I have always maintained that the loose forward selection was for years the poor selections by Meyer and even worse selections by Coetzee.
Meyer started off with the loose forward combination pf Louw, Alberts and Spies and ended up with Vermeulen at 8 and the clueless Mohoje as well. Alberts never was a loose forward (he was totally pace-deficient and useless in breakdown ball protection and recovery. The problem is that Louw was never really an opensider flank and Vermeulen was a low-paced player as well. As a result the contributions by the combination as a whole was not really up to standard. I say this because the AB's and other teams ran rings around the Springboks when it came to loosie combination.
Be it as it may the present scenario is totally useless as well. Due to injuries and advancing age Vermeulen had very little rugby since 2015 and has been unconvincing when he played for his club and despite the hype not really active when he did play for the Springboks in his last two tests, However, he is not the major problem at present - but it is doubtful whether he would be any good by 2019 - so I would look elsewhere as a number 8.
Louw had a number of poor performances for the Springboks and ended up being selected at 8, but playing at 7 in the relevant tests. He may be good enough on slow NH surfaces and failed utterly when it came to breakdown ball protection and recovery in his recent tests, He is not the player he used to be in 2015 and is clearly on the way down due to advancing age. He is no proposition insofar as the 2019 WC is concerned.
Kolisi has had a lot of opportunities, but although he showed some life in a few games he is no good in ball protection and recovery and it is not even sure whether he is n opensider or blindsider.
So where to now?
I would look at the following as a combination:-
I would pick Du Toit at 8 - where he did well when he played in that position when Louw was supposedly to play in that position. Du Toit has a number of advantages over the other contenders. He has pace and is a ball skills and sense player, He is top class in line-outs and is also better than other contenders in breakdown ball protection and recovery.
That leaves the opensider and blindsider positions,
In the case of opensiders I think there are really four contenders:-
Kwagga Smith, Jaco Kriel, Cloete, Wiese
Any of those four players will be a vast improvement on the present situation and would be speedy enough to play a positive role in breakdown ball protection and recovery and combine with the backline insofar as ball-in-hand rugby is concerned. My personal preference would be Kwagga - after all he was the MOM when the Barbarians played the AB's last month.
Insofar as the blindsiders is concerned I like the following contenders:-
Jean-Luc du Preez, Van Dyk and possibly even Whiteley playing at 7.
Any logical suggestions from members would be welcome.
