Super Rugby – Conclusions from week fifteen
June 4, 2012 in Uncategorized
First of all: Happy Bitrhday to me.
Second of all: Congratulations to the Stormers for pulling off a very surprising victory.
To be honest, I only watched the Bulls/Stormers match this weekend so most of my conclusions will be drawn from what I saw in that perticular match.
The biggest revelation for me during that match was Jean de Villiers. Not only did he play a superb game, but he managed do rally his troops in a way only John Smit managed to do. He was given a rag tag team to charge the Loftus gates with and he did a fine job.
This leaves Allistair Coetzee with a bit of a conundrum. What will he do when Schalk returns. I never really rated Schalk as a captain. I have always felt that, when the chips are down, he always tried to do too much by himself. Some may see it leading by example, but I saw it as a lack of trust in his team mates. I have seen too many promising backline moves come undone just because the incredible Schalk decided to take on three defenders by himself rather than letting the centre next to him do something with the ball.
The Stormers have lacked that killer ability for quite a lot of seasons ow and they never really managed to put a team to the sword when they had the oppertunity. On Saturday, though, that all changed abd it all came down to whatever Jean de Villiers did or say to his troops.
Speaking of captaincy. I was very surpised not to hear Fourie du Preez’s name called out when the Bok group was announced. He really looked like the obvious choice. In my opinion, the position as captain of the national side agianst the English now lies between Spies, Strauss and De Villiers. If Saturday’s match is anything to go by, Jean will win this race hands down.
He has more experience than the other two, he has captained the Boks on a few occaisions already (THAT win against the All Black in Dunedin, 2008 comes to mind) and on Saturday he showed his true ability as a captain. He definately will have the respect of every member in the Bok team and he should make a fine leader.
By losing against the Stormers on Saturday, the Bulls made this competition a lot harder than it should have been. They now face a very steep uphill batlle to stay in te playoff race and even then they’ll have a hard time winning at every other venue than Loftus when the bussines end of the competition starts.
Lastly, the announcement of the Springbok group. Heyneke again infuriated the rest of the country by selecting 13 Bulls players and only three Stormers. There’s no de Jongh and no Kolisi. Heinrich Brussouw is another surprising ommision. The inclusions of JJ Engelbrecht and Jaques Potgieter must have raised a few eyebrows.
I am of the believe that, no matter how much I want the Boks to win, there’s nobody who wants them to win more than the coach. It’s his jib that’s on the line and it’s he who must make the calls in order to achieve his goals. These are choices that he must feel comfortable with.
Meyer have been tracking the progress af Potgieter and Englebracht for some time now and he saw something in these two players that we are yet to see. He also trusts that gut feeling his enough that he is willing to put his job on the line while hoping far the to suceed.
I know that most of you are not happy with these selections. I know how you feel because I sometimes felt that some of the Bulls’ players did not get the recognition from the national coach that they deserved, but I want to urge you to reserve judgement at least till the end of the English tour.
Meyer has the credentials of a quality coach and I don’t think that he would have selected a group of players that he does not feel comfortable with. Let’s wait and see what Saturday has in store.
Anonymous said on June 4, 2012
Of course he wouldnt select a bunch of players he doesnt feel comfortable with, thats why so many bulls players got the call up, but he will learn his lesson soon enough
StormyRodger said on June 4, 2012
Spoken like a true Bulls supporter. Please, Kolisi an up and coming player? What more must he learn? JJ Engelbrecht above de Jongh? If Victor and Fourie availed themselves he would have had his 15! Pathetic! He started his career by already dividing SA!
StormyRodger said on June 4, 2012
Sorry, Baie geluk met die verjaarsdag. Hoop daar is nog vele meer.
uysh said on June 4, 2012
Happy Birthday! My seun verjaar ook vandag!
uysh said on June 4, 2012
HM must surely see something in JJ, Kirchner and Potgieter (aside from being injured) that we don’t see. Also, he must not see in Aplon and De Jongh what the rest of us do.
The squad is largely what we expected, but it does become concerning when the fringe players do not a) fit the mould of experience he touted since the beginning; b) are not the form players in those positions; and c) just happens to be Bulls players.
I said it in my post, I support the Springboks n matter who plays. It does not change the fact that I will criticise when I feel they are doing something wrong. In any event, its not as if our opinion is going to cost him his job.
GertBloues said on June 4, 2012
Potgieter was actually considered for Saturday’s match, but the decided it was too late to tweak the lineup.
I have to confess that I am also a bit surprised with the squad.
At least, one thing that I do know about Meyer is that he is a brilliant talent spotter and he can bring the best out of the players that respects him.
This is the only basis that I can think of that can explain the inclusion of Potgieter and JJ.
