adminEDINBURGH – Bakkies Botha, Pat Lambie and Willie le Roux look like the players who have been asked by Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer to show if they will sink or swim in the test match against Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Sunday. Every Test match is important for every player, but occasionally it is more important for some than others.
Botha, the veteran lock who has returned to international rugby after an absence of two years, needs to prove he can still play international rugby, Lambie needs to confirm his potential to be one of the two flyhalves now that Johan Goosen is back in the game, and Le Roux has to show he can stand up to the challenge of playing fullback in the northern hemisphere.
Meyer knows what he can get from Eben Etzebeth, who has been wearing the No 4 jersey that used to belong to Botha for the past two years, and he also knows what he can get from Morne Steyn and Zane Kirchner.
He saw Lambie at fullback for only a quarter of a game last week because of Steyn’s injury, but Le Roux played well when he came on as a replacement and another strong showing, this time in the starting team, could bolster Meyer’s confidence in his ability to play there more regularly.
The inclusion of Botha, Lambie and Le Roux are three of five changes made to the team that beat Wales 24-15 in the opening match of the tour in Cardiff last weekend.
The other changes see Gurthro Steenkamp come back at loosehead for Beast Mtawarira in what can be seen as a rotational selection, while Adriaan Strauss returns to hooker at the scene of one of his most memorable games in the Bok jersey. To refresh memories, Strauss was the man of the match in the corresponding game at Murrayfield on last year’s tour.
He capped a strong allround performance by being on hand to dot down off a driving maul before later in the game producing a Jean de Villiers impersonation in scoring a crucial intercept try just when the Scots seemed to be coming strongly back into the game.
“I do remember that game very strongly and it was a special moment for me but this is a new game and we have to start from scratch on Sunday,” said Strauss.
It’s hard to pinpoint what Strauss would need to do to usurp Bismarck du Plessis’s right to be recognised as the first choice hooker.
Du Plessis is arguably the most valuable South African player at the moment for the way he adds to his core value as lineout thrower and scrummager with his scavenging of loose ball and allround presence in the tight loose. – SuperSport.com
Online Reporter