Another 14 days and Meyer would have to select a Springbok Team

I think Meyer has some serious problems that could affect his whole game plan.   The head ache positions are FULL BACK, FLYHALF an No 8.

Lets look at the issues and see what his problems are:-

No 15 - The ankle injury of Lambie remains a problem and hopefully he would get over it to be ready to play in the first international.    Kirchner looks good when he joins the backline - but his play under high balls when under pressure and his defence is suspect (or near to none-existent.   Pietersen played badly in the two games since he came back - and I believe that the only other option is to play Aplon at full back.   If LAMBIE is fit  he will be my first choice - otherwise APLON.

Wings - JP PIETERSEN and HABANA are automatic selections.

Centers - DE VILLIERS and FRANCOIS STEYN are automatic selections.

No 10 - This is where Meyer has a serious problem.   Morne Steyn was poor against the POMS - but played slightly better aginst the Stormers since the POM visit.   Gave him 6 points for that game.   Then he flopped against the Sharks and was not a house on fire against the Lions - that made him in retrospect a 5 out of 10 player.   Yesterday he was extremely poor against the Crusaders.   After yesterday even the strongest Bulls supporter imaginable told me he should be out of the Springbok team.    That leaves a void in the no 10 position.   The potential selections are limited at this stage since Goosen is still injured and Jantjies is useless (especially in defence - but also clueless in attacking play) .  The only player that has performed consistently well in the Super 15 was GRANT and he is my pick for the position until Goosen get back from injury.  In aney event this would mean a change in Meyer's whole game plan - and that is where the problem will come in.

Scrummie - This is a straight choice between Hougaard and Pienaar.   There is little to chose between those two.   Hougaard is not good under pressure - but excellent in attack.   Pienaar has the better ball sense of the two.   One of them will always be on the bench and the other in the starting line up.   I would say under wet conditions I would play PIENAAR in the strating line up  and that is also the case against the All Blacks.   Against the Australians and Argentinians HOUGAARD will be my first choice scrummie.

No 8  -  Spies failed repeatedly in Super 15 and he vanishes from sight for large parts of games.   Not a natural number 8 that one.    It would be interesting to see how Vermeulen performs in the forthcoming Semi - and the other alrternative is Alberts.    One of the two will be the Number 8 - although SAFFEX wants Coetzee at 8.    My guess is that Meyer will end up picking between Vermeulen and Alberts in this case - both hard men, which can still play by the next WC in that position.   I think the better one of the two would be VERMEULEN - in which event ALBERTS will play at no 7.

Loosies - I do not think Meyer rates Brussow as a loosie - the penalty count against him is just too high.   In his last two Super 15 games he gave away 5 penalties - some of them kickable at goal.   That is too high a price to pay.    Coetzee is a star - so he is an automatic choice.   Th two likely candidtaes are ALBERTS at 7 and COETZEE at 6.

Locks - ETZEBETH and BEKKER are autonatic choices.   Both will play in the semi coing up this week and I think they will both be in the team.

Props - BEAST and JANNIE DU PLESSIS

Hooker - BISMARCK DU PLESSIS.

The bench will also be interesting.   Back line bench selections are to my mind automatic - namely PIENAAR/HOUGAARD (depending of which of the two is in the starting line up), Aplon - if he does not start - and ENGELBRECHT.    Amongst the forwards there is a problem with a prop selection.   There ids a number of potential props better than Greyling and Werner Kruger. so lets just say one of the props of the Cheetahs or the Lions.   Definitely not CJ van der Linde - and I think in the absence of OOSTHUIZEN  - NEL has a very real chance of being on the bench.  I would say the repalcement lock would be aF VAN DER MERWE.   The other  position I would not een guess who will be Meyer's choice.   The replacment hooker will be STRAUSS.

Pretty sensible selections MIke and at least not an under 21 side like ou snapster woud largely select! He likes changeing nappies.

With Coenie out the pack picks itself Beast, Bissie and Jannie. Locks yes Bekker and Etzebeth, Loosies would be Coetzee, Vermuelen and Alberts.

Resserve forward  WP Nel, Liebenberg, Elstadt and Kan Kan. WP could be a better bet than Jannie but play him off the bench to start with.

