Adriaan Strauss as Bok Captain

Possibly runour mongering, however not to be taken too lightly. The Cape Times reports this morning that Heynecke Meyer has aparrently taken a liking to the Adriaan strauss as possible Bok captain, from there also the rumour going around regarding his change of heart for a little less expereinced side than he was innitially thinking. Interesting choice if he decides on that. I honestly think however that he will make an excellent bok captain. If he is in the top 3 hookers in the country i wont mind.

Definitely a fine captain and plays well every match. Not as imposing as Bissie but more mobile. Very hard worker and clearly leads a side.

Certainly a far better player than chilli boy and of course a better captain than spies who may be dropped in any event given his form.

Not a good idea in my opinion. Well not long term anyway, if just for the Pommy series then okay. Reason being, he is definately not the outright best hooker in the country, and we don't want another situation where we have someone who is always in the starting line-up, but who is not the best player in a given position ala Smit.Also, I don't reckon he is the best leader in the country by a long way.

Well Clearly not a long term option but the way he has been playing in the S15 I don't see it as a bad decision. However us and the media shall speculate until a week before the first test against England. I do find it apealing however that Heynecke is adapting to bieng the bok coach and not a Bulls coach by looking outside the bulls, effectively removing his Bulls goggles if this is true. That alone i see as a good sign.

Just some Added info from Media 24:

Email | Print

• Heyneke may opt for youth
• Powerful Baby Bok side named
• Stormers name new-look squad

Pretoria - Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer believes it's the right decision to leave the announcement of his captain close to the first Test against England in Durban on June 9.

Meyer was speaking at a the second four-day Springbok planning camp on Wednesday, where players from the Bulls and Sharks assembled this week as part of preparations before the three-Test series.

“Obviously I am looking at the captains of the five franchises and a few senior guys, but there are a injuries,” he said.

“I am actually quite happy that I didn’t announce the captain (earlier) because I probably would have been in trouble."

“I think it is probably the right thing to wait until the first Test match.”

Meyer said the crop of captains at the franchises had all the right attributes which could see one of them getting the Bok captaincy.

“I think it just broadens my spectrum even if you only have one captain,” Meyer said.

“I believe going further there will be so many injuries you need at least five good leaders and at least three guys that could be captain.”

Meyer said the problem he also wrestled with was that many of the franchise captains were loose forwards and his captain would not necessarily only be picked by virtue of his leadership skills.

“The problem is that a lot of those guys are loose forwards and the competition among the loose forwards is very high, and at hooker I think we probably have the four best hookers in the world,” he said.

“So it is very difficult to pick a guy on captaincy alone, I need to look at experience and everything.

“I think there are more options but with all the injuries it’s going to be a tough choice to pick the captain.”
 

Strauss is a great player, but no way in hell can he play ahead of Bismark

 Points wise, the best 3 hookers in SA at present are Tiaan Liebenberg, Bismarck du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss. Of the 3 Bismarck makes more errors and loses more tightheads and gives away more penalties (infact Bismarck gives away more long arm penalties than any other hooker in the competition followed by Tiaan) and misses more tackles although he does force more turnovers and pilfer more balls than the other 2 and his lineout throws are straighter than Adrian, Tian and Chilliboy.

Although he has played less time than the other 2, Adrian Strauss makes the most linebreaks, offloads, tackle busts, most metres run with ball in hand but I guess that reflects the Cheetahs game plan.

In terms of current form Chilliboy looks better than the other 3 - I am not sure what that Form means - maybe it is intuition.

Well taking into account Bismark's current form, I will not be so surprised as bismark is inspirational to the sharks yes, and he brings alot to the breakdown, unfortuinately he needs to crub that inthusiasim slightly as he is very high on penalty and ball giveaways.

Bismark is by far the best hooker in the game and a certainty for the Bok starting side. His physicality is a must, no questions asked. He is as important in the Bok side as du Preez, Bakkies and Matfield were

I dont like the sound of this, poor ole Bissie will get stuffed around again. Bissie is the number one choice for Bok hooker, end of! He is widely considered the best hooker in the world, why on earth would we not play him at 2?

The calls are out that Heynecke has to pick the best possible side, on bismark's current form it is highly debatable on if he is the best hooker in the country let alone the world.

Secondly what we tend to forget is that Heynecke is a team man, he will pick a player on team dynamic as he is so adamant on getting the right culture. so we might be surprised that he picks players that are not as good as other one's but they fit better into the culture he whishes to create.

 "I honestly think however that he will make an excellent bok captain."

+1

For those going on about Bismarck's penalties.....I point out again, he had no penalties at the RWC. In fact internationally you have to go back to 2010 to find a Bismarck test penalty. Guys play a tighter, higher tempo game in test rugby. They don't take as many chances.

So I rate Strauss....he would be my bench hooker. But leaving Bismarck off the starting team is leaving off one of our few players who can actually dominate any international opponent. Hougaard is another such player....you don't leave them out.

So no.....Strauss can't be captain.

I have a horrible feeling the bulle boy spiesiesis is going to get the captaincy.  Meyer likes the guys he knows and Meyer was surely involved in getting spiesies the bulle captaincy. 

If not spies then Chilli Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes indeed - the bulle fans will remind us he has already captained the Boks due to his superb leadership skills being recognised and therefore of course that he has the necessary experience!!  That he doesn't do much is all due to the way the bulle play and his role in that!  Pure Windpomp stuff you understand.

The sharkies will scream the the name of the mighty mouse Daniels - the nemisis of the kiwi's and feared throughout the rugby world. 

The Lions with some cause will say how about Josh.  Well if not Strauss or Liebenberg then why not Josh. He does more than spiesies etc.

When all is said and done it is very obvious that Burger is the man to lead the Boks in future years with, at least intially, Jean as his deputy in a Bok side resplendant with Stormers and guided by Rassie.

Fearing the worst  I comfort my failing heart and treat my very profound and deep depression by remembering that having spiesies as captain would be far, far better than having pap matfield on the field messing up our backline!  Suddenly the world takes on a new hue an the birds begin to sing!

A few pointers:

1. This is an interim appointment. A more permanent captain may/may not follow later.

2. There are other advisors around Meyer - most notably Rassie and we all know Rassie and Strauss worked together for quite a while.

3. Of all the potential captains, Strauss is the one who communicate throughout a match with his troops.

4. Putting the ball into lineouts is not one of Bismarks strongest points, while Strauss has less problems with that.

But I suspect that once the team is up and running, Chilliboy will sooner or later step up.

@ Beeno, I'm a Sharks supporter and no way do I want Daniels anywhere near the Bok leadership. He's not even good enough to become a bok, let alone lead them.

Guys, Bissie is the best international hooker and to leave him out of the a test team is utter madness. His influence in test matches is huge and that is why Smittie played one/two seasons at prop to accomodate the world's best hooker. He is a beast and a handful for the opposition to contain. Bissie is the ultimate fisical test for any aspiring test forward and must start at 2 with Adriaan/Chilliboy on the bench.

Rassie and Strauss has not "worked" together for quite a while. Go check when Strauss made his debut for the Cheetahs, and when Rassie left the Cheetahs.

Im going to vomit!

Adriaan Strauss as Bok cappie???

How do you think the players would react to that?

Come on!

Good player, but def not Bok cappie material.

You need to loo kat players who have commanded respect from opposition...

Players like: (and ive included all options here, imjured players as well)

1. Bismark
2. Schalk
3. Spies (not my best option, but better option than Strauss)
4. Juan Smith
5. Bryan Habana (just throwing his name around a bit)
6. JDV