Stuart Barnes has “come out in support” of Steve Borthwick following the decision to select Benhard Janse van Rensburg in the England squad.
The England head coach’s call to name the South African in their training squad ahead of the Nations Championship caused a certain amount of controversy.
Janse van Rensburg qualifies under World Rugby’s residency laws having spent the past five years in England, but he only became available after the RFU pleaded with the sport’s governing body to effectively ignore the game time he had for the Junior Springboks, which was South Africa’s capture team at the time.
Not available for Boks clash
While Rassie Erasmus has not kicked up a fuss, Barnes believes that the centre’s eligibility date, which comes after the Boks Test on July 4, avoids a potentially awkward situation.
“It’s time to come out in support of the England head coach. Janse van Rensburg is not available to play until the second Test of the summer. Anyway, playing him against South Africa would have been crazily inflammatory,” he wrote in his Sunday Times column.
The former England playmaker recently voiced his frustration over Borthwick’s decision to leave out Max Ojomoh, but the 63-year-old would have included both the Bath man and Janse van Rensburg.
“Given Borthwick’s powers, I would have opted for Ojomoh against the Springboks and Janse van Rensburg against Fiji a week later at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium,” he wrote.
“The possibility of pairing them at inside and outside centre would have been a tantalising prospect in the third Test against Argentina, the team against whom Ojomoh delivered his stunning masterclass.
“If not for that performance, where injuries provided an opportunity grasped so brilliantly, I would still be saying the South African is good enough to be the first name on my England teamsheet, as I did in 2024.
“Borthwick has been slammed for the selection but, as he says, his job is ‘to build the best possible team with whichever players are available’. And that seems absolutely right.”
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While Janse van Rensburg has spent the past few years in England without being capped by the Springboks, his inclusion is particularly due to the 20 minutes he had for the South African U20 team.
That tied him to the Boks but, after the RFU protested to World Rugby, that was overturned.
However, Barnes does not think there is too much difference to the likes of the All Blacks, Ireland and Scotland, who have picked plenty of overseas-born players.
‘Project players’
“Australia and New Zealand have not been averse to capping players from the Pacific Islands over the years, Scotland and Ireland have picked their ‘project players’ to great effect. The likes of Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe have given their heart and soul to Ireland,” he wrote.
“These were players Ireland identified. They were cold-blooded plans to strengthen the national side. Yet I never heard jeers and catcalls resonating around the Aviva Stadium when they excelled for Ireland.
“International sport is a matter of supporting the green, the red, the black, the white — not the individuals whose role is to fit as singular pieces inside the jigsaw.
“It really doesn’t matter if an Afrikaner metamorphoses into a red rose-wearing Englishman as long as he has the necessary impact. Ireland would be innately inferior without their New Zealander at scrum-half.”
Borthwick is potentially banking on Janse van Rensburg being the answer to their centre problems, which continues to be a puzzle that England have failed to solve.
“What can I do but agree with the England head coach? No12 has been a problem position. Fraser Dingwall is possibly not physical enough, for all his rugby brains. Seb Atkinson has power but questionable panache,” he added.
“Borthwick might very well ponder Marcus Smith’s loss of form and confidence as the Harlequins fly half and date it to the day André Esterhuizen left the club to return to South Africa. Janse van Rensburg is not as potent a ball-carrier as Esterhuizen but he possesses a more varied range of skills.
“If he could turn the England backline into the creative and gainline-breaking force it has rarely been in recent years, is there really so much wrong with selecting someone who will never be any more English than he is a Bristolian?
“Would you rather win a grand slam or World Cup with a legitimately qualified South African, or lose it with a selection of 23 pure-blooded Englishmen? We know Borthwick’s answer.”
READ MORE: Ranking England’s centre options following Benhard Janse van Rensburg selection as ‘famously problematic position’ remains a ‘headache’
