Boks need fresh faces
10 Aug 2010
MARK KEOHANE, in his Business Day column, believes Peter de Villiers should have rewarded Currie Cup form.
Western Province and the Sharks continue to provide national coach Peter de Villiers with a blueprint that emphasises playing the game at pace, offloading in the tackle and using both the ball and the width of the pitch.
Any neutral, having observed the demolition jobs in Kimberley and Durban, would declare the South African game in a healthy state. It was the same when the Bulls and the Stormers thrilled with their skill, intensity and pace in the Super 14 final.
At national level, however, it has looked dire, although there was little acknowledgement of this from De Villiers and his selectors in confirming the squad for the three home Tri-Nations Tests. De Villiers stuck with those who flopped in New Zealand and Australia. Much of it is understandable; some of it confusing.
Why hang onto players who at best are fringe players to the match 22? Why not use the next three weeks to introduce a couple of the form Currie Cup players to the Bok culture?
There was no reward for the standout youthful performers in the first five weeks of the Currie Cup, but there was a recall for Paris-based Frans Steyn, despite the fact that he has not played for two months, is in pre-season training and is battling an injury.
Steyn ordinarily should always be the first-choice fullback for South Africa, but these are not ordinary times for Steyn or De Villiers, who picked Steyn to play against Wales in Cardiff in the season’s first Test, but publicly slammed the player for lacking the necessary match fitness.
Since then Steyn has not played a game because of the French off-season and only recently returned to Paris for pre-season training. Don’t be surprised if Steyn withdraws because he is in no state to play against New Zealand and Australia.
If Steyn does not make it to Johannesburg this week, then De Villiers must invest in the attacking skills of Gio Aplon at fullback and Juan de Jongh at outside centre. The duo has played twice for Western Province since returning from Australasia and they are running hot. De Jongh, comfortable at 12 or 13, offers you more than Wynand Olivier.
Francois Hougaard must start at scrumhalf, although De Villiers’ love affair with Ricky Januarie knows no end and the continued selection is an act of defiance from the battling Bok coach. JP Pietersen’s physicality is also necessary on the wing, so you could be looking at four changes to the backline that played against Australia in Brisbane.
Among the forwards the loose-trio mix will have to change, and a place will have to be found for a flanker who specialises in playing to the ball. The best available loose-trio would be Francois Louw as the openside specialist, Juan Smith to add grunt as a ball carrier and Schalk Burger to play at No 8, with Pierre Spies to provide cover in the match 22.
Burger, the only loose forward who performed overseas, has played No 8 for the Boks before, and done so effectively. He is far more confrontational in contact than Spies and he has the ball-handling skills to match his physicality.
There won’t be any tampering to the tight five, mainly because of injury and suspension. There is no Bakkies Botha or Andries Bekker and Bismarck du Plessis played for just the first time in three months at the weekend, and he was understandably off the pace against the Lions.
The omission of Pat Lambie will be a talking point, but the more he plays the more obvious it is he will be on the end-of-year tour. He is a fantastic talent and he has now excelled playing at fullback, inside centre and flyhalf.
Fullback looks like his best position although his performance at flyhalf will have the selectors thinking that maybe they have found Morne Steyn a World Cup partner.
Sharks hooker Craig Burden is another who is excelling. Burden, converted from wing to hooker three years ago, is the form hooker in South Africa and his athleticism among hookers in this country is unmatched.
Others who have sparkled in recent weeks include Sharks lock Alastair Hargreaves, WP No 8 Duane Vermeulen and Bulls wing Gerhard van den Heever.
The Currie Cup continues to produce outstanding rugby and features wonderful talent. De Villiers has chosen to ignore the talent, but it would be crazy of him to ignore the playing blueprint that shows our players are capable of playing the game at pace.
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310 Comments
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11 Aug 2010, 10:19 am
@Dusky(Dusky)-295:
And I dont give a sh*t whether he has Sharks regalia all over his wall etc,showing results on the field is what matters
And I have been watching Pat Lambie since his Std9 at Michealhouse.I have relatives that went to school during his era & played alongside him at age group level.
