Yesterday, me and Morne had a little discussion regarding Wynand Olivier and his alleged position as the No. 1 inside centre in South Africa.

Now, to go on a rant and write 30 paragraphs of opinionated nonsense would only spark debate and arguments and bring us nothing nearer to an informed decision. So I decided to go the other route, the statistical route, and I downloaded the statistics of the 5 most prominent inside centres in South Africa for the first 5 rounds of Super Rugby.

Olivier for the Bulls, De Jongh for the Stormers, Bosman for the Cheetahs, Le Grange for the Lions and because the Sharks were somewhat inconsistent with selection (which might be a reason behind their failures) I chose Riaan Swanepoel, who played the last 3 games for the Sharks, as he had the most exposure, Jacobs had two games at 12 and Strauss only one.

I thought I knew what I was going to find, but I was wrong, the statistics paints a very interesting picture:

Statistics courtesy of ruggastats.com

Basically I will let the stats speak for themselves, Juan de Jongh coming out top in 3 of the 5 categories, and Wynand not in one.  Let’s debate this brothers, because I am 100% sure, that none of us expected this.

132 Responses to The search for 12…

  • 61

    #59

    I’d choose Meyer Bosman before Meisiekind.

  • 62

    #43 Saint,

    Mmm…you and Alistair Coetzee not one and the same ouk? You see he was also telling me that Schalk’s discipline was better this year. This, in spite of 2 incidents (Bosman and ref) in the first 6 games of the season. He was very fortunate not to be disciplined for both..

    Until Schalk understands that intimidation is two-fold i.e. pshycological and physical and that both these methods have as their objective the unsettling of individuals, particularly those players like Schalk himself who have a poor disciplinary record, I cannot agree with you. And as a Stormers supporter I very much want to.

    At this stage, Schalk remains a yellow or red card risk. 🙁

  • 63

    @ 61

    He he he….at least you’ve got a sense of humour… 😉

  • 64

    Saint – just means u dont like male eye candy 😆

  • 65

    @ 64

    😆

  • 66

    #61

    I just don’t think that WO has what it takes. If he proves me wrong so be it. But I think that playing for the Bulls makes many players seem better than what they actually are.

  • 67

    Fender

    If you feel that way about Burger, what do you think about Bismarck?

  • 68

    @ 66

    Yes it does, and if you keep adding up all these players that are made look good by the team… you get a winning team… 😆

  • 69

    Fender

    In any case, any openside flanker worth his salt, is a yellow or red card risk.

  • 70

    BULLS team against Force…

    Bulls – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gerhard van der Heever, 13 Jaco Pretorius, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
    Subs: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Bees Roux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Derick Kuün, 20 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 21 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 22 Pedrie Wannenburg.

  • 71

    More detailed one…..

    The Vodacom Bulls team (with Super caps) is:

    Zane Kirchner (31), Gerhard van den Heever (9), Jaco Pretorius (22), Wynand Olivier (62), Francois Hougaard (8), Mornè Steyn (63), Fourie du Preez (90), Pierre Spies (46), Dewald Potgieter (22), Deon Stegmann (30), Victor Matfield (100), Danie Rossouw (93), Werner Kruger (33), Gary Botha (64), Gurthrö Steenkamp. Replacements: Bandise Maku (12), Bees Roux (21), Flip van der Merwe (11), Derick Kuün (47), Jacques-Louis Potgieter (22), Jaco van der Westhuyzen (48), Pedrie Wannenburg (103).

    Notables:

    •It will be the first time ever that the Bulls have two centurions (Victor Matfield and Pedrie Wannenburg) in the match 22.
    •Matfield will lead the Bulls for the 52nd time in Super Rugby, equaling Cornè Krige (Stormers) record in this regard.
    •All of the Bulls backline have scored tries in 2010.
    •Mornè Steyn was the first player to score 100 points in the 2010 competition. He has scored 106 points so far and 600 in Super Rugby.
    •Werner Kruger scored the last of his 3 Super 14 tries against the Western Force last year.
    •12 players were also involved in the Bulls last visit to Perth, which the Force won 15-14.

  • 72

    Saint, a card risk in terms of playing the ball on the ground – maybe. But that’s not what we’re discussing here.

    We’re talking about Schalk general conduct here, not his work at the breakdown.

    If we are discussing both, then he’s a double risk.

    And please, let’s not discuss Bismarck….please!

  • 73

    Unfortunately I am very pro-WO biased and I can not comment here.

    And I am looking VERY much forward to the WO and JP centre pairing in action again.

  • 74

    @ 73 Hokaai – That settles it then…

    Wynand Olivier is our best 12 in the country… 😆

  • 75

    I won’t be too surprised if the Nulle struggle against the Force, they might even pull the upset of the season.

  • 76

    Fires…. SILENCE !!!!! 😆

    We don’t want to think about that mkay..?

  • 77

    Pienkste,

    The ’07 S14 upset of the season came in like manner……

    Sharks were 6 from 6, the only team unbeaten in the comp after beating the ‘Saders by 1 point, and that after the hooter had gone.

    Their first game on tour, a bottom of the log (or close to bottom) Force team, Sharks were supposed to stroll over them…they handed the Sharks their first defeats for that season and it was quite a convincing one at that. (if memory serves me right)

  • 78

    @77

    I’m not disagreeing…

    I’m just saying sshhh !!! 😆

  • 79

    Hallo Ash…

    Hoe lykit ?

  • 80

    @77 Fire.. – In any case, I would’ve thought you would say the greatest upset that year 2007 was in the final 😆

  • 81

    blouste @ 79
    kannie nou my broek oepmaak om te kykie,
    maa
    hy behoort darem nog orraait te wies, hehehe

  • 82

    Pienkste,

    Nulle weren’t that useless, it came a close second though. 😉

  • 83

    @ 81

    As jy nou noggie weet hoe hy lykie het jy probleme…

    In elk geval, jy nie vanoggend gewas nie 😯

  • 84

    Waarom is hoeveelheid drieë gedruk nie deel van die statistiek nie, of pas dit nie in by die doel van die statistiek nie ?

    So, slim mense, wys asb vir ons, ook laasjaar met JDV ingesluit, hoeveel driee al hierdie spelers die afgelope 2 jaar gedruk het.

    Dankie

  • 85

    blouste @ 83
    😆

  • 86

    bdb @ 84

    Dit tel nie want dan wen WO… 😆

  • 87

    blouste @ 86
    nee
    dan wen fabian juries …. in ag genome tyd op veld teenoor drieë gedruk!!

  • 88

    Beste senters tot dusver hierdie jaar in S14 van SA:

    1. WO
    2. Bosman
    3. Doppies
    4. de Jongh

  • 89

    bdb @ 88
    1. De Jongh
    2. Whitehead (ja ja ek weet … net 1 game, maar …..)
    3. WO
    4. Doppies
    5. Bosman

  • 90

    Ashley…

    Bere jou mes en hou op moeilikheid soek.. 😆

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