Moodie/Esterhuizen Combination

The stocks of the Esterhuizen/Moodie combination dropped today.
Neither got the ball much.

Moodie ruined his best opportunity with white line fever, which was a problem for many players in this game. 

Willie Leroux often popped up in the center area to draw and pass for the wingers.
Willemse also seemed to run the ball a lot himself and did not seem to get his centers into the game. 

It must be difficult playing in a backline with Willie Leroux as his multi-tasking often makes other jobs redundant. 

Willie is usually a link between units. I didn't watch the game so can't be certain about those specifics. They have various arrangements. It's actually usually harder for Willie under Erasputin. Very clunky structures. This was always going to be the kind of game where the Boks got loose. I don't we can draw too many conclusions from it. 

So you just copy and paste your match analysis template, without watching the game...

SB

From postings by Mozart and l'Gande Merdse it si obvious they do not watch matches and when they do they have weird impressions they get from what happened in matches.   

Now lets get back to the Esterhuizen Moodie combination and see why it did not work out well yesterday.   The problem has nothing to do with either Willemse aqnd Le Roux.    It had everything to do with Etserhuizen and the same problems encountered yesterday were present in 2019 as well.

From his junior yreazrs Esterhuizen had one benefit and a few negati ves that will always make him a frnge player when it comes to selection.    The only positive is he is physically very strong and carry balls well in traffic the negatives are as follows:-

*    He is pace-deficient and can be a liability when it comes to defense and  flowing attacking play.   When making a break he often cause ball possession losses like happened yesterday.   If that case where eh broke a tackle he ended up losing ball possession near to the tryline.  In the case ocf De Allendxe he would have sc ored tghat try or c aused the sided to retain possession and score a try.   

*    Esterhuizen from the fcirst time I saw him playing had a problem with ball recipient.   It happened yesterday just beforfe the end of the match again .   He knocked o/n a ball and the attack ended.    This happened against weak opposition - if it happened against stronger opposition it could lead to catastrophic results for his team.

*     he is not good in passing balls either and that neutralize functioning of the no 13 center..

*    Pace-deficiency  has a detrimental impact in his defense ability,   Against weaker teams it is not as evident as it is against stronger teams.   His missed tackle of the AB wing in the warming up test is a typical example of what happens when it com  to defense.  

I think Esterhuizen was left out of the 2019 WC squad for the same reasons as was always evident in him.   He is a fringe player when it comes to international rugby and will always a remain a fringe player. when it com es to international rugby.   He will start in the game against Tonga - but would not be selected in the match against Ireland and in the play-offs,

I am sorry for Moodie after yesterday - he is a star backline player in both the outside center and wing positions.   He did not shine yesterday and the problem in the main was at 12,

They pushed for their starting spots against the All Blacks and Wales...good opposition. And they both passed with flying colors.

This game means nothing, to anyone.

Say they each scored a bunch of tries in this game...would it move the meter 1mm? 

No, of course not, it was free-for-all...a nothing game against a sub-club-level side.

The AB forwards collapsed in that game and the backline could th rive in that game.    

Sorry - there were instances yesterday where especially Esterhuizen had opportunities to shine and he fluffed it against a weak team.  In the famous A B  test he missed a tackle badly on the AB wing who ran through the  tackle attempt easily.   - just an example to mention. Against  the A B's  his real perfformance would have been rated as 7/10 yesterday it was less than 6,5 out of 10.   I  do not think the coaching trust him enough to give him game time against  str onger teams  in the WC and think he will not be selected against Ireland and in the  play-offs unless De Allende is injured.   

Personally I think that Willemse will make a better center than Esterhuizen is.   When Kriel was injured in 2019 the coaching staff called up Willemse.  - not Esterhuizen - and I think that situation still prevails .

Duplication

The match against Romania proved nothing.

yes, Mike

We know. You're the objective rugby fan who never changes his mind regardless of new information.

Basically, AE can only play himself into contention in games where our forwards fail and he has to rescue the game singlehandedly.

