Keep an eye on Cronje
25 Jan 2010
Lionel Cronje has the potential to become something the Stormers and Western Province desperately need – an all-round flyhalf.
The Stormers need to face the facts. Willem de Waal’s never going to dominate on attack. On the flipside, Peter Grant’ s never going to dominate with the boot. Think Matt Giteau or Dan Carter. When was the last time the Stormers, or indeed South Africa, had an all-rounder capable of dominating across all facets?
While De Waal’s inaccuracies were partly to blame for the tactical failure in 2009, Grant just doesn’t have it in him to be a better kicker than he already is. From a goal-kicking perspective, he’s the third best at his franchise, and when it comes to line-kicking, he can’t kick the ball far enough for the opposition to be troubled.
Think about the hybrid. Think Carter or Giteau. Giteau with that linebreaking knack, that awesome pass and that powerful yet pin-point kicking game. Carter’s left foot demoralises opposing forward packs, and when it comes to distribution, there isn’t a better flyhalf in the global game.
These are old assertions rehashed to make a point. Rassie Erasmus made a new assertion when he signed Lionel Cronje at the end of last year. He said the 20-year-old, with his bulk, slick handling and cannon for a boot, reminded him of Frans Steyn. It was a big statement, but last Saturday’s performance confirmed that we should all keep an eye on a very bright prospect.
Cronje was underplayed in the weekend’s warm-ups, playing 20 minutes in the WP XV match and 20 minutes for the Stormers against the Force. He replaced Conrad Hoffmann in the first game and immediately the backline was galvanised. You couldn’t compare Hoffmann’s line-kicking to that of Cronje. While Hoffmann’s clearances and downfield probes from inside his own 22 rarely troubled the opposition, Cronje’s booming punts turned the Maties’ defence around. To showcase his versatility, he took the ball flat later on and found Stokkies Hanekom running an undefendabale line.
At the end of Force match, Cronje again impressed with his distribution, slipping a pass to JJ Engelbrecht for an emphatic score. There are a number of reasons to dismiss this cameo, such as the quality of the opposition and the flagging endurance of the opposition in the final quarter. But the 18 000 people who were at Newlands would be able to tell you about the youngster that sparked the Stormers backline. In a year or two, the kid’s going to be big.
The Stormers are searching for that missing piece of the puzzle, but in De Waal and Grant, they have two halves of the missing piece. De Waal will return for the final warm-up match against Boland and be favoured as the first-choice this season. He has the potential to dominate with his boot, but he’ll be under pressure to perform after last year’s inconsistency.
Grant doesn’t receive the plaudits he deserves, but he’s playing out of position. No 12 is where he’s effective, and the latter stages of the Currie Cup (where Matt To’omua ran at 10) and again last Saturday showed why. He’s a good option as a secondary kicker, a no-nonsense defender and a good distributor. The Stormers will field a quality centre-pairing whether Jaque Fourie or Juan de Jongh play 13.
For now, Erasmus and Allister Coetzee will persist with De Waal, but already they have to be thinking about what comes next. It’s unfair to keep shifting Grant to 10 because he doesn’t belong there. It’s also unfair to ask Hoffmann, an exceptional scrumhalf, to play 10. Like Grant, he”s able to do a job, but he’ll never excel at it. Giteau played scrumhalf for the Wallabies back in 2006 and didn’t do badly. But he never excelled, and that is the point.
Hoffmann’s had a bad run with injury, but back in 2007 he was tipped as the next big thing at No 9. His goal-kicking is seen as a bonus when you consider he has all the attributes of a top scrumhalf – great kicking game, a fine pass, pace, vision and physicality. The move to 10 hasn’t really worked, just as the shift didn’t work for Ruan Pienaar.
In Cronje, Hoffmann and De Jongh the Stormers have some exciting young talent, but if they’re to derive the best from these players, they need to play them in their preferred positions.
By Jon Cardinelli
57 Comments
25 Jan 2010, 06:09 am
Potential Dragon!
25 Jan 2010, 06:14 am
If he is good enough, then play him. De Waal is ordinary!
25 Jan 2010, 06:47 am
Ya, by all means
Plat him, and why not, the Stormers then will find someone to blame.
Where did he come from? did he play for any Varsity after High School?
25 Jan 2010, 07:24 am
@Hondo:
Shimlas and SA u/19.
25 Jan 2010, 07:35 am
Very good article for a change, Jon. I agree with almost all of it!
At the moment it’s just hype, but who knows?
25 Jan 2010, 07:38 am
De Jongh did very at inside centre… I’d leave him there… the line was really firing in the first half…
had a goodlook at Cronje… he is big… looks like a loose forward and he is a good distributor and good on defence and attack… however… it seems he does not have a left boot and if they don’t work on this with him it’s going tobe a problem…
with 5 minutes or so to go in the game and the Force on the attack… we were close to our line and the ball waspassed back to Cronje. All he had to do was drop it onto his left boot and get an easy touch… but he very awkwardly stepped onto his left foot and had to scramble a kick with his right boot under a lot of pressure.. maybe it was just an isolated thing… I hope so… but even if it was the coaches need to sort that out otherwise it could be a problem…
25 Jan 2010, 07:39 am
@ufo:
De Jongh did very well at inside centre…
25 Jan 2010, 08:05 am
Juan De Jongh did very ,very well at 12…looked completely at home.
