It seems like we have a half back problem and since the whole Hougaard thing didn't work out and now that Ruan didn't play to well it got me thinking about what other options there are now and for the future.
Wrong Hougaard should never have been dropped as our 9, it was a pathetic call. At 10 the obvious answer is Goosen
Very true Dave, Hougaard was a very good 9. He had to handle a lot of pressure in the early tests through complete inadequacy of his forwards. He was a sitting duck, but the evil Bull had to be to blame. Pienaar has brought what? Nothing. Let Hougaard develop into the position as he is clearly the best 9 in the Southern Hemisphere. He is wasted on the wing. He adds intensity and incision from the base of the ruck and his kicking will get better in time. It's certainly no worse than Pienaar's. This decision was a real gaff by Meyer.
Okay then what happens whe Hougaards injured and Ruan takes over, who's going on the bench?
Yep I never got all the negativity around Hougaards ability at 9 - it was complete bullshit. There is no better attacking or defending 9 about and his service is as good as any international 9 out there.
He was charged down once or twice, so what.......who wants a bloody 9 like Pienaar who just keeps kicking the crap out of the ball. Hougaard's boot is fine, not a strength but good enough.
Shezza........Hougaard to start with the impressive v/Zyl to do bench duty
Pienaar would have completely malfunctioned under that pressure. But instead of celebrating Hougaard's mettle and ability to rise to the occasion, they castigate him, simply because he is an evil Bull. Very shameful. Once again, the real culprits, mostly Sharks, were never pointed out. It didn't matter that the work at the breakdown was poor, that it was completely unprotected. Just get rid of the Bull. Now where are now?
I want to see Hougaard behind a dominant forward pack at the maul, then I will make my final judgement whether he deserves the 9 jersey.
Saff, v/Zyl is a good option, how old is here?
Why did Meyer moved Hougaard to wing? I will give you some reasons to consider
* His kicking game was diabolical - when not charged down they are just a means of handing over possession.
* His passing is too slow nd he neutralize the backline - normally running a few steps before passing - at times not accurate either.
* He was aon a number of occassions caught in possession - resuting in turnovers.
His best performances in the tests this year came from loose play away from the forwards - and not from the base of scrums and mauls. He is a wing they tried unsuccessfully to turn into a scrummie - rnf og story..
Hougaaard has one further problem - he does not the natural instincts of a scrummie and fail to read the game properly.
Well Ruan isn't really a natural scrummie either, the only thing he has over Hougaard is that he is a better passer and kicker but then Hougaard has a whole host of things better than Ruan. Like tackling, attacking and just putting himself where the action is, Ruan shy's away from the extra physical stuff.
A player should be measured on their core responsibilty. For a scrum half it is passing. Piennar has a good pass, although he overdid the kicks. which is more the flyhalf responsibilty.
It is like measuring a heart transplant surgeon by his utility value. Ok the operation to transplant the heart failed, but at least our doctor was able to fix the leaking sink and blocked toilet on the way out.
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Although I admit his game was not great today.
But Hougaard is able to improve Ruan not so much. Also the attitude Ruan showed today was as if he didn't want to be there, Hougaard makes himself busy and reminds me of Genia.
Hougaard is definitely not a good scrum half, nothing like Genia, hes too slow to recycle the ball at the ruck area and often gets put under alot of pressure that he can not handle losing momentum, and has no kicking ability what so ever. The only problem that Pienaar has is he tends to kick too deep and long which is not giving players enough time to contest for the ball or to put pressure on the opposition team.
Hougaard is exactly in the mold of Genia, but better. He has been the premier 9 of the SH. This garbage about Hougaard being too slow is exactly that, garbage. It's based ENTIRELY on the 1st England test where the Bok forwards could not present the ball, Hougaard had to dig for it relentlessly. And once the ball as out, there was no protection, with an Englishman able to just charge in and smash him, so what did he have to do? Use other means to by time and space. Once again, it's a pack of lies, deception at best. Not identifying the core issues is a big problem here yet again. Hougaard plays at a much faster pace than Pienaar could physically cope with. He seeks out his opponent and dominates him. Pienaar is very slow moving from ruck to ruck, and his decision making is even slower. He never does anything other than shovel to a forward and his communication is not very good at all. He was a much better 10 than the 9 he has become. Hougaard is so much more, and his pass has more sting. Everything about Hougaard is better than Pienaar. And if you want to really see anything from Goosen, than you had better pray that Meyer does retain Pienaar, or he will have very little opportunity to make any kind of statement. All these things and more.
Also it's quite interesting that some here equate scrumhalf play to just passing, and flyhalf play as just kicking. Particularly given the discussions that have been going on.
Requiescat I just noticed on ur posts you defend any player that is in the bulls, Morne, Hougaard, Kirchner. Rubbish bulls fan.
I am by no means a Bull fan. Quite the contrary my views transcend provincialism. That is one of the biggest issues here. I can speak positively about any union, and I can like many players from every union. I thankfully do not have this backward provincialism ingrained in me. Had you noticed anything, you would have noticed me castigate Greyling, and not for the first time either! What of Olivier? all of the Bull's outside centres? Chiliboy for many years? Stegmann? Potgieter? The list is actually quite extensive. There are even players in the Cheetahs that I can lambast, the union I support!! So you see, you are quite wrong. What you are doing is realigning what I say so that it fits YOUR perception and is contextually accurate as per your understanding of "them and us" provincialism. It's wholely flawed in too many ways.
