SCENE-SETTER: Boks will add edge and interest to SA’s URC challenge

With the Springbok schedule taking a break until the squad regathers ahead of the opening end of year tour fixture against Japan in London at the beginning of November, the focus will switch more intently to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship for the next three weeks.

The South African teams had to start the competition without their international players, who were away retaining the Championship title with the Boks, with some teams missing their stars more than others.

The former category obviously includes the Hollywoodbets Sharks, who, on top of having 12 Boks away for their first two games, have also had a bad run with pre-season injuries that necessitated the procurement on loan of several Currie Cup players from the likes of mainly the Airlink Pumas but also the Toyota Cheetahs and Suzuki Griquas.

Those loan players have needed time to bed in, so the fact that the Sharks haven’t won yet in two starts, and could only manage a draw against a feisty Dragons team in Newport last time out, should be seen in that context. The Sharks actually impressed in their opening game against Glasgow Warriors at their intimidating home ground of The Scotstoun, but couldn’t convert their scrumming dominance on an inclement Friday night as Storm Amy swept through Britain and over Newport.

The problem for the Sharks is that while their coach, John Plumtree, is set to reintroduce some of his Boks this week, and says he will do so according to the workload the players have had to handle in recent weeks, their opponents, Leinster, are set to welcome back their many British and Irish Lions players who were rested for their South African tour.

Leinster will be much more formidable in Dublin at the weekend than they have been so far, and it is important to recognise that while the Leinster Lions will have been training together in preparation for their first home game of the new season, that will not have been the case for the Sharks and their Boks.

When the Boks set to be involved in the Leinster game linked up with the Sharks on Sunday, it will have been the first time this season that Plumtree has laid eyes on them. That is at the heart of the reason the Sharks have struggled to produce the results that the names on the team sheet sometimes suggest they should - because of South Africa’s 12-month season, the Sharks Boks never get a proper pre-season and in all three seasons of Plumtree’s involvement with the Sharks he has only got to work with them once the season is in full swing.

MBONAMBI AND KOCH CAN DO WITH GAME TIME

There are some Sharks Boks who are on the outside looking in at present, and they will be particularly motivated to perform in the next three weeks. Count Lukhanyo Am among those. The 2019 World Cup-winning hero has had his injury problems, but has shown pleasing signs of a return to form in the first two rounds, particularly in the game against Glasgow. But he has competition for a place in the Bok midfield, given the steadiness of Jesse Kriel when he does wear the No 13 jersey and now Canan Moodie’s emergence as a centre with real X-factor.

Vincent Koch and Bongi Mbonambi are two Sharks front row forwards who can also do with some game time and an opportunity to remind Bok coach Rassie Erasmus what they are capable of, and while Andre Esterhuizen has confirmed himself as an international centre of real quality, he has been used sporadically recently and can also do with a few games to get momentum.

For the DHL Stormers and the Vodacom Bulls, there has been less disruption because they just don’t have as many Boks on their books, but in both cases, there will be key players returning. Wilco Louw and Jan-Hendrik Wessels will add a formidable edge to the Bulls’ front row, particularly now that Gerhard Steenekamp is fit and playing again, whether that is in Saturday night’s game against Ulster in Belfast or in the second game of the tour.

POLLARD’S RETURN EAGERLY AWAITED

Ruan Nortje, surely now established as the Bok No 5 lock, was in magnificent form in the Championship and will also add edge to the Bulls, as will Marco van Staden and Moodie. No Bok returnee will be more eagerly welcomed, though, than flyhalf Handre Pollard.

Heroic. Hardworking. Handre 💥

The fans have selected 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐃 to wear the 10 jersey in the #BokDreamTeam after all the votes were tallied 🇿🇦🦵

Voting resumes when the Autumn Nations Series begins..

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Back from a long spell overseas, Pollard last played for the Boks in the defeat at Eden Park, meaning four weeks ago, and with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok having both made such great strides in the latter part of the Championship campaign, he could profit from issuing a reminder in Bulls colours of his match-winning ability.

Talking of flyhalves, Jurie Matthee has done a good job for the Stormers in the past two games, but given his wizardry, Stormers director of rugby John Dobson must be chomping at the bit to get Feinberg-Mngomezulu back into action. Cobus Reinach has excelled at scrumhalf for the Boks and will make his eagerly awaited debut for the Stormers in the coming weeks, while Damian Willemse, who was injured for much of last season, will be eager to reassert himself as a Stormers star.

The Stormers face Scarlets at Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli on Friday night, and it will be interesting to see if Dobson fields all three of his Bok backline starters against a team that started the competition poorly but showed a lot of promise last year.

The Lions had only one Bok away during the Championship in the form of scrumhalf Morne van den Bergh, who could play a key role going forward in helping nurture the talent of the Junior Bok scrumhalf Hashim Pead. There’s no denying Pead’s quality, and it has been a bit of a surprise he hasn’t started a URC game for the Lions as yet.

Third round Vodacom URC fixtures:

Munster v Edinburgh (Limerick, Friday 8.45pm)

Scarlets v DHL Stormers (Llanelli, Friday 8.45pm)

Ospreys v Zebre (Swansea, Saturday 4pm)

Benetton v Emirates Lions (Treviso, Saturday 4pm)

Glasgow Warriors v Dragons (Glasgow, Saturday 6.30pm)

Leinster v Hollywoodbets Sharks (Dublin, Saturday 6.30pm)

Cardiff Rugby v Connacht (Cardiff, Saturday 8.45pm)

Ulster v Vodacom Bulls (Belfast, Saturday 8.45pm)