After reading the player ratings in Rapport and on Rugby365 and elsewhere, I could not find a writer who felt the same as the other or whom I agreed with…. so, here’s my Bokke player ratings.
Forwards:
1. Wian du Preez – 6: Wian was solid enough in a make-shift tight five and the make-shift forwards pack. Scrumming was always going to be a problem, even for the best props in a Team where scrummaging is’nt deemed important enough and with very limited time to gel as a tight 5 unit in the scrums. He carried the ball up well and was busy in loose play.
2. Adriaan Strauss – 6: He is an industrious hooker and the same scrummaging sentiments apply to him as would apply to Wian.
3. John Smit – 5 at prop, 7 at hooker: John is a hooker… I’ll say it again… he is a FREEGIN HOOKER, not a tight head prop. John only came to his rights as a player in the last 20 minutes when he reverted to hooker. His throwing into line-outs is solid, his scrumming at hooker very good.
4. Bakkies Botha – 7: Bakkies is always dependable and strong.
5. Andries Bekker – 7: He is definately a No 5 lock, not a No 4 enforcer lock and seems to have learned a lot from Victor on Tour. He has been one of the better Bokke on Tour.
6. Heinrich Brüssow – 8: The man is a genius, the world’s best opensider by a mile. He stole ball when it mattered, he tackled well. The BEST BOK ON TOUR!
7. Danie Rossouw – 6: A mixed bag for Danie, he was better when moved to No 8, he is not a blindside flank but makes a good make-shift No 8, better at No 8 than Kankowski by miles.
8. Ryan Kankowski – 4: He had a good first few minutes when the game was loose and assisted in the 1st try but as soon as it got tight up front, he was nowhere. He is a disapointment and one of the worst Bokke on Tour. He needs to be dropped totally to regain form in next year’s Super 14.
Backline:
9. Fourie du Preez – 8: The general, the maestro…. the best scrum half in the world. He scored one try and made one for Wynand Olivier. I run out of expletives when I describe his value to the Bokke.
10. Morné Steyn – 6: A mixed bag for Morné, apparently they use a very different type of ball in Italy, which would explain why he initially struggled with place kicks but when he came right it was the Morné of old. No problems in his tackling or distribution skills.
11. Bryan Habana – 8: He was hungry for the ball, went looking for work and opportunities, scored a try and had a huge hand in Fourie du Preez’ try. A very good day at the office for Bryan.
12. Adi Jacobs – 4: Not on standard, he misses tackles, gets lured out of the defensive lines easily, runs laterally. Poor Tour and he’s a poor player at present. He needs to be dropped in total and concentrate on gaining form in the Super 14 next year.
13. Jaque Fourie – 7: Jaque is a stalwart in the team, scored a good try, defended well… and he combines so well with Habana and Fourie du Preez.
14. JP Pietersen – 5: Very quiet day, does not look for work like Habana, lazily chases kicks and seems to be resting on his laurels a bit.
15. Zane Kirchner – 7: He was solid in the last vestage, always nicely in position, takes the high ball well and mostly takes the correct options.
Bench:
Tendai (Beast) Mtawarira – 7: Beast was solid when he came on. With John at hooker and BJ at No 3 they scrummed well.
BJ Botha – 8: What a difference a good tight head, who is used to European standards makes!! He needs to RETAIN THE TIGHT HEAD POSITION ! With John Smit reverting to hooker next to him the scrums went well. This is what we want on tight head.
Victor Matfield – 8: He makes a huge difference at scrum time and is hugly underrated as a scrummaging lock. He tackles well and off course reigns supreme in line-outs in the world.
Jean Deysel – 8: He should have started the Test and was very valuable when he came on (and Kankowski left the field) at a stage when the Italian forwards were setting the pace. Things swung around in the forwards department partly due to him at blindside and Danie reverting to No 8. I Hope the selectors took serious notice of this improvement!
