Our depth

As Bok coach, how could you possibly not select a world beating side from this (bold, my squad choices):

Fullbacks: Its pretty much an easy call selecting one of the best players in the game here in Willie le Roux.......some would have him on the wing.....what bullshit. We have depth at 15 in Jaco Taute, SP Marais and Visser......all more than handy. Add Baby Bok Jessie Kriel who is a star in the making and Andries Coetzee of the Lions who sadly has missed most of the season injured. Ulrich Beyers of the Bulls is another useful player. 

So we have: le Roux / Taute / SP Marais / Visser / Coetzee / Kriel / Beyers

Wings: Here we have the two experienced campaigners in JP and Habana, both world class, with Habana nearing the end no doubt. Add to these, youngster like Kobus v/Wyk, Rhule, Kolbe, v/d Heever, Volmink, Mapoe, Hendricks, Skosan and Sithole. Mvovo has rediscovered his mojo under Jake. We have de Allende who can operate on the wing and probably the most exciting of the lot is Senatla of the Blitzbokke who is joining the Cheetahs for the CC. This guy was awesome for the Baby Boks last year and has been the star of the Blitzbokke this year. I for one believe Jordaan and de Jongh should be played on the wing as they are too small for centre. We should not forget about Mjekevu who has moved to France and Baby Bok, Sergel Petersen set the Kings alight last year. Duan v/d Merwe is one to watch, total injustice that he has not made the Baby Bok squad but aged 18, he has time on his side.

So we have: Habana / JP / Rhule / v/d Heever / Mvovo / Mapoe / Skosan / Volmink / Kolbe / v/Wyk / Hendricks / Sithole / Senatla / de Jongh / Jordaan / de Allende / Petersen / Mjekevu

Centres: Old man Jean might still have something to offer, but I for one believe Jan has far more clout. JJ has suffered under the Bulls with ball in hand but has silenced all defensively with the best defensive stats of all the centres in the S15. de Allende has emerged as our best attacking threat by some distance and Jan Serfontein has started to hit his straps of late - loved that offload to Ross for the try on the weekend, much like Fran's offload to Sithole the week before.

At outside centre, our best options are JJ and de Allende. I'm with Meyer here on de Allende playing 13.......it looks to be the position most suited to his skills. There are some quality back-ups in Mapoe, Sadie and Sithole. Its good to see Sadie finally fulfilling his potential and some investment being shown in Sithole by Jake at the Sharks. At last we get to see talented Stokkies Hanekom starting at 13 for the Lions this weekend.......this guy has Jaques Fourie written all over him. Like JJ, I believe Kobus v/Wyk of the Stormers, would make a great 13, having played most of his rugby at 12. He looks like a JJ clone. Its a pity we have missed out on Pat Howard this season to date with injury, he should have made the Stormers 13 spot his own by now. Jaco Taute is always an option at 13 and we have some quality youngsters in Andre Esterhuizen, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Dan Kriel of the Baby Boks. Esterhuizen plays 12, but like de Allende, his best spot could be 13. Injured Tyler Fisher of the Sharks is another class act - Jake is a big fan, so we should see plenty of him on his return. I also hope Jan Serfontein's school, SA schools and Baby Bok partner Dries Swanepoel breaks through sooner than later with the Bulls. Small-Smith is another handy player.

So we have: JJ / de Allende / Mapoe / Sithole / Sadie / Howard / Hanekom / Taute / v/Wyk / Swanepoel / Esterhuizen / Janse v Rensburg / Kriel / Howard / Small-Smith

At inside centre, we still have old man Jean putting is some useful contributions, we have Frans Steyn showing glimpses of his class, but he needs time out to sort his knees out and in Jan Serfontein, we have the real deal. I like the way Frans Venter took his opportunities at the Cheetahs, but sadly got injured. Heimar Williams has looked good for the Sharks when given the opportunity. de Allende, Kobus v/Wyk, Andre Esterhuizen and Rohan Janse v Rensburg are all options at 12. SA Schools 12, Daniel du Plessis (Michael du Plessis's son) is a star of the future who played in the Baby Bok warm up games against the Argies and should have made the final squad - but is only 18. I am a big fan of fancy feet Howard Mnisi of Griquas who has wasted the season carrying bags at the Cheetahs. Robert Ebershon is always an option.

So we have: Jean / Frans / Serfontein / Venter / Mnisi / Williams / Esterhuizen / Janse v Rensburg / du Plessis / Ebersohn

Flyhalves: Goosen stands tall here, hell he single handedly beat the Brumbies and its good to see him rediscover his mojo. Muscling up has helped his cause. Its a pity we have lost the impressive Lambie to a bicep injury of all things. The Sharks lost direction after his departure. Jantjies has fallen out of favour with useless Ackerman at the Lions - very poor treatment of a talented player. Boshoff looks handy for the Lions and Pollard looks the real deal at the Bulls. Potgieter is a more than handy enough player who would not let any side down. Same can be said of Catrekillis. I never initially rated Coleman at the Stormers, but he is fast proving me wrong. Tim Swiel is the real deal and needs some investment from Jake. He could be the next big thing with his attacking instincts. Zielinga looks useful enough. Frans is an option to cover at 10, but I dont see 10 as being his starting spot......level headed is not something you associate with Frans and his hand to boot is too slow under pressure. Ebersohn looks to be in the form of his life, showing the form he always promised at lower levels. Grant is off form, but handy when on song.

