The importance of the currently-injured Handre Pollard to the Springbok World Cup effort later this year was underlined by coach Jacques Nienaber’s response this week to questions about who would assume the place-kicking duties against the All Blacks.
Manie Libbok, a recognised frontline goalkicker who topped the Vodacom United Rugby Championship point-scoring lists two years in a row when wearing the No 10 of the DHL Stormers, revelled in the responsibility of getting his first start for his country against Australia last week. He was short with a monstrous effort early in the game but generally looked after the responsibility of being frontline goalkicker very well.
But Libbok won’t be starting against the All Blacks in the second Castle Lager Rugby Championship test at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday. He will be in the matchday squad, but will play off the bench as Damian Willemse, who wore the No 10 on the last end-of-year tour and also in some of the key games in last year’s Championship, resumes as the starting flyhalf.
That, of course, is in the continued absence of Pollard, who is being managed through an ankle injury and won’t play in the Championship. It is anticipated that Pollard will be back for some of the warmup games before the start of the World Cup in France in September, and the communal way the place-kicking duties are being approached shows how important it will be that he is ready.
GOALKICKER VITAL TO WORLD CUP SUCCESS
It is hard to remember a World Cup-winning team that did not have a recognised and accomplished regular first-choice goalkicker and while the trio of players being relied on at Mount Smart - Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe and Faf de Klerk - all got it right in later games of the last November tour, it was effectively the erratic kicking that cost the Boks their opening game against the world No 1 team, Ireland.
“I will take you back to the end-of-year tour and what we did then,” said Nienaber when asked in an online press conference about who would take the kicking responsibilities.
“Cheslin is kicking (in training) and can kick for poles, as he did on the end-of-year tour. Damian is kicking for poles, as he did on tour and Faf is kicking for poles, like he did on tour.
“So we have a couple of options. Between them, they will make a decision. We are measuring their training and kicks at poles. I don’t know anything about kicking myself but between those guys and assistant coach Mzwandile Stick there will be a good discussion over who will start in terms of kicking for poles.”
The trio did well with their place-kicking after the Ireland game last November, particularly in the narrow defeat to France in Marseilles where some key pressure kicks were landed. However, the lack of an identifiable kicker with an acknowledged history of consistently carrying the pressure and responsibility of being the go-to kicker in the team is the one potential weakness of a Bok team that has a lot going for it heading into Saturday’s game against the reigning Rugby Championship titleholders.
At a World Cup, where the bragging rights for four years are on the line in the clutch games, it becomes even more important to have a recognised kicker who is experienced in shouldering massive responsibilities.
POLLARD EXPECTED TO RETURN
Fortunately, the word from the Bok camp is that Pollard’s absence is mainly a precautionary measure at this stage, even though Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus did say it was a concern. This means that, like the opportunities being presented to Libbok and Willemse at flyhalf, what happens now is important for the Boks in terms of building up the experience that can be resorted to in an emergency if it is required when the knock-out phase of the RWC arrives in the second half of October.
It goes without saying though, that with winning the Championship being an immediate initial imperative for the Boks as they look to build momentum for the World Cup, they and their fans will be hoping that what the kickers produce at Mount Smart is closer to what they did in Marseille than in Dublin on the last end of year tour.
Games between the Boks and the All Blacks tend to be close, and kicking from the tee is often the difference between winning and losing.