Schalk Burger as captain?

An article on News24 raise the issue of whether Burger should be made captain - but missed the point completely.   The captain should be a definite election as a player and should produce the goods as a player in the first instance.  
This is where De Jongh as the de facto captain fails and his absence of real leadership ability is evident.   

To look at Burger as an alternative is also not realistic.  Burger no doubt has leadership ability - but there are two issues that counts against his captaincy.   In the first instance he can at best be a stand-in captain - since it is his last year playing rugby in SA and after a great career it is evident that his performances this year are on the slide.  In fact Burger this year had very, very average performances as a player - in some cases he was even below par.     

 Comrade Mike ... Burger is past his best and has been for a number of years.
It really is time to move on from this slow elderly man and embrace the younger generation. 
If Burger is the best they have then the hapless stompies are deeper in the dwang than first thought ...  

 CC
In essence I agree with you.  The Stormers has two problems - they have substandard loosies and a disfunctional backline caused by midgets in their backline.     

so this is for the stormers???
they should make princess stephanie the capt. his performances of late have been outstanding, a leader by example.

it also might entice him to stick around SA longer and not take any offers overseas.

but for the Boks, strauss would be my man to captain.

 Problem though is that Strauss is way down the pecking order and should by rights not even make the Bok squad. 
We do not want another John Smit saga ...
 

Bok captain is a tough one.

I expect Duane Vermeulen will be Coetzee's first choice Bok captain although as anyone should know, I am opposed to overseas-based players being selected for the Boks let alone being given the captaincy.

If I was picking a non-chicken-runner for captain then as much as I'd like to consider players with proven leadership qualities like Adriaan Strauss, Juan de Jongh and Warren Whiteley, I'd be concerned that they're not the best in their position. I believe in the rule that you pick your best 15 and then you pick your captain from that team.

If I pick my best 15 then I don't have too many experienced captains in that side and I'd probably be leaning towards one of Marcell Coetzee or Jaco Kriel who both have some captaincy experience and - barring injuries - would probably be slugging it out for the Bok #6 jersey.

So I'd say Jaco Kriel right now but the worry would be that he doesn't keep his place when Marcell Coetzee returns from injury. Frans Malherbe is another option but I'm not convinced he's better than Vincent Koch.

Players who would make my starting XV and who have leadership potential include Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Malcolm Marx.

PS I should have added that I'm also a believer that your captain should have a single digit number on his back. I can just about handle a gobby #9 as captain (think Danie Craven, Dawie de Villiers or Divan Serfontein) but otherwise I want a real rugby player, not a foppish littl e mincer whose more worried about his hair than the scoreline.

 Rooinek
I have a problem with Vermeulen as well.  He has been very insignificant playing for Toulon and based on his performances for the Club I have developed reservations about him as a certainty selection for the Springboks.  It my be a case where he has had difficulties to adjust to NH playing conditions or the Club environment - but he was nothing special playing in the Top 14 or European Champions Cup tournament.
However, it is likely that he would be selected to play for the Springboks despite a very average performance record this year - but I am not sure that selection would last if he continues to play the level of rugby he has shown this year.   Maybe his neck injury last year had a psychological impact on his performances.  
The other issue is that to my mind they should select a captain that would last through to the 2019 WC and in that case both Vermeulen and Strauss are no-no's.
I would look at the younger crowd for a captain.   In that regard I think that I would prefer to move Coetzee to the blindside flank position and keep Kriel at 6.
The future is what should be borne in mind in this case - not the present.        


  

 Redneck ... correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you state sometime back that you were a scrummie?
How was your do during the match? Still the same as when you ran on? Hope not.
I am also in favour of the amazing Kriel at 6 and as captain and I also prefer a single digit as leader ... irrespective of whether they have hair or not.
Not convinced that Marcell is a natural opensider as he tends to forget his role at times. Rather have his physicality and ball carrying skills at 7 with Duane at 8.
Comrade ... Duane played scintillating rugby before he left for the north. I think it would be stupid to leave him out of the mix.

