International exodus means more responsibility on PRO14 SA players

All the teams in the Guinness PRO14 will go into their fixtures this weekend under-strength due to international call-ups, but that just increases the responsibilities of the experienced South Africans and other overseas players representing the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian clubs.

Some of those South Africans, of course, are no longer considered South Africans and won’t be there, namely Edinburgh wing Duhan van der Merwe and the Glasgow Warriors’ former Junior Springbok prop Ollie Kebble.

Both have been pulled into the Scottish squad now that they are qualified for their adopted country.

Whether Van der Merwe’s absence will please Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill, though, is anyone’s guess.

On one hand he will surely be pleased for the player, but on another he might not be blamed for thinking that it is precisely at this stage of the season, when Six Nations and other international calls decimate the squads, that you need your so-called foreign legion.

And right now Edinburgh need all the help they can get.

Of course, Cockerill does still have the likes of the ebullient former Bulls loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman and there should be a big role to play for the South African halfback combination of Nic Groom and Jaco van der Walt ahead of their team’s clash with Connacht on Sunday.

But it is a backs-to-the-wall scenario for Cockerill and his team now as they have lost four PRO14 games in a row and five matches consecutively across all competitions they have played in since the last phase of the previous season.

Certainly the mood at Edinburgh must have changed significantly, and for the worse, in the time that has elapsed since they beat the Warriors in the Scottish derby to make sure of their place in the semifinals of the 2019/2020 edition of the competition.

They lost a dead rubber return game against the Glasgow team a week later and were then pipped in the final seconds of the playoff game against Ulster.

Edinburgh cannot waste any time in regaining some kind of winning form or they are going to be also-rans in the competition.

It is early days still, but they won’t be happy with fifth position in Conference B, and they will hope that the understrength phase will bring them better luck, although the loss of no less than 10 players to international duty will be hugely challenging.

Fortunately for them Connacht aren’t a great travelling team.

In fact, the only win they have scored on the road since this time last year was against the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth immediately before lockdown in March.

Guinness PRO14 fixtures:

Ospreys v Glasgow Warriors (Swansea, Saturday 6.30pm) Ulster v Dragons (Belfast, Sunday 5pm) Edinburgh v Connacht (Edinburgh, Sunday 9.35pm) Munster v Cardiff Blues (Limerick, Monday 10.15pm)