Jacques Nienaber has refused to be drawn to comment on the reasons why Marcell Coetzee and Warrick Gelant have not been involved in the Springbok camps to prepare for the upcoming Test series against Wales. DYLAN JACK reports.
A 17-man squad assembled in Pretoria on Monday as the world champions began their preparations in earnest for the home series against Wales in July.
The squad was built from those available for national duty, namely Sharks players after the Durban side fell out of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship playoffs, and Japan-based players.
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However, two notable names not even invited to the prior alignment camps are Vodacom Bulls captain Coetzee and Stormers fullback Gelant.
Both players have starred for their respective clubs and are, understandably, not involved with the Springboks this week as both the Bulls and Stormers are in the URC semi-finals this weekend.
However, there is still a question over whether either is in the Bok coaches’ long-term plans, despite their excellent form in the URC.
Speaking during an online media conference from Pretoria on Wednesday, Nienaber was asked why neither Coetzee nor Gelant appear to be in the Boks’ plans for the upcoming series.
“We are not going to speculate on the squad. That’s why we haven’t announced the squad,” Nienaber answered. “They are currently playing for their franchises. To speculate now on players and who’s in and who’s out … that’s the whole reason we delayed the announcement, so that they can focus solely on preparing for Leinster and Ulster this weekend.
“They must perform,” Nienaber added. “I am not going to speculate on players who are not in the squad.”
The little Nienaber did reveal is that the Springboks will be drawing on more of a blend of youth and experience from the local franchises.
There are currently two uncapped players in the group – Sharks duo Grant Williams and Ntuthuko Mchunu – while captain Siya Kolisi and vice-captain Lukhanyo Am are also training with the squad.
“If you look at the moment that Sharks fell out, we pulled the Sharks players in and announced the 10 guys that joined us. If you look at the guys who joined us, there is a good blend between experienced players – like Siya and Lukhanyo – and youngsters in Grant, Ntuthuko and Aphelele [Fassi].
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“There is good experience on the one side, but then also a good number of young players. It would be the same moving forward with the other teams when they fall out.”
Nienaber said that players from both home and abroad will be joining the squad as their clubs fall out of their respective playoffs.
“We have a good idea of what the squad is going to look like, a very good idea. There will be around 42 players in our squad, as every team falls out. But then we will have to look at injuries, when players have been able to join us, which players we have had lots of time with, if we’ve had two or three weeks of coaching time with a player or just one week.
“So, there are plenty of things that will influence what the squad is going to be for the series against Wales. I have not finalised the Test team yet, because there are still lots of injuries and it depends on how much time we have to work with the players, but we know there will be around 42 players in the squad.”
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Photo: Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images
