Springbok opportunity knocks for lock giant
· The South African
With the start of the Springbok season now less than three months away, Rassie Erasmus and his coaching staff will be giving careful consideration to which players they will want to include for the first Test training squads.
Visit amunra-online.pl for more information.
One area where there will be growing concern is at lock, with Lood de Jager and RG Snyman currently facing lengthy absences due to serious injuries.
It’s one position where Erasmus said the Springboks were lacking some depth even before these latest injuries, and one newcomer he mentioned at that time was Northampton Saints lock JJ van der Mescht.
Springbok opportunity on the horizon?
The giant 26-year-old, who weighs in around 140kg, was recently included in a virtual Springbok alignment camp and it would be no surprise to see him join the team for their next in-person training squad.
“I don’t need to dwell on whether I’m ready or not. Rassie is a very smart man and a great coach. He will know when I’m ready,” Van der Mescht told Off The Pitch Rugby.
“I always worried and thought, ‘I need to do something special to get into the Springbok team,’” he said. “But lately I’ve just been focusing on what I’m doing, getting through my processes, playing rugby and enjoying it.”
Previously, Erasmus acknowledged that Van der Mescht was consistently impressing for the Northampton Saints in England, but the Bok boss also admitted time was limited to “get him into the Bok culture” before the 2027 World Cup.
“Every player we bring in, we have to get him to understand how the system works,” Erasmus commented.
“JJ [van der Mescht] is a monster of a guy, but will we have enough time with him and will he understand our culture? Do we really need him?”
Change in thinking
With the injuries the Springboks have suffered, it does seem as if the national team will now need to look at a newcomer like Van der Mescht, but he is staying grounded.
“I’m not really thinking about the World Cup,” he said. “It’s something I don’t want to dwell on because it can take my mind away from how I’m playing now.
“Don’t get me wrong, I would love to play for the Springboks and I’d take the opportunity with both hands. But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world.”