Former head coach Nick Mallett has questioned the Springboks’ decision to name only two hookers in their squad for the November leg of the Nations Championship.
Malcolm Marx and Jan-Hendrik Wessels are the only players listed as hookers in Rassie Erasmus’ 37-man squad. Bulls forward Marco van Staden was named among the utility forwards and is expected to cover the position, as he has done before for his club and country.
“It is strange not having a third hooker,” Mallett said on the Talking Boks podcast. “It’s a specialist position much like scrum-half.”
Mallett said the risk goes beyond one position. He said losing a specialist hooker could hurt two of the things the Springboks do best, which are the scrum and the driving maul.
“When you think about how many penalties we get from our scrummaging, it’ll be damaging to the Springboks if we had to go to uncontested scrums,” he said.
He said the maul also depends on a clean throw at the lineout. “Our driving maul is a very, very strong point in our game,” Mallett said. “So you can’t have a shambolic lineup either.”
Mallett pointed to a Stormers match in which three players who could play hooker went off injured, among them Deon Fourie. He said the team then faced uncontested scrums and a weak lineout, because the player throwing in did not do that job regularly.
Mallett said he could not judge Van Staden as a hooker because he had not watched him enough in that position. “They obviously think he can finish off a game quite easily,” he said.
He was pleased that Wessels, 25, was picked as a hooker and not as a player who also covers loosehead prop. Mallett said the Springboks already have enough looseheads in Ox Nche, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Gerhard Steenekamp, while Thomas du Toit can also switch sides.
“Jan-Hendrik could be a remarkable hooker in the same vein as Malcolm Marx,” Mallett said. He added that Wessels is quick around the field, good at stealing the ball and a strong ball carrier, but needs more experience at scrumming and throwing in.
The Springboks have taken this kind of risk before. At the World Cup, they did not call up another hooker when Marx was ruled out, and brought in Handre Pollard instead. The coaches backed Fourie to cover for Bongi Mbonambi during the knockout stages.
Mallett predicted that the team would not repeat that plan if Marx or Wessels is injured on this tour. “I can’t see them not ringing in a specialist hooker and going the way we did in 2023 with Deon Fourie,” he said.
He said Mbonambi would be the next player called, if he is fit and playing well. “You’ve got a guy in Bongi Mbonambi who’s been there and done it,” Mallett said.
Mbonambi has moved from the Sharks to the Stormers and was named on the bench for their United Rugby Championship match against Ulster.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Planet Rugby. Image: Planet Rugby. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Sports desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Tiyani Mathebula writes about sport for Tzaneen Voice. Tiyani covers Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, the Proteas and the PSL, along with athletics, tennis and local club sport. Match reports and previews focus on results, team news, fixtures and what each game means for South African teams and fans.