Ken Borland

The Springboks have placed enormous faith in young flyhalf Handre Pollard to start in the pivot position in their opening Rugby Championship match against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, but coach Heyneke Meyer believes the 20-year-old has already earned such trust.

Pollard retains his berth as the starting flyhalf after his impressive debut against Scotland at the end of June, relegating veteran Morne Steyn to the bench. Meyer must have been tempted to go with the experience of Steyn, especially since Damian de Allende will be making his debut in midfield, and Ruan Pienaar, Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers are all coming off extended absences from the field of play.

But there’s no doubting the Springbok coach’s high regard for Pollard.

“Handre is only 20, but he’s very mature and he has an experienced head on his shoulders. I’ve seen him playing since he was 15 and he has always impressed me as an unbelievable prospect.

“He’s one of the few flyhalves to have both a brilliant attacking game and a tactical game. You don’t find that a lot, the name Dan Carter springs to mind, most flyhalves have one or the other,” Meyer said on Wednesday.

“It’s a tough position and a flyhalf must have leadership qualities as well because the players must trust him. They expect him to stay cool and calm and make the right decisions and they must want to give him the ball.

“Handre is also big and tall for a flyhalf and most teams now attack in the 10/12 channel, but he’s big enough to knock back guys, even big forwards. There are no grey areas in his game and I believe a lot in him.”

While the likes of Juan de Jongh and S’Bura Sithole have both surely done enough to warrant consideration at outside centre, Meyer has backed what he sees as De Allende’s potential in the number 13 jersey.

The 23-year-old is yet to play outside centre in SuperRugby, but he played there at school and had one Currie Cup outing in that position for Western Province against the Blue Bulls last year.

He certainly has the attributes to make a success of his new-found role, being big, strong and quick, while also having fine hands.

“I was really impressed with Damian in SuperRugby. I always look at players when they are playing away in tough conditions and I like his mental toughness.

“He’s a big guy but he’s skilful as well, he has the soft touches, runs beautiful lines and gets the ball away. I think he can bring another dimension to our backline and I feel he can be superb at 13,” Meyer said.

The other notable feature of the Springbok team announced on Wednesday was Lood de Jager shifting from number four to number five lock, to replace the injured Victor Matfield.

South Africa’s most-capped player has stayed with the squad to lend his considerable wisdom to De Jager, and Meyer is confident that the 21-year-old can make another step in his meteoric rise and run the lineouts.

“It wasn’t that easy to select at number five, but Lood is intelligent enough to run the lineout and, even though he’s been a typical number four, I’ve always felt that we could groom him at five.

“He’s one of the most improved players I’ve worked with and he has an unbelievable future. Eben Etzebeth can also play five, but he hasn’t played for a while, plus Lood is very good outside of the lineouts as well,” Meyer said.

Bakkies Botha will make his first Rugby Championship start since 2011 alongside De Jager, with Etzebeth as cover on the bench.

Tendai Mtawarira starts at loosehead prop, to extend the South African record with Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis as a front-row trio to 17 Tests.

Jan Serfontein, after his excellent performances in the incoming Tests, will get the chance to put in a hard-hitting 20 minutes off the bench on Saturday, while Francois Hougaard is the reserve scrumhalf to Ruan Pienaar.

In the absence of Fourie du Preez, Meyer admitted that their service has to speed up in the Rugby Championship.

“I always thought Test rugby would become more of an arm-wrestle, but more tries than ever are being scored and the game is getting quicker and quicker. So all the scrumhalves in South Africa need to play at a higher tempo if we’re going to be the best. They need to up it because we need to speed up our ball. We need ball on the front foot because we have a big flyhalf and centres that attack the line.”

Meyer said Argentina would require the Springboks’ full focus on Saturday.

“It’s always tough against Argentina because they are a contesting team, they contest for the ball in every facet of the game. The scrum is always a huge contest and they’re one of the best teams at the breakdown.

“They have a new coach [Daniel Hourcade] so they’re going to play with a lot of passion and lately they’ve been moving the ball around more, so they’ll test our defence,” Meyer said.

