Springboks may deploy split squad for Championship

Is it lunacy or will it work. Yet again, the organisers have come up with a pathetic schedule. 

I've just returned from Japan and can honestly tell you how much that trip messes you up. The whole time I was there I couldn't get into a decent sleep pattern, not to mention losing half a day and only going to be at 4 am. 

So Rassie wants to deploy a split squad again. It worked last time, bit this time we for Eddie Jones and Australia in waiting. New Zealand will not hold back as both teams have a point to prove and would want to send out a message to the rest of the world. 

I'm not against the idea of splitting the squad, but wonder who should be in the squads. 

On one hand we can send our best players ahead to New Zealand but do we want to risk all this travelling. 

Then, we have a large contingent from Japan that will need march fitness but New Zealand is not the place. 

Lots to consider. One part of me want to send the fringe players so that they can show us how they handle pressure and if they can make the step up. 

My away team to travel ahead 

1. Ox
2. Bongi
3. Du Toit 
4. RG
5. Lood
6. PSTD
7. Kwagga
8. Roos
9. Williams
10. Libbok 
11. Moodie
12. Esterhuizen
13. Kriel 
14. Arendse
15. Willemse

1. Kittshoff
2. Marx
3. Malherbe
4. Etzebeth
5. Jenkins
6. Van Staden 
7. Louw
8. Wiese  
9. Faf
10. Pollard
11. Kolbe
12. Dud
13. Am
14. Mpimpi
15. Willie

It doesn't matter what the outcome of the RC is. Firstly, it's an abbreviated competition, secondly, it's at an all time low for quality. We should be working on establishing some solid combinations and start with ironing out our ailing defence. If we don't get serious about selections, then none of this will even matter either. It's about what the players are going to take into the WC. 

Just watched a kiwi do depth analysis on the boks. Break down of how many minutes in each position.

The biggest concern is at number 6 where Kolisi took most of the minutes and now unable to play in the world cup. 

The other is Lock, number 4 to be exact. 

We also have issues at 8, 10, 12 and 13. 

De Allende has played the most minutes in the backs. 

Someone like Esterhuizen has hardly had any minutes. 

The boks wasted presious games when they chickened out of the championship. 

So we only have 5 games left to get player more game time. 

Instead both Willemse and Dud have been used in key positions as well as Frans Steyn when we could have given more minutes to other players more deserving. 

You need to have up to 4 players in the spine of the team. 

Hooker, prop, lock, nine, 10, midfield and fullback

We only gave more opportunities to our 9s

Frans won three tests in 2021 on his own. That changes the perceptions of the Boks quite a bit. Snatching victory from certain defeat. I'd rather have Frans in the squad than Damian et al. Talent > no talent. Irrespective of age. 

Dave, you cannot be serious about the two Jantjies in your "A" side.

At 9, it comes down to Hendrickse and Reinach. 

Reinach is at his very best. He is the best distributor of the lot. Faf is a crabber, and couldn't hit a strong pass if all he had to do was walk up and hand it over to a teammate. Faf has always had very poor skills. He used to be fast, energetic and disruptive on defence. Now, he looks podgy and petulant. He is a nuisance to the cause. Faf is currently a poor man's Januarie. 

He was wonky with the boot in the WC. Faf is the weakest of our 9s for skills. Reinach was only a runner when he came onto the scene, but he has been very good for the Boks. Faf's last effective season as a disruptor was 2018. The Boks in general looked fitter. Faf certainly looks much then in comparison to now. Forward, low velocity passes that drift behind the runner is a Faf staple. 

Faf the major reason? 

We won because of a very fortuitous path, Louw against Wales, Thor, Mostert, Frans and above all... Beast.

I do feel that we need clear definitions of who is our number 1 and which players are 50/50. Let’s be honest about Steyn and Vermeulen.   Both are over 35, both have had a long list of injuries and Frans hasn’t played decent first class game in over 2 years. He was a great impact player. These players took up a lot of minutes. Nienaber missed a trick last year in trying to get more experience and game time. We have some players that hog all the minutes. We have Willemse and Steyn at 10 and centre. De Allende with more 75% of the midfield. We need at least two more players in each position with more than 200 minutes on the field. So, no, Nienaber and Rassie fucked up. 