Backs are more of a problem. I would stick with Hougaard and hope that his play behind a dominant pack would thrive. Morne needs a break. Grant is not ideal as he has a pop gun kick but maybe the best we can do with Goosen out. Frans and Jean, JP and Habana with Taute at fullback. No micro lights - this is international rugby at its highest level we are talking about . No Joe and No Aplon please oaks.

Reserves Vermaak, Lambie and Jordaan/JJ

Our dominant pack big rugged backline etc would ensure any side that faces us would get a severe snotklap. 

Mike I can only hope no duffers start bleating on about wee chilli boy, Juandre, spiesies, daniels,, aplon Joe etc. If only folk would understand the imperatives of top flight international rugby.

A player though with something to prove is Frans Steyn. Need to see a bit more from him. 

Meyer however has surely had his blue tinted glasses shattered. I told some herders and an hallucinating mean ou that the bulle pack is not up to scratch last year but their heads were buried in the sand as usual. Ou Windpomp  is probably on a propoganda offensive. Hahahahhaahahahahahahahahaha did I not tell you it was a tradgedy spiesies was not kept on the wing years ago etc etc. its hard talking to oaks when their heads are buried in the sand.

Sorry - I left out KANKOWSKI as a potential number 8 - he was brilliant in the last three games played by the Sharks.   That is even less likely for Brussow to come into the picture at all.   In any event if Kankowski is not selected in the starting team - he would be on the bench. 

Kan Kan has bulked up a little and now seems stronger and more physical.

Dispite some of my comments made for emphasis I respect Brussouw as a player with great heart. If a specialist type of player is found to be needed then he comes ino the picture. Not in any event right out of the picture. Malherbe and Kitshoff still need time.

You may have noted the sharks scrum was under pressure at times against the reds. We need ideally better props than Beast and Jannie. Great shame about Coenie. WP Nel is definitely better out of the scrums than Jannie and I suspect is a slightly better scrummager?

 i woud be really pissed off with Meyer if he chose the bulk of his squad from the Boools. The have played some really poor rugby all season. Most of the top boks in their squad are simply not performing and shouldn't go near a bok jumper. It is time to get rid of Steyn once and for all. He is just an liability at this level. For now I would back Grant or Lambie. Meyer needs to pick the bulk of his squad from the Stormers and sharks.

1. Beast
2. Bismark
3. Jannie
4. Estebeth
5. Bekker
6. Coetzee
7. Alberts 
8. Vermeulen if fit (Kankowski)
9. Pienaar (Just have better experience and need to start)
10. Grant (Lambie)
11. Habana
12. Frans Steyn
13. De Villiers
14 JP Pietersen
15. Aplon (Taute if fit)

16. Strauss (Ralapela)
17. WP Nel (Coenie if fit)
18. Franco vd Merwe / Kruger
19. Kolisi 
20. Hougaard
21. Grant / Lambie
22. De Jongh 

Actually if you look at yesterday's stats.....some unexpected things emerge. Firstly Kankan had a rotten game on defence and attack. Secondly Spies did actually make his tackles for once. Thirdly none of the loosies, except for Coetzee did anything ball in hand.

Why Mike....on yesterday's evidence would you have Flip Flop and Engelbrecht on your bench? Flyhalf is the big conundrum.....but Lambie has the heart for test 10. He will not let the side down wherever he plays. Grant has not stepped up in the past and his lack of range is a problem. Plus Lambie gives you a more direct style, which opens up more running options.

Guys who disqualified themselves yesterday include both Bools props, Jandre Kruger, Flip Flop, Spies (but doesn't he always), Hougaard, Morne, Olivier, JJ, Kirchner.......they were all totally outplayed.....so what will be different if they play for the Boks.

Meyer has a huge problem. Bok rugby, based on Bools rugby, will be hammered by the ABs, just as the Bools were hammered yesterday.  He needs to find something that looks like a souped up version of Sharks rugby....and to do that he needs a few of the Sharks key players.

Beeno

Some interesting choices - but definitely nott Vermaak aheas of Pienaar on the bench.   The one player you mentioned - Taute could be the joker in the pack.   He is better a better full back than Kirschner - so I will watch with interest what Meyer is up to.

