How our players in S15 rate against Australia and New Zealand

 Being proudly South African, I was wondering who the best players in each position are if I had to select a team tomorrow based on all the super 14 teams. Unfortunately not many South African names spring to mind. My top players so far in each position

15 – Dagg, Andre Taylor, Kurtley Beale (No South African player that can compete against these guys spring to mind)

14 – Rico Gear, Zac Guildford, Mvovo

13 – Fruanne, Tamati Ellison

12 – De Villiers, Sonny Bill Williams

11 – Savea, Shipperly

10 – Cruden, Goosen (injured), Curtly Beale

9 – Will Genia, Hougaard

8 -  Horwill, Matt Tod

7 – Coetzee

6 –  Pocock,

5 – Sharp

4 – Etztebeth

3 – Tamalolo

2 – Strauss, Moore

1 – Coenie Ooshuizen

What a load of nonsense.

Lambie at 15 is up there with the best.

JP at 14 is way up there

Fruane cant even make the NZ squad. Taute, Jordaan and JJ Engelbrecht are up there

At 12 Whitehead is up there

Hell you dont even have Digby as a wing option

Hougaard is  better than Genia

Spies, Strauss and Vermeulen are up there at 8

J.Potgieter, CJ Stander, Elstadt are up there at 7

Brussouw, Daniel and Kolisi at 6

Bekker, Jeandre Kruger at 5

Flip at 4

Jannie at 3

Bismark is the best hooker in the game

Kitshoff and Beast at 1

If our players were that average, how the hell would we get 3 sides in the top 5 of the S15 log

I'm looking at players in each position based on current super rugby form, Lambie has been playing 10 all season, JP has been playing most of his rugby 13 until the last 2 games, Taute has been moved around and can't compete against the class of Andre Taylor, Spies has been kak all season. Brussouw hardly featured this year, kolisi has been really good but not the best. Elstadt has been okay, but not the best, Bekker hasn't been the same force, Jannie has been really poor, Bismark is up there but hasn't been the best consistent performer.

Take the blinkers off. 

No blinker, just a brain, it helps

Nice  list KC.......I agree with most of your selections. We have 5 starting Boks in a team of 15, That has to  be about right. Dinna worry about the nutter.

 Not a nutta just a loyal Bok supporter who has faith in his players unlike you sad doom and gloom bunch.......hell even stupid enough to exclude a player like Bismark and have an average joe like Moore in the mix, who is clearly behind Bismark, Strauss and Chiliboy.......lets not forget missing out on the Beast who a week or so ago put in the loosehead performance of the competition.

Then we have Sharpe at lock, what a joke, the guy has done stuff all, all S15, I dont think he has made a team of the week to date. Better than Jeandre Kruger, my arse.

Moz it must be a real bind being the fairweather Bok supporter that you are? Hell you find so much negative in most of the players we have on board and then manage to counter your negativity by manufacturing positives in hopeless causes like Adi Jacobs, Bosman, BJ Botha, Muller and past its like Joe v/Niekerk or Joubert

I have some comments on the players mentioned in the list of kingcorn:-

15     No problem

14     Can't be Rico Gear - at age 35 he is playing in Japan as far as I know.   His brother Hosea is in S15

13     No problem

12    No problem

11    No problem

10    Cruden is a nice youngster - but definitely not better than Lambie.  Beale played full back but for the

              last two games.   Preferred at Full back.

  9    Hougaard definitely tops the list

  8    I would add Vermeulen

  7   Add Elstadt to that one

  6    No problem

  5   Sharpe is past tense.    Would rather have Bekker than him

  4   No problem

  3    No problem

  2    I think Du Plessis is better than the hookers mentioned

  1   Oosthuizen  - definitely not.   A good developing player - but I would not at this stage put him on any list

Not many changes - but the above would mean that the representation per team of SA Players would be as follows:-

    Stormers - top of the log     -     3 players - De Villiers, Bekker and Etzebeth

    Bulls                                       -      1 player - Hougaard

    Sharks                                   -       2 players - Lambie and Du Plessis

Fair comment Mike. The point is KC has taken a stab an objective view. The TN sides tend to be equals, even if we haven't been much opposition since 2009. So an even representation makes sense.

At tri nations level all players making their national side are good. What differentiates are the world class players or at least players above average  - players giving your side an edge. What players could give us an edge?

EG - Bissie, Etzebeth, Bekker (if fully fit) Schalk, Vermeulen, Elstadt, Hougaard, Frans, Jean.

Another way of looking at it is who are our players below par or our weakest links.  I can think of Jannie,  He is average. All other seem to be competitive.

W can pick a pack to dominate. Backline shoud also be good. Kicking game will be fine and Frans can slot the long ones.

Fact is Meyer has it all and only poor management can foul up this fantastic talent pool.

True Beeno. What we also should not forget is that the exact same thing counts for New Zealand as well. They have massive talent. Dominance of the next four years will solely be on the shoulders of the coaches of both these countries as both countries have some noce young talent comeing through. The environment  these two  coaches create will determine who will dominate. i want to bring Aus in here as well but they honestly don't have the amount of young talent that SA and NZ now posess.

Saffex, what is the weather like on your planet? Just because KC and Moz don't think that every single South African player is the best in the world ever, that the world has ever seen ever, doesn't make them disloyal or unpatriotic...It is called being fair to all three nations. Granted Bizzie & Digby etc being left out of KC's original list were mistakes, doesn't make him anti-South African....were Nuke or one of the other NZ commentators here to offer an opinion as one sided as yours regarding New Zealands players, you'd be the first to climb into them for having blinkers on....chill out ma bru!

Blue like I said to Mike I dont need a lecture from you, so I suggest you go shove it up your ass.

I never said every SA player was the best in the world now did I......I was just pointing our how inaccurate kings list was - its that simple

Fair and balanced Kingcorn and yes a minor few of your selections is questionable but your point is taken and it's not dissimilar to an earlier post of mine.

Well this list is open and not cast in stone, but what I'm looking for is objectivity. These are the players that caught my eye so far. I try to watch all of the games, but sometimes a few go unwatched. Beast has been impressive since his return and Bismark was the front ranker at the start of the season, Moore to me have been performing really well consistently and no wonder the brumbies are the top Aus team.

I believe that we are lacking some serious deph and certain positions, ie Fullback, Outside Centre and Wings. JP and Habana are still solid but not the best in the comp at the moment. Basson is good in the air and a fantastic finisher but he also lack defensive qualities. I like the look of Willie le Roux, he has also shown to be a bit of a playmaker in broken play.

Bekker was good but haven't impressed me at all this season, Sharp has been at the top but have started to dip in form. I'm sure that this list will change at end of the year.

I think Coenies scrumming has been solid, but what has impressed me is his mobility around the park, running, tackling, hitting the ruck, stealing balls, side stepping, what can this prop not do. Beast is a great ball carrier and have been great come scrum time, but he has only been back for the last two games. He may overtake coenie.