Esterhuizen vs Delande (Sharks vs Stormers)

This will be an interesting battle over the weekend. 

Last year Delande probably had 2 good tests, a few mediocre, and some terrible. 

Esterhuizen looked out of sorts in the tests he played. It was surprising as he looked good last year in SuperRugby where he added extra dimensions to his game (not just crash ball). Esterhuizen is a big unit - bigger than many loosies. Hopefully, he runs over Delande's head over the weekend, and tramples him into the turf.

The Sharks are leading the tournament so far, but it is so early in the competition is means nothing yet. The most impressive facet of the Sharks play though has been the distribution skills in the backs. Running at full pace and passing, drawing players, stepping - not just aimless shovelling the ball on.

I think André was pretty good last year. His worst test was the third England test, in poor conditions, where he was assigned kick chasing duties with Kriel. No easy task against May. 

That said, I agree. The backs are their strength. If they can get a platform to launch their attacks, they'll be very difficult to stop. I'd fancy the Sharks in broken play as well. If the game loses its structure, the Sharks should get on top. I'm waiting for their pack to gel. Their set pieces are pretty poor at the moment. I think the Stormers have tools to take their backs out of the game. It'll be very interesting to watch. I hope it lives up to expectations.

One thing you can be sure of.

The Sharks will fall over.

SB

I know Silly Billy lives in a total dreamworld of his own and that is dangerous.   Esterhuizen normally makes a few good carries - but the problem with him is he is slow and a bit clumsy resulting in the end losing ball possession.   He also have a tendency to knock on balls - had it since his Under 20 years.  It would be interesting to see what his defense stats look like - normally not very effective.

As to the broader issues involved - I was not really impressed by the Sharks props this year, but their loosies are better in Du Preez especially, but that could be neutralized by the much better Du Toit - depending which selections are made by the Stormers,  The real reason for the loss could relate to the ill-discipline of the Stormers 

My own assessment is that the Sharks should win the game - but I could be wrong.  The Stormers h ad stronger opposing teams thus far - the Sharks played the Sunwolves and after that the Blues - who had handicaps like SBW playing for them and not the best Tight 5 either.

André was our only 12 who could release another player into space. Also our only 12 who had any sense of a draw and pass, or offload. If you want clumsy, look no further than Damian's fumbles in contact, or how he allowed the opposition to repeatedly rip at poorly secured ball. I did the hard part, all you have to do is press play. Even when put on a platter, you still trip over your own feet. 

Time for calling in a plumber with a hammer and chisel as well as a microscope to do a brain op on Silly Billy - he is imagining to see things that did not happen.   Farcical as per normal.  

Esterhuizer has no clue on how to create anything for his outside man ... and De Allende even less so.

It's going to be a clash of the morons ... and the winner goes to the world cup.

I see Peyper's running the show ... so no free points and overlooked transgressions this time round, Stormers.

Sorry! 

Sorry Silly Billy

I again checked Esterhusizen's Springbok record:-

He played in 6 tests and the results were  as follows:

      Played     Tests        Won     Lost    Tries scored  

Argentiana        2               1           1               0

Auistralia          1               1           0               0

England             2               0           2              0

Wales                1               0            1              0

According to you a brilliant record of course.

... and not a try in sight ...

One must also remember that the Poms were particularly weak in those two test matches ... and then there's the Welsh test ... a complete sham ... which he lost ... 

One would have thought that this rugby genius would have at least scored a try against one of these sub standard sides. 

I proved that these stats are not good enough at reflecting the on-field action when I took Damian's best test from a statistical standpoint, and exposed its flaws. I ask you for references in game. To tell me what happened. If you only pull out numbers from ESPN, it tells me that you don't know what actually happened. Low and behold, you draw blanks yet again. You're out of your depth Mikey-kun. Way out at sea. 

Seems if the stats don't do it, there's always the option to conjure something else that does ...

Mike has been peddling this fallacy for months. He also blamed Andrè for the win he lost in Brisbane South Africa. He is very knee-jerk when drawing conclusions. How many games has he blamed Mornè for losing that he wasn't actually in? Very sloppy. 

The video is up there, and the challenge is set: Go find these facts that prove Andrè lost the Welsh test.

It's interesting, the same sector of the forum who sling mud can't tell you any specifics. Yet these murky, unknown details of theirs a re definitely facts. Very interesting indeed. 

Kindergarten level - what a  statement  from a  person who specializes in kindergarten tactics to deal with player assessment.    Nobody said that Esterhuizen was blame entirely for the defeat,  However, what it did indicate is the backline was not function properly and inm that Esterhuizen played a major role through -

*   ball carries that resulted in possession turnovers;

*   knocking on of a ball with an open tryline in front of him; and 

*   substandard defense..