If he doesn't shine against a shit team, where it's a big free-for-all...then he's not good enough. If he shines against good teams when our forwards are dominant, he's not good enough either. 

Anything that DDA does well, ever, in any game and against any opposition, is undeniable proof that DDA is the man.

We know.

Don't believe Rasneib have any understanding of the backline talent in their hands, also don't believe the pair qualify to coach such an abundance of skill, speed and talent. Eddie Jones would be licking his chops at the prospect of coaching the current Boks.

I agree, Deeny.

It's packed with future stars right now.

Oh we agree?,,,hahaha

My backline is not a lot different to yours the only difference being Williams ahead of Faf.

The Boks have never had as much talent, skill and speed in ALL of their history. Problem is you need someone who's familiar with driving a Ferrari.....not an ox-wagon.

The truth will dawn on the Esterhuizen fans that he is not any better than Allende. Allende I think is a bit faster, is a better fetcher and has better skills. Not much in it but the edge goes to Allende who of course also is more experienced at test level. 

I thought Willie got better and better as the match wore on. The way he timed his pass to put away Mpimpi was superb. Mpimpi is under rated.

Faf was a revelation at fly half. The way he can riffle out long passes from the fly half position opens up opportunities for our backline. He has a very adequate boot as well. Small as he is his defence is amazing. 

I would like to see Willemse at 13. Moodie on the wing. Willie at 15. 

Backline-

Faf,  Libbok Kolbe, Allende, Willemse, Moodie and Willie. 

Reserves Pollard, Williams, Kriel. 

I have to say I am close to going with Mpimpi. He is a very good all round wing. Adds a bit of grunt as well. 

Wonder why ou Deus didn't watch the game?

Willemse has grown as a player, still work in progress and is yet to reach maturity but he adds to the dimension of the attack. I'd have him ahead of Willie.

I think the backline against the Irish would be asx follows:-

15   Le Roux

14   Kolbe

13   Kriel   -  if I pick th e team he would net be in  it.

12   De  Allende 

11   Arendse

10   Willemse

  0    De Klerrk

Bench    Libbock and Hendriks 

Suroprisingly I may favor moving De Allende to 13, Pick Willemse or Esterhuizedn at 12 and put Libbok in the starting  line-up and iof corcusnmatnces permiot kewep a bench position  opewmn fdor Pollarde.   

I like that team!!!

After today's game, they must surely have played themselves into contention . Moodie especially, as he is much more effective on attack than Kriel.

So let’s get real .. .as usual the mob missed everything. Esterhuizen did far better than Dud Allende has done in any WC game. Bottled up the midfield, broke the defence on every run. Moody likewise was dangerous ball in hand. And defensively they bottled up the Tongan midfield who did nothing gaining 8 and 5 metres respectively. 

What frigging game were you  watching? Esterhozen averaging 4.5 metres a run, something Dave said wasn’t a realistic expectation , beating a defender every other run.

Think of what he could accomplish if the Boks were coached to use the offload.

DDA will be there bumbling around in the quarters, don't worry. Kriel very likely too.

No brain freeze. No chewing up ground by crab running. No shyte passes. No wasting of overlaps. No defensive blunders. No dying with the ball.

You forget to say "No kicking" 

Scroll back to his last game. Gives me the heebeejeepers when I see a centre kick when he's suppose to run.

After watching the match last night I am sure that Esterhuizedn is not up to standard.   His attacks led to nowhere and his pace-deficiency, ball handing and non-existent ball protection art breakdowns are not acceptable on internaional level.

Here is the defining line, Dave...

How many times did AE kill the ball last night? 

When it was to go through his hand he was flawless. When he was to run with it he made ground at will and positioned the ball perfectly every time.

Damien has played similar-level teams previously but never performed on average as well as AE has. We can keep making comparisons but it's safe to say that AE has had the best performances at 12 this year...easily. And recent history matters.

