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.

South Africa forwards coach Johan van Graan said on Monday that fears over the match-fitness of the handful of Springboks returning from injury were unfounded ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld.

Tendai Mtawarira, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Jean de Villiers, Damian de Allende and Pat Lambie are all likely to be involved in Saturday’s Test and all of them have just returned from injuries that have kept them out for weeks and in some cases months.

But Van Graan said players today, especially experienced ones, were more able to hit the ground running.

“It varies from player to player, but they are all professionals who have been around the block. For example, last year Duane Vermeulen had been injured for a long time but he came back and played 80 minutes straight away,” Van Graan said.

Team doctor Craig Roberts acknowledged that players did need to take contact in order to get match-fit, but he said much of this could be done in training.

“You need hits and contact to get match-fit and sometimes you need game time if you’ve been out for a long time. Which is one of the reasons Eben Etzebeth and Frans Malherbe were sent back to their province last week because they had three months out with injury.

“Someone like Beast has only been out for six weeks and he’s done everything in training, he did a lot of scrumming last week and he’s looking good. We had some big, heavy sessions last week,” Roberts said.

Fears that captain De Villiers might miss the opening Rugby Championship encounter now look misplaced as South Africa’s most-capped centre continues to make steady progress from his knee injury.

“We’ve brought Jean through slowly and we’re happy with where he’s at,” Roberts said.

Mtawarira’s progress means that he might well start in the number one jersey in his 56th Test and his first match since the game against Wales in Nelspruit on June 21.

The Springbok pack has been even more disrupted by the injury to veteran Victor Matfield.

“Victor tweaked his knee, there’s a little tear in the cartilage, but he’s responded well to rest and rehab and it doesn’t look like a scope will be necessary. But he won’t be available this week and we’ll reassess his fitness for the trip to Argentina,” Roberts said.

While Van Graan said the absence of “probably the best lock to have ever played” would be felt beyond just the lineouts – Matfield also plays a key role in the defensive organisation – the search was on for someone else to run that set-piece for the Springboks.

“Losing Victor is obviously a huge setback, but we’ve worked hard with Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth on calling the lineouts and Duane Vermeulen has been calling the Stormers’ lineout for some time. He’s been part of the system for a long time and is an experienced caller, so Duane is probably the favourite to do it,” Van Graan said.

The forwards coach said taking on the Argentinians this weekend would be a major test of the Springboks’ ability to hang on to their own ball.

“In 2013, Argentina and us stole the most ball, not only at the breakdowns but also at set-pieces, and we were at one and two again in the June Tests. So it’s definitely going to be a game with a lot of contesting for the ball, Argentina will attack us at every breakdown, scrum, lineout and kick-off.

“The Pumas also do a lot of leg-tackles, taking the ball-carrier low, but playing against Wales and Scotland in June was good preparation for that. They also do more leg-tackles, while you have more double-hits in SuperRugby. But it’s been a focus of ours in training, especially for the taller guys, who are put in situations they’re not used to,” Van Graan said.

There is a good buzz in the Springbok camp, especially with the legendary Juan Smith once again part of the squad, and they are hopeful, despite the injury concerns, that they will be in tiptop shape come Saturday.

“For the first time in two-and-a-half years, we’ve had the actual 30-man squad together two weeks before the start of the tournament and you can feel the buzz and vibe in the squad. Everything’s been planned – the players knew in June what we would be doing now – and we’ve been concentrating on our set-pieces, attack, kicking game and what to do when you’re five metres from your own line and five metres from their line,” Van Graan said.

Even the rusty Malherbe and Etzebeth showed good form in Western Province’s weekend Currie Cup victory over the Eastern Province Kings, with the tighthead prop making over a dozen tackles.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke hinted at the end of his side’s Vodacom SuperRugby campaign this weekend at Loftus Versfeld that he hopes the squad will be boosted by some “special players” for next year’s campaign.

The Bulls finished on a high by hammering the Rebels 40-7 to end in ninth place on the log, second in the South African Conference, beaten only by the playoffs-bound Sharks. But they are painfully aware that they were just one win short of joining the KwaZulu-Natalians in the knockout rounds.

Before restoring some pride against the Rebels, the Bulls suffered successive defeats to the Lions and Stormers, as well as being beaten by the Cheetahs earlier in the season.

“Although we enjoyed the way we finished, there were some vital games where we didn’t get the result we needed. But for one or two losses, we would have easily made the playoffs. But we haven’t played well enough away from home, it wasn’t good enough and there are no excuses.

“You need special performances to win away from home and the margins are small. We created some big moments and finishing those off is how you win. We have a good squad, some great players who will definitely get better.

“But we are obviously looking at some players. In 80% of the games, nine of the starting line-up had not played SuperRugby before this year. Special players make special things happen, but I think I must stop there,” Ludeke said after the match.

The point about acquiring some marquee players was rammed home, though, by captain Victor Matfield.

“To win this competition, you need two or three players that would make a World XV and five or six Springboks. We have youngsters who can become world-class and we finished within seven points of the Waratahs in Sydney so we’re not that far off,” Matfield said.

