Yep its pretty subjective. Here's my thinking behind that:
Joubert is a more finesse player than Fourie and a bit faster. You never really see Fourie passing. I like Fourie but I like a little more of a playmaker like O'Driscoll and Smith at 13, especially if you have a direct bruiser at 12. Jean and Fourie is a little too much like for like for me. I thought about Frans because he is a bitter better skilled than Jean but Jean has been around and served South Africa a pretty long time and I haven't seen too much of Frans in a good while. But I suppose any match would work really well. Just preference.
I stand by that Krige selection. Was a poor leader and very dirty. I still remember that "We'll kill you in Perth" nonsense that had me cringing so bad. I'm pretty sure his last test was against New Zealand in the World Cup and it was bad bad baaaad. Was hopeless. He was the poster boy for that coach's violent Bok era which lost the team a lot of respect in the rugby world and made refs clamp down even harder on them.
Maybe I'm harsh on Pedrie but I didn't see much good in the tests I saw.
Butch was a real good 10. The worst Bok performance I ever saw was Dunedin in 2001. The entire team played like a tier 3 team apart from Butch. Shame about injuries but he was a complete package really. Great boot, great hands and a very tough defender. Occasional swinging arm but mostly okay. Many many more dirty players by a long way. Of all the Bok 10s I have seen he is the most complete. I'd actually rate him higher than Naas. I got to see Naas and do remember him playing for South Africa and he has turned a lot into a mythical figure. Stransky was another great Bok 10 who I think was pretty underrated. He was a great runnernand passer too but also a smart player.
JP Pietersen was/is great under the high ball but was unsuccessful dealing with New Zealand almost through all his career. Great defender and brave. But a bit slow. There were actually a few wings that caught my eye so it was hard to settle on a wing duo, Habana was easy though. I liked what I saw from Terblanche.
Honiball was brave and tough but a really blunt object. In the 99 World Cup he didn't provide that all round quality to spark the team and was handily outshone by Larkham. Butch was a better rounded player and probably even stronger! When Butch played and Jean or Frans were outside him teams were very cautious to attack the inside channels. Can't think of any other Bok combo there that affected game planning like that.
Loose forwards are really hard to choose. I had about 14 players that I liked but this was what In preferred. You guys make loose forwards like we make centres.
Smit didn't have any real weaknesses in his game. If Bismarck was a more accurate in what he did I'd maybenhabe started him. He'd be on my bemch . pretty overwhelming coming off the bench. Smit was a consistent and long time servant of South Africa and deserves the edge like Jean at 12.
The Wallabies have so many overrated players. Genia, Cooper, Beale and so many others only played well against sloppy teams and when Peters Boks went south after 2009 the had the most success against those Boks. The rest of their performances were pathetic. Cooper had one okay test against NewmZealand in 2011 and was eaten alive thereafter. Genia and Cooper complimented each others incompetence.
Kaino is world class, end of! Again it was hard call but preference. His ability can't be doubted.
