TRUTH BE TOLD

Cardiff – Veteran wing Shane Williams will make his final international appearance in a strong Wales team against touring Australia here on Saturday. – Sport24

Shane Williams will be playing his final game for Wales against Australia on the weekend, kickoff 16:30 local time. Williams originally retired after the World Cup, but decided to make this his final outing in front of his home crowd. Williams is currently 3rd on the all time test try scoring list, behind only David Campese(64) and Daisuke Ohata(69) , he has scored 59 international tries in the red of Wales and the British & Irish Lions, He is the leading active player on the list, he scored his last international try in his previous outing, the World Cup 3rd place playoff match against Australia in New Zealand. Williams had a successful World Cup, troubling opposition defenses more often than they’d like.

There is no doubt regarding his class, and his name will be long rememberred, however, I can’t help but question , why now? 

Realistically Williams is in briallint form, and in a young Welsh team full of running, he seemed to shine, Personal records and achievements may not be everything to the unselfish, seeing that Rugby is afterall a team sport.

Williams is currently 34yrs Old, and for a backline player, many would look at his age and probably suggest retirement as his only option. But judging Williams’ situation on it’s own individual merits, I am not convinced, 5 tries short of the magnificent David Campese, and 10 short of being named the leading try scorer ever, and yet to encounter any trouble crossing the whitewash, surely this must have been in the back of his mind??

At the end of the day it’s a personal decision, and he has obviously made up his mind, I however can’t help but wonder what his tries total would’ve looked like if he stuck around for 2012. He is afterall still regarded as the best in his position on current form. 

So if you guys happened to find yourselves in the Shoes of THE Shane Williams, Considering all the above, Would you have retired or would you have been just too tempted to chase that total of 69? or at least Campese’s 64? 

“Cape Town – The Stormers are looking to blood a schoolboy at flyhalf in next year’s Super Rugby competition.” – Sport24

The Stormers will be looking to give South African Schools flyhalf Timothy Swiel a run in their pre season fixtures to see whether he’ll be used as Fly half cover in the 2012 Super 15. Demetri Catrakilis, Gary van Aswegen, Curt Coleman and Elgar Watts are the current options, while Burton Francis has also been training with the team, although reports confirm he hasn’t been signed yet. Peter Grant is aparently also still an option and should join the team at the start of the season should management want to make use of his services. (personally I feel with all these young options, perhaps the time has come to show some faith in the youth in order to find a long term solution) In 2011 the Stormers experienced injuries to no less than 5 Fly Half options, and as a result are taking an over cautious approach. Who’ll be wearing the number 10 jersey in their opener is still anyone’s guess. 

Here’s a clip on the youngster, something that’ll enable you to form an opinion. I guess after all the criticism regarding letting young talent go, the decision to call-up a school boy will reassure the die-hard supporters that management has a “future in mind” plan in place.

What did Hugo say to the comment Box? 

in response to the comment box’s plea “(no bad language or hate speech, please)”,

Hugo replied: “fuck you to, and fuck your nice words” 

The Inclusion of Adriaan Strauss in the Barbarians squad sparked quite a bit of debate, I’ve seen quite a few comments suggesting now that Strauss has received “international recognition” he should go on to claim his “rightful” position behind Bismarck du Plessis as SA’s second choice Hooker, the people making these suggestions were quick to tell Chiliboy he should accept he isn’t in the same league as Strauss or Bismarck, and that in Bismarck and Strauss we’d have the number 1 & 2 hookers in the world in the Springbok team…I saw the particulor comment that roughly said the above on Sport24, the scary part for me was that said comment received more thumbs up than down. 

I also had a bit of an argument with Gillbert earlier today, and that argument is partially why I decided on doing this post, I felt before looking at any stats, that the criticism of Chiliboy after a good season was unwarranted, and I felt Adriaan wasn’t good enough to justify him displacing Chiliboy in the race for that number 16 jersey. 

I decided to use Super15(2011) stats as the indicator to judge who should be wearing that number 16 jersey in 2012. The three players I have nominated as candidates are Chiliboy Ralepelle, Adriaan Strauss and Deon Fourie. all three have played a different number of games, and therefor I have added stats per game, but will mainly be comparing the average stats per game. so here goes: 

- looking at tackle count, the three rank up as follows. (Tackles missed)

Deon Fourie makes 6.4 tackles(0.6) per match followed by Chiliboy who makes 6.3(0.7) and Strauss with 5.1(0.4)

what this shows is that they are equally solid defensively, missing roughly equal % tackles per tackle made. Deon Fourie and Chiliboy with a slightly higher work rate defensively. 

