ADFSL

Well I had a blog on which I spend a hour or so and it was quite good (for my standards anyway) but when I saved it an error came-up and the blog is gone.

NOW I am way to lazy to redo it so I am just going to post my team for next SA.

15. Kirchner (not my choice but there isn’t really anybody else in the squad)

14. Aplon ( he had some decent games thus far. Still worried he is a bit to short for the highball. But we have a lot of

                    injuries on the wing Pietersen, both Ndungane’s, Nokwe – still Hekkies van den Heever is unlucky)

13. Fourie ( well the worlds self proclaimed best centre must certainly start in the worlds best team?)

12. De Villiers ( its a toss-up between him and Olivier. De Villiers compensate better for Morne’s only weakness his

                          distribution. But Olivier won’t let the team down)

11. Habana ( not in the best form of his life but still world class)

10. Steyn ( no brain er at this stage the only flyhalf on form this season)

9. Januarie (every ones favourite mechanic. Pienaar could have been 1st choice by now but TISA)

8. Spies ( well the transformed wing is having a great season pity Vermeulen never got a look in he is a different player

                than Spies and gives you a different game plan. For me Kanko and Spies are like for like)

7. Flo (the guy has been on fire. The main reason Burgers back to his old best)

6. Burger ( he still has the highest tackle count after every game and he is starting to pass the ball!)

5. Matfield ( well still ahead of Bekker in pecking order, best in the world?)

4. Botha ( Rossouw had an stelllar season but for scrumming there is no better no.4. NO prop is going backwards if Botha

                   is behind them)

3. Du Plessis ( well prob just edged BJ in the games played thus far.  )

2. Smit ( Cpt. well not every ones favourite but if he can improve his general play he will still be there come 2011)

1. Steenkamp ( his scrummaging agaisnt Italy was good and his ball carrying is good. Beast is prob the better defender and is

                          a bit faster for those cover tackles.)

16. Chilly (well he is the only reserve hooker and did not play to bad. Still a fit Bissy or even Gary would prob do better)

17. CJ ( he can play 1 or 3 )

18. Rossouw ( Divvy maybe will go with Bekker but me thinks its Botha that will only play 60 min. and he can cover

                           7 and 8 as well)

19. Potgieter ( well he has been solid. I would prefer someone like Deysel who can make a big impact but Potgieter won’t

                            let you down)

20. Pienaar ( Mr super sub he can play 9, 10, 11, 14, 15. and prob should be starting at 9 by now.)

21. Butch ( Well for me its a toss-up between him and Olivier and he is just more versatile)

22. Hougaard ( he can cover 9, 11, 13, 14 and is the only sub with some serious pace. )

Thats it. It should have been better. Maybe there should be a saving option???

Cheers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdVlZLEtrs4&feature=player_embedded

Sorry I don’t know how to paste the video!

Well this weekend proved that we need international rugby seasons. This weekends rugby was to one sided to be great games and proves only that in Jun SH teams rule and in Nov NH teams rule. (well some)

Especially SA seems to struggle in Nov. I believe it is because our big name players or stars if you like plays from Feb until Nov nonstop where as Aus and Nz give their guys a brake.

That said we really do need an international season where it falls in the middle of each hemosferes season. Then and only then will we be able to awnser the questions.

The problem of course is this is nearly impossible especially in SA where you have the S14(S15) TriNations and Curry Cup.

The only solution I can see is where you do like they do in Nz and leave all the players contracted to the Boks, who will be playing in most of the tests, out of the S15 start of the season and the Curry Cup. This way these guys can get enough rest to perform well on the end of year tours. This however will not be going down to well with the rugby public so we probably will be stuck with this issue for some time to come.

The next two weekends will be just as boring facing Italy. Pdivvy will select some scratchy B teams that will struggle to play together. ‘

I for one can’t wait for the TriNation so we can see some real rugby!!

Oh and if Bafana can sort out their defence they might go somewhere in this WC.

Well before the game there was some uncertainty over whether Steyn would be available for the Welsh test. He did not seem overly enthusiastic over his selection. It was rather difficult to tell but it seemed as if he wanted to play either 10 or 12 and Pdivvy wanted him at 15.(still not 100% sure if this was the case) Now for me he should either play 12 or 15 and seeing that we have loads of inside centres 15 would be the logical choice. But that’s a discussion on its own.

Now it seems that he and Divvy had a talk and decided that he will only play in the one match and then not again this season. Sounds like lunacy to me. He is one of the players in the world that can do the unexpected. Given that it is not always good. But we need players like him. He can walk in to any international team without even blinking.

So that said, it got me wondering what is behind all this nonsense. Pdivvy is claiming the 4 players left out is not up to scratch and should play S14. Well he retained BJ Botha the player that was the least impressive on the field?? CJ who stood his man gets dropped? This is the difficulty with Pdivvy he never give you a straight answer and I don’t know if he is not allowed to tell the truth. SA sports is much like SA politics and nobody gives you a straight answer.

Frans still have 2 years left on his contract in France. He is happy there and seems determined to stay there. Taking nothing away from Kirchner but he has not done anything special in the test he has played so far. I hope he proofs me wrong but I don’t think he will ever be a Springbok legend. And he has deff not Steyns boot.

So for now bye bye Frans Steyn we will miss your 60 -65 m penalties and drop goals and bring on Pat Lambie!

Ps: Pdivvy is really not good in talking to the media eish.

The test was worthwhile from my point pf view. Their where players that desperately needed the rest Matfield and Fourie being the two most important ones. But for some of the others it was a important test to see where they were.

It difficult to judge players on a once off test but some players did preform and other disappeared a bit.

Players that preformed:

Ricky Januarie – I’m not a fan but he played some solid rugby.

Danie Roussow – was every where.

Frans Steyn showed his class.

Players that got lost:

Joe van Niekerk – did have 1 or two runs but was not impressive.

BJ – struggled most of the game.

CJ in the loose was also very quiet.

Pieter De Villiers now at least do have some options to choose from should there be a lot of injuries. No one on the field had a shocker.

My team vs FRANCE.

15. Frans Steyn - give you something extra

14. Wian Basson – a lot of injuries at least he has got pace

13. Jacque Fourie – easy

12. Wynand Olivier – JdV is injured

11. Habana – Still the best

10. M Steyn – the best we have

9. Ricky Januarie - Pienaars the only alternative but doesn’t play there enough

8. Spies - Van Niekerk did not stand out

7. Dewald Potgieter – Juan injured , Deysel also good option

6. Schalk Burger -  Brussow injured he is still the best

5. Matfield – Who Else

4. Dannie Rossouw – Bakkies still banned

3. CJ van der Linde – BJ struggled against Wales but is also still a great option

2. John Smit – SA’s best hooker

1. Gathro Steenkamp – Beast is not eligible

So what do you think???