Brilliant Du Preez snubbed
29 Nov 2009
Fourie du Preez has unbelievably been overlooked for the IRB World Player of the Year award, with Richie McCaw claiming the top prize.
In a decision even more perplexing than the 2008 one which saw Wales wing Shane Williams win the award ahead of more deserving candidates, McCaw, who was anonymous in three defeats to the Springboks this year and nowhere near as prolific for the Crusaders as he has been in the past, was preferred to the superlative Du Preez.
The Bulls man was without peer in world rugby in 2009, playing a central role in the franchises Super 14 and Currie Cup success and in the Springboks’ Tri-Nations and British & Irish Lions campaigns.
The snub, and that of coach Peter de Villiers, who has lost just four of 12 Tests in 2009 (one of those in which he opted to field an understrength side with the Lions series sealed), for the Coach of the Year award (Ireland’s Declan Kidney won), won’t do anything to dispel the growing perception that the IRB has an axe to grind with the world champions.
The selection panel of Will Greenwood, Gavin Hastings, Raphaël Ibanez, Francois Pienaar, Agustin Pichot, Scott Quinnell, Tana Umaga, Paul Wallace and convenor John Eales, supposedly watched over 63 hours of action from 49 matches, awarding points to the three players they thought stood out in each match.
If this is the case, those who voted for McCaw either conveniently forgot to take delivery of the Springboks’ footage, or, despite their illustrious careers, know nothing about the game.
Let us also not forget that they omitted other exceptional Springboks Victor Matfield, Heinrich Brussow and Morne Steyn from the shortlist, all of whom have outshone the other candidates – Ireland’s Jamie Heaslip and Brian O’Driscoll, Australia’s Matt Giteau and England’s Tom Croft.
The IRB couldn’t be so blatantly biased as to overlook the Springboks for the Team of the Year award, and they deservedly scooped won that category, but it doesn’t ease the sense of frustration at being cheated out of the two other premier prizes.
By Ryan Vrede
354 Comments
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30 Nov 2009, 10:38 am
Wow, a lot of anger on this site.
I’m going to go cuddle with the Sevens Trophy, Super 14 Trophy, World Cup Trophy, 3N Trophy, B&I Lions Trophy and all those silly little ones in between.
30 Nov 2009, 10:39 am
While du Preez would have been a worthy winner, dismissing McCaw because of the AB’s losses to the Bokke and his absence due to injury is rather blinkered.
My recollection of the reason why NZ lost to SA was the boot of Steyn.
On McCaw’s return to the team from injury, NZ has moved from a clear second place on the IRB ranking to a firm and clear leader.
So two issues debunked. du Preez won the 3N for SA and McCaw has done nothing this year.
30 Nov 2009, 10:47 am
Richie McCaw is s truly world great. Enough said. The best no. 7 to ever wear the jersey.
He is deserving of whatever he wins. The man is a legend.
FDP has some more time to serve before he is the same class as Richie.
30 Nov 2009, 11:00 am
McCaw is the worthy winner. He is a leader as much as a stalwart player with a mature head about him plus a true servant of modern rugby. Du Preez on the other hand is more of an over hyped glory boy prima donna who still needs plenty growing in his immature mind to get anywhere near the stature of either McCaw or O’ Driscoll.
As players go if you have to compare apples with apples not even a debate.
South Africans still largely totally dependant on psychological spoon feeding nowhere near the levels of maturity one finds through other sporting nations. Still babies suckling on the teets of bravado filled hype and it shows in our incapacity to lift the psyche and compete in tours such as we’ve just seen. Still a long way to go to arrive at any level of composite professionalism. What the Ab’s showed against France we only emulated once in 97 under Mallet, other than that we tend to fold and capitulate like spoiled immature babies missing mothers breast feeding back home.
When Du Preez loses that spoiled baby spat syndrome and lifts his game to the levels of a true composite professional then maybe he might become worthy of such adulation and adoration that this largely one eyed support base in this country lavishes on him. I don’t see no immaculate hero, nowhere near the capacity of a Richie McCaw. All I see is a little impetuous prat that still got one long bit of growing to do, both as a sporting hero or as a world rated scrum half or perhaps even as a mature human being.
