Durban — Cheslin Kolbe at fullback could be the bolter in the Bok team to play Ireland on Saturday as the Bok bosses look to balance winning on the November tour with exploring exciting options.
Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have had to do without Kolbe’s brilliance for much of this year because of injury and in his absence, fresh blood has come through in the form of Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie and while they will fall in behind Kolbe in the wing pecking order, there is a case for Kolbe’s talents to be deployed at fullback, a position where the Boks don’t have that much depth, especially with Damian Willemse now at flyhalf for this tour.
Erasmus knows what he has in Willie le Roux and the veteran has shown this year that he can make a great impact off the bench as a utility back and he probably offers more than the other utility back Bomb Squader, the declining Frans Steyn.
While Makazole Mapimpi is entrenched in the No 11 jersey, the options at No 14 are both exciting and undecided and let's not forget that Sbu Nkosi is staging a comeback after a difficult year.
I say undecided because Erasmus himself has said that Kolbe at 15 could ignite the Boks’ attacking play to another level.
He is one of the game’s most attacking players so why restrict him on the wing when he can have so many more opportunities at the back?
“Cheslin at fullback, that’s an exciting option,” Erasmus said. “We are going to have to filter our squad down to 33 for the World Cup and you want players who are versatile. There will be some difficult calls ...
“And right now we play the No 1 (Ireland) and No 2 (France) in the world and while I know you shouldn’t take chances in games like that, maybe you need to with a World Cup coming up. These are the actual games where you might try something like that.
“If a Kurt-Lee is fully on form and a Mapimpi is fully on form, and Damian is playing 10, then why not play Cheslin at 15?
“I’m not saying it is definitely going to happen — Kurt-Lee can also play at 15 for us, and there are a few guys in the SA ‘A’ pool but, yes, he is a realistic option to play 15.”
Looking at the forwards, the pack more or less picks itself although there are a few positions where there are players of equal ability and it is not vital which of them starts.
For instance, the front row, but you would imagine Nienaber will start with the front row that began the home and away Tests against Argentina — Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx and Steven Kitshoff.
Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager will be the locks and the loose trio is likely to be Siya Kolisi, Jasper Wiese and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Looking at a scrumhalf partner for Willemse, Jaden Hendrikse is in pole position and Faf de Klerk knows he has to make the most of every minute he gets on the field to reclaim the No 9 jersey.
At inside centre, Damian de Allende is one of the first names on the team sheet and at 13, knowing Nienaber as we do, Jesse Kriel will be picked.
That leaves the back three and it will be interesting to see if Rassie indeed gambles on Kolbe at 15.