Hougaard is not making progress

It's amazing how the mediocre mix Hougaard dished up against the Lions is supposedly better. Fumbles at the base at minutes 23, 26 and 73, which was off a Lions mistake, but really showed how ponderous he is. Decent line kicks but misplaced tactical kicks. A charged linekick for a Lions try, seconds after he was almost charged. And some horrible passes, picked up off his feet by Potgieter, and with the Bools in great position near the end....another pass along the ground. I see no progress, behind a dominant pack.

On the other side Faf de Klerk was crisp...Houdini like according to the commentators, when under pressure. His tactical kicks were spot on. And how about that tackle which cut down Jacque Engelbrecht at the knees when on the full charge.

 Yeah he is struggling,but he is gutsy,strong and fast.Not the best nine but can second for a wing,if needed.F du Preez or Reinach will wear 9 for the Boks anyway.

Also agree with Faf de Klerk.He was cool as a cucumber.Great prospect for the future.I really hope that when all is said and done that the talent at the Lions stay put and do not run after money to the other clubs..where they could play second fiddle.Example ;Piet van Zyl at the Bulls.

Mozart

Hougaard wanted to overcome his deficiencies - especially in kicking - by taking up a position slightly further away from scrums, lime-outs and mauls - so as to give him a bit more time to kick and pass the ball - - but he was still not satisfactory.  

He basically concentrated on his kicking game - but too many of his kicks can be regarded as aimless and could have serious detrimental affects for his team in the test arena.   He personally never attacked the gain line himself - so that also raises a question mark.

In essence his passing game in the last game was acceptable - but a scrummie cannot be one-dimensional and only selected because of that element of the game.   The main problem is that Hougaard is not a good reader of the game and cannot instinctively takes decisions that would benefit the team.

Be it as it may - I do not think that Hougaard was a serious challenger for test selection in any event.   So the fiscussion on that issue is not really of any value.     

I think that we all aside from Saffex agreed that Engelbrecht needs to probe that he should be our test 13 - but thus far in Super 15  he has shown nothing of the kind.  His play showed a deficiency and that is that he cannot seem to get the better of any defenders - even the Lions defence got the better of him and he did not show any penetration in attack at all.   

The question remains where to go next.   Fourie is not the answer - his defence is acceptable - but his attacking play is non-existent.   He is way past his prime and is not  solution.

The option may be to play De Villiers at 12 and try out De Allende at 13.  De Allende has shown in the two matches thus far that he  is way better than any contender for the no 12 jersey - but if he plays there De Villiers will have to slot in at 13 - where he is seriously deficient as once again shown in the last match.   

JJ has already performed against the AB's and that performance was the best we have seen from a Bok 13 in the past 5 years.

Was JJ given an attacking opportunity against the Lions in the pouring rain.......when he did, he put his man away nicely for a try

The shit written about JJ is laughable

JJ was the best SA 13 last week, certainly better than Jean who was a liability in defence with a 50% strike rate  

Here's the problem.

JJ has now played 3 games in the S15 and done nothing. Before that you have to go all the way back to the home Bargie test to find him doing something of note. Dave quotes the NZ test where he overran a try scoring pass, missed Barrett and was turned at the half for a crucial NZ try. That's the best  performance by a Bok 13 in 5 years? Give me a break.  This guy is an empty suit.

Hougaard has a slow mind at scrummie....he wont overcome that. He reacts quickly enough when he has predecided his course of action....but introduce a decision and he reacts like treacle. That's why he is so often disturbed by the opposition.

Both these players are mid twenties and still "learning" their positions. It's a lost cause...really. There is still some hope for Serfontein who is young and is clearly an inside centre.....the other two are already history.

Oh what crap, JJ had an outstanding game against NZ comprehensively outplaying Smith......to date in the S15, he has been as solid as can be asked of him given the little ball he has received, hardly surprising given he has played 2 of the 3 games in the pouring rain.......but more than anything, his defence has been outstanding to date........something most people seemed to have an issue with.

JJ has made a solid start to the S15 and shown up the likes of Jean when it comes to defence.

Hougaard has also had a solid start, his service has been spot on for the most.......its never going to be perfect in the pouring rain.......2 of his 3 games have been in the wet. We are missing his sniping breaks and in his last game, his kicking was spot on   

JJ has proved himself already and has been awarded a Bok contract as a result.

Using the excuse that Jean only produces in Test matches is rubbish......no player approaches a game with a half baked attitude........Jean has been poor defensively at 13 showing just how tough it is to defend there.

JJ on the otherhand had been solid in defence, showing just how quickly this lad has come to grips with the demands of defending in this channel.

