Oddly I doubt Jean will be succesful at 13.....even though I thought at the beginning of the year, he would. Jean's game has developed around the inside centre role, where his long stride seems to take him past static tacklers quite nicely. He seemed a little out of sorts at 13....granted that Fransie was doodgooi at 12. Maybe it's all the kankles, but I am sceptical.
Jean is not faster than Frans, no way in hell and if he is it is marginal. Jean was a good inside centre some 3 years ago. Frans is far superior these days and proved it this year and will be our 12 next year.
As for my logic, damn right...............I would not be stupid enough to have Lambie and Goosen competing for the 10 spot when I can have both of them on the field for the simple reason that on merit both should be starting for the Boks. Only a complete idiot would leave one of them on the bench.
Goosen had no issue with nerves at all unless you conclude that based on the odd kick he missed. His general play was spot on and thats all we need to concern ourselves with - one thing Goosen has shown throughout his career is nerves of steel its his forte.
The options in the backs for the Boks are obvious. Hougaard has to move back to 9, Goosen at 10, Frans at 12, with Taute, JJ and Jordaan competing for the 13 spot, JP and Habana on the wings although I suspect Habana might be cooked come 2013, in which case we have Rhule, Mapoe and Mvovo as options and at 15 we have Lambie. I'd be more than happy to see JP moved to 13 as an option.
We need to steer well clear of hasbeens like Pienaar, Morne and Jean if we are hoping to improve on the pathetic 57%
Sharlbok
Please explain in detail what is meant by "Kankies".
When I first saw Francois Steyn on a plane coming back from Perth in 2008 - he was very tall - but slim and I believe at that stahe he weighed 98 kgs. I always said that a strict exercise and dietary programme can add 5 to 7 kgs to bodily weight of active sportsmen.
Howevr, Steyn now weighs in at 110kgs - meaning that he carries between 5 to 7 kgs of pure and unadulterated FAT around. It also menas that he has slowed down drastically since 2008 basically caused by overweight. It was obvious that the speed issue is affected by his slowness off the mark.
Matter of fact much is being said about his ability to break the line - offload the ball effectively and put other players into space. This was the case in the past - but this year it was completely absent. He made ONE decent line break only in the Dunedin test and failed to pass the ball back to the supporting players - he basically threw the ball back wildly hoping that somebody would manage to catch it.
After a long injury break and not playing rugby at all - he would be rid of the overplay syndrome. I hope he gets rid of some of the fat and do extensive speed training. He is only 26 and can get rid of the physical problems However, if he comes back even heavier than he is at present I don't think he would make the grade.
Interesting thread, as an outsider the biggest missing ingredient in backline play is creativity. This is the big difference between the AB's and Boks, the AB's look to create and exploit space at speed, the Bok backs can't. Whether this is an instinctive or training deficit is unknown. Habana and Pieterson would easily fit into an AB backline and probably be better utilised. Realistically can't think of any other Bok backliner that would.
polyboy
10 out of 10 for the best short answer to the problem. Creativity (I call it ball sense) is the major deficiency in Springbok backline play and your indication as to players from SA that would be considered by the All Blackas is spot on.
Problem is that negative coaching has succeeded in eliminating backline skills of SA players. I have seen wonderful skills from younger players - but they are ignored until they become the negative players at present in contention. Bad news that one.
The worst scoundrels in the relevant regard are the Bulls and Stormers coaches
Clevermike
Bok management need to protect someone like Goosen, from what little I've seen he could be the anwser to Bok backline dilemma. It's ironic really when you have 2 completely different 1st fives in Steyn & Goosen, one represents the "past" Boks, 10 man bash em up rugby, the other a possible "future" Boks with a linking forward and back running team. I would love especially to see Habana in a running Bok team, he realy is a once in a generation winger.
