to the number of players taken in certain positions.
For instance, there are only two specialist hookers, with Deon Fourie, who these days plays mainly as a flank, providing hooker cover and therefore listed as a utility forward.
There are also four scrumhalves whereas normally there’d be three, while five props, including Ox Nche, who has had his injury struggles recently and has been out for a while, are going instead of six. Thomas du Toit, now of Bath but formerly of the Cell C Sharks, is missing out.
ESTERHUIZEN EXAMPLE OF FORM BEING REWARDED
Overall though it looks as though form has been rewarded, with the former Sharks and current Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen being a prime example.
“Credit must go to Andre for the way he has played himself into the squad as he would have been outside of the squad at the start of the international season,” said De Villiers, who knows a thing or two about midfield play.
“Andre used his opportunity in the first Championship match against Australia and again this last weekend when he played in the warmup game against Argentina.”
The other obvious example of form being rewarded is young wing Canan Moodie, who simply couldn’t be left out and must have played himself into contention for the starting team in the big games at the World Cup with his outstanding display against the Pumas three days ago.
