The Bulls made much of the story that except for Engelbrecht - the rest of their team was made up of Springboks - so let me try and put the matter into perspective insofar as the relevant performances are concerned. It says a lot that the best player on the Bulls side was Engelbrech - the rookie.
Kirchner looked nicely on attack his positional play and line kicking was acceptable. However his high kicks were too far for any pressure to be exerted on the opposition players. His defence was hopelessly bad. On display yesterday he should never be considered again as a Springbok full back.
Basson - nobody can argue that he has speed, but for him being a Sprinbok is a joke in bad taste.
Ndungane - the second best Backline player of the Bulls today, but there are better wings than him in SA and he is not a Springbok selection anymore. Habana especially is much better an all-round player.
Olivier - tried to crashball today, but was very average as a backline player. Never lived up to his potential and is about the 7th best no 12 in South Africa.
Steyn - cannot be described as an all-round flyhalf. He is a kicker - nothing more. His passing game yesterday was atrocious. If you want a backline to function - leave him out of the team.
Hougaard - the old question as to Hougaard as a scrummie remains unanswered. His attacking game today when given space was unquestioned - but his attacks came when he was not in the normal position as a scrummie. He is still to my mind a better wing than he is a scrummie. His passing game under pressure was not nice to see. In the Springbok team as a wing - by all counts - but the question as to his ability as a scrummie leaves much to question.
Spies - was absent from the game for 79 minute. He never took a ball in the line-outs - which was championed by his supporters last week against the Cheetahs. Was only visible when he led the Bulls on the field and when he hauled in Whitehead. For the rest -- he might have not been on the field. This has happened continuously in previous games as well. His speciality is losing the ball in contact situations. If hye selected as Springbok again - we would have 14 players on the field plus one passenger.
The Potgoieters - both were desperately poor today and was largely "absent" - they showed no reason why they should be in the Springbok squad again.
Juandre Kruger - Was outpolayed by Du Toit today - ie a 19 year old rookie that had never played on Super 15 level before. There definitely are better locks than him around - so future selection should be in doubt - msybe on the bench, but certainly not in the starting line up.
Van der Merwe - it is a weird case that made him a Springbok - this guy has the physique, but really no playing abilities. I would pick the rookie Du Toit ahead of him.
Werner Kruger - must be the worst scrummager in Super 15. I would never curse on this site, but in this case it is inevitable - the guy is really a sh!t scrummager and for the rest he is a poor player. Please save us from ever seeing this guy again in a Springbok jersey.
Greyling - a slightly better scrummager than Kruger, but as a Springbok - I can only say "blaas my siel"
Chillyboy - bad news most of the time. After playing 50 games for the Bulls - he still do not know how to throw balls into line outs. He was seen once ball in hand and made no impact at all. I always thought that he could be made the back up player for Bismarck - but after today all his supporters must be crying crocodile tears - this guy is just not Springbok material.
It is wrong to judge players on one game - but in the case of most of the above players their dispaly is only better against desperately poor teams. For the rest they showed characteristics that is regularly present in games against strong teams. Of the players listed there are in fact only two players that could potentially be Springboks (Hougaard - maybe not as scrummie, but as a wing - and J Kruger as a lock - based on his performances in the tests - preferably from the bench - not in the starting line up.
My sympathies go out to Meyer - if he select any of the above lot - many people will accuse him of being provincial - deservedly so. The Bulls supporters on this Board willa accuse me of bias and worse - but I am very proud today of being a Shark supporter.
