Kriel is best outside back defender according to Brenden Venter

"The Wallabies brought their A game and were moving the ball from side to side but, for the first time since Jacques Nienaber took over as defence coach, it appeared as if the Springboks had the whole field covered.

South Africa's width on defence was brilliant and one of their biggest weaknesses has effectively morphed into a strength. In my opinion, the main reason for South Africa's turnaround on defence is down to the presence of outside centre Jesse Kriel.

During my time spent with the Springboks last season, Kriel was our best defensive outside centre by a country mile. In the mould of Bok legend Jaque Fourie, who marshalled South Africa's defence and played 72 tests, Kriel's communication and decision-making is on point. However, it wasn't a one-man show against Australia. Collectively, the home team got off the line, defended with real intent and chased their kicks with brilliant intensity."

This is not the opinion of some on this site so I include it here for discussion.

He has certainly improved in shooting up on the line. Watch against Aus at 40:30 and 42 :30 for example how he rushes out and forces a long, ineffective skip pass every time. Also note the pressure exerted by Esterhuizen on the inside.

He still misses a lot of tackles though and is more or less a non-factor on attack, especially in terms of creating opportunities.

South Africa's width on defence was brilliant and one of their biggest weaknesses has effectively morphed into a strength.

I'm happy to sing along with the above statement instead of pinning it down to one particular player.

No Mozartr

There is no way he will be able to join you as the unhinged level you have achieved will be impossible for Venter to get to.

Kriel is not a better defender than Am. Was Venter one if those who was singing Damian's praises in 2015 too? Ridiculous. This is what leads the plastics away. Only for it all to end in tears. 

Listen BSter

You have been caught out misrepresenting issues by fictional postings and your comments count for nothing.

Am was very, vey average in the tests he played in and defense was iffy at best in virtually all tests,   Your clamour for him is in fact not based on fact - but rather your hatred of Kriel.

Kriel ahs defensive defects - but Am has more,   De Allende in the 2015 WC was the center with the highest number of defenders beaten - his defense was good - despite the lie Mozart invented - obviously supported by you and Pakie as expected.   He also had the third highest possession turnovers in the series and the highest of the backline players ion the series.

So the self-proclaimed world experts knows more about the game than the real experts.   The are plastic fans in your words - is there a limit to your arrogance and misrepresntations?????  I would have added LMAO - but your conduct is not funny anymore - it is tragic that such an amount of BS can come from a person who swears he knows the game of rugby.        

Ja Oom Ventie

Ariel messed up three times in the first ten minutes with missed tackles and passes into touch. 

We are now at a point with her where we expect her to fuck up consistently. We've become so desensitised to it that when she makes the odd bog standard play without messing up, it's all we remember.

Silly girl.

Ariel? 

Well once again Beeno proved correct. i know it gets monotonous but still! Dr Venter has a briliant rugby brain of course and knows plenty plenty about center play so its great minds thinking alike!

What with Du Toit proving to be a great 7 and tackling fiend, Dr Moz and Organhuffer are having a poor run of form and hope they get back to form soon as there are too many misapprehensions on the board without them adding to the confusion. Dr Moz of course has served the cause of sanity nobly but we all go wrong at times.

All we need now is these two gentlemen to acknowledge Allende is a good test center and we can all then find a new topic to argue about! No ou maaaikie not Morne or Frans!

Proven correct? When, where? Show me where these things can be found in game? Venter is a very sloppy analyst. At least he had the sense to abandon ship when his work backfired under Coetzee.

I'll acknowledge Damian is a good test centre when he is a good test centre. After all these years, he has shown no ability to learn from experience. 

To put it mildly: he isn't the sharpest flint in the hunting pouch. 

Look lets be fair and go for facts for a change:-

*   Kriel is not the sharpest defender and he was useless on the wing against the Aussies as well insofar as defense is concerned.   However, he seems to be better when playing with certain players inside of him than he is with others,   I agree he has problems - but who are really better than him.   There is very little between him and Am as to defense - but personally I am  more confident that Kriel on the whole will do a better job than Am and it appears as if Erasmus think so too.

