Grunt and gallop

Two Bok players with great ambition need great performances against Tonga.

Ashwin Willemse and Bob Skinstad have been the comeback stories of Springbok rugby in 2007, but it is their performance against Tonga on Saturday that will determine the magnitude of their influence at this World Cup.

Both were in Jake White’s preferred match 22 six weeks ago, but both lost ground in the Boks 18-3 midweek win against Connacht. Neither was anywhere near capacity and White was quick to act against two players for whom he been prepared to walk the extra mile.

Wikus van Heerden jumped the loose-forward queue ahead of Skinstad and JP Pietersen was given a start at Willemse’s expense.

Skinstad snuck into the match 22 against England courtesy of Schalk Burger’s suspension, but he knows how important Saturday’s match is if he is to convince White he is a necessity and not a luxury in the play-offs.

Skinstad was superb against Samoa earlier in the year and outstanding against Australia in Sydney. Willemse has yet to produce a performance befitting his 2002 and 2003 glory years. If it doesn’t come on Saturday then there won’t be another opportunity at this World Cup.

By rights neither should be on a rugby field, let alone at a World Cup. Skinstad had walked away from the game four years ago and Willemse seemed destined to be forced away through a series of crippling injuries.

But these two guys, opposites in every sense, have one common denominator: they believe in themselves more than anyone can believe in them. And that’s what White has always invested in. When Skinstad told White he could come back at this level, the Bok coach was willing to believe him and when Willemse told the Bok coach he too would dispel the popular notion his career was over, White also said amen to that.

It is a South African rugby good news story that both players are in Paris and their fight to get here should never be dismissed as just another story. To be at Noisy le Grande’s Stade Alain Mimoun on Tuesday afternoon, sweating it out in a Bok World Cup run-on XV, is a credit to the power of their minds. There are some very good rugby players in South Africa who aren’t here.

Now they have to take the power of the mind and turn it into performance against Tonga and show White was right to trust the soul and pedigree of each player.

Both players know the stakes on Saturday. This is a match about the Springboks and not the opposition. Bok players on Saturday can play themselves out of contention for the play-off just as easily as force their way in.

“I’ve moved on from the emotional goodwill of making it back. When I played England in Bloemfontein I crossed that barrier,” said Willemse. “Now it is about performance at a World Cup. I’ve got a chance and as each player will tell you, it’s a chance not just for this Saturday but to be there the next weekend as well.

“We have class wingers in this squad and the coach has been consistent in how he selects teams. You play well and you are in. And if the 15 on the field play well then it makes our World Cup challenge even stronger. There’s a personal motivation to do well, but there is also the team motivation to ensure we don’t lose momentum after England.”

Van Heerden, a late inclusion after the Luke Watson debacle against Samoa, has been colossal in his ability to cover for Schalk Burger and White needs to see a performance of similar impact from Skinstad, who showed in the Super 14 and against Samoa and Australia that he was prepared to grunt as much as gallop.

Against Connacht there was no grunt to Skinstad and there was no gallop to Willemse. With JP Pietersen improving with every game, Willemse has to find the gallop to go with the grunt he has always had.

Willemse and Skinstad have glorious rugby pasts, but to have a future at this World Cup they require a performance in keeping with their pedigree.

By Keo www.keo.co.za