Willie should be left alone to do his thing, the fact that some question our best attacking talent is laughable. We need to work on a back-up. The idea that Goosen could be the answer speaks volumes for Meyer as a coach - its pathetic. The best young talent at 15 is Baby Bok star Jessie Kriel. A proactive coach would have observed this very fact and included him in the squad. Taute as a utility player should have also featured.
Hendricks is a one season wonder, nice finisher but cant defend. My guess is that he will struggle in his second year in the 15 man game. I am not convinced about him at all. Also lacks out and out pace.
JP still has plenty to offer, but never really set the world alight in 2014......playing him at 13 never helped. Does Habana still have what it takes. I think he might have one last WC in him and then that's it.
Great to see Senatla in the squad, lets hope he gets game time, he is far far better than Hendricks. Other options at wing should have been Sithole, Kobus v/Wyk, Kolbe or Rhule. I see little point in Mvovo now, given his age.
Jean has been average all year but Meyer will hang onto him till the bitter end, to the detriment of Bok rugby. He misses too many tackles these days and his only option these days on attack is the crash ball.
The best young 12 in the game in Serfontein is being wasted at 13. Sadly had Fourie not been injured, he too would have made the tour squad. de Allende has been pathetically treated by Meyer, his debut was in atrocious conditions and he was given one more opportunity thereafter. This considering he was playing in the unfamiliar position of 13, the position he should be playing in but given time to settle. The centre pair all RC should have been Serfontein at 12 with de Allende at 13. JJ is another who has been pathetically treated by Meyer after his ground breaking performance with ball in hand against NZ. He is the one centre we have with real pace and good feet that finds himself sitting at home instead of some faith and investment being shown in him. A player in the JJ mould is Kobus v/Wyk.......here is another potential gem being overlooked at 13. Same can be said of Jessie Kriel.
Options at 12 as back-ups could have been the impressive Howard Mnisi or the barn storming Andre Esterhuizen as a left field selection. A great coach would also not have let Frans Steyn slip the net for whatever reason.
The recall of Morne is insulting, enough said. The 3 flyhalves should have been Pollard, Goosen and Lambie......at least all 3 are in the squad, despite the ridiculous call on Goosen as a 15.
What the hell is passive Pienaar doing back in the squad? Are we going to see more of that mundane kicking from him all series? Hougaard and Reinach are obvious choices. The likes of Groom or v/Zyl would have been far better options that Pienaar.
I'm not sure which selection is more insulting, the inclusion of fat Steenkamp or Morne, but how on earth does Steenkamp make the squad ahead of v/d Merwe of the Lions......there is simply no justification for this at all. Its disgraceful and says all you need to know of Meyer as a coach. Hell the inclusion of 19 year old Thomas du Toit would have been a far better choice as would Morne Mellett.
Jannie hangs in there thanks to injuries to Marcel v/d Merwe, Malherbe and Kirsten, but no doubt Jannie would have toured anyway. Coenie, Redelinghuys and Nkayane are good calls but hopefully with Coenie being left to specialise in one position.
The choice of Coetzee as the 3rd hooker is a strange one, he is a nice player, but I cant help but feel Cooper, Visagie, Ackers and Scara are better.
Really sad to see the failed experiment of 37 and 35 year old Bakkies and Matfield continue.....its insulting to think these old fossils actually add value when the RC exposed Matfield for his lack of physicality and how on earth can any coach select has been Bakkies ahead of our new bruiser Paul Willemse.......a travesty of bloody justice. Lood has suffered under Meyer with little faith shown in him. Meyer seems to have a habit of giving young players a start or two then relinquishing them to tackle bag duty.......Lood and de Allende of late. Willemse, Lewies, Kleyn and Jacques du Plessis would all have been better options than geriatrics Bakkies and Matfield.
Good to see Kriel get a call up, he deserves it. Coetzee is