Ken Borland

There have been a large number of players who have graduated from the Springbok Sevens side into the national 15-a-side team, but only three in the current squad preparing for the British and Irish Lions series. But loose forward Kwagga Smith and backline coach Mzwandile Stick both believe the shortened version of the game provides a great skills foundation for the major format of rugby.

Smith, Cheslin Kolbe and uncapped wing Rosko Specman are the Blitzbokke in the current squad, but there have been 60 players in total who have played for both national rugby teams. That total includes 13 World Cup winners.

“Sevens is a really good basis but you do need to learn quickly when you get to the Springboks. It’s so good to have that base when you are younger and I believe it’s a big advantage. You see someone like Rosko Specman has performed really well in XVs and now he’s doing well here in camp. He has a good mindset and is training hard. We also have Cheslin Kolbe, who is now one of the best wings in the world,” Smith said.

Stick, who has a major focus on the skills and vision of the Springbok team, played 37 events for the Blitzbokke between 2003 and 2010, and is understandably a fan of what those players can bring to the party.

“I’ve got a soft spot when it comes to Sevens players. It’s very good to see the connection between the XVs and Sevens game. You look at someone like Cheslin Kolbe coming through that system and he’s now one of the best rugby players in the world. You look at Rosko Specman and how good he was in Super Rugby.

“It’s actually good to see that the guys from the Sevens system are making it. In the past, it was always a matter of size being the reason they’re sidelined. Gone are those days now and guys are playing with a big heart. You can see how well the likes of Kolbe are really playing the game and it shows that size doesn’t matter,” Stick said recently.

Heinrich Brussow is another of those who progressed from international Sevens rugby to stardom with the Springboks and the way he pounced and swarmed all over the ball the last time the British and Irish Lions were here in 2009, it is no surprise that under the Chinese Zodiac, he was born in the Year of the Tiger (July 1986).

Smith, who played 32 events for the Blitzbokke, is hopeful of doing a similar job.

“I was watching that series in high school in Middelburg and I remember Heinrich did so well, he was one of my role-models, he performed really well in that series. I am going to try and get up to his standards, but remembering that I am my own player and have my own assets,” Smith said.

Blitzbokke who have become 15-a-side Springboks (*= World Cup winner)

Gio Aplon, Chris Badenhorst, Selborne Boome, Gerrie Britz, Warren Britz, Heinrich Brussow, Tonderai Chavhanga, Vlok Cilliers, Jannie Claassens, Bolla Conradie, Juan de Jongh, *Jean de Villiers, Gaffie du Toit, Grant Esterhuizen, Kabamba Floors, *Warrick Gelant, Hendrik Gerber, Joe Gillingham, *Bryan Habana, Cornal Hendricks, Henry Honiball, Francois Hougaard, Adrian Jacobs, Conrad Jantjes, *Andre Joubert, Ryan Kankowski, Deon Kayser, *Cheslin Kolbe, *Ruben Kruger, Ricardo Loubscher, Lionel Mapoe, Jorrie Muller, *Akona Ndungane, Dick Muir, Jongi Nokwe, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Jacques Olivier, Deon Oosthuyzen, Breyton Paulse, *Andre Pretorius, Jaco Pretorius, Kevin Putt, *Adriaan Richter, Earl Rose, Pieter Rossouw, Brent Russell, *Bob Skinstad, *Kwagga Smith, Phillip Smit, Andre Snyman, Jamba Ulengo, *Joost van der Westhuizen, Joe van Niekerk, Andre Venter, AJ Venter, Jano Vermaak, Luke Watson, Warren Whiteley, *Ashwin Willemse, *Chester Williams.

Keegan Petersen and Kyle Verreynne may have felt like they were frozen out of the Test team given how long they have had to wait for their chance, but like London Buses two gaps have come along at the same time and they have both made their debut in the first Test between South Africa and the West Indies at St Lucia.

Petersen has been part of the squad since December 2019 and Verreynne was first called up in ODI cricket a couple of months later. They have both come through the fertile ground of Western Cape cricket, although Petersen comes from the Boland and Verreynne hails from Wynberg Boys High School and Western Province Schools.

With the West Indies winning the toss and choosing to bat first, they will be hoping the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium pitch becomes nice and flat as they look to make their mark in a South African batting line-up that has lost a vast amount of experience in the last few years. Petersen is the replacement for retired former captain Faf du Plessis and Verreynne gets his chance due to new vice-captain Temba Bavuma having a hip injury.

The 27-year-old Petersen has been pretty much permanently piling on the runs in franchise cricket in the last four seasons. In that time he has not once averaged less than 44 and has posted eight centuries in 39 matches for the Knights and Dolphins, who he joined last season. He left the Cape Cobras in 2017 due to limited opportunities, the elegant right-hander playing only seven matches for them.