- looking at their ball carries per match, Chiliboy is much less “mobile” with 3 carries per game, Strauss tops this stat by a bit with 7.4 while Deon Fourie despite his obvious love for carrying the ball, finds himself somewhere in between with 5.6

Strauss dominates the line breaks by a bit, and he also dominates offloads, his superior carry count contributing to that fact. When it comes to getting over the gain line, Strauss stakes his claim, with his 72% over the gain line this year, Deon matches this though with a rounded 72% , but Chiliboy(not really known for his ball carrying)  quite far behind with 39% over the gain line this season. 

- Fourie and Chiliboy both are in the 1st 3 players to get to the breakdown while on attack 12 times per game, while Strauss’ work rate is slightly lower, probably due to the fact that he carries quite often, and he’s in the 1st 3 10 times per game on attack. 

- On defense , Chiliboy’s work rate shows, he’s one of the 1st three defenders to get to the breakdown on defense 7 times per match, compared to Strauss’ 3 and Deon’s 4. 

- When it comes to errors, there isn’t much in it, all three give away roughly the same amount of penalties per game(which is less than 1 a match), “Forced and unforced errors” and “handling errors” read a little differently, Strauss makes double the amoutn of forced and unforced errors that Deon and Chiliboy make, although they all make less than one such error per game, Strauss also tops the handling erros stat, he makes 0.8 handling errors per game, while Deon has half that with 0.4 and Chiliboy makes a quarter of the handling erros that Strauss would make, he makes 0.2 per game. These error stats can also be directly linked to the handle count, which would be the main reason Strauss has more handling errors, having handled more. 

In short what these stats show is that these three players have had similar form stats wise, Adriaan is the most “untraditional” and mobile of the three, being used predominantly as a ball carrier, Chiliboy is as traditional as they come, doing the dirty work. while Ironically Deon Fourie is probably the best balanced player. 

It also shows that there isn’t much in it, and there definitely isn’t enough in it to suggest any one of these players should be overtaking another, It does point to Deon Fourie deserving more recognition , specially at national level where the other two have already been capped. 

Taking into consideration this was Chiliboy’s first real full season, where he received ample gametime to be judged, he mostly matched the “leading” hookers in SA, which just shows he is by no means a quota selection, although he may have been in the past. I feel the criticism towards him has been unwarranted, but I’m also grateful there are so many who have seen and acknowledged his performances this year, because I really would love for us SA supporters to stop blaming quotas and unfair slections for failure, I can’t begin to imagine the pressure or insult this adds to a player of colour who is selected by the national team, surely there are players of all colour promoted due to personal preference, we have to realize labeling every second black player a quota selection won’t resolve anything. 

Before this turns into a political post,  I’ll return to the topic at hand, personally I’ll use the upcoming 2012 Super15 to decide who the leading number two hooker in SA is, and there’s no doubt these three guys won’t be the only candidates. very different styles that they have, who gets selected will probably come down to personal preference at the end of the day, as many still believe Deon Fourie, physically, isn’t traditional enough to represent the Springboks, as conservative and old fashioned as that view may be, it’s a reality. Just another reason why the announcement of the new Springbok Coach is such an anticipated event. 

So it’s prediction time, The Barbarians are taking on Australia on the weekend, in what should be a great spectacle, Both teams have been announced, and some interesting selections have been made, some which’ll no doubt add to the expectation of this match turning into a try fest. 

Robbie Deans has gone for James O’Connor at Fly Half, a move which is obviously made due to the injury to Quade Cooper, it’s also a bit of experimenting by Deans , as the obvious choice would’ve been Berrick Barnes at 10. Another experiment from Deans is having David Pocock captain the team, specially after it was no secret Deans favoured James Horwill over the ageing Nathan Sharpe? regular captain Horwill will start this match from the bench. 

The 2nd best Hooker in the world , Tatafu Polota Nau also finally gets to wear that Aussie number two jersey while Lachie Turner makes a rare appearance on the right wing.  

Teams:

Wallabies: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 James Slipper.

Substitutes: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 James Horwill, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Matt Hodgson, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Ben Tapuai 

Barbarians: 15 Isaia Toeva, 14 Sam Tomkins, 13 Robbie Fruean, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Adam Thomson, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Eusebio Guinazu 

Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Jason White, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Nemia Kenatale, 21 Richard Kahui, 22 Seru Rabeni 

Graham Henry is coaching this Barbarians side, and I always find it very interesting to see these team selections, having the luxury of literally picking any available player in the world, spoilt for choice doesn’t even begin to describe the situation a barbarians coach finds himself in, I think there are quite a few obvious selections in Henry’s team, alhtough there’s also a few strange choices. 

