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This weekend’s All Blacks vs Springboks match sees arguably the two best first five-eigths in the world go head-to-head in Beauden Barrett and Elton Jantjies. But, asks Jamie Wall, where does that leave Handre Pollard?
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Even the most one-eyed fans out there have to admit Beauden Barrett is the top number 10 in world rugby right now. The All Black first five has seemingly developed some sort of telepathic relationship with the ball in 2016, whether he’s kicking it, receiving it or running it.
The All Blacks are short odds favourites to dispense with the Springboks in Christchurch on Saturday, which is a shame considering the unparalleled rivalry the two nations have had over the last 95 years. It’s even more of a shame considering the absolute classic tests that the sides have produced over the last few years.
But also, from a Springbok point of view, it’s a shame because they’re the only other side going around these days that can actually boast some depth at first five. Starting this weekend will be Elton Jantjies, who put together a stunning body of work during Super Rugby.
Jantjies’ Lions side defied all conventional logic to make it all the way to the final, and a lot of that can be put down to the 26-year-old’s running and goal kicking. Ultimately, they lost that game (to Barrett’s Hurricanes, no less), but gained a serious amount of respect and hope for the upcoming test season.
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Meanwhile, sitting back in South Africa somewhere, is Handre Pollard. On the mend from a season-ending knee injury, Pollard was the Boks’ starting 10 for the last two seasons. He guided them to victory over the All Blacks in 2014 (scoring two tries), as well as booting 15 points in their 18-20 loss to the eventual World Champions in last year’s World Cup semifinal.
Many had pegged Pollard to be the man to take charge of a Springbok backline for the foreseeable future, but his injury and Jantjies’ irresistible form have thrown a little bit of doubt over that.
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However, he has got the advantage of the fact that the Boks are currently going through one of their lowest ebbs ever. Losses to Ireland, Argentina and now the struggling Wallabies (probably the most embarrassing of the lot) have all come on Jantjies’ watch. It’s unfair to blame him at all – in fact his goal kicking has been one of the rare highlights – but if this season keeps going the way it has it’ll be hard for Jantjies to escape the stigma attached to it.
If Pollard can force his way back with a successful 2017 Super Rugby comeback, it will be a pretty big deal given the contentious racial quota system the Springboks have been forced to adopt by the South African Ministry of Sport. Jantjies has definitely earned his place on merit this season, which either completely justified or utterly condemned the quota system depending on your point of view.
One thing is for sure about next year: Boks coach Allister Coetzee will just be happy to have depth in at least one position. Provided, that it, he still has a job by the end of the season.
Comments on RugbyPass
Who got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
11 Go to commentsWhat’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
11 Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
1 Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
135 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
11 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
11 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
135 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
135 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
5 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
135 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
11 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
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