The Springboks first international of the year gets underway in South Africa when they welcome the Nick Mallett coached Word XV to Cape Town, before taking on Wales and Scotland in the coming weeks.
Watching Wales talk up a big game before ultimately falling short or seeing Scotland battle valiantly for an hour only to be overcome when it counts carry little novelty. But the chance to watch a team featuring Hosea Gear, Matt Giteau, Steffon Armitage, Mamuka Gorgodze (etc, etc, etc) attempt to punch holes in the Bok defence? That will get me excited, for sure.
Heyneke Meyer has implemented some surprising changes in his Springboks squad ahead of this weekend’s clash, bringing both old faces and new into his side for what should make for some intriguing experimentation.
Veteran second-rowers Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha will start alongside each other for the first time in three years. As exciting as the recall is, this South African squad is far from the youngest around, and it will be interesting to see how so many sets of old legs last on Saturday. But Matfield has shown this term that his standards haven’t slipped, temporary retirement be damned.
South Africa deservedly start as favorites even though the World XV has named a strong side. But, like we’ve see with the Barbarians on so many occasions before, you can’t just throw 23 guys together and expect them to perform in a one off test.
Because of the change of South Africa’s selection policy, we see not only Matfield and Botha reunited in the second row, but also Morne and Frans Steyn in the midfield. The first time they’ve played together for a long time.
How they manage to gel after many years apart will be a major factor in determining as to how large the final score margin will be. With South Africa having many combinations which haven’t played together for such a long time, this is a real blessing for Heyneke Meyer to have before taking on more well organised opposition.
James O’Connor will be up for a big game.
Having failed to earn Meyer’s recognition as a Springbok, Rory Kockottwill take to Cape Town with an added incentive to impress against the stars of his native South Africa on Saturday.
The unpredictable half-back may be deserving of international recognition for some, having stood as a leading figure for Castres in their run to the Top 14 playoffs this season, but his ability to link up with players such as Matt Giteau and James O’Connor will be key for any success.
Key Match-Ups
Francois Louw v Steffon Armitage
Francois Louw will start for South Africa on Saturday, advancing the prospect of a collision against newly crowned European Player of the Year SteffonArmitage. The Rec figurehead has done a sensational job of maintaining his loyalties with both club and country in the past, but there couldn’t be a more in-form challenge coming in Louw’s direction on Saturday.
Matt Giteau v Frans Steyn
Matt Giteau has been in the form of his life and was a major part of the Toulon team which went on to win the Top14 and Heineken Cup double. His form has lead to calls from many for Australia to scrap their selection policy and pick Giteau for the Wallabies.
Frans Steyn has been the key linchpin for the Sharks backline this year. His kicking game has been top class, and at 110kg, is a powerful runner as well.
Our Prediction
Many of the World XV will be keen for a strong showing to gain favour with their national team selectors before next years World Cup, and because of this, we’re not expecting the World XV to go down without a fight.
While on paper the battle in the backs looks close, few of the World XV has played together, and that lack of cohesion will be obvious throughout the game. The South African’s have a clear and obvious dominance in the forwards, and I suspect little respect will be given to the World XV pack.
I’m tipping the Springboks to win by 25.
Teams
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Lwazi Mvovo
World XV: 15 James O’Connor, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Hosea Gear, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Mamuka Gorgodze, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Juandré Kruger, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Sona Taumalolo.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Joe Tekori, 20 Alexandre Lapandry, 21 Jimmy Cowan, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Benson Stanley.