Strauss is playing epic rugby.....turning the ball over on the deck, catching balls at his feet Jonty Rhodes would have dropped, tackling , bursting over the advantage line.....and rarely conceding a penalty. He is proving himself a great leader as well.
Bismarck has always been epic as well, but I'm not sure he is more epic than Strauss right now. If Bismarck were not in the mix, Bok captain and hooker would be Strauss for sure...and just maybe that's the right answer.
Agreed, as good as Bismark is and he is probably the worlds best, it would be difficult leaving Strauss out. The guy cant play a bad game - he has been huge. Right now he is the best hooker in the game
Mozart
When reading the above - I thought that you are over-empphasizing the turnovers in possession a bit and I found on ESPN stats that it happened 3 times in seven games. That is not Strauss's strong point - I would say. He plays excellent rugby and is good in bot the tight phases - as well as tackling and carrying of the ball.
Nobody knows how Bismarck is going to perform once he comes back from injury. So the argument is not really scientific and a comparison can realistically only be made after both players hasve had a reasonable number of games. We know what Strauss can do - we do nt know the same about Bismarck/
Wow one would swear Bismark was 18. We dont know what Bismark can do??????
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I have also contemplated this issue. Strauss has been playing very good rugby the last two years and with bizmark injured and only making a return soon the question I think we should be asking i how long till Bizmark gets back to his best. If he is able to return to top form very quickly then it will be a very tough choice indeed, and whoever is not chosen would be extremely unlucky to miss out. However, should he make a slow return (this is not unheard of in rugby these days either) to form then the decision sort of makes itself in a way. Strauss starting and Bizmark coming off the bench formthe boks wouldnt be a bad thing necessarily. The leadership qualities of Strauss are also a big plus. I never really considered him as being the full time captain for the boks until now, personally I think Jean de Villeres is doing a fine job as captain at the stormers so why would you want to drop him as bok captain, especially seeing as he is playing some really solid rugby and is likely to start for the boks this year.
Good topic Mozart
bismarck needs to prove himself, sometj=hing im sure he can and will do when he returns, but Boks are looking good having both strauss and bizzy in the team.
i always thought strauss was very underrated as captain, he could and should have been captain last year, b ut i cant see meyer leaving out JDV this year unless hes injured.
if strauss was to find himself captain of the Boks, it would make it even harder for bizzy to make the the starting XV, kind of like when smit was around, except strauss has the form hooker of SA in his corner.
top three hookers in spXV,,,
1 a strauss (cheetahs)
2 s moore (brumbies)
3 j hanson (reds)
I know I am going to stand alone in this, but it is an easy choice, regardless of what Bizzie does when he comes back, Strauss should be the Bok no.2. If we just look at Bizmark's game, he is freakishly strong, almost always gets over the advantage line, turns over around 2 balls per game......BUT he is a penalty machine! The number of penalties he gives away are as high as the number of balls he turns over. So in truth he makes zero turn overs per game. His discipline is also suspect. Strauss is not as flashy, but he is a much more rounded player, that is a great leader, strong with ball in hand, well disciplined and can also turn over a good number of balls on the deck. On actuall hooking duties, line-outs etc, the two are probably on par, but overall, Strauss takes it.
I really dont think the issue is who is better. Its more when to use them. In a faster flowing game use Strauss. In a forward battle use Bissie. Condidions and opposition. Rotaion as well - no need to play one guy into the ground.
Great to have too such excellent hookers with Tiaan still available if needs be.
i agree with beeno....its about pattern based selection in my view. strauss and bissie are the best 2 hookers in my view in the world right now and each has its own strong skillsets but for me the biggest thing is that they both can play. bissie can more combative than strauss but it depens on how the forwards generate the type of tempo you want to play at and how those players fit into that framework.
right now strauss is on the same level as bissie i reckon but we will see as bissie comes back from injury. seeing as he is going to france we as SA rugby should really just focus on strauss's development.
Bissie off to France!!! Man who is staying here is becoming the question!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Both Jannie and Bizzie have been linked with the same French club. They did release a statement saying their priorities lie with the Sharks and Boks but they will need their offer to be "matched" somewhat by the Sharks for them to stay.
That is probably not a possibility so we are probably going to lose them to France.
France and other overseas clubs are always going to be the problem. The reason SA rugby is suffering slightly is because the gap between money and passion is further stretching with the latter just clearly pulling away. Some of these club players are better off money wise than any international.
I am all for playing talent within the country no matter what. Sorry Louw and co. but if you want to be considered, you know what to do.
Its great for SA rugby that we have competition at hooker finally. Smit vs Bizzie was never really a contest skill wise for Bizzie was light years ahead but Smit was our captain so ridiculously kept Bizzie (the best hooker in the world) on the bench. Before them it was Smit and Shimange and those types of muppets so no real contest. With Strauss and Bizzie there, both will be forced to play to their potential. Competition is never a bad thing!
Beeno raises an excellent point, the fact we are currently spoilt for choice as hooker means that Heyneke has the luxury of dopting a horses for courses approach, the question is will he pick the right horse for the right course when the international season get underway. And lets face it some of his selection decisions have been a little sketchy at best, regaerdless of whish province you support.
