Blikkies, have you any evidence of Jake asking Juan to patrol Jean's channel? It just seems a little "obsurd" at international level that a player needed to be "babied" dont you think. On defence, the role of the 8th man would be to run cover just behind the backline in the event of any first time tackles being missed or players being beaten. Seems Juan would have to be super human to have to watch the blindside which is very often the first point of attack today and also have to get around the scrum for arguments sake to be in position of a centre missing a tackle.
Seems it would be easier to find a centre who could tackle so our flankers could do their job?
Alberts is a damn good defender. No easy metres with him. Seems there is a little infatuation with international players and their defence these days. All these players are good tacklers (not Jantjies) and not going to miss too many head on tackles. In JJ's case, he is just fine in the tackle, he sometimes just gets himself in the wrong field position to effect it. As much as these players are strong tacklers, the opposition are strong runners. A strong runner is always going to beat a tackle if he gets away from the shoulder and onto the arm. A strong tackle with the shoulder is always going to bring a strong runner down.
I guess what I am saying is that we must look further into JJ's "problem" than just saying he has problems on defence. Is it maybe a flaw in our defensive pattern. JJ does pretty much what Conrad Smith and Ben Smith do for the AB's. Conrad often comes way up ahead of Nonu to snuff out attackes, especially if they are stretched out wide. He is so good at that but the difference is that the AB's trust the man on their inside and that comes with confidence in playing together for so long and working hard at it. Whether Smith has Woodcock, Mealamu, Whitelock or John Key inside him, he trusts the man to make the hit. He also has enough experience to know when the man is likely to be beaten by pace and he will adjust. JJ is a puppy whilst Conrad is an old dog.
Jake implemented the rush defence. It worked brilliantly in 2009. Can anyone guess why?? Simply because that backline had been together for 3 or 4 seasons prior. They know each others games so well, they know the game plan so well, they have done it countless times before that it just feels right. Structures are ingrained in them. What are we doing to JJ's game now if we kick him to the curb before he has had time to learn his partners game and the new structures around him?
It would be a bit cocky to think that we are going to go through a rebuilding phase but we must just come and topple a settled and great All Black team with years together. Fuck sakes who expected us to be in a winning position in Dunedin last year? I expected us to get tramped!! NZL were complacent I think! They read the papers. They knew what people were saying. They thought they just needed to rock up. Thats my feeling.
This is the problem with SA. We want results and we want it now. JJ must be better than Conrad now! Morne has won us titles before. 5 below par games and he is kak and must never see a Bok jumper again. Lambie comes in, his confidence is low and he too is now useless!
SA we need to grow up boytjies because we are forever going to be "searching" for that perfect team, that must just come over night with no investment, all the while NZL are investing in and nurturing 5 fly halves at the moment that their 5th choice is better than our 2nd choice along with players in every other position to fuck us up for the next 10 years. We are a fickel bunch and today a player is hot property, one bad game and he is yesterdays news!
I am sure some guys on her never played this game. I went to George Campbell. Smaller, co-ed school near the Ice rink in Durban. We were second tier school and on the brink of stepping up. We were used by teams like Glenwood, DHS, Northwood, Westville and Michael House as confidence builders. I played 3 years of 1st team. 2003 Grade 11 (I was 15 years and 11 months) when I played my first game for 1st team as we were not big enough to have an under 16 grade so it was under 15 to open's. In my first year, we were hammered 67-0 by Westville, 46-5 by Michael House, 29-3 against DHS and in the 70's vs Glenwood.
We had a young team. Next year (2004), we acquired a new scrum-half and 8th man on bursaries. The rest of the team bar maybe 2 players was the same. We beat Michael House 11-7, beat DHS at their home 24-21, Lost 17-7 to Glenwood (they were 17-0 up after 5 mins and aided by some dodgy calls), lost 27-13 to Westville (8-8 halftime) who were the team to beat in Natal that year. All results can be found on the net of course.
What changed in a year? Playing together, knowing each other and practicing game plan and structures until it became routine! I just read that Campbell beat Glenwood for the first time ever this year. Big ups to them ;-) Smaller school but stand together!
JJ is a good player. Why must he not be afforded the opportunity to prove that and settle before we spit him out and he becomes another "failure" of SA rugby?
