Skipper Luke makes a strong case

It would have been interesting to see how far the Western Province team that beat the Blue Bulls at the weekend would have got in that game had Jake White been coaching them.

The Springbok coach is not being allowed to forget his comment that there is no such thing as a fetcher in rugby. If it is not us rugby writers and commentators who keep reminding him, there have been some pretty telling arguments forwarded by the players themselves in recent months.

Former Bok coach Nick Mallett, in an interview I did with him a couple of weeks ago, told me that it might just be possible to get away without a specialist flanker whose job it is to play to the ball when playing in the conditions that are the norm in this country. Because it is so dry and the fields are so firm, this is a land that tends to breed ball carriers rather than the fetching type of flank that has long been common in New Zealand.

However, Mallett also said that it becomes tricky when opposition teams make things “a bit messy for you at forward”, in other words when they don’t get complete dominance.

He said it was his view that this is where the Bulls fall down against teams like the Brumbies and Crusaders (the Bulls lost once to the Brumbies in the past season and twice to the Crusaders).

Both those sides have excellent ball fetchers, and Richie McCaw is a match-winner with his ability to turn over ball at the breakdowns.

As the defences are often not ready for a turn-over off the breakdown (the more structured your game the more unready a defence can be as everything falls out of pattern if something doesn’t go according to plan – in other words if a player that should be in a certain position is dragged into a ruck or goes down injured), this can be a more valuable turn-over source than a poached lineout ball.

In the recent Super 14 semifinal, McCaw managed a couple of turn-overs at loose-scrums which enabled the Crusaders to punish the Bulls. Indeed, if you look at where the Crusaders try-scoring movements start, it is often from this type of turn-over ball.

What this means is that you can have a side that is going backwards but is still able to play just by weight of turn-over balls effected from the loose-scrums.

This point appeared to be vindicated again when WP beat the Blue Bulls the other day.

Luke Watson is consistently ignored by White, who does not believe he needs this sort of player, but he played a massive part in the WP victory.

So did Justin Melck, and now that WP have a big ball-carrying No 8 in the form of Robbie Diack there, the current Province loose-trio could develop into one to be feared in this Currie Cup season, if they aren’t already.

White has taken a lot of flak over the exclusion of Watson, particularly down in the Cape.

His decision to leave him out of the starting squad might be understandable given his views on the roles of his back-row players, but it is sad that White could not at least find a place in the Bok squad for the former Eastern Province schoolboy.

At least then he would be there if needed, and White could take a closer look at a player who undeniably has special qualities.

But seeing White has ignored him again, WP should be thankful. Watson’s captaincy has been inspirational thus far in the season, and his charismatic leadership has posed questions over why the Stormers did not take a closer look at this option during the Super 14 season.

It is early days, but so far WP have been thriving on his omission from the national squad.