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There was a time when the Springboks couldn’t find props of reasonable enough capability to replace Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis, a situation that contributed as much to their respective 107 and 70 test caps as their skill did.
But when SA Rugby’s director of rugby and Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus sits down to pick his props for this year’s Rugby World Cup, he will have no less than eight names who have played for the Boks to pick from and an uncapped additional player.
The capped names in the hunt are Mtawarira, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Wilco Louw, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane, Coenie Oosthuizen and Thomas du Toit, while Bulls loose head prop Lizo Gqoboka is the uncapped man making a nuisance of himself in Super Rugby.
But before any deliberations begin, Erasmus has to decide if he’s including five or six props in his Japan-bound squad of 31. Lions scrum coach Wessel Roux, a 2002 Springbok, would – out of a front-row bias – like to see Erasmus take six props, but concedes that the Bok coach could get away with taking fewer from the resources at his disposal.
“It would make sense to take six props, given how much of a hammering they take during a game,” he explained, “but I think Rassie can get away with five props because a guy like Nyakane can play on both sides of the scrum.”
Were Erasmus to go for five props, Roux tried to work out the complex mathematics of making nine go into the lesser number: “For a World Cup, you go for experience, so it would make sense to go for Beast and Kitsy [Kitshoff] on the loose head side. I haven’t worked with either, but they’ve been in the Bok set-up for a long time and [Bok forwards coach] Matt [Proudfoot] loves them.
“The tight head side is a difficult one to call because Malherbe, Louw and Koch are all at a similar level. When it comes to experience, Frans would be the guy to go with. He and Koch are experienced at playing international rugby. Vincent was very good in the European Championship final and those finals are like test rugby,” said Roux.
“But the thing is, there is Trevor, who has played for a dominant Bulls pack in Super Rugby. He is good enough to start as a tight head. That’s why I would bracket Wilco and Vincent as the second tight head props, and have Trevor as the third, who also covers the loose head side.”
Nyakane’s name as the so-called swing prop is not necessarily in ink as Du Toit and, to a lesser extent, Oosthuizen also fit that description.
After being moved from loose head prop by Erasmus last year, Du Toit has increasingly appeared on the loose head side again, while Oosthuizen, who used to be a loose head prop, was moved to the right side of the scrum by Heyneke Meyer to look after the neck he had injured prior to the floor-crossing.
“Trevor, for me, is the best tight head out of those three. I’ve never worked with Thomas, but he’s an amazing prop. But I also think he’s a better loose head than he is a tight head. So Thomas is marginally a weaker tight head than Trevor, who’s a marginally weaker loose head than Thomas,” said Roux.
Should Erasmus opt for six front rowers, Roux sees a simpler equation: “If he’s going that way, then Lizo is a very mobile prop who has played good rugby and made a good statement this season. He would be the third loose head behind Beast and Kitshoff.
“On the tight head side, I would go for Malherbe, bracket Wilco and Vincent, and have Trevor as the third prop.”
Roux mentioned two more props he felt should be contenders on the basis of having worked closely with them at the Lions – loose head prop Dylan Smith and his counterpart on the other side, Carlü Sadie.
“Carlü has had a great Super Rugby season, and he’s a guy who makes amazing ball steals as well. If they want a thoroughbred scrummaging machine, Dylan would be that guy because he has scrum power and a good combination with Malcolm Marx. But neither have played for the Boks yet, so I don’t see it happening.”
