Ethan Adams

I'm not sure if you okes heard about this kid, but he seems to be a real handful. Not very tall and only 174 cm but weighing 104kg built like a real tank like Lumapa from the Hurricanes. It is only junior rugby so not sure how he will do at seniors as these tanks get found wanting once the play against proper harde baarde.

We saw Australia baby rhino smash up the school fields only to become a handy prop.

I also see Markus Miller being hyped up. He didn't have a big impact in his 15 min cameo, road a few tackles but no dominant tackles and few link plays

Meet Ethan Adams.

He is a beast of note.

A brick shit house on thighs of thunder

Gerber-like thighs. ;-)

Where's Dave now?

"A brick shit house on thighs of thunder"

"Gerber-like thighs. ;-)"

Bros got no chairs at home, Just does horse stance squat while watching Wilco Louw and Carlu Sadie highlights. :-)

BN

The quads prince

I'm not putting much stock in these young phenomenons any more.

Nice to know they exist and might become something but making an impact in the men's game is a step up. It's all a lot tighter, everybody is bigger and faster.

The other side of it is that you need to have more than one thing that you're good at. Our best backs all excel at a bunch of things. Moodie with his tackling, high ball prowess, hands. Same is true for Hooker, Sacha, Arendse, Willemse, Kolbe and all our best guys. They do a good few things very well.

Cast your mind back to Juju. 3 seasons now in the men's game and he's done nothing of note. His power isn't as effective against men and he basically has one skill...a step. Can you ever see yourself picking him ahead of Moodie, Hooker or Willemse at 13 when those guys all bring less of a step but more of everything else?

Not saying I don't wish our mini tank Adams all the best. Just that I'll reserve my excitement until he can convert some of that dominance into success in the groot man se game.

Looks like he could be a proper little cannonball of a 12.

I have to agree with you on that Plum, JuJu or as I would like to call him, Jizzo, then it is true. He may have peaked at school and that is where he will stay. Yes, he breaks the line from time to time but nothing special.

The only young phenom for me were two players.

Frans Steyn, 19 year old at the World Cup playing big games. Willemse never came close to his impact and I am still waiting on him to deliver. Sasha only start showing his worth at 23 and had one or two amazing games, but Frans was playing against very tough teams at the time and then to play in a World Cup final and make it count.

The other player is Os, he was selected as a 21 year old to play in the World Cup, for a prop forward to have such an impact. We forget how young he was because he always looked like a Oom, but the guy has been a genetic freak from his days as a school boy.

I really like that French winger Birallie, only 21 and just another level.

I hold my breath on Sasha,

I will keep an eye on Markus and Ethan Adams.

Ethan Hooker has come through nicely and only 22.

We forget how good Moodie is and how young he is. For me in terms of young talent, ahead of Willemse.

I really don't get the hype on Willemse.

I couldn't settle at 10, then they moved him to 15, he was okay, but they then moved him to 12, but a journeymen like Du Plesis is keeping him away from the 12 jersey. So what is he really good at?

He cac plug a hole for you, but that is about it

Willemse is getting stuffed around so much at the Stormers. I think his biggest claim to fame is his stepping, but in the 12 channel that is mostly negated. You're usually dancing around one guy right into the next one. Hard and direct works better in midfield - see Henko's solo try on Saturday.

I won't say I don't get the hype around Willemse - I just don't get the hype around him as a 12. We have his try in the All Blacks game, which was great, and then a break into space past prop Tamatie Williams, and on the basis of that evidence we now have to believe he is the future at 12 for the Boks. I'm not buying it yet, and he's not getting game time in the position at the Stormers, so we can't gather more evidence. It's all up in the air.

The whole idea of Willemse at 12 was always a bad one.

In Rassie's defence, I feel like the only reason he used him at 12 was because of the AE hybrid role. If AE was suddenly not available for the Boks I very much doubt we would see Willemse at 12. It's difficult to believe that any competent coach sees him as a long term 12.

For Dobbo i have zero excuses.

Rassie has always played Willemse at 15 and there were questions why, but now we know. However, Quan Horn starting to show really class and super solid, doesn't make a mistake. Willie is finally on his way out, but in comparison way more impactful than Willemse. I don't see any of our 15's able to link with our wingers the way Willie has for the past 10 years.

Willemse always have the ball in both hands, looks at the tackler, jumps up in the air and then tries to step. It is so instinctive to him, that he can't sum up the spaces and figure whether it needs a kick, run, pin and pass. His pinning is probably the worse.

Athletism is good and can play decent, but as I say. He doesn't do any of the positions well and not the best. He has had ample opportunity to stamp his mark. He will always just a be a bench or impact player.

Yeah, have to agree on the little jump before the step. It's a favourite of guys like Gelant and Simelane. It's weird and hardly ever results in much. You never see Sacha doing that kak.

At the other end of the spectrum you have the Moodies, Hookers, Quans and Hencos...who seem to decide very early what they what to do and then push the angle hard and early.

But I disagree very much on Willesden on the whole. To my mind he's very solid and probably one of the first backs I think of when I think about guys that play the right(my favourite) balance of risk versus safety.