There are two ways of looking at the six forwards that Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has included on his bench for Saturday’s test against France in Paris – you could say there are two locks, but you could just as easily say that there are two loose-forwards.
Bok defence coach John McFarland hinted at it during a press conference in Edinburgh the previous week, and Meyer confirmed it when he named his squad for the Stade de France game on Wednesday – Sharks lock Pieter-Steph du Toit is being looked at as both a No 5 lock and as a potential loose-forward.
The 21-year-old Du Toit played all his junior rugby as a blindside flank, and Meyer says that he will be covering that position on Saturday against France.
“I will be looking to use Pieter-Steph at blindside flank in this game, and I definitely think he can play both positions,” said Meyer.
“He will be covering for Willem Alberts against France.
Willem is fit to play but he has been struggling with a few injuries lately and we also had the other flank, Francois Louw, come off the field early last week. It has been a long year and the guys have had some tough games, and we felt we needed No 7 cover for Willem.
“So Pieter-Steph is covering both No 5 and No 7 in this game, and will be deployed according to what we need depending on the game situation.
So you shouldn't read too much into the six forwards/two backs split on the bench. It is all about taking out insurance on the loose-forward positions and having cover for both Willem and Francois.”
Of course, you need to look at who is missing from the pool of loose-forwards to understand why Du Toit is suddenly set to play his old position at test level.
Arno Botha would have been the back-up to Alberts had he not been ruled out of rugby for the entire year due to an injury sustained at an early stage of the game against Scotland in Nelspruit in June.
And Duane Vermeulen can also be deployed as a blindside flank when Pierre Spies, another Bulls player who has been out injured since June, comes back into the game next year.
Then there is Schalk Burger, who could well be set to wear the Stormers No 7 in the next Super Rugby season provided he successfully completes his own comeback from a long injury and illness-enforced absence from the playing field.
However, Meyer will see know harm in further adding to the already impressive depth at loose-forward, and as he has always set high stall on having a big blindside flank, Du Toit will bolster the coach’s confidence if he does come on at flank and excels there.
Siya Kolisi, one of the players who has played blindside flank for the Stormers in recent times, is covering Louw at openside in the Paris test.
