So much was said about the so called Bokke Dirt Tracker side who came back empty-handed from their End Of Year Tour. What went wrong? Was it a total failure? Some of the players came through this with reputations now blown to pieces.
Jon Harris wrote a column at Rugby365 and feels that some players were pushed into the International arena too early. Many of the Rugby-Talk bloggers also commented about the step up from Currie Cup to the International arena. The players we questioned immediately, proved to be the failures on tour. The desire to get Government approval and recognition by the Bok coaching staff might have hurt some of the players’ careers more than it helped them.
Some players grabbed their chances and funnily enough, we predicted that these players will be a success , does this not prove again the knowledge we share here on this blog, (tongue in the cheek). Juan de Jongh, Jean Deysel & Francois Hougaard are the most prominant names which come up regarding players who took their chances well and showed their readiness to go further.
Some of the others like Earl Rose, Dewalt Potgieter, Wynand Olivier and Wiaan du Preez showed that they are moving in the right direction.
Then of course there are some players who showed that they had reached their pinnacle in domestic Competitions and cannot make the step up or alternatively have shown a tendency to go down fast, harsh words but in my opinion they should be sent back to their Provincial sides and asked to develop more. Names that spring up immediately is Chilliboy Ralepele, Adriaan Jacobs, Bandise Maku, Ryan Kankowski and Davon Raubenheimer.
“Some were deserved, Juan de Jongh was one. But others were placed under undue pressure to prove their worth ahead of their time. There is no doubting that Bandise Maku will be a good hooker, Ashley Johnson a good eighthman in a certain mould, Davon Raubenheimer a good flank. Pushing them ahead of their due date has placed their development into International players at risk. Opinions have been formed of these men, some may be negative and they may have lost their opportunity in the fickle world of South African national rugby.
Others may have been dealt a hefty blow to their self-confidence, and they may suffer a setback in a department which is central to every top player’s success, an unfailing self-belief which withstands every challenge”
Although this Tour might not provide the prettiest reading material, we might have learnt a lot about pushing players, about our weaknesses and the state of our second best team. My verdict is that we have a very good Springbok team but total disarray in our second team.
We need to pick a TEAM and not a bunch of individuals. Give this TEAM a chance to develop into a TEAM. Currently there are too many changes to this team. Play the Springbok reserves in that team, make them the core of the second team and call them the Emerging Bokke, not Springboks.
“This end-of-the-year tour to Europe has been a shock to many, perhaps even in the higher echelons of the game. The second string Springboks disappointed on the whole. Their tour is over, so we can comment. Recognition and reward was perhaps handed out too frivolously. There was an apparent propensity to hand out tour caps to any player of colour showing even the slightest hint of the potential to crack it at the top”
Let us take a leaf out of the French book. Let France be our eye opener. Just look what their second team did last Saturday. Now let us work to get our Dirt Trackers to that level.
Janinne en Janne.
moet se Langbek het sy status bietjie verhoog.
Earl Rose was a real stand-out, and you missed Jongi Nokwe too who impressed me not only with ball in hand, but worked hard off the ball which was always a weakness.
Other players who are moving in the right direction for me was Andries Bekker who is one of the stand-outs and silenced a few critics, as well as Hargreaves who showed he is one for the future.
I do not agree on Francois Hougaard, he was decidedly average and I would have kept Heini Adams on tour as scrummy although I see some logic (even though I do not agree with the concept) of Hougaard being more versatile.
Danie Rossouw too was very average when I expected him to thrive in these conditions where he was the man of the tour 3 or 4 years ago in a similar situation.
I am not going to comment too much on the other Boks who I believe are tired, but Danie certainly does not fall in the tired category.
Kanko had a chance to prove himself and failed.
Those are the main names that comes to mind now.
Hougaard is there because he’s the future at scrumhalf. Adams is 29, he’s older than Fourie du Preez and realistically speaking has no chance of replacing him. He shouldn’t have been there in the first place. His passing have been erratic at times, just like at the Bulls. Janno Vermaak (Who’s injured), Sarel Pretorius should be next in line. Francois Hougaard is an insanely talented scrumhalf who needs to be kept at scrumhalf not played where Ludeke can come up with a new position for him.
The biggest loser with the dirt trackers was Peter de Villiers.
Ek dink nog steeds die probleem met die “dirt-trackers” is dat hulle nie genoeg saam ge-oefen het nie. Die toets span kom tog eerste, en ouens soos Danie R, Bekker, WO, Pienaar ens moes as reserwes saam met die toets span oefen, en kon nie hul volle gewig by die B-span ingooi nie. Selfde met die afrigting, Muir sou beslis meer aandag aan die toets span gegee het as aan die B-span.
Van,
There are hundreds of insanely talented players in South Africa, and although I agree that Hougaard at times displayed some skill through 2009 he is 3rd in line at the Bulls.
The World Cup is only 2 years away, making Adams 31 which is far less than what some of our other Boks will be at the same time.
Adams to me has the quickest clean from the base and does the very basics of 9 play very well. His game is limited and yes there are more talented scrummies in SA who has a more complete game, but Hougaard ranks about 4th or 5th at best given options we have at 9.
He was absolutely shocking against Saracens and displayed a complete lack of tactical and technical appreciation for 9-play and most importantly, wilted under pressure which suggests this kid (Hougaard) needs a lot more time at 9 at provincial and Super level before we can rate him as a potential Bok.
Morne. I agree on Hougaard…he didn’t impress me much, but perhaps being shunted around like Pienaar hasn’t done him any good. A good talent he is, but also needs more game time in ONE position. I thought he was very good at wing for the Bulls, maybe that should be his long term position.
Pokkel do you want him to become Pienaar nr. 2? Leave the kid at scrumhalf. He said he prefer to play at scrumhalf, and he looked solid every chance he got in the Currie Cup for Bulls the past few seasons. It’s difficult to play in an unsettled side. You’re always asking for trouble when the guys haven’t played together…
van. If you read my post carefully I said that I don’t want him to become Pienaar. We have a lot of scrumhalf a talent in SA and he looks very good at wing. Maybe he should ONLY play wing and no other position. If he prefers scrumhalf then let him ONLY play scrumhalf.
2 – Morne, Agree Rose and Nokwe played well. Bekker surprised me he played well. Danie not so much. Then thought they would only play in the Tests. Bekker and Danie are Test players really.
I would have liked to see other players getting a chance. Alberts, Vermeulen, Mapoe, Sykes and WP. Nel. A few others too. Remember WdP and A. Strauss were not even selected to start with nor Deysel. Deysel only got selected once Spies was injured and he proved himself for sure. Very good player.
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