Those problems were not wildly made - it was also confirmed by the statistics of ESPN.

The deduction is that the stats above means nothing.   It does and fact is that Esterhuizen did a slow run with no real pace and that led to the so-called illegality of the tackle by Farrell.   It  does not take away from the way Esterhuizen carried the ball - slowly and without any idea what to actually do with the ball. 

Fact is you better check with Mozart - he blamed Du Toit for losing that test and not the poor line-out throw-ins by Marx.   

What it proves is that Esterhuiznen is praised to high heaven by Silly Billy by making delusionary statements about his abilities.   If he was such a good center he should at least have contributed to the improved backline play which never was in evidence in all tests he played in. If he was such a good center he should at least be credited with a try assist, since he never came near to scoring a try himself.  

The weakness of Silly Billy and your statements is that it is based  on total lack of objectivity and a serious case of prejudice.     I never said De Allende is good enough - but to use falsification to promote a worse player to take over - is unbelievable nonsense,

Ex News24:

The law is pretty clear in this incident, and having spoken to two international referees in trying to make sense of it all, both agree that it was a clear penalty and possibly a yellow in the circumstances.

Law 9.16 of the game clearly states: “A player must not charge or knock down an opponent carrying the ball without attempting to grasp that player.”

Multiple replays of the game show that Farrell clearly used the shoulder and made little attempt to tackle and Gardner rewarded him for it.

André drew and slipped through the defence and sent a deft grubber which Mapimpi reclaimed. 

He offloaded several times. Balls which were botched by the recipient. 

He tidies and secures a lot of possession. 

He knocked back attackers effortlessly. Stopped big George North dead in his tracks without support. 

One of his tackles resulted in an intercept for the Boks. 

He didn't knock on with an open try line in front him. 

He burst through the seam of the Welsh defence. 

You are thus wrong on all counts. Yes, you did blame him solely for that loss man y times. 

LMAF  = the list of delusions are growing.  Unbelievable  

All video varified.

You are accumulating quite a backlog of crow. Better tend to that before test season arrives. That said, they've been begging me to tell you to leave them be. They can't end ure any more of your antics.

One occurrence in half a dozen games is often a unique happening and not repeated,   The clip  ended without showing what followed.   I can remember a video  clip showing how wonderful Morne Steyn was on a few occasions and there was no showing of the hundreds of times he buggered up.   So save your video clips - it is of no real value in real player evaluations - Silly Billy   

One occurrence in half a dozen games is often a unique happening and not repeated,   The clip  ended without showing what followed.   I can remember a video  clip showing how wonderful Morne Steyn was on a few occasions and there was no showing of the hundreds of times he buggered up.   So save your video clips - it is of no real value in real player evaluations - Silly Billy   

Ruck to ruck. I show everything. You wouldn't be able to find enough material to cover 50 times that "Morné buggered up". You can't reference anything, just spout repetitive nonsensical gibberish: "He arez detrimental to back play", "he kicked aimlessly every game", "he missed every tackle", "he lost loads of tests". All unsubstantiated nonsense. Like when Pakie took you to the cleaners regarding Morné's tackling efficiency, when the facts are laid out, you look more than a little silly. 

He's shown himself as perfectly capable and in some areas superior to the incumbent #12. Pretty simple. Still not an ideal option, but a viable one.

The fact is Silly Billy has no isdea about the game and player evaluation.  We have seen some classics from him - the Folau and Dan Carter cases are just two.   

They constantly rake up past threads that thy use to discredit members - they have nothing else to do on site than write total BS and trying to discredit members by coming up with such revived threads,   Their own clangers of the past is not pertinent and they would never retrieve that,    

Really? I've never rated another 10 over Carter. I rated Folau's 2013 RC as poor. You see? Maybe your P innochio nose is obscuring your vision. At least you've got something to hang your bloomers on. There's a silver lining to everything I suppose. 

Silly Billy

So Morne's -

*   5 missed tackles in the Johannesburg game between the AB's and the Springboks in 2013;

*    7 missed tackles in the Perth disaster in 2014; and

*    4 mussed tackles in his last Springboks starting test,  

 did not happen.   Your friend Pakie proved nothing by creating further silliness on his part.

As to Folau you started your cap in 2013 and continued with it ever since - even when I caught you out just after your latest return.

As to Carter not so long ago  Mozart came up with a silly comparison between Carter and Morne and that is where you compounded your BS take on Carter and Morne.

My intelligence is not challenged - but in your case there is no intelligence to be challenged.  LMAO