Nick Mallett is pleased to see Jan-Hendrik Wessels picked at hooker for the rest of the Springboks’ Nations Championship, but worried about the lack of cover in the position.
Rassie Erasmus has named only Wessels and Malcolm Marx as hookers in his 37-man squad for the November Tests against Italy, Ireland and France.
Wessels usually doubles up as a loosehead while Marco van Staden, who can also cover at No 2, has been listed as a utility forward.
Speaking on the Talking Boks podcast, Mallett welcomed the focus for the 25-year-old Wessels.
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“I’m very happy to see Jan-Hendrik Wessels being picked as a hooker and not as a hybrid loosehead because we’ve got great looseheads out there,” the former Bok coach said, citing Ox Nché, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Gerhard Steenekamp.
Mallett praised Wessels for his speed, strength over the ball and strong ball carrying, but emphasised he needs more scrum and lineout experience.
“Jan-Hendrik could be a remarkable hooker in the same vein as Malcolm Marx,” he added.
“[However] it is strange not having a third hooker. It’s a specialist position much like scrumhalf, and we saw what happened to the Stormers last weekend when three hookers went off.”
He noted how injuries to André-Hugo Venter, Deon Fourie and Lukhanyo Vokozela against the Scarlets resulted in uncontested scrums, while flanker Paul de Villiers had to throw in at the lineouts.
The cost would be higher for the Boks, Mallett argued, especially as the world champions’ maul also depends on Marx’s prowess.
“It’ll be damaging to the Springboks if we had to go to uncontested scrums,” he said. “Our driving maul is a very, very strong point in our game.”
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Mallett reserved judgement on Van Staden, having not watched enough of him at hooker, but expects a specialist call-up by Erasmus if injury strikes on tour.
Double World Cup winner Bongi Mbonambi is set to make his first appearance of the season off the bench for the Stormers against Ulster in the URC on Saturday.
“I can’t see them not bringing in a specialist hooker,” Mallett said. “[Mbonambi being back] will be good news for Rassie.”
Photo: Antony Dickson/Gallo Images
The post Mallett mulls over Marx’s back-up appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Nick Mallett is pleased to see Jan-Hendrik Wessels picked at hooker for the rest of the Springboks’ Nations Championship, but worried about the lack of cover in the position.
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