11 Aug 2010, 10:26 am
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-300: Good post. I also would love for Lambie to be the next big thing as it would greatly benefit SA rugby, but like the much vaunted Gerhard Van der Heever I think we need to let these guys settle and prove themselves over a couple of seasons.
11 Aug 2010, 10:52 am
I always like to read the “team of the week” type of articles that Rugby365 post. The latest one is a “best of the rest” type of team, those players not selected in PDV’s current squad, but showing great CC form:
“The old saying that ‘if you good enough, you’re old enough’ still holds water if James O’Connor and Israel Dagg are anything to go by.
For that reason, we – at rugby365.com – present our Uncapped (Bok) XV:
Starting from the back, Hennie Daniller has been as trusty as any South Africa fullback as the last line of defence this season and the strength of his left boot helps him to pip Louis Ludik – who has just returned to action – for the No.15 jersey.
The wings select themselves – both ‘The Shadow’, Gerhard van den Heever, and Lwazi Mvovo have been struck with a try-scoring disease this season. Michael Killian is unlucky to miss out, but our pair just have that extra ability to create something from nothing.
Jaco Taute reverts to outside centre, where he played for the ‘Baby Boks’, and links up with fellow SA Under-20 star Pat Lambie in the midfield. The versatile 19-year-old Shark will play alongside Jacques-Louis Potgieter in next year’s Super 15, which is why we decided that Lambie should be the one to shift across to inside centre, where – of course – he has played this year, too.
South African rugby’s cup overfloweth with scrumhalf talent currently and the man from Kimberley who always punches above his weight, Sarel Pretorius, has the edge over the Lions’ nuggety No.9, Jano Vermaak, who could – and should – also win a Bok blazer in the future.
Duane Vermeulen, at No.8, is a man amongst men and isn’t adverse to the physical stuff. Jacques Botes and Deon Stegmann offer two fetchers capable of playing a tight game when it’s called for, while Willem Alberts deserves an honourable mention. The loose trio form a tough unit who wouldn’t be afraid to bleed for the cause.
Leader of the unbeaten Western Province side and the new line-out king in SA, Anton van Zyl, is our skipper. Mr. Reliable Steven Sykes is his second row partner. (Although Sykes was named on the bench for the third Lions Test last year, he was not called onto the field and is therefore still eligible for our team.)
Coenie Oosthuizen and Werner Kruger are mobile front-rankers and also powerful scrummagers, and they hold off some tough competition from the likes of Wicus Blaauw, Brok Harris, WP Nel and Pat Cilliers to fill our propping positions.
Deon Fourie – despite being the back-up at WP to Tiaan Liebenberg (a Bok against the Baa-baas in 2007) is our bolter at hooker and he will tear around the park tackling anything that moves for the first 60 minutes before Craig Burden gets called on to do much of the same in his helter-skelter style!
The bench is all about making an impact, with Burden and Keegan Daniel masters at roaring around the park late in the game. Lambie’s ability to switch to flyhalf means that Bulls form man Stefan Watermeyer provides midfield cover, with no flyhalf warming the pine.
rugby36.com’s Uncapped XV: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Patrick Lambie, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Jacques Botes, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Anton van Zyl (captain), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Wicus Blaauw, 18 Adriaan Fondse, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Stefan Watermeyer, 22 Louis Ludik.
11 Aug 2010, 14:45 pm
We are too quick to hand out Springbok colours.
Very often, a player comes out of nowhere, has a spectacular S14 or Currie Cup and is suddenly a Springbok. Some then go on to be “good” or “great” Springboks, the rest fail. Why?
The reality is that we need to adopt a policy of developing players over a period of seasons to be Boks. Instead of after 5 or 7 good S14 games, giving out Bok colours, it would be better if players are expected to work their way through the ranks.
That means, we do not select for S14 unless the player has a solid year in the Currie Cup under their belt. For Bok selection at least 2 years in S14.
The point is that a player must establish a record of consistent improvement over a period of time rather than having a few good games.
In addition to this, there needs to be much more effort placed in to developing these players by processes such as mentoring and elite clinics, as well as a more formalised Emerging Bok set-up.
If this sort of approach would be adopted, the Boks would become unbeatable within a few years.
