Heyneke Meyer has a growing concern over South Africa’s lock position and the coach admits he would be in trouble if he had to select a team to play right now.
With the World Cup a little over four months away, the Springboks suddenly have problems in a position where they have enjoyed so much depth down the years. The latest setback came on Monday when it was confirmed Flip van der Merwe, a certainty for the World Cup squad if fit, had made himself unavailable for international rugby this year for undisclosed reasons.
“Flip is not available for international rugby at the moment,” Meyer said. “It is a big setback as I’ve always rated him and he is an enforcer. You need an enforcer for international rugby and he can play at [number] five as well. He would be in this squad but unfortunately he isn’t available.”
The retirement of Bakkies Botha, Andries Bekker’s move to Japan two years ago and injuries has left Meyer sweating over his options in the second row. “Eben [Etzebeth] is recovering from injury, Pieter-Steph [du Toit] is injured and Victor [Matfield] has been out with a knee injury, so if there is one position I’m worried about, that is it,” he said. “There are one or two loose-forwards that can play lock but you need specialists there. Lood [de Jager] is also injured, so if I had to pick a side today we’d be in trouble with locks.“
Meyer admitted his other area of concern was at centre, with the captain Jean de Villiers progressing well in his recovery from a major knee injury but still touch-and-go for the World Cup.
The World Cup begins on 18 September. South Africa are in Pool B, alongside Japan, Samoa, Scotland and the USA.