30 Nov 2009, 11:04 am
@skopskiet:”McCaw is the worthy winner”. Starting a post with this statement is not too clever. Makes scanning through for meaningful posts easier though.
30 Nov 2009, 11:05 am
@skopskiet: You’re a clever fellow. Look in the mirror and repeat it until you believe it.
30 Nov 2009, 11:08 am
@Brads: Come on man, look at the whole picture. McCaw missed many S14 games – didn’t shine. Missed international games, then returned and still had little impact against the boks. I think BOD deserved it more. I also think Heinrich Brussow had a better season, so too did Morne Steyn, but surely FdP deserved it. Instrumental in CC, S14 and 3N victories, not to mention he was quality in 2007 too. I could have understood BOD, but McCaw is pure madness.
30 Nov 2009, 11:12 am
@skopskiet:
Totally agree with the shocking game plan Skoppie, however, they would have been given instruction from the coaching staff who are tasked with working out the game plan which the players have to execute.
So blame PDV and his coaches for the poor game plan and blame FdP and Steyn…and others, for poor execution.
By calling FdP a liability you are going slightly over the top in my opinion.
30 Nov 2009, 11:13 am
@out wide: @ 252
Well said that man ! youve got it spot on too. Boks need to widen their horizons and throw the blinkers off in their style of play. Actually, its an absolute sin to have a fwd pack like that and yet keep kicking it away. They could have had teams chasing them, not chasing fairly limited teams like Ireland.
No worries about your countrymen, we all have bloggers here that embarrass us. Valkyrie is just young and immature and thinks life is a ‘My **** is Bigger than Yours’ moment. Rather pathetic actually. Kobus misplaced his monocle recently and cant find it. We Kiwis have Chaz to deal with, similarly pathetic in his attempts to rile the locals with barbs over the neighbours fence. Thats life.
30 Nov 2009, 11:18 am
@Kobus Kitty: @ 261
“meaningless wins in the NH” ?
Hurricane, if you ever needed proof that Kobus is talking cr@p, then this is it.
Every match has meaning. They dont become meaningLESS only after you lose.
Fact remains that the only team Boks could beat away in hostile conditions was Italy.
Italy !
Perhaps they should have binned SANZAR after all, as has been widely mooted here. That way all their matches against Italy would become meaningful again.
30 Nov 2009, 11:19 am
@Hurricane:
y far the best game of the season…I hope the All Blacks continue playing like that next season. They are unbeatable when playing their very entertaining brand of rugby. SA really needs a Plan B…or anything other than this one dimensional rugby. Especially now that their game plan has been worked out by the opposition.
30 Nov 2009, 11:22 am
@WakaNathan:
Buddy, stop trolling…u have become a bore.
30 Nov 2009, 11:27 am
truth for some of you poor adulating idiots bit tough to swallow. Fdp nowhere near to McCaw or any where near worthy of the stupid adulation some you one eyed fools lavish onto a rather one dimensional and in many instances liability towards the greater team cause. Ratel and Oubaas yeah I’m talking to you amongst the rest of the largely insular and blind fool followers that overstate a players worth. And thats partly the reason this team performs so poorly due to the over hyped hero worship of some of our largely mediocre ordinary one dimensional players.
30 Nov 2009, 12:09 pm
@skopskiet:
Was it just FDP; or did FDP and MS double team your girlfriend (or boyfriend, whatever rocks yours boat).
30 Nov 2009, 12:09 pm
@skopskiet: McCaw is a world class player and deserves the award (even if it wasnt his best year) but to say that fdp is over rated and must be dropped from the springbok side is idiotic to say the least. After you say something like that all your credibilty goes out of the window. He may not have the best distrubution skills but he is strong on defence and can read the game like no other player. Try and recall all the tries he scored and created (I know it might be difficult because you dont seem very smart) He is the best scrumhalf in the world by a country mile and you want to replace him with ? in south africa. Very stupid. You are the Julius Malema of this site. Just saying a lot of **** to get attention
30 Nov 2009, 12:22 pm
McCaw is an outstanding talent and a fine example of sportsmanship. BoD has only one of these qualities.
