Houston_11 says...

Was there not a rule with Matfield that you had to make an intention to return to the international team six months in advance or something? That may not be correct but definitely a crazy rule that omitted him and subsequently should omit Botha.

On that note though, I'd rather see the youngsters play. South Africa got a lot of bad press after their sub-standard performances in 2003 - so what did they do? Blooded new talent for the next four years and romped the World Cup in 2007.

Perfect time to do the same again.

Posted 13:10 14th August 2012

quietbrit says...

If there isn't anyone who is ready in the U20's don't blood them - too many promising forwards have been ruined by throwing them in the shark tank too soon and hoping that they recover from the mauling.

Do you really want to see a springbok lock being torn to shreds by NZ and Arg forwards - because putting a youngster who doesn't have Etzebeth's class out is like dressing a kid in his Sunday best and dropping him off in the bad part of town with his new gold watch...

Posted 05:07 10th August 2012

heathy says...

If I'm honest I hate the guy. He is full of cheap shots and is an all round nasty bit of works. He is another player with a yellow card stamped on him somewhere. He is not the way forward and I think everybody agrees with that. However, this doesn't make him a bad player. Actually, he is a good one and if it had not been for his antics on the pitch, he would be far better thought of. There is one thing blooding players and I agree all sides need to do this going forward. However, this has to be measured and doing this too soon could result in injury or take the confidence completely away. For a one off series then SA have to consider this man. That's just the way it is. If it was bringing back a whole host of veterans then that is a mistake. Meyer is a smart coach so leave it up to him.

Posted 11:37 08th August 2012

melkdave says...

God i hope not ,Bakkies is just not the future of SA lock play,far better to recall J.Muller from Ulster ,who before his move was the heir apparant to Matfield and Botha or play J.Kruger of the bulls imho.BB should only be recalled if and only if every other lock is injured, and even then id be tempted to blood a U20 insted

Posted 23:28 07th August 2012

JayStarr says...

@ TheTruthHurts: Have you met Eben Etzebeth? That 20-year-old who played 3 tests against England... Bakkies is back-up for the "blooded" youngster.

Posted 17:23 07th August 2012

TheTruthHurts says...

They failed with Matfeild and now they are trying to bring Botha back, ..look class players both of them but surely the best way is to take the short term pain for the long term gain, rather than short term gain to delay the inevitable? Blood the youngsters now and enjoy the rewards in the future....... ;)

Posted 15:22 07th August 2012

ArmchairGeneral says...

Agree Dingbat. No quality at Etzebeth level in youngsters yet so Bakkies is best short term option to cover for Eben.

Posted 12:39 07th August 2012

Dingbat32 says...

I know we should be moving on and blooding youngsters, but cant help thinking it will be good to have Bakkies in the Boks team again! Go Bakkies!

Posted 10:45 07th August 2012