I would offer the following:
1) Frans
2) Taute
3) Jordaan
4) Jantjies
5)Hougaard
6) Jannie
7) Coetzee
Not that they have always been poor. Coetzee for example was good a week ago.....missing again versus the Bools apart from some routine tackling. . Even Frans had a few good moments. But these guys have gone backwards from the status they enjoyed at the start of the S15....they have a lot of work to do..
I think the lit should start with the players who are repute Springboks and not the rest. The list are as follows:-
1 Steyn
2 Jantjies
3 Hougaard
4 De Jongh - poorest backline defender by a distance
5 Jannie
6 Spies
7 Daniel
The following did not have enough game time to assess properly - Taute and Alberts (the latter poor in both games he played in).
Bollocks....every one of those players was being spoken of as potential Boks this year.
Mozart
Bolocks yourself - I said we must consider the Springboks - who spoke about Jordaan as a potential Springbok? Some psople on this Board said that he has the opportunity to prove himself worthy - but he did not come up to expectations. He had a solid performance throughout the year and was and remain the number one choice for 13 at the Sharks.
De Jongh had a miss tackle failure rate of circa 30% - Jordaan of 6% - that is te whole point - but stats are only for selective usage by Mozart and must be discarded when it does not fit his argument. Or in De Jongh's case a reason must be manufactured to justify the atrociously high failure rate.
By the way I watched the Stormers game today again and am even more convinced that Ge Jongh should never be at center. He gets tackled back too easily and is handled like a rag doll by the opposition - De Allende was NEVER tackled backwards and was going forward by approximately 2 to 3 meters every time he was tackled and often enough it was two players who had to combine to make the tackle. De Jongh cannot make a ine break to save his life - he is too eaily being the rag doll in the team. I think he is in strong competition to be top of the failure list of Springboks this year
Jaco Taute for me is a totally overrated player, or at least was an overrated player.
He is not an intelligent player, and looks to crashball every oppertunity. I blame the loss to the All Blacks last year, or at least the attrocious defence on Taute.
You are getting a little strident Oom. SB I agree....I never bought the argument that all we had to do with Taute is move him to fullback. A slow thinking player.
Sharkbok
I saw Taute scoring two obsolutely brilliant tries for the Lions - whilst playing full back for them. I at the time thought this is a real talent. Then after injury he was moved to center and he failed badly in that position. When he went down to Cape Town the idea was always to play him at full back - but he actually had very limited playing time - since the Stormers perforce had to bring in Pietersen - because of the Jantjies' goal kicking catastrophe,
In one of the Stormers Warm up games Taute was really good - but seeing him in Super `15 he seems to have gain weight and he was considerably slower than he used to be. Slow backline players have no option - but to pcrashball and the few times he did make a run this year he ran straight into the defenders snf crashballed - something a creative full back would never do.
Something went wrong with Taute - and I hope they can coach it out of him and get him to start being creative from full back - where there are also enough space to operate. His line-kicking game this year was also poor - when he had to kick strategically too many balls went straight out.
I am still optomistic that with proper coaching they can get the negatives out of his game and would like him to have time to settle in and play for WP for a while - so as to get back to the form he showed in 2010 and 2012.
By the way I think Taute is being beset by the Saffex mania for bigger and heavier backline players. Gym work and the right diet can strengthn players - but the youngsters often use the wrong diet - and the result is poor conditioning ad a slow down in speed. At his height Taute should preferably weigh between 96 and 98 kgs from a sporting perspective. Rumour has it he weighs between 103 and 105 kgs. Francois Steyn must have influenced him - FAT is BEAUTIFUL.
Just another one of your botched calls oompie, I still recall you lecturing me on how Taute was going to be the Bok fullback. And when I said there was no evidence to support that, you had a hissyfit. I don't like rubbing it in, but you need to be hit over the head with a two by four....subtlety doesn't work.
Mozart
Unlike you - I looked at the form Taute had as full back ovr two seasons. His stats was way ahead of those of Kirchner. I also remembered two really spectacular tries scored by him from that position. However, there was no hissy-fit - you are again inventing things. My statement all along was that players have the opportunity to stake their claims in Super 15 - while as per normal - you wrote them off before that series started. .
I am not entirely sure - but I believe Taute had less than 250 minutes game time - not enough to really assess him properly in a completely new team environment. That was because in the first instance the need to play a goalkicker by the Stormers and because of his subsequent injury.
When he did play - I was not impressed by him - and I said that earlier. However, I base my assessment on full games - not on singular incidents like you do. Now have a hissy-fit about this one.