Wynand Olivier – 8: What a difference it makes to have someone solid at No 12 who knows the players around him well. Seeing as he instinctively knows every move that Fourie du Preez or Morne Steyn or Habana or Zane would make, makes him the logical choice going forward. He is a solid defender and runs good support lines, as was indicated in his try off the shoulder of Fourie du Preez. He needs to replace Adi Jacobs.. please, please, please let this happen.
Ruan Pienaar – 6: Ruan did nothing wrong on Saturday. Pity that his form has taken such a dump due to him being shifted from pillar to post as far as positions are concerned. Ruan needs to specialise at No 9, making that his only focus going forward.
Francois Hougaard – Not enough game time to rate him properly: These 4 minutes meant his Bok debut in Tests.
WO should’ve started at inside centre after this year’s Super 14.
I agree Tripples, craziness!!!!!
What do you think the Stormers backline will look like next year:
9. Dewald Duvenhage
10. Peter Grant – Worst fly-half in the country by a mile. They should be giving Lionel Cronje or Conrad Hoffman a go there.
11. Bryan Habana
12. Jaque Fourie
13. Juan de Jongh
14. Sireli Naqelevuki ??? Just not that midget… Aplon…
15. Joe Pietersen
I’m just actually wondering where Jaque Fourie will play for them… I think he’s a replacement for Jean de Villiers…
153 I can see that BH and JF are going to be a formidable pair, just going on this weekends game
153@ Straatie – WP bought Juries as well… I can see De Jongh at 12 and Jaque at 13, not the other way round.
Anyway, who worries about WP / Stormers…. they’re fattap!
#156 Bwaaaaaaahahahahahahaha I concur!!!! 🙂
156@ grootbloubek – Jaque Fourie is a big guy and would be better equipped to play inside-centre. That Juan de Jongh is a midget… I want to see Nonu run at him for a whole game…
See the team not training today far too many have injuries. Not good news. See Bakkies is struggling with a back sore back. Zane looks injured, Adi twisted his ankle and someone fell on FdP hand.
Now please hope that Bakkies can play for this weekend. We can fill in for Adi and Zane. Play WO at inside centre or call up JdV and give Frans Steyn a call too.
🙁 Is this what it is going to be like here in the evenings for the next two S.H rugbyless months?? 🙁
Quiet…..or what?
“Fark”…….
@153
It will be (or at least should be)…
Duvenhage… MUCH better than any 9 at WPRU
De Waal… most solid 10 at WP. Showed against the Brits he showed how good he can be.
Habana… picks himself.
Grant… really and sadly the inside center with the most experience at WP
Fourie… picks himself
Peterson… had a great season, should be in the team and is better than most other options.
Jantjies… again, before he was injured had a good season in a bad team setup. That says a lot.
a backline with a strong defense, a good balance of young and old, 4 kicking boots, lots of pace and strength.
Alternatively, in case of injuries…
Januarie… ag hel, hy kan seker nog ons almal verkeerd bewys.
Hoffman… genuinely have not seen much of him at 10, but he was a damn good 9, so it could happen.
Nick Koster… same as with Hoffman.
Juan de Jongh… could play in the first 15. Brilliant
Dylen de Fountain… needs to step up big time, but could still do it.
Frikkie Welsh… actually had a good season with WP.
Tiger Bax… have played for the Stormers before. now lets see what he can do.
I think all these guys will be in the final squad. Maybe add the names of JJ Engelbrecht (GOOD) and Naqalavuki (F.PLEASE NO!!!). And the Lionel Cronje as well as Paul Bosch (cant REALLY comment, but they are supposed to be very good).
@161
Peter Grant’s defense is suspect. When he’s at fly-half his defense is poor (his poor kicking out of hand compounds the Stormers’ woes when atr fly-half), and when he’s moved out to inside-centre he’s certainly exposed even more on defense. Certainly not good enough to play at Super 14 level.