This year, DDA has only really played Ireland, and he was poor. He ran over an old man once or twice but was a liability in numerous other instances in the game. Killing momentum, fumbling plays, and being, as usual, rather absent-minded at crucial moments. I'm getting Joe Biden vibes from him lately...CTE?

AE has played everybody else and has been far better every time.

He was quiet against Romani but didn't make blunders. That's literally the worst one can say about his performances this year. He made the Kiwi backs his bitch, slapped Tonga around last night, and dealt with everybody else with equal measures of indifference and ease. It's abundantly clear that the backs are more settled with Andre The Giant there. He's so much bigger than DDA, exponentially more poised, and far better at operating as part of a unit. You can see that he's thinking about the other guys. I never get that sense with DDA.

AE is far ahead of DDA right now. And with Moodie beside him, I'm calling it the best 12/13 pairing in the world.

The other guys here know what I'm talking about. They think DDA/Kriel and get this negative feeling entering their minds. Memories of failures, letdowns...frustration! They think AE/Moodie...and it's Hell YEAH!!!

Allende 105 kg. Esterhuizen 113kg.

I don't think there is such a big difference between the two. Maybe try Esterhuizen against France. Have Allende on the bench. He can cover 12,12 and wing. 

I would like to see Willemse and his team mates learn to receive a pass after Willemse has made a break a bit better. We need to put our speedsters away. 

Esterhuizen is immensely more powerful. Damian is weak in the upper body. All very well established facts. Watching Kerevi run over Damian repeatedly was the last straw. Esterhuizen on the other hand stopped him in his tracks and comprehensively shut down the Wallaby attack, twice.

I do not believe what is written by people on this site.  Either theydo not want to see actual things and  dream up sone other incidents.   

In 2007 I went to France to see the Springboks play in the WC.  A f ter a goood game ag ainst EVng land I went to Lonfdon and from their to Scotland and returned to London on the Friday before going to France to watch the Springboks playing Tonga,   It was the worst game I ever saw the Springboks play against a sminor team like Tonga.   The whole team malfunctioned and ten minutes before th e end Tonga was still leading  the Springboks by 8 points.= the Springboks was lucky to win the game in the end.

So back to the test last night - it was only marginally better because the Springboks scored  individual  tries and nevcer fell behind in the game like happened in 2007.    Both the forwards and the backs malfunctioned in the match.   Pollard did well in his return match and it cannot be said of the rest of the backline.   Tonga did not score tries against Scotland or Ireland..   It was in fact a miracle they did not score more.   There was a string  of penalties given away and defense was not aggressive - but passive.    

One of the key functions of a 12 is to ensure the defense outside of him functions and he needed to have the pace to do cover defense as well.    The defense o th e backline outside of Pollard was ineffective and in fact sub-standard.    When an opposition  backliner is tackled the rest of the backline players should  try and effect a turnover at the breakdown.   There was  no such attempt ever by the Springbok backline players - Esterhuizen  never tried anything like that - he was standing around behind breakdown points neither forming a new dense structure or doing anything but talk.   Maybe it was a good thing - when he  did try to recover opposition balls at breakdowns in the past he  was regularly  penalized.

The backline passing game last night was substandard - that was why the Springbok backline could not really break the Tonga defensive line.   I can go on and on about defense.  Must say the game was so defective I stopped watching  it 10 minutes before the - the constant clueless game played caused it,    I hate to watch BS on a rugby field.   

There were better players like Du TNoit, De Allende and Snyman not playing  last night and I doubt not they would be better than the  playes  last night..                .   

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So Esterhuizen is not going to break the defence against ‘the top tier sides’…..gosh, so NZ is no longer top tier

The fact is Esterhozen is playing at a great disadvantage….his long suite, brilliant offloading seems to be pretty much banned by our coaches. But even with that skill on ice waiting for more enlightened coaching….he is doing the Dud Allende thing way better than Dud Allende.

And he has a big advantage, he isn’t brain dead.

Listen Mozart

Stop talking BS - one incident in one game does not make any difference.   I was talking about last nights BS anyway.    

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