Springbok trials definitely served their purpose

Far from being the waste of time many had said they would be, the Springbok trials held in Pretoria on Sunday served a useful purpose and proved a master-stroke for the selectors.

Whereas in previous seasons the national selectors have had to use Super 12 performances as their sole yard-stick, this year they have given themselves an important opportunity to see what certain players would do outside of their usual regional or provincial combinations.

Conrad Jantjes immediately springs to mind as a player who benefitted from this policy. Playing for the Cats during the Super 12, we saw very little of the incumbent Springbok fullback and until Percy Montgomery announced his intention to go overseas, the blond Stormers player was considered a shoo-in for his old No15 jersey.

But whereas for the Cats Jantjes tended to confine himself to a defensive role and seldom came into the line, the trial afforded himself the chance to show what he could do if asked to play a different game.

With two excellent centres in his "White team" rather than the donkeys he was used to working with at Super 12 level, Jantjes suddenly looked like the player who excelled in his debut test start against Australia last August.

The most important feature about his performance was his confidence when running onto the ball from the back and the precision with which he joined the line and put his fellow players away.

For the first time in a long time we saw him use that pace of his to good effect. While Ricardo Loubscher, his opposite number in the "Blue team", also played well, for my money Jantjes should remain in the test team, which was not my view before the trial.

Another player who took advantage of his chance to play in a different combination was Friedrich Lombard. The pacy Free Stater enjoyed only limited opportunities to impress for the Cats in the recent Super 12 and was lost to injury at a relatively early stage of the competition.

But playing outside the Stormers centres De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert, Lombard showed what he could do and he joined Jantjes in tormenting the "Blues" out wide. He looks every bit the classic wing and in addition to the ball skills which he showed off to good effect he also possesses a pretty ferocious tackle.

As expected, Andre Pretorius revelled at flyhalf in the quicker possession that he was given by Bolla Conradie's deft passing game and must have made sure of his place.

It is a pity that in trials matches tackling often comes a poor second to other aspects of the game, so it would be wrong to suggest that either Conradie or Pretorius proved anything conclusively just on the trials.

What it did do though was to give them a much needed opportunity to play together before their expected appearance in the first test against Wales in Bloemfontein on June 8.

Breyton Paulse, who only returned to Super 12 towards the end and finished tryless, also took the chance to regain his confidence as he put in a few devastating runs in the Blues team and regained his try scoring prowess.

Perhaps the most useful thing from the point of view of Straeuli and the selectors, however, was getting the chance to see Ollie le Roux play almost an hour in top company as a hooker.

Le Roux did not do at all badly and it would not be surprising if he ended up in the test team in that position. Previously his potential as a hooker has been spoken about by various Springbok coaches but as they had not see him play there, they lacked the guts to start with him.

If Le Roux does play hooker in Bloemfontein, that alone would have been worth the fuss of setting up this game.

There were other stand-out points, such as the effect Brent Russell had on the game when he came on at flyhalf for the Whites. Considered too small by many coaches and critics, the Sevens Springbok has at least shown us who he is.

Although the game had become a bit of a joke towards the end as fatigue (the game was played longer than a normal rugby match) took toll on defences, it was good to see Russell getting a chance that he was denied by his regional coach in the Super 12. He may be small, but there can be no denying his extraordinary talent.

Clyde Rathbone, who has just made a few appearance in the Sharks team this winter, also looked the part when he was on the field.On the big Bob Skinstad question? The incumbent captain saw out the entire 90-odd minutes, which ought to have been what the trial was all about for him. He may not retain his captaincy as he is no longer a certainty, but by seeing out the entire game he proved his fitness and should be in the 22 that Straeuli reads out on Boots and All on Tuesday night.