On the fetching issue, McCaw does cheat, but he is a fantastic player. Brussow is a better ball snaffler and more legal, but McCaw’s genius lies in the number of weapons in his arsenal, he has a more varied game, but i’m pretty happy with Brussow for the Bokke.
SA have been the best side in the world in 2009. The rest is bullshit by dissillusioned kiwis who;ve been cleaned up and are not accustomed to ut. The Eoy Tour was never going to be good for SA both cos of who was selected, even tho the very ones complaining most now are those who where all for development, and also because the bokke stalwarts are absilutely buggered.
Noakes is right to an extent, but the main reason this Bok EOY tour was such a faulure is because of its ‘development’ tag. If however, results are not a worry, then go ahead with development, but dont moan when it all goes tits up.
30 Nov 2009, 12:34 pm
@skopskiet: 303 – Stop the nonsense now Skop. You have it in for the Bulls because they beat your team in the Semi of the Currie cup or you never have liked the Bulls or their supporters. You are sounding very bitter now. Bulls are a great team and have proved it not only this year.
I thought once the Boks played we all came together and just forgot who play for which unions. Once Boks play forget who plays for who then it is South Africa. Give the Bull players and their supporters a break hey!
30 Nov 2009, 13:10 pm
@WakaNathan:
I believe the Boks beat the All Blacks in Hamilton, or is that town too boring to be called “Hostile”?
Ugh, with all the KIWIS and CAPES rejoicing in McCaw undeservedly winning the award, I feel sick. There is a reason why no one was mentioning him to be even nominated, let alone win the thing.
30 Nov 2009, 13:22 pm
Although McCaw is a great rugby player, him winning the award this year shows the bias of the panel. How many super 14 games did he miss? How many test matches did he miss? what was his teams win ration this year? He captained teams that did not win 1 trophy the year and he only played half the season. How many games that he played in did he get awarded the many of the match?
I think the IRB are now one year behind and are playing catch up!
30 Nov 2009, 13:42 pm
@Puma: When at all did Skopskiet mention the Bulls?
OT: Why the hell should anyone care who wins the award? It’s all opinions anyway, and the results are only the opinions of the panel, of course you will have people disagreeing with them. There is no such thing as objectivity, only the attempt at being objective.
30 Nov 2009, 15:18 pm
@CenturionShark (aka LondonShark): @ 313
actually, y’know what. You just overstepped the mark.
30 Nov 2009, 15:32 pm
@cab:
“more legal”
priceless, Cab.
Oh, and “disillusioned” ?
really, Cab ??
Actually, youre usually quite a fair man. So Im going to give you the benefit of the doubt this time. Because on this occasion, youre opinions have been drastically shaped in the wake of defeat.
@Kobus Kitty:
This seems to be your fallback, tyhis oft-repeated line of yours
“….noone was mentioning him to be nominated”
what ? where ? you mean on Keo ? HA !!!! You mean on the all flag-waving Brussow For President fanclub site ?
Well I’ll tell you when and where ‘everyone’ was nominating FdP as Player of the Year (incl me, I might add). That was around about July. Because FdP had been truly excellent in the TriN. For me, he was also excellent in Lions but I believe Phillips shaded him in 2ndTest.IMO.
So thats why we mentioned him THEN.
And why McCaw NOW ?
5 Tests. 3 X MoM awards. Unbeaten. And with injuries behind him (Brussow faced him on his comeback, remember), he has been simply unbelievable. FdP ? well his EOYT was fairly average and, at times, poor. His season tapered off, dramatically.
