With the Lions Tour of 2021 fast approaching, we are starting to feel anxious when it comes to squad selection. Over the course of the last couple months we have seen some immense scrums, set pieces and some intense last second victories on the SA Rugby scene. Needless to say that the Saffas playing on foreign soil have also put the ball in hand, and done extremely well for their European and Japanese clubs. We are waiting for June 5th where Nienaber will name his squad to face the B&I Lions.
Jaques Nienaber has big shoes to fill, following Rassie Erasmus stepping down as head coach. Nienaber is already a highly successful coach. Nienaber initially worked as a physiotherapist for Erasmus’ Cheetahs side in the late 1990s but Erasmus pushed him into a strength and conditioning role before then convincing Nienaber that he had the ability to lead as a defensive coach. In April 2016, Rassie Erasmus was appointed as the Director of Rugby of Munster on a three-year contract and Nienaber followed Erasmus, joining the Irish Pro12 side as a Defense Coach on a three-year contract.
Are we to see a side similar to the side that won the World Cup in 2021 or are we going to see a much more diverse 45 man squad selected for the Lions series? We already know that Rassie had a winning formula, so it will be interesting to see if Nienaber adapts a similar coaching and playing style. Hopefully we see in form players selected, players that have been killing the domestic tournaments, players like Aphelele Fassi and Elrich Louw and Rosco Spekman are perfect examples of this. Even though there have been so many more that deserve to wear the Green and Gold.
Our strategic objective is to get a good performance and to win. The second objective is to Transform and the third one is to broaden our squad. - Jaques Nienaber
Lets talk about Morne Steyn. What an incredible season he has had with the Bulls! He has made crucial conversions and penalties, very important defensive decisions and boy, the man has proven a point with some significantly large hits on some heavy boys. I am no Bulls fan, and playing against him is always a nightmare. But he truly deserves a spot in the Springbok lineup. In my opinion, he is the second choice 10 over Pollard. If Pollard hasn't fully recovered from his latest knee injury, Steyn will make the starting appearance in the 10 jersey.
I will tell you for free that Morne Steyn will be as crucial in this Lions series as he was in the 2009 Victory. I have made some predictions and stuck a team together of who my 23 would be. Obviously its not an easy task, you try to select players that would play well against Northern hemisphere sides and their styles of rugby they play. So what I did was pretty much select the RWC 2019 Squad with the exception of a few players. Jesse Kriel plays a massive roll in the midfield for me, he is so explosive with ball in hand and I think he has that experience they need, pairing well with Steyn or Pollard. So does his brother Daniel Kriel, and hopefully we see him in the total squad that Nienaber selects. Those Kriel boys just have something special in their blood. It might just be that they are farm boys from KZN, its not biased at all!
My Springbok Matchday 23
Steven Kitshoff
Malcolm Marx
Thomas Du Toit
Eben Etzebeth
Lood de Jager
Siya Kolisi (c)
Pieter-Steph Du Toit
Duane Vermeulen
Faf de Klerk
Handre Pollard / Morne Steyn
Makazole Mapimpi
Jesse Kriel
Damian De Allende
Cheslin Kolbe
Willie Le Roux
Substitutes
16. Bongi Mbonambi
17. Vincent Koch
18. Trevor Nyakane
19. RG Snyman
20. Franco Mostert
21.Kwagga Smith
22. Frans Steyn
23. Cobus Reinach
So I've gone with a 6-2 Split, it will be interesting to see what Nienaber does with his selection. I think he will be an outstanding leader and coach, he is definitely the man for the job in SA. With just under a month to go until the Springboks battle the Georgian Warriors, Nienaber will be hoping to get the fittest, strongest bunch of lads. He will definitely not be short of size, talent and pace out wide. I cannot wait for the Green and Gold jerseys to be pulled back over the heads of citizens in RSA! The hype is unreal, and we back the boys, whoever they may be. We are behind you!
Go Bokke!