With all the fuss over Zane Kirchner’s selection out of position at outside centre for last week’s opening tour match against Ireland, another quite interesting selection wasn’t really properly questioned.
Out of the debris of a disastrous Springbok Tri-Nations campaign there emerged a few shining lights that suggested that the heart-ache being suffered by the Boks and their supporters might not be all in vain.
For instance, although he gave away the penalty that sunk the Boks against Australia in Bloemfontein, newcomer Flip van der Merwe did look the part as an international lock.
But by far the most encouraging performances came from a youngster who had been earmarked long ago as a potential successor to Fourie du Preez yet who had only played most of his recent top rugby as a wing.
Francois Hougaard’s selection was questioned on the basis of his lack of scrumhalf experience, but he ended up winning over even his biggest detractors.He wouldn’t have been far from winning the man of the match award in the massive test against the All Blacks at FNB Stadium.
His high kicks and his general all-round play was one of the reasons why the Boks were so competitive in that match, with the Kiwis only winning it with a late flurry of scoring when the South Africans were clearly out on their feet and had run out of tacklers.
Hougaard was so outstanding that some of us at times found it hard to distinguish him from the absent Du Preez.
Sure, they are different players, but in some senses it was as if Du Preez was actually playing and it was not a relative newcomer wearing the No 9. Hougaard never quite sustained that form in the remaining matches, but still, he did enough to suggest he was a capable stand-in for Du Preez.
So the decision to drop Hougaard for the match against Ireland was a mystery, particularly as the man who replaced him, Ruan Pienaar, has never really been backed by Springbok coach Peter de Villiers as a scrumhalf.
For a long time earlier in the season De Villiers played Ricky Januarie ahead of Pienaar, and in the build-up phase to the Tri-Nations, the coach was criticised for not giving Pienaar any game-time in his preferred position.
He did look the part when he came on as a replacement in the second half of the second match against the All Blacks in Wellington, but he was poor in the last test of the overseas leg of the Tri-Nations against the Wallabies in Brisbane.
This was perhaps understandable, for it was his first start in a No 9 jersey since the Super 14.
However the coach, when finally asked the direct question at a press conference following the team announcement for the Wales test on Tuesday, gave a response that both explained the selection and gave an insight into the Bok approach from here on.
“Ruan played scrumhalf for us at the end of the Tri-Nations tour and then he was injured, which was why Francois Hougaard was called in for the home matches,” said De Villiers.
“Ruan was the choice before his injury, and he also has the kicking game we need in these matches. He is the scrumhalf that is most likely to give us something of what Fourie du Preez gives us when he is fit.”
In saying that, De Villiers was repeating what the Sharks coaches have been saying for a long time: Pienaar is a fine scrumhalf who has a boot that can be invaluable to the team. And the reference to Du Preez is a reminder of just how important the first choice No 9 is to the Boks.
This being so, it can be seen as a statement of intent to continue with the tried and tested Bok template, and though there has been a lot of talk from everyone about the need to use the backs more at the Millennium Stadium – though significantly enough not from the head coach, who says he just wants to win – there is unlikely to be any radical reinvention of the Bok game.
There didn’t seem too much wrong with Hougaard’s kicking game at FNB Stadium, but selecting a player to the position because of his similarity to Du Preez does have merit.
When squads are selected it is sometimes argued that the two scrumhalves should be dissimilar so that different options can be offered, but in South Africa’s case the utility value of Pienaar could make it possible to take three scrumhalves to next year’s World Cup – Du Preez, Pienaar and Hougaard.
So the form of Pienaar on this tour is going to come under close scrutiny and scrumhalf may in the end prove to be one of the few areas where progress will be made on this tour towards next year’s World Cup – with much of the rest of the Bok quest being just about regaining pride and a sense of equilibrium after the mid-year disasters.
By Gavin Rich – SuperSport
Does it make sense to you?
1@ superBul:
No, not particularly…. I mean he needs some excuse for his choices, does’nt he.
The way Hougaart grabbed his chance must have showed his potential, and commitment. That is what you want from a Springbok. I feel it is a slap in his face. Also the overseas player story still bothers me. But anyway i just hope that Hougaarts confidence does not take a knock.
3@ superBul:
What impresses me about Hougie is that he still snipes a lot, is strong through a tackle and is himself not hesitant to tackle. He retains possession well and mostly makes the right calls at the right time.
To me Ruan is not much more than a good link player…. surely I’ll come in for some stick about this… see the worry in MYYYYYY EYE!
Haha
For Frans Steyn, one of the strangest things about his most recent recall to the Springboks is that he is no longer the youngest player in the squad. Patrick Lambie, Coenie Oosthuizen and Francois Hougaard are by some margin his juniors, and he is chuffed about that.
“I suppose at 23 now and having been on my own in France for a while I have done some growing up. And one thing I have realised is that I must not be the middle man in the drama over whether or not I should be with the Boks,” he says. “It is not my fight. I am a professional rugby player and it is hard enough to focus on doing that job to the best of my ability without getting involved in off-field stuff.”
The Racing Metro utility back (they also play him all over the backline) is clearly fed up with the bad press regarding his spat with coach Peter de Villiers.
“How did I get to be here this time? I don’t know, I don’t know anything anymore,” he said a little impatiently. “They (Saru) spoke to the club, I got a ticket and flew here on Sunday. That is all I know and want to know. I just want to play the game, and to get the green and gold jersey back on is fantastic.”
But has the dispute between the coach and this outrageously talented player been fully resolved? Again, Steyn goes for the non-committal answer.
‘I have no idea. Andy (Marinos) came to see the club and I made it clear that I don’t want to be the middle man in the papers any more, because that is what happened. It was said I did not want to play for the Boks any more. Every-time I got angry and said something I was the guy that got hammered in the papers, nobody else.
“So I said: ‘You guys talk, I don’t care where I go or what I do, I just don’t want to be in the spotlight. I want to play the game.”
And he will have the opportunity to do that on Saturday, albeit in the uncustomary position of outside centre. “It won’t be easy, as it is not a position I have played too often and we are up against a talented and settled Welsh backline,” Steyn said. “But that’s okay. I’m here to try and pry open a place in the World Cup squad, that is the main thing. Also, this will be my 40th cap and it means as much to me as my first.” – The Star
@ grootblousmile:
I had no problem with the way that Ruan played against the Irish, i just know that when Ronan O’Gara came on the best guy to tackle him out of the game would have been Hougaart.
Well, at least he is over Ricky. I suppose Hougaart, Du Preez and Pienaar are potentially our 3 best picks for next year.
Ietsie om aan te kou.
2 jaar gelede, om en by die tyd, het die Bokke Eng 43-6 gewen op Twickenham (JA!!!)
Daai dag was die stutte Beast en Jannie…
Die slotte was Victor en Bakkies
8ste man – Pierre Spies
Binne senter, Jean Div en linker vleul Habana.
Ander ouens wat ook daar was sluit in Frans Steyn, Adi Jacobs, Ricky (man of the match daai dag) en Ruan Pienaar. Pienaar het egter losskakel gespeel.
Punt is… as mens met soveel as moontlik van die ouens wat daai dag daar is mee kan begin, behoort dit mos goed te wees vir die span se self vertroue. Net jammer Adi en Habana is HEEL van form af.
Seems a lot of people raveing about Ruan again, i dont get it, must be short memory syndrome. One missed kick and things suddenly dont go well 4 him and his confidence will be shot, and i think he wasnt under much pressure because the forwards were playing so well.
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