Jesse Kriel has been one of the most consistently impressive Springbok players over the last couple of years, having really made the No 13 jersey his own at a time when Lukhanyo Am has battled with both form and fitness.
Kriel has still featured prominently for the Springboks this season – starting in four games and serving as captain in three of them – but he was left out of the team for the recent game against the All Blacks in Wellington.
In his absence, Canan Moodie produced a standout performance at outside centre, and clearly did enough to retain his place for this Saturday’s penultimate Rugby Championship clash against Argentina.
With Kriel not seen as a ‘utility’ player, he also misses out on a place among the substitutes, and will once again be watching from the sidelines despite hardly having put a foot wrong for the Springboks.
Jesse Kriel to remain out of the Springbok mix for a bit longer
It will be interesting to see whether Kriel could be recalled for next weekend’s ‘rematch’ against Argentina in London, while it appears that Am may also be back with the Springboks sooner rather than later.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has now shed light on the healthy selection headache in the midfield, as well as the reason for Kriel’s omission.
“Canan and Andre are a great combo, but we enjoy Andre off the bench,” Erasmus said, as quoted by Rugby365. “If you look at the changes we made, it’s mostly injury-enforced.
“We felt that Canan playing closer to the ball makes a few more instinctive calls as opposed to standing on the wing and working with the fullback.
“Just like Damian (Willemse), he is a good instinctive player. And now to have Damian de Allende come in whilst Andre Esterhuizen is missing out.
“But Jesse will play for us a lot more in future. It’s just nice to try the combinations.”
Saturday’s clash in Durban kicks off at 17:10 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
HOW THE TEAMS WILL LINE UP
Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen.
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo García, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Juan Martín González, 22 Simón Benítez Cruz, 23 Tomás Albornoz.