As for no trophies for NZ….. Well we have the Bledisloe Cup – massive in our country. NZ didnt lose, once, to Aus in 4 Tests. NZ also reclaim the Dave Gallaher Cup from France. NZ beat them 2-1 over the year, incl in France. And there’s no trophy to go with ‘Unbeaten NH Tour’ but the ABs did that without conceding 1 try, you cant make any silverware to rub that from the records. Yes, the Boks deservedly won the TriN. When they were good, they were excellent, no doubt. But also glaring weaknesses. Throughout the year, the Boks were a 1stH team, not an 80min team once. Similarly, the 1stH of their season was good, the 2ndH absolutely shocking. And completely limited in style, which was massively exposed in NH where you need more than a garryowen to win on European soil.
Ireland went unbeaten in 2009, on the back of 11 unbeaten matches. Theyre the ‘peoples choice’ as no1. And McCaw, deservedly, for finishing stronger and better than anyone else.
30 Nov 2009, 15:55 pm
@WakaNathan:
Cry me a river.
Skop looks for kak and gets it. His rants on FDP are unjustified and tiresome.
30 Nov 2009, 15:57 pm
@WakaNathan:
It must hurt to have all these great stats but nothing to show for it…..
30 Nov 2009, 16:05 pm
@CenturionShark (aka LondonShark):
No, his ‘rants’ are his opinion. Thats what blogs are for – ‘opinions’. You can choose to agree or disagree.
What you chose to do was emerge from the gutter with trash-talk.
@CenturionShark (aka LondonShark):
perhaps, but it must hurt to think youre The Best but noone is listening.
30 Nov 2009, 16:35 pm
@WakaNathan:
what? come off it, mccaw is a master of the quick steal by coming in from the side or from an offside position. he knows it and his choirboy innocence would do fitzpatrick pround. good on him but when an observant ref like Barnesey is around and aware of richie’s cunning, he is pinged, and nz are often then in a bit more bother.
30 Nov 2009, 16:40 pm
@cab: Barnesy is hardly observant. What he does when Mccaw is playing is watch 1 player only and forget about paying attention to the rest of the game.
30 Nov 2009, 16:56 pm
we have the bledisloe cup …. massive in our country…
enough said I think…
30 Nov 2009, 17:02 pm
Those waxing lyrical about the AB’s performance are getting ahead of themselves. Firstly their form going into the French game was at best workman like, certainly not spectacular.
They were unimpressive against England, but well done to them for grinding out victories. They played very well against the French, but let’s be honest ,when last have the French played two great games in a row !!!!! Their game plan suited the AB’s who exploited the situation very well.
But to say the AB’s have arrived is premature, they have not overnight sorted out their problems. Cowan on the basis of one good game is not suddenly a great scrum half, they still have no heir apparent for Carter and Mccaw and their locks are still average , front row still has question marks . etc, etc
Whilst on the night it all came together for them I am not sure if the AB’s were very good or if the French were piss poor, I expect the latter.
But let this victory plaster over the cracks for them, our problems have been exposed and we know what to do to fix them, not sure about the AB’s though !!!
30 Nov 2009, 17:13 pm
@justrugby: With respect sir. That team from New Zealand were like ol greek gods playing rugby. They would have beaten Francois and the boys in that 1995 final. Thate team sir – they were not of humankind. They were something like I have nevr seen.
30 Nov 2009, 17:16 pm
@rugbygenius:
Each to their own opinion, they were same same side we beat 3-0 !!!
30 Nov 2009, 17:19 pm
@justrugby: Yes that also shows how amazing we are huh .
30 Nov 2009, 17:22 pm
@rugbygenius:
Well it shows something…huh
30 Nov 2009, 17:25 pm
@justrugby: Ja you are right sir. But check now – if it wasn’t for PDv, we would never have beaten the NZ like that. He was the designer of that victory.
30 Nov 2009, 17:35 pm
@rugbygenius:
What’s with the sir sh#t, you pissed ?
30 Nov 2009, 17:41 pm
@justrugby: No you check, on this place there is too much disrespecting of people and I don’t like that. People caan just be saying BAD BAD things to each other. But because I respect people I call them sir you check? Its because I respect their opinions also .
