Springbok loose forward Kwagga Smith will finally get his time to shine after a superb year in the green and gold, when he starts at eighthman for the Springboks in their end-of-year-tour match against France at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday night (kick-off 10pm).
Smith has been the epitome of a Bok bomb squad star this season, making nine appearances out of 10 Bok games, all of them off the bench and most of them were box office performances.
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Even in the past weekend’s defeat against Ireland, Smith was again a menace off the bench, putting in the hard yards for the Boks and he will now finally get an opportunity to show what he can do from the start of a match.
It was a late change confirmed by South African Rugby Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus, who told the media at a pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, that regular number eight Jasper Wiese had not recovered from the concussion he picked up against Ireland.
“Kwagga is also a number eight and he has done well for us in the position. When we train, he’s definitely our second choice eight. When Duane was involved and it was touch and go for him, Kwagga covered the position,” explained Erasmus on Smith’s selection.
“We hoped that Jasper could pass the criteria from a head injury assessment rule perspective and I think we were one of the first countries that were informed of how to deal with the new protocol.
“We were hoping he was going to pass because he was looking really good, so with a late change like this one, a guy like Deon (Fourie, on the bench) makes sense for us. He knows the French culture and has played against them a fair bit.”
Evan Roos
Questioned why Stormers star eighthman Evan Roos wasn’t considered for even a role on the bench, with him having been heavily underutilised since being picked for the Boks at the start of the international season, Erasmus intimated that he would eventually get his shot.
“Evan has been with us for a while and he deserves a chance somewhere. However, we must not forget how well Deon has played for the Stormers and has only had two Test caps,” said Erasmus.
“Deon is also a realistic option to take to the World Cup next year with his ability to cover two positions, so we did consider that.”