Springbok team: 15-Willie le Roux, 14-Cornal Hendricks, 13-Damian de Allende, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Bryan Habana, 10-Handre Pollard, 9-Ruan Pienaar, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Lood de Jager, 4-Bakkies Botha, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Bismarck du Plessis, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements – 16-Adriaan Strauss, 17-Trevor Nyakane, 18-Frans Malherbe, 19-Eben Etzebeth, 20-Marcell Coetzee, 21-Francois Hougaard, 22-Morne Steyn, 23-Jan Serfontein.

The charismatic leadership of Jean de Villiers makes him a certainty for South Africa’s starting line-up whenever he is fit, but Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s toughest selection decision for the Rugby Championship revolves around his captain’s position.

While the return of Victor Matfield and his stepping into the captaincy while De Villiers was injured during the incoming tours certainly did not curdle the Springboks’ play nor team cohesion, Meyer made it clear on Monday that the Stormers man would return for the Rugby Championship.

But factors beyond Meyer’s control have dished up a selection quandary for the Springbok coach.

In the absence of the unavailable JP Pietersen and Frans Steyn, the injured Jaque Fourie and the out-of-form JJ Engelbrecht, there is a dearth of outside centres in the squad.

But the specialist centres who have been named – De Villiers, Jan Serfontein and new cap Damian de Allende – are all more comfortable in the number 12 jersey.

So who should play in the number 13 top? Serfontein was outstanding at inside centre during the incoming tours, while De Villiers has played outside centre several times for the Springboks. De Allende has all the attributes of a top international midfielder, but no experience at that level.

“We’ll certainly look at Jean at number 13, although I believe 12 is his best position,” Meyer said on Monday.

“Jan Serfontein was superb at inside centre during the incoming tours, while Damian de Allende has only played 13 at school. Damian can be a brilliant centre at international level, but we need to find the right position for him.

“I just know that when Jean played 13 outside Frans Steyn, although there were a few factors involved, we didn’t score many tries. I love Jean at 12 because of the way he organises play, he was probably the best inside centre in the world last year. He can crash the ball up, but he’s also got unbelievable hands and I prefer a number 12 who can move the ball and create space on the outside.

“We can’t just crash the ball up now in midfield because all the sides have big centres and I always want to get that width and get around teams on the outside. Jean is big and strong and he has unbelievable hands, but those three haven’t played much together,” Meyer explained.

But there are no guarantees yet that either De Villiers or De Allende are actually ready for Test rugby, having spent several weeks on the sidelines with injuries.

The Springboks began their camp in Johannesburg on Monday with medical examinations and, while the results of these are only likely to be known on Tuesday, Meyer admitted that there was some concern over the pair of Stormers centres.

“The players are busy with their medicals and a lot of them haven’t played for some time. Obviously Jean is a concern because although he has been training with Western Province, he hasn’t had any contact yet.

“The feedback we’ve had from Cape Town is that Damian has done well in training, but usually the problems only come out once we begin training.

“There are also guys like Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Beast and Pat Lambie who we just want to manage properly,” Meyer said.

The match readiness of Etzebeth will also decide the other main selection issue, which is the second row.

While Matfield has no real challengers for the number five jersey, who will play alongside him? Does Meyer opt for the experience of Bakkies Botha or the in-form Lood de Jager? Who then to put on the bench – Botha, Etzebeth or De Jager?

Meyer said the focus of this year’s Rugby Championship campaign will be the acquisition of the bonus points that were the major factor in 2013’s competition.

The fact that the Springboks had to chase the bonus point win in their last match against New Zealand – thereby ensuring the sort of open game the All Blacks love – was absolutely crucial in the final outcome.

“I think this year’s Rugby Championship will be the most difficult of the lot, historically the third year has been the most difficult for the Springbok coach.

“I think it’s going to come down to bonus points and if we don’t get bonus points against Argentina, like Australia and New Zealand did last year, and away from home if you don’t win, then we’re going to be under pressure to win both our games at home again. You must get bonus points to win this competition!

“We scored the most tries in world rugby last year, so we need to catch up to that momentum very quickly. I want to play total rugby, I want to play 15-man rugby, but our tactical kicking also really needs to improve. That was one of our downfalls last year, while New Zealand and Australia both had nines and 10s using tactical kicks,” Meyer said.

The absence of the injured Fourie du Preez is the major stumbling block to Meyer’s plans.

“Losing Fourie is an unbelievable setback, his tactical kicking is the biggest thing we’ll miss, but he is also the master on attack. He always picks up the right runners and last year we had a huge evolution in our attack in that we did it out of our own 22. Fourie is just an amazing tactical general,” the coach said.