I’m glad that Kolisi is in the additional group of players. He played out of his skin and an inclusion in the test group would have been just reward for his efforts.
But being in the broader group allows him time with the national squad as well as the opportunity to hear directly from the national coach why he didn’t make it in the first place.
Being in this group also keeps him away from the media storm that would surely have erupted around him. By answering questions through the media a player can easily damage his career prospects by being misquoted by the press.
Kolisi has been good all season, but he was brilliant on Saturday. If he can deliver more performances like that during July, he will force Meyer to select him.
PhilSmuts said on June 4, 2012
Happy Bitrhday to you Bloues. Hope you haven’t got the blues after Saturday. There is one problem I have regarding the Blue Boks. How in heaven can a team that only wins 3 lineouts of their own in the entire match, end up as winners? If the Stormers did that, what on earth will England do?
HarryTheViking said on June 4, 2012
As a Bulls supporter I do have to admit that some players shouldn’t have been in the squad: Kirchner, Olivier, Spies and JJ should have been in the emerging boks group. J Potgieter has been brilliant and has that “Schalk type” madness in his play..
All Stormers should also remember that if Schalk, Vermeulen and Becker wouldn’t have been injured, they would be clear 1st choice players in their positions.
So rest assure that in 4 nations there will be more Stormers and more importantly for you in WP – less Bulls!
uysh said on June 4, 2012
Fact is Schalk, Vermeulen, Bekker are injured and not available for selection. It’s not about the numbers, its about picking the best available players. And everyone also though Brussow would have been picked, he was not. So not so sure HM would have picked Schalk etc.
GertBloues said on June 4, 2012
Meyer’s response on Brussouw’s exclusion was that he feels the new law interpretations leaves no room for a small fetcher. You see more and more hookers performing that role (As implemented by the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers)
So he would rather choose two big ball carrying flanks than one big flank and another small fetcher. He said that it was up to Heinrich to change his game or for the law interpretations to change if Heinrich wants a shot at Springbok selection.
Aplon and De Jongh’s size also counted against them.
provincefan2 said on June 4, 2012
I just want to say one thing:
If test rugby is about defense, and i’m a speedy wing that has been retreaded as a outside centre…
and a LOCK throws a flat pass to a BLINDSIDE (although he is having a good season on the openside) FLANKER, and said FLANK beat me on the outside on the drift…
I wouldnt really rate my odds of playing in a test match environment anytime soon.
uysh said on June 4, 2012
Which is nonsensical because he rather picks a large ball carrying player who can’t tackle than a smallish but incredibly strong fetcher who made the 4th most tackles in the competition this season.
On Aplon and De Jongh, for their small size you and I both know they are much stronger than their size suggests and have bumped off and tackled players twice their size. It’s a poor excuse. Look at their performance, not their measurements.
uysh said on June 4, 2012
But he is the “future star”….
provincefan2 said on June 4, 2012
He’s the future star on the wing. And I actually rate him there. He’s big, very fast, not afraid to come off his wing and has quite decent hands. But id Frans Steyn pulls up injured in the first match, and JDV gets a niggle that keeps him out of the second…
Jan Serfontein is the future star centre. He’s playing for the Junior Boks, and everyone that has ever seen him play considers him the real deal.
I havent rewatched Saturday’s game yet, but i have a sneaky suspiscion JJ looked up to see where JDJ was (nobody has liked running in his channel all year)
provincefan2 said on June 4, 2012
He’s never going to pick Aplon. He has said as much.
JDJ will come into it in the case of Frans picking up a injury
hanjooveres said on June 4, 2012
I’ve seen all there is to see of JJ, I’ve been saying that he’ll be the next white Bok winger, but he isn’t there yet in my opinion, Meyer has bemoaned the fact that he’ll have limited time with the team, so tell me this, would it not make more sense to have de Jongh who regularly plays alongside Jean at the Stormers, have played with Frans before and know most of the other squad members well instead of JJ who is largely inexperienced. – for me Potgieter has been god prior to injury, but Kanko? how is he picked ahead of Brussow, with two #8′s in Daniel and Spies in the group, why another? why not have a specialist openside option to fall back on.
hanjooveres said on June 4, 2012
JdJ, tackles like no other… his tackling around the ankles is simply put, insane.
provincefan2 said on June 4, 2012
its not the ankle hits everyone is afraid of
Desertsport said on June 4, 2012
Bloues, firstly happy birthday I hope you enjoy your day. Do you agree with Meyer’s assessment of Brossouw? I will do some research on why Meyer has omitted Heinrich but I for one do not buy this.
powachair said on June 4, 2012
I agree with you 100%. I am going to reserve judgement until there is something to judge.