Jake White is still baffled at the exclusion of prop Trevor Nyakane and hooker Malcolm Marx from the Springbok run-on XV in the defeat by the All Blacks on Saturday.
Nyakane and Marx helped the Boks dominate New Zealand in Nelspruit in the Rugby Championship opener, but were relegated to the bench for the rematch at Ellis Park.
Speaking to Sport24, Bulls director of rugby White believes the decision to start Joseph Dweba and Ox Nche in Johannesburg played right into the hands of the Kiwis, who punished the world champions in a 35-23 victory.
“The changes they made helped the All Blacks. They started with Ox and Joseph, whereas they should have started with Trevor Nyakane and Malcolm,” White said.
“Without them, it allowed them to get their ball. Even when they made mistakes, they still put the All Blacks under pressure at scrum time.
“We didn’t get as many scrum penalties as compared to the first Test and I don’t understand why Marx didn’t start.
“I didn’t understand the logic of him being on the bench, especially with a change at hooker and prop, but once Bongi [Mbonambi] was ruled out he had to start.
“We weren’t the same scrum threat to the All Blacks that we were in the first Test.”
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Mbonambi is sidelined for the Rugby Championship clashes with the Wallabies in Adelaide (27 August) and Sydney (3 September), so Deon Fourie will serve as backup to Marx and Dweba.
White, though, claims Fourie is unlikely to feature much in the front row, with Marx playing the lion’s share of minutes for the immediate future.
“You saw on Saturday how big a loss Bongi was,” the former Bok coach said. “I guess what will happen is that a guy like Malcolm will have to play a lot more rugby and I don’t know why he doesn’t start every weekend.
“Every time he plays, he makes an impact and, until Bongi is ready, Marx will have to play even more, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
White added: “If you read between the lines, what they’re doing with Deon is the same thing they did with Schalk Brits.
“They’re repeating something that worked for them in the World Cup because Schalk filled in at flank in one of the World Cup games and Deon fits into that role. He may end up playing flank as per how he’s listed.”
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Photo: Ian Jacobs/MB Media/Getty Images
