Jan-Hendrik Wessels could be a valuable Bomb Squad member, says Nick Mallett, who expects Rassie Erasmus to select a new-look Bok team to face the Wallabies next up.
The versatile Wessels played off the bench in the 22 August Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series opener, with Deon Fourie and Gerhard Steenekamp since deputising for hooker Malcolm Marx and loosehead prop Ox Nché, respectively.
Erasmus has confirmed Wessels is in the mix as a deputy for Marx and according to Mallett, the 25-year-old should be the go-to No 2 for the one-off clash in Perth on Sunday, 27 September, or at least among the match-day replacements.
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“I’m not sure why they’ve stopped investing time in Jan-Hendrik,” the former Bok coach said on the Talking Boks podcast.
“He’s the guy, for me, who is the closest to Marx. He’s a big, strong guy and must be close to 120 kilos. He’s very fast, he throws in well.
“I feel that he’s a guy who, if they really spent time with, he could sort of emulate a bit of what Marx does. He’s very fast and he could learn to be a very good stealer.
“They’ve used [Johan] Grobbelaar a lot and they brought Deon back into the mix. They’ve used André-Hugo Venter, he’s had one or two Tests.
“But Wessels, for me, if he concentrated on being a hooker, he’d be a very good Bomb Squad guy and assist us to dominate those last 30 minutes.”
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Handré Pollard and Franco Mostert are expected to return from injury Down Under, while the likes of Aphelele Fassi, Paul de Villiers and Ntuthuko Mchunu set for game time with first-choice Boks needing a break.
“I would expect there to be quite a number of changes, maybe nine or 10,” Mallett said. “I’m not sure where Grant Williams is. Canan Moodie obviously needs a good run there.
“The guys have really taken knocks in this Greatest Rivalry series and have got through it, but that Australian trip might be a bridge too far for quite a few of those guys.
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“It might be a sort of Argentina-type team, pretty much your back-up guys.
“[De Villiers] did so well and then, because of Siya [Kolisi] coming back and the need to look for a different style of replacement in Cameron Hanekom, he’s also missed out.
“There are a number of players who could do the job for us.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
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