Habana, Aplon and de Jongh

These three small guys are the heart of the Stormers team. I know Dave said said Habana had a game to forget. And he did miss a few kicks and coming out of line, conceded a try. Errors of commission. But how many balls didn't he contest in the air. How many times did he slow the ball down. Nobody plays with less regard to his own body ....total commitment. He was a bit rusty against the Canes, but it's great to have him back.

And Aplon is a bloody marvel. Most loose forwards would have been held up for his try. But he gets the ball down. Taken by Franks he has the strength to twist and present the ball. Given a bit of space, this guy is always lethal.

De Jongh never had the ball much. But his defence was superb.....not just the tackles and the NZ commentators understood the value of his low tackling from a forward position.....but the interference with the pass.  I don't know any 13 who makes contact further over the advatage line. Some like Dom Maaik don't get that. But the effect on the game is significant.

Mozart

I do think that Aplon made a very signidicant contribution to the outcome of the game - and that De Jong for him had a reasonable defensive display.  That being said there were defencive lapses too and Habana was also beaen on at least two occassions.  

However, the player who made an absolute effort to try and give victory to the Hurricanes was De Jongh.  He gave away two crucial penalties.   The Stormers were indeed lucky that Barrett missed the one kick at goal - but the other penalty was also critical in that it stopped an attack by the Storrmers in its tracks.

De Jongh was just back to his standard game being no asset in any attacking game - seriously quetsionable in defence - and in any other respects a serious liability.   His defencive record thus far thei year is 29 tackles made 8 tackles missed.   Still hovering around the 25% mark.

I warned about the problems that will be encountered in the defence by playing the small guys you rave about in thie thread as being  "the heart of the Stormers team."  We know that the warnings about defence were based on sound facts and it really materialized.   Lets look at the stats of the other three small guys - I include Pietersen in that as well:-

Between the four player concerned they made 18 tackles - missing 7,   That is nothing to rave about.   The factual position is that Foxsport really also showed the seriousness of the problem by assigning the following points to the four players concerned::-

    De Jongh             -          2 points

    Pietersen             -          2 points

    Habana               -           -10 Points

    Aplon                   -           31 Points

Aplon's high point allocation is based on the try he scored - as well as some attacking runs - minus his defenciive lapses.  Instead of being the heart of the Stormers team - I would say they are also the soft underbelly of the team.

We know that Habana and Aplon are on their day very good performers and that they can be very dangerous players to have around and that the Stormermers need Pietersen to do their goal kicking - but what do they need De Jongh for?

If I were in the boots of Coetzee - my backline for the Blues game would be as follows:-

15    Aplon/Pietersen

14   Van  den Heever/Aplon

13   De Villiers

12   De Allende

11   Habana

10   Van Aswegen

The above factual position should clear up the raving of yours about the small backline players.   Together they are a serious risk.   You can do with two of them - four together is aimed at self-destruction.  

However, the problem remains with goalkicking - so Pietersen has to stay in the team.  So Aplon will have to stay at least until there is certainty about Van den Heever.

Agreed Moz, Habana was only rusty, one cant knock his commitment, he won the game for the Stormers in the end with his goal kick charge down, He will get better.

Aplon is always a factor at this level, but its his level given his size.

de Jongh was solid enough, but he and Jean offered nothing with ball in hand. Jean had an iffish game.

 Unless my memory fails Habana is 96 kg - hardly small.

De Jongh and De Villiers did not do much as snapster observes. Aplon had a good game spolit a bit by his allowing a try by not covering his wing and dropping the bsll with the line at his mercy. Only possibility for him re the Boks is as a impact player

Yeah Habana is not small at 95kg. Aplon is no longer a factor for the Boks - size is always a factor and he is 30 odd these days or close. 

 Mike Joe has to be fullback. Allende at center for de Jongh and van Der Heever on the wing. Trouble is Van Der Heever is not on tour I understand? Big problem also is Allistair doesnt see it like this. 

Play both De Jongh and Aplon off the bench at a time when the gaps are opening  up as players get tired.

Joe actually is an unsung hero as Denny noted

 Jantjies needs to return to 10, the sooner the better and Groom at 9

Didn't we start winning the moment Jantjies got hurt?

Mozart

No comments about my problem with the four small guys in the game?   Though I put it very clearly what the contributions were made by them.

Jantjies to return and hand games on a platter to the opposing teams?   Obviously the Crusaders disaster was not enough to let the blind see that he is useless and a terrible risk to have in the team.    But then we know what to expect from the unthinking who knows very little about the game of rugby.

No its a team game and one certainty is that Jantjies is in a different class to v/Aswegen. Jantjies had not cost the Stormers a single game.

The minute he is over his injury he will be back in the side and rightly so

Dave he cost us the very first game against the Bools and continued from there.

 Disagree Moz, Jantjies has had far more positives than negatives for the Stormers. v/Aswegen was poor in defence and does not merit being retained ahead of Elton