We know that it will be a locally-based player, but just who will be the next Springbok captain?
That question will be answered at 5pm on Monday, when coach Allister Coetzee will name his preferred leader for the three-Test series against Ireland in June.
The Boks, who arrived in camp at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport on Sunday, will take part in their first field training session on Monday afternoon. Twenty-eight of the 31-man group made their way to the Boland town on Sunday, with the three overseas-based Duane Vermeulen, Francois Louw and Steven Kitshoff set to land in Cape Town on June 5 for the first Test at Newlands.
Vermeulen and Louw were initial captaincy options, but Coetzee said at the weekend that he wants to appoint a skipper that is based in South Africa. That leaves Super Rugby franchise captains Adriaan Strauss, Patrick Lambie and Frans Malherbe as the main contenders.
The 30-year-old Bulls leader Strauss is a definite first-choice selection at hooker and has 54 Test caps, so he seems the likely choice as Lambie may miss out to Elton Jantjies at flyhalf. Malherbe is set to wear the No 3 jersey on June 11, but while he has been the co-captain alongside Juan de Jongh at the Stormers, it has been De Jongh who has made the final decisions on the field.
“It will be for the incoming Test series only at this point in time. I said before that I would like the captain to be there to make sure we win Test matches. To name him early, without really making sure he understands my philosophy and is a good extension of my coaching philosophy on the field out there, it would definitely be too early for me (to appoint a long-term captain at this stage),” Coetzee said over the weekend.
“I have a leadership group of three or four players, and it will be for the incoming Test series only at this point in time. It’s not ideal to have your captain based overseas, and we are looking internally. But there is a leadership group, which will work very closely with the national captain. It will be a local guy.”
Coetzee did add that an overseas-based player could take over the captaincy during a game if the incumbent is injured or replaced, so that should see Vermeulen and Louw being part of the Bok leadership group during the Irish series.
This is especially important given the retirements of Jean de Villiers, Fourie du Preez and Victor Matfield, as well as the injury-enforced absence of Schalk Burger.
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