Isaia Toeava starts at the back, and it’s no secret that Toeava has been one of Henry’s favourite players in his time as NZ coach. The Bruising Robbie Fruean will be joined in the midfield by veteran Aussie centre Stirling Mortlock, Mortlock’s inclusion is a starnge one for me, after his season at the rebels, one can only imagine his experience contributed to his selection, this Barbarians team will be looking for a win afterall? 

English League fullback Sam Tomkins will be starting on the wing, I’ve never seen him play, but his inclusion accross codes can only mean he’s a special player, it should be interesting to see what he does. Bryan Habana will be running out on the left wing, Habana may be judged by the fickle SA supporters, but this is surely proof that he is rated internationally. Also looking forward to seeing Habana in action, I believe this is Habana’s 3rd Barbarians cap. 

a very starnge half back combination in veteran Irish scrum half Peter Stringer and controversial Melbourne Rebels Fly Half Danny Cipriani starting . Mauro Bergamasco will make his Barbarians debut alongside All Black world cup squad members Adam Thompson and Jerome Kaino. 

Retired Springbok lock Victor Matfield will captain the side alongside Simon Shaw, apparently Bakkies Botha was considerred for the number 4 jersey, wanting the Bakkies/Victor combination to have another final game together, but that wasn’t to be, presumably through injury. Simon Shaw will make his 5th appearance for the Barbarians while Matfield runs out for the Barbarians for the 2nd time, I believe. 

a very experienced frontrow was selected for this game, the Argentine Eusebio Guinazu who had a stink at the Stormers playing alongside two veteran frontrowers in Keven Mealamu and frenchman Sylvian Marconnet. starting, on the Bench Barbarians regular Salvatore Perugini and Adriaan Strauss will provide frontrow cover. Dangerous Fijian back Seru Rabeni and All Black WC star Richard Kahui will also be used from the bench. 

I’m tipping the Aussies to take this one for obvious reasons, The Barbarians’ cohesion in comparison to the Aussies will probably their biggest weakness, I also feel Deans picked O’Connor at 10 with that inside channel in mind, having Cipriani defend against the strong running of James O’Connor may be exactly what Deans will look to exploit, also having the aging Mortlock inside Cipriani won’t exactly help their cause. 

Kickoff : 16:30

My Prediction: Australia 27 – 19 Barbarians  

Man how I love stats. 

I did a post during the Test series against Australia where I suggested with the form of Mark Boucher, and the selectors’ reluctance to drop him, that we should promote Dale Steyn to that number 7 position, I was however quick to acknowledge that number 7 does seem a little extreme, that however, was before he read my post and decided he’ll help me get my point accross. Now I’m completely sold on the idea of dropping Boucher down the order.

Just Hear me out

With Bouch going out cheaply more often than not these days we’re left batting up to number 6,  Boucher’s tendency to go out cheaply also puts huge pressure on an already fragile lower order. In the drawn series against the Aussies, Steyn hung around for quite some time, and contributed 41 in the second innings, that 41 in context of the game that we narrowly lost, made a huge difference, and if Steyn was batting alongside a genuine batsman, he may have contributed even more with bat in hand, another thing to consider is that Steyn scored these runs as a tailender, and one can just imagine being recognised as an all-rounder would surely elevate his willingness to contribute with both bat and ball. 

Here’s some interesting stats from the two match test series…do yourselves a favour and see if you can find anyone with a higher average than Dale Steyn.  

I am well aware of the fact that his Not Out’s have a huge influence on why his average is THAT high , but like I’ve been told very recently, “If he manages to average 50 because of all his not outs then he should be moved up the order because he’ll probably average 50 batting anywhere else in the order”…And I agree completely Kitch. 

Here’s the most recent ICC All Rounder Test Rankings: 

I am not sure if Dale has seen this, but I bet he’d be pretty proud. His transformation into a genuine all rounder may not be something Protea management are really considering, but another couple of 20-40′s and a 50 here or there will surely force their hand. 

Steyn for lower middle order!!

I am slightly confused as to what exactly it is the Stormers Management have been smoking… It seems they will now be looking to Boland players Bolla Conradie and Elgar Watts to improve their half back depth, I must have missed it, but somewhere in that article there seems to be a hilarious joke, as the comments section is dominated by hysterical Laughter. I personally won’t bother creating a poll to determine the general views on the subject at hand, but I will quickly share my opinion: Personally I feel calling on these players as cover is just a result of their brilliant form during the 2011 first division Currie Cup season, Both were nominated for the First division player of the year award. 