So we have: Goosen / Lambie / Jantjies / Boshoff / Pollard / Swiel / Potgieter / Coleman / Ebersohn / Frans / Zielinga / Catrekillis / Grant

Scrumhalves: Hougaard gets better and better each week, his doubters have been left with egg on their faces. He stands tall as our 9. Faf de Klerk has be the find of the year, what a player this kid is - he has test rugby written all over him. Reinach has been good for the Sharks as has Groom for the Stormers. v/Zyl should never have moved to the Bulls, he is too good a player to be wasted on the bench. Schrauder is a good 9 who is currently out injured. du Preez and Pienaar might still have something to offer, but I would not really bother. Kockott keeps impressing in France and has always been a quality player hard done by in SA.

So we have: Hougaard / Reinach / de Klerk / v/Zyl / Groom / Schrauder / du Preez / Pienaar / Kockott

Props: We have our incumbents in Jannie and Beast, with Beast going strong and Jannie coming to his end. We have more than enough depth to cover both sides of the scrum.

At tighthead, Coenie is our best option, his conversion to tighthead has been successful and the better option given his tendency to try scrum straight through his opponent. Being completely bound at 3 helps prevent him from scrumming upwards. We have some quality young tightheads in Malherbe, Marcel v/d Merwe, Frik Kirsten, Maks v/Dyk and Rossouw de Klerk. Marcel v/d Merwe could be the best of the batch. Trevor Nkanyane looks equally at home at tighthead. Redelinghuys of the Lions is a good scrummager. Adriaanse has slipped in status as far as I am concerned, lacks rugby skill. Jannie still has plenty to offer.

So we have: Coenie / Malherbe / v/d Merwe / v/Dyk / Kirsten / de Klerk / Nkanyane / Adriaanse / Redelinghuys / Jannie

At loosehead, Beast has been in great form for the Sharks so is under no threat for the Boks. But if we lost Beast, we would be well covered with youngsters like Kitshoff, Nkanyane, Mellett, Schalk v/d Merwe, Ollie Kebble and Chadwick. By all accounts Baby Bok loosehead Thomas du Toit is one for the future, the 18 year old was part of the Sharks S15 squad. Of course Coenie is a loosehead by trade so is always an option here, as is Marcel v/d Merwe.

So we have: Beast / Kitshoff / Nkanyane / S.v/d Merwe / M. v/d Merwe / Kebble / Chadwick / du Toit / Mellett

Hookers: We have the two best hookers in the game in Bismark and Strauss, so its tough for the next lads in line. But we have good depth in Chiliboy, Callie Visagie, Cooper, Scara, Fourie, Coetzee and Mbonambi. Baby Bok, Malcolm Marx is by all accounts the real deal. Schalk Brits is the unpolished diamond of SA rugby.....we missed out on a class act here......the perfect bench hooker. Burden has been a big hit at Toulon.

So we have: Bismark / Strauss / Chiliboy / Cooper / Visagie / Scara / Mbonambi / Brits / Fourie / Burden / Marx

Locks: We have locks to burn, so why oh why are we calling on old men like Bakkies and Matfield - it defies all comprehension. The best lock in the game is Eben Etzebth, the Stormers have felt his absence. Eben is closely followed by class youngsters like Steph du Toit, Lood, Jacques du Plessis, Willemse and Lewies. Add to this impressive list, youngsters who have or are showing promise Ruan Botha, Ettienne Oosthuizen, Peet Marais, Jandre Marais, Bulbring, Quinn Roux, Jean Kleyn, Andries Ferreira, Carl Wegner, Franco Mostert, Reinier Bernado and Bresler. Flip showed last year that he belonged at test level, but has always had to live in the shadows of Bakkies and Victor. Jacques du Plessis has been the find of the season, a real hard man playing out of position at 7.

So we have: Etzebeth / Steph du Toit / Lood / Willemse / du Plessis / Flip / Lewies / Ruan Botha / P. Marais / J. Marais / Roux / Wegner / Kleyn / Bernado / Bulbring / Oosthiuzen / Bresler / Mostert / Ferreira

Looseforwards: Again, we have choices galore here and the art if finding the best combination moving forward. The incumbents are Vermeuelen, Alberts and Louw, but I suspect we have 3 better loosies than these three.......that's how healthy the position is here. Of the older players, Vermeulen, Deysel, Schalk, Alberts, Fourie, Daniel, Kankan, Louw, Stegman, J. Potgieter, D. Potgieter  and Brussouw still have plenty to offer......Brussouw in particular and thank goodness Meyer has woken up to this fact eventually.

There is some real class amongst the youngsters in Arno Botha, Kolisi, Carr, v/d Walt, Ross, Coetzee, CJ Stander, Labascagne , Rhodes, Hattingh, Kriel , Whiteley, Minnie, Elstadt, Cook, Wimpie v/d Walt, Mtembu, Mohoje, Fuzani, Prinsloo and Britz. Of course PSDT and Jacques du Plessis are options at 7 as well.

My choices: Coetzee / CJ Stander / Kolisi / Vermeulen / Brussouw / Elstadt / Arno Botha / Labascagne / v/d Walt

Given the abundance of talent, what a joy it must be to be Meyer right now - its just impossible to get it wrong

Hi Moola, I thought the title of this thread was a reference to the depth of the SA despair (can't find a decent fly half, can't develop their talented youngsters on the field due to injuries, etc).