Ken Borland

Continuity and consistency has trumped the new blood and bolters that are so beloved of rugby fans in the selection of the Springbok squad for the end-of-year tour of the United Kingdom, with Stormers lock Salmaan Moerat the only player announced on Tuesday who was not part of the extended Rugby Championship squad.

South Africa will play Wales, Scotland and England on successive Saturdays from November 6 and, after that, the Springboks only have 17 Tests before defending their World Cup crown in France in 2023.

And, as coach Jacques Nienaber pointed out, they have already been refreshing the squad with the likes of Ox Nche, Joseph Dweba, Moerat, Jasper Wiese, Aphelele Fassi, Sanele Nohamba, Jaden Hendrikse and Grant Williams all coming into the squad this year.

“We’ve been building a squad since 2018 and there have been young players coming in at every turn, all coming into the mix. So we are continually breeding young players. And we want consistency in selection, keeping experience because we will need that going into the 2023 World Cup. The average age of the squad is 28 but there are still some very experienced players.

“A Northern Hemisphere tour is a big challenge for us, just looking at their squads and the fact we haven’t won all three matches over there since 2013. So we had an eye on that in terms of selection and also that we only probably have 20 Tests left to the World Cup. So the big thing is to build continuity and consistency in selection, because we lost a lot of time in 2020,” Nienaber said after announcing his 32-man squad on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Moerat owes his place to the absence of RG Snyman, who continues to be dogged by injury and has not played a Test since the World Cup final.

Moerat has always had the pedigree of a future Springbok, being captain of both the SA Schools and SA U20 teams. He is big – two metres tall and weighing 111kg – and athletic and has that bit of mongrel that all great locks have. The Paarl Boys High product is a strong defensive presence for the Stormers.

The other players not considered due to injury were scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, prop Frans Malherbe, loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, wing Cheslin Kolbe, utility forwards Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Rynhardt Elstadt, and flyhalf Johan Goosen.

Nienaber confirmed that Bulls star Goosen, who has played 13 Tests but last represented the Springboks back in 2016, was on their radar for the tour before he sustained a bad knee injury two weeks ago in Cardiff.

“We were definitely looking at Johan so it is unfortunate he got injured, especially with Morne Steyn retiring from international rugby. We are looking at young flyhalves and there is some nice talent. But a guy like Handre Pollard has played more than 50 Tests but is still relatively young at 27. That’s not a bad age for the next World Cup and no team has won that trophy with a flyhalf younger than 25.

“Elton Jantjies is also 31 and in those positions in the spine you always like experience to handle the pressure at a World Cup. We also wanted more experience with Morne Steyn in the British and Irish Lions series and the Rugby Championship, so with him announcing his retirement there is now a spot open. It would be nice to see some of the younger flyhalves get through a whole season for their franchise, get that continuity in performance,” Nienaber said.

Squad: Willie le Roux, Francois Steyn, Makazole Mapimpi, Lukhanyo Am, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Damian Willemse, Sbu Nkosi, Aphelele Fassi, Handré Pollard, Elton Jantjies, Cobus Reinach, Herschel Jantjies, Grant Williams, Duane Vermeulen, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese, Siya Kolisi (captain), Marco van Staden, Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Marvin Orie, Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, Trevor Nyakane, Vincent Koch, Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Joseph Dweba, Ox Nché, Steven Kitshoff.

Steven Kitshoff has spent a long time sharing the Springbok loosehead duties with the great Tendai Mtawarira, but now that the ‘Beast’ has retired, the Stormers powerhouse will be the undisputed wearer of South Africa’s No.1 jersey in the series against the British and Irish Lions, but says being in the hot seat is not going to change his approach to Test rugby.

Mtawarira is the most-capped Springbok prop ever with 117 appearances stretching from 2008 to the triumphant 2019 World Cup final. Kitshoff made his Test debut in 2016 and has amassed 47 caps, but only 12 of those have been starts.

“Playing with and behind Beast was a massive honour and it was a privilege to learn from him. He is one of the great legends of the game. But now that he has retired, I’ll bring a similar approach as before to the game, I’ll focus on just doing my job the best I can for the team, and be willing to sacrifice for the team. My preparation will be the same.

“I’ll be putting in the same hard work every week leading up to the game. I’ll just be trying my best to represent my country and uphold the jersey as best I can, because I remember back in 2009, I was still in Grade XI and it was awesome to watch Beast scrum Phil Vickery on the last Lions tour here,” Kitshoff said.

The absence of Mtawarira robs the Springboks of one of their main leaders and has been exacerbated by the probable loss of Duane Vermeulen to an ankle injury. And while inspirational skipper Siya Kolisi will still very much have his hands on the tiller, Kitshoff says it will be all hands on deck in terms of the other leaders in the team stepping up.

