Time for Aplon, De Jongh to show their skill By Ashfak Mohamad Willie le Roux and JJ Engelbrecht appear to have secured Springbok starting berths at fullback and outside centre, but what about Gio Aplon and Juan de Jongh? As I mentioned after the first Test of 2013 against Italy three weeks ago, it was great to see how Le Roux in particular was allowed to play his natural game by Heyneke Meyer as the Boks adopted a positive approach instead of looking to just minimise mistakes. Le Roux was once again the spark on attack for the Boks in the romp over Samoa and for the Cheetahs in Super Rugby this year. While it was refreshing to see the former Bolander (who couldn’t make the Stormers squad while in the Cape for a number of years) take his chance, I feel that Aplon has not been granted the same opportunities to shine in the national team over the last two years. It doesn’t help that despite fullback being his preferred position, he is continually picked at wing for the Stormers by coach Allister Coetzee. Aplon possesses all the skills to be as devastating as Le Roux has been. I have no qualms with Le Roux getting a chance first as he has been in outstanding form for the Cheetahs this year, but Meyer may have missed a trick by not giving Aplon a single minute of gametime at No 15 – he wasn’t even on the bench for one of the Tests. It is no wonder that there have been rumours of Aplon moving overseas soon, although he is contracted to the Stormers until the end of next season. He is significantly more experienced than Le Roux in first-class rugby, and it would’ve served the Boks well to have another Le Roux-type player around in Aplon, who has also played against the likes of New Zealand, Australia and France. While Zane Kirchner is a solid defensive option, employing an attacking fullback like Le Roux and Aplon should be the way forward for the Springboks. Kirchner should not come back into the reckoning if Le Roux picks up an injury, as the Boks’ attacking game will suffer as a result. There is no going back! Engelbrecht was a superb runner as he played off Jean de Villiers and Le Roux, while his normally questionable defence stood strong at Loftus Versfeld. He improved his game over the three Tests against Italy, Scotland and Samoa, although he didn’t make much impact for the Bulls in Super Rugby this year. But I would still be nervous to see him line up against an All Black or Wallaby backline in the Rugby Championship later this year. He is quick and strong, but he won’t be able to easily break through tackles in the Championship as he did against the flimsy Samoan defence. De Jongh has had an up-and-down season in Super Rugby, but his team has been struggling at the same time. De Jongh still possesses all the attacking skills to be deadly at Test level, and is a renowned defender who takes down much bigger men by the ankles. Jan Serfontein is a highly rated player who has shown great promise and can become a star in the future, but what has he done to warrant a place on the Bok bench in all three Tests? And the same could be said about Bjorn Basson, who has been injured for most of the year and has barely played Super Rugby. Yes, Serfontein is an inside centre, but De Jongh is able to play in both midfield positions. The Stormers duo are significantly smaller than Le Roux and Engelbrecht, according to statistics on the SA Rugby website. Aplon is 1.75m and 80kg compared to Le Roux’s 1.86m and 90kg, with De Jongh at 1.77m and 84kg and Engelbrecht at 1.90m and 94kg. Perhaps Aplon and De Jongh can remind the Bok coach that size is not everything in the last three Stormers Super Rugby games, especially as they will come up against Le Roux and Engelbrecht when facing the Cheetahs (this Saturday) and the Bulls (July 13). TWEET OF THE WEEK @chadleclos (Olympic swimming champion): so happy i got to watch the BOKS play yesterday live, great job boys and to Bryan Habana for 50 test trys, amazing stuff! @BryanHabana #BOKS WHO TO FOLLOW @flipvandermerwe: The big man followed up his last Bok start against the All Blacks in Dunedin last year, where he was very good, with an even better performance against Samoa. Follow Ashfak Mohamed on Twitter: @ashfakmohamed Send us your views – [email protected] - Cape Times
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 15:12:54 +0000
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