Cape Town — One person who wouldn’t have minded that this weekend’s Sharks-Ulster URC match had to be postponed is Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.
In addition to the Lions-Glasgow clash, the Durbanites won’t be running out at Kings Park today due to a bout of gastroenteritis that has engulfed the two European sides.
That means all those Boks who were set to feature for the Sharks can put their feet up for a few days before travelling to Stellenbosch for a national team training camp.
That list includes the likes of Thomas du Toit, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Jaden Hendrikse and Makazole Mapimpi — while replacement Ntuthuko Mchunu is also sure to be part of the final squad for the November tour.
Among that group, arguably the most important is Mbonambi, who is one of two world-class SA hookers, along with Malcolm Marx.
But what happens if either of them were to be injured between now and the four Tests against Ireland (November 5), France (November 12), Italy (November 19) and England (November 26)?
We saw the problems the South Africans encountered during the Rugby Championship when Mbonambi was sidelined with a knee injury.
That saw Joseph Dweba stepping into the breach, but he battled with his line-out throwing in particular, which impacted his overall game.
It wasn’t the wisest move by Nienaber to start Dweba against the All Blacks at Ellis Park, especially after Mbonambi had withdrawn and Marx had been outstanding a week earlier in Mbombela.
Playing off the bench may have been the better path for Dweba, but now his confidence will be low, as was seen in his few appearances for the Stormers in the URC as well, where the throwing issues were still evident.
Nienaber has insisted that veteran loose forward Deon Fourie is the other back-up hooker to Marx and Mbonambi, but the fact is that the Stormers star has hardly played in the front row for a number of years.
Even though he was picked as a replacement hooker against the Wallabies in Sydney, Fourie still came on as a loose forward in the second half, with Marx playing the full 80 minutes.
The 36-year-old Fourie is superb at chasing the loose ball and contesting the breakdowns, and has a high work-rate that shone through for the Stormers last season. But that was as an openside flank, and part of the reason for his move to the loose trio was his battles with his line-out throws during his first stint in Cape Town.
The current problem with hooker depth is a similar one to flyhalf, in that the Bok management didn’t blood enough young talent over the last 18 months in case of injuries.
Top of that list is outstanding Bulls No 2 Johan Grobbelaar, who spent six weeks on tour with the Boks in Australia during last year’s Rugby Championship, but didn’t get a single cap.
He has continued his good form for the Pretoria side, but was ruled out of contention for the end-of-year tour with an ankle injury.
The Bok hooker cupboard is rather bare after that. One-cap Scarra Ntubeni is still sidelined with a serious Achilles injury, while England-based Akker van der Merwe hasn’t been in the mix in recent years – although he picked up an ankle injury for Sale Sharks last week as well.
André-Hugo Venter (Stormers), Kerron van Vuuren (Sharks) and PJ Botha (Lions) have started in the URC this season, but none of them have been banging the Bok door down with their performances.
Van Vuuren is probably the most consistent and hard-working of that trio, though, and perhaps some of them will be part of the SA A squad for the two tour games against Munster and Bristol.
Nienaber, though, will be holding thumbs that Marx and Mbonambi stay fit over the next six weeks …
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