"...the loose Trio are supposed to be all capable of effecting turnovers….fact.."
As should all rugga players...are you saying PSDT don't?
If Dud Toit is chosen to play flank, he has to fulfill the duties of a flank, even if we all know he is really a failed lock. One of those duties is contesting the ball in the ground.
Anger ...........probably resulted in his disbarment for vociferously castigating the judge who found his client guilty on all charges.
Okay Dave so if somebody can tell me what Dud Toit does with excellence, apart from process tackling, perhaps I’d understand. Here are my grades:
Process tackling A
Open field tackling B minus
Ball carrying B minus
Offloading D
Ruck driving B
Contesting ball on the ground D
Back of lineout jumping B.
Average grade as a flank B minus at best. The only reason it works to some extent is our game plan where we kick to the opposition….and defend. That’s what he did in the two WC finals, important contributions, but not the contributions of a great blindside flank.
Truth is, he isn’t a flank. Eluckmiss has carved out a unique role for him which is more akin to ‘rover’ in American football.
And Dave I agree that a 6’7” player is not ideal to perform the role of a blindside flank….so why play him there, he could do his process tackling from the lock position. Except of course, he was never first choice in that role.
"Average grade as a flank B minus at best. The only reason it works to some extent is our game plan where we kick to the opposition….and defend. "
Absolutely one sided bias comment...he got player of the year, player of the RWC tournament and MOTM in a RWC final, playing in that position....average players don't achieve that...and hype don't account for it either...it's been more than 6 years now.
Defence is 50% of rugby, regardless of the game plan.
Mozart invented te concept of "process" tackling and use it againt players he hates and then overlook the fact that playes he support are even worse "process" tacklers.
If cver there were "process tackling" in rugby the quality of takles made should be the norm. The quality of tackles shoud be the norm and that is where palyers like Mostert fails miserably,
So Draad make defense 50% of the grade. He gets a B plus for defense (his lack of open field mobility restricts the grade). For everything else he gets an aggregate C. Overall grade B minus…not bias, logic.
Here’s the Rugby Pass take on blindside flankers at the WC. Dud Toit ‘saved his best for last’…in other words he played one really good game. And he will tackle anything that moves. Pretty much my take…a limited player made effective by our game plan.
Please also note the comments on Ollivon and Lawes as factors in contesting the ball on the deck. Du Toit literally bottles out of fetching opportunities…he isn’t committed. And both men are as tall as Dud.
……
For a man of 6ft 7ins, Ollivon can shift through the gears, with his giant strides hoovering up the turf in front of him. Seen by many in the camp as the true leader of Les Bleus, the Toulon man has, like Courtney Lawes, turned into an effective proponent of the breakdown steal. Were it not for a Jesse Kriel ankle tap on the big blindside late on in the quarter-final, he could yet have been France’s hero.
Silver: Pieter Steph du Toit (SA)
A consistent cog in the Springbok machine during the tournament, du Toit saved his best game for the Final. Making a record 31 tackles, many of them dominant, he picked up the Player of the Match award and Jacques Nienaber joked that he would tackle a white carrier bag if it was floating across a rugby field. A modern-day great.
Bronze: Courtney Lawes (Eng)
With a glut of England stars bowing out, the common consensus is that it is Lawes, at 34, whom England will miss most. With slick footwork around the ruck, a watertight defence and ability to pickpocket balls on the deck, he will be sorely missed.
Moart
You ar really becoming suffer totally from BS capturing your brain.
I have seen a number of times where Du Toit got turnovers at breakdowns - but I never saw one where Mostert was involved in any such turnover. I saw two players excellent in abll protection at breakdowns - the one was De Allende - the other Du Toit.
I also know that you yourelf wrote once on site you never saw anything positive form the latter two players - you know why th at happens - it is ebcause you do not want to see anything positive contribuited by those two players and then BS takes over. .
Did that artiicle you quote abou Du Toit not contain the following:-
A modern-day great
Sure and I included the full quote, even though I obviously disagree with it. You should try it some time…honest reporting.
No genius move by Eluckmiss. He mostly played flank in 2017. But he started as reserve lock to the preferred Mostert:
head PropTendai MtawariraSharks3187 HookerMalcolm MarxLions222 Tight-head PropFrans MalherbeWP2615 LockEben EtzebethWP2554 LockFranco MostertLions267 FlankSiya KolisiWP2516 FlankOupa MohojeCheetahs2615 Eighthman (C)Warren WhiteleyLions2915 ScrumhalfRoss CronjéLions2701 tryFlyhalfElton JantjiesLions26113 conversions, 3 penaltiesLeft WingCourtnall SkosanLions250 Inside CentreJan SerfonteinBlue Bulls24261 tryOutside CentreJesse KrielBlue Bulls23171 tryRight WingRaymond RhuleCheetahs240 Full BackAndries CoetzeeLions270 ReserveFrancois SteynMontpellier3053 ReserveSteven KitshoffBordeaux2510 ReserveJean-Luc du PreezSharks211 ReservePieter-Steph du ToitWP2420 ReserveBongi MbonambiWP265 ReserveFrancois HougaardWorcester2939 ReserveCoenie OosthuizenSharks2823 ReserveDillyn LeydsWP240He was finally tried at starting lock once I believe. He flopped and was later introduced at flank. Eluckmiss pretty much inherited his whole 2019 team including the idea that Dud could play flank.
