Combrinck should get Boks look in

Now Meyer said he rewarded some players for their form in this year's Vodacom SupeRugby and rightly so.

The likes of Ruan Botha, Robbie Coetzee, Faf de Klerk, Lionel Mapoe, Jesse Kriel and Kobus van Wyk have been outstanding so far this season, but there was a name I expected to see in that 'rewarded group' which I did not see. 

For me Emirates Lions wing-come-fullback Ruan Combrinck has by far been one of the stand-out performers amongst backline players in South Africa.

The former Michaelhouse pupil has been instrumental in the Lions charge to the play-offs this season.

Here are some of his SupeRugby stats this season:

Matches    11
Tries scored   3
Carries   51    
Metres gained  509    
Clean Breaks  11
Defenders Beaten   29
Offloads     11    
Try Assists     3

He has made 12 turnovers and has a 70 % success rate on his tackles.

Now if you look at some of the players picked in his position for the Boks squad the stats show that he is heads and shoulders above some of them.

His stats are similar to Springbok wing, Cornel Hendricks, but far superior to that of Kobus van Wyk who has had little game time, less impact, less tries and only covers one position. Yet he was invited into the Bok squad.

Combrinck is a versatile backline player who can cover all three back positions and he has quite a handy boot on him both for open play and for points.

My question is, Meyer said only the best will go to the World Cup and if that's the case, why isn't Combrinck at least in the latest released squads, because at the momentt he is one of our best.

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

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