28 Apr 2015, 15:01#3
Pffft....a boost! In what world?
MOMozart
Captain49,914 posts
MOMozartCaptain49,914 posts
28 Apr 2015, 15:11#4
Agreed Step is hardly a boost.
SASaffolk
Captain30,741 posts
SASaffolk Captain30,741 posts
28 Apr 2015, 15:18#5
Yeah imagine considering old useless Matfield as a boost......heaven help us
28 Apr 2015, 15:22#6
I am not the biggest Serfontein fan, so I won't argue too much, although, I still think he adds more than Matfield. Moz, Matfield is no longer the line-out master he used to be. And that facet of play is what made him special. Now all you have is an average line-out forward that has an average tackle count that can take a decent kick-off! Add to the that the fact that he does basically no grunt work and provides very little go forward ball and what is left? Maybe leadership, but where did that get us with the later part of John Smit's career? To add insult to injury, Mattie is going to be "keeping himself in cotton wool" so that his old body does not get injured before the world cup. So he'll do even less of the hard stuff than normal. I don't blame him for that fact, I'd do the same if my place was basically guaranteed, but it is not a "boost" for the Bulls.
SASaffolk
Captain30,741 posts
SASaffolk Captain30,741 posts
28 Apr 2015, 15:25#7
We lost 4 of our 9 major tests last year.......partly because we failed to physically dominate......I wonder why that is.......Meyer brings useless Matfield on board and his record starts to slide
MOMozart
Captain49,914 posts
MOMozartCaptain49,914 posts
28 Apr 2015, 15:55#8
Blue it's certainly an open question. I thought Victor was good value for money last year, and our forward play improved dramatically after the Bargie debacles when Vic came back.
But he is very long in the tooth. So each year has to have affirmative proof that he is still intact. Hard to do when he is undoubtedly pacing himself...which in the end may be in our interests.
I'm guessing HM has him pegged for captain....Jean is gone. And we need an experienced leader....Smit, Johnson, Eales....Pienaar.....these were all experienced men.
To me the best playing option is Etzebeth and Willemse. But Victor's leadership is hard to ignore.
28 Apr 2015, 16:02#9
Fair enough Moz! Look, I don't care about Matfield, I do care about some young gun that may miss out on a deserved spot at the world cup, just to accommodate a past his sell by date player, who is there based purely on what he used to be.
28 Apr 2015, 16:35#10
Bluebok, we have to be carefull to just randomly decide that some "young gun" is going to loose out on a RWC experience. Because of the way that our young talent was neglected by the previous coach most, if not all, of the young guns "below" Matfield all have at least one and in most cases two or more RWCs left. Even a settled Eben Etzebeth (at 23) could see at least two RWCs (this one and the one in 2019) and probably a third one as well. PSDT is 22, Loodvoet is 22, Willemse is 22, Ruan Botha is 22. That is five locks right there who could all play three RWCs.
28 Apr 2015, 18:24#12
Only problem is that Etzebeth, Lewies, PSDT, etc are injury prone. Loodvoet needs a bit of time but it is debatable whether he would ever be a real hard-nut test quality player. TBH, I wonder if any of those on the list have it in them to emulate Matfield, let alone beat him to what he has achieved. Fact is that Matfield is in the mix because of the durability of the "young guns". Live with it.
28 Apr 2015, 19:24#14
Oops. Another Saffex opinion.
MOMozart
Captain49,914 posts
MOMozartCaptain49,914 posts
28 Apr 2015, 21:02#15
Just pity Matfield schooled young pop gun Stephanie ....or , hey, perhaps the kid learned something.
