re June test window. How long before the penny drops that we cant go on like this. We MUST have a central contracting system. The failure to have one and the exodus of pla yers is ruining our chances.
Ex Supersport:
Duane Vermeulen and Bismarck du Plessis were two players who have played every game that they have been available for this year who played well against Wales in Nelspruit, but most of the rest looked tired and jaded and even Vermeulen and Du Plessis should be safeguarded lest they break down later in the season.
“I don’t want to be making excuses, but this is the worst condition I have seen the players in during the June international window. I am really concerned about the state of the players,” said Meyer at the post-match press conference at the Mbombela Stadium.
He can do something about that this weekend if he chooses to, and it will be interesting to see how brave he will be in his selection. If he uses the argument that he has in justifying some of his other selections, namely that he knows what certain players can do, then it would be logical for Strauss to start at hooker this week, with Du Plessis taking a well deserved rest, and important player though he is, there is no logical reason for Willem Alberts to risk the injury that forced him off after 25 minutes in Nelspruit.
It appears Alberts will be available for the game, as Meyer deemed the injury “not too serious” afterwards, but the Sharks flanker is one of the players who has been on the treadmill non-stop since the start of Super Rugby. Meyer can’t rely on the franchise coaches to rest players, particularly not the Sharks, who go into a critical phase of the season at the end of the June window, so this is his chance to set an example by himself doing what others aren’t prepared to do.
If Goosen is over his knee injury and ready to play against Scotland, he is the logical selection into the No 10 jersey as Meyer has been itching to see him develop and said recently that the Cheetahs star was one of the most talented young South African player he has seen in years.
“I am sure he would have developed into an established Springbok test flyhalf by now if he’d been able to continue with what he started when he was first selected in 2012 rather than being forced out with injury,” said Meyer. (But now there is Pollard)
However Pollard is also a precocious talent and there would be a good argument to leapfrog him over Boshoff and into the match day squad. Bok skipper Victor Matfield last Friday described Pollard as a player who is mature and wise beyond his years and that is certainly also the impression you get watching the Bulls star from the sidelines, so it's time to accelerate his progress so that he can have enough experience by this time next year to be a World Cup option.
And the same argument can be used for some of the other players who have been part of the squad without getting game time thus far in the June series. This is an opportunity for Meyer to grow his squad, something that may seem more necessary now after the Nelspruit game sent out the reminder that the top players aren't super-humans who are immune to the vagaries of form and physical condition.
Come on Meyer lets see Marcel van der Merwe and others get a shot. They are chanping at the bit and will do a better job than tired jaded players.
