AO
There always is a total mess in what you post. I tried to get a discussion going on the issue of starting rolling mauls, the running of it and defense against opposition rolling mauls - but it went straight over your head and Mozart also came up with real nonsense.
You talk about bashing and not anything else. So lets get back to the rolling mauls issue. The fact is a previous strong attacking and defensive weapon of the Springboks - rolling mauls - started to vanish from the scene in 2014 when Meyer brought back Matfield. Meyer realized he problem nd that was why Alberts was the 7 and Vermeulen the 8. However the idea failed because Alberts was hopeless in breakdown ball possession and recovery - his ball skills poor and so slow that players ran a round him at will.
The problem with driving mauls is that the ball must go to the middle of the line-out or further back to ensure the forming and co-ordination of mauls. Years of experience helped Matfield in starting of mauls - but iro co-ordination he was just pushed out of the mauls ending on his backsid3 outside of the mauls. he was physically to weak to do the co-ordination part.
Now on to 2018. This year there were a few successful mauls - but only when Du Toit was in the picture. Mostert on test level is incapable of starting and co-ordinatig a maul. We need to correct that and the only way is to strengthen the lock situation.
Playing of both Mostert and Whiteley together is patently impossible to succeed. From a forward perspective it is either one or the other - not both. Mostert ios the weak physical link in the Tight 5 - like Matfield he turned the Tight 5 into a Tight 4.
The first objective should be to physically strengthen the Tight 5 and then to look at what the best option at no 8 is concerned. As indicated I am very worried about Vermeulen - it looks more and more that since March he only played in three tests and maybe some games for Spear Kubota. One newspaper named him as returning from injury. He may just play one or two games making a good impression and the gas might run out again.
I hope he succeeds and dispel the problems evident this year, playing for the Bulls next year - but I have doubts as to whether that will be happening. We will have to wait and see, Louw is a total disaster as well. He was useless in most tests this year.
So who should be our number 8? There are Louw (the hopeless), Vermeulen (???????????????), and then potentially Coetzee or Du Preez.
So where to now - especially since the matter should be dealt with within the next nine months.
