Springboks: Lood de Jager’s take on the All Blacks’ second-row ‘crisis’

Experienced Springboks lock Lood de Jager is looking forward to the second-row battle between the world champions and the All Blacks in their upcoming Rugby Championship Tests in South Africa.

The two heavyweights of the global game are set to face off in two highly anticipated encounters in Johannesburg and Cape Town on August 31 and September 7 respectively.

Much has been said about the quality of New Zealand‘s locks after the retirement of long-standing duo Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock following last year’s Rugby World Cup in France.

New All Blacks captain Scott Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu were the three-time world champions’ first-choice locks for their two-Test series against England in July but both have been sidelined due to injuries for the start of the Rugby Championship campaign.

Fielded inexperienced locks against Argentina

That meant the All Blacks faced a potential second-row crisis at the start of the tournament as the inexperienced pairing of Tupou Vaa’i and Sam Darry were their starting locks for their recent back-to-back matches against Argentina in New Zealand.

Los Pumas sealed a shock 38-30 victory in the first encounter in Wellington before the All Blacks bounced back with a 42-10 triumph in Auckland and De Jager was impressed by Vaa’i and Darry’s performances in the latter Test.

He said, however, while the All Blacks were not at full strength in the second-row, they were strong in other areas and that makes them dangerous.

“I think if you look at the rest of their team, it’s pretty stacked,” De Jager told reporters. “I think every country in some position has a bit of a rebuilding phase. Theirs is just lock. And lock is a pretty important position.

“If you look at the set-piece, your maul, even in the scrum, especially line-out time, I must say those two locks, they stood up well in that second Test against Argentina. They played really well.

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“It’s going to be a very good Test to see them against the likes of Eben (Etzebeth) and RG (Snyman) and all the guys we have on South African soil. I’m looking forward to seeing that battle. I think for them, it’s going to be a great test for the New Zealanders.

“I think Scott Robertson will get a lot of answers about his team post-touring to South Africa and playing the Boks twice.”

De Jager has been plagued by injuries in recent times as he missed out on the Boks’ 2023 World Cup win in France due to pericarditis, which is inflammation around the lining of the heart.

The 2019 World Cup winner returned to action with his club, Saitama Wild Knights, in the Japan Rugby League One season but only played 12 matches before suffering a shoulder injury which is still keeping him on the sidelines.

He admitted to being frustrated about his injury woes but is determined to make a full recovery and is hopeful of representing the Boks again.

‘It’s part of life’

“I prefer talking on the field, but you know, it’s part of life. You can only work as hard as you can work and it goes from there. Obviously I’m so excited to get back whenever that is.

“I’m working really hard to get back on the field. And hopefully if Rassie (Erasmus) picks me again, I can show what I still have. But you know, it’s part of the process.

“It’s part of the game. Injuries are part of the game. Sometimes you’re just a bit worse off with them.

“And I think my luck in the last few years hasn’t been great. But like I said, you can take it day by day. Work as hard as you can and see where it goes.”

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