Hougaard is not making progress

 Dave which of your contrary picks has actually made a real difference in Bok rugby....I can't think of one. By contrast there are many flops....just among the centres I count Murray, Olivier, JJ, Whitehead and even Halstead. A parade of flops. Your problem is you try to be a predicting guru ahead of time....it doesn't work. These guys have to prove they have it on the field.....level by level.

I would love to have a Carter to pick....but even then I'd like a bit more nerve when the chips are down. Morne isn't a perfect tool for everything....but he is about the best in the world for points with the  boot. You can work with that and work around that. Take Sexton, his pathetic chip kicks gifted the Poms a game the Irish should have won...his missed penalty gifted NZ a game Ireland should have won. Morne rarely makes those mistakes.

So until Goosen proves he can kick them from the front of the poles and stay healthy  or Lambie proves he can actually make a diffrence to the attacking game....Morne is the professional choice.

Ah Moz, we are back to this are we………the last time you brought up Olivier, Murray and co, I did speculate that it would not be the last time you brought up these names.

Not sure why you think you can get away with bringing up this list of centres, for we both know that at no point have I ever selected Olivier, Murray or Whitehead ahead of Jean, Fourie or Frans………so while I might have rated these players as handy back-ups to the incumbents, at no point can they be classified as my failures for I have NEVER selected them ahead of the incumbents.

As for Halstead, not sure where you dragged that name from, but you have me confused with someone else.

As for JJ, he has been anything but a failure scoring 4 tries in 9 starts and comprehensively outplaying Conrad Smith in his last test and winning a Bok contract after one season in the picture – hardly the mark of failure now is it?

As for my calls…….well of late you heard the names of Etzebeth, Steph du Toit, Serfontein, Goosen, Arno Botha etc from me long before they made the grade.

As for Morne, no he should never have won a single Bok cap given his inability to play an allround game……….there has never been a need to play him given we have had James then, Lambie and Goosen now.

Dave the point is those picks which are now two years old in some cases haven't made the grade, except for Etzebeth. They aren't incumbent Springboks and maybe never will be. And that's the most positive sample you can produce. Your role as rugby's version of Nostradamus is a flop. Which is not to say I could do any better, the variables are hard to predict. Take Arno Botha, he had a solid start for the Boks but given two unexpected injuries, he may never play international rugby.

The Boks debate is only real, when we are dealing with fit, test ready players....players who have proven they can contribute against top quality S15 opposition in matches that count.