Just to provide a bit of perspective….our starting team that won the WC final had 12 Springboks who were from the HM/Coetzee era….including every forward. Only the back three were Erasmus selections at WC 2023.
"A consistent cog in the Springbok machine during the tournament, du Toit saved his best game for the Final. Making a record 31 tackles, many of them dominant, he picked up the Player of the Match award and Jacques Nienaber joked that he would tackle a white carrier bag if it was floating across a rugby field. A modern-day great."
B minus my arse.
You are minus an arse? Another of those arseless wonders? No wonder (sic) is always trying to humiliate you.
Making a record 31 tackles
Made 28, missed 3. I thought he had an excellent final, but it would help if the media actually know that there's a difference between attempting 31 tackles and making 31 tackles.
A consistent cog in the Springbok machine during the tournament
As vague an endorsement as you can hope to get. Basically a fancy way of saying "he was in the team for the most part". He had a quiet tournament. You'll find little mention of Mostert topping the forward tackle stats against France, making 13 and missing none, while PSDT made 9 and missed 5. Between the Scotland and France games PSDT missed a third of his tackles. Who will highlight that? Not the media.
And yet here we are in the next game….you can tell it’s the next game because the number of tests in the right column has gone up by 1. And there it is again, Mostert preferred to Dud at #5. Unless of course you want to argue Oupa Mahoje was preferred to him at flank…negated by the fact his next start was at lock.
You can argue about opinions Dave. When you deny facts in black and white right in front of you…..you lose credibility.
Team:
Combined caps: 273 tests (starting 15)
Pakie I agree Dud had a very effective final after a quiet WC, possibly because our final was all about defense or because he was really up for that game.
The question I’d pose to the media believers is, what’s different from his performance in the 2019 final? It was the same thing…except in 2019 he was involved in some linking movements eg the Kolbe try.
If anything Dud’s game has become narrower, rather than broader. Gone are the pick and go contributions he was very good at. Gone are the attempts, woeful admittedly, to play down the wings. Now it’s just tackling.
In that regard he timed three hits brilliantly in the final, but how Barrett couldn’t step those charges remains a mystery.
I respect the effort du Toit puts in, but for me he is a blunt instrument.
This is al.l Mozart BS again. He said in the apst he h eas nver seen anything poisitive in Du Toit's performances - but the real fact is that the hate camapign BS started when some of the members opposed the decision by Meyer to bring back Matfield after his retirement to play for the Springboks.
At that stage Dave and I wrote it would be better to start using Du Toit in that possition and Mozart ad a fit about it and start attaqcking D u Toit endlessly, He obviously was wrong - as expected Matfield was a total failure in the Springbok team in 2014 and 2015.
In 2018 when Erasmus became Director of Rugby his aattacks on Erasmus started and he even wroite on site that retaining Coetzee was a better option than to appoint Erasmus. He openly attacked Erasmus because he wanted White re-appointed. Since then despite two WC wins his attack on Erasmus was continued irrespective of what happened in SA Rugby he invented lies to attack Erasmus on.
So what he said about Du Toit is about as shallow as his lies could get him. By the way D u Toit is not a blunt instrument - Mozart brain has beene ffected and is now a blunt instrument.
Team:
Combined caps: 320 tests (starting 15)
There he is in the Rassie days….reserve lock to Mostert. Time to give up Dave.
Actually no…..he started with Dud against Wales. Replaced him with Mostert for 9 games. Selected Dud for 2 games at lock on the YE tour and then brought back Mostert and put Dud on the flank for the last 2 games of 2018.
So he showed loyalty to Mostert even when Dud was his reserve number 5. Played Dud 3 times to Mostert’s 11 and only when he wanted Mostert back at lock did the Dud at flank idea emerge. Genius.
Am I right or am I right ?
RWC final when the bomb squad arrived, Etzebeth wus subbed
Mighty Mossie remained for the duration .
Not this time Blob…Snyman came on for Mostert and Klein for Etzebeth.
Mozart based on your assessment of Du Toit above - h ere is the real assessment of Mostert on the same issue:-
Process tackling - C minus
Open field tackling - Non-existent
Ball carrying B minus - D minus
Offloading - X minus
Ruck driving - No/n-exsitent
Contesting ball on the ground - Non-existent
Back of lineout jumping - .Non-existent *
* Fact is at lock - Mostert jump in the middle of the line-outs and in his rare back line jumpin he failed repeatedly against opposition. You need bodily strength to do such jumping and Mostert has none.