Victor Matfield: Faf de Klerk is ‘very close’ to Springboks recall as legend issues damning Currie Cup assessment
Cheetahs and Springboks scrum-half Faf de Klerk
Faf de Klerk is very close to a Springboks recall, according to former lock Victor Matfield.
The double World Cup-winning scrum-half has fallen out of favour with Rassie Erasmus in recent seasons, with Grant Williams and Cobus Reinach emerging as the go-to selections at number nine.
De Klerk did get an opportunity off the bench against the Barbarians last month but was released thereafter and captained the famous invitational team against Wales. He has now linked up with the Cheetahs, whom he signed for following the conclusion of his contract with Japanese club, the Canon Eagles.
He made his debut for the Bloemfontein side against the Lions in round one of the Currie Cup and was in the spotlight last weekend with his two tries in the 43-21 win over the Sharks, a match he scored two tries in and was spotted communicating with director of rugby Frans Steyn with a walkie-talkie.
The Currie Cup is a development competition
His performance for the Cheetahs did not go unnoticed by Matfield, who believes that he must be close to forcing his way back into the Springboks set-up.
He claimed that, despite admitting that the once so revered Currie Cup has become a development competition for South African players, it serves as a stepping stone between the Varsity Cup and United Rugby Championship.
Matfield won the competition on three occasions during his career, when many Springboks still represented their unions which is no longer the case.
“The Currie Cup is a development competition now,” the Bulls legend said on the Rugby Rivals podcast.
“The smaller unions or the guys that don’t play in the URC are picking the strongest sides. Faf de Klerk played for the Cheetahs last Friday night, and he was outstanding. After that performance, I think he must be very close to the Springboks side again. He changed the game, and he won it for the Cheetahs.
“But the bigger unions that play in the URC don’t play any of the URC players or any of their Springboks. So it’s really a development competition, almost kind of like under-23s with one or two senior guys in there.
“Once we get to the semi-finals and finals, there might be more of the senior guys coming back into the teams, but I think for the bigger unions that play URC, it’s a development competition.”
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Despite his damning verdict of what the once illustrious Currie Cup has become, Matfield still sees plenty of value in the tournament continuing.
“But it creates opportunities; we’ve got a very strong school system. Then we’ve got Varsity Cup in South Africa that’s really successful as well, and now the Currie Cup is almost a step in between where the guys get developed, and hopefully some of these players will come through and play URC at the end of the year,” he added.
Asked on the show why De Klerk was released from the squad in the first place, Matfield explained that he has simply slipped down the pecking order with Williams and Reinach leading the way.
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Erasmus has also included Morne van den Berg in his squad for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series while retaining the services of Herschel Jantjies, who earned his first cap for the Boks in three years when he came off the bench against Wales in the last of three July Nations Championship matches.
“There’s a lot of talk in South Africa about why Embrose Papier is not there as well, and if you look at the URC, Embrose was probably the best South African player in the competition, but unfortunately he’s just not up there in the picking order,” Matfield explained.
“We’ve got Grant Williams and Cobus Reinach that’s just ahead of them, and the third one is Morne van den Berg, so unfortunately for Faf and Embrose, they can play for the Springboks at any time, but at this stage, they are just number four and five.”
