Springbok shooting star Boan Venter was not brought into the camp to stop him from becoming eligible for Scotland, but rather because he is one player that the Boks rate as the next big thing.
The Edinburgh loosehead prop was a surprise call-up to the national squad this past weekend and will join the team this week, but according to coach Rassie Erasmus, the notion that he was picked to stop him from being eligible for Scotland is ludicrous.
Instead the spate of injuries among loosehead props was what swung his selection for the Bok management.
The Boks are sitting with injuries to Gerhard Steenekamp and Ntuthuko Mchunu, both of whom are in the squad, leaving Ox Nche as the only first-choice loosehead prop in the side.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who has played loosehead for the Bulls this season, doubles as a hooker as well and is the other player who is being considered on that side of the scrum.
While Thomas du Toit has played test rugby at loosehead and can play both sides of the scrum, the Boks don’t have that much depth at the moment with injuries and scrum coach Daan Human has recommended Venter as the next best thing for the national side.
Erasmus said that the fact that Venter had been in Edinburgh for a while now and has spoken about possibly qualifying for Scotland had never entered the conversation when they decided to look at him.
“We didn’t select him to block him from playing for Scotland,” Erasmus said when asked about it on Wednesday.
NEXT IN LINE
Venter has been in Scotland for four years now, and would be eligible for the nation next year alongside former Bulls and current Scotland prop Pierre Schoeman.
“That didn’t have an influence. It is nicer for us to see guys like Duhan (van der Merwe) play for Scotland, because he probably would not have gotten a chance by us. So, why would you choose a guy to block him?”
Erasmus said the injuries had played a massive part and Venter was the next in line.
“We really went and looked at who was the next loosehead in line, and he was on our radar,” he explained.
“We lost Kitsie (Steven Kitshoff), he finished, and we thought he would go on for a bit longer. Gerhard is a bit of an unknown, but with Ox, they were our top three looseheads. Yes, Thomas can play loosehead, but he plays tighthead.
“Jan-Hendrik is also not the most experienced, so we only have Ox. So, we had to bring in cover. We have taken some big chances on players in the past, but we are reasonably sure he will make it from what we have seen from him.”
Venter and Du Toit are the only players not currently with the Bok squad, with the rest of the team “well on track” for the Barbarians game in Cape Town next week.
ON THE SAME PAGE
“We are well on track with our preparations for the Barbarians game,” said Erasmus.
“Some of the players are making a strong return from injury, and we’ve now had time for the players to settle back into our setup from their franchises and clubs.
“Some of the players had fitness tests yesterday (on Tuesday) and have been involved in team meetings and been exposed to the way we want to do things on the field after the two alignment camps earlier in the year, so we are confident we’ll all be back on the same page on Thursday.”
Erasmus said the trick was to get everyone on the same page again.
“It was a bit of a challenge when the Bulls guys and Handre Pollard came in (to camp) on Monday night. We had to change the programme a little bit with some coaches having to sit with them and catch up on what they had missed,” he said.
The Boks are set to train on Thursday and will most likely give players off for the weekend before getting together next week to start preparations for the Barbarians.