SA halfbacks in the spotlight ahead of key URC clashes

OPINION: The game management of South Africa’s leading scrumhalves and flyhalves will shape the final United Rugby Championship standings as well as Springbok selections later this season.

An epic fortnight of European rugby has come to an end, and everyone in the South African rugby community – including Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus – will have mixed feelings about the results.

For the fourth successive season, none of the South African teams have managed to qualify for the Champions Cup semifinals.

None of the local franchises will compete for the trophy, and it’s disappointing to think that none of the South Africa-based Boks will test their mettle on club rugby’s biggest stage ahead of the monumental Test season.

On the other hand, the collective failure in Europe has simplified the franchises’ task in the URC.

As things stand, the Stormers (second place), Lions (fifth), Bulls (eighth) and Sharks (10th) are still in the running for the URC play-offs, with four league matches to play.

All four had a bye last week and – having failed to qualify for the Champions Cup semifinals and Final – all four will have two more byes before the URC play-offs.

While there are still a couple of tricky away fixtures to navigate, the schedule appears a lot more forgiving.

The upshot is that travel-induced fatigue shouldn’t hamper the South African challenge at the back-end of the season.

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Again, it’s disappointing to think that the best players in South Africa won’t face off against the likes of Bordeaux-Bégles, Bath, Leinster and Toulon in the final stages of the world’s leading club competition.

And yet, the local players will have another chance to make a statement, albeit at the business end of the URC.

The Bulls, Lions and Stormers remain in the running for a home quarterfinal – with the latter a candidate for top spot – while the Sharks have work to do if they’re going to make the play-off cut.

Player management will be key over the next five weeks, as the respective coaches attempt to juggle their resources while striving for three or four wins.

While the local teams will expect to win most of the games staged in South Africa, they may be pushed to the brink by the likes of Glasgow Warriors – who are no longer in the Champions Cup title race.

The games staged in Europe should be a lot tighter, and it is here where the mentality and execution of the players will be under scrutiny.

The Stormers have got a lot right this season, and coach John Dobson has rotated his squad to ensure that multiple individuals and combinations have been exposed to challenging game situations.

As the season reaches the pointy end, Dobson may rely on halfbacks Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – a combination that started the bulk of the Tests for the Boks in 2025.

The Stormers pride themselves on their attacking DNA, but they’ve been at their best this season when they’ve attempted to strike a balance between running and kicking.

They boast some of the finest attacking players in the league, and in Feinberg-Mngomezulu, they have one of the best tactical kickers.

The issue of late has been their decision-making as well as their accuracy.

Potential alone won’t earn them a top-two finish in the URC league. The Stormers will need to be more clinical if they are going to beat Connacht, Glasgow, Ulster and Cardiff in the coming weeks.

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Erasmus will have a plan for the Boks, regardless of how they fare in the next round of URC matches.

Test rugby, of course, is a completely different beast.

That said, the competition within the Bok squad is particularly fierce, especially among the scrumhalves and flyhalves.

Don’t be surprised if a brilliant performance or two in the coming weeks prompts a change in the national pecking order.

Handré Pollard has blown hot and cold during his comeback season for the Bulls – and to be fair, the team as a whole has had its issues with consistency since Johan Ackermann stepped in for ousted coach Jake White shortly before the start of the 2025/26 schedule.

But a player should be judged by how he finishes a tournament, and not by how he starts it.

Few may recall how Pollard fared in the early stages of the 2019 World Cup, or how he was a late addition ahead of the 2023 tournament in France.

Pollard will go down in history for how he performed in the play-offs of those World Cups, and for the role he played in steering the Boks to back-to-back titles.

He’s slipped down the flyhalf pecking order in recent seasons – behind Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok.

But if Pollard delivers a commanding performance for the Bulls in the coming weeks – as a game manager and goal-kicker – the conversation around the Bok flyhalf position will change once more.

So much has been said about Embrose Papier’s explosive form this season, but at this stage, he doesn’t appear to be in Erasmus’ plans for the 2026 Tests.

Erasmus has been known to change his mind, though.

A couple of seasons ago, Evan Roos was left out of the Bok alignment group. The Stormers No.8 went on to produce a series of statement-making performances, and Erasmus rewarded Roos with a place in the wider squad.

If Papier shows that he can control the big matches and steer the Bulls to a final or title, Erasmus may well have a change of heart.

What’s more, if Papier and Pollard succeed as a combination at the business end of the URC, they will give the selectors more food for thought.

It’s going to be a long Test season for the Boks – with the new Nations Championship and four-Test series against the All Blacks to come – and Erasmus and company will want as many good options as possible.

The next few weeks will be massive for the Lions as well as the Sharks.

The Lions are looking to qualify for the URC play-offs for the first time.

While their all-court attack and defensive excellence deserves high praise, the decision-making at No.9 and 10 has made all the difference to their win-loss record this season.

Morné van den Berg has been one of the biggest success stories in recent years, surpassing more established scrumhalves such as Faf de Klerk and Jaden Hendrikse in the Bok pecking order.

As a senior member of the Lions squad, Van der Berg will have a key role to play (fitness permitting, given his recent leg injury) in the team’s push for the play-offs – and possibly a shock win or two in the knockouts.

Flyhalf Chris Smith has provided a steady hand since joining the Johannesburg side.

While the Lions have the means to blow the opposition off the park via their high-tempo approach – especially at Ellis Park – they now have the potential to win the tactical kicking battle and clinch tight games via a last-minute goal-kick.

It feels wrong to include the Sharks at the bottom of this list, given their resources and the talent at their disposal.

But the results tell a story of a team that has struggled to establish an identity over the past few seasons.

JP Pietersen has steered the team in a more encouraging tactical direction since taking the head coaching reins in December.

Nevertheless, the Sharks are still in danger of missing out on the URC play-offs altogether.

It’s easy to say that they have too much talent to fail, especially in the halfback department.

But the big question is whether Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse will take control at No.9 and 10 in the coming weeks. Scrumhalf Grant Williams will play a key role, too, either as a starter or finisher.

Erasmus will know what he has in Reinach, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Pollard and Williams, and their performances in the coming weeks may only influence the Bok pecking order, rather than whether they make the squad for the July Tests or not.

But for the Hendriske brothers – who were surplus to Bok requirements last year – and for Papier – who hasn’t played Test rugby since 2018 – the next block of matches will shape their prospects for the coming Test season.