That Lionel Cronje certainly impressed me….the delayed pass to JJ Engelbrecht [ another superb prospect ] reminded me of Butch James at his best.
25 Jan 2010, 08:11 am
@grant10:
yeah Grant… all round the guys looked very good… can’t think of anyone who really did not play well…
25 Jan 2010, 08:13 am
@ufo: 9
Yes …i watched the 1 st game against Maties as well, lots to get excited about….
Heres hoping!
25 Jan 2010, 08:24 am
me too…
some great talent there… do you know that fullback’s name..? in the Invitation side… was quite something… 6’3″ apparently…
25 Jan 2010, 08:32 am
@ufo: Visser is the surname….think he was last years u 21 WP player.
25 Jan 2010, 08:33 am
@ufo:
Jurgen Visser … watched him paly for the U21′s last year.
He can play at 10 as well..
25 Jan 2010, 08:40 am
@grant10:
@grant10:
Thanks guys… he looks like a great prospect…
some guys around me had seen him play but none could remember his name… all said he is worth watching…
big and powerful on defence… but quick too…
25 Jan 2010, 08:43 am
I thought our scrum struggled at times!
Need to fix that… Also the breakdown needs a bit of work!
Think Schalk will complete the back row once he returns…
Bekker and De Kock Steenkamp were great… the 2 of them together with Anton Van Zyl = Second row quality!
And I’d stick with Joe Pieterson at 15, even when Jantjes is fit! Joe is in great form… Just the 1 mistake he made on Saturday when he should’ve put De Jongh into space
Please make this a good year STORMERS!!!
25 Jan 2010, 08:57 am
With Cronje and Sias Eberson comming through the boks may have a world class flyhalf in about 2 years time
25 Jan 2010, 09:09 am
@gretep:
sorry GRETEP… that shoulda been thanks to you to…
25 Jan 2010, 09:13 am
@ufo:
No probs mate… I watched him play a bit last season and he reminds me a bit of Slapchips… In a good way….
25 Jan 2010, 09:25 am
@gretep:
actually… that’s what we all thought too… just not as skinny as slaps…
25 Jan 2010, 09:31 am
Lionel Cronje went to Queen’s College and was Headboy in 2007. The school has another “Lionel” in Joshua Stander. Joshua is U/16 this year, but has all the makings of a great flyhalf.
25 Jan 2010, 09:33 am
will stormers be brave enough to entrust Lionel Cronje with the 10 jersey?
Thats the million dollar question…
Be bold Stormers.
25 Jan 2010, 09:59 am
BTW…
Quite liked the new Stormers jerseys…
25 Jan 2010, 10:00 am
@Hondo:
SA U20 Player of the Year.
What did you EVER achieve on the rugby field ‘Mr Know it all’??
25 Jan 2010, 10:03 am
@ufo:
Dude, where were you seated??
25 Jan 2010, 10:06 am
Cracked an invite to the Presidential Suite…
You..?
25 Jan 2010, 10:22 am
Cronje is definitely the no10 for the future. Let’s hope Stormers use him often, otherwise this would be a wasted year in one of the top up-n-coming players.
25 Jan 2010, 10:33 am
well that is what they said about Koster before the WP ruined him. Lets hope that he moves to the Lions before this happens.
25 Jan 2010, 10:35 am
I’m a tad bit worried with Juan De Jongh at inside center, when I spoke to him last week, he said he prefers outside center, as this allows him to join the line later and he reckons he will play nicely with Conrad Jantjes and Bryan Habana. But if the team requires him to play inside he will play inside, he just hopes the “system” trusts him, he knows he will deliver.
He also reckons Bobo was one of the most underrated thinkers in the game.
As for Lionel, I find it strange that WP can sign and play an Aussie 19 or 20 yr old in Matt, yet when we talk about our very own “Matt”, we seem to think he will be ready in 2years time, WTF!!!.
Go Lionel!!!,I must admit though, any boy that comes from Queens, Dale and Selborne, I’m biased to the end.
25 Jan 2010, 10:54 am
Told you so !!
I love this guy. He reminds me more of a Butch James ito attitude. He is very relaxed and has time.
To compare him to a Giteau / Carter hybrid i think is a tad early…..Lets see him play S14 first….
He needs to work on his goal kicking. It is not good enough yet. Not nearly. Both him and Sias have poor goal kicking records, and could do with a few months under Vlok Cilliers.