Klown, I started out as a scrumhalf because I was small for my age but once I grew I moved to fullback, then #8 and finally ended up as a hooker.

 CC
Read carefully what I said above about Vermeulen.  I question his performance for Toulon - but went on to clarify the issue and ended up saying he would be selected - but am against his appointment as Captain.
We have a bad history with aging and performance-failing captains for years now.  In 2011 it was Smit at the age of 33, in the WC last year it was Jean de Villiers at 34 years of age.  Vermeulen would be 33 years of age by 2019.  Based on his performances for Toulon - if there is no improvement for the Springboks he would be a dubious selection by 2019.
However, let me be blunt - if Vermeulen maintains his level of performance of years gone by - age would not be a factor - only performance would be.   I think we should see what Vermeulen produces in the June test series and then think about the issue again.     

 Vermeulen is world-class,...... no matter what he's doing in Europe, he should be called,...... but giving him the captaincy is another question,..... here, I'm with mike,.... I wouldn't give it to him cause is dubious he'll arrive to the next WC and is playing overseas

I would play with Vermeulen at blindside,..... IMO this is his natural position,.... he's one of the best, if not the best, running in traffic,..... very good at breakdowns,....
and would have Whiteley at nº8 to link with the backline,...... with Vermeulen, Etzebeth and PSdT the boks have enough strong ball carriers and need a link,..... and Whiteley is the best saffa at it

to complete the backrow I would put Kriel at openside and Coetzee, who's not a real openside and can play in any backrow position, from the bench

And Whiteley would be the captain,...... he proved to be very good at Lions

 Not every experienced player is a natural captain, as the Beast has demonstrated this year. There are no obvious choices, but I would have gone with Pollard were he not injured.....a mentally tough player at a very young age. He will have huge gravitas by the next World Cup....and of the young players he looks closest to an inc.umbent, other than Etzebeth who doesn't look like a captain to me.
I don't think your captain can be an outside back, but flyhalf is ok and in effect the tactical leader for the team....and the forwards can be led by the lineout caller.

 Agreed Comrade ... Duane will be too old for the WC in 2019 and so should not be considered for captaincy.
Still ... we have no better man at 8. He is a must for any and every test we play till ... someone better is blooded. Hopefully Coetzee will ensure we have a suitable man brought into the mix early. 
I kinda like the option of playing him on the blindside. 
Whiteley is a great player and an excellent capt. Is he test match material though?
I can't really think of anyone better at 8 than Whiteley currently, other than Duane that is.
Marcell Coetzee is a strong ball carrier and would do well on the blindside. 
We have a great pack of forwards to go to war with. 

 No overseas players will be appointed full time captain. Saru will only allow it in emergencies where the captain is injured or unavailable. Rumour has it that Vermeulen was offered the captaincy post RWC, but playing in SA was a condition. It was done prematurely last year just before he signed hes French contract. He decided not to go back on his word and to sign the contract as agreed months before.

Captain is certainly a poser.
Have a feeling it will be Beast.

 That would be a mistake, I can't see beast being the best LH in the country for the next 5 years....Kitshof is already better.

Not saying he would be my pick. Just have a feeling.
Agree Kitshoff is better, at least he was before he left, but not sure he'll even get a call up.

Beast would be a good PR exercise. 
The captain either needs to be a short time settle the ship- or just get one for the long haul that will be around in 4 years. 
Eztebeth may be an option. 

 Beast??
An emotionally immature, tantrum throwing, heart palpitating 2nd rate loosehead as captain?
Now that would be funny. 
Only Matey could come up with this kind of nonsense. 
Who's you choice as capt ... Lood ? ... Victor?? or are you going to do your usual and support whomever Mozart fancies?

 From the options available it will probably be Eben in the interim...untill one of the new guard settles into the team.

 I have no problem with Eben leading the boys ... 
I just hope that our quota coach doesn't follow the trend to appease braindead morons like Matey by selecting players like Beast, Lood, Matfield, Pienaar, Kolisi, Mohoje, Jesse Kriel and Willie.
I hope he's his own man ... one with fresh ideas ... selecting the best on form talent ...