SA Tean if the week

15   SP Marais14  Cheslin Kolbe  13   EW Viljoen12   Rohan Janse Van Rensburg11   Raymond Rhule10   Jean-Luc du Plessis  9   Ross Cronje  8   Hanro Liebenberg  7   Ruan Ackerman  6   Jaco Kriel  5   Pieter-Steph du Toit  4   Eben Etzebeth  3   Wilco Louw  2   Malcolm Marx  1   Tendai Mtawarira

    

Comments in some players:
Sympathy goes out to Rohan Janse van Rensburg - his mother passed away on Wednesday.   Before her death he promised her he would play on Saturday and he dedicated his two ties to her.
I have a major problem with the wings on display and leave the 14 position open.   Mapoe was outright poor and the rest not much better.
Another pathetic performance of Pollard worries me.   Granted he did not play t\rugby for a year - but he was slow with sun-standard decision-making.   Is this guy going to recover or is he going to be another Fat Fransie - early promise with nothing to follow?
Jantjies was better than last week - but too many of his passes were sub-standard/poor.
 
    

Actually Kolbe was superb before his injury, by far the most dangerous player on the field

Pollard appears to be turning into a cart horse. He might be better shifting to inside centre. His balance is looking suspect when he runs as if he is going to trip over his feet. 

How the hell does somebody picking a team of the week miss this (Photo of Cheslin Kolbe)Cheslin Kolbe - 64 8 8 2 5 1 That's 8 runs.....8 defenders beaten.....8 metres a run.....two clean breaks, .....5 passes and 1 offload. In other words 6 out of 8 times he was able to keep the move going. He only had to make 2 tackles, but missed none. Never turned the ball over ie he fielded the high kicks faultlessly. Surely only a fool, witnessing this superb performance, would say the 'rest weren't much better'.

 I should have put in Ko lbe - so what got into you?

 I should have put in Kplbe - so what got into you ?

No what got into you.....the man literally did everything right. Statistically he had a perfect game and you leave him out! Scandalous!

 Why don't you entertain us with your picks?   I t would be too ridiculous to believe.

My picks are not the issue here......you have appointed yourself the TOW picker. I'm curious, did you miss Kolbe because you never watched the game, but still picked a TOW? This goes to integrity.

Mozart
I am not you - who express opinions on games you never watched.   
Maybe I am not looking at Kolbe like I should - he is physically too small to ever represent SA in the 15 man game - and that may have ben in the back of my mind.
When you pointed out Kolbe - I promptly inserted his name.   Then you turn vicious - normal Mozart style.
Nobody has the sole right to suggest a TOW for SA players - but you hare too big a coward to make any calls like that.     

I would have but I was confused by your headline....was it the Team of the Week or the Teen of the Week. ....LMAOFY!

 Dense res ponse Plank

What's really dense is your obvious desire to deep six Pollard, without regard for the circumstances. As for that crap about him fading after his initial tests....nonsense. He played bravely making all his kicks in the WC semi, a stunning performance for such a young flyhalf. But don't believe me, here's your guru Mallett on Pollard: ‘We’re focusing a bit too much on Pollard. We ought to focus on the Bulls pack. In both their games to date, the pack only got into the game in the last 20 minutes. For 60 minutes the backline didn’t really get much ball and Pollard was substituted after 60. I don’t care if you put Dan Carter behind a pack going back like that, he is not going to look like a good player. That’s where the Bulls problem lies and that’s what needs to be solved. The Bulls lost four lineouts against a Cheetahs team that we thought was supposed to be weak in the lineouts."

 Mozart
There is a problem with Pollard.  After doing extremely well in the Ellis Park test in 2014. Meyer used him in two tests in the EOYT and then effectively dumped him iro  the other tests - why did Meyer do that.  The answer is that he was not up to the same standard as he was against the AB's where he was allowed to play his natural game.
Meyer's game plan for the WC - where the flyhalf only had a minimal role in the game - resulted in Pollard showing very little in that tournament.   
As to the last two games lets look at the facts:-

Stormers
Du Plessis   -  handled 21 balls - kicked 6 - ran with 3 and passed the rest (MG 20).Pollard        -  handled 22 balls - Kicked 7 - ran with 4 and passed the rest (MG 16)
The stats seems to be very similar - but that is where the comparisons end.   Du Plessis read the game and made good decisions leading to substantial attacks by the backline.   Pollard made a mess of his decision and his kicking game was seriously defective.  
Cheetahs
Zeilinga      -  handled 37  balls - kicked 5 - ran with 7 and passed the rest (MG 33).Pollard        -  handled 31  balls - Kicked 5 - ran with 8 and passed the rest (MG 3)
Pollard was even worse in the Cheetahs game than he was against the Stormers.   Running with the ball 8 times making 3 meters is sounding like Fat Fransie or Willem Alberts - not like expected from a flyhalf.
Let me be blunt - I think Ludeke and Meyer combined has successfully changed Pollard into a Morne Steyn/Fat Fransie  clone.   He better get out of that  cesspit soon or  his career would be ruined.    Still hope he can get out of the cesspit - we can use a proper flyhalf - but at this stage the signs are not promising.     

There was plenty of debate last season around who the Springbok flyhalf should be. So far this season it's an absolute no-brainer. You can debate who might make the bench, but as for the starting flyhalf, it's Patrick Lambie by a country mile.

 Okay, so you think Pollard is ruined...noted.

 I said he was ruined by Ludeke and Meyer, but expressed the hope that he can get out of it.     

 Talking out of both sides of your gob....best you just shuttup.

 Sorry Mozart - but you are writing BS again.   I am a supporter of all adequate players - I also want desperately that Pollard gets out of whatever he is in and start performing.  However - to swear by him as the ultimate solution is not realistic.   He must prove it on the field of play.
If he continues in present vein he may meet your requirements - but that will be the death of backline play and back to the kicking donkey situation.        

Patrick Lambie is a proven loser at flyhalf....as he showed when he blew the game against the Reds. The mirage that looks like the sensible choice, but guarantees failure.

Lambie also won the 2014 Ellis Park test against the AB's with a 55 meter penalty conversion after your hero Matfield did his poor performance to let the SB;s win the test.   Conveniently forgot that conversion because you claimed it was not a pressure kick - so writing BS again.

The NZ winner was a kick with only upside for Lambie.....nobody expected him to make it. The pressure kick was the one against the Reds he should have made. Since 2014 Lambie has started at 10 eight times for the Boks, of which we have won 3 and lost 5 .....to Wales, Ireland's B team, Italy, the Poms and JAPAN!!! A total loser at 10, he has no model in his head to play the position.

 T he person who wrote the latest comment has a serious brain deficiency insofar as rugby is concerned.   One wonders most of the time whether he is in fact even aware f what the game entails and loves to write BS on this site.

Handre Pollard has not performed as he did as a junior Bok and as he did when is first burst onto the scene. He can be excused for the slow start this year due to the long injury layoff, but for a year preceding his injury he was also not great. Now I am not saying he is a bad player, and I am not saying he won't become a great player, but what I am saying is that he still has a hell of a lot to prove before he can even be considered as a starting Springbok, let along being the automatic choice for the jersey.  

 giveithorns
I am not writing off Pollard - maybe Franco Smith can do something positive with him.
After all he transformed Zeilinga into a very good flyhalf and he also developed  Marais from a "hooker" to a flyhalf.   If he could do that with Zeilinga he could also have a good chance of getting Pollard also to improve.
I think Pollard was ruine d by Meyer and Ludeke and a positive coach could still correct his deficiencies.