Time to Throw Caution to the Wind??
September 11, 2012 in Uncategorized
Seeing that there is absolutely no way that we are going to beat the All Blacks on Saturday, we might as well throw Caution to the wind..right?
On the one hand I want Meyer to stick to his plan, his troops and his ignorance and as a result get smashed by the All Blacks. I know this is a very unpatriotic, sadistic, vindictive and selfish desire I have but somehow I feel in the long run, it will benefit SA rugby.
I figured, if we follow up the Draw against Argentina and the loss against the Aussies by a hiding against NZ, maybe, just maybe, Meyer will realise that something is seriously wrong with SA rugby at the moment. – I’m not even sure what it is exactly, We’ve all identified the obvious areas of concern, persisting with out of form players, being unable to make up his mind about his pecking order, calling up players who are most likely not match fit, leaving Lambie on the bench for the full 80, ignoring certain players since the start of his tenure(Aplon and Brussow) , etc.
While all the above may be worrying, I suspect there might be more to the lacklustre performances we’ve seen from the Springboks. Our players seem genuinely clueless, unsure of what to do next, having no idea of when to pass, kick or run… it almost appears as if they are denying their own basic instincts. – taking the obvious wrong route deliberately – This to me suggests being in disagreement with the gameplan, valuing the process of proving the coach wrong higher than results. – OR I might just be a little paranoid
I saw a sarcastic comment on Sport24 which made me think, The comment read “here’s a list of players who improved under HM:” the comment was followed by a nothing, It made me think, who is on form at the moment? Bryan Habana has been playing great rugby and so has Etzebeth, but other than that everyone seems to have disappointed us, to a certain extent. This to me is a worrying sight, We can only hope Meyer is aware of the issues that is causing this general slump, and working hard to fix it, but the pessimist in me can’t help but doubt it.
On the other hand I would just like to throw caution to the wind and see what decent/exciting team selection would do to our chances and the general mood in the camp.
From our squad, assuming both Jannie and Pat are fit for the weekend, I would select the following team, as controversial as it may be.
1. Beast Mtawarira
2. Adriaan Strauss
3. Pat Cilliers
4. Willem Alberts
5. Juandre Kruger
6. Francois Louw
7. Marcel Coetzee
8. Duane Vermeulen
9. Francois Hougaard
10. Johan Goosen
11. Bryan Habana
12. Francois Steyn
13. Juan de Jongh
14. Jean de Villiers
15. Pat Lambie
16. Tiaan Liebenberg
17. Frans Malherbe / Jannie du Plessis
18. Flip van der Merwe
19. Jacques Potgieter
20. Jano Vermaak
21. Morne Steyn / Ruan Pienaar
22. Lwazi Mvovo / Zane Kirchner
While some may argue Alberts at lock is going against the principles of rugby, It gives you another loosie on the pitch, something that can only do us good, seeing that we have been struggling at the breakdown against Argentina, England and the Aussies(NZ will be an even bigger challenge)
We will also for the first time under Meyer start with a specialist openside flanker. Although Louw’s match fitness is also questionable.
I would start Pat as he is more of an allround player, which will help seeing that Beast has not been carrying his weight in the loose. The loss of Etzebeth in the line-outs is a serious issue, but I do believe the added option of Louw does slightly soften that blow.
In the backs, I would shift Hougaard back to SH after Ruan’s shocker against the Aussies, keep Mvovo on the bench after he looked slightly out of depth when he came on, bring in Juan de Jongh, who is a player with test experience, Jean can then move to the wing(where I feel he is better suited until he regathers his lost form – as recently as the English series still, Jean thrived in the 13 jersey, looking devastating with ball in hand)
I would bring in Lambie at the back, a move long overdue and bring in Goosen at 10, this I feel is the most crucial change, as I still believe Morne is playing too deep, kicking too often, too inaccurately and directly causing our backline to become impotent. Alternatively Lambie could take the 10 jersey with Frans or even Ruan at the back – which may already make a big difference.
On the bench I would prefer a specialist SH(thus Jano Vermaak), I would also be tempted to include Ruan instead of Morne. Mvovo takes up the final spot on the bench, where Zane is also an option.
I’m not sure this team would have any chance of winning against NZ either but I do rate their chances of an upset higher. I would rather watch us get beaten by the All Blacks while playing exciting rugby, building toward something, than waking up after the game, realising we’ve lost anyway.
markusaurilius said on September 12, 2012
Reserves:
16. Burden
17. Jannie
18. Bekker
19. Flip
20. Hougaard
21. Goosen
22. Kirchner
Hanjo said on September 12, 2012
Hi Mark, not very different from my Team, like I said to someone above, Ruan is the first player I would drop, while Strauss wasn’t that bad, I would rather play Burden from the bench knwoing he’ll make an impact. I don’t see much creative play coming from either Juan or Jean in the 12 jersey, that’s my biggest concern. I will admit, I also considered your backline.
