There is no position we dominate as much as lock. Many nations would give a shorter arm or leg to get a South African oak....even out of our second five best. But rarely has the lock position been so confused. Etzebeth was the new giant, stronger than any other player out there and able to gas Ben Smith up the Ellis Park touch line. His natural partner was Steph du Toit, even though most of the evidence hinged on one CC match.
But then Etzebeth hurt his ankle again.....is this going to be one of those chronic things? And Steph hurt himself ....again....this youngster was pushed too early and he gave no quarter further increasing the risk of injury
Then we found that Flip Flop was finally maturing into a very powerful, test class lock. It looked like Eben might play 5. But Bakkies played a few solid tests which apparently stirred Matfield into action...and he seems to have lost nothing as he showed in a MoM performance against the Brumbies.
Adding to the confusion Willemse, Lood, Lewies and even Botha, another 2 metre giant, have staked claims. With Willemse looking massively strong. Added to which the majority are number four locks....a position at which we now have unprecedented depth.
So how do we rank them?
At number 5 I would go.....Matfield, Lewies, Steph, Ruan Botha
At number 4 it gets harder, but I would go.....Etzebeth, Flip, Willemse, Lood, Bakkies.
Then you have the cross over option of playing Etzebeth at 5, which is what I would do....with Willemse or Flip at 4. And Victor would be on the bench. No lock extant has more skills to contribute to an all out atack in the last 15 minutes.