While there has been disappointment in some quarters that Verreynne has had to wait until now for his Test debut, as the back-up wicketkeeper to Quinton de Kock his chances are always going to be limited. But four hundreds and 16 fifties in 32 matches for the Cobras are not to be scoffed at, and many of those big innings have come when the Cobras have been struggling and conditions are hard.

The 24-year-old embodies the grit and determination so many South African middle-order batsmen are famous for and he will want to lift what has been a disappointing output by the Proteas batsmen recently.

Free State Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie believes both Francois Steyn and Rosko Specman should be in the Springbok squad to play against the British and Irish Lions, and Saturday’s match against the Toyota Invitation XV will pretty much be their only chance to show the wider public why.

Both the powerhouse Steyn and the hot-stepping Specman will feature in the Cheetahs starting backline on Saturday in a match that, from a team perspective, provides important preparation time for the Currie Cup. But all eyes will be on the players wearing the No.12 and No.11 jerseys.

“I’m pretty sure Frans will be playing for the Springboks this year so this might be his last game for us until November/December. But Rosko deserves to be in the Springbok alignment camps as well and I’m pretty sure he’ll make the final squad. He’s made the choice to concentrate on XVs because the Lions tour is so special, only happening every 12 years.

“Rosko is one of our hardest workers, he’s always doing extras and is on top of his game. I can see his confidence in training and he’s doing everything at 100% pace. This game is an opportunity for Frans and him to get match-sharp because there’s going to be a lot of competition for places in that Springbok squad. Other players have had four weeks to impress, so this chance is very important for those two,” Fourie said on Thursday.

Oom Frans and Uncle Rosko are not the only Springboks in the Free State team Fourie announced on Thursday, with Oupa Mohoje eager to remind everyone of why he has won 19 Test caps for South Africa as well, and veteran scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar leading the Cheetahs into battle on Saturday.

“We all know Ruan is also definitely still good enough to play at Springbok level and I wouldn’t be surprised if they press his button if they get injuries,” Fourie said.

Free State Cheetahs team: Clayton Blommetjies, Craig Barry, Dries Swanepoel, Frans Steyn, Rosko Specman, Brandon Thomson, Ruan Pienaar, Jeandre Rudolph, Oupa Mohoje, Andisa Ntsila, Rynier Bernardo, Victor Sekekete, Aranos Coetzee, Wilmar Arnoldi, Cameron Dawson. Bench – Louis van der Westhuizen, Schalk Ferreira, Conraad van Vuuren, Jacques Potgieter, Aidon Davis, Tian Meyer, Howard Mnisi, Duncan Saal, Chris Massyn, Alulutho Tsakweni.

Covid-19 vaccines are not yet freely available to most South Africans, but the Springbok rugby squad is going to get early vaccinations before they embark on their hectic schedule of international games both at home and overseas.

The Springboks, as well as those named in South Africa’s Olympic Games squad, will be getting the last thousand doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine used in the Sisonke project to inoculate health workers. If these vaccines are not used in the next week or so, they will go to waste.

The South African Medical Research Council (MRC) are behind the Springboks being vaccinated, saying it will enable them to travel much more easily by the middle of June and do their jobs, fulfilling their ambassadorial roles for South Africa. Waiting for the Pfizer vaccinations would not be practical because that requires two doses 42 days apart and then another 14-day wait before recipients are cleared for travel.

SA Rugby, whose financial survival depends on the Springboks getting back on to the field and playing this year, have said they will not comment on the matter, but sources close to the Springbok team have confirmed they are going to be vaccinated soon.

The Springboks host Georgia for two warm-up Tests on July 3 and July 10 before heading into their high-stakes series against the British and Irish Lions. After that the Rugby Championship starts in August with two Tests against Argentina in South Africa, before the Springboks are on their way to Australasia, where travel restrictions are very strict, to play the remainder of the tournament.

The move will be seen as controversial in some quarters because there has already been lots of criticism of ‘queue jumpers’ getting the vaccine before the over-60s who are meant to be protected first.

But the Olympic Games are scheduled start in less than two months on July 23, so those participants don’t have time to wait.

MRC head Professor Glenda Gray has said elite sportspeople will be part of the many clinical trials that will be ongoing while the vaccines are being rolled out nationwide. With case numbers rising, the country is widely predicted to go into a third wave of infections as it heads into winter.

South Africa is behind most developed nations in terms of vaccine roll-out and the Springboks, who have not played since winning the World Cup in November 2019, are in danger of falling behind the rest of the rugby-playing world.