If a rugby team was comprised entirely of locks, the Boks would never be beaten. Our other strong positions are hooker, loosehead prop, scrum half and wing. But nothing compares with our ability to produce test level locks.
moz... our biggest strength over the years has been our looseforward depth.
we have always had a plethora of brillaint 6's, 7s and 8s to come in for our legends like Schalla, Duanne, A Venter, J Smith and Willem Alberts.
No doubt Chip....we are a great loose forward nursery. Going all the way back to Martin Pelser, Doug Hopwood, Jan Ellis etc. At the moment though I rate our locks above our loosies.
On the loosies I’d say we have produced terrific blindside flanks and 8th men. But have we produced one world class fetcher flank? Before his neck injury Schalk was certainly a candidate, but after that injury he shifted his playing style.
Our last world class fetching openside was probably 2009 Heinrich Brussow before the law changes regarding the ruck.
True Brussow was terrific for a few years but the law changes and the physical beating he took reduced his effectiveness.
We like our hookers and 8's to do the fetching while effectively playing 2 blindside flankers...or a blindside and a third lock...and our centers compete for the ball like loosies too.
The Boks are at their best when the pick players outside the box of convention. Pity Card isn't around. He's got his blind spots, but he dissects the play patterns well...his views on the current Bok paterns would be interesting...as would Pakie's.
Delusional Draad...
Last I checked, we won the RWC with a lock playing blindside, a hybrid center playing at flank...a 12 that played like a 3rd loosie...and a 15 that played flyhalf on attack...and our starting hooker and 8 did more fetching than the openside...our only openside only played from the bench in the death of matches.
Rugby is about the team that equals more than the sum of the parts...a form of art...brutal art in the case of last year's Boks, but art all the same...next level Jedi sh!t...we did it, like I said we could.
If I'm delusional, then Rassie and his staff are too.
I don't think we have any world class 8's after Vermeulen and when fit Whitely. Although, we have some youngsters coming through the ranks this year. Only time will tell.
I also agree on opensiders, but then each team seems be using the opensiders as more of an attacking option and mobility and almost act as an extra winger
Hooper, Save and Curry. Out of this 3 I would say Curry is the better poacher, but then the Hurricanes has Boshier who has been phenomenal with steels this year
Sorry, he please for the chiefs Lachlan Boshier
"I also agree on opensiders, but then each team seems be using the opensiders as more of an attacking option and mobility and almost act as an extra winger"
I won't say winger, more like an extra runner in different applications....not typical opensides...we play left and right flanker...Deon Fourie was the last classic opensider for WP and he played most of his rugby at hooker.
Jaco Coetzee seems to be a bit of a fetcher, but he plays 8 too.
Not delusional on Card, I know it's difficult to decipher his ramblings...he seems to see the paterns well enough, but his bias leads him to the wrong conclusions...he gathers the facts and video evidence well...like Pakie, but I also disagree with their final interpretation of the facts .
Card is an original thinker....worth any 10 of the groupies.
Give me a team of RGs!!
Music is quite suitable as well.
