Bok coach has eye on Senatla, De Jongh

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee admits that his team have “got to widen our game”, and to that end, Seabelo Senatla and a whole host of other Blitzbok stars could bolster the Bok attack later this year.

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee admits that his team have “got to widen our game”, and to that end, Seabelo Senatla and a whole host of other Blitzbok stars could bolster the Bok attack later this year.

In an interview with the Barbarians website on Thursday ahead of their November 5 clash with South Africa at Wembley in London, Coetzee said that Senatla, Juan de Jongh, Cheslin Kolbe and Francois Hougaard have caught his eye in 2016 and that he would want to run the rule over them after they complete their commitments at the Rio Olympics.

The Springbok Sevens team arrived in Brazil late on Wednesday after a marathon journey from Cape Town, and begin their Olympic campaign against Spain on August 9 (4.30pm SA time), followed by France on the same day (9.30pm) and Australia the next day (4.30pm) before the playoffs begin in the hunt for the gold medal.

If the Blitzboks go all the way and are in medal contention, they will only leave Brazil on August 12 for the earliest, which will make it a tight period to get back to South Africa in time if they are included for the Bok squad for next month’s Rugby Championship.

The opening match of that tournament is on August 20, when Coetzee’s team face Argentina in Nelspruit. But while the sevens players could miss the first game, they will be available for the rest of the competition.

And someone like Senatla is exactly what is needed to spark the Springbok attack. He was deadly once more in the World Sevens Series last season with an astonishing 66 tries, which is second only to Fiji’s Vilimoni Delasau’s record of 82.

The 23-year-old Senatla has already had a taste of being inside the Springbok camp after being included in the squad for the end-of-year trip to Europe in 2014, but he didn’t get any game time and left the tour a week early to rejoin his Blitzboks teammates for the new sevens season.

But a few years later, there is no doubt that the Western Province and Stormers flyer can become an instant hit at Test level. Senatla is so much more than just a speedster – the manner in which he gets stuck in physically in sevens rugby, particularly in defence and at the breakdowns, prove that he has all the attributes to become a successful Springbok wing.

Coetzee has spoken about making the Boks a more rounded team who don’t just rely on brute force to bulldoze opponents into submission, but they lacked the firepower out wide in the first Test defeat to Ireland at Newlands in June.

The Bok coach belatedly introduced Lions stars such as Ruan Combrinck and Warren Whiteley in the second Test at Ellis Park, and they managed to inspire a superb come-from-behind victory in the last quarter, with the South Africans holding on in Port Elizabeth to clinch the series 2-1.

With Bryan Habana having been unavailable in June, and JP Pietersen not quite finding the form of old, there is certainly a vacancy at left wing, with Combrinck seemingly settled now at No 14.

“It’s difficult to name names exactly,” Coetzee said. “There are players like Elton Jantjes and Faf de Klerk who’ve come in and started to play a part and I hope they’ll add some more caps over the coming months and we’ll have more experience.

“There are also players coming in and we’re also looking at the national sevens side who are going to the Olympics.

“Seabelo Senatla has had a good year and was promising at Western Province and went on to play one Super Rugby game. We’d like to look at him, then there’s Cheslin Kolbe, Juan de Jongh and Francois Hougaard, who did so well at Worcester last season.”

Kolbe will certainly put the out-of-sorts Willie le Roux under pressure for the fullback berth, while De Jongh’s experience, skill and game sense could’ve unlocked Lionel Mapoe’s striking ability as Damian de Allende battled to fire at inside centre.

Hougaard’s resurgence could create an interesting dynamic at scrumhalf, as Faf de Klerk excelled against Ireland, but Rudy Paige didn’t get much opportunity as the back-up.

But with New Zealand’s absolute dominance in Super Rugby this year, as well as their 3-0 series win over Wales in June, Coetzee knows that the Boks need a few more tricks up their sleeves if they are to topple the world champions.

“Lots of other international sides understand that they have to match South Africa’s physicality and we’ve got to a bit smarter and more accurate now. I believe in a balanced style of play. There are different kinds of pressure you can apply to the opposition and that can be with ball-in-hand, at the set-piece, with your contact skills,” he said.

“People enjoy watching us score tries and we understand that we have got to widen our game. South Africa maybe used to be a bit narrow at times, and the Lions and the Stormers have shown what can be done and the opportunities that are there if you attack with width and put more effort into playing on the edges.

“You can only do that with the right personnel, and it won’t happen in year one or year two, but we want to make it happen. We don’t want to go all-out attack and neglect our forward style, our dominance at set-piece and the maul, but we want to be more effective.”

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@ashfakmohamed - Independent Media