On end-of-year trip, Springbok hooker depth still an issue

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber would not have minded if this weekend’s Sharks-Ulster URC match had to be postponed.

In addition to the Lions-Glasgow match, the Durbanites will not play at Kings Park today due to a gastroenteritis outbreak affecting both European teams.

All Boks who were scheduled to play for the Sharks can now relax for a few days before heading to Stellenbosch for a national team training camp.

This list includes Thomas du Toit, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Jaden Hendrikse, and Makazole Mapimpi, as well as replacement Ntuthuko Mchunu, who is certain to be included in the final squad for the November tour.

Mbonambi, one of two world-class South African hookers alongside Malcolm Marx, is arguably the most important member of this group.

But what if one of them is injured between now and the four Tests against Ireland (5 November), France (12 November), Italy (19 November), and England (26 November)?

We witnessed the difficulties the South Africans encountered during the Rugby Championship after Mbonambi suffered a knee injury.

Joseph Dweba stepped up to fill the void, but he struggled with his line-out throwing, which impacted his overall performance.

Nienaber’s decision to play Dweba against the All Blacks at Ellis Park was not the most prudent, especially following Mbonambi’s withdrawal and Marx’s stellar performance a week earlier in Mbombela.

Dweba’s confidence will be low, as was shown in his few appearances for the Stormers in the URC, where he continued to struggle with his throwing.

Nienaber has asserted that veteran loose forward Deon Fourie is the third hooker behind Marx and Mbonambi, despite the fact that the Stormers great has hardly played in the front row in recent years.

Even though he was selected as a substitute hooker against the Wallabies in Sydney, Fourie came in as a loose forward in the second half, while Marx played the entire eighty minutes.

The 36-year-old Fourie excels at chasing loose balls and contesting breakdowns, and his work ethic shined through for the Stormers during the previous season. But that was as an openside flank, and his struggles with line-out throws during his first tenure in Cape Town were a factor in his shift to the loose trio.

The current problem with hooker depth is comparable to that of flyhalf in that the Bok management did not expose enough young talent to game action in the past 18 months in case of injury.

Johan Grobbelaar, the second-best player on the Bulls, spent six weeks on tour with the Boks in Australia during last year’s Rugby Championship, but did not earn a cap.

With an ankle injury, he was ruled out of contention for the end-of-year tour, despite his continued success for Pretoria.

After that, the Bok hooker cabinet is quite bare. Scarra Ntubeni is still sidelined with a catastrophic Achilles injury, while England-based Akker van der Merwe hasn’t been a factor in recent seasons – although he also suffered an ankle injury for Sale Sharks last week.

André-Hugo Venter (Stormers), Kerron van Vuuren (Sharks) and PJ Botha (Lions) have started in the URC this season, but none of them have been hammering the Bok door down with their performances.

However, Van Vuuren is likely the most consistent and hard-working member of that three, and some of them may be included in the South Africa A team for the two tour games against Munster and Bristol.

However, Nienaber will be crossing his fingers that Marx and Mbonambi remain healthy over the next six weeks…