An assessment of the performance of the SA team against Wales

I would say there were vey few positives to be gleaned from the squad used in Washington and I am starting woth the assessment of individual players and then of combinations:-

15     Bosch                          -      3,5

14     ismaiel                         -      4

13     Kriel                             -       4

12     Esterhuizen                -       4,5

11     Mapimpi                      -        6

10     Jantjies                       -        4

   9    Van Zyl                       -         6

   8    Du Preez                    -          3,5

   7   Mohoje                        -          2

  6    Smith                          -           4

  5    Du Toit                        -           6

  4    Jenkins                        -          2

  3    Louw                            -          5

  2    Rallepele                     -           4

  1   Nche                             -          3,5

16   Van der Merwe                               5,5 

17   Kitshoff                                    -         6,5

18   Du Toit                                -           6,5

19    Orie                                                   3

20    Notshe                                 -           3

21    Papier                                   -          5

22    Du  Preez                              -          1

23    Gelant                                   -          3

So where were the problems with the team perfor,amce:-

Outside  Backs     

I think that Bosch’s decision-making and execution was poor  and I cannot see him being used in future.   Gelant was even worse – he is too slow to make the grade on international level.   

On the wing Ismaiel  - even with due regard scoring a  try was slow and ineffective.   Mapimpi was good in respect of all aspects of the game.   Papier came on and had a very good  run. 

Centers

Other than one good linebreak  by Esterhuizen – the center pairing clearly did not communicate and played like individuals.   The backline had really no punch especial;;y in the first half.     

 Halfbacks

Jantjies will always be jantjies – he is not test level player and never will be,   I think the fact that the backline misfired  is largely because of him   Robert  du  Preez was even   worse – two charged-down kicks says it all.

Van  Zyl  had a good game – but he kicked too many box kicks which was easily dealt with by the Welsh.   However the other components of the game  was good.   Papier came on – but played o tje wing.

Loosies

All three loosies were poor.  Smith is physically too small to be a loosie.  No team can function properly without acceptable loosies and none of the  loosies were acceptable yesterday.      

Tight 5

Only four players made the grade – Thomas  du Toit, Akker, Kitshoff and the captain.  Jenkins  was nowhere to be found  and even Louw was questionable.

According to Erasmus 11 of the squad that went to Washington would be retained in the main squad.   I would say the following are likely to be retained:-

Mapimpi, Van Zyl, Papier, Kitshoff, T du Toit, Akker, P-S du Toit.

Dubious retentions would be Louw, Esterhuizen, Kriel  and  Jantjies.  The rest were too poor to be even  be considered in future.              

Can I have some of what you're smoking Oo m Mike ??

Van Zyl made Pienaar look like a dynamic halfback with his sideways run and pass. He literally had the ball stolen out of his hands in the 1st 5 minutes.

His box kicking was also poor. I didn't think you could be more pedestrian than Cronje but He was.

exSport24- 

Curwin Bosch: 4.5

Poor, Gelant was better.

Travis Ismaiel: 5

Hot and cold by a man Erasmus presumably hopes might provide some solutions to last year’s decidedly too lightweight look to the back three. Couple of good chases and hits, but also unforced errors.

Jesse Kriel: 5.5

Cleaned out willingly and tried to be constructive from limited opportunities. But his mistake at a ruck also led to first Welsh try.

Andre Esterhuizen: 7.5

Robust, urgent presence at inside centre throughout; promising debut indeed. Crunching tackles, and reminded that his “flair” game is on the up, too, with clever breaks and other pleasing dimensions on front foot. Influential hand in both Bok tries.

Makazole Mapimpi: 6

Demonstrated the willingness of his engine. Got stuck in wherever possible, and was eager and swift on the kick chase. Smart finish for his try.

Elton Jantjies: 4.5

On his 24th appearance, the near 28-year-old was supposed to bring guidance and direction to a callow back division. It just didn’t happen. Place-kicking sound, but extremely erratic out of hand. One excellent high-ball receipt.

Ivan van Zyl: 5

Albeit presumably under instruction, would have won few new fans with regularity (and limited effect) of his near-constant hoists. Up-tempo enough in other areas, I suppose, but No 9 stays a big SA headache.

Dan du Preez: 5

The one Bok loosie to show necessary physical gusto in wretched first half; that was something. But two glaring handling howlers blotted his copybook.

Oupa Mohoje: 5

Once again, just not thunderous or impactful enough as a blindside flank, although he warmed to the occasion a bit more after halftime.

Kwagga Smith: 4

Acute disappointment, I thought, as Boks enterprisingly tried out a “natural” open-side flank. Couldn’t assert himself in any meaningful way, and Wales bossed the breakdown to costly extent.

Pieter-Steph du Toit: 5.5

Might have been more demonstrative on captaincy debut for his country? Otherwise, a workmanlike shift from the pretty experienced lock … but not much more than that.

Jason Jenkins: 5.5

Powerful physical presence in largely bleak Bok first period, with some telling tackles, but faded a bit as game wore on and missed a tackle to expensive extent once.

Wilco Louw: 5.5

Penalised once for knee going to deck at scrum, and stays some way off the general level that earned him rave reviews for SA toward end of 2017.

Chiliboy Ralepelle: 6

His first start for Boks since June 2010 and he mostly ticked boxes at hooker. Seemed up with play to better extent than many colleagues in first half, grafted hard, and one key track-back tackle where his pace came to fore.

Ox Nche: 4

Shouldn’t he really have been the “impact” loose-head off bench for debut, a role to which he seems hugely suited? Largely innocuous as starter.

