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Rassie will have a look at some European Club players this weekend

Started by clevermike0 REPLIES575 VIEWS· 22 May 2018, 09:12
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clevermikeCoach57,555 posts
22 May 2018, 09:12
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22 May 2018, 09:12#1

The following from News 24:-


"Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus will be watching this weekend's French Top 14 semi-finals with a fair amount of interest.

There are a number of South Africans expected to be involved, and with Erasmus set to name his squad for the June Internationals this Saturday, this will be the last chance for some of the overseas contenders to prove their worth ahead of the international season.

On Friday night, Montpellier host Lyon. 

Of particular interest to South African rugby fans will be the performances of hooker Bismarck du Plessis and centre Frans Steyn

Both players are expected to be a part of Erasmus's plans this year and Du Plessis has become even more important to the Bok cause now that Malcolm Marx has been ruled out of the June Tests with injury.

Steyn, meanwhile, last played a Test for South Africa in June last year and his versatility means he can provide experienced cover at flyhalf, centre and fullback. 

Jannie du Plessis is also at Montpellier, while a dark horse for a return to the Bok set-up for June could be scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar

Locks Paul Willemse and Nico Janse van Rensburg, fullback Henry Immelman and flank Wiaan Liebenberg have also featured for Montpellier this season, but less regularly. 

Lyon also boast a number of South Africans who could feature - Deon Fourie, Etienne Oosthuizen and Francois van der Merwe - but none of those players are expected to come into the Springbok equation. 

In Saturday's second semi-final between Racing 92 and Castres, Erasmus would have been hoping to get a kook at Pat Lambie

A knee injury, though, has ruled Lambie out for a long time and he will not be part of the Bok set-up this year. 

Over in England, meanwhile, the Aviva Premiership final will be contested between Exeter and Saracens. 

Prop Vincent Koch and hooker Schalk Brits will turn out for Saracens, while there are no South Africans in the Exeter ranks."


Rassie must have had a shock when last Satuday he watched the Toulon - Lyon match and the serious flop as an 8 of Vermeulen,    The shocker was in line with Vermeulen's performance this year,


This week he has a chance to see Montpellier playing Lyon,  Nobody knows whether the two top players mentioned in the article will in fact start for Montpellier.   Those two are Bismarck and Fat Fransie.    I most games this year Montpellier used Serfontein at 12 and in some games Fat Fransie started in that position.    Will he even start at 12 on Saturday?   Same applies to Bismarck.  


fat Framnsie was mostly a flop at 12 this year - for some reason the team lost against very weak opposition such as Agen when he started at 12.   This guy should to my mind be in Rassie's squad  as well - so he can be identified again as a failure and the silliness about him may stop then.


Bismarck could become a stand-in player in the absence of Marx - but he is too old to be a fixture in the side and will not make it back in  on the longer run,   The other interesting comments above is about Ruan Pienaar - he flopped badly in the Japan test in 2015 and never played for the Springboks since then  - fact is he announced his retirement from Springbok rugby and will not get back in.


There is also an interesting comment about Willemse in the article,  He could not regularly start for Montpellier  his year - yet some members still want him in the mix.as Springbok.   I think Rassie will be wiser than Meyer - who regularly picked Club bench players for the Springbok team.


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