Percy Montgomery
Jannie Englebrecht
Marius Joubert
Andre Esterhozen
Breyton Paulse
Morne Steyn
Ruan Pienaar
The Beast
Bismarck du Plessis
BJ Botha
Krynauw Otto
Albert van der Bergh
Willem Alberts
Francois Louw
Ryan Kankowski
It's hard to believe the names on the list. Many of those of some all time great Boks. Joubert was a fine player. What a loss for the 2003 WC. Barry Was underrated. He showed what he was capable of under Jake, playing a fantastic all round game. Just caught in a bad era. I feel Esterhuizen will end up the same. We really waste great players.
I'd put Brussow in there as well. Our best ever 6 in my opinion. He was never outplayed once by Pocock, McCaw, or Hooper. He was excellent at stemming the tide when his pack was being beaten. Should have had many more caps.
Yeah all of these players were great but they either didn't fit into the coaches preference or just couldn't make the step up to test rugby.
If you compare Paulse to Pieter Rossouw aka slap chip or even Stephan Terblanche, he really struggled being physically and the coaches want big strong wingers. Remember New Zealand big wingers that would just bounce tacklers.
Pienaar was caught between two styles. I still think he was our best flyhalf, but he wanted to play 9. We had Fourie Du Preez who were better or probably our best of all time.
Kankowski was great at the sharks but could play like that at test level.
Barry and Joubert ripped the all blacks to shreds, but he couldn't keep up with developing his skills further. He became too slow and his hands let him down in the end. I remember he got sent to Stellenbosch to work with the sprinting coaches.
Albert Van Der berg for moved to 7 and used as a battering ram which was a mistake. He was more effective as an 8, but then we had Spies who was holding up that spot. But I think on wet and heavy fields Meyer should have opted for Albert.
Just wrong era for these guys with better players
A word on Paulse…..he played against Lomu many times. And Lomu never scored against him in an AB jersey, I’m not sure about the S12.
The reason? Breyton was so quick and smart, he always managed to position himself between Lomu and the passer. He was the model for Kolbe and Arendse…..a small quick player, who was more dangerous than the behemoths.
A word on Jannie Englebrecht, the Roger Federer of wings. Jannie was elegant, blisteringly fast and had the most devastating outside swerve. He destroyed the boorish Bang Jannie tag the Bools fans slapped on him, by running in two CC winning tries with his arm in a sling with a broken collar bone.
I saw perhaps the most famous moment of his career defending Dewi Bebb the Welsh Olympic sprinter playing for the Lions. The Pom press were speculating Bebb would burn Jannie. It was a much anticipated clash and finally the moment came, Bebb was put away fifty yards out with only Englebrecht a yard or two behind with a chance to catch him.
Jannie never hesisitated he closed the gap and took Bebb down with the best ankle tap in the history of rugby.
Your radars a little off Korn.
He certainly did. We some physical players back in the day. I miss the Boks being physically intimidating. It's been a long time since anyone was afraid of the Bok pack.
I was a big fan of Barry, remember watching him play for the Stormers at Newlands. You could hear those tackles all the at top of the stand.
Paulse was a smart player but Lomu were not the same after his kidney transplant. Paulse also used to tackle Lomu in such a way that was illegal.
I do think he should have gotten more test for the boks. But with Habana and JP Pietersen emerging meant that he didn't have the pace or size.
He also went off to France but never regained that form he use to show.
I meant Willem Alberts, not Van Der berg.
Willem Alberts should have played 8.
Some of the players had good spells but they were not consistently good.
Both Joubert and Barry lost form or struggled with injuries.
They were also demoted once Jacque Fourie came on the seen along with Jean De Villiers.
Barrys form really was on a nose dive.
He just didn't have any pace, but one heck of tackler. But if you have to compare him to De Villiers or Steyn, he simple doesn't stand up against these guys.
Jean was the 2nd fastest player in the team and was super tall and big with amazing game management and hands. Not to mention all of his intercepted tries.
Jean was an intelligent player, but he had shortcomings at 12. Jean was one of the most tactically intelligent players on a game planning level. As a 12 he was blinkered, and wasn't the best distributor. Frans was a big upgrade over Jean. Prime Barry is a tough match for Jean.
No it wasn't Saddex. Look at his Tri Nations 2004 tests. Grubbers pinning great Wallaby and All Black sides back, great passing and slick running. He was excellent. How can you always be so wrong Saddex? Are you deliberately being this way just for attention?
Yet again, we see the shrieking Sheila fighting against reality. Film review shows something rather different, as always. Besides, what could be more robotic than Damian and Steph?
