Sky’s Rugby World Cup ultimate team
The Rugby World Cup in England is fast approaching and with just under a month to go till the showpiece in England and Wales teams have already started naming their final 31-man squad to go to war for their nations in the Northern Hemisphere.
Samoa, England and Australia have announced their sides and like with any selection there is always surprise inclusions and exclusions. Australia don’t have room for Nic White and Scott Higginbotham, while England decided not to pick ‘bad boy’ Danny Cipriani.
Now Bok Coach Heyneke Meyer names his team of 31 today (28 August 2015) and so I’ve decided to tell you who I would pick if I was in the Boks hotseat.
I have gone for an 18-13 split amongst forwards and backs.
Upfront a lot of the players pick themselves. I mean Jannie, Beast and Trevor Nyakane have become household names in the props department. I would go with five props so Vincent Koch and Coenie Oosthuizen are the other two. Coenie is a risky selection since he has not played in a long time, but signs are he will be ready for the World Cup.
Hookers:
Bismarck du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss and Schalk Britz. Britz gets the nod ahead of someone like Scarra Ntubeni, because of his experience playing in Europe and I feel he is a better impact player than Scarra.
Locks:
My starting pair have to be Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager without a doubt. Victor Matfield will be in my squad for his experience and yes I’m also taking Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Loosies:
BIGGEST headache. OK let us look at the obvious picks. Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Burger and Francois Louw. Now with only 3 spots remaining this becomes hard. Personally I would not take a guy like Willem Alberts to the World Cup. Yes he is a big NAME and yes he is the man known as the bone collector, but has he really done enough this year? Alberts is also very injury prone and doesn’t add a lineout option so over Alberts I will go with a guy like Siya Kolisi who is a devastating ball-carrier and probably one of the best defenders in SA rugby. With two spots left, a fit Marcel Coetzee makes my squad together with Heinrich Brussouw. You simply need Heinrich in England.
To the back now.
Flyhalves:
Handre Pollard, Patrick Lambie and Elton Janjties. No Morne Steyn in my team. Yes the boot is important in World Cup rugby, but do you solely pick a player just because he can slot kicks? Lambie and Pollard have a good enough kicking percentage to do the business. With Elton Jantjies, he adds a different flavour to the Boks attack and can be a valued asset to the Boks attack when needed.
Scrumhalves:
Ruan Pienaar, Fourie Du Preez and Faf de Klerk. Pienaar and Du Preez are two experienced campaigners and are needed. I mean a fit Du Preez ranks right up there as best no 9 in the world. Faf de Klerk at this moment is the best scrumhalf in South Africa.
Centres:
Damien De Allende, Jesse Kriel and Jean De Villiers. If fit Jean must go and Jean must captain. If not then Lionel Mapoe walks into this team
Outside backs:
Willie le Roux, Bryan Habana, Lwazi Mvovo and JP Pietersen.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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