Speed....even more crucial for the Boks

We rely more than others on the counter attack.....the turnover ball. Perhaps Habana's try some six years back,  after Schalk scooped the ball up following a turnover in the Aussie 22, showed it best. It got quickly to Habana and he gassed Drew Mitchell to make it home from 90 metres.

It was classic SA rugby, not deceptive....just quick reactions. But if it happened today, there is no way Bryan even fully commits to that run. Likewise JP burned James O Connor with ease a few years back in the S15.....could he do it today?

Habana and and JP have become old men in rugby terms, and their vices are the vices of old men. They play busy rugby, but not dangerous rugby.

We have so few decent wings, these geriatrics are probably still the best bet. But have no illusions, they are largely toothless. And without pace, our counter attack is largely toothless.

Pietersen is 25 so cannot be thought of as a geriatric. H enever has had blinding pace but being  abigger wing 96kg he i sfaster than he may appear.

Pity tha tthe experiment wih Habana at 13 could no thave continued but with de Jongh back it did not suit the team as a whole.

When you lack finesse and skills  any other factor becomes more important realtively. Loubcher for Bok backline coach! Sounds weird to me.

I see 20 yea rol dpaul Jordan is 94 kg. He i a Grey College Bloemfontein lad.

Gets to me how Free State lose their players all the time. I really do wonder if they are not intrinsically our strongest province in tems of rugby talent or at least right up there with WP.

WP look perhaps to be stopping the haemorrhaging of talent.  Is it too late for Free State is the sad question.

 JP at 25, still has plenty to offer - Habana is done. Beeno JP is 102kg's

Jordaan looks the real deal and plays 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15

JP and Habana are damn quick, and I haven't seen any other fast wings succeed for the Boks. Functionality before speed! Habana tore through 8 All Blacks in the 2010 TNs, only a very lucky ankle tap saved them. One of the rare moments Habana got the ball. That's the problem. Habana is still our most dangerous wing. Under Jake we supplied our wings with ball, it's no surprise that as soon as Peter came in the try well dried up instantly! See the pattern?

 Habana is done - end of

No he isn't.

 Saffex...you are correct Habana must hamba.

A wing can hit a dry spell for a few games.....but a four year dry spell! Habana scored 3 tries in 12 tests from the RWC through the Lions series. And since the start of the 2010 TN he hasn't scored a try against a TN or 6 Nations team. In fact he has scored 2 tries in 14 tests in that spell....against Italy and Samoa.

He simply doesn't constitute a threat anymore.....even though he tries hard and defends with gusto. The old Habana more or less died when Ngewnya gassed him in 2007. I don't think he was ever as confident again.

Don't you remember the post I made last year about who was scoring our tries? As soon as Peter became coach the forwards were scoring our tries! Every year the forwards dominated the try count. This was an immediate turnaround from Jake's era where the wings did most of the scoring. You can make it about Habana, but the fact is that no wing has prospered over the last four years. We've had Habana, Jp Pietersen, Nokwe, Mvovo, Chavanhga, Odwa Ndungane, Jean, Adi, Olivier, Basson, Hougaard, Aplon... and none have made the desired impression! You could recall a few Hougaard breaks, but they still pale in comparison to Habana's. I can't recall Hougaard blasting through nearly the entire All Black team. No, this nonsense about Habana is at best a myth; one which is in complete contradiction to any fact out there about the last four years.