Boks' team selection for decider against the British & Irish Lions in the spotlight

The selection leapfrogging that has seen Cobus Reinach and Morne Steyn advance their position at the expense of Herschel and Elton Jantjies proved one of the prickly topics from the Springboks team selection for the deciding Test against the British & Irish Lions.

Reinach‚ who started against Georgia‚ while Faf de Klerk was still being knocked into shape for the series against the Lions‚ did not feature in the match day 23s for the first or the second Tests.

But he is in the starting team ahead of Herschel Jantjies‚ who has operated from the bench behind De Klerk for much of the last two years.

Steyn has not played a Test since 2016.

Though their selection has caused some incredulity‚ it is not entirely unexpected. Reinach travelled to the 2019 Rugby World Cup as the third scrumhalf behind De Klerk and Jantjies. He played in just two matches at the RWC‚ but left a lasting impression with a superb hat-trick of tries against Canada.

The sentiment in Japan at the time was that he was desperately unlucky not be part of the match day 23 heading into the knockout stages of the tournament.

Reinach wore the No 9 jersey in just six of his 15 Tests and if that percentage hints of a player that may end up with splinters‚ Jantjies has wholly been typecast in the role of benchman irrespective of whether De Klerk is starting. Though Jantjies was in the starting team on debut against Australia in Johannesburg two years ago‚ his only other start in his 13 Tests came against Namibia in Aichi at the RWC.

“Given that our set-up and the way we play Cobus and Faf are very similar‚ while Herschel is more out of the box‚” coach Jacques Nienaber said while explaining Reinach leapfrogging Jantjies into the starting team.

“For us it is a like-for-like change. Herschel can then bring intensity.”

What he left unsaid was that Reinach's most recent form for the Boks has outshone that of Jantjies‚ possibly even De Klerk.

One position up‚ the same question is being posed. Why has Steyn cracked the nod ahead of Elton Jantjies? From the moment Steyn was named in the Bok squad there was the very real possibility of his deployment in the deciding Test. Why else have him?

Steyn was after all the man who drove a stake through Lions hearts with his last-gasp series-clinching kick in 2009. He is apparently built for moments like that‚ though that logic was momentarily abandoned in the aftermath of the Boks' RWC exit in Wellington two years later.

“It was a toss-up between Morne and Elton‚” said Nienaber, adding that both players had performed well against the Lions on this tour and that they are trying to spread the players' workload.

“One of the big things that went in Morne’s favour is that he has been in big games like this‚” Nienaber added. “He understands the pressure. If you take the World Cup final and if you take this game‚ the pressure is going to be similar. It’s do or die.

“Morne has been there before and he has done it before in a big game in 2009.

“I’m not saying that Elton wouldn’t have the big-match temperament. I’ve seen him do that before in big games as well. Thinking back to 2018 in New Zealand when we had our first victory there‚ he came on in the last 20-30 minutes and with him and Handré at 10 and 12‚ they had an unbelievable partnership.”

That‚ however‚ will come as cold comfort for Jantjies. From the moment the Bomb Squad was locked and loaded as a regular feature his 2019 RWC was over. There was to be no opportunity to play on the world's grandest stage when it was at its most lit.

Two years later he has had to exit stage left again‚ only now‚ in the fading light‚ he has a clearer view of where he is in the overall scheme of things.