Viljoen's 'shocks' make more sense

The best thing that can be said about Harry Viljoen's latest Springbok squad is that at least this time there is some clarity over why the selections have been made.

While the selections have in many reports been described as "surprising" and "shocks", Viljoen warned critics beforehand that there would be some unexpected selections. He also made it clear that for this tour he would be adopting a horses for courses policy.

In other words the northern hemisphere conditions would dictate that big, strong forwards like AJ Venter would be more in demand than someone like Albert van den Berg, who would still be in the Springbok squad were the immediate objective the Tri-Nations competition in southern hemisphere conditions.

Hence also the selection of the strongly built Falcons scrumhalf Deon de Kock and the inclusion of Braam van Straaten and Louis Koen ahead of players who might have offered the Boks greater creativity in the flyhalf channel.

Someone like Western Province's Chris Rossouw, who was excellent in the big win over Free State in the Newlands semi-final, may well be the man for future. Indeed, Viljoen said as much when he described Rossouw and Neil de Kock, who pair up now for the South African A side, as the Springbok halfback pairing of the future.

But right now it would be a gamble to take Rossouw on another tour of the northern hemisphere, where last year he battled with the conditions. Questions were also posed over his ability to retain his fluid style against strong tackling opposition when he failed quite miserably in the recent Currie Cup match against Natal.

Rossouw will get a chance to prove he has the big match temperament when he wears the WP No10 jersey in Saturday's final. For now though he may be better off in the A side, where he can pick up invaluable experience of overseas conditions without the pressure which comes with test rugby.

There is another reason why Viljoen went for Van Straaten and Koen. He would have pleased many with his belated selection of Trevor Halstead as his inside centre. It was not a second before time.

But Viljoen is right to recognise the folly of picking too many inexperienced players next to each other in the starting lineup. Halstead will be playing his first test on tour and it will be helpful to him to have an experienced player like Van Straaten alongside him as opposed to a newcomer who might be as jittery as he is.

Viljoen has made it clear that his objective is to win the test matches against France and England. So while the development aspect is still present, he has prioritised a win at all costs approach over any romantic notion that somehow a defeat might be okay if the Boks go down playing the style of rugby he wants to see them adopt at the next World Cup.

Hence again the selection of Van Straaten. I must however declare here my unease over this selection - I was at Twickenham when Van Straaten played flyhalf against England last year and the post-match press conference where Viljoen admitted that it was the wrong selection seems like yesterday.

At the same time though it has to be accepted that with the exception of the now injured and suspended Butch James in the Super 12 there have been few young flyhalves putting up their hands for inclusion. At least there claims cannot be properly considered if winning is the primary objective.

It does make sense to introduce these guys into a more settled team, which hopefully the Boks will be when next year arrives.

No prizes for guessing that my biggest objection to the new squad is the omission of both Corne Krige and Rassie Erasmus. I thought that pair were by far the best loose-forwards on the field during the Newlands semi-final. Krige's fetching abilities are without peer in South Africa while he is also one of the more influential and experienced players about.

I hope his omission, like that of Erasmus earlier this year, has not in part been influenced by his standing as a strong personality. But even here Viljoen has come up with a feasible explanation. As you can read elsewhere on this website, the Boks learned from the big defeat the Wallabies suffered at the hands of the British Lions in the opening test of their recent series that a fetcher type flanker may be obsolete when up against a strong mauling side like England or the Lions.

It is the Bok management's contention that George Smith only came back into his own in that series when the Lions, they believe wrongly, recalled Neil Back. It is Viljoen's theory that he may be better off with bigger and stronger loose- forwards that can help his team get the "go-forward" he is looking for.

Hence the selection of Danie Rossouw, who is both big and skilled, and the snubbing of Erasmus, who earlier this year was told to gain some weight and muscle if he wants to play for the Boks again.

To my mind this whole theory is debatable. Erasmus is no bigger than he used to be yet he was still in a league of his own playing for a losing side at Newlands. Viljoen's thoughts on the issue may well be shown to be wrong during the course of the tour.

But it has to be tested sometime and what better time than the present. Viljoen has shown that he is not afraid to recall players that he has dropped and it may well be that both Krige and Erasmus will be pivotal loose-forwards again come next year.

If you are looking for apparent contradictions in Viljoen's approach to selection you may well find several. Since May, when the first squad was selected, he has made several adjustments. But then it would be a poor coach who refuses to go with his gut feel just because the move would not be in keeping with his thoughts of several months ago.

Coaching at top level is an ongoing learning process. Even the most successful coaches have to adjust and change their winning recipes to fit in with changing laws or new innovations on an ongoing basis.

At least we know that Viljoen is taking his team to Europe with the specific objective of winning the tests. To me that is a significant step forward from the uncertainty and confusion that hung in the air back in June.