Sooo ... what's missing ... ??

As we all know, a match is usually won or lost up front. Do we have a pack to match the best in the world?

Let’s start with what’s already sorted.

At HOOKER we have the world’s best two hookers in Bismarck Du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss. Both powerful scrummagers with good leadership qualities. They are accurate with their line out put in, excellent ball carriers and tend to win a lot of turn over ball in the loose as well as at the breakdown. An additional fetcher so to speak. Both very physical

I cannot see anyone matching them in the tight loose. Bismarck brings an extra bit of physicality to the mix. A massif shot in the arm for the Bokke. We are most fortunate to have these boys.

My only concern here is the third cover option. I would personally prefer Schalk Brits to any other available … but I guess it’s not that simple … so Meyer will probably go for some previously disadvantaged quota option to include.  Chilliboy??

At LOCK we have Eben Etzebeth, Pieter Steff Du Toit, Flip van der Merwe, Andries Bekker and Bakkies Botha.

All with a very high work rate and extremely physical in the tight loose. All powerful men that add to our scrum might enabling us to dominate at the set piece.

I’m not sure what Meyer thinks of Bekker. I hope he doesn’t have issues with him cause he would definitely complete an awesome set of locks for us. Yet again … none better in the world.

Our BACK ROW has the incredible power of Willem Alberts, Duanne Vermeulen and Frans Louw. As a starting trio I have no problems with any of them.

It’s the backup that I have issues with. We need someone on the bench to add to the match and sadly Kolisi falls way short. So does Coetzee. The All Blacks have the likes of Luatua and we need to at least match that. I believe Arno Botha would be perfect and then some ... He covers 7 and 8 comfortably and so does Jacques Engelbrecht.

Meyer is sure to call on Botha next year. I don’t have a problem with that. We also have guys like Labuschagne and Brussow to draw upon.  

Our problem areas are at PROP. We have issues with a loosehead replacement. Guthro was solid enough against Scotland but let’s face it, we have better to select from.

Trevor may be an option. We also have guys like Kitshoff and Marcell that could be brought in.

Then there’s Coenie Oosthuizen whom I’m not a fan of at all and it seems Meyer also has his reservation. He keeps selecting him as tighthead cover but has no confidence in his ability to start at 3. So what’s the point of selecting him at all?

Must say I’m a little puzzled regarding his indecision here. Use the guy properly or replace him. There’s no room for baggage handlers.

At tighthead we’re still in complete disarray. Jannie to me is a massif liability. He’s not only a poor scrummager but also a very poor defender.

Malherbe stood the test but to be quite honest I was kinda expecting a little more from him. It didn’t come. Yes I know that I may be a little impatient however the clock’s ticking boys. We need to get this vital spot sorted. Priority number 1.

Will the newly called up Kirsten be the man we’re looking for? How about Adriaanse? BJ Botha? Coenie is not the answer here. This spot worries me.

All in all I would say we have a pretty good pack that would stand up against all comers. A little work on the props and we should be good to go.

 HM can count himself lucky to have the sticks like Bekker.In England,France or Nzl Bekker would play a century of test matches.HM should be ashamed of how he selects some positions.The likes of Bakkies Botha that is clearly out of his depth at international level.at age 34.

 Clean Cut

Really well done - but in places quite off the mark.   I am not particularly worried about the tighthead issue.    Malherbe did very well considering he was scrumming against the B&I Lions prop who dismembered the Aussie props and who was beaten easily by Malherbe if you look at the way the scrums went in that game.   The ground condiions at Murrayfield did not allow for good scrumming - but the Springbok tighthead kept his side in the scrum up - while at loosehead our scrumming was poor while Steenkamp was there.   The penalties clearly showed who was at fault.   Steenkamp is one of the players who to my mind will fade out of future squads as not being good enough.   We have plenty of back-ups better than anything the AB's and other countries have - so there is no worry in this case. 

Bakkies Botha to my mind showed on Sunday that he is not an international test level lock anymore.  Against the poor Scottish combination he brought virtually zero to the game.   Meyer - a great admirer of Botha - wanted to give him a trial run and played him on Sunday to see whether he measured up - but I suspect deep down Meyer knows he was not good enough and he will fade quietly from future squads.

Our back row is where we were beaten wholesale by the All blacks all the time - it is an unbalanced set of players trying to create a balanced back row.    As long as Willem Alberts is in the mix as a loosie we will remain unbalanced - because he really is too one-dimensional to be an effective loosie.  A few ineffective ball carries and a relatively low number of tackles in the channel does not add value to the team.   The unit as a whole is not mobile enough - we need one powerful ball carrier and that is Vermeulen - who is much more effective in that than Alberts - who virtually always get tackled by the first defender, goes down like a log and that is where the carry stops.   Summary - the lack of  mobility issue is always going to sell us short in the back row and the relative inability to tie up with backline players in carrying balls remains a problem.  Louw has occasionally done that - so has Vermeulen - but Alberts has never done that.  I am a bit worried about the openside flank situation - because Kolisi is just not good enough - he is too limited and one-dimensional to be so.  Coetzee looks better now than he did in Super 15 and should be the support player to back up Louw.   Blindside - Botha and Labuschagne are both versatile players - better all-round defenders and ball carriers than Alberts and very good in the line outs as well.  Aside from that we have Elstadt - also a more effective all round player than Alberts.

I think a forward pack made up of the following will beat any forward pack in world rugby in all facets of forward play:-

1   Mtawarire,  2  Du Plessis,  3  Malherbe,  4   Etzebeth,  5  Du Toit,  6  Louw,  7  Botha,  8  Vermeulen  -  Replacements :   16  Strauss  17  Oosthuizen, 18  Du Plessis,  19   Van der Merwe,  20   Labuschagne 

A relatively young forward pack that will go places in future - the only more elderly one is Janni e - who in the next year or so will be replaced by Marcel van der Merwe.