By Brenden Nel.
The Springboks will face the Castle Lager Rugby Championship without the services of their kingpin pivot Handre Pollard after he was all but ruled out of the Southern Hemisphere tournament on Tuesday.
SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus confirmed that Pollard was “touch and go” if he would play in the Rugby Champs at all, and the likelihood would be that his return to action would mirror that of injured Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who is likely to only be back just before the Rugby World Cup.
Kolisi is now, like Pollard, likely to play in one of the warm-up games weeks before the start of the Boks’ defence of their World Cup title and a lot of focus will go onto the back-up players – Damian Willemse and Manie Libbok – in the Rugby Championship.
It was initially thought Pollard would be back for the game against New Zealand in Auckland but Erasmus confirmed that would not be the case.
Good news on the other fronts
There was, however, good news on the other injured players in the squad, and especially for the Sharks duo of Eben Etzebeth and Jayden Hendrikse, while Damian Willemse, as expected has been cleared to play against Australia.
“The only touch and go case is Handre for the Rugby Championship. Eben’s results looked really good yesterday and the same with Jayden, who took part yesterday. Damian Willemse is all ready to go,” Erasmus said.
‘Handre is a bit of a worry if he will be able to play in the Rugby Championships.”
Erasmus gave the impression the Boks would give Pollard as much time as possible to get fit again.
“It was an injury which he re injured when he was playing for Leicester. With an injury we are always a little bit more nervous and that is why we have Elton here, so that we can give Handre time to recover and not push him too hard.
Rerurn same as Siya?
“His time is more or less the same as Siya now – we’re looking at either Argentina, Wales or New Zealand, which are not part of the Rugby Championship. When you only have two flyhalves here, you tend to put pressure on the guys to get ready. This helps us at training especially so that we don’t have to have guys like Faf (de Klerk) run at 10 – and also Damian Willemse is ready now.”
The Boks are nowhere near panicking about Pollard’s return though and believe while it is a disruption, Willemse and Libbok will need to step into the breach and impose themselves on the game plan to ensure the Boks get the momentum they need going into the World Cup.
Need to impose talents on the jersey
Coach Jacuqes Nienaber explained that while it was a loss, the jersey needed to be filled and the player filling the jersey needed to bring their own special blend of experience to the role.
“I think at the Springboks we have a framework but if you ask any player they will tell you they need to bring their individuality into that. Handre has a certain individuality or a style that he brings into the game. But so does Manie (Libbok). Handre can’t be Manie and Manie can’t be Handre,” Nienaber said.
“Damian Willemse can’t be Handre or Manie. Every player has their own style and skillset that makes them different. We believe that the framework must be there to never push you in a specific way or style. You should always be able to bring your own characteristics out into our game plan.”
Good Depth
Nienaber added that the depth was good in all positions and that it wasn’t a real disruption if a player got injured.
“I don’t think so – the game model that you put out there is the basic one and the players will evolve and adapt their skillset to it. Obviously we must get used to the guy who is playing there. I think it is probably similar to someone like Siya. It is probably the same disruption. If you say what is the platinum prize? It is to have everybody fit and ready at training, that would be it.
“But obviously it is not the case and it is what it is. You can either sit back and say ‘oh we don’t have this guy’ or you can move on. We are fortunate if you think of the squad we have built over the last few years – there is good depth and quality in all the positions.”
Willemse and Libbok will vie for the starting role when the Boks announce their side next week for the opening Rugby Championship test at Loftus Versfeld against the Wallabies.