News
Boks told to get game time
August 04 2008
Peter de Villiers' motivation for releasing some of his World Cup winners from the squad to play Argentina was simply to ensure they got some game-time, he said on Monday.
Frans Steyn, Gurthro Steenkamp and Ruan Pienaar were all left out of the squad for the Johannesburg Test this Saturday, along with wing Odwa Ndungane, and two others will be cut some time this week.
The cuts raised some eyebrows, with no recognisable cover for Butch James beyond Percy Montgomery, but the bigger picture concerns the need for match practice ahead of the New Zealand match in Cape Town on August 16, according to De Villiers, who also mentioned that the position the players played would be a hint in the direction of his thinking for their immediate Bok futures.
"If something happens to Butch James then I can't bring in a guy who has not been playing," De Villiers said at a press conference.
"The players all need to keep sharp and it's best if I allow the guys to play, not standing around holding kit bags.
"Because we have good relations with the provinces, we can ask them to play these guys in certain positions.
"Ruan Pienaar has not played a lot at fly-half and I had a long chat with John Plumtree (Pienaar and Steyn's coach at the Sharks) and he knows why the players are there."
De Villiers confessed that Montgomery was in line for a back-up role at ten if needed, but hinted that Pienaar may be the ace up his sleeve for that role in Cape Town in a pivotal Tri-nations match.
"We also have to get the composition of the whole team right," he said.
"Percy Montgomery will never start a game at fly-half while I am coach but if there's an emergency during the game then we can call on him and he will do a good job there.
"With any selection, the landscape can change. If I decide I want a second fly-half on the bench then I can call Ruan Pienaar back immediately."
"We announced a 30-man squad for the Tri-Nations home leg and the other four players are still on hand and can come back anytime."