Gio Aplon was superman again

WP may have been outplayed, but not because of Aplon. There was one high ball he couldn't secure against other jumpers and one turnover against him on the deck. But for the rest, he fielded securely, kicked well, tackled brilliantly including the tackle on SP Marais which could have prevented a try.

And every time he ran he beat tackle after tackle. Just when it looked like he would wriggle free a last desperate Sharks tackle would save the day....but there is no more dangerous a runner in the country. Aplon is so good, there isn't any particular note made when he beats four tackles in a run.

He must wonder what he has to do to replace the likes of the Woolie Bool ie 

Mozart

Aplon had a good day at the office - but not as good as Marais.   He had some good runs from the back - but he was also not really dangerous and was normally tackled before he could effectively link up with other players to carry on with the attack.

I agree - he is better than Kirchner - but so are other players like Marais - who yesterday did better than he did.  

Which tackle on Marais are you talking about?   He did not tackle Marais out of the field in the first half near the tryline - so which one was the famous one you raised now?   His defence as a rule is not up to standard - see hat Super 16 stats - where he missed on average about 40% of all attempted tackles.

Another 32 year-old player that did not make the grade when given the opportunity to play for the Springboks in the past - what will make him make the grade in future? 

Wonderful argument here - the player scored 5 tries in 2009 - but in 201 3 was a very poor defender on Super 15 level - and he should be played ahead of Kirchner on test level.   Meantime Kirchner should not be on that level either.

Problem is - why bring on board a 32 year old player that had his chances on test level and proved that he was not up to standard on that level and last year called up to play in the PE test - had playing time and did squat.

This really is absurd. 

Sure

I enjoyed the joke - now what about the statement on the inadequacy of Aplon.s defence?  

Mozart

The average tackle count for Aplon for every game he played in in Super 15 was 3 tackles per game.  His average missed tackle count per game was 1 tackle per game.  That for  wing or full back is very low and the missed tackle ratio of 33% is very high.   Bot a joke - but not good enough at all.   The joke in fact is hat he was not as bad as Morne Steyn with his 40% ratio was in the Ellis Park test.

Mozart

On what basis is Aplon (33% missed tackle ratio) and De Jongh (25% missed tackle ratio) fine tacklers - since they flop regularly as is statistically proven?   The number of tackles behind the advantage line is a figment of your imagination.   There defence is rubbish - more like a sieve than anything else.

Or are the statistics lying again?

I do agree with you that there is a problem with Engelbrecht's technique - but he only missed 16% of his attempted tackles - which compared to De Jongh is peanuts,   There is NOTHING wrong with the technique of Jordaan - in all the matches he played this year in Super 15 he missed FOUR tackles for a missed ratio of 6% - if there is something wrong with his technique - that would not be the case.    In the games De Jongh played in he missed TWENTY EIGHT tackles - so please explain your statement again - I am curious to know your rationale in the circumstances?            

Mozart

Still waiting for a response - or is it again a case that the stats are raw data - to be ignored because i t des not fit my argument?

Seen this kid play for the baby Boks ...a class act ...two years in a row i think he's been a thorn in our side .... comparable to Jason Robinson aka Billy Whiz...

Jason Robinson demonstrated how size is'nt everything...lot of parallels can be drawn between these two -height, weight , positions....plenty of evasive skills and ticker...just what the boks are lacking in their backs- someone with a bit of flair.

Dunno whether Meyer would be clever enough to use him though...Hopefully Heineken ignores him ,he gets a good offer from elsewhere and the Kiwis won't have to worry about him too much...

Mozart

The average tackle count for Aplon for every game he played in in Super 15 was 3 tackles per game.  His average missed tackle count per game was 1 tackle per game.  That for  wing or full back is very low and the missed tackle ratio of 33% is very high.   Bot a joke - but not good enough at all.   The joke in fact is hat he was not as bad as Morne Steyn with his 40% ratio was in the Ellis Park test.

Ceradyne

Miss he ball completely as is your normal.   I am not talking of one game - I am talking of a series (ie Super 15)   In some games players can miss a lo of tackles - bit throughout a series it is normally cancelled out and an average situation is arrived at.

And Aplon's average average for the series as a whole is poor.