*    As to the defense of De Allende one has to accept that in the tests he played in there were defensive problems in 5.   On the whole his defense has improved substantially since 2015.  This year there was not a single test where his defense was not up to standard.   However, the same cannot be said of Esterhuizen, who has other than in the last test a very low tackle count with too high a miss tackle ratio.

*     The other refrain is the story about the issue of attacking play by De Allende.   This part goes back to his record in the 2014 Super Rugby series - when he set a SR record of 27 line breaks beating 73 defenders,   He was MOM of 9 of the 16 SR matches played.   Ever since De Allende has been a marked man.   It is noticeable that he is rarely tackled by one player - tackles on him are virtually always carried out by 2 to 3 players - and he is virtually never being tackled back.   A marked player has difficulty in making as many line breaks and beating multiple defenders as others have.

Be it as it may - I think Erasmus does not agree with our three top world analysts on site - since he has always selected De Allende ahead of Esterhuizen as no 12 center,   I am afraid I share his point of view ahead of our local world experts.

Be it as it may the two selected centers tomorrow will have their hands full with Goodhue at out side center,   He is in my view the best 13 in the world at present.  The same cannot be said of SBW which will be much less of a threat.         

Kriel is a better defender than Am, fact. But he is not the best back that can distribute or crate space for our wings. I started to look better under Mitchel, but he still lobbed a few passes into touch or are often trying to cut in and runs away from his out side backs,. Which means he has to go into contact breaking any momentum down. 

I would also expect more line breaks from him as that is the primarily job of a 13 as you have the corridor of uncertainty to exploit against the opposition. It is probably the hardest channel to defend in rugby as you never your numbers and you don't have the touch line to help you. 

But Am is way worst on defence and have leaked several tries this year. 

Kriel needs to start figuring out how to keep the ball alive and how to get his speedsters into space along the narrow tram lines. 

But unfortunately we have invested so many test in him that he is probably one of our most experience backs with more than 30 caps vs Ams 5, not to mention having a world cup semi final. under his belt. 

Neither Am or Kriel is the answer at 13 and we don't have any other backs. Would like to see what Nel does next year, but with Fleck as the coach I don't expect much. Maybe Rassie will give him a crack come November. 

Kingcorn

There is hope on the horizon.   There is a youngster Simelane who made hay at center in the Under 20 WC this year.   This guy has the same promise as Willemse has and I hope he gets more playing time at the Lions.   

He came from the bench a few weeks ago and scored a magic try for the Lions.   I think he has very good ball sense and  I would think he would develop further if given the opportunity.    

I think Am makes good reads on defence. He isn't as lively as Kriel is with his runs, but I think he is solid. He makes much fewer mistakes and can defuse pressure when play breaks down. He is much stronger in contact and can catch defenders behind the gainline. He seals the edge nicely.

Ball sense? 

The Lions also have a #8 who runs 10.4secs over 100 meters.

"Would like to see what Nel does next year......"

So do I.

An 8 who runs that fast? Another Spies? I thought everyone hated that? 

I don't remember his name but the Lions coach insists that he stays an 8, not a wing.

Mike, you are right about Simalane, the kid has real talent, but as always. I would err on the side of caution with trying to the push the youngster to soon. If he can get a chance next year to prove himself in Super Rugby. 

Why did the lions not put their 8 on the wing, we need big fast wingers that can compete against NZ, but they we end up with midget 8's that is good in space but can't make contact or clean rucks.

There was one break down against australia last week where both Kwotalisi and Nachos were clean out by a single Aussie player, both of them simply getting shoved off the ball and I think it was our ruck that we lost. 

My other question is also, when does a forward gets acres of space to run down the field? 

I wish I had more info on the kid but as for your  question just don't forget there is no substitute for speed.....it's a stand alone dynamic.