There has been a long running argument on this site as to playing players out of their normal positions. Possibly the most reasons arguments centered around JP Pietersen - ie to play him at 13 and not at wing. This discussion started off I believe based on comments that Pietersen is the best 13 in SA. Saffex fell for that one hook, line and sinker and started punting Pietersen for selection at 13. After the Sharks - Stormers semi the discussin reached a new crescendo and no amount of reason could prevail.
The few people of reason - who saw through all the bravado about this issue - was made out to be ignorant. Now let me put it straight in an effort to get finality on the issue. There are a few issues here that need to be clarified. There are differences between the playing techniques of wings and no 13's These in the main relate to both defence and attack. In defence there are differences in defensive lines and in attack ithe differences basically relate to playmaking and passing of the ball in backline play in general. Although the pivot in the backline is normally the flyhalf - it is a requirement for centers to be playmakers and create space for outside players.
Now lets look at the Super 15 season insofar as Pietersen is concerned. At the start of the season Pietersen was selected by Plumtree at 13. The team in general was under-performing - it is not only the fault of Pietersen that it happened - but he really also under-performed in his position as 13. The backline was largely disrupted and attacking opportunities of wings vanished into thin air. Despite all the shouting and screaming on the Board, Pietersen's performances lead to serious question marks as to his potential future selection as a Springbok.
In the later games Plumtree saw that his experiment did not work out and started looking for another player to play at 13. He brought in Jordaan at 13 and suddenly the whole situation changed. Back in his normal position at wing Pietersen improved beyond recognition and prove to everyone that he is one of the best wings in the world. The playmaker that changed the whole situation was in fact Jordaan. Pietersen started to score tries or play a major role in scoring tries by the Sharks.
It is particularly interesting to see what happened in the Reds - Sharks play-off game. The Sharks played brilliantly in the first half - especially in their backline performance. However, in the second half when an injury replacement of Jordaan was necessary and he was replaced by Bosman - Pietersen vanished from sight and he was very average boith in attack and defence. Problem was - Bosman is really not good enough and no playmaker so Pietersen was left in the lurch.
Now lets look at the semi against the Stormers. Because Jordaan was not available due to injury Pietersen was again played at 13. In that case his opponent was De Jongh- a player nobody in his right mind would play at 13. De Jongh is generally regarded as a good defender - and a useless attacker. He is no playmaker and feeds off other players to create openings for him - as happened in teh game against the rather poor Rebels team - where for the first time this season De Jongh scored two tries, In the semi De Jongh had a nightmare game and Pietersen running at an angle got the ball from Michalak and ran straight through a non-existent defence to score a try. Both De Jongh and De Villers made not even an effort to defend. However, the fact that Pietersen played at 13 did not add to the try scored in this case - he could easily have to score the try even if he ran at an angle from the wing position. In essence it was back to the screams about Pietersen as a 13.
Now lets look at the final yesterday. The Sharks backline was changed to catr for the injury to Whitehead - so Pietersen was again selected at 13 - with Jordaan moving to 12. The whole team under-performed and there was in fact one player that dis something good - and that was Jordaan. He made a break and was tackled (ankle-tapped) neters from the Chiefs tryline. There was no supporting players to take a pass from him and score - the expected player to be around would be either the 13 or the wings or even the loosies. One would have expected at least some player and especially the center partner to follow-up and be there to receive a pass under such circumstances. There could be only one reason for that and it relates to the speed factor. Jordaan is very fast and can outrun most players in the backline - Pietersen is a very strong runner - but not a very speedy sort. Be it as it may - Pietersen yesterday was not even remotely satisfactory as a 13 and that is a fact. It has been proved earlier in the season that he cannot play at 13 - and any possible doubt must have been conclusively settled by his performance earlier in the season and yesterday.
Against the POMS Pietersen - playing as a wing - showed massive class and scored two tries. The best one was started off by him when he ran nearly 60 meters shaking off defenders - but eventually got tackled by defeneders in the POMS 22 - he proved my earlier contention about his strong running and speed. A very fast player would have scored an easy try in that case. Be it as it may - after the forwards made two efforts to attack- the ball came back to De Villiers - who saw the opportunity for Pietersen and flipped the ball quickly to him and he scored. In the case of the second try there was a maul near the POMS line and instead of passing the ball to the bumbling Morne Steyn - Pienaar saw that there was no defender in front of Pietersen and passed the ball directly to Pietersen.
That broings me back to an earlier statement. Pietersen in essence is not a playmaker - he is an exceptionally good finisher. THE OBVIOUS ANSWER TO THE WHOLE ISSUE IS - PLAY HIM AT WING WHERE HE CAN FEED OFF PLAYMAKING BY THE INSIDE PLAYERS. Play him at 13 and out goes his performances in general.
Now another issue - I was horrified by the selection of Engelbreacht ahead of Jordaan in the backline squad of the Spirngbok team. He is ten times the center Engelbrecht - another recycled wing - would ever be. Jordaan can also play at wing - so there is really no reason for the selection of Engelbrecht ahead of Jordaan - other than Meyer's affinity to Blue Bulls players
