Jasper Wiese on the fence over overseas Bok debate: 'Couldn't say whether I would've been here'

Jasper Wiese was understandably cagey after being pressed on his thoughts about the issue of the Springboks not having an official restriction on the number of overseas-based players that can be selected.

After being one of the dominant themes during Allister Coetzee's tenure between 2016 and 2017, the policy was relaxed upon Rassie Erasmus' return as national director of rugby and was patently forgotten about after the 2019 World Cup win.

Yet the issue is back in the spotlight after Jake White, the Bulls director of rugby, started beating the drum last year and reiterated again after the United Rugby Championship's final that the policy should be scrapped to protect local franchises from the powerful European and Japanese market forces.

Wiese, selected at No 8 for the first Test between the Boks and Wales at Loftus on Saturday, has become an unwitting target of the debate, not only because he represented Leicester in England, but is also keeping two locally-based stars - the Bulls' Elrigh Louw and Stormers' Evan Roos - out of the Bok starting line-up.

To be fair, White's criticism relates more to his bargaining power to keep his best players in South Africa than Springbok selection.

READ | The stern talk that prevented naughty Jasper Wiese from becoming a possible one-hit wonder

Asked whether he would've experienced his meteoric rise if he didn't reject a contract extension with the Cheetahs in 2020, Wiese said with a chuckle: "That's a difficult question. You've put me in the corner here! I don't think I could say whether I would've been here or not.

"I can't go back in time and change anything or determine if things would've worked out if I stayed in South Africa or gone overseas."

But he did argue that Springbok staff and SA