“I want our scrumhalf to play more to the ball, to give the backline quick ball. We have a lot of scrumhalves in South Africa who are snipers and can score great individual tries, which is what the public sees, but we need a nine who can clean out quickly and give quality ball because we’re interested in team tries.”

The experienced Ruan Pienaar is probably the closest to Du Preez’s all-round skill set, with the utility talents of Francois Hougaard probably earning him a place on the bench.

The Sharks’ dismal SuperRugby semi-final performance – and the inaccuracy of the kicking by halfbacks Cobus Reinach and Lambie – is probably going to count against their chances of playing in the tournament opener against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld on August 16.

Victor Matfield has stormed his way back into the Springbok squad

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer on Monday added veterans Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield and Heinrich Brussow, as well as eight uncapped players, to his plans as he announced a 36-man squad to attend a national training camp in Durban from May 25 to 28.

The returns of Matfield – the second-most capped Springbok of all time with 110 Tests – and Burger (68 Tests) will provide an injury-hit South African team with plenty of experience as they head into a challenging series against Wales and another Rugby Championship campaign beyond that.

Hookers Scarra Ntubeni and Chiliboy Ralepelle, prop Frik Kirsten, locks Pieter-Steph du Toit and Franco van der Merwe, loose forwards Arno Botha and Pierre Spies, scrumhalf Louis Schreuder, utility backs Pat Lambie and Gio Aplon, and centre Jaque Fourie are all out with injury.

The 37-year-old Matfield made a controversial return to rugby this year, having last played in the 2011 World Cup, but has performed with aplomb for the Bulls, stamping his usual mark on the lineouts and also showing good work-rate.

With all the other locks in the squad – except for Flip van der Merwe – still making their way in international rugby, Matfield will be one of the adults amongst all the young, talented children and will have an important role in guiding them through the crucial year before the World Cup, which is often a fraught one for Springbok teams.

Schalk Burger can be satisfied with his return to action

Although Meyer is better off in terms of loose forward stocks, the return of Burger, who has shown glimpses of his old high-energy destructiveness for the Stormers, should be welcomed.

“Victor and Schalk have been out of rugby for a long time. They’ve really been in great form recently and the fact that they have not been with the Boks for more than two years has made them hungry for Test rugby yet again,” Meyer said.

“It’s great to welcome them back into the Springbok fold and I know both of them can still add a lot of value to the team with the Rugby World Cup in 2015 looming.

“This is a very big year for us and the players know they will have to step up a gear, be sharp and focused from the moment we get going in Durban. We have 14 very challenging matches ahead in 2014 and it’s imperative that we build on what was a good season last year.

“It’s important that we start building continuity because there are just 18 matches left until the Rugby World Cup starts. But it’s just as important to recognise continuous good form. We also have a number of players struggling with injury niggles or returning from injury which we have to assess.”

Heinrich Brussow will want to show he has the power-game to fit in with Meyer's plans

Meyer has made it clear before that he does not care for public pressure to select anyone, but the inclusion of Brussow will also be welcomed. Whether there is a place for the pocket dynamo in Meyer’s back row remains to be seen, however.

Duane Vermeulen and Willem Alberts are certainties for the number eight and seven jerseys, while Meyer is unlikely to jettison Bath’s Francois Louw (European-based players were not considered for this squad) after his superb displays for the Springboks last year.

Marcell Coetzee, Burger and Siya Kolisi are probably all ahead of Brussow in the queue as well, leaving him and Bulls rookie Jacques du Plessis, and even Cheetahs lock/flank Teboho Mohoje, to fight over scraps.

Meyer has kept the transformation police happy by selecting 10 players of colour, including six Black Africans, while the fresh blood in the squad is provided by centre/wing Damian de Allende, flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff, lock Lood de Jager, wing Cornal Hendricks, wing/centre S’Bura Sithole, flank Jacques du Plessis, lock/flank Teboho Mohoje and prop Marcel van der Merwe.

“A few new players have put up their hands, which is good to see with the first match of the season, against the World XV in Cape Town, only a few weeks away,” said Meyer.

“It’s very encouraging to see a bunch of new players emerging from Vodacom SuperRugby. This camp will provide us with a great opportunity to work with these players before the squad for the Castle Lager Incoming Series is finalised. I am looking forward to work with these players for the first time,” the coach said.

