With the Rugby World Cup 2011 not far away and the realisation that within the next year many of our rugby players will look towards retirement after the RWC, the question beckons of how well are we prepared for the next generation of Springboks to come through.
John Smit, Jannie du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw and Bakkies Botha are all very close to thirty or older will not see another World Cup.
Juan Smith and Schalk Burger may not yet retire for a few years, but it is debatable whether at the age of 33 they will be able to keep the young guns at bay, and loose forward being one of our most competitive positions in SA rugby would suggest to me that they won’t make another RWC either.
This puts us in a position where in all likely hood almost our entire forward pack will need replacing.
Although our backline is slightly younger in age, Fourie du Preez has already indicated that he would not be around after the World Cup and will head to Japan. Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie, all being in their late 20’s are also unlikely to wear the Springbok jersey much longer.
This begs the question of what will happen after the World Cup, assuming there will be a new coach… would he want to start afresh, much like what Deans has done with Australia?
I would almost certainly like to see a fresh squad of players, with hopefully a few of the old stalwarts hanging on for another year or two, just to enable the vast experience of these players being shared with the new bunch.
Here is a list of players all 26 and younger who are mobile, talented, skillfull and should show us the future of SA rugby.
Props
Patrick Cilliers, Coenie Oosthuizen, Werner Kruger, WP Nel
Hookers
Bismarck du Plessis, Deon Fourie, Adriaan Strauss, Craig Burden
Locks
Flip v d Merwe, Allistair Hargreaves, Andries Bekker
Loose forwards
Deon Stegmann, Heinrich Brüssouw, Jean Deysel, Dewald Potgieter, Duane Vermeulen
Scrumhalf
Dewaldt Duvenhage, Francois Hougaard, Sarel Pretorius
Flyhalf
Patrick Lambie, Morné Steyn
Wings
Lwazi Mvovu, Lionel Mapoe, JP Pietersen, Gerhard v d Heever, Gio Aplon
Centers
Juan de Jongh, Pierre Spies, Robert Ebersohn
Fullback
Louis Ludik, Joe Pietersen, Frans Steyn
You will note that I have added Pierre Spies to the center position, as I believe he is not physical enough in the close exchanges and think he will be more devastating at outside center. Most of you will believe this to be controversial, but if Spies wants to retain a Springbok jersey, he will have to become a lot more physical, he is a great athlete and should be able to move position.
I may have left some current promising players out, but you are welcome to add to the list. Obviously there will be new talent coming through, but looking at this bunch, I would think the new coach would be able to bring a new legacy to Springbok rugby, the forwards are mobile and skillful with ball in hand, the back line players fast and exciting and I for one would think our rugby will be in good hands with the young talent in SA.