Handré Pollard’s season-ending knee ligament injury – sustained during practice with no one near him – rocked South African and Bulls rugby a few weeks ago.
But the mood dampened even further with the news that Sharks captain Patrick Lambie’s shoulder injury, which was going to keep him out of action for six weeks initially, was now going to take double that time to heal following an operation.
Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies is the obvious choice to wear the Springbok No 10 jersey in the three-match June Test series against Ireland, with Lambie only set to return to the field about three weeks before the first Irish clash at Newlands on June 11.
But apart from Jantjies, the flyhalf cupboard is bare within the South African Super Rugby squads at the moment. The Stormers lost Demetri Catrakilis to French club rugby during last year’s Currie Cup, and despite being a metronomic goal-kicker, he arguably lacked the type of attacking game to be a Test-quality pivot anyway.
This has resulted in Stormers coach Robbie Fleck turning to Robert du Preez as his likely first-choice as the conductor of the backline, with Kurt Coleman his back-up. Coleman has been around the Stormers team for a few years, but has yet to establish himself as the No 1 playmaker due to injuries and loss of form at certain stages, and he will hope to take his chance in 2016 when selected.
The Cheetahs are battling on the flyhalf front too, with journeyman Sias Ebersohn set to get the nod ahead of Fred Zeilinga and Coenie van Wyk, while the Southern Kings have the experienced Elgar Watts in their line-up.
But a surprise package could be new Sharks recruit Garth April, who shone in a Super Rugby warm-up game against Toulouse in France last week. The 24-year-old impressed with his attacking play, and controlled the Sharks performance with clever tactical kicking and accurate passing.
And after missing a few shots at goal early on, the former Cape club rugby star nailed a couple of long-range kicks for a personal haul of 21 points (one try, two conversions and four penalties) in the Sharks’ 31-17 victory.
The Sharks also have Joe Pietersen as a flyhalf option, but on the evidence of April’s display in France, he should’ve done enough to win director of rugby Gary Gold’s faith in him to start in the opening Super Rugby game against the Kings on February 27.
And another “back-up” flyhalf could come into contention for the Bok berth. Marnitz Boshoff will play behind Jantjies at the Lions, but he is a quality pivot with a tremendous boot. Boshoff has one Test cap to his name, and won’t be overawed by the big time.
But the key factor in determining who the Springbok flyhalf will be against Ireland is the coach. Allister Coetzee and Rassie Erasmus are the favourites for the position at the moment, although the South African Rugby Union (Saru) are not expected to make a final decision before their next General Council meeting on April 1.
There has been speculation that Erasmus could be installed as an interim coach for 2016, and that could hamper Jantjies’ and April’s chances as Erasmus is often reluctant to pick smaller players.
And despite being an eccentric character, Erasmus is somewhat of a control freak as a coach, as witnessed by the way he used to hold special different-coloured boards to indicate which moves the Cheetahs should use.
He is likely to prefer an experienced flyhalf who will stick to his game plan, which could see someone like Morné Steyn come back into the Bok mix. Steyn was part of the squad at the Rugby World Cup – ahead of Jantjies – but hardly featured during the tournament.
The former Bulls sharpshooter is still playing for Stade Francais in Paris and has 60 Test caps to his name. He is renowned for his deadly goal-kicking but is not the most attacking pivot around.
Another option if Erasmus had to be appointed to the Bok job is Johan Goosen. While he is a much more exciting flyhalf than Steyn, Goosen played for the Cheetahs before and came through the junior ranks while Erasmus was in charge in Bloemfontein, so there would be a sense of familiarity between the two.
Coetzee, though, would probably opt for Jantjies as the two-Test flyhalf played for the Stormers in the 2013 season. Although Jantjies didn’t start in every game and had a difficult time in Cape Town following the death of his father just before the start of the Super Rugby tournament, Coetzee will know the ins and outs of his game and would back him if he has a good season with the Lions.
Source: African News Agency (ANA)
