Bok squad of 54 selected

For Barbarians, Italy and Georgia

Its the same old players with very few new players who are Hooker, Mkhaza, Fouche (fuck knows why), Nthlabakanye, Marnus vd Merwe, Cobus Wiese, Vincent Tsituka and Augustus

Really disappointing to be fair - far too many old players and missing out on the likes of Green, David Kriel, Henco v Wyk, Jurenzo Julius, Papier, Nohamba, Hanro Jacobs, Frans Klopper, AH Venter, Grobelaar, Ruben v Heerden, Ruan Vermaak, JF v Heerden, Jason Jenkins, Buthelezi, Ruan Venter, BJ Dixon, Ludwig, Manu Tsituka and Roos

Pleased for Ntlabakanye. He deserves it.

Agreed as does Hooker, Cobus Wiese and Vincent Tsituka

Springbok squad (in alphabetical order):

Forwards: Juarno Augustus (Northampton Saints), Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Renzo du Plessis (Emirates Lions), Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Neethling Fouche (Stormers), Cameron Hanekom (Bulls), Jean Kleyn (Munster), Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (both Sharks), Wilco Louw (Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi, Ntuthuko Mchunu (both Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls), Vincent Tshituka (Sharks), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Cobus Wiese (Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).

Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi (both Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Jaden Hendrikse, Jordan Hendrikse, Ethan Hooker (all Sharks), Quan Horn (Lions), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Manie Libbok (Stormers), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Ntokozo Makhaza (UCT), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg, Edwill van der Merwe (both Lions), Damian Willemse (Stormers), Grant Williams (Sharks).

Moerat again?? Just because of one bump off, but the rest of the time he is injured or not performing at all.

Jean Kleyn ,Jean luc Du preez and Lomp?? FFS a bunch of has beens, and Performing Talent like Ludwig Reinhardt, Ruben van heerden are discarded….

Just by the way, if I was Jean Luc I would tell Rassie to go get Fucked for always picking me, but never never fucking playing me….Disrespectful poephol…!!

What has that Fat prop asnathi done to deserve a call up?? He is bog ordinary scrummer and not special in the loose, same counts for Fouche and Koch, WTF?

Hanro Jacobs, Carlu Sadie for Example is 4 times the props.

Van Staden is not better than Roos?? Why no Andre Hugo Venter or Johan Grobbelaar?

Makhaza instead of JJ or David Kriel?

So all this is saying that no matter how hard you play and perform, some transformation candidate will be picked instead of you…..Merit is BS in the eyes of Erasmus the Poephol!!

Rassie Erasmus is not even close in the same vicinity of Jake White when it comes to selections and building talent….

Erasmus has no vision for the future and he is also not a genius, but

rather a lucky arrogant Poephol, that is definitely more focussed on his own legacy….! My suspicions was correct all a long:)

Obviously Rasmus is viewing this match in the context of this year’s tests…there are few ‘festival’ picks here. But disappointingly a bunch of names who have had enough chances and we just can’t lose….Lomp, the Deysel twins, Moerat, Klein, Libbok.

I wonder how many more opportunities Libbok will still get ... sheesh, he's already had a few and not made the most of them

It’s a disappointing squad in terms of moving forward, it’s disappointing in terms of some of the worthy players that have been snubbed, no more so than Roos - it’s fucking insulting that he can’t make a squad of 54.

This kind of treatment of players really pisses me off as Roos’s snubbing has fuck all to do with rugby and form.