Rassie Erasmus is obsessed with overseas players like Naqelevuki. He had the perfect opportunity to give Hoffman a run what did he do? Sign Toomua for a few weeks… Lionel Cronje is an exciting prospect at fly-half. Played really well in the U/20 RWC and played really well in the age group competitions, and he’s not the smallest guy at 1.84m and 90kgs.
Rather see Jaque Fourie and Juan de Jongh (Who is a midget) be the centre pair for WP. Willem de Waal is a really good kicking fly-half, he lacks on defense though. Nick Koster needs to move to 8th man where he belongs. We need the extra depth at 8th man. Tiger Bax was impressive in the Varsity Cup, needs to bulk up and needs to specialize at centre. His kicking is not up to fullback.
Would prefer Joe Pietersen at fullback to Conrad Jantjies who is another overrated player whom Peter de Villiers is a fan of.
The Bulls backline for next year is settled… Just hope they start van den Heever…
9. Fourie du Preez / Francois Hougaard
10. Morne Steyn / Francois Brummer / J-L Potgieter
11. Gerhard van den Heever
12. Wynand Olivier / Stefan Watermeyer
13. Jaco Pretorius / Stephan Dippenaar
14. Akona Ndugane
15. Zane Kirchner / Jaco van der Westhuyzen (Not keen on him returning)
@162
Juan de Jongh might not be the biggest guy around, but so is Brian O’Driscol. In his first few games at a higher level he tackled most opposition BACKWARDS. Not only that, but I have seen him burst through a few tackles with nothing but strength.
I am sorry, but if using a player that has NEVER played senior (that includes Varsity) rugby at 10 and who has been out for most of the year through injury at flyhalf at a time when the team needs everything to finish 2nd is a good idea, the German concentration camps was a stroke if genius!
Rassie made a good call. Where else was he gonna get a player? Where, tell me? Were they suppose to cal up Jurgens Visser? GREAT prospect, not ready. Same with Hoffman.
Lastly, I’m not so sure that Bulls backline are so settled.
Fourie will catch a dip in the Super 14.
Hougaard has been sharing the back-up 9 spot with Admas (who I believe has been with the Bulls much longer)
J-L Potgieter adds to a settled Bulls back-line… maybe in experience, but not in combination with the other players.
Brummer was the Bulls 10 till Steyn came back. And where were the Bulls on the log at that point?
Jaco Pretorius has not delievered for the Bulls AT ALL since he made the move up North. Ndugane might not be all that without Habana, but he is still good.
Watemeyer, Dippenaar… wie de fok? No, really, settled? Experienced? Off course we have read their names on the team sheets for the last 2 seasons.
Steyn, Olivier, Ndugane and Kichner will be the only players I’ll put in that “settled backline” bracket. And FdP on the grounds that he does not play in the first 3 rounds. He needs to rest, big time.
@162
But I do agree wit you on the following…
Koster should play 8.
Grants defense is suspect, but not as bad as Adi’s.
Bax needs to grow, and since he is only u/21 he should do that just fine. In any case, he needs a few kg’s.
Francois Brummer is not to be blamed for the Bulls’ failures in the Currie Cup before the return of the Springboks. It was a lot of the guys’ first season of senior rugby, and in all fairness to them no-one should’ve been expecting wonders.
Francois Brummer is one of two fly-halves in the Currie Cup who can tackle. Him and Monty Dumond made around 87% of their tackles. His goal-kicking was of the highest standard bar a few off days with the boot (which is to be expected of youngsters). His tactical kicking will improve, and I’d love to see him attack the gainline more… But he’s a solid player, and I’d play him ahead of J-L Potgieter any day of the week.
Heini Adams will also be in the mix at scrumhalf. That’s true but the first choice team pretty much picks themselves. Making one change to that backline wouldn’t disrupt them that much, even if it is a player of the magnitude of Fourie du Preez.
What harm could CC rugby have done Hoffman? In the long run it would’ve been advantageous for the youngster. The way he handled himself against Boland in the Currie Cup (and I know it’s only Boland) suggested that he was ready for the step-up.
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