“Duane plays a massive role in the side. I have no idea how long his rehab is going to take and I wish him all the best and a speedy recovery. He will definitely be missed, but we have a great group of players and leaders who are ready to step up and sacrifice anything for the jersey. There are still unbelievable leaders in the group and there are key guys running certain positions.

“That makes the game so much easier because it helps you control certain situations. As senior players now we must just step up and make sure we bring our side of the deal. Playing against the Lions is always one of the hardest series, up there with the World Cup, the toughest few weeks of your life. We’re working day-by-day to get our stuff in order and to have clarity in playing to our strengths,” Kitshoff said.

Late lapses cost the Sharks victory against the Bulls and the Stormers, and also made their game against the Lions before that closer than it should have been, and that is a key area of improvement coach Sean Everitt is looking for when his team travel to Ellis Park on Saturday for their Rainbow Cup encounter with the Gautengers.

And even though the Sharks are resting several Springboks as per the agreement with SA Rugby, Everitt has been able to name a powerful bench that should be able to have a late impact against the Lions. Their first-choice front row is amongst the replacements, Ruben van Heerden and Thembelani Bholi are seasoned forwards now, centre Jeremy Ward is an exciting runner and scrumhalf Grant Williams’ ability to lift the pace is perhaps his greatest attribute.

“When we played the Lions here at Kings Park, we had a lapse in the last 10 minutes, but the game was basically won. Fez Mbatha, Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit can hopefully be a bit of a bomb squad for us in Joburg and we can finish stronger than we have in the last few weeks, so things have worked out nicely in that regard. We’ve had a good break and have been able to work on the aspects that have let us down,” Everitt said.

The impressive coaching methods of Everitt have seen him create a real family atmosphere within the Sharks squad and he has always focused on ensuring the levels of performance are right rather than results. Now that the Sharks are under pressure to deliver a result against the Lions to keep them contending for the Rainbow Cup final, nothing will change.

“There is pressure to perform in all areas, not just to win. In some games our scrum hasn’t functioned and then our scrum will be good but the lineout fails. Results come with performance, ensuring we get those processes right first; performance goes hand-in-hand with results. We are still in the race and we have played good rugby up there recently.

“The conditions suit the exciting brand of rugby we want to play and in the last 18 months we have got the mental aspect of playing on the Highveld right. We know that the Lions have improved a lot over the last four weeks though, since our last game against them, and I am expecting a tough tussle,” Everitt said.

The Sharks have won their last four matches at Ellis Park, dating back to their defeat in the opening game of Super Rugby in 2018.

Bulls coach Jake White was not expecting elusive wing Rosko Specman to be playing for the Stormers against his team in their Rainbow Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night, but he does know those thickset brutes in the visiting pack are going to be trying to wrestle his side into submission.

Specman, on loan from the Free State Cheetahs, was rushed straight into the Stormers starting line-up on Thursday, with Sergeal Petersen being relegated to the bench. Specman was one of the players released from the Bulls by White last year and there have been suggestions of some bad blood between the two.

But when White was asked on Thursday about Specman coming back to Loftus Versfeld to play against his former team, White said he was delighted for the Springbok Sevens star. Before adding a trademark bit of psychological warfare against the Stormers.

“It’s fantastic for Rosko, although I don’t know if he’ll play. I’ll be very pleased for him if he does and he’s also been in the Springbok alignment camps. But there are probably five other wings who have been in Cape Town the whole year, so it’s difficult for them to just parachute Rosko in ahead of everyone else, especially a guy like Edwill van der Merwe, who scored the winning try in their last match.

“So I don’t expect anything different from the Stormers, they have a formula that works for them and the last time they were here, they had six forwards on the bench. That’s working for them and they use their scrum and maul to attack you a lot. It’s going to be a massive, must-win game for us. Fortunately we have three Springboks [Marcell Coetzee, Ivan van Zyl & Gio Aplon] back for a huge game against the team that has the most Springboks in their pack,” White said.

While Coetzee playing with Springbok legend Duane Vermeulen and up-and-coming star Elrigh Louw, and Marco van Staden on the bench, in a loose trio White described as probably being the best in global club rugby is going to engender much excitement, the return of utility back Gio Aplon, to cross swords with his old team, and scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl is most welcome.

With less than a month to run on Van Zyl’s contract before he joins Saracens, many coaches would have ploughed on with Zak Burger and Keegan Johannes at halfback now that Embrose Papier is injured. But not White.

“It sums up everything about our culture. If Ivan had wanted to hide or protect himself before going to Saracens, I would have been disappointed. But it says a lot for him that he wants to be part of the team, he wants to finish here on a high and complete his contract properly. That’s a sign that things are where they should be.

“The reality is I do have other scrumhalves, but I’ve gone for the best one to get the job done in this match, and Embrose is injured and I don’t think he’ll be able to play for a couple of weeks. Ivan is one of the guys showing he has wonderful character, and that’s why we have been successful,” White said.