What if Butch James fails at No 10?

SPRINGBOK rugby is one big headache at the moment, and if you listen to coach Peter de Villiers, he has a number of headaches.

But his headaches may be occurring in the wrong places. After two heavy defeats on the Tri-Nations tour, the Bok coach can’t wait to welcome back his first-choice players for the last two Tests before the World Cup.

However, late on Sunday night at the Cape Town International Airport, De Villiers said that the squad has a “lock headache, a prop headache and a centre headache. The other positions are quite set, in terms of our depth and front-line players”, adding that “I don’t think flyhalf is our big headache”.

How can that be? He has just seen his first-choice flyhalf of the last two years – Morné Steyn – stumble from one low to the next, with his game all over the place at the moment.

There have always been question marks around his attacking game, as he stands too deep in the pocket. But he has shown at the Bulls that he can attack the advantage line and play a bit “flatter”, so it is clear that his form has dropped significantly this year.

Butch James is expected to be the first-choice Bok flyhalf at the World Cup, but while he played a crucial role in the 2007 triumph, it has to be remembered that he didn’t face the Wallabies or the All Blacks in that tournament. This time around, the Boks are set to play the Kiwis in the semifinal, and probably the Aussies in the final – if they get that far.

We all saw in Wellington how influential Dan Carter still is in the New Zealand team, while Quade Cooper’s individual brilliance ignited Australia against the Boks in Sydney.

Pat Lambie made a good first start at No 10, as he varied his game well and took on the All Black defence too. But he is likely to be behind James and even Steyn at the World Cup, and De Villiers feels that he is a star for the future rather than a possible immediate saviour.

James has also had several knee injuries over the years, so is the uncertainty around the two experienced pivots’ form and fitness not a headache waiting to explode?

The Boks are actually in much better shape at prop, lock and centre. While newcomers Dean Greyling and Werner Kruger weren’t able to dominate Down Under, they didn’t disgrace themselves in the Bok jersey. And De Villiers will be able to call on heavyweights such as Gurthrö Steenkamp, Tendai Mtawarira, Jannie du Plessis and BJ Botha at the World Cup, so there shouldn’t be any problems in the front row.

The injury-enforced absence of Andries Bekker does take away some serious height and athleticism from the second row, but in Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, the Boks do have enough grunt and skill to combat any lineout.

Danie Rossouw is regarded by many as an even better front lock than Botha, so he is certainly a solid back-up. And Gerhard Mostert was outstanding in his debut Test at the weekend, with his physicality and lineout prowess surely moving him ahead of Alistair Hargreaves in the lock pecking order. Flip van der Merwe should also return in time.

In the midfield, Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie are two of the best in the world, while Juan de Jongh is pushing hard for a starting spot. Adrian Jacobs does have a few issues in defence, but his attacking skill is not in doubt, so he should make the cut ahead of Wynand Olivier, who proved once again that he is just unable to make the step up to Test level.

So, as the top Boks get ready to take on their arch-rivals in Durban and Port Elizabeth, there are still serious doubts around the halfbacks, but especially at No 10. James must show that he is the man for the World Cup. Otherwise, De Villiers will be sitting with a massive flyhalf headache.

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It was surprising to hear De Villiers say that one of the lessons he learnt on the Tri-Nations tour was that he should’ve blooded more of the younger players over the three seasons leading up to the World Cup. “One of the lessons, going forward in the cycle of four years, you should blood more of the younger players a bit more, so that they can play with a bit of experience,” he said.

“Whenever you need a guy, the team shouldn’t become as inexperienced as this one was.”

That is something most of the rugby public were crying out for, especially on those end-of-year tours to Europe that few of the top Boks were enthusiastic about. For instance, who knows how far down the track Lambie would’ve been if he had started all four Tests last November?

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