Leave rugged Schalk at No 6
Where should Schalk Burger be used in the Stormers loose trio for Saturday’s Super Rugby opener against the Bulls?
|||Where should Schalk Burger be used in the Stormers loose trio for Saturday’s Super Rugby opener against the Bulls?
What coach Robbie Fleck thinks will be known on Thursday just after noon, when he names his first team as the boss of the Cape franchise.
Fleck indicated this week that he was looking at Burger mainly as a blindside flank and No 8, and not in the No 6 role that he has fulfilled for years at the Stormers and Springboks.
“His opinion is that he’s played six most of his life, and he is prepared to play there, but he is also quite straightforward in saying that to play six every week is going to be a challenge. He is also developing his game, and we all saw how successful he was as a seven and an eight for the Springboks,” Fleck said.
“I certainly feel that we can bring the best out of Schalk as a seven or eight, but that doesn’t discount him as a six for us.”
But what about what’s best for the team, and actually what’s best for Schalk Burger as well? Sure, having played in 86 Tests and over 100 Super Rugby games earns you a serious rank within a team set-up, and there’s no doubt that Burger has been a true servant for South Africa and is a Newlands hero.
However, despite having improved his passing and linking skills over the last few years, does that make him a better No 8 than specialists such as Nizaam Carr and Sikhumbuzo Notshe?
Burger is an all-action figure, renowned for the way he throws his body around when carrying or defending.
But – and it’s a rather nasty joke – the talk around the braai during last year’s World Cup was that Burger was the Springbok flyhalf, and not Handré Pollard, such was the amount of time he spent in the No 10 channel in a “linking role”.
The much-loved 32-year-old definitely has a better long pass on him than, say, even five years ago, and enjoys carrying the ball and trying to evade contact than ramming straight into the first guy in front of him, as he used to do in the first half of his career.
But he doesn’t have the natural speed, the ball skills at the back of the scrum, the dynamic running lines or the ability to read the play like specialist No 8s such as Carr and Notshe.
Fleck said the other Springbok loose forward, Siya Kolisi, will be utilised as a blindside flank this season, which suits his style as a strong ball-carrier and powerful defender who has “good stopping power”.
But the former Springbok centre has already intimated that Carr and Notshe may have to operate as No 6 flanks instead – not exclusively as “fetchers” in the David Pocock mould, but rather as all-round loose forwards who must get to the breakdown first.
“We know that (Notshe) is an excellent eight, a great linking player, he can play seven as well. But there is an opportunity at six now within the union, and we’ve had discussions – the two of us – and he is certainly keen to have a go there. He wants to develop his game, and we all know that he is a brilliant linking player, but he needs to get stuck into the dirty stuff, the hard stuff, and the dark spaces,” Fleck said.
“And if we all remember, Nemo (Carr) two seasons back was looking to get into the side, and we created an opportunity for him at six. Also a brilliant linking player like Notshe, but transformed his game – he learnt to play towards the ball, stick his head into rucks and make good tackles.
“And when he was worried that he was not going to get enough carries, he actually carried the ball a lot more than he did at eight or seven. Whether it’s Notshe, Rynhardt or Nemo who are going to play at six, it’s going to be a crucial position for us. He’s got to be quick to the breakdown, dominate there, be able to link.
“(Richie) McCaw was an opensider, but he carried a lot and did the hard graft. Notshe is a natural linking player and will suit the way we want to play in wanting that quick, fast ball.”
But McCaw was never a No 8 (despite the odd game there for the Crusaders). He never had the speed or that special skill to play there. In many ways, Burger is similar to the All Black great – uncompromising, puts his body in the line, gets into the “dark spaces” and can carry the ball with aplomb.
That is why Burger would be the ideal “modern-day” South African No 6 – and not a No 8 – who needs to be rugged, get stuck in at the rucks and “be able to link”, as Fleck says. And not at flyhalf…
Leave the fancy stuff to classical No 8s such as Carr, and Notshe as his back-up.
ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
@IndyCapeSport