I have had my doubts about Du Preez, Fourie and Pietersen from the word go - since they seem to deteriorate in performances while they are playing in Japan.
Lets look at he analysis of the players:-
Du Preez
He was magnificent in the game he came from the bench against the Pumas - no dispute about that. However, in the game against the Aussies he was slightly above average and that was affected by two passes that went astray. In the game against the All Blacks he was bog ordinary and showed nothing of substance.
Yesterday he had a good game - but for two minor instances. His strategic kicks were generally too far and could not be followed up effectively. The second issue relates to a wild poor pass to De Villiers - which was so bad it could have resulted in a Welsh try - fortunately it did not - they were stopped by a Lambie tackle meters out.
The kick he launched that let to his try was magnificent and the rest of his game was good. So on the whole a good pass mark for the game. However, onme can never be sure whether he will last the test next week - he can easily run out of steam - like he did in the AB test.
He is the best available loosie - bar perhaps Cockott - provided he does no show variations in test performances like he did in the mentioned two RC tests.
Fourie
Fourie yesterday was in defence no better than the much-maligned Engelbrecht - but there was one issue that caused head aches yesterday and that is his speed. That was evident during the whole game yesterday. Much is being made by the ball recovery and pass to Du Preez leaing up to the try of Du Preez. It is generally recognised that he was off-side in that move - being ahead of Du Preez when the kicked the ball. If he was on-side he would not have got to the ball to affect the recovery and pass. You cannot credit a person when he was obviously in an illegal position created by himself. If that incident was checked by the TV ref - it would have been a penalty against the Springboks.
On the whole Fourie was ineffective at 13 and produced nothing throughout the game. I do not think he is really the answer to our 13 problem - but I think he should be given two more chances to play this tour - and if here is no improvement it would be better to forget about him in future.
JP Pietersen
Pietersen is such a good defender - provided he can get to the ball carrier. Yesterday his lack of mobility showed up badly in two cases and Mozart said he lost some gas recently. I doubt whether that assessment is really true. Pietersen was always on the slow side - was rated more as a defender than an attacker. His one real benefit is that he is a strong ball carrier wit ball in hand.
After a rather poor Super 15 - he moved to Japan and on his retrun for the test yesterday showed nothing of note during he game.
Another player that needs some further tests - but unless there is a marked improvement his future selection for the Springboks is really on thin ice.