Standout substitute:

Steven Kitshoff: 7

Bok scrum took on a whole new level of menace when Kitshoff entered fray in 45th minute. His “popping” of direct opponent played major role in set-up of Mapimpi’s touch-down. (Thomas du Toit also looked solid as tighthead replacement.)

Van Zyl was good in his passing game and also in cover defense.   I do not know why he was constantly box-kicking - but that is normally done on instruction.   However, his box-kicking was more accurate than Cronje's normally was.      

SB

A very liberal assessment with too many dubious point allocations.   Mohoje for instance was rubbish and gave away penalties as well.  No ball protection and recovery by him.,   

I think virtually all the markings are at least 2 points too high.

The official match ratings

Curwin Bosch: 4.0/10 Looked slow and lacklustre on the day. Gelant brought some more power and willingness to take on the advantage line

Travis Ismaiel: 6.0/10 Butchered a good try opportunity by not diving earlier. Did score one opportunistic try. Did offer some physicality.

Jessica Kriel: 3/10 Poor. Would be better to put him on the wing, or use a 15. Not a test standard centre.

Andre Esterhuizen: 7.5/10- Best Bok in the park. Looks to have made the inside centre spot his own.

Makazole Mapimpi: 6.5/10- The best finisher in SA was solid, pity not to get more opportunity. 

Elton Jantjies: 3.5/10 - Poor. The cross chip kick out of the stands was pathetic, it also blundered an overlap where simple passing would have sufficed. 

Ivan van Zyl: 2.5/10 

Crap. I have seen nothing to suggest he is an international player. Why not start Papier who looks to have more potential.  (At the Boks and Bulls). The coaches must see something in Van Zyl that I have not. 

Dan du Preez: 4./10

The smaller donkey twin was average. Did this family even pass the salt during family meals, given how poor their skills are. Imagine having a father that was a Springbok scrum-half, and a "professional" rugby coach- and still not knowing how to pass and catch.

Qouta Mohoje: 1.9/10 Not a test player. 

Kwagga Smith: 3.5 /10  - Not good, but needs more opportunity. A faster pitch with quick ball would suit him more. He has also not played that well for the Lions this year- in comparison to last year. If we have small loosie, they have to be more effective at the breakdown

Pieter-Steph du Toit: 6/10 Lost his first test as captain

Jason Jenkins: 4/10 average at best. At this stage not showing test potential.

Wilco Louw: 5.5 Solid, but would have been good to see him start with Ackers

Chiliboy Ralepelle: 2.5/10 

Not a test standard player. He used to be much better than what he is now. The lineout improved as sooner as Ackers entered the game.

Ox Nche: 4- Some decent moments. Best to start with Kitshoff- and use Nixche as an impact player.  The scrum improves as the game progressed. 

Ackers                                                 7

Good lineout throwing, and much better work rate than steroid boy rapelle. 

Steven Kitshoff:                                   6.5

He has been poor for the Stormers all season, but he had a good game yesterday.

Thomas the Tank                               6.

21    Papier                                   -        7  

He is an elusive runner. I do not understand why he did not start the match. Not sure if played all the time on the wing, or finished the game at 9.

23    Gelant                                   -          5.7

Much better than Bosch on the day.

20    Notshe                                 -          5.0

Got involved but butchered his best opportunity. He does not seem privy to the game plan. He does appear to have potential if deployed correctly and is brought into attacking moves. He is a very isolated player.  

19    Orie        (Corrie)                                            3

I don't recall seeing him on the pitch.

22    Dumb Luc Du  Preez                              -          1

The other donkey twin? I never noticed he was on the pitch, although they play in the same way, who would have noticed.

Mike is just making room for his favourites. He has no objectivity at all.

He was once a big fan of Jesse Kriel. That died a miserable death after three years of arguing relentlessly on this board. Then he finally saw him for what he is. Useless.

His favourite are ...

Kitshoof (who was destroyed by the worst tighthead in the country) ... Tank Du Toit (a retreaded loosehead) who has been taken apart by van Rooyen and Dylan Smith at every encounter ... Pieter Steff Du Toit, who in truth had a poor game last night and doesn't deserve Mike's score ... and of course his numero uno, Damien "the brainless" De Allende who probably would received a perfect 10 had he played.  

His only method of assessing anyone is:

1. See what it says in the media first ... and then follow that trend. If it's written somewhere, it must be true.

2. Fish out some meaningless stats that only tells part of the story ... and then throw a few exaggerations in yourself. Discredit those you want discredited ... and created a god like status for all those players you like. 

3. Then ... when sufficiently armed with this info ... come aboard here and tell us all how objective you are ... how you do not judge according to bias or prejudice ... that you've watched every match ... frame by frame ... and that you are in fact the expert on knit ... ermmmm ... rugby ... and that we should all sit up and pay attention.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaaa.

Same old bullsheeeeat ... everyday ... of every week ... of every year.

What a clown.

Oh and Mike ... please change the title to

"My assessment ... blah, blah, blah ..."

It'll help us to understand where this nonsense is actually coming from ...

Thanks.

And  the madman with his BS personal attacks continues.   The story is the same - he does not know anything about rugby - all he knows is trying character assassination and he is too stupid  to even do that.  

Did not see the match and shitbrain comes out spouting his normal BS.  

You did not see the game - dunce.  The whole backline was malfunctioning in the first half amd Esterhuizen was part of the problem.   However, playing outside of Jantjies is a problem for most centers and I was too harsh on Esterhuizen in this case.   

However, I did see the game and will look at the game again before adjusting my initial assessment.   Unlike you who comments on games without seeing them - I make an honest assessment on issues.