Bok side to play Italy

Springbok team to face Italy in Pretoria:

15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 39 caps, 56 points (4t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)

14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 40 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)

13 Jesse Kriel (captain, Canon Eagles) – 79 caps, 90 points (18t)

12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 87 caps, 55 points (11t)

11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 24 caps, 90 points (18t)

10 Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls) – 80 caps, 772 points (7t, 109c, 168p, 5dg)

9 Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 2 caps, 0 points

8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 34 caps, 10 points (2t)

7 Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – uncapped

6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 25 caps, 10 points (2t)

5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 66 caps, 25 points (5t)

4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 131 caps, 35 points (7t)

3 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 0 points

2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 76 caps, 105 points (21t)

1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 39 caps, 0 points

Replacements:

16 Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 77 caps, 70 points (14t)

17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 5 points (1t)

18 Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 61 caps, 0 points

19 RG Snyman (Leinster) – 40 caps, 10 points (2t)

20 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 78 caps, 20 points (4t)

21 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 51 caps, 45 points (9t)

22 Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 58 caps, 50 points (5t, 5c, 5p)

23 Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 98 caps, 75 points (15t)

Interesting that Pollard is ahead of Sacha

Good to see Vincent Tsituka getting his first cap he deserves it

RG should be starting ahead of Lood and Kwagga ahead of v Staaden at 6 with Roos on the bench

The bench seems filled with geriatrics who have little chance of making the next World Cup based on form alone.

Surprised that Sasha is not even on the bench. With only 2 backs, it seems Faff is covering flyhalf.

Sharkie, did you get that off ChatGPT too?

Overall team caps (including starters and replacements): 803 + 466 = 1,269

1,269 caps must be close to being a record?

It's a long season, I don't expect the best 15 to start every weekend. However, Willie on the bench. I guess it is just to get him to his 100 games. He might start next week and then we'll say goodbye to him.

I still can't understand some of these selections Why on earth is Mostert still there.

Other than Jan Hendrik, all of the players are over 30 and 5 over 33.

I still don't see the young ones getting a crack. He is wasting caps on these older players I would put them as third choice and only bring them in if we have an injury crisis

Agreed King I see absolutely no point in continuing to select the likes of Koch, Mostert, Faf and Willie

Willie to get 100 caps I can appreciate but come on

Thomas ahead of Koch, Cobus Wiese ahead of Mostert and it could have been Papier, Jayden or Nohamba ahead of Faf

I don’t get the continued selection of v Staaden - surely starting Kwagga at 6 with Roos on the bench is a better option

How many 9's have we gone through over the past 7 years. Far is the only main stay.

We had Ivan van Zyl, then Jantjies, then Hendrikse, but he has now been completely been dropped. Not sure if Papier ever got a crack.

Truth to be told, I don't think we have a clear winner at 9. They all seem very small except for Hendrikse, Faf punches above his weight, but still. None of them are shouting starter

Papier has a few caps to his name then got discarded but has been in great form for some time now

We don’t need big scrumhalves

Williams is the front runner - a big attacking threat - more of an individual than a director

vd Bergh is next best - he is another Faf, very energetic and never stops

Papier would be 3rd for me

Nohamba is a class player but tiny and therefore defensively frail

Jayden is the best in terms of game manager and has the best boot but he is a petulant prick and in crap form of late - when he is off form, he is indecisive and too slow at the base - which is why he got the boot - he has potential but needs to get his priorities right

Pollard ahead of Sasha and Willemse ahead of Fassi.

Rassi is looking at the RC.

...but I'm not sure, even with Pollard's experience, that I'd play him ahead of Sacha. Especially when you look at how instrumental Sacha was is negating Dmac and BB when it mattered last year. He basically shut the door on them and the Boks won the game.

Anyway, if we're seeing this selection now it means that Rassie will start Pollard against the ABs, France and Ireland this year. And that means that for all the adventure we saw against the Barbie's, the Boks remain a 3,6,9 side and won't be attacking the AB backs with much vigor. Sacha will be selected against the Argies and maybe the Oz. So, a year of nothing rugby for potentially the best rugby player SA has ever produced.

It sucks because Sacha is literally the one guy in the squad that can singlehandedly win you games. I'd play him in every single game this year and have him on the bench for the easy games. He doesn't have anything to prove. He is the best 10 in WR. He should spend as many minutes on the park as his body allows him to. End of.

...and is Willemse more solid than Fassi at 15? Perhaps. They shine at different things, but when you tally up their scores, right now, there isn't a great deal between them. So that selection doesn't bother me.

Sacha's time will come, don't be such a doom prophet, Pollard needs game time too.

If wanting the best player to play in every position is being a doom prophet, then it's physically impossible for me not to be a doom prophet.

Draad, there is an old saying. Never stand in the way of greatness. Get behind it and ride in its slipstream.

Is Sasha ready? Yes

Is Sasha good enough? Yes

Is Sasha looking he may be our best 10 ever? Yes

Has Sasha proved himself against the best? Yes

Its only if you answer no to any of those questions that you can make a case from him not being selected as often as possible from here on out.

Can you answer any of those questions in the negative?

I can't.

Doesn't matter whether Sacha is not playing, his time will come and Sacha will do what Sacha does.....it's not in the manual. I hope they find an inside center who complements his magic.

The Springbok side is an extended squuad. Whatever side is picked vs Italy is no indication of what Rassie has planned...whoever starts vs NZ and later France will be the true measure of things....up till then, Rassie will not show his hand...expect a lot of deception and tricks... lots of mind games.

I wa very impressed by Van der Merwe as scrummie - he was good for the Lions - playing well in an under-prforming team is a sign of good performances and I think we will see a lot of himin future,

vd Bergh Mike not vd Merwe

I fully disagree. Pollard is a great player, but Sacha should take over now and Pollard needs to warm the be bench and back him up.

The way that kid plays, between now and the next WC, I'd want him getting as many test minutes as possible. He's the guy that will make it so that you don't need a kicker to slot every single kick in order to win a WC.

The only area where he isn't just straight-up better than Pollard is kicking. That's literally it. And I don't say this without fully understanding how good Pollard is and what he has done.

Just that Pollard and Sacha are clearly the 1 and 2. Pollard needs to preserve the body a bit more and it suites Sacha to get as many caps as possible against test teams...and the flow of information from a mentor like Pollard to a guy like Sacha benefits the team massively. I honestly feel like Pollard has a big role to play in Sacha's future. If we get the best out of their relationship over the next two years, it WILL really pay off for the Boks.

That's how I would structure things if it were up to me.