Here is my ranking list

1. Kittshof, Ox, Du Toit
2. Marx, Bongi, Grobbler, Dweeb
3. Malherbe, Koch, Wilcow Louw
4. Etzebeth, RG, Jenkins, Vermeulen 
5. Lood, Mostert, Nortje 
6. Coetzee, Kwagga, Fourie, Van Staden
7. PSTD, Louw, J Du Preez
8. Wiese, Roos, Liebenberg 
9. Faf, Williams, Reinach, Hendriks, Nohamba 
10. Pollard, Libbok, Robert Du Preez 
11. Kolbe, Arendse, Fassi
12. Dud Allende, Esterhuizen, Dan Du Preez
13. Am, Rohan JVR, Jessie Kriel, Henco Van Wyk 
14. Mpimpi, Moodie, Zas, 
15. Le Roux, Gelant, Willemse 

He has a higher strike rate than Am at centre, and can be very good in the air. 

Would it be disrespectful to send the following team to NZ and do we think we could beat them? 

1. Ox / Du Toit
2. Bongi / Dweeb
3. Koch / Nyakane / Louw 
4. Jenkins 
5. RG / Mostert 
6. Fourie / van Staden 
7. Louw / Jean Luc
8. Roos / Vermeulen 
9. Williams / Reinach
10. Libbok / Goosen 
11. Arendse
12. Esterhuizen
13. Kriel
14. Moodie
15. Gelant / Willemse 

Kriel doesn't have problem finding space, quite the contrary, but he will never see the offload, or the free man around him. That's a problem. His defence is a tad below Am in 2018, and Am did distance himself further in 2019. However, last year, Am was very poor. The gap between them is not very big. Kriel is still good in the air. He is fast, and plays with intensity. In last year's attack, Kriel would have been more effective. Kriel's strike rate is 25.5, Am's 19.4. Something to consider. Neither one could be said to be great on defence right now. Hence why I'd have Serfontein in the squad. 

Kriel scored a number of tries in Japan this season. He is a strong runner and a solid tackler. You wouldn't expect your 13 to be catching many high balls. 

Am was injured and then got pulled out of the URC games for the bok resting protocol.

But he hasn't played that well at all even all the journos rave about him. 

He does smart passes and good runner and was the best 13 in the world but I think Gary Ring rose is light years ahead at the moment on comparison based on his performance in the URC and recent 6 nations.

I wonder if Moody will ever be shifted to 13. Apparently that is his real position. He is a great tackler and what I've seen, really strong in defense. 

Where as Mpimpi is an extreme poor defender and was the single reason why we lost to the all blacks in the world cup

Am should be the best in the world, but he has never held that distinction. For some reason, people think the Bok attack was good last year. That Am was one of the best players in the world last year; they weren't, and he wasn't. Sadly, Am is one of numerous players under Erasputin who have regressed. Pollard, Marx, Willie, Mapimpi, even Eben last season. We aren't seeing the best of our best players. 

Japanese rugby requires better fitness and it's more sophisticated than SH domestic rugby for the past decade. Kriel has his moments. He isn't a total write-off. Since 2021, he isn't that far off Am. 

I think that Japan has finally sorted out their professional league. Players are no longer employees of a big Conglomerate. All players are now professional, those old corporate teams still exist but they have dropped down to the 3rd tier. 

There is some quality foreign players in the team and it looks like they are getting more players from abroad. Japan is on the up for a number of years now. They’ve beaten the boks and won their pool. Booting Ireland out of the previous World Cup. 

Them, really like that their season is only 5 months, leaves ample time for international rugby. The way rugby should be played 

The Japanese rugby benefits our players. Before Esterhuizen went to Japan, he was just a blindside flank, but they encouraged and trained skills, and he became the premier 12 in SA for the past 8 years. They round out our natural inclination for primitive ape rugby. Such as that seen from Willemse, Damian, Kolisi, Steph, Faf, Lood, and numerous other forwards and backs. 

