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Jacques Nienaber confirms Springboks' back-up No9 after unorthodox bench call
By Josh Raisey
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber has confirmed that winger Cheslin Kolbe will serve as back-up to Faf de Klerk at scrum-half in the World Cup final after choosing to not name a No9 on the bench.
Nienaber has opted for a 7-1 split on the bench against the All Blacks at the Stade de France, with fullback Willie le Roux being the only back on the bench, meaning he has chosen to forgo a scrum-half reserve. That is a move that is very seldom seen in any form of professional rugby, but Nienaber feels left wing Kolbe can deputise for de Klerk based on his experience as a sweeper playing sevens.
"In our case it will be Cheslin (Kolbe)," Nienaber said after naming his squad. "He played sweeper in sevens which is the equivalent to scrum-half. He has always been a guy who, if we got a yellow card, would be the stand in half-back, not just this week but for a couple of weeks.”
The starting half-back combination for the quarter-final and semi-final of Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok are out of the squad entirely, as the Springboks have opted for the 2019 World Cup winning pairing of de Klerk and Handre Pollard.
Fly-half Pollard produced a player of the match winning performance from the bench against England in the semi-final, and has been rewarded with a start. Another player who had a vital role from the bench was tighthead Vincent Koch. However, he has dropped out of the squad entirely, with Trevor Nyakane taking his place on the bench.
Nienaber also explained why the Stade Francais prop missed out. He said: “Vincent Koch couldn’t train on Monday and we have a policy that if you can’t train on a Monday you are not up for selection.
“From a performance point of view, there is not a big gap. As coaches you always mitigate risk by prepping other people.
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Latest Comments
I think this debate is avoiding the elephant in the room. Money. According to the URC chief executive Martin Anayi, the inclusion of SA teams has doubled the income of the URC. There is no doubt that the SA teams benefit from the URC but so do the other countries' teams. Perhaps it doesn't affect a club like Leinster but the less well off clubs benefit hugely from South African games' TV income. I don't think SA continued inclusion in the URC is a slam dunk. They don't hold all the cards by a long way - but they do have an ace in the hole. The Ace of Diamonds.
Go to commentsDon't think you've watched enough. I'll take him over anything I's seen so far. But let's see how the future pans out. I'm quietly confident we have a row of 10's lined uo who would each start in many really good teams.
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