Another Article just popped up on Sport24, Sport24 or whoever their source is, spotted Burton Francis at the Western Province High Performance Centre in Bellville on Monday, They’ve attached an image of Dusty Noble to that article though(it has been changed in the meantime), which is seriously worrying, and funny, Sport24 spot Burton Francis in Cape Town, but by adding an image of another hairless coloured player, it might not have been Francis at all, it could’ve been anyone…(assuming though that Sport24 got this story from some other site who have a little more credibility, I’ll just accept there’s some truth to it all)  

I have nothing against Burton as such, but with Watts being considerred as cover, and 2011 season unearthing all of Curt Coleman, Demetri Catrakilis and Dewaldt Duvenage’s versatility. While Peter Grant and Gary van Aswegen  also probably available, anda guy like Isma-eel Dollie an emergency option(I’m not convinced he’s Super rugby material) why would we need another Fly Half? 

Surely with 7 possible Fly Half options all having worn the Stormers or WP jersey in 2011, signing another Fly Half, doesn’t show much faith in the current options, and this lack of faith in younger players has been at the heart of the sudden departure of quite a few promising players(JJ Engelbrecht, Johann Sadie, Lionel Cronje, etc.) For me Demetri was one of the better Fly Halves in this year’s Currie Cup, and I have no doubt that he is good enough to be backup to a player like Peter Grant, similarly Curt Coleman and Gary van Aswegen who sarted a few Super15 matches in 2011, should still be good enough to start another few in 2012? 

I’ve seen some genuine brilliant shopping skills from the Bulls and Lions, and even Sharks in the past year or so, where they’ve contracted young upcoming stars in positions needed, the Sharks’ signing of Conrad Hoffman and Tim Whitehead, ironically both from the Stormers showed their willingness to invest in players who have shown promise. The Lions have been buying lessor known young players to improve the general depth of their squad for 2012, most of these new players will be starting out at the Lions “last in line” , which won’t send out the wrong message to current fringe players. The Bulls are attempting to fill the gaps left by their own exodus of senior players by signing those very same uncertain WP youngsters, they’ve already added Jano Vermaak and Jacques Potgieter to theri squad as early as this year’s Currie Cup, and no one can argue both these players have been well worth the money paid to get them in Pretoria. 

In comparison to the other unions, WP management seem lost, they’ve taken some steps in the right direction by letting Adriaan Fondse, Conrad Jantjes, Pieter Louw and JD Moller go, however, the efforts to get Grant and Fourie back on loan has come across as slightly pathetic. And once agains sends out a negative message to players such as Juan de Jongh, who in all honesty would’ve been a more than able first choice outside centre, eve more so if he had players such as Tim Whitehead and Johann Sadie behind him as backup. 

Rassie Erasmus has been hailed for his player management skills in the past, if he is in fact still acting in a player manager role, I have to question his actions. I was never against keeping experienced players in order to have a balanace between senior and junior players in the squad, But when it comes at the expense of talent I have to question what exactly we are trying to achieve? in having near limitless young talent at the union,  clinging onto the older more experienced players has become problematic in Cape Town…an issue well worth addressing 

So it’s the 21st, and we’re waiting for the scheduled start of the 5th and final day of the 2nd test between South Africa & Australia. Yesterday saw SA 339 all out, leaving the Aussies to get 310runs for the win. 

We struck early, removing Watson for a duck, and Phil Hughes fell a short while later, but since then, Australia have consolidated through Ricky Ponting and Khawaja who put up a 100run partnership, however in the very last over before bad light stopped play, Tahir brilliantly removed Khawaja. 

This morning Australia will start the day on 142/3 needing 168 runs to win, with 7 wickets in hand. The weather may still play a big part in this game. I am about an half an hour away from JHB, and there’s been a constant drizzle for the past 2-3 hours, while it was also raining during the night. Anyone close to the stadium with a more accurate update on the weather? do tell. 

Steyn Answers Call: 

Ironically after trying to justify promoting Dale Steyn up the order in a recent previous post of mine, he added his weight to the argument when scoring a brilliant 41(64), accompanied by Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir. If these valuable innings’ become a regular occurence for Steyn, he’ll certainly be keeping his “all rounder” aspirations alive. 

Where’s this test match heading? 

With the rain aiding bowling conditions, where exactly is this test heading? Will we be seeing a 10:00 start? if not, how much playing time will we get in Today? Can Dale Steyn do what he usually does best, and rattle the Aussie batsman and their stumps? how much of a role will Tahir play in getting those remaining wickets? Hopefully The Proteas get the opportunity to whitewash the Aussies in this two match test series, as winning the series due to this test being drawn(as a result of rain) will surely leave the neutrals debating just how much better we were than the Aussies, in a series that still had every possibility of ending 1 each on the final day of the final test. 