markusaurilius said on September 12, 2012
My team for Saturday would have been:
1. Beast
2. Tiaan
3. Pat Cilliers
4. Alberts
5. Kruger
6. Flo
7. Coetzee
8. Duane
9. Pienaar
10. Lambie
11. Mvovo
12. Jean (C)
13. de Jongh
14. Habana
15. Frans Steyn
douglas said on September 11, 2012
Hay,people forget how potent flip van merve can be,without exageration,as effective as willem alberts at 4…for continuity i would keep alberts and vermuelin where ther are but do agree we need a fetcher like brussow…alot of this is very debatable but what isnt is morne steyns kickin gameplan…kickin up and unders are onli as effective as the people chasin are good at catchng or causin penalties for the oposition holdin on,(which doesnt happen)…that game plan won the bulls 3 super 15 titles and won the trinations in 2009…however morne steyn is completely off form,(and has been for the last 3 yrs so why does heynele meyer think he will regain his form when he didn’t for the world cup or less pressured super 15 games in past years),… the kickin game doesn suit the rest of the team..as naas botha said players mustn’t be forced to play a style they not effective at…
Hanjo said on September 12, 2012
I agree in principle with your comment, the kicking game does suit players like Morne and Zane and perhaps even Habana. I do however feel the game plan is outdated and from the players mentioned above, only Habana is on form. so we are persisting with players who are in terrible form. – I don’t rate Flip, he’s dirty rather than effective as an enforcer, which results in penalties and possible yellow cards. I just want our game to evolve with the times, I don’t mind kicking, but kicking shouldn’t be the be all and end all.
Will Husselmann said on September 11, 2012
I would prefer Charl Mcleod or Sarel Pretorius. Vermaak is only there because he joined the Bulls.About the rest i categorically agree.
Hanjo said on September 12, 2012
I rate Vermaak, he is a better SH than the other two options in the team. he is also more solid than Sarel(although less explosive) and just better than McLeod
H&P said on September 11, 2012
I know Keo is a controversial cat.
but his latest column hits the nail on the head for me.
check it out.
http://keo.co.za/2012/09/10/meyers-selections-have-restricted-boks/
Hanjo said on September 11, 2012
I’ll have a look.
Met uysh said on September 12, 2012
Personally I don’t trust Keo’s opinions on players as he is likely to promote the players signed to his agency…
Met uysh said on September 12, 2012
And after reading the article, I concur. He says it precisely as it is. Unfortunately Heyneke dug that hole himself when he started…
Hanjo said on September 12, 2012
agree – the article seems very un-keo-like though, but completely accurate.
sulaiman said on September 11, 2012
Ruan as FH why not then at least we have two people doing SH duty when the other can’t get to the ball fast enough the other can fill in his position,
Hanjo said on September 11, 2012
hahaha….you gave me a great idea Sulaiman, Hougaard on the wing, Ruan at FH and Vermaak at SH – at least that way we can expect the ball to be cleared from the rucks quick enough
brrzaouw said on September 11, 2012
I like your team, although I would keep Hougie on wing and drop jean out right. Shocker I know, but lets be honest, STATS don’t lie
Plus, I am a big fan of throwing players in the deep end. They will all swim, don’t worry about it. The nice thing when you are young and have one chance, is that you go balls to the wall, which is what we just might need this weekend
PS: I would also drop JacPot for Brussow…
Hanjo said on September 11, 2012
I would also bring in Brussow, but kept Meyer’s squad as is.
I do believe Jean and Frans looked weak due to Morne playing too deep, but I could live with Hougie on the wing, but would drop Ruan either way, he was terrible.
Boesman92 said on September 11, 2012
Hanjo, to be honest, i would not drop Pienaar, Hougard had 5 games to prove himself and he did not step up, now you want to get rid of Pienaar after 1 game and bring back hougard to where he sucked for 5 games!!! Every time Ruan came on in the other 5 games he made a big difference, so maybe HM told him ” Ruan, if you don’t perform you’re out off here” thus putting more Pressure on him, Give him another go, and let him to play his normal game, kicking all the time is not what he’s normanl game is, he can do it if he must, but he doesn’t play that kind of rugby, Why can’t HM start adapting and playing to the players strenths and not to what SA Rugby’s strenths use to be?? ” J “
Hanjo said on September 11, 2012
Hi Boesman
I would not keep Ruan, if you would prefer we keep Hougaard on the wing, I could live with that. I would however then start Jano Vermaak. this may differ from person to person, but Ruan was without a doubt imo our worst player against Australia, he turned over possession for the Aussies, and continuously slowed down our own ball…. he put us on the back foot, and he has always in my mind been inconsistent. we need a SH who’s primary instincts is to run or pass the ball, Hougaard fits this description but he has been brainwashed into kicking everything away, hopefully Jano still has a mind of his own left
Met uysh said on September 11, 2012
Agree with your last statement. I am too scared to waste another 100 odd minutes of my life watching the Springboks embarassing themselves with the worst rugby I’ve seen them play all my life.
But Australia was an improvement, although they played into our hands by similiar aimless kicking. They changed their fortunes by adapting their game plan, while we, stuck to the same old thing, expecting different results.
Hanjo said on September 11, 2012
Uysh – I actually wonder what would have been said, had we won the game against the Aussies? because it was close, the win was in sight. It almost felt inevitable in the end though, I sat there waiting for that score that would take the game away from us, while I also knew we wouldn’t be able to reply.
the Loss wasn’t all bad, it gave me the yellow cap in Kriek’s superbru pool.
I will watch this game, but seeing that I picked an Aussie win against SA, I guess I don’t need to point out that I’m not expecting much this weekend
Met uysh said on September 11, 2012
If we won, we most likely would have said “its a step in the right direction, but remember this is a very bad Aussie squad who will most likely lose to Argentina…but a win is a win.”
Hanjo said on September 11, 2012
haha – probably, so are you predicting an Argentina win on the weekend? I’m beyond undecided on that game.
Met uysh said on September 12, 2012
I honestly think Argentina should beat Australia. Will be close, but they can, and should.
Hanjo said on September 12, 2012
I’m not convinced – but they do have the better pack of forwards and play a good spoiling game