We are spoilt for talent in SA. We must learn from those who are not, such as Australia. They cannot afford a failure rate like we have. (Failure being meteoric rise to Bok colours and equally meteric decent into oblivion!) They invest an enormous amount in their players, and it works!
The last aspect of this is to ensure that we have sufficient numbers in each position. Take No6 FETCHER for example. We did not develope our depth properly, where’s Stegmann or Deysel, they should have been on tour with the Boks in Nov. They have paid their dues and worked their way up through the system. The situation we find ourselves in whereby we are using a No7 to be a fetcher is a symptom of mismanagement.
12 Aug 2010, 07:14 am
The Springbok team will be these guys once Bismarck and others return:
1. Steenkamp\Smit
2. Bismark
3. Smit\BJ
4. Bakkies
5. Victor
6. Brussouw
7. Smith
8. Spies
9. Pienaar
10. Morne
11. Habana
12. Wynand
13. Jaques
14. JP
15. Frans
This is really wrong. A better team could be picked from the players that are left out.
12 Aug 2010, 07:20 am
These left overs would trip the tired fat old men.
1. Beast
2. Liebenberg
3. Kruger
4. Pieterse
5. Bekker
6. Louw
7. Deysel
8. Schalk
9. Hougaard
10. Butch
11. Van Der Heever
12. Jean
13. De Jongh
14. Aplon
15. Lambie
12 Aug 2010, 15:31 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-281: Mshini – simply reacting to your ott statement All hype,little results… You can say what you want but Pat Lambie is producing results aplenty. He looked good and calm and comfortable like a pro playing Super 14, He did damage on the Junior Boks WC attempt (one of the few I may add), and he is now jumping positions and playing all well in the Currie Cup. I dont think he´s anybodies saviour at all but with the current lack of danger options at fullback and dearth of flyhalves we can WELL do with his services. I would be inclined to play him at 15 at the present and use him as a sub for 10 perhaps until he proves himself more. But what ive seen so far has impressed me a lot.
So to say all hype little results is really a dumb statement hence my reaction – figure of speech not proclamation of intelligence. Apologies if it came out the wrong way.
Just been so many jackassed and hairbrained ideas on here of late and lack of insight into just who is playing good rugby I get a bit irate. We have the talent, we have the ability. For us to have taken a back seat as World Champs and lost so badly in the Tri Nations is a friggin disgrace. There should be no reason we´re losing right now. not by those margins. And unfortunately the signs were there on the BIL tour last year laready i´m afraid. EOYT just confirmed it. We got it right for the Tri Nations and then reverted back to dumb Souf Efrikkens again. The All Blacks play smart and thats where their strength lies. They dont have faster players or stronger or bigger or anything. They just play amazingly as a team, basic skills are solid and they have amazing rugby sense. One just has to look at the likes of Cory Jane, Mils, McCaw and Dan Carter. So if you ask me our weak link has always been the coaching staff at Bok level. I´d be inclined to let Heyneke Meyer and Alistair Coetzee pair up as head coaches. I would LOVE to see what the can achieve along with one kiwi in the mix.
If we can produce this type of rugby at Super 14 level i cannot see why we cant at National level – youtube.com/watch?v=2MVWJBtcApY from 0.40seconds onwards. Simply brilliant except for one forward pass in there.
12 Aug 2010, 19:48 pm
Interesting battle
15 P Lambie
14 F Steyn
13 J Fourie
12 J de Villiers
11 G van der Heever
10 M Steyn
09 F du Preez
08 P Spies
07 S Burger
06 H Brussow
05 V Matfield
04 B Botha
03 Smit
02 B du Plessis
01 CJ
vs
15 G Aplon
14 JP Pieterson
13 A Jacobs
12 J de Jongh
11 B Habana
10 E Jantjies
09 R January
08 A Johnson
07 S Tsibylika
06 K Floors
05 ?
04 ?
03 H Shimange
02 B Maku
01 Beast
14 Aug 2010, 14:37 pm
@Luster Johannsen(Luster Johannsen)-308: White vs Non-white BS…. dividing a team against racial lines shows what’s going on in your head..
14 Aug 2010, 14:40 pm
@Bell(Bell)-309: They do it in New Zealand, it’s called the NZ Maoris, everyone seems to love that racist side.
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