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Springboks explain the latest non-selection of Jaden Hendrikse
By Rugby365
The name Jaden Hendrikse is almost certain to appear on the team sheet when Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber announces his Rugby World Cup squad next week Tuesday.
Hendrikse is one of a few players that have not featured in The Rugby Championship and won’t play in the warm-up match against Argentina in Buenos Aires this coming Saturday.
The others – like captain Siya Kolisi and fly-half Handre Pollard – are still busy with their rehabilitation programmes and are likely to get a run in the warm-up matches later this month against Wales and New Zealand.
However, the situation for Hendrikse is different. He is fit but won’t play this week. Having been through a vigorous rehabilitation programme following shoulder surgery, it means he has not played since April 1.
The situation was further complicated when the father of the Hendrikse brothers, Jaden and Jordan, passed away in late June – meaning he lost out on the opportunity to feature in the early rounds of the Rugby Championship.
Hendrikse, first-choice Faf de Klerk, Grant Williams, Cobus Reinach and Herschel Jantjies are competing for what is presumed will be three (or four) scrum-half berths.
“Jaden would have played, was it not for the unfortunate family tragedy,” Nienaber said of the untimely death of Brian Hendrikse on June 29.
However, the plan of which players will feature in which of the games – the three Rugby Championship games and this coming Saturday’s World Cup warm-up outing – was put in place and revealed to the players when the squad first got together back in April.
“We told them there might be adjustments,” Nienaber said, adding: “It was plotted way in advance.” The coach said it is easier for the management to decide on the 23-year-old, 12-cap Springbok.
“We know him. We know what he can do. We see him at training. We know what he did for us last year.”
Nienaber pointed to the Rugby Championship Test in Nelspruit in August last year when he replaced de Klerk (who left the field with a concussion) in the opening minute and played a key role in the Springboks’ 26-10 triumph.
“He was a No9 – with very little Test experience [four previous caps] – that could help drive the pack forward. We know what is in Jaden. There is nothing you can read into that,” he said of Hendrikse’s current lack of game time.
“We wanted to give Cobus another go this weekend and we also wanted to give Herschel a go. The first opportunity for Herschel is in this game (against Argentina in Buenos Aires).
"Jaden would have had his opportunities earlier (in the season). Due to very tragic circumstances, out of our control, he didn’t get his chance. Don’t read anything into it.”
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi will skipper the national team for the first time on Saturday. The team shows 13 changes to the starting line-up, while the bench includes uncapped prop Gerhard Steenekamp.
Mbonambi – who will earn his 60th Test cap – takes over the captain’s responsibilities in the absence of the regular captain Kolisi, who is making encouraging progress following knee surgery, and stand-in captains Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermeulen, who remained in South Africa with a group of players in a conditioning camp.
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Latest Comments
Yes I was surprised at how close the pen count was - the spread between best and worst being just 2. The number of yellow cards though will surely be something the Boks will look to address
Go to commentsBriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol!
It's incredible to see the boys playing like this. Back to the form that saw them finish on top of the regular season and beat Toulon to win the challenge cup. Ibitoye and Ravouvou doing a cracking Piutau/Radradra impression.
It's abundantly clear that Borthwick and Wigglesworth need to transform the England attack and incorporate some of the Bears way. Unfortunately until the Bears are competing in Europe, the old criticisms will still be used.. we failed to fire any punches against La Rochelle and Leinster which goes to show there is still work to do but both those sides are packed full of elite players so it's not the fairest comparison to expect Bristol to compete with them. I feel Bristol are on the way up though and the best is yet to come. Tom Jordan next year is going to be obscene.
Test rugby is obviously a different beast and does Borthwick have enough time with the players to develop the level of skill the Bears plays have? Even if he wanted to? We should definitely be able to see some progress, Scotland have certainly managed it. England aren't going to start throwing the ball around like that but England's attack looks prehistoric by comparison, I hope they take some inspiration from the clarity and freedom of expression shown by the Bears (and Scotland - who keep beating us, by the way!). Bristol have the best attack in the premiership, it'd be mad for England to ignore it because it doesn't fit with the Borthwick and Wigglesworth idea of how test rugby should be played. You gotta use what is available to you. Sadly I think England will try reluctantly to incorporate some of these ideas and end up even more confused and lacking identity than ever. At the moment England have two teams, they have 14 players and Marcus Smith. Marcus sticks out as a sore thumb in a team coached to play in a manner ideologically opposed to the way he plays rugby, does the Bears factor confuse matters further? I just have no confidence in Borthers and Wiggles.
Crazy to see the Prem with more ball in play than SR!
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