When Plum raised the issue of selection of De Klerk I raised the issue of Meyer’s ignoring the Lions players in selection of the WC squad - AO came up with an unbelievable response similar to what was mentioned by Mozart when the topic was raised in the past.
My comments on the issue of team selection
In the thread on team selection for the 2915 WC I wrote s follows:-
“The brilliant Meyer could find no place for any Lions player in the Springbok WC squad in 2015 and all the players listed above were denigrated by the rabid four - Mozart, Ceradunce, AO (whatever his user name was then - I think it was Gonzo the Ape) and Pakie.
Now suddenly they have softened there approach and the attack is on Du Toit - one of their pet hates - so they support Mostert all out, “
AO response
Gonzo the Ape? I can honestly say I have never heard of such a name anywhere else on earth! Certainly isn't style!
Who were the Lions, in 2015, who deserved a test spot for the World Cup? Here's the entire Lions squad of 2015, do point out these hidden gems.
- Marnitz Boshoff (Pollard, Lambie, Morné)
- Andries Coetzee
- Robin Coetzee
- Ruan Combrinck (Willie, Kirchner, Lambie)
- Ross Cronje
- Faf de Klerk (Du Preez, Pienaar, Page)
- Steph de Witt
- Ruan Dreyer
- Corne Fourie
- Stokkies Hanekom
- Elton Jantjies (Pollard, Lambie, Morné)
- Jaco Kriel
- Robert Kruger
- Ruaan Lerm
- MB Lusaseni
- Malcolm Marx (Bismarck, Strauss, Brits)
- Lionel Mapoe
- Sampie Mastriet
- Derick Minnie
- Howard Mnisi
- Franco Mostert
- Martin Muller
- Julian Redelinghuys
- Mark Richards
- Courtnall Skosan
- Warwick Tecklenburg
- Armand van der Merwe
- Schalk van der Merwe
- Jaco van der Walt
- Jacques van Rooyen
- Anthony Volmink
- Harold Vorster
- Warren Whiteley (Duane, Schalk, Louw) “
My response
I really had to laugh about the above posting and the list of players he gave and those Meyer selection that kept the Lions players out of the squad. If I ever saw BS selections those were it.
Who should never have been in the WC squad:-
Kirchner, Morne Steyn, Pienaar. Paige, Brits, Jannie du Plessis. Matfield and Alberts
So there were ample spots where the better Lions players could have been selected.
Gonzo the Ape was a clarification of one of your previous user names you posted under. Your postings were so clueless an Ape would have been an improvement.
Plums response
Aug
Mike was punting Marx since day dot.
Long before anyone else as I recall.
Similar to the way he's talking about Augustus now. Or rather, has been for the last year or so.
Most of us saw Redlinghuys' absolute dominance in the SR scrum as Bok worthy. Guy was drawing penalties seemingly at will. Terrible shame what happened to him.
I'm not defending Mike's position or attacking Meyer either.
I do however remember thinking at the time that there were a couple of Lions that should have made the Boks squad.
Right now, it's the Sharks players that are being ignored and there are a good few that I'd like to see in the squad.
Meyer didn't plan for anything past the WC. The upside of that was that Coetzee had a blank slate.
A good coach would have relished the challenge. Coetzee folded and ended up presiding over one of the darkest eras in Bok history.
Plum – just a reminder – Mozart defended Coetzee’s appointment initially and stated he was a merit appointment and he should eb given a chance to see how he deals with the selection and coaching issues. That was in direct opposition to what the board feeling was.
NONE OF THE RABID FOUR RESPONDED TO THAT POSTING OF MINE AND DESPERATELY TRIED TO GET AWAY FROM THE TOPIC.
WHY NOT DICUSS THIS ISSUE FURHER – SINCE IT HAS A DIRECT BERAING ON THE LEGACY MEYER LEFT FOR HIS SUCCESSORS.
