Kynan's Springbok World Cup 2011 Squad

With the World Cup rapidly approaching, I have gone ahead and selected the team I feel would best carry the Boks to World Cup glory. Most players select themselves, but I have gone ahead and made some notable exclusions, beginning with the captain himself, John Smit. As expressed in my earlier article, he has become a liability on the field, and should be included in the squad as a non-playing Manager. He can sit on the sidelines and cheer the team on.

I also went with a risky 17/13 split in favor of the forwards. Given the style of South Africa's play, the forwards are likely to suffer more injuries, and I'd rather have an extra loose-forward than a non-playing wing. The Boks have enough versatility in Francois Steyn, Pienaar, Hougard and Lambie to cover any injury contingency.

In the front row, options are pretty short on the tighthead side with BJ Botha injuring himself and the SA government making Brian Mujati unavailable in a sudden surge of xenophobia. CJ van der Linde is the experienced man, but his form has been awful all year. So Werner Kruger is left to fly the flag, though he's not exactly electrifying. 

At hooker, Adrian Strauss is the beneficiary of my sacking of Smit. He is a tough player who does all the basics well, and brings some needed mongrel to the equation.

At lock we have the standard Bulls contingent (I nearly included Flip vd Merwe too!), but in the end decided on Mostert for his strong performances in the otherwise mediocre SA "B" squad. The injury to Bekker leaves a big while... SA is not as flush with experienced locks as they like to pretend - I suddenly find myself looking enviously at New Zealand's stocks...

Amongst the loosies, the extra spot makes way for Keegan Daniel to enter the side. I think cover for Brussow is essential, and while Schalk can do the job, Daniel is the most lively loosie in the country and should be rewarded for his stellar efforts.

The half-backs all pick themselves - the only real decision being whether to start Butch or Morne. As mentioned earlier, Pienaar and Hougard also cover every other backline position, except center, but I wouldn't mind seeing Hougard there either.

With Francois Steyn and Lambie in the mix, only 3 centers are required - the all WP trio.

And the wings and fullbacks are SA's only options... again, I look with envy towards New Zealand.

For all SA's talk of depth, the back-up beyond this 30 is not that flush - but these 30 are all pretty great. They have what it takes to defend the Cup.

Props

Jannie Du Plessis

Guthro Steenkamp

Beast Mtawarira

Werner Kruger

Hookers

Bismarck Du Plessis

Chilliboy Ralapele

Adrian Strauss

Locks

Victor Matfield (Captain)

Bakkies Botha

Danie Russouw

Gerhard Mostert

Loosies

Schalk Burger

Heinrich Brussow

Pierre Spies

Willem Alberts

Keegan Daniels

Ashley Johnson

Scrumhalves

Fourie Du Preez

Francois Hougaard

Ruan Pienaar

Flyhalves

Butch James

Morne Steyn

Centers

Jean de Villiers

Jacque Fourie

Juan De Jongh

Wings

Bryan Habana

JP Pieterson

Gio Aplon

Fullbacks

Patrick Lambie

Francois Steyn

On more change - Peter De Villiers makes way for Rassie Erasmus as coach.

The Case for Matfield

If John Smit is really the patriot and team man he claims to be, he would make the hard choice that obviously Springbok coach Peter De Villiers cannot – withdraw himself from the World Cup squad. After Bismarck Du Plessis’ colossal performance against the All Blacks today, even the most jaundiced eye must admit that Smit has no place in the Bok starting line-up - and he is certainly not an impact player – so where does that leave him? Surplus to the needs of the team. People praise his leadership, but what true leader is content to be a liability on the field? Smit’s defense has been diabolical all season. He lost the Boks a crucial clash against the All Blacks in Soweto last year with a missed tackle, and has continued that form since. The opposition now deliberately target him with runners, usually to great success. Watching him flop around, humiliating himself, is just embarrassing for Springbok fans, and should be for him too. His work rate is pathetic – he’s usually hanging out on the wings rather than putting in the hard yards, and even his throwing has been sub-par. If his leadership is so crucial to the Bok side, it must be from the stands as a team manager; Smit is unfit for duty on the field.

But do the Boks really even need his leadership? His 65% win ratio as captain is frankly pretty poor. Victor Matfield has grown into a very accomplished leader – one could argue even more so than Smit. Matfield has captained the Boks fourteen times, with only three losses – twice against Australia and once in the disastrous Scotland game of 2010, a loss which came down to poor selection more so than poor captaincy. Matfield has captained the team twice against the All Blacks, securing the famous victory in Dunedin, and then again yesterday in Port Elizabeth. His Bulls squad has hoisted the Super 14 trophy three times – something Smit has never done – and have routinely beaten the Crusaders (the bulk of the NZ squad) in play-off rugby for several seasons in a row. Matfield does not fear McCaw and his All Blacks, no matter what jersey they are wearing. He is still pre-eminent in his position, and feared by teams around the world. Matfield is clearly the man to lead the Boks to victory over the All Blacks, the primary obstacle to South Africa defending their World Cup title.

John Smit, the patriot and pragmatist, must step aside for a better captain in Matfield, and a better hooker in Du Plessis. If he is really coaching the side, as many suspect, he needs to do it from the coaches box, alongside the last members of his supporters club.