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South Africa's 2011 Tri Nations squad has been the subject of some controversy with coach Pieter De Villiers claiming that 22 of the 49 players named in his World Cup training squad are unavailable for selection through injury, while some commentators voicing the opinion that these players are just being rested in the lead up to the World Cup. While this "injury crisis" has seen the odds of South Africa winning the Tri Nations plummet to 10-1 they still have a vast array of talent at their disposal, including rising stars of International rugby and a few players who have been on the outskirts of the national squad for a while.
Patrick Lambie is one of the most talked about young players in rugby and it was his displays for the Sharks in this year's Super rugby competition that started tongue's waging. Lambie shone in the Sharks playoff game in Nelson, a game that the Sharks lost 36-8 and one in which their so called big name players failed to make much of an impact at all. 20 year old Lambie has mainly started for the Sharks at Fullback this season but he can also play Fly Half, he finished the regular season as the 3rd highest points scorer in Super rugby with 190 points. Lambie's international future will no doubt depend on where South Africa's management team select another monumental talent, Francois Steyn. Steyn misses the Tri Nations with injuries to his back and an ankle but if his International future is at Centre then Lambie could well be staring in the 15 shirt come the World Cup.
Another bright young star or world rugby is Elton Jantjies; he is just 2 months older than Lambie and finished the season as Super rugby 14th highest points scorer after recording 102 points, in a Lions team that ended the season 14th in the overall standings. Despite his team's poor showing Jantjies was the only reason they didn't end the season bottom of the table, he was instrumental in the Lions ending a 16 year losing streak in Canberra as he had a hand in 3 of his team's 4 tries and kicked all 4 conversions when they defeated the Brumbies 20 points to 29. Jantjies creativity, sleight of hand and acceleration are phenomenal assets but his major downfall is his modest stature, he stands a little over 5 feet 9 tall and weighs just 13 stone 3 lb (84 kg), South Africa could decide to move him from the 10 position in their defensive line up but I don't expect Jantjies to jump ahead of the bigger Morne Steyn and the defensively stronger Butch James anytime soon.
Another player who could be hindered by physical stature or lack thereof is Heinrich Brussow, he stands at 5 feet 11 tall, which isn't particularly short, unless you're a South African Flanker, Schalk Burger is 6 feet 4 inches tall and Brussow's team mate at the Cheetahs Juan Smith is even taller at 6 feet 5 inches (even though Smith is likely to miss the World Cup through injury it gives you an idea of the size of Brussow's competition). Brussow played against the 2009 British and Irish Lions team and was widely tipped to appear in the first Test of that summer but he missed out through injury. Brussow is a very rare commodity in rugby today a "genuine Open Side" who always supports the ball carrier and is the first player to arrive at virtually every break down. His low centre of gravity, as a result of his "low apex" means that is he very difficult to clear out at ruck time and he often turns over a lot of ball or wins penalties for his team.
Ashley Johnson is a fellow Cheetah, however he doesn't want for stature, Johnson is just over an inch taller than Brussow at 6 feet and a half inch, but he outweighs his team mate by almost 2 stone, Johnson is a solid 17 stone and 5 lb (110 kg). Like Brussow Johnson's own injury woes have seen miss out on a number of caps. He will make his debut against Australia this Saturday and as a destructive ball carrier he must be licking his lips after Australia's failure to get to grips with Samoa's physicality last week. While Pierre Spies appears a certainty to start at number 8 for South Africa in New Zealand come September an in form Johnson would be a very handy "impact player" from the bench.
Ryan Kankowski has been around the Springbok squad on and off for a number of seasons but he has collected just 15 caps since 2007. He will bring a dynamism all of his own to the back row as he has a turn of pace that most backs would be proud of. Another Shark's player he will surely be looking to carry on the success he enjoyed during the Super rugby season with his International team, but like Brussow and Johnson it will take a very impressive showing from Kankowski over the next few months if he is to become a regular in the Springbok team at the World Cup.
Willem Alberts is one of Kankowski's back row compadres at the Sharks and he has impressed me in every game I've seen him play. He scored the first try in the Sharks Super rugby playoff loss in New Zealand at the hands of the Crusaders and when he unfortunately had to leave the field mid way through the first half the Crusaders forwards were able to dominate the game. Alberts impressed on South Africa's 2010 Northern Hemisphere tour when he came off the bench to score in 3 successive Tests against Wales, Scotland and England. Alberts may be battling with Schalk Burger for a starting berth at the World Cup but a return to that sort of form in the Tri Nations could give him the job.
Hooker Adriaan Strauss is another player who never fails to impress me with his industry and powerful ball carrying and where he not behind South Africa's record cap holder (for a front row forward) John Smit and the extremely strong Bismarck Du Plessis he would surely have added to his 9 caps. Strauss will be in his element against Australia on Saturday and I expect to see him appearing midfield early on to test the Wallabies midfield defence. The one suspect area of Strauss' game is his line out throwing and unless he's at the top of his game this could give the Australian back line an easy source of turn over ball.
Blog by @Buck_Mitchell