The contentious areas when it comes to the final selection of the squad for the incoming series would appear to be tighthead prop, lock, scrumhalf, centre and wing. Hooker is a worry in that only two have been named – Bismarck du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss – and while their quality is undeniable, Meyer will be terrified of one of them getting injured.

The Sharks front row of the two Du Plessis brothers and Tendai Mtawarira are certain starters, but who the back-up to old warhorse Jannie will be remains to be seen.

The Cheetahs scrum has laboured in recent weeks with Coenie Oosthuizen at tighthead and one hopes that the experiment is called off and the destructive 25-year-old is allowed to return to loosehead, particularly with the rise of the promising Frans Malherbe and Marcel van der Merwe in the number three jersey.

Flip van der Merwe, young star Eben Etzebeth and Matfield would appear to be certainties for the squad, but if a fourth lock is chosen, who will it be? Will Meyer once again call on Bakkies Botha, who seems to have regained the enthusiasm of his teen years while playing in France?

Fourie du Preez was typically influential in his five Tests last year and is surely the first-choice scrumhalf. Francois Hougaard was unimpressive when the Bulls were struggling overseas, but seems to be regaining some form in recent weeks.

Ruan Pienaar was nominated for the European Rugby Player of the Year award last month and will probably be the back-up to Du Preez.

Jean de Villiers was richly praised for both his captaincy and play at inside centre by Meyer last year, but the 2013 SA Rugby Player of the Year could be in for a move due to the return of Frans Steyn after a year of injuries.

Steyn was used exclusively in the number 12 jersey by Meyer in 2012 and it seems clear that Morne Steyn and Johan Goosen will be the Springbok flyhalves this year, so perhaps De Villiers will shift to outside centre to accommodate the 2007 World Cup winner and offer an exceptionally experienced midfield, even with Jaque Fourie likely to be out of action for the entire Test season with an ankle injury.

Willie le Roux looks set to continue as the Bok fullback, there being no other specialist contenders in the squad, while Sharks wing Lwazi Mvovo has deservedly been called up after an impressive SuperRugby campaign.

There is an abundance of outside-back talent for Meyer to choose from, with the classy JP Pietersen joined in the squad by Bulls talents JJ Engelbrecht and Jan Serfontein, the in-form De Allende and Juan de Jongh from the Stormers, Bjorn Basson, Cornal Hendricks and S’Bura Sithole.

Wing Bryan Habana, flank Francois Louw and scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar should all join the squad once they have been released from their European clubs, with prop Gurthro Steenkamp and lock Bakkies Botha also possibly on Meyer’s wish-list.

Where Meyer seems to be heading is the following final squad for the Incoming Series –

• Fullback: Willie le Roux
• Wings: JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana, Lwazi Mvovo, Bjorn Basson/Damian de Allende
• Centres: Jean de Villiers, Frans Steyn, Jan Serfontein, JJ Engelbrecht
• Flyhalves: Morne Steyn, Johan Goosen
• Scrumhalves: Fourie du Preez, Ruan Pienaar, Francois Hougaard
• Eighthman: Duane Vermeulen
• Loose forwards: Willem Alberts, Francois Louw, Marcell Coetzee, Schalk Burger, Siya Kolisi
• Locks: Flip van der Merwe, Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha/Lood de Jager
• Props: Jannie du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Frans Malherbe/Coenie Oosthuizen/Gurthro Steenkamp
• Hookers: Bismarck du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss

The players who can consider themselves unfortunate to have just missed out on the squad are Ryan Kankowski and Warren Whiteley, the form eighthmen in South Africa after Vermeulen, and Stormers loose forward Nizaam Carr, while Sharks scrumhalf Cobus Reinach and Bulls lock Paul Willemse are stars of the future whose time will surely come.