30 Nov 2009, 17:44 pm
@rugbygenius:
Cool !!
30 Nov 2009, 17:46 pm
@justrugby: Thank you .
30 Nov 2009, 17:55 pm
@cab:
More legal ?
dont paint 1 with the brush and leave the other untouched. Its really a bit silly.
You will remember Kings Park ? I do. I spent the week here being abused after Bloem because I had the temerity to say that whilst Brussow had an excellent match he was also “cheating repeatedly…blocking-off, bridging, hands in ruck..”. The usual cr@p about being a sore loser ensued.
What happened at Kings Park ? Brussow was repeatedly pinged for infringements at the ruck, bridging twice and not-rolling-away/blocking-off. (and FdP was also pinged for crooked feeds, which he got away with in Bloem, incidentally).
Now every loosie does this. N.Back and Dallaglio spent their whole careers doing it. The worst cheats ever those 2.
But to intimate 1 is a serial cheat whilst ignoring the sins of t’other ? well, thats nonsense. Safas have spent a whole career labelling McCaw as a cheat. Because its convenient. Jake White even started a whole campaign based on that just prior to RWC’07 (he got Muller, Capt, to call McCaw “a cheat” at the press conference prior to a match in NZ).
Cab, unless you were blind you would have seen Brussow at work in that last 15mins in Dublin, in particular. He got away with blue murder as the Boks were desperately pushing on in Ireland Qter, ref Owens was virtually giving him cart blanche to cheat at will, handling off his feet in ruck, laying on the ball/blocking. Good for him, he got away with it. Masterful. But innocent ?…..esp compared to that Other Guy ?
dont kid yourself.
Bloody good player tho. But which ‘bloody good’ loosie is a veritable choirboy ?
30 Nov 2009, 18:01 pm
@gunther:
Thats because you have absolutely no idea whatsoever.
As far as Kiwis are concerned its:-
RWC
Bledisloe
TriN
Ranfurly Shield
S14.
Thats what makes us who we are. We dont seek your stamp of approval.
Funny, since Boks lost on EOYT there has been alot of “but we won 3-0 !”
And, yes, they did.
But what trophy will have ’3-0′ on it in years to come ? None. Thats because there are even some things that mean more than silverware, duh.
The ABs weren’t handed a trophy at Loftus in ’96 either. But that achivevment even trumps any RWC win as far as we’re concerned. But, then, maybe you cant understand that either.
30 Nov 2009, 20:29 pm
Waka matey gotta thank u for covering my back in my absence tho like you once told me yourself I’ll return the comp.
I’m old n ugly enough to take care of myself round these hallways of impeccable gentlemanly manners. Centurian wanna mix his metaphores and hurl some abuse I don’t think the poor ******** quite realizes what he might get himself in for. I can hurl insults like the best of them – I could possibly vloek that idiotic smug snot nosed highfalutin prick right under the table if the moderator would allow me the latitude to take the gloves off. Poor schmuck faced centurian wouldn’t quite know wtf hit him.
As regards some these poor adulating Fdp groupie followers in here who simply can’t bear someone like myself’s blasphemous intent against their hallowed saint of scrum halves the righteous Gallahad of No.9′s the veritable can do no wrong infallible fool himself. I like to ask these adulating prostrating idol worshippers of the Greatest Player on the Planet whether he turns water into wine or walks on water too. Far as I can make out the idiot has one of the slowest passes on a rugby field, stands around at the base of the scrum for almost an eternity till he decides which rampaging bull fatty he’s going to pop his next hospital pass to, or else he’s squealing at the ref how come the oppo loose forwards have spoiled his impeccable unprotected ball, and throws a hissy fit if for any reason ref don’t offer him a free bee after he’s got caught in possession cause he’s basically just too slow in getting the ball out the back end of the ruck.