JJ had an outstanding game against the AB's and that's a fact........it is better than anything we have seen from Jean, de Jongh or Taute at 13 and certainly better than anything Fourie ever did.......which you will attest to given you never rated the lad. Fourie was always about running good lines or being in the right place at the right time and his strength was always a bonus.

We never saw the kinding of beating of Savea from Fourie......for that is just a different skill set.......pace and feet were never a Fourie strength.

JJ has played 3 games this S15, two in the rain and delivered all he could on attack for not once has he operated in space.......just like Jean has not.

If JJ has done nothing thus far in the S15, Jean has done less given how average he has been defensively.

JJ has been as solid as they come this S15 and what exactly you expect of him given the circumstances he has played in is beyond comprehension.

If all the centres around him were creating havoc on attack and setting the world alight then fair enough........but little ball and activity by our centres has been par for the course so far......more so for the Bulls given the rain.

As for Jean's break, would that be the dummy and the cock up shortly after?

JJ has beaten as many defenders as Jean, put Serfontein away for a try and been far better than Jean defensively thus far......I know who I would be selecting at 13 and it would not be Jean  

Wrong JJ adds a new dimension to outside centre play.......being able to beat a man through pace and skill far out weighs being able to run good lines........these lines are easily defended against in the modern test arena.......defences are so well organised and structured that something more is needed than straight runners.

Seeing JJ operate at 13 against the AB's changed my opinion on the prerequisites of a great 13........Gerber and O'Driscoll were the best 13's in the business......and they were all about pace and great feet........JJ is the closest in terms of raw material......he does not however have the rugby nous of an O'Driscoll, but not many do......other than Conrad Smith at 13, but then he lacks the raw material  

What, Fourie did absolutely nothing on the EOYT......he never made a single break, never beat a single defender and gained all of 13m in 3 tests......that is a complete and utter flop.

Fourie was good in his day, with his strength and good support play......he never was much of a creator, more a finisher, with a good test strike rate.

JJ has a far better skill set and should prove as productive in the strike rate stakes.......4 tries in 9 starts is a handy start 

Fourie was poor on the EOYT and along with the likes of Bakkies, Steenkamp etc should not be playing for the Boks...........they are well past it.

If we are going to knit pick against who players score tries against, that is getting a little pathetic.......who did Fourie score against in his first 9 tests?

JJ's break against NZ when he beat Savea and put Willie into space, should have lead to a try had average Morne not spilt the ball going over the line.

So once again your take on JJ is simply nonsense

Two can play this game......so of the 32 test tries scored by Fourie we have the following:

1 vs Argentina

2 vs Fiji

1 vs Georgia

1 vs Italy

2 vs Namibia

2 vs Samoa

3 vs Scotland

2 vs Uruguay

2 vs USA

That's half of his 32 against stuff of legends!!!!

Complete bullshit......Morne was the inside defender who clearly got hands on Barrett, he went high thanks to being offset by Jean's rush......JJ was covering wide, had to turn and could only try going high so to exclude Morne of blame smacks of ignorant bias and more than anything complete bullshit.

JJ was a wing who has successfully moved to 13 where he will stay and continue to add value.

If you want to point fingers, look no further than Morne's pathetic defensive efforts in that NZ test where he missed 5 tackles  

Actually against NZ Morne made more tackles than any other Bok back. The tackles he missed included Barrett where he shuffled the player along to JJ and Smith in wide open field where he was stepped coming across at full pace. 

But you can't make JJ good, by making Morne bad. JJ is failing all on his own....that's why he was dropped after being given a lot of chances at 13. This is a new year, but he will fail again. He doesn't have a rugby brain.

He was not dropped for if he had been dropped he would not have been offered a Bok contract.......you don't offer contracts to players you don't believe in.

Meyer has seen the value in JJ and wanted to have a look at Fourie as he wont have the opportunity again.

JJ offered more at 13 than any Bok has in years

Missing 5 tackles in one test against NZ is just not good enough, regardless of how many he made......Morne is and always has been a defensive liability - that test just proved that

Yes and at least Morne is the second highest Bok point scorer of all time behind Monty. And he beats Monty 11.8 to 8.8 in points per game. For that matter he beats Naas at 11.1 and Stransky at 10.9 as well.

But go ahead tell us Dave....points don't matter.

Moz his ability to kick a ball through the posts has never been disputed, its just a pity all those points did not lead to a greater winning record for the Boks while Morne was at 10.

The reason for that being that the rest of his game is so average that the Boks have fallen short. You cant win tests with an average pivot