Former All Blacks winger Jeff Wilson believes that the Springboks have hit or are close to hitting their ceiling and can’t see how they can get much better.
After losing the first Test match of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, Rassie Erasmus selected largely the same squad for the next three meetings with New Zealand as the Boks secured a 3-1 series victory.
While South Africa’s depth has been praised over the past two seasons, Wilson says that the selections over the last three Tests show that Erasmus knows who his best 23 is.
Kevin Putt: There isn’t a limit
He said as much on Sky Sport NZ’s Breakdown show when the question was raised whether the Springboks can get any better or have they hit their ceiling.
Kevin Putt, the New Zealand-born scrum-half who toured with the Springboks in 1994 and 1996 without playing a Test match, started the debate by stating that there isn’t a limit on how good South Africa can get.
“I don’t think there’s potentially a limit on how much better the Springboks can get in terms of where they’re going,” he said.
“They’ve got depth of position; age is not a limitation. They’re able to balance the longevity of someone like Malcolm Marx – it is just incredible.”
Pressed as to why he felt there wasn’t a limit and why there is such longevity for Bok players, he said: “Well, there’s a very good reason. It’s handled by Rassie. They’ve got certain quotas of players to be selected.
“They can balance that out and say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to play you until the last 30 minutes in this Test match’. In another country, you’d want to be the main guy. You want to play every minute, every game, all the rest of it.
“Marx has probably increased his salary three times over the period of time. He’s still known as the world’s best, and he’s playing probably 50-60% of the rugby.”
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South Africa are close to their ceiling
Wilson argued that while the depth is impressive, it matters little as Erasmus is limited to 23 players per matchday squad and doubts that there are any players outside those who featured in the last three Test matches that can make a significant improvement to the team.
“The depth that they have created is amazing, but you do realise you can only pick 23 players. They’ve got some insurance, but they can only pick 23, and I don’t think there are many players that can come into that group who played outside those last three Test matches and makes a significant difference. I really don’t think there’s anyone out there,” the former winger said.
“He played his strongest side because he felt like every single one was a knockout game. I think they are the best team in the world. Credit where credit is due. I don’t think they are far off their ceiling if they’ve already met it.
“What they are to me, though, is that they’re very much like where we were in 2014 going into 2015. World Cup champions, in a great cycle, in a great place, and they are the team to beat, like we were going into 2015. But they’re not unbeatable.
“We’ve shown that they can concede points and tries. It took a semi-final in 2015 for us to get over the top of the Springboks; it went down to the wire. We are the one side alongside France that could knock them out of the Rugby World Cup.
“So for me, I look at it and go, I think they’re close to their ceiling. Their ceiling is really good. They are an outstanding team. I don’t know how much better they can get.”
“I don’t see that as a ceiling,” Putt disagreed.
“You’re talking about the current team. There are some of these guys coming through who still have such youth, and by winning 3-1, Rassie’s autonomy has increased even more. You’ve spoken about the team now, the All Blacks playing with a bit of width on it, so yes, we have some potential growth that we can see, but they can do exactly the same.”
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Springboks have insurance like no other team
Wilson doubled down and said he would be surprised to see Handre Pollard start an important Test match for South Africa going forward with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok overtaking him as the first-choice fly-half.
“They’ve got talent, and they’ve got plenty of it,” he said.
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“I just look at that and go, you can’t get yourself in a situation where you don’t know who your top team is. He knows who his top team is. I’d be very surprised if we see Handre Pollard play in a big Test match again for the Springboks. He might play other Test matches, but there are other players now who have taken over.
“He’s no doubt found some new talent, but I don’t think it’s significantly better than what’s out there.
“Can you tell me that Cheslin Kolbe could have played better than Kurt-Lee Arendse did in that Test match? I find that hard to believe. You can only have 15 on the paddock. What they do have is insurance like no other team right now.”