 If Meyer chooses mostly Bulls- then he is still employed by the Blue Bulls Company to promote their players will selecting them as boks. 

Werner Kruger- Useless, rather bring back Rickie Januarie as prop

The Potgieters- dum and dumber- (We need brains in the backrow- like the Sharks loose foward combination- not these 2.

Spies- What can be said about his lack of contribution that has not allready be done so. His work rate is poor and does not compete for the ball on the floor. Alberts is our best carrier by a mile- we need the Sharks loosies to compliment him.

Hougard- Ruan Pienaar is a better scrumhalf with much better passing ability( the main purpose of a scrum half).  Hougard on the bench as impact player.

Morne Steyn- Way out of form- even when he is in form our backline is never going to be a major threat with ball in hand. Peter Grant or Lambie. 

Missie Kind- thank goodness he is going to Japan- This had better rule him out of the boks- Meyer had said that he wants 100% commitment. I would rather see Dejong on the bench to cover both centers.

Kirchner- Their is no way in hell that he is better than Aplon, let alone Lambie. 

 I am not going to mention the other Bulls as I am just going to assume(hope) their are not going to be selected.

The whole country does not want many of these bulls players to play for the boks- even the most loyal bulls supporters. Meyer allready annoyed allot of people with his bull shit selections for the England test, but we cant tolerate this for the 4 nations.

The only bulls that may make the bench- could be flip, chillyboy, Juandre kruger, Basson(once kidney is fine)

I do not thin any Bulls player should currently make it into the starting line up. I also do not see many or any Lions or Cheetas in the starting xv for the 4 nations. It should be mostly Sharks and then Stormers

 All I can say is that if Meyer is going to use Bools players as the base for Boks selection we have got a major problem ahead for SA Rugby.

I would start Pienaar at #9, Hougie on the bench.

Lambie at #10 (if fit) otherwise Grant.

Pietersen.Aplon at #15.

Loosies Coetzee, Alberts,Vermeulen with KanKan on the bench.

Locks the Stormers two with Kruger on the bench.

 Flip was by far the best Bulls forward and JJ never got the ball - let me guess, Moz you will still manage to dream up some negative in JJ yesterday? Shock, schock!!

 Bok side would be easy to select:

15. Lambie 14. JP 13. JJ 12. Frans 11. Habana 10. Jantjies 9. Hougaard 1. Beast 2. Bismark 3. Jannie 4.Etzebeth 5. Bekker 6. Kolisi 7. Alberts 8. Coetzee 16. Pienaar 17. Grant 18. Jordaan 19. Kitshoff 20. Strauss 21. Steph du Toit 22. Elstadt

Yes I think you are right  lambie at flyhalf and Taute at fullback.

JJ has still not done enough to oust Jean. Janties  also not yet.play lambie he has a cooler head.

Hougaard for now. Given Coenie is out Beast stays. Jannie under threat from WP Nel. Lets stop joking about Kolisi. Vermuelen if fit will be the number 8.

As for Du Toit being on the bench this is way premature snapster.

Dave when one of your centres does nothing.....the story is he didn't get the ball. But in the case of JJ I didn't even see him till the second half. He has no centre software. Five attempted runs.....15 metres. Five attempted tackles with the Saders running rampant....one misseds. He doesn't know how to get himself in the game.

Jordaan is a far better prospect....he creates things for others. And as we saw yesterday, is just as devastating in space.

Flip was not the best Bools forward....he was out of his depth.

Saffex

Don't get me wrong - I like Engelbrecht and specifically and even more so Jordaan - even Mozart now says he  good player.   However, I think that Meyer has appointed De Villiers as captain until the year and I am not going to fart against thumder.   De Villiers it is for 13 - and unless he gets injured - nobody else will be selected.

Jantjies - my ass has got a better chance being selected than that nincumpoop you made into your hero - exuse the nasty terminology please - but that one has no chance of ever playing for the Springboks.   The All Blacks would cheer his selection and run all over him in view of his non-existent defence - and he would be on his backside 60 minutes every match,

For the rest I can live with your selections - but Du Toit is not ready as yet though..  

