Who’ll come out as the top dog in June when Super Rugby takes a month-long break for the Springboks to host the French in a three-match series?
This is just one of the intriguing questions around this year’s Super Rugby competition. Of course, I’m referring to the next Bok captain.
Adriaan Strauss’ surprise retirement from Test rugby last year has necessitated the appointment of a new leader in coach Allister Coetzee’s second year.
But while Strauss was the only obvious candidate to lead the Boks a year ago, mainly because of his seniority in the team and the fact he was the first-choice man for his position after Bismarck du Plessis’s move abroad, the situation is not nearly as clear-cut in 2017.
If we look at all the candidates, no one stands head and shoulders above the rest. And with the South African Rugby Union yet to clarify their stance on picking overseas-based players for the national team, we don’t even know if the new captain will have to come from inside our borders.
What we do know is that after poor performances at Test level last year, the coming months are sure to be tough, with several players looking to redeem themselves, and others out to show they can do better than those who were picked a year ago. Super Rugby 2017 is not going to be a place for sissies.
And, of course, we have those men who’ll have their eye on the captaincy. If for the time being we discard Duane Vermeulen, who plays in France, we’re left with the following candidates: Warren Whiteley, Pat Lambie, Handre Pollard, Beast Mtawarira ... and maybe outsiders such as Siya Kolisi, Francois Venter and Lood de Jager.
The question we have to ask though: whoever is picked as captain, is he the first choice man in his position? Only Mtawarira has been a first choice pick, but will he continue to be so this year? As for the rest, they’re all looking to cement their places in the national team.
Perhaps the best thing the Bok boss can do is to pick the man he believes can take the team forward ... and that man needn’t even be his franchise’s leader - someone like De Jager, for instance. But then again, De Jager, like everyone else, will have to find his best form in the coming months so that he is an automatic first choice for the team.
South African rugby finds itself at an interesting and challenging stage once again, and while the fans won’t alwaysagree with what the administrators decide, all we can hope for is that the players produce the goods on the field and that there’s healthy competition for national places. And that the Bok coach has some quality captaincy options available to him come the June Test window.
Who’s going to stand up and show - by way of performance and leadership, on and off the field - that they’re ready to lead the Boks into a new era?