Wiese feeling the 'pressure' of BIG Bok bottleneck
SPOTLIGHT: Jasper van der Westhuizen Wiese is determined to not get caught in the ‘bottleneck’ of loose forwards that has formed in the Springbok team.
Wiese will start at No.8 in a revamped loose forward combination in the opening Test against Wales on Saturday – with Franco Mostert and captain Siyamthanda Kolisi on the flanks.
World Cup winner Pieter-Steph du Toit is unavailable for the opening match of the three-Test July series, as he still recovering from shoulder surgery.
The 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year, who linked up with the Bok squad after his commitments with Japanese club Verblitz, only started contact training this week.
The 29-year-old, who also missed most of last year’s international season due to a shoulder injury he suffered during the British and Irish Lions series, is expected to be available for selection for the second and third Tests against Wales.
Then there are Marcell Coetzee, Elrigh Louw (on the bench), Evan Roos and Albertus Smith (also on the bench) in a congested Bok loose forward factory.
Add in utility forwards like Rynhardt Elstadt and Deon Fourie, then you begin to understand the complexity of the selection process.
Even with the endorsement of Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber, Wiese is not resting on his laurels – hoping to bring his Premiership form into the Test arena, after being named Man of the Match in Leicester Tigers’ 15-12 win over Saracens in the Final a fortnight ago.
“I want to make the most of the opportunity I am going to get on Saturday,” the 11-times capped Bok said.
He credited his brilliant form to a ‘stern talking to’ he got from Tigers coach Steve Borthwick.
“He [Borthwick] is a very intense guy and the [Bok] coaches here [in South Africa] said if it is not something I am willing to work on, they can’t select me,” Wiese added.
“That was also a chat I needed to have with myself.
“I was putting my team in a bad spot,” he said of the ‘soft moments’ that he felt he allowed to creep into his game.
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Having evolved since his debut against in Pretoria last year, Wiese hopes his ‘improved all-round ability’ will show at the same venue, Loftus Versfeld, against Wales on Saturday.
Asked about putting his hand as the regular starting No.8 – in the absence of World Cup winner Duane Vermeulen – the 26-year-old pointed to the ‘quality’ the Boks have at their disposal in the loose forward department.
“You want to put your name on that jersey and make it your own,” he told a media briefing in the build-up to Saturday’s opening Test in the three-match series against Wales.
“However, with the quality, it is not that easy.
“There is a lot of competition – with Kwagga [Albertus Smith], Evan [Roos] and Elrigh [Louw]. They are all very good players, as you saw in all the competitions.
“I must do my best for the team and hopefully the results speak for themselves.”
He added that Roos and Louw showed in the United Rugby Championship the quality in dept that the Boks have at their disposal.
“The quality is so high that if you don’t perform or train well during the week, you will be replaced,” Wiese said.
“You can never sit back and think you are secure in your position. You have to continuously work hard to retain your place in the team.”
He carefully sidestepped the question – as suggested by Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White – that players based abroad should not be considered for Springbok selection.
“It is their call to make,” he said about the Springbok coaching staff policy of not putting a cap on the foreign-based players.
“If you play well, when abroad, as you saw with all the players – whether it is in Japan, England or France – the coaches see the hard work you put in, they have the final call to decide whether they select you or not.”
He said home-based players like Roos and Louw deserve all the credit they get.
“It motivates me to step up my game when I see the publicity other players get,” Wiese added.
“They are also hungry to achieve more than just playing for their franchise and both are excellent players.
“I have no doubt when either of them steps into this role they will be brilliant.”
It could be hard for fan favourite Roos to get the No.8 jersey from Wiese as the Bok coach is looking to mould the Leicester Tigers’ star into Duane Vermeulen’s primary successor.
“Jasper is a project,” Nienaber said, adding: “[He is] a long-term investment.
“He only has 11 caps now and if you think of a long-term plan to take players to a World Cup, we would like him to have more international caps to his him and this is one of those opportunities.
“We do ‘roadmaps’ – or performance analysis – on every single player that is in the squad.
“The players get reports once a month or whenever there’s a gap to have a chat.
“He has been performing quite well for Leicester and also with the things we want him to perform in.
“He is not the finished project yet like a lot of these players.
“The things that we would like them to achieve is not necessarily playing in a Test match, but they also got a role to play when they are not in the Test match.”
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