Schalk Brits questions Rassie Erasmus’ call to omit Handré Pollard from the Springbok 23 for Saturday, while backing flyhalf Manie Libbok to take his shot against England.
Pollard misses the Boks’ Nations Championship opener at Ellis Park after a poor Vodacom URC final for the Bulls, while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is out injured, leaving Libbok with no recognised cover at 10 on the bench.
Cheslin Kolbe, Damian Willemse and potentially André Esterhuizen can all fill in. Brits, though, is concerned about Erasmus’ back-up options.
“I thought Handré would be at least on the bench, right?” Brits said on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast. “So, if he gets injured, who’s gonna play at 10? He [Erasmus] can play Damian at 10, while Cheslin can play 10 as well.”
The former Bok utility forward and World Cup winner believes the pack shielding Libbok will set the tone early.
“You’ve got Ox [Nché], Malcolm [Marx], and Thomas [du Toit], Eben [Etzebeth], plus Ruan [Nortjé]; they’re gonna try to get dominance in the front. That is scary with that kind of pack,” he explained.
“It’s not the biggest pack we could have picked, but I mean, you’ve got multiple lineout options, you’ve got Jasper [Wiese] coming off the back of the scrums, he’s going to come hard. It’s going to be just a forward-dominated start to the game.”
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On Libbok, Brits praised his attacking gifts but flagged the lingering question over his control.
“He can literally do things that other flyhalves can’t. It’s just the vision he’s got, the passes he’s got, the way he expresses himself, and if Manie, from a confidence perspective, if he’s up there, he is a guy very hard to play against.”
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Brits reckons the 28-cap Libbok has matured into a more complete player.
“I believe with age and time, it’s four years later [since his Bok debut], I think he’s grown as a player. He’s a lot more mature, and I think that it’s going to be exciting to see a Manie that is more composed.
“He can always step, kick, run, whatever he can do from a skills perspective, but I guess the older you get, the more stable you become and make better decisions,” he concluded.
Photo: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
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