Coetzee throws hail mary on squad selection
In what has already been a season worth forgetting for South African rugby supporters, Springbok coach, Allister Coetzee seems to have thrown a hail mary on his squad selection.
One would think he has reached a point where he’s throwing in a youthful team to justify another impending loss. The Springbok machine has never looked like it was close to gelling in any positive way in 2016. Putting together a vastly inexperienced team against an experienced Wales outfit is hardly inspiring. Coetzee now expects remarkable things to happen to this unremarkable team. This will not be a story of how in one game the Springbok’s winter of discontent became glorious summer.
With the new additions of the much wanted Rohan Janse Van Rensburg, Jamba Ulengo and to a lesser extent Uzair Cassiem, the starting line-up rakes up quite a disappointing number of test caps. Whilst some selections like Van Rensburg are seen as long overdue it does raise questions on why it had to be done on the last game of the season. One match by the young centre cannot be taken as a true reflection of his talents. If the coach had invested in him earlier on in the season there would be some form of continuity to his game rather than what is now being done- thrusting him in a must win game and expected to peak with a no compromise role.
Allister Coetzee’s selections reflect the desperation of a man who knows that one last defeat could very well be his last time in charge of the team. This very well goes for most of his support staff as well. The Springboks could well be on their way to getting a fresh blueprint for a new season. This team is his last card. One wonders if it was even planned or it’s the only card in his hand left to throw on the table and maybe...just maybe it could buy him time and an excuse to leverage to SARU. It is rather ironic how earlier on in the year Coetzee mentioned that it was impossible to play ‘Lions rugby’ at test level. It could dawn to many that with a largely Emirates Lions back line he could be praying for a touch of that Lions magic and synergy to manifest itself even after he spent all season battering it’s recipients form into non existence.
The Welsh will come out all guns blazing at the Principality Stadium. They survived a late scare from the Japanese team last weekend and will aim at delivering a convincing knockout performance. Their last match shook them no doubt and their main aim is to turn those blushes into smiles. This will be highly possible considering they are facing a young team that has no identity and most of it hasn’t played together long enough to even expect an offload from their team-mate.
No doubt Coetzee’s strategy could very well back fire on him much like all his other plans in 2016. Most Springbok fans will not expect a win. Even bookies have predicted a Welsh one.
Springboks – 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe.
Wales – 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c).
Subs: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts.