As for his eternally patient fly half and centers waiting for his immaculateness to occasionally and disdainfully grant them a measley scrap of poorly distributed morsel of ball once in a remote while, the poor buggers would be extremely immersed in abject appreciative gratitude if it at least would come when the opposition haven’t already born down on them as they get man and ball similtanously.
And then they reckon this genius is God’s own gift to South African running rugby potential evolution. Couldn’t be further from the truth, this slow poke slow distributing rugby scrum half is the very core of the problem as to why our backline is as flat footed and toothless in attack as its become exposed to be in recent times. Ever since Fdp inherited and wore the mantle of best 9 on the planet the Springbok back line play has all but dried up in almost practical totality.
And no Puma its not because he’s a bloubull, its because he’s a lousy running game non distributing scrum half. That by itself represents the sum total of his overrated inadequacy. Nothing else, not even the poorly assumed reasoning that this gutteral prick idiot centurianshark lowers his f’ak’d out low cast low life mind to.
30 Nov 2009, 23:29 pm
@skopskiet:
ME cover YOUR back ?
fella, Ive yet to meet anyone less in need of a back-covering.
1 Dec 2009, 00:33 am
@WakaNathan:
Yeah, I kept asking the question because no one was answering. And no, I visit other rugby blogs and he wasn’t being mentioned at all. It was between BOD and FDP.
Only now that he has won it do the KIWIS come in and defend for the honor of their McCaw.
He didn’t deserve to win, wake up, you one sided farmer. And FDP still had a very good tour.
1 Dec 2009, 02:32 am
@skopskiet: FFS you are a ridiculous little leprechaun today – are you still hungover? Geez what a freaking overreaction.
Yes FdP kicked averything away. So did Morne. I was surprised Smit didn’t hoof it either.
Seeing a pattern here?
They were clearly under instructions. Bad ones.
Everyone knows that you cannot JUST play a single plan and must vary it. But not your precious coach apparently.
FdP is immensely talented and typically makes great decisions 90% of the time. His skills in any of the scrumhalf disciplines is the best.
He is by far and away the best scrumhalf in the world. Your rants are FARKING RIDICULOUS!
The Boks were told to kick the leather off the ball because of the conditions. So they did. Simple as that. But they could have at least tried a few wide runs.
I for one want to see Rugby rules changed to make kicking the ball more risky than the ruck, so that teams are forced to run it.
1 Dec 2009, 03:26 am
@WakaNathan:
Yeah, and when we won 3-0 there was alot of………”but we beat you last year and and and………” BS. Practice what you preach ya wally
1 Dec 2009, 03:30 am
@WakaNathan:
Mate, you have been out of NZ far toooo long. No one gives a toss about the Ranfurly Shield anymore. And the Bledisloe only gets it’s higher status when the 3 Nations is lost….hehehe.
If the Ranfurly Shield had status, why does no one go and watch the game?
1 Dec 2009, 03:35 am
Oh, and a study by Auckland University reckons rugby, hockey and netball will be nothing sports in NZ by 2020 ish (Can’t recall exact date) cause all the new immigrants are from Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe and don’t give a toss about the game of rugby. Other sports like soccer will be taking over
So wakkadoo s make the most of your little end of year run cause it seems the game is doomed to be a bit player in the future……..shame!
1 Dec 2009, 03:57 am
@whatever: You just showed your ignorance saying no one cares about the Ranfurly Shield, maybe the more dominant unions have lost a bit of respect for it but most unions would kill for it
1 Dec 2009, 05:00 am
@Waster:
No mate. A five minute photo opportunity and a small three line run on in the sports pages does not make it a very sort after Shield anymore. The s14 is definitely taken over as the Trophy in NZ for provincial sides. As for the Air NZ cup, well just look at the spectator numbers again!
1 Dec 2009, 05:20 am
@whatever: Three day party actually when southland won it this year, they sought after it for sure. Even my lowly province won it once and defended it, was a great time, adds a bit of spice.
The Air NZ cup has been great this year, best I have seen in a long time, pity the NZRU want to ruin it next year, bloody bean counters
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