Springboks call labelled 'strange' by former South Africa coach

Former Springboks’ boss Nick Mallett has criticized Jacques Nienaber’s “strange” choice to exclude Handre Pollard from his 33-man Rugby World Cup squad, despite earlier assurances that he would be brought without any game time.

Pollard, a top scorer in the 2019 World Cup, was left out due to a calf injury that he sustained at the tail end of the Gallagher Premiership season with Leicester Tigers.

On the face of it seems like a drastic call by Nienaber, not least as he had previously said that he would ‘probably’ take Pollard and Siya Kolisi regardless of whether or not they had played any rugby in the Rugby Championship or the warm-ups.

Mallett, in his Sport24 column, questioned this decision along with other player exclusions, including Siya Kolisi and Grant Williams, while anticipating Pollard’s impact in France despite his recent absence from Test matches.

“It’s strange that Pollard is not included. There are examples of other players who are injured and were included,” said Mallett.

“You’ve got captain Siya Kolisi, who hasn’t played since his injury, you’ve got Jaden Hendrikse who hasn’t played since his injury and his father’s passing, you’ve got Grant Williams who got badly concussed and is out for three weeks at least.

“Pollard has to go, in the same way Siya Kolisi has to go,” wrote Mallett. “Pollard is part of the players placed on standby and I think he’s going to play in the warm-up matches. How long can a calf injury keep you out for? He’s had eight weeks.

“He’s not in the squad so he can’t be selected. But if there is an injury to any player, including a prop, I think Pollard will go. They don’t have to replace a prop with a prop, you can replace him with a flyhalf.”

Just three weeks ago Nienaber told the press: “The thing with Siya and Handre is that they’ve repeatedly shown us what they’re capable of at international level and that’s a fact that counts in their favour when it comes to selection.

“What I’m trying to say here is that you’d probably take those two men to France without them actually having seen any competitive action in the build-up.

“Their respective pedigrees are as such that they’ve proved themselves capable of slotting in immediately.”

However, it’s only Kolisi of the pair that will travel.