Naas Botha
Peter de Villiers was quoted recently saying he will have to make some tough selection decisions in this Rugby World Cup year, the toughest of these, will be who wears the number 10 jersey.
In recent years the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls provided the bulk of the Springbok team, with the Bulls the biggest contributor of the lot. Players like Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Pierre Spies, Fourie du Preez and Morne Steyn were automatic selections for the Springboks run-on XV in the last 2 years, which considering their current run of form as individuals in the struggling Bulls team has left De Villiers a very worried man. None more so, than the Springbok half-back pairing in Du Preez and Steyn.
Any champion team needs a dominant half-back combination who can direct play effectively. History will also show us that just about every team that has won titles in modern rugby did so on the back of some genius in either one, or both of these crucial positions.
Make no mistake, a fit and firing Matfield, Bakkies and Spies are all massive assets to the Springbok team, but luckily we have also managed to develop great depth and experience in these positions – it is at numbers 9 and more specifically 10, that De Villiers cannot afford to miss a trick.
Recent articles suggested the 4 front-runners for the Bok number 10 jersey are Morne Steyn, Butch James, Peter Grant and Patrick Lambie. Rugby experts in the form of Springbok legend, Naas Botha, have also publicly raised his concerns regarding the flyhalf position and who he believes should be given the jumper.
A poll on a local rugby site had the four Bok number 10 candidates up for election. The results were somewhat surprising. 50% of people agreed with Naas Botha that Peter Grant needed to slot in at flyhalf, just fewer than 30% believed Butch James to be the man with around 16% believing Steyn is still the man. Patrick Lambie to my surprise only got around 6% of the votes.
So taking nothing away from Peter Grant who is the current flavour of the week, the results I believe are much closer than that.
It reveals a bit of the psyche not only of the general public in South Africa, but the perception shared amongst rugby writers, experts and even coaches.
For some reason, the exceptional scares us – this, together with the age factor, makes people apprehensive to back certain players.
If you speak to any person in South Africa, from the general public to rugby experts, not one will deny the exceptional ability of Lambie, yet when it comes to backing such exceptional talent, every caution and excuse under the sun is highlighted.
If we look beyond age and just the general play of each of these four individuals, there is no doubt who has the better all-round ability as a flyhalf. Better yet, if you take all the areas crucial for flyhalf play, and judge each of these individuals awarding them points on a scale of 1 to 5, I have little doubt who will end up on top.
With a Super 15 goal-kicking average of 86%, and being surrounded in a Springbok setup with the likely names of Jean de Villiers and Fourie du Preez, the risk of selecting Lambie is minimal.
I have never been a fan of discarding experience or experienced players, especially in a tournament like the World Cup where experience is absolutely crucial, but I also believe for us to win this Cup for a third time, we will need balance this with, and back, the exceptional, and young Patrick Lambie is exceptional.