The squad is disappointing in terms of who we are playing in the Barbarians, Italy and Georgia - the perfect opportunity to blood youngsters

In terms of current age the selection of the following is disappointing : Willie / Mapimpi / de Allende / Faf / Reinach / Bongi / Fouche / Koch/ Mostert, Lood and Kleyn

Poor selections are Mkhaza, Nortje, Marnus vd Merwe, Renzo du Plessis and v Staaden

Thats 16 poor selections which could have been improved by 16 from Green, Julius, Henco v Wyk, David Kriel, Papier, AH Venter, Dweba, Grobelaar, Hanro Jacobs, Frans Klopper, Jenkins, Ruben v Heerden, Ruan Vermaak, JF v Heerden, Buthelezi , Ludwig, BJ Dixon, Ruan Venter, Manu Tsituka and Roos

Well Moz one certainty is that Lood is far better than powder puff Mostert

To be fair Moerat has been good of late - I’m happy with him there - he is better than Mostert, Kleyn and Nortje

Nonsense Moerat and Lomp don’t provide half the value Mostert does. I am pleased to see Cobus Wiese getting a shot. He may be the kind of power runner we need to improve on Dud Toit.

Powder puff provides fuck all other than process tackles - not the job of a lock

He is literally fucking useless when it comes to providing what counts from a lock

Dave

You know that Mostert has been a pro player for over a decade now?

He played under both Swys and Rassie.

You major complaint is that he's too light for a lock.

Now tell me, do you not think that Mostert, with access to as many hours in the gym as he could ever need and every supplement under the sun, could not very easily put on 10Kgs if he wanted to, or if he was told to?

In your mind, you probably think that it never occurred to Rassie, Swys or Mostert that he could be more bulky...that it was possible.

It's an active choice that he remain the weight that he is. It's by design. The fact that all of that eludes you really is amazing.

It's called stamina. The more muscular you are, the less of it you have.

So no Juju and no Roos.

JuJu = to slow and too small.

Roos = too confused about who he thinks he is and what he actually is.

I can see Roos getting selected at some point, but I'm not sure Juju would ever pip Moodie or Hooker.

Lol Dawie, we told you all season long that Hooker was putting in far better performances than Juju - looks like the selections agree with us.

You also said that Hanekom was only marginally ahead of Roos in your estimation. We told you that you were wrong. Hanekom got selected and got the Next Gen Player award - looks like you were wrong again.

The lesson here is, stop running your mouth because you actually make pretty shitty calls most of the time.

To be honest, Henco, JJ and David Kriel in my opinion, would have been a far better bet than Makahza, a greenhorn University player.

Honestly what do we know about this guy? Is he a generational talent, that jumps all conventional channels and inform players ??

The Poephol makes no sense at all.

Fuck me you must be seriously stupid calling Jurenzo slow and small - what a fucking idiot

I'm an idiot yet Rassie(genius) made the calls that go along with what I've been saying and not the calls you've been making.

...can you extrapolate from there?

Ntokozo Makhaza (UCT ) looks smaller than JJ and Quess what, he plays very similar to JJ.

That makes a lot of sense Tassenberg….the only difference is he is a accurate kicker to.

Mostert is superb in the lineouts…,our best 5 by some margin and statistically our best tackler. But he is also first to the breakdown time and again, because he reads the play better than most. A true pro

It's actually crazy that Dave can't see that.

He can see it, but he doesn’t want to see it.

Oh what utter rubbish is Mostert our best line out jumper at 5 - he is no better or worse than Lood or RG at 5

Gets to the breakdown first - more bullshit and even if he did, what’s the point as he can’t impose himself physically

Reads play better than most - that’s a fucking joke - Mostert is actually a shit rugby player nothing gifted about him which makes his selection that much worse

We all know he is physically deficient so one would hope he would add a skill set to the equation that would add value - like running good lines, being a link player with good hands etc. If you can’t add grunt then you should be able to add something else - making process tackles is not that something else

Mostert is literally shit - I don’t rate him at all - he is not even a good test lock - he should never have played lock, he should have been a provincial at best 7 - but he was tried at 7 for the Boks and completely failed, so much so that he was replaced by small Kwagga

I don’t give a fuck what Rassie’s or your calls are

If Rassie had a 100% record I might consider not questioning his selections

Without a doubt he has made some poor selections and continues to do so - the worst being Orie, followed by Mostert

JJ is better than Hooker and time will prove that - there is nothing between Roos and Hanekom - it’s insulting that Roos has not made a squad of 54 - it clearly has fuck all to do with rugby

Why did I call you a fucking idiot? Pretty fucking obvious - you ignorantly told us the 96kg JJ was small and slow - only a fucking idiot would make that call

What’s your take on Rassie selecting de Allende since day one? Kind of goes against your ignorant call on DA don’t you think - or has Rassie got that call wrong?

