Tough decisions for White
2005-08-23 21:31
Dunedin - National rugby coach Jake White will have to have the wisdom of Solomon on Wednesday to pick his team to play New Zealand in a Tri-Nations Test at Carisbrook on Saturday.
White's biggest problem is on the right wing. He must get a replacement for Breyton Paulse, who was suspended after Saturday's match against Australia in Perth.
White said: "I would have liked to have the same backline for this Saturday's match, because the guys know one another and they had momentum going. You need players like Breyton for his experience and calmness.
"But such things happen and you have to deal with it, even though I think his suspension is ridiculous," White said.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry said they were not worried about who would be the Boks' right wing for Saturday's match.
"We will wait until they choose their team and decide then what we should do."
White and the Boks' backline coach, Allister Coetzee, have several choices to fill Paulse's position.
They can move Jaque Fourie from outside centre to right wing, where he is also at home. Jean de Villiers could then move to outside centre and De Wet Barry could wear the No 12 jersey.
Ability as game creator
The two of them could even be shuffled around if the decision was to retain De Villiers' ability as game creator at inside centre.
The only problem with such a move was that you would break the Fourie/De Villiers combination - a strength in the Boks' armour for the past few weeks.
Another solution for White and company would be to retain Fourie and De Villiers in midfield and to use either Marius Joubert, who has recovered from a hamstring injury, or Jaco van der Westhuyzen, on the right wing.
Another possibility is to move Percy Montgomery from fullback to right wing and to make Van der Westhuyzen the fullback.
The last few choices would mean many changes to solve one problem and that could create more problems.
There is also a possibility that there could be a change to the Boks' front row if CJ van der Linde does not recover in time. His nose was broken in the match against Australia last week and he also has a troublesome left shoulder.
If Van der Linde is not available, Eddie Andrews could be the tighthead and he will be up against the All Blacks loosehead, Tony Woodcock.
Lawrence Sephaka could then be picked on the bench as the replacement prop. He joined the squad in Australia in place of the injured Gurthro Steenkamp.
The lock-flank Danie Rossouw has joined the Boks after being summoned after the match against the Wallabies. His team-mate, Pedrie Wannenburg, returned to South Africa with a lower back injury on Saturday.
A possible Bok team: Percy Montgomery, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, De Wet Barry, Bryan Habana, Andre Pretorius, Enrico Januarie, Joe van Niekerk, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, CJ van der Linde/Eddie Andrews, John Smit (c), Os du Randt.