So here’s to wathcing some Cricket today(Live cricket that is) 

So The Aussies are 220/4 at Tea

They are still 46 runs behind. 

Michael Hussey 8(12) and Usman Khawaja 12(53) 

Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon , Pat Cummins and Peter Siddle still to bat. 

So let me hear your guesses on what the scoreboard will look like at stumps on day 2?? 

Our first innings yesterday, and more importantly our collapse was seriously disappointing. Many hoped guys like Philander or Boucher would be able to put up a partnership and score some much needed runs, they are afterall the all-rounder and the wicket keeper batsman respectively, but it wasn’t to be. Philander went back into his crease against a ball that was spinning into his legs and was rightfully given out LBW without scoring while Boucher threw his wicket away very cheaply by skying one for an easy catch. 

At this stage there wasn’t much batting left, and with our number 9 and 10 batsmen in the middle, we all expected it to be over rather quickly, there were a few things going our way(or were they) , bad light forced Michael Clark’s men to bowl spin to the tail enders, with the assumption that pace accompanied by bad light would bring up the close of play on day one, However, I’m sure if you ask Dale and Morkel they’d both confess they’d be much more comfortable against the quickies. 

So with our tailenders facing spin from both ends in Nathan Lyon and Michael Clark, they were surely out of their comfort zones. Morne looked like going out every second ball, I’ll admit Morne has the technique to be an okay batsmen, but his decision making usually gets the best of him, he fell with 6 from 14 to his name and Dale was joined at the wicket by Tahir. 

Dale tried to keep strike and face the majority of the deliveries, he did a good job of it, and really looked comfortable, unfortunately though, Tahir couldn’t be protected forever, and when on strike , he edged a delivery onto his pads which went up in the air and was caught. Steyn finished not out on 15 from 31. 

His score of 15 was the highest of the lower order(including Boucher) and Steyn looked like the only guy with any intention of sticking around, he faced the same amount of balls as Boucher, Philander, Tahir and Morkel combined, Ten less than Kallis and 13 more than Graeme. 

I personally feel Mark Boucher is quickly nearing the end of his international career, and as much respect as I have for the man, I felt the logical decision would’ve been to give a young wicket keeper like Heino Kuhn a test debut , in order to find a replacement for Boucher before he retires, I always prefer a proactive plan. 

In the meantime Vernon Philander has been chosen as a bit of an all-rounder, but from what I’ve seen(and it may just be nerves) he has looked very shaky with the bat. Therefor I suggest we promote Steyn to number 7..and if that’s a little extreme, at least to number 8. 

Here’s some averages for 2011. according to ESPN’s Cricket info 

Looking at the stats above Dale averages higher than Boucher by some bit, while they’ve scored roughly the same amount of runs. I however suspect Boucher is on a quick decline in form, while Dale’s form with the bat is rising. two Not outs from 4 innings’ does suggest if there were someone left to bat with he’d probably have made a few more runs. Also taking into account that Dale on most occasions had to bat with either Morne or another Tail ender, adding extra pressure. We know all too well what Dale can do with the bat when someone on the other side shows some confidence in him, and allows him to play his game, in his high score of 76 partnered by JP Duminy they managed a 118 partnership for the 9th wicket away from home against none other than Australia.

Well known SABC commentator Neil Manthorp told an interesting story about Dale on air yesterday, he spoke to Dale at a Charity function, and asked Steyn whether he felt he’d ever develope into a true all-rounder on the test scene, after confirming that Manthorp in fact meant a number 8 batsman who can score a 50 every now and then, Steyn didn’t hesitate to say yes. a little shocked by the conviction of Steyn’s answer Manthorp asked him why he felt so strongly about it, and Steyn said that putting up that 118 against Australia changed his life. He also reminded Manthorp and the crowd at the function later that night that he was merely 4 hits away from a hundred. 

I feel on current form I would rather put faith in Steyn hanging around to accompany a middle or top order batsman than Boucher. So the question probably is, is Dale Steyn one slight promotion away from evolving into a genuine bowling all-rounder?

On a different note, It seems Australia are showing us just how easy this pitch is to bat on. Hopefully we’ll see some wickets tumble in the next few minutes. I felt Philander looked very dangerous, while Morne bowled a bunch of tempting balls. I’m not sure Kallis is an ideal change, but hey, he’s proved me wrong countless times before.