Are boks loose forwards obsolete

Meyers worst games were when the breakdown battle was lost.
Japan, Scotland, Argentina and now Ireland were able to dominate the Boks breakdown with ease- while protecting their possession cleanly. 
When this happens, the Springboks are mostly useless- unless they get quality lineout ball to get the drive going.
The Irish tackled the isolated ball carrier- with the 2nd player to the ruck was Irish,Slow possession from the rucks and turnovers were the order of the day. Many tackled became mauls where the Boks lost possession
--Vermeulen seems a spent force. He was never a fast runner- but now he is just a fast walker. 
Kolisi has only made 1-2 turnover his whole career. 
Whitey just wants to run with the ball- and i barely even saw him on the pitch. 
Our big call carriers are useless unless they can get quick clean possession to run onto. Ezebeth usually caught the ball behind him- and was ankle chop tackled.
If a loose forward is not good at protecting possession, retaining possession and stealing possession- they offer little value.
Lood Jaw was useless. He is very clumsy at the base of the ruck- and seems to fall over himself when tackled.
The Springboks are a one trick pony. Beat the slow loosies to the breakdown and they are screwed. 
Our players are more concerned with making it an extra millimetre over the advantage line- instead of making the ball available for the 1st bok player to the ruck. 

 Ou ComradeMike is normally very swift with his "expert" and unbiased assessment of the player "performances" and "backed up" by stats. Wonder where he is. Probably still trying to dig up/dream up something/anything to try and prove how brilliant Loodvoet has been. 

Ceradunce is as dense as horse manure so it is not worth responding to him.  

Insofar as SB is concerned - the art of loose forward play went down the drain years ago,   None of the Springbok loosies since 2008 have been pacy enough to follow the ball and arrives late at points of breakdown,   They are totally incapable of ball protection and RECOVERY.   The idea developed that the  only requirement iro loosies are that they shall be used as a mere extension of the Tight 5 and it  often happens that the Tight 5 players make more tackles then the loosies.  

All three loosies today were ineffective and that was a major reason for the loss.   Is is not only me saying so – just look at the ratings given to them:-

8 Duane Vermeulen:
Looked rusty and made a few mistakes, but was physical - not his best Test.
5/10

7 Siyamthanda Kolisi:
A real workhorse and looked impressive with ball in hand - making some impressive yards.
6/10

6 Francois Louw:
Had a quiet game by his standard and it was a surprise he wasn't substituted earlier.

5/10

Kolisi got 6 points for two or three BALL CARRIS – fir the rest he might as well not be playing.  The assessor is kind in allocating 5/10 to Louw and Vermeulen.

     

Most teams have our number now. They just wait for one of our ball carriers to hit the deck and then swamp the breakdown. 
Next, put pressure on the Bok lineouts- and then we are certainly screwed.
We used to have classy loose forwards - not we have either got slow fatties- or small players that are not big enough for test rugby. 
Without Bismaark, and an out of form Vermeulen - we are useless at the breakdown.

Well I could have predicted Whiteley would make no impact, just like he didn't make any impact in the previous almost 80 minutes of test rugby he's had as a sub. Go check his stats. 
These light, mobile loosies always look great in helter skelter provincial rugby only to disappear in tests. Think of Kankowski as a prime example. Great provincial player, a nobody in test rugby. Whiteley will never be a test success, just forget it.

 So Mikey what do you think of our useless forwards now ?And our "not very good according to Mikey " locks ? 

 Selecting properly is obviously key to a successful backrow.
You cant expect to make an impression at test level with Kolisi and Flo in the run on mix.
Vermeulen has proven himself at test level countless times over and deserves to be retained for a little longer. 
To answer your question, Shark ... no definitely not. There is an abundant of talented loosies in the country. Kriel is one of them and in my opinion so is Notshe, Brink and Kirsten.

When you refuse to pick you best players and when you refuse to pick the best coach available etc etc lets no t pretend Bok rugby will thrive.
The only coaching staff doing well are Akkers and co. 

Stats on loosies for boks are not a disaster.
AttackLouw
Carries 5Meters gained 8Clean breaks 1offloads 1Passes 6Turnovers won 1
DefenceLouw 7 tackles madeMissed tackles 1


KolosiAttackMeters gained  52Carries 9Defenders beaten 2Passes 3Turnovers conceded 1
Defence6 tackles made2 tackle missed

Duane                             K. Ried (1 try)Meters gained 56              47Carries  13                       12Defenders beaten 0           1Clean breaks 1                  1Passes 4                            8 Offloads 2                         1Turnovers conceded 2         

DefenceTackles made 8                10Tackles missed 2               0Turnovers won 0              2
I compared Ried to Vermeulen & as you can see they are not too far apart. Ried passed twice as much & didn't conceded turnovers. Ried made 2 more tackles and missed 0 compared to 2. Ried also won 2 turnovers to 0
But Ried played the full 80 minutes & Vermulen was subbed.

My point is that Vermuelen didn't have a great day but he was not a disaster. Kolisi & Lowue didn't do much on defense.