'He does the hard work': Nick Mallett on Salmaan Moerat's value to Bok team

Moerat has earned 11 caps since making his Test debut against Wales in Pretoria in 2022, and continues to grow into his role as a dependable lock and occasional captain.

The Springboks may be spoiled for choice in the second row, but Mallett believes Moerat deserves to be among the contenders for a place in the squad.

"I'll talk firstly about his rugby skills. He does the dark arts. He does the hard work," the former Springbok coach told the Talking Boks podcast with Brenden Nel.

"When he plays a really good game for the Stormers, you'll see that he'll have made 15, 16 clean outs of rucks.

"He's the Bakkies Botha-esque type hitter of rucks. He stops mauls. He generates more maul power. But he's very, very good at stopping mauls.

"And his tackling is one of his great strengths. I mean, it's why he's knocked himself out so many times, because he actually just launches himself into guys from the waist down and occasionally gets his head on the wrong side.

"So he's not a ball carrier. He's probably not your primary jumper in the lineout. But he's the front of the lineout workhorse.

"And so you've got to look at him in that sense. How many rucks has he cleaned? How many times he got off the line and made that initial tackle?

"And it's been a positive tackle, knocking the ball carrier backwards. If you look at those stats, then he's there and he can stay on the field.

"Because the other thing is unfortunately he's had a lot of injuries in the early part of his career. So if he can get game-time, you know, 80 minutes, 80 minutes, 80 minutes, you'll see his stats are right up there.

"Just in those aspects that you need from that type of lock, you can't have two guys like RG Snyman playing lock.

"Who's going to get the ball for you?

"You've got to get someone getting in there smashing people back. So he does do that."

Mallett also highlighted Moerat's leadership qualities, which he sees as a key factor in his Test selection.

"The second point is he's a remarkable person. He really is," he added. "I mean, I've been fortunate enough to spend a bit of time with him.

"And the respect the other players have for him, his understanding of how to handle referees. He's been captain all his life, of all the teams he's been involved in.

"And that includes Paarl Boys High. And SA U19, SA U21. So he's got a really good feel for leadership.

"And that is something, as I will know, you shouldn't just discard that easily.

"You know, the Gary Teichmann thing I've said on numerous occasions, that was my biggest mistake (when Mallett dropped Teichmann for Bobby Skinstad ahead of the 1999 Rugby World Cup).

"And I know John Smit carried on playing probably for two years longer than he probably should have because of his skills as a leader.

"You had Bismarck (du Plessis) pushing hard to knock that door down. But because all the coaches backed John, he stayed on for a couple more years.

"So I think you've got to look at Salmaan in that sense. Understand what is what his job is and what his work rate is, and his stats you have to look at.

"And then also understand his role as a captain and as a future captain, possibly for the Boks, if he can continue to stay uninjured."