Andre-Hugo Venter celebrates a try.
Image: Ashley Crowden/INPHO/Shutterstock
Andre-Hugo Venter deserves to be in Springbok alignment camp
On numbers alone Stormers hooker Andre-Hugo Venter deserves a place at the Springbok alignment camp without question.
Andre-Hugo Venter celebrates a try.
Image: Ashley Crowden/INPHO/Shutterstock
Stormers’ hooker Andre-Hugo Venter has done more than enough in the United Rugby Championship to warrant his involvement in the Springbok alignment camp.
Venter has only been outperformed in his position by one South African hooker in the URC to date. That man, Johan Grobbelaar, is also in the group.
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Lineout feed motivates Springbok call for Andre-Hugo Venter
Venter has been among the more consistent hookers when it comes to feeding the lineout.
Having steady hands feeding lineouts at the camp can only aid the Springbok cause.
There are concerns surrounding South African hookers at lineout time with the setpiece not delivering the kind of dividends teams would like.
It has been a problem area for Venter’s Stormers teammate Joseph Dweba and a major stumbling block to the dynamic frontranker making a Springbok breakthrough.
URC Top 100 validation
The URC Top 100 player rankings feature just two South African hookers. Venter and Grobbelaar.
The dynamic player ranking system that combines recent performances across the United Rugby Championship, EPCR competitions and international rugby.
Venter has been the Stormers best hooker statistically, driven by the accuracy he has had with his lineout feed and good scrum work from the pack as a whole.
Andre-Hugo Venter is no Malcolm Marx, yet
Venter is improving as a ball-carrier but as a relatively tall hooker he hasn’t been able to do the kind of jackaling work that has come to bhe expected of No 2s.
Having players like Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi around Venter in the camp can also only help his allround game come along.
Venter has benefitted tremendously from enhanced URC and Champions Cup exposure coming up against the likes of Dan Sheehan and Augustin Creevy.
Nepotism claims are baseless
Claims that Venter was some sort of nepotism pick flies in the face of reality.
Venter’s performances in the URC speak for themselves. The next step is being introduced to the national team setup.
To claim nepotism is to be wilfully ignorant of what has been going down on the pitch.
Venter is a player to watch and the Stormers will give him a great platform to further showcase his skills before he has a chance to earn a Springbok cap.