Time will prove Julius is better than Hooker like it proved Stepfontein was better than JdV and JJ Englebrecht was a superstar.

At least I had the balls to concede I was wrong about Engelbrecht - talented athlete that lacked the hard edge much like Spies

Serfontein has been the best 12 in the NH for years - his decision to leave early cost him his test ambitions with de Allende nailing down the 12 spot

So who knows what would have come of Serfontein as a test 12

Easily as good as Jean before he left

JJ is more gifted than Hooker and time will prove that

Rassie has selected based on experience, and ignored the decline in form of certain players who will never make the next World Cup. The biggest risk is Kolisi, given the Boks will need an experienced captain at the next World Cup.

Highlighted in bold are players that should not be in the squad, due to age, with the view of peaking for the next World Cup, as well as players that just are not good enough.

Forwards:

Juarno Augustus (Northampton Saints), Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Renzo du Plessis (Emirates Lions),

Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks)- Why persist with the Creatine twins, they are not test standard.

Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Neethling Fouche (Stormers), Cameron Hanekom (Bulls), Jean Kleyn (Munster),

Vincent Koch- He is not the best in his position, and will be worse by the next World Cup. Other players are better.

Siya Kolisi (both Sharks): Very risky not testing out new captains now. He is past his best and should be phased out. We need a number 6 that is good at the breakdown, and Hanekom seems to be the answer. Perhaps a squad player for PR and team bonding, etc, but we need a new captain

Wilco Louw (Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears),

Bongi Mbonambi: Way past his best. It makes no sense to present with him, he will not make the next World Cup on form alone.

Ntuthuko Mchunu (both Sharks),

Salmaan Moerat (Stormers): Not test standard, never has been

Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls), Vincent Tshituka (Sharks),

Marco van Staden (Bulls) - Never a standout, surely he must be past it by now

Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Cobus Wiese (Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).

Backs:

Lukhanyo Am (Sharks) - Way past his best, he should not be in the squad and we should be flooding new players

Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights),

Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles),- Questionable, given his age and ongoing injury problems. Imagine it is the World Cup and all he can do is poor box kicks.

Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi (both Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers),

Jaden Hendrikse - Has become a lacklustre player

Jordan Hendrikse- Usless, not test level.

Ethan Hooker (all Sharks), Quan Horn (Lions), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Manie Libbok (Stormers),

Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks)- Too old, still has pace but that could go tomorrow.

Ntokozo Makhaza (UCT), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers),

Cobus Reinach (Montpellier)- What a joke, he is past it ages ago.

Morne van den Berg, Edwill van der Merwe (both Lions), Damian Willemse (Stormers), Grant Williams (Sharks).

Barking loudly up the wrong tree.

Dave...this was JJ's season.

He was given enough chances for the Sharks but never stood out nearly as much as Hooker.

If he's that good then why is it Hooker that is putting the big performances and JJ doesn't make the squad?

Careful now, because when I told you early in the season that JJ needed a couple more years, you said "bullshit, he's both amazing and ready."

So, what happened?

To be honest, I’m getting very frustrated with Rassie picks. We just saw how a bulls team completely destroyed these very same sharks players. I’m just going to say it, these are quota players that prop up the franchise teams but simply doesn’t deliver. Moerat, Bongi, Am, Hendrikse brothers and Kolisi are all players that should be near the bok team. However, because they are in the boks squad and Rassie has a very restrictive game plan and the boks win, they are hero’s. Kolisi, Bongi never play a full game. It is always Marx and Kwagga that has to come on and fix the game.

