New Bok coach in hot seat

Coetzee needs to be brave in selecting squad for vital tour

WITH expectations ramped up like never before, Springbok coach Allister Coetzee will have to be bold, perhaps even brave, in his first squad selection to be announced tomorrow evening.

His most immediate predecessors relied heavily on experience and as a result Springbok rugby at times has looked a little long in the tooth.

It will now fall to Coetzee to develop and grow greenhorns who can take the game to new frontiers.

Coetzee will in all likelihood introduce Lions’ wing Ruan Combrinck, Sharks’ flyhalf Garth April, Stormers’ hooker Bongi Mbonambi, Bordeaux-Begles prop Steven Kitshoff, Stormers’ flank Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Bulls’ lock RG Snyman to the international fold.

Should the latter not crack the nod, the Lions’ Franco Mostert may well earn a spot in the squad, as could hooking teammates Akker van der Merwe and Malcolm Marx.

But Mbonambi and Scarra Ntubeni may be ahead in the queue.

Barnstorming form has continued to propel Jaco Kriel into the reckoning, but his position may be compromised should Coetzee feel he needs another experienced backrower outside Duane Vermeulen and Francois Louw.

Like Ntubeni, Kriel was a tourist with the Boks in 2014 but is yet to play.

Kitshoff is widely tipped for inclusion, although Tendai Mtawarira and Trevor Nyakane look like immovable objects on the path to game time.

On the other side of the scrum, Frans Malherbe occupies the inside lane with Marcel van der Merwe, Julian Redelinghuys and Vincent Koch vying for the remaining spots.

Redelinghuys’ form over the last few years is yet to meet commensurate reward. Meanwhile, April’s breakout season is set to gain more momentum. His performances must not be measured against the number of minutes he has played this season, but on his impact.

Whether he will make it onto the park against Ireland is debatable and he may be considered too inexperienced to be let loose as Pat Lambie’s understudy.

Johan Goosen could be summoned from Racing 92 for that job but April’s time will come.

The other likely newbie is Combrinck. His impact on proceedings is not dissimilar to that of All Blacks’ ace Ben Smith.

Stormers’ dynamo Cheslin Kolbe may have to wait for his call-up.

He and Stormers’ co-captain Juan de Jongh are apparently earmarked for selection to the Springbok Sevens squad in preparation for the Rio Olympics. Not all in Coetzee’s squad of 30-plus players will get game time in the three-test series against Ireland. Some may, in fact, do duty for the A team against England’s Saxons.

Whoever he selects, by the time he goes to bed tomorrow night Coetzee would have had his first real taste of his new job.

Possible Springbok group:

Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss, Bongi Mbonambi, Scarra Ntubeni, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, R G Snyman, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Francois Louw, Jaco Kriel, Siya Kolisi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Duane Vermeulen; Faf de Klerk, Rudy Paige, Michael Claassens, Pat Lambie, Garth April, Johan Goosen, Damien de Allende, Jan Serfontein, Jesse Kriel, Lionel Mapoe, Lwazi Mvovo, J P Pietersen, Ruan Combrinck, Willie le Roux. ý COETZEE’S first squad selection will be announced live on SuperSport 1 and SuperSport Blitz tomorrow evening.

The announcement, also to include the SA A team to face the Saxons, will start at about 7pm.