Its sad that we even have to raise this topic given that we are 22 years into freedom for all but still sadly reduced to this disgraceful anomaly in our sport. It would appear that unofficially the Bok side has to feature 5 players of colour in the starting 15.
If we are striving to select our best 15, how does this policy impact on that goal?
At fullback, Willie is the incumbent, he might not be in the greatest form of his life but class is perm, form temp and at 26 is still a baby. In Gelant, we have a real prospect to replace Willie, this kid has it all.....but right now Willie is our best.
On the wing, Combrink is our best player, but he is white, which throws a spanner in the works in terms of the quota as most of our players of colour seem to end up on the wing for some strange reason.
On merit, there is a host of players who could partner Combrink and who happen to be players of colour - they include Ulengo, Senatla, Kolbe (I don't see him as a 15), Sergeal Petersen, JP, Sithole, Ismeil, Zas, Skosan and Rhule.
Ideally we would want to select two players of colour on the wing, but then we would have to lose our best wing in Combrink....or if we moved Combrink to 15, we would lose the x factor in Willie......we cant win here.
So on merit, we would only have one player of colour in the back 3, which is not ideal at all......but we would be pushed to select two given the quota equation.
At centre, Mapoe finds himself at 13 for the Boks but he is clearly not our best 13. He is a good player and has had a great Super series to date, but there are better options in Jessie Kriel for a start.....the best Jessie has provided for the Boks far outshines anything Mapoe has done at test level and I suspect a players like Vorster and Janse v/Rensburg would be better options at 13 than Mapoe. de Jongh is just too small for test rugby, so does not come into the equation. Mapoe is our best option as a player of colour at centre but he is not a merit selection. Am of the Kings looks like a good prospect, but time will tell.
At 12 Mnisi has had some really good moments, have always rated him but he is not close to the likes of de Allende, Serf, Frans Venter or Odendaal. Again we are stumped in terms of merit.
At 10 Jantjies has been brilliant this year and on merit is our starting 10, but what happens when Pollard returns and reminds us of just how good he is? Its a close call between Pollard and Jantjies - they offer polar opposites but I suspect the quota would swing it
At 9, Paige has been a very obvious quota choice, not nearly good enough to play test rugby. Faf, Hougaard, Reinach and Groom are all better.
So in the backs……on merit we could have one wing of colour and Jantjies at 10……with only the wing a dead cert for merit and merit alone, given the close call between Jantjies and Pollard.
It gets far worse in the forwards.
At loosehead we have Beast as the incumbent, he is not what he used to be, but is solid and provides experience. However, Kitshoff is better and potentially the best loosehead in the game…..so Beast is not the merit selection. Nyakane is a great player, but not better than Kitshoff. We could move him to tighthead but he would not be better than Malherbe or Marcel. Nqoboko is another handy loosehead but behind the others in terms of status.
At hooker we have two good players in Mbonambi and Scara……but they don’t come close to Bismark, Marx, Strauss or Akers……so we are stumped here. Mbonambi on the Bok bench has quota written all over it…..evidenced by his all of 1 min in 3 tests against Ireland.
There are no tighthead options other than Nyakane moving there.
Equally there are no locks at all to speak of when it comes to players of colour. Andrews and Orrie are not good enough to play CC rugby.
Amongst the loosies we have some really good players of colour in Kolisi, Carr, Notshe, Mtembu and Oupa……..unfortunately the first 3 are all similar in size and style and therefore limit ones options…..they all suite the openside role and therefore only one of them could be selected. Are they better than Jaco Kriel – NO. I quite fancy the idea of Notshe bulking up a little and playing 8 in the Skinstad mould……real talent this kid. Oupa is a good blindside but not physical enough to really make it ahead of a true bruiser. Big fan of Mtembu and he could be a real option at 8 but his injury this year has stifled his progression.
So on merit we have no starters of colour amongst the forwards.
So which 5 would we have to go with……..say Senatla on the wing and Jantjies at 10 as merit…….that leaves 3 merit players that need to be axed in favour of quota selections……Nyakane at loosehead, forcing Kitshoff to the bench, or Nyakane at 3 with Kitshoff at 1, forcing Malherbe to the bench, Notshe or Mtembu at 8, Kolisi, Carr or Notshe ahead of Kriel at 6, Ulengo on the other wing with Willie or Combrink forced to the bench depending on who you go with at 15. Retain Mapoe at 13…….play Oupa at 7 thereby conceding physicality. Oh to have to deal with this bullshit……why cant we just be like any other country and select the best 23 regardless of whether they are green/black or blue…….fuck sake