Moerat has had so many chances and he still as useless as ever.

There needs to come a point where form matters. What are you telling players if they are poor for their team all season but they get a pass for the boks. No wonder the French team was so furious with Kolisi. He showed up and they paid him a lot of money. But for some reason he looks fine for the boks but that is because you have other players that is the real reason for the bok success. So he gets this herd vision or association that he is part of the boks and therefore should be great.

these players make a mockery of players that should be there. Grobbler outplayed Bongi, fact. Louw and Jan Hendriks destroyed Ox, Bongi and Koch, fact. So why do these guys get rewarded

I just don't understand anyone wanting to drop Makazole Mapimpi when he's in the form he's in.

If Cheslin was injured or unavailable, Mapimpi would be straight into my Bok team.

Yeah, Mapimpi is playing very well as of late.

He was good yesterday too. Kept making something from very little.

I just cannot get over how bad the Sharks are with the players they have at their disposal.

Week in and week out they have just been crawling over the line.

Last week, 15 of their 23 were Springboks. That's bloody crazy.

Let's hope that VD Berg starts while Williams is injured because Jayden is currently the worst 9 across all the SA franchises.

VD Berg shines in a kak Lions team while Jayden underperforms in a Bok filled Sharks team.

...let Jayden play franchise rugby for a year or two and see if he regains any from.

Plum what fucking rugby do you watch?

JJ has played all season bar being injured last week and back on the bench yesterday - hellooooo

Hooker has been played out of position on the wing as JJ was preferred in his rightful position of 13

JJ has been more impactful than Hooker all season other than Hookers last two games

JJ does not need a few years - he is more than ready - we just need Rassie to wake up to that fact

Okay, Dave...don't take my word for it.

Make a new thread and put it up for a vote.

Go on...I dare you.

I’ll never take your word as I don’t rate your grasp of rugby

And I don’t give a toss what others think - I rely on my eyes and that’s it.

Just like I’ve credited Hooker for showing more than crash bash - that’s based on my observations not what others have said

Does anyone agree that these so called boks have shown no form for the past two seasons?

The only bok that does put his hand up is Eben. That guy played a game and a half and never dropped his standard. That is a warrior. Where as Bongi and Kolisi had to come off. Their shoulders down and hands on the hips. Fassi blows hot and cold, Hendrikse brothers have done nothing for the past two seasons.

I would say that the Tsisuka brothers should be starting for the sharks but because they pay so much money for Kolisi, they moved him to 8 which is where Vincent should play. Then his brother Emanuel should go to 7.

The sharks don't have much options at 10. The Curwin Bosh experiment failed and Masuka is the same only 10 they have. Why don't they bring back Robert Du Perez?

I would start swinging the axe now. I would tell players that they are not guaranteed a bok spot. Rassie is painting himself into a corner here by picking the same old players over and over again.

These guys are just taking game time away from form players. I do agree that you need to keep continuity but you can't have players that underperforming at club and then just show up for the boks

I just watched some Super rugby and likes of McKenzie, Jordan, Stiti never seem to have an off day. They make such a big difference for their teams where as our boks know they are in the Rassies plans and then just coast all season.

It is a mockery of why we are asking players to play at home and then not pick them.

Who would you pick on form. coetzee or Kolisi. Bongi or Grobler. Moerat or van Der However / Wiese. Koch or Louw. Jaden or Papier. Am or Jerenzo / Henco / Hooker.

It is plain for everyone to see.

Mapimpi will be 37 by the next World Cup. (He turns 35 next month). On current form, he could make the World Cup, but surely he is going to lose his pace any day now.

He is a good attacking player, but there have always been question marks over his defence.

I'm not saying Mapimpi should be in our next RWC squad, but he'd be my first choice right now to replace Kolbe if he wasn't available for any reason. Playing the best rugby of his career right now.

Mapimpi is a class act - has always been. The only issue is his age but right now he looking like a 24 year old not a 34 year old