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Visagie has the last laugh
04/06/2006 21:38 - (SA)
Hennie Brandt, Beeld
Johannesburg - Cobus Visagie had the last laugh. At Ellis Park on Saturday, he proved he still has something to offer the Springboks.
The match between the Springboks and a World XV also showed South Africa have a crisis at lock when Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha are not playing.
Coach Jake White, who rested the experienced pair on Saturday, may have even more trouble, because Albert van den Berg has a shoulder injury. White should know on Monday whether he can consider Van den Berg to play in the first Test against Scotland on Saturday.
Visagie, who played in 29 Test matches at tighthead prop for South Africa before joining Saracens in England in 2003, said after the arrival of the World XV last week he would like to play for South Africa again.
However, White poured cold water on the idea by saying Visagie was "superfluous" because he (White) had enough good prop forwards. He also indicated that Visagie may, at the age of 32, be getting long in the tooth.
Well, Visagie showed at Ellis Park how much he has left in his tank. He gave Deon Carstens a rough time in the scrums. His age is certainly not a factor.
Pushed out into the wilderness
The confrontation with Visagie was no great 27th birthday present for Carstens, who had been pushed out into the wilderness after Tests against Scotland and England during the disastrous tour in 2002.
Former Springbok lock Hannes Strydom does not doubt that Visagie should play for South Africa again. "He has reason to believe he is a good prop; he scrummed our noses into the ground," Strydom said after the match.
Referee Tappe Henning, who awarded 33 penalties during the game, penalised Visagie a few times for scrumming at an angle.
Bob Dwyer, the World XV's coach, was upset about that and just about accused Carstens of cheating.
"He (Carstens) did not try to scrum. He stood with his hands on his knees and in that way got six points (penalty goals) for his team," Dwyer said.
Strydom was not impressed with the Bok team's performance as a whole. "There are problems among the tight five. They do not measure up to international standards. This is something that has to be developed.
"Without Bakkies and Victor our locks are hopeless. The next two (Albert van den Berg and Danie Rossouw) are not good enough.
"We have been spoilt by having Bakkies and Victor. They win 90 per cent of all lineout possession for the Boks and also take 20 per cent of the opposition's throw-ins. Without them we do not win enough possession."
No one else has come forward
"They can't play in every match; they must be rested. But the problem is that no one else has come forward," says Strydom, one of the heroes when South Africa won the World Cup in 1995.
White said on Saturday night that our lock forwards needed to be developed. "England have four locks from which they can pick two to play at any time. We have Bakkies and Victor, but there is a big gap between them and the next two.
"I think Albert played well. He had the highest work rate of all the forwards," White added.
White's job to develop lock forwards who can be fielded with confidence when Botha and Matfield are not playing has not been easy. Van den Berg is not in the starting line-up for the Sharks and Rossouw is sometimes at lock and at other times on the flank in provincial and Super 14 matches.
- Beeld
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