With Super Rugby nearly halfway and suspended due to the
coronavirus, it's an ideal time to see the Springboks' options at each position
for new head coach Jacques Nienaber and rugby director, Rassie Erasmus, ahead
of planned tests against Scotland and Georgia.
We will evaluate the leading players this season in the
Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, and we will make our final selection. Rugby
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Bulls:
Jaco Visagie
The former Bolander, who hails from Clanwilliam, has now
matured into a solid Super Rugby hooker. He is a hard-working extra loose
forward who gets around the pitch and does the unfashionable stuff, and is not
a modern-day flashy No 2. The 27-year-old hits rucks hard, finds his jumpers,
and makes his tackles.
The Bulls are in an impressive sixth position on the
tournament list with regards to lineout success, on 88 percent, although their
scrum has not been as smooth, being ranked 10th on 90 percent this season.
Visagie has made 13 ball-carries and five turnovers, as well
as 45 tackles - which places him joint-fourth among hookers, although he has
missed 12 tackles, the most in his position.
Lions:
Pieter Jansen
The Lions have won just one of their six matches, with their
inexperienced pack of forwards one of the major reasons for their struggles.
They haven’t been able to gain dominance up front, with their lineout not
functioning optimally either.
They are ranked 11th in the tournament with an 86.3 percent
lineout success rate, and have the worst scrum - statistically - with 81
percent. It is part of the reason why Jansen eventually lost his starting berth
to Jan-Henning Campher for the last few matches.
Jansen had the chance to establish himself as the Lions’
first-choice hooker in the absence of Malcolm Marx, who is on a sabbatical in
Japan, but he hasn’t quite made the most of it. Rugby fans can book British and Irish Lions Tour Tickets
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Jansen has made 13 ball-carries, but just 20 tackles in 270
minutes of rugby across six matches. His best contribution has come in the
tight loose, with eight turnovers.
Sharks:
Kerron van Vuuren
At the start of the season, some people outside Durban may
have wondered Kerron who?, but now the rest of South Africa would have sat up
and taken notice of Van Vuuren, based on his performances.
The Glenwood High product is a “no-frills” operator who
seems to have that bit of mongrel needed to be a success at hooker. He never
stops working, as can be seen by his 47 tackles, the joint second-most in the
competition among hookers.
Van Vuuren has engineered six turnovers, and forced three
tackle-busts and two offloads from his 19 runs. But the Sharks’ lineout is
rated as the worst in Super Rugby at 78.4 percent.
Stormers:
Scarra Ntubeni
The early-season injury to Bongi Mbonambi has provided
Ntubeni with an opportunity to push for a Bok recall after he missed out on the
World Cup last year. The ever-smiling front-rower has thankfully kept the
perennial injury bogey at bay, and that saw him building impressive momentum
during the Stormers’ four-match winning start to the campaign.
But it just appeared as if Ntubeni was running out of a bit
of steam against the Blues and Sharks, and that lack of spark from their
usually bustling No 2 played a part in their successive defeats.
The 29-year-old has made 14 carries, mainly at close
quarters, as well as four turnovers and 42 tackles in six matches. The Stormers
lineout has been decent at 87 percent, which puts them eighth in the
competition, while their scrum has been strong at 95 percent fifth. But Ntubeni
has slipped nine tackles as well, which places him joint-second among hookers.
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