South Africa's Cheslin Kolbe keeps the ball in play during the Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Scotland at the Stade de Marseille in Marseille, France, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Faf de Klerk is a scrumhalf but will be the reserve flyhalf for South Africa’s Rugby World Cup game against Romania.
Grant Williams is also a scrumhalf but will start the match as a wing.
And then there are the two actual scrumhalves in the team for Sunday in starting No. 9 Cobus Reinach and Jaden Hendrikse on the bench.
The defending champion Springboks pushed rugby’s boundaries with a left-field team selection to play the underdog Romanians in Bordeaux that kept alive their tradition of challenging tradition under the coaching duo of Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus.
For all their invention over the last five years – and there has been quite a bit – playing all four scrumhalves in their squad in the same game seemed unlikely. Four scrumhalves in the squad even seemed too many. Yet here we are.
“From the start, people were wondering why we were taking four scrumhalves (to the Rugby World Cup),” head coach Nienaber said. “But if you look at the versatility within that, that’s what we saw.”
While the Springboks have been accused of maybe disrespecting Romania a little with the selection for their second Pool B game, there is a bigger plan behind it.
Williams’ versatility and inclusion in a position he last played regularly in at school means the Boks can rest front-line wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse. They will be needed when South Africa faces top-ranked Ireland after Romania in a big test of its ability to retain the Rugby World Cup.
De Klerk has played flyhalf briefly at club level and his versatility to slip in there as backup to Damian Willemse against Romania means starting No. 10 Manie Libbok gets to put his feet up all weekend ahead of Ireland.
“It’s not a risk for us. It is well calculated,” Nienaber said. “We are comfortable with what we saw in training. We believe that the guys are good enough in those positions to beat the opposition.”
The scrumhalf rush might be seen as the latest piece of innovation from Nienaber and Erasmus, the Springboks director of rugby.
In last weekend’s Rugby World Cup win over Scotland, Erasmus used a series of colored lights in the coaching box to seemingly send messages to players and coaching staff on the sidelines. In a game against New Zealand last month, South Africa went with an unprecedented seven forwards and just one back on the bench.
In the series against the British and Irish Lions in 2021, Erasmus reinvented himself as a water carrier for games, passing messages to players in breaks and ultimately prompting governing body World Rugby to change its rules regarding coaches appearing on the field in other roles.
Perhaps their most lasting legacy has been the six forwards, two backs split on the bench which was frowned upon when the Springboks used it to batter their way to Rugby World Cup triumph four years ago.
The 6-2 split has become a regular option for other teams.
Romania will start with a – guess what? – 6-2 split against South Africa on Sunday.
“We expect a very physical game in the pack and we don’t want to take any risks, so we have six forwards on the bench,” Romania coach Eugen Apjok said.
And what a week it will be for the Romanians, having opened their Rugby World Cup against No. 1 Ireland (Romania lost 82-8), followed by a meeting with the defending champion.
Prop Alexandru Gordas is looking forward to a good battle in the scrum, he said, no matter what South Africa’s four scrumhalves do.
“We are here to show our strength in the scrum, too,” Gordas said. “It is a great opportunity for us because we have a lot of young players in the scrum and we want to take this opportunity and show we are also strong like we have been in the past. We want to keep going.”
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Lineups:
South Africa: Willie le Roux, Grant Williams, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach; Duane Vermeulen, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden, Marvin Orie, Jean Kleyn, Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi (captain), Ox Nche. Reserves: Deon Fourie, Steven Kitshoff, Trevor Nyakane, RG Snyman, Jasper Wiese, Jaden Hendrikse, Faf de Klerk, Jesse Kriel.
Romania: Marius Simionescu, Tevita Manumua, Jason Tomane, Taylor Gontineac, Nicholas Onutu, Hinckley Vaovasa, Gabriel Rupanu; Cristian Chirica (captain), Vlad Neculau, Andre Gorin, Marius Iftimiciuc, Adrian Motoc, Alexandru Gordas, Ovidiu Cojocaru, Iulian Hartig. Reserves: Robert Irimescu, Alexandru Savin, Thomas Cretu, Stefan Iancu, Damian Stratila, Cristi Boboc, Alin Conache, Gabriel Pop.
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AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
