Boks same old

So it has come time to choose the Springbok training squad once again and once again the coach has made some very questionable decisions. It’s true that there are so many injuries lately that maybe choosing the “best” team isn’t easy.

The question that I’ve asked over and over again is the one of form, if a player is in form shouldn’t he then get a chance in the team? Now the argument could be made that some players don’t have the experience and if you have too many inexperienced players in the team it won’t work.

I do agree with this, however if you never play inexperienced players, how are they ever going to get experience? I would hate to use the Sharks as an example as I don’t like them but if you look at their team, they have a perfect blend of youth and experience and their coach favours players that are in form.

There was a lot of talk about the flay half  place in the Bok team with Morne Steyn, Patrick Lambie, Elton Jantjies and Johan Goosen all fighting for the spot. Out of those four players Goosen is out for several months and Jantjies is in terrible form. He was still selected for the training camp though, which makes no sense to me. The obvious choice for fly half would be Lambie as he is in the best form.

There is only one problem with that though; he is not a Blue Bull. The Bok coach still seems to favour the Bulls players regardless of their form or experience. For example Jano Vemark, normally a second string scrum half for the bulls was called to the training camp. He was unable to attend due to injury but the fact still remains he is not even in the top 3 scrum half’s in the country at the moment.

His replacement Cobus Reinach is a far better candidate as he is probably the in form scum half bar Sarel Pretorious who stands head and shoulders above the rest. He still receives no call up, although he is injured he hasn’t received a call up in the past.

Jan Serfontein who dominated the u20 world champs last year has been called up to the training camp, he is undoubtedly an amazing talent and could be one of the best centers in the world one day. He has only played a few games in Super Rugby and has little to no experience. A player like Paul Jordaan who has been playing Super Rugby for 2 seasons would be a better bet for the present squad.

The coach needs to find that balance between youth and experience if he is to have a good team for the next 3 years.