Blue Bulls fullback Zane Kirchner and Lions scrumhalf Jano Vermaak are the men who can make the biggest point in their favour when the Emerging Springboks face the British and Irish Lions at Newlands on Tuesday night.
The Emerging Bok squad was named three weeks ago but the starting team was only named on Monday morning, two days after the first test in the series which showed that neither Kirchner nor Vermaak would be out of place in the Bok squad.
When Kirchner and Stefan Terblanche were omitted from the initial Bok squad it was argued by the Bok management that they did not fit the fullback proto-type that was needed. JP Pietersen was mooted as the probable fullback, chosen out of position from wing to suit a policy of all-out attack.
That selection never happened, possibly because of a consensus within the squad that Frans Steyn's prodigious field kicking boot would better suit the game the Boks wanted to play -- which judging from this past weekend was a percentage orientated territory game.
But there were some who wondered while watching the Boks in the first half why the management, if they were going to put so much emphasis on the boot, just never went with either of the two specialist fullbacks if all they were going to require from the No 15 was that he kick the ball back.
Steyn has massive advantages as a fullback, and the length of his field kicking certainly helped the Boks on occasions at Absa Stadium. However, it was risky playing him out of position, and he did not always look comfortable. The Emerging Bok game is the best stage outside of the Super 14 final on which Kirchner can show that he is worthy of international consideration.
Ditto for Vermaak, who must have looked on quite incredulously at the weekend as the man selected into the Bok squad ahead of him, Stormers scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, just made one mistake after the other after coming onto the field as a rather ill-advised replacement for Fourie du Preez.
If Bok coach Peter de Villiers was right when he said he wanted fresh legs and an injection of pace, then Vermaak was the scrumhalf to give it to him -- not Januarie, who has been out of form for the Stormers and has looked slow and ponderous the entire year.
The side, to be captained by Dewaldt Potgieter, the unsung hero of the recent Bulls success in the Super 14, includes Earl Rose at flyhalf. Rose was one of De Villiers's more controversial selections into the Bok squad, so there will be a lot of pressure on him to put his recent inconsistencies behind him and produce when it really matters for him to do so.
Some might wonder why Potgieter, who wore the No 7 jersey for the Bulls, is now being slotted into the No 6 normally worn by the openside flank in this country, but the truth is that both Potgieter and the blindside flank in this game, Jean Deysel, are looked on by the Bok coaches as potential ball winners on the ground.
Emerging Bok team: Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Luzuko Vulindlu (Sharks), Deon van Rensburg (Platinum Leopards), Morgan Newman (Vodacom Western Province), Bjorn Basson (GWK Griquas), Earl Rose (Xerox Lions), Jano Vermaak (Xerox Lions), Duane Vermeulen (Vodacom Western Province), Jean Deysel (Sharks), Dewald Potgieter (Vodacom Blue Bulls – captain), Wilhelm Steenkamp (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Steven Sykes (Sharks), Werner Kruger (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Bandise Maku (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Wian du Preez (Vodacom Cheetahs).
Replacements: Tiaan Liebenberg (Vodacom Western Province), Pat Cilliers (Sharks), Franco van der Merwe (Xerox Lions), Jacques Botes (Sharks), Heini Adams (Vodacom Blue Bulls), Willem de Waal (Vodacom Western Province), Danwel Demas (Vodacom Cheetahs)[/b]
