Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is facing possibly his toughest selection task to date ahead of the upcoming Rugby Championship. Photo: Luke Walker / Gallo Images
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is facing an extremely tough selection task as a number of locally based Springboks have taken up contracts at overseas clubs.
The selection policy from the start of Meyer’s tenure has been to give preference to South African-based players, but 10 players out of his 30-man squad are overseas.
The Springboks went into camp on Monday ahead of their Rugby Championship opener against Argentina at the FNB Stadium next Saturday.
“As a Springbok coach you always want to pick your best side and I always want to look at our home-grown players first,” Meyer said on Monday.
“But the main thing with picking this side was continuity, and you want to have some kind of continuity.”
Meyer would have been in trouble had he followed the selection policy. He would have had to hand out a number of new caps, which would erase the progress he had made over the last year.
“If you have to pick eight or nine new players it is a huge challenge specifically when you are playing the best teams in the world,” he said. – Sapa
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