I read an interesting article today where they were talking about which squad to send to NZ. Something I overlooked was that SA uses NZ as a morale booster. No matter the result of other games and that if gives the coaches immunity. 

So the reasoning is to send the best 15 to NZ like in the previous World Cup year and try to get a win. 

The only difference is that we have an Eddie Jones team and as we know it it. Eddie is not someone that lanes down when embarrassed. Especially since we beat his team to win the World Cup and that his last and final game was a loss against the boks. So he is probably planning some revenge like he did with Japan.

So it really spice up who should stay and who should go to NZ. 

My only other concern is march sharpness. None of the players would have had a chance to play a test match and Aus is the only test prior to when we travel. So the boks either need to arrange a couple of warm up games, and soon or run the risk of going into a test match cold against the All Blacks. 

It does change my line up for Aus and New Zealand.

So I’m thinking 

Vs Aus

1. Ox / ? Mchunu 
2. Bongi / Dweeb 
3. Du Toit / Koch 
4. RG
5. Jenkins / Orie (not a fan)
6. Van Staden
7. Mostert / Louw
8. Roos
9. Williams / Reinach 
10. Libbok / Goosen 
11. Arendse
12. Esterhuizen / RJVR 
13. Kriel
14. Moodie 
15. Willemse / Gelant 

1. Kittshof 
2. Marx
3. Malherbe
4. Etzebeth 
5. Lood
6. Kwagga
7. PSDT
8. Wiese
9. Faf
10. Pollard
11. Kolbe
12. De Allende 
13. Am 
14. Mpimpi 
15. Le Roux 

Your NZ team is weaker. 

So now that we know the squad and that Rassie has confirmed that they will be splitting the squad again. The question remains who should stay in SA and who should go to New Zealand. 

If SA wants to win this game then we need to win at least 2 games if not all three. NZ will be hard in NZ, we've beaten them at home but they have a really strong and settled team. 

Should we keep our starting Boks at home and let them skip the trip to NZ completely and look to win all of our home games? 

Do we use the All Black game to test BMT of certain players. 

SA use the All Black games normally as a confidence booster to prep for the World Cup. You beat the all blacks and then on your way. But the All Blacks haven't won any junior champs for some time now and I'm not sure if they are the same force as they once were. 

I would also consider keeping our starters fresh and at home and avoid the travel all together. I would keep my best 15 at home and let them play at home. We have an away game in NZ and an away game in Argentina. So I'll let the young guys travel and let the old guys rest up. Then there is Wales and another game against NZ at Twickenham as the final warm up games. 

I would keep 15 at home, pick 7 as subs, those 7 would be subs in both home and away games and the other 15 remain in NZ. So only fly out with 10 additional players. 

Home Test

1. Kitshoff
2. Marx
3. Malherbe
4. Etzebeth
5. Lood
6. Kwagga
7. PSDT
8. Wiese
9. De Klerk
10. Jantjies (Libbok needs a baptism of fire in NZ to test his mettle)
11. Mpimpi 
12. De Allende 
13. Am
14. Kolbe
15. Le Roux

1. Ox
2. Bongi
3. Nyakane 
4. RG
5. Klein 
6. Van Staden
7. Du Preez
8. Roos
9. Jantjies
10. Libbok 
11. Moodie 
12. Esterhuizen
13. Kriel
14. Arendse
15. Willemse 

1. Dweeb
2. Du Toit
3. Kock
4. Mostert
5. Vermeulen 
6. Williams 
7. Libbok / Jantjies 
8. Willemse / Le Roux 
9. (We only have 2 fit flyhalves in the squad, so Pollard is still recovering. May only be fit for the home test against Argentina )

I think you guys are really underestimating Klein. I would have him any day over Jenkins and probably over Lood.  

Klein got a very bad rap after the last world cup and hasn't got called in again for Ireland.  There is a very Leinster centric focus in the Irish squad supported by a very Dublin centric media.  Second and third string players in Leinster regularly get called in ahead of starters for the other provinces.  

What I would give to see Klein and RG run out for my WP...the Stormers would conquer the world with such a second row...