25 Jan 2010, 10:58 am
@Cheetha Champs: does he know how you feel about him?
i guess your chances are pretty good if he chose to go to province
25 Jan 2010, 11:30 am
@rangerman: Well, if he didnt know how i feel after the bunches and bunches of flowers i sent him, i guess he never will
25 Jan 2010, 11:40 am
@XhosaKid:
hear what you’re saying XKid… but IMO… Juan looked like he’d been playing inside centre all his life… didn’t skip a beat… played really well…
can’t see him ousting JF for 13 at this stage… and feel he’s too good to leave on the bench…
would like to see him stay at 12…
25 Jan 2010, 11:47 am
@ufo:
Railway Stand…
25 Jan 2010, 11:51 am
@wpw:
Nothing wrong with the Railway Stand…
that’s where I normally watch from…!!! and will be again on Friday… this was just a once-off… very lucky and very cool… all the memorabilia, plaques, paintings and stuff… just awesome with the history and tradition of WP Rugby…!!
25 Jan 2010, 11:59 am
@RedLion:
He was sitting a few rows behind me.
I doubt he will leave WP…
25 Jan 2010, 12:04 pm
@ufo:
I will also be there on Friday and once again on the railway stand!!!
25 Jan 2010, 12:14 pm
@wpw: I thought that this Friday match between the WP and Sharks was to be played at the WP new home ground? and will it be televised?
25 Jan 2010, 12:26 pm
great article jc…hope you keep this standard up read too much drivel from you lot last year.Lionel cronje is the REAL DEAL at 10, johan sadie is the real deal at twelwe and de jongh is the real deal at thirteen. i think de jongh should be used as a thirteen as this kid will just get hurt in the twelve jersey all those loose forwards and the maa nonu of this world will break his tiny body in that channel and he already has had a major injury he may look good in that position now but i the stormers/wp should take this oppurtunity to develop sadie at twelve.on a different note what has happened to all the talent the bulls had dippenaar,steenkamp,mabeta,jansen,watermeyer and whole host of other schoolboy stars?
25 Jan 2010, 12:26 pm
future looks good!!!
25 Jan 2010, 13:41 pm
Who is better at number 9??? Dewald or Hoffman ? we have some serious young talent which we must not stuff up.
25 Jan 2010, 13:43 pm
@RedLion:
It will be played at Newlands and yes it is televised!!!
25 Jan 2010, 13:44 pm
future backline could look something like this if we retain Hoffman at 10.
9 dewald
10.hoffman
12.Cronje
13.Juan D
These guys are all early 20′s wit big futures
25 Jan 2010, 13:45 pm
Hi all
Who won the game between the cobras and the stormers….no info on the webb…its like it was played in bermuda!!????
25 Jan 2010, 13:46 pm
@Fleckie:
Bolla!!
25 Jan 2010, 13:47 pm
Do you remember the years when fleckie and those guys al of a sudden apeared on the scene and our rugby looked real good!
This is the first year I feel we have clearly more talent and the potential to do good if we nurture this talent!
25 Jan 2010, 13:48 pm
@Hoops:
It was a draw!!!
25 Jan 2010, 13:51 pm
I remeber Barry and Marius Joubert in their good years….we never lost to the bulls and no matter how hard the bulls forwards was, our backs just ran faster and they had no answer….
These days our forwards want to take them on and we lose every time! Get back to the old days style of running those ******* tired all day!!
25 Jan 2010, 13:52 pm
no wonder the cobras lost to the warriors….no confidnce!! Hehehehehe
25 Jan 2010, 13:52 pm
@Hoops:
Ja we had Fleckie, Skinstad, Breytie, Krige, Hottie Louw, Slaptjips, Louis Skoen (I know??), Selborne Boome…
25 Jan 2010, 13:57 pm
@wpw:
Percy!!!!
25 Jan 2010, 13:57 pm
@wpw: with the veteran Andrew Aitken!!, those were good days
25 Jan 2010, 13:59 pm
@wpw:
I remember the one year when I watched at loftus……Percy kept on nailing them with huge return kicks and the bulls supporters would boo him for getting the ball…..and then curse him for kicking it back so far!!!
25 Jan 2010, 18:25 pm
The Pre season hype and all that talks created unrealistic expectations among most supporters in the Cape.
It usually ends up with a thump when the harsh reality surfaces.
There haven’t been much talks from the Bulls, the Cheetahs and the Sharks camps, nor great ‘discoveries’ of exciting new talents there, I like that undertone.
25 Jan 2010, 18:39 pm
@David:
Now I am puzzled
If he’s such a talent, why didn’t the Cheatahs secured his services? after all they are desperate for a Flyhalf?, with Potgieter gone, Naas Olivier injured and Rossouw a history, the Cheetahs could surly make do with such an exciting FH?
I would imagine
26 Jan 2010, 10:23 am
Another Grey boytjie !!!
Well done Grey !
Pity Cheetahs couldn’t keep him !!
26 Jan 2010, 13:14 pm
@CHEETAHFS: Sorry Cheetah, but as far as I know he’s an old Queenian.
26 Jan 2010, 17:27 pm
@XhosaKid: Don’t comment much here. But do read articles, as and when time allows. Agree with your sentiments, XhosaKid 100%, wrt bias towards anything or anyone concerning Dale, Queens or Selborne. And that bias is based on my grandfathers’, who went to Dale and Selborne respectively. My father and I Queens, and my son is now at Selborne. My father always joked and said his father saw the light, and sent him to Queen’s. @CHEETAHFS: Cheetahhfs. Lionel is an Old Queenian.
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