VIDEO: The Boks' surprising flyhalf alternatives
INTERVIEW: Let’s not beat about the bush. The Springboks suffered a massive loss when it was revealed that Handre Pollard did not recover in time from his injury to make the World Cup squad.
Former Springboks were very outspoken after the announcement of the team about the absence of a consistent and recognized match-winning goal-kicker.
John Smit, who captained the Springboks to victory in the 2007 World Cup in France, said outright the global showpiece is won by goal-kickers.
From these comments, it is clear that there is not enough trust in the incumbent flyhalf Manie Libbok.
But these sentiments might be a bit premature.
It seems everyone has forgotten that the Stormers flyhalf was the top points scorer in the United Rugby Championship this year.
Libbok amassed 217 points and his closest rivals on the list of points scorers are John Cooney with 139 for Ulster, followed by the Bulls’ Chris Smith with 129.
But let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment.
After all, we can’t drop the ball when things go awry.
Should Libbok either lose his way completely due to the pressures of a World Cup when facing some of the best in the business or get injured, what then?
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber explained all the different scenarios that will come into play.
(Article continues below the Jacques Nienaber interview…)
In the event of an injury, it was made very clear that Pollard will be able to join the squad with immediate effect.
“In terms of the squad that we have selected, you will probably ask who is the backup No.10 now, the third flyhalf.
“And that will be Faf [de Klerk]. He will be the backup No.10,” Nienaber said firmly.
“And we’ve got Wille [le Roux] who has played the majority of his club rugby this past year in Japan at flyhalf.
“So it will be Faf, and if anything happens, he will probably move into the No.10 position.
“We’ve still got Cheslin that played flyhalf for Toulon and Toulouse before. So we’ve got a couple of options there.
“And that is why we went with three scrumhalves,” the coach explained.