 Moz you are speaking complete crap. JJ looked for work all day, had to resort to charging into rucks and mauls to see some action, he never got any down the line.

I dont make it up, he saw little ball - FACT. And because its JJ you decide that because he recieved no ball, he was poor - go figure. Now had it been Jean or wee de Jongh at 13 with no ball in hand, they would have been ok??

Use some persepctive Moz, if JJ gets no ball its not his fault and therefore not possible to judge him. Much like his opposite number who equally got no ball and made just as liitle impression - it was not a game for 13's.

For the Bulls Morne was pathetic at 10 and Olivier had a crap game at 12.......JJ saw no action.

As for Flip being out of his depth, what a joke - he is a Bok and rightly so, he was the Bulls best forward and he was better than the Saders locks. Flip was the one Bulls forward who showed some fight

To All,

If we apply logic and historical patterns then we will in all likelihoods not see many changes at all to what was put through at the begining of the international season.

HM will not make any sweeping changes at all that will probably be even more dangerous to our national squad as he at least has built some patterns and combinations through the English series. I know this goes against what I have been saying on here but I suppose its HM making sure that he is using as much of the test experience from years past to start building his empire before he includes new blood, we will see????

Yes we may all conclude that the Bulls style will not or is not the style that will keep us fully competitive but too many changes may also have a counter effect that could be just as negative. I for one though this will mean a bit of pain for us would like to see our team build over the next 2 years so that we start building momentum into the RWC and more importantly building experience, composure and time on the field against the very best.

We are blessed with some incredible talent at the moment and if we had all our injured players back then I for one would be a lot more comfortable. Nonetheless, time willl bring them back. I do worry about how long JDV will last in  international rugby and who we have with the guile, experience and leadership to replace him with. What happens if he goes down over the Rugby Championship? What happens if we lose a few of our loosies or Bismark or a wing....Do we posses the depth ...yes I believe we do...whether we posses the experience may be the challenge?

Go the Bokkie we will be there we will have some pain but we have some amazing talent to rely on with the success of our U20 RWC champions now thats something to harp on about guys!!!

Radtad

I never proposed any drastic changes to the team - in the main I suggested changes only in three positions and all the players recommended (but vermeulen) have already played for the Springboks before.   At full back we have better players than Kirchner - but the key selections would be around Morne and Spies.   problem is that if Steyn is replaced at flyhalf - it will mean a drastic reviion of the game plan.

I am a Lambie fan as well - am just worried about the ankle injury that seems to be recurring.   I would not mind Lambie at flyhalf - but I do believe that Grant at this stage is a better option there than Lambie - would love to see the latter at full back, rather than flyhalf.

i agree on a lot of the selection but grant in my view deserves a call up. morne is nowhere. in the lose trio i cant help but feel a big bulk lose trio wont complement each other. i do still feel a brussow will add more speed and the skills at the breakdown were lets be honest a poor english side managed to upset our ball. the likes of mcheat and pocock must be licking there lips at the sight of playing against a slow pack. i agree with alberts at 8 maybe a alberts at 8 coetzee at 7 and a brussouw will compete better. the rest of the team looks like sure starters in my view.

Guys,Some real good points being made and certainly some very tough decisions for HM.

Its interesting that the Kiwis and Australians really rate Brussow as they saw him as a genuine fetcher in the mould of Mcaw and Pocock yet HM see's it differently.

I for one cant wait until Schalk is back and put Brussow back into the mix with Coetzee, Vermulen, Kankowski and whether we like it Spies will be there.

If we look at the AB's loosies they will have Mcaw, Read and Vito -  Aus will have Pocock, Higginbottom and Gill - We can look at these two loose squads and say that we have it over them but as we know that is not usually the case.

One things for sure if we do not compete at the breakdown agaisnt mcaw and pocock then we will be on the backfoot all the way.

As for Morne its not so much as the fact that hes out of form it is more the fact that we dont reallly have a strong candidate to step in to take his place. Grant and Goosen are both untested under the heat of test rugby and againts the wallabies and AB's you couldnt ask for a more tougher test to expect them to deliver