With regret it seems that De Villiers will be out of rugby by the time the 2015 WC comes on steam and the injury is likely to eb career-ending. That is indeed a great pity - it leaves us with a serious problem in the center combination.
No 12 Center position
We have in fact three contenders for the inside center berth - namely Serfontein (the most likely candidate - but also De Allende and Ebersohn. Menion of other names are in the main premature - since the players concerned are basically inexperienced with a smathering of CC games to their credit only. The other remote option - Francois Steyn - has been a disaster for the Sharks playing at ener in Super 15 - both in 2013 and 2014 - and showed zero attacking ability - with serious defense deficiencies. He was so bad last year that his coach sid he is not a center at all.
I looked at the statistical data on ESPN an saw that he did play fairly regularly for Montpellier - both at 12 and 13. In general his perofmrances cannot be describd as house-on -fire performances. He was very average in most games and generally had a missed tackle ratio which was in fact on the high side.
De Allende is a natural 12 - but I think he is more eneded at 13 than at 12. So it would be possible that Serfontein will take over from De Villiers.
No 13 Position
This position could be re garded as the Meyer lottery ticket selection. It was pretty clear that meyer made a hash of the selection of players to play at 13. The most useles selections he made in that position were the following:--
* Taute - a full back - not a center. Was extremely iffy in atatck and problematic in defense.
* De Jongh went AWOL in the tests he played in - coul0d not be assessed properly in aspects of play since he made sure he was missing from any action during the two tests he played in in 2012. In the game he came from the bench Against the Aussies in Pretoria - he buggered up a try scoring opportunity.
* JJ Engelbercht showed a lack of atacking ability and had defensive rpobems as well. Not a sure fire 13 - but would be better on the wing.
* Jacque Fourie - firm in defense - but no atatcking aboilit - propably due to a speed impediment. In any event Fourie ruled himself out of future selection.
* JP Pietersen - really was iffy in his performances and a serious defensive risk as well. He has lost a lot of pace in recent years and is not a reliable candidate for selection.
So where are we now?
Basically we have a serious vacancy problem. We have a possibility of the following five candidates here: -
* Damian de Allende;
* Stokkies Hanekom
* Paul Jordaan
* JJ Engelbrecht.
The situation os not healthy at all. Meyer wants De Allende to play at 13 to develop his familarity playing in that position. I m pretty suure eh will succeed and end up as the not 1 candidate. Stokkies Hanekom did exceptionally well for the Lions in CC and he will have the opportunity to show what eh can produce next year in Super`15. Paul Jordaan was very unfortunate he had to play outside of the under-performing and seriously defective Francois Steyn and got no oportunities to show his worth in Super 15. He showed exceptional class in the CC - but unfortunately sufferred a serious injury in the mact against the Lions. He is probably the most dangerous of the outside centers since he is a ball sense player. Engelbrecht is a rather pedestrian player - which could be dangerous when put into space - but did not shw any ability to create attacking impetus both in Super 15 and on test level.
There are much to play for for the above 4 players - since the final decision will probably depend on the actual performances in Super 15.
The scrumhalf situation
This position was a roblem since Meyer took ove as coach. When unsuccessful in getting Fourie du Preez back - his First selection as scrummie was Francois Hougaard - followed by Ruan Pienaar Fourie du Preez and Cobus Reinach.
* Hougaard shoed serious deficiencies in the June tests in 2012 and ws then played on the wing and replaced by Pienaar. He came back on the scene in the June series a fter Du Preez suffered a serious injury. H id not play mcuh up to the time of the Ruan Pienaar injury against th AB's. When he came on for Pienaar after the injury he could at best eb decribed as iffy. His kicking game was prolematic since virtually all his kicks served as a basis for counter-attacks by the AB's -his pasisng game was not always accurate and his decisionmaking - particularly late in the game was poor - when he passed a ball to De Jager - whic should have gone in-field. He ahd a good performance against the AB's in the Ellis Park test - but that was followed by the most inept performances in the ireland and Wales tests.
* Pienaar is a sa fe scrummie - but with very little to make him ot as a stand-out player. The main problem with Pienaar is that he lost a lot of pace and he is often slow to get to breakdown points. A pedestrian player with an average performance record at 9;
* Fourie du Preez made a comback in 2013. The first action was in teh runaway Argentina game in Spoweto - where he came from the ebcnch and lookd good. In the subsequent game he was less obvious but still was abov avrage in performance. In the AB game a week later he was invisible. The same sequence followied in the Subsequent games in the EOYT - above average in the Welsh test - and invisible in the subsequent Scotland test. He was average in the three June tests and then got a serious injury. A player with huge reputation - but there are some negatives that remove him from being a topclass playe into the avergae category. He has lost considerable pace - his attacks around the fringes (hs former trademark) never happened since his return. His kicking and passing game is average as well. I have a suspision that after his serious injury in June - DU Preez may announce his retirement from international rugby as well and his club may force the issue.
* Reinach came on in a two games in the RC and in the first game he made a serious impact - in the second game he was average and so was he in the ireland test. He is a dngerous player - evidenced by the fact that he scored two tries in the games he played recently - both related to his ability to read the game and being in the right place at the right time. There is much criticism of reinach on this Board - but when asked to pinpoint examples of poor play - the critics acannot come upwith anything of substance. Clearly need sone experience on test level - but is likely to be one of the top contenders for selection.
Basically I think Hougaard's recent poor performances would rule him out of contention for future selection. If Du Preez opts out - the likely candidates for selection would be -
* Cobus Reinach
* Faf de Klerk
* Luiters
* Groom
Meyer would obviouskly prefer Du preez and Pienaar - but I am not sure about their availability,
