Zelím Nel

Deon Kayser hit a home run when he converted flanker Marius Louw into a centre. A tenacious competitor in 13 Tests for South Africa saddling the turn of the century, Kayser joined the Sharks’ junior coaching ranks a few years after hanging up his boots.

In 2014, Kayser plotted the career prospects for a 1.82m, 95kg flanker and made the call to switch Louw to the double-digits unit.

Instead of wasting the teenager’s ability on increasing the speed and mobility of the U19 pack, the Sharks opted to upsize their backline with a midfielder who was accustomed to contesting the breakdown.

Three years on and the Grey College old boy has had a breakout season in his Currie Cup debut, helping the Sharks to complete the league phase of the competition with an 11-point advantage over Western Province, who they will face in Saturday’s decider at King’s Park.

The Boks could use more backs who tackled like Kayser, and South Africa could use more coaches with his foresight.

The All Blacks are unapologetic sizeists who appreciate the advantage gained from having big, capable athletes running at (and tackling) smaller capable athletes. They have a pool of megalithic sprinters on tap, courtesy of the Pacific islands, which is why New Zealand teams assert unchallenged supremacy the closer the ball is shifted to the touchlines.

It’s a trend that has been magnified by rugby in the Republic sprinting in the opposite direction. Don’t mention this to your favourite attack coach, but South Africa has twice as many sub-90kg backs in Super Rugby as their Kiwi counterparts.

Meanwhile, the Golden Lions fielded Kwagga Smith at No 8 in the Currie Cup semi-final. He’s shorter and lighter than Hurricanes scrumhalf TJ Perenara.

In related news, New Zealand’s five teams combined to score 338 tries and conceded 188, while the six SA teams scored 317 and conceded 319.

‘Better late than never’, I’m hopeful that Louw is the first of several mini SA forwards who will be migrating to the backline in the coming seasons. To highlight the need for this trend-reversal I’ve selected a hypothetical backline staffed exclusively by current SA forwards who may have been more credible pros if they’d shifted to the flyboys early in their careers.

Let’s start with a back three of fullback Sikhumbuzo Notshe and wingers Tim Agaba and Oupa Mohoje.

The Western Province loosie is the only one of the three with a tackle-efficiency exceeding 85% and an average gain-per-carry of less than six metres, but Notshe made his name as an explosive, freestyling No 8 and is arguably the most balanced runner of the three.

Agaba has flashed amazing openfield running ability while on duty for the Blitzboks and 107-kilogram Mohoje would be a freight train coursing up the left touchline! Remember this try?

At 1.86m and 102kgs, Notshe roughly matches Israel Dagg’s dimensions, while his wing-mates are in the mold of Israel Folau and Julian Savea.

With the same silhouette as a Jan Serfontein-Tevita Kuridrani combination, an all-Lions midfield tandem of Jaco Kriel and Warren Whiteley would be delightful to watch, with the inside man gobbling up metres after first contact on direct runs, while the wiry frame and wide strides of the charismatic No 13 would make Whiteley a nightmare for defenders trying to contain his offloads.

In a halfback combination close in size to Pernara and Butch James, Kwagga Smith would be a hard-running threat around the fringes and deadly over the ball, while Nizaam Carr’s creative instincts would be harnessed at flyhalf where he’d never be asked to go digging for turnovers.

Look, this backline is inconceivable today, but perhaps some of these seven players would have emerged as Test regulars if they’d had someone like Kayser to move them out of the scrum years ago.

All-Forwards Backline

15 Sikhumbuzo Notshe (1.86m, 102kg)

14 Tim Agaba (1.93, 105)

13 Warren Whiteley (1.92, 103)

12 Jaco Kriel (1.84, 99)

11 Oupa Mohoje (1.93, 107)

10 Nizaam Carr (1.84, 103)

9 Kwagga Smith (1.82, 93)

Comparative Backline

15 Israel Dagg (1.86, 96)

14 Israel Folau (1.93, 102)

13 Tevita Kuridrani (1.94, 102)

12 Jan Serfontein (1.88, 97)

11 Julian Savea (1.92, 106)

10 Butch James (1.85, 100)

9 TJ Perenara (1.84, 94)