Ken Borland

The way Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus described his waterboy duties on Tuesday one would almost expect Jacques Nienaber to be paying him pocket money, but with the head coach sitting next to him and smiling broadly at the time, there is clearly no issue when it comes to division of labour.

This week former England and British and Irish Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward, in his column for the Daily Mail – of course – said Erasmus should “butt out” because he is “taking over again” and the “confusion at the top and a lack of demarcation between the roles of director of rugby … and … national team coach … is killing the Springboks”.

“I’m not sure Clive Woodward is so important in South Africa, but Jacques and I are great mates, we’ve worked a lot together since our days in the military back in 1990. I’m the water-carrier now, so he’s got a higher rank than me now, that makes him my boss at the moment. If we had scored that try in the 71^st minute then people would say the relationship is working perfectly.

“Jacques’ job is the coaching, my job is to get the structure right, make sure we are given a fair chance, get through the Covid protocols and make sure players are available. I also need to inform people what is going on. And I help with the coaching plan and I carry water. The important thing is that all the players are now back on the park and training every day this week,” Erasmus said.

Speaking of ‘a fair chance’, Erasmus said he was deeply concerned by the pressure Lions coach Warren Gatland put on TMO Marius Jonker last week, somehow implying that because he is South African he would favour the Springboks. Predictably, the opposite was true, with flank Hamish Watson escaping a yellow card for a tip-tackle and the hosts having a second try disallowed on what many considered a 50/50 call.

“We were very focused last week and just trying to bring back the positive vibe from the World Cup, so we didn’t say too much. The Lions were a bit the opposite. Warren Gatland, who is a great guy, spoke a lot about Marius Jonker and him being South African. Which is weird because we would never say anything this week about the referee [Ben O’Keeffe] coming from New Zealand and Warren also being a New Zealander.

“It’s a difficult one because Marius and I are close friends and when he was appointed, I made a point of not phoning him before the match because it was such a tough time for him. To point out that he is South African does not sit well with me. When New Zealand and Australia played each other in the Rugby Championship last year, they had referees from the host country, that’s the way it is with Covid,” Erasmus pointed out.

When Willie le Roux hared off to Wasps in 2017 he knew that he was putting his Springbok career at risk such were the stricter rules surrounding the use of overseas players at the time. But he was still in the Green and Gold two years later and his experience at fullback was important in winning the 2019 World Cup.

And now, with almost another two years having passed, Le Roux is still the first-choice fullback at an evergreen 31-years-old. This is both a blessing and a concern because should the Toyota Verblitz star get injured, it is probably the position in the squad for the series against the British and Irish Lions where coach Jacques Nienaber has the least back-up, especially with Warrick Gelant unlikely to recover in time from his ACL surgery.

Damian Willemse was a late call-up to the World Cup squad as a replacement for Jesse Kriel and has only accumulated six caps. His recent form for the Stormers has been promising rather than spectacular and there are many who believe Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi should now be considered the back-up to Le Roux.

Fassi himself is uncapped though and the development of his undoubted talent was put back a bit by the serious shoulder injury he suffered last year.

So fullback looks a little thin for Nienaber’s liking, and he could be looking at utility players like Francois Steyn, Johan Goosen or Raymond Rhule to provide cover there or maybe even Kriel, Handre Pollard or Sbu Nkosi in an emergency.

In terms of the all-important tight five, while there is pleasing depth in the front row and lots of in-form Black stars like Bongi Mbonambi, Lizo Gqoboka, Ox Nche, Scarra Ntubeni, Joseph Dweba and Trevor Nyakane to choose from, injuries have marred Nienaber’s options at lock.

World Cup winners RG Snyman and Lood de Jager are both racing against time to be fit and are unlikely to make the 45-man squad that will be announced on Saturday.

While the Springboks’ starting pair of Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert are absolutely world-class, there is a lack of experience thereafter.

Marvin Orie has been capped only three times and Jason Jenkins has played just a solitary Test. The other two main contenders for a place – Ruan Nortje and JD Schickerling – would both be making their international debuts.

Toulouse hardman Rynhardt Elstadt has helped his French club to European glory and top of the log domestically, and can cover lock as well, but has played just two Tests. The Springbok management will be loathe to move Pieter-Steph du Toit to the second row given what a tremendous impact he has had playing on the flank.