The Bulls, beset by the overseas exodus and poor recruitment, tackled this SuperRugby campaign with too many players that were merely of Currie Cup quality. Some of the youngsters are certainly developing rapidly, but the negotiations with Adriaan Strauss should solve a problem at hooker and the management really should be on the phone to a quality openside flank as well.

The areas of strength looking to the future are amongst the backs – the midfield, with Jan Serfontein and JJ Engelbrecht possibly the future Springbok centre pairing and the most exciting young flyhalf in the country in Handre Pollard.

Up front, so much still depends on Matfield and, with fellow lock Paul Willemse heading to France, prop Marcel van der Merwe and injured flank Jacques du Plessis are the only young forwards with genuine international aspirations.

The injury-enforced absence of experienced forwards such as Pierre Spies, Deon Stegmann, Dewald Potgieter, Flip van der Merwe and Arno Botha has also greatly hindered the Bulls.

“We’ve lost a lot of loose forwards this year and half-a-dozen of our players are still U21, so if they come through, we will do well,” Matfield said.

It was also encouraging to see Francois Hougaard shrug off a season of grief for him personally and start to look like his old exuberant self on the left wing, while the Bulls looked a slicker outfit on attack thanks to the service of Piet van Zyl at scrumhalf. Springbok considerations have obviously played a part in Ludeke’s selection at nine this year, but perhaps the Bulls will start 2015 as they ended the 2014 competition.

“The new combination worked well. Francois had a lot of energy and looked for work, he was always sniffing for gaps, and Piet van Zyl played very well too.

“Francois’ first choice is to play nine and Piet was unfortunately injured while we were on tour. Only time will tell, but it’s great to keep both involved and I think it was satisfying seasons for both,” Ludeke said.

If all the young talent can continue to grow and the senior players (boosted by a couple of acquisitions) can stay uninjured, then the time of grieving at Loftus Versfeld may be over very soon.

The Bulls didn’t quite do enough to justify sending lawyers’ letters for slander to all their detractors, but they nevertheless ended their Vodacom SuperRugby campaign on a high note as they hammered the Melbourne Rebels 40-7 at Loftus Versfeld last night.

The victory must be judged against the high error-rate in a typical end-of-season match between two sides already out of the running, and the weakness of the opposition – with the result condemning the Rebels to the wooden spoon.

Nevertheless, coach Frans Ludeke must be wondering what might have been as the Bulls gave glimpses of being able to fix many of the things that have plagued them this season.

The Bulls have a formidable lineout, this we know, but they also have a mighty scrum when their front-rankers put their mind to it, which they usually do at home but, frustratingly, not outside of Pretoria. Both set-pieces clicked for the Bulls last night and they thoroughly dominated the Rebels in the tight phases.

Piet van Zyl was eventually given a start at scrumhalf and the Bulls certainly looked a slicker outfit with him directing the traffic. Francois Hougaard was shifted out to the wing, and seemed to enjoy the space he had in which to work his magic, having a busy evening and scoring a fine try in which he beat three defenders.

Springbok considerations have encouraged Ludeke to persist with Hougaard at scrumhalf, but the time has surely come to give Van Zyl an extended run in the number nine jersey.

The Rebels were competitive in the first half, only trailing 7-12 at the break, and that was only due to the absence of a top-class goal-kicker in their team. For all his powerful running and ability to take the gap at flyhalf, Jack Debreczeni had a woeful night with the boot, missing three vital first-half penalties.

The opening minutes provided a foretaste of the Rebels’ biggest problem last night as they spent a prolonged period deep inside Bulls’ territory from the kick-off, but failed to score any points as Debreczeni missed a penalty and they turned over the ball on the tryline.

The Bulls’ first visit into the Rebels’ 22 brought points courtesy of a Handre Pollard penalty for offsides. The youngster enjoyed a faultless night in terms of goal-kicking, epitomising the home side’s ability to turn territory into points, while the Rebels failed to take their chances.

Two tries in the third quarter gave the Bulls security.

A lovely break by fullback Jurgen Visser was followed by Van Zyl firing a pinpoint pass into the gap and lock Paul Willemse galloped on to it to score the Bulls’ first try.

Eleven minutes later, replacement prop Dean Greyling roared off a lineout, smashing the Rebels’ defence and opening the way for Willemse to score his second try.

Hougaard and Greyling, amongst the most frustrating players of this campaign, completed the scoring for the Bulls. Both are potent forces with ball in hand – Hougaard the nimble rapier, Greyling the bludgeoning tank – and Bulls fans will just be wishing they, and their team as a whole, fired more often.

The bonus point victory lifts the Bulls into ninth place on the final log, where they will stay, regardless of what happens today.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Paul Willemse (2), Francois Hougaard, Dean Greyling. Conversions: Handre Pollard (3), Jacques-Louis Potgieter. Penalties: Pollard (4).

Melbourne Rebels – Try: Jack Debreczeni. Conversion: Debreczeni.