Fullbacks: Characteristics and Bok Pecking Order

The key aspects to fullback play can be summarized the following in no particular order: 1. Kicking Ability - The accuracy of bombs, distance of relieving kicks and the ability to exploit space through strategic kicking. 2. Counter-Attacking - The ability to beat the first defender when running the ball back and utilizing space through chip kicks or by creating an opening for a supporting player to carry the ball. 3. Aerial Ability - Contesting and catching bombs. 4. Defence - Last line tackling and one-on-one defence 5. General Attacking - Joining the line and creating space for overlaps. If we analyze the Bok candidates according to the above criteria it should be interesting to see how they match up. This is my take on this; Willie le Roux, Jaco Taute and Riaan Viljoen?? are considered moving forward. For comparative purposes Zane will also be included (He is leaving but HM may still consider him). When it comes to kicking Viljoen is probably the best. Obviously stats such as distance per kick can be applied but then there are different types of kicks and such a measure would prove insignificant. Viljoen gets a lot of distance and that trumps the accuracy of Zane's bombs for me. Willie is improving his ability and may catch up to Viljoen in the next year. This area has really been a weakness for Taute and he is sure to improve as well. Therefore the rankings are: 1. Viljoen 2. Zane 3. Willie 4. Taute When it comes to counter-attacking nobody comes close to Willie. He creates space and usually beats the first defender and he has variety with those chip kicks. Taute for me is a really strong runner with a deceptive step but not nearly as well rounded as Willie. Viljoen used to be a good counter-attacker but has really regressed over a period of time, probably due to losing a yard of pace it seems. Zane can but has never really been known for this ability. Therefore the rankings are: 1. Willie (at the moment by a country mile) 2. Taute 3. Viljoen 4. Zane Zane is really efficient when it comes to aerial ability. Among the rest Willie has certainly showed vast improvement this year with some vintage takes. Taute and Viljoen are both solid as you would expect from SA fullbacks. Therefore the rankings are: 1. Zane 2. Willie 3. Taute and Viljoen When it comes to defence none of them are especially great. Taute has the physical presence but lacks some agility. It has been nice to see the improvements Willie has been making by going in low and he will get stronger. As with the other Viljoen and Zane do miss the occasional last-line tackle but this is to be expected as runners improve their stepping skills. All of them are fairly equal in this department an won't let you down. Much like counter-attacking Willie is just a mammoth in general play, creating space when joining the line at pace. Taute again is a good runner but the ball usually dies with him. Viljoen does have the ability to join the line and create an overlap effectively through solid passing skills and awareness. Zane really has gone backwards over the years, the ball dies with him and he lacks the running ability of Taute. Therefore the rankings are: 1. Willie 2. Viljoen 3. Taute 4. Zane Final scorecard (4 pts for 1st, 3 for 2nd etc): 1. Willie -16.5 2. Viljoen - 13 3. Zane - 11.5 4. Taute - 10 Willie comes up trumps if all the abilities are assumed to carry equal weight. This also shows that with Zane leaving we aren't losing anything. I also expect Taute to improve his development substantially when he comes back from injury and he will probably take 2nd place. This analysis excludes qualities such as pressure-handling and experience which would be difficult to model.

I must say after RWC 2011 I thought that he was going to wear the 15 jersey for years to come. He looked so composed. I suppose he wanted to specialize and the Sharks had signed Louis L and Viljoen. He wouldn't have the X-factor of Le Roux but surely he would have been better than the other candidates. Kicking and defence he would be nr1 for sure. The Boks would have had the option at least, depending on the opposition, to pick Lambie for safety or Le Roux for a more expansive approach.

The order is Willie then Taute. Kirchner is done and Viljoen was never much. I like the look of Visser of the Bulls, SP Marais of the Kings, Coetzee of the Lions and Jessie Kriel of the Baby Boks.

I think Zane edges out Taute purely because of points received for kicking which I dont feel should be right. ..

 

We cant give a man 4 points for being a good kicker and give a great counter attacker the same for being a runner.

 

Counter attack points (in order of 1st to 4th): 12, 8, 4, 1

Defence: 6, 4, 2, 1

Attack: 12, 8, 4, 1

Kicking: 4, 3, 2, 1

Aerial ability: 12, 8, 4, 1

 

I would say that leaves us with this scenario:

Willie 1st on 36 points

Taute 2nd on 23 points

Viljoen 3rd on 21 points

Zane 4th on 18 points

 

We can not offer the same points for kicking as for counter attack. All fullbacks can put the ball up but the kick is only as good as the chase. It still remains a 50/50 ball whereas counter or attack ball remains a higher percentage ball! You will score more tries and win more games with a good attack than a good kicking game as the AB's have shown through the years.

 

Also, one must take in to consideration for a fullback that field position or positional play impacts just how good you can be on the counter attack.

eg. I Carter kicks through and the fullback is not in the ideal position, that is crucial seconds wasted to gather the ball, decide on his option and execute. All the time the AB's are setting their defence and coming up to snuff the potential counter attack out. Only option is to put it up. Now we have a well positioned 15 who has more time to gather the ball, catch the AB's at 6's and 7's and look to run into space and counter. Zane has pretty poor pace and positional play and has to rely on the boot..

 

I place less emphasis on defence as a fullback can do all he can but at the end of the day, he should always be beaten 1 on 1 by an opposing back. These guys have pace and a step and a fullback has to be extremely lucky when you consider supporting players too. Ludik is our best defensive 15.