Springbok training squad: Willie le Roux, JP Pietersen, JJ Engelbrecht, Cornal Hendricks, S’Bura Sithole, Jean de Villiers, Jan Serfontein, Juan de Jongh, Frans Steyn, Damian de Allende, Lwazi Mvovo, Bjorn Basson, Johan Goosen, Marnitz Boshoff, Fourie du Preez, Francois Hougaard, Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Schalk Burger, Jacques du Plessis, Marcell Coetzee, Siya Kolisi, Heinrich Brussow, Flip van der Merwe, Victor Matfield, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Teboho Mohoje, Jannie du Plessis, Frans Malherbe, Coenie Oosthuizen, Marcel van der Merwe, Bismarck du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer says his team’s rise from number four to number two in the world rankings tells him they are on the right track, but it was the smattering of applause his squad received when they arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Monday that was perhaps an even bigger advisory that the public, his sternest critics, are pleased with his efforts.

It’s hard to remember when the Springboks were last applauded in the arrivals hall at O.R. Tambo, but it must have been 2009 when they returned from Hamilton with the Tri-Nations trophy. Generally, the media gathered for interviews have been the only ones to show much interest, the general public keeping an awkward distance, much like how the employee who got drunk and took all his clothes off at the office Christmas party is treated.

But South Africa’s unbeaten tour of Great Britain and Ireland, the first perfect end-of-year trip since 2008, has enabled Meyer to lift his record in his first year in charge to seven wins, three losses and two draws from 12 Tests. The former Blue Bulls coach has admitted that for him, too, it has been a steep learning curve.

“Our three goals were to remain unbeaten, which has not been done for quite some time on the end-of-year tour, secure the number two ranking and, perhaps most importantly, make our supporters proud. So it was really great to see the support here at the airport.

“It’s been a tough year, we’ve lost three out of 12 Tests, but the great thing is we started at number four on the world rankings and now we’re second. So I’m very happy, especially considering we lost a lot of guys through injury, and we can only grow from here,” Meyer said.

While the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Willem Alberts, Adriaan Strauss, Francois Louw, Marcell Coetzee, Duane Vermeulen and Pat Lambie have stolen the limelight, captain Jean de Villiers has been the unsung hero of the team, alongside ever-present tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis.

De Villiers was initially appointed as captain for just the three June Tests against England, which was quickly extended to the whole year and now, after an often torrid season, Meyer advised that he was unlikely to change captain next year in the light of the calm, intelligent leadership shown by De Villiers.

“Jean has been awesome. He’s one of three players to have started every game this year and he’s also been a great ambassador for the country. In the last three games, he was our main ball-carrier and he gained good ground for us. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be captain again next year,” Meyer said.

The two areas about which Meyer has been most strongly criticised have been the attacking play of his side and his transformation record.

While the wet conditions overseas served to undermine much of their attacking ambition, there were hints against England at Twickenham last weekend that, with Lambie at flyhalf and Juan de Jongh at outside centre, the backline could develop into more of a threat.

The transformation issue is one that all Springbok coaches – save for Peter de Villiers – have had to face, but it is disingenuous to single out Meyer for criticism.

Nine players of colour, including five black Africans, were in the touring squad which is as good a record as any of his predecessors, including De Villiers. With Siya Kolisi out injured, it is difficult to imagine other black players who can feel unfairly treated by not being selected.

Even criticism that these players did not get game time on the tour is unfounded, because there were a heap of white players who also spent the three weeks carrying tackle bags. It’s the nature of sport that not everyone can get a run and even someone like Elton Jantjies, whose form has begun to taper off after a great start to the Currie Cup campaign, was overlooked because Lambie deserved a fair chance to stake his claim at flyhalf.

Meyer’s focus in 2013 should be on wedding better backline attacking play to the formidable pack he is building and the outstanding defence shown on tour. He will also want the team to perform more consistently: they have produced their best for the full 80 minutes perhaps only once this year (against Australia in Pretoria) and the need for a ruthless, killer edge was shown in the last two matches when they allowed both Scotland and England back into contention in Tests that looked done and dusted.

But these lapses of concentration that afflicted the team are in stark contrast to the mental strength they showed in winning all three Tests in Europe despite being in high-pressure situations (even if they were of their own making).

“A lot of guys hadn’t been on an end-of-year tour before and a lot of great players have lost over there. We’d lost the previous Test against Scotland and we’d only won one of the last three in Ireland. I always say there are only two types of rugby: winning rugby and losing rugby. And we won three out of three, so I’ll take that.

“There is still lots of room for improvement, but that will come with experience. It takes a lot of mental effort to grind out wins like that. But we made life hard for ourselves by conceding 17 penalties a game on tour, compared to six per game back at home, so that’s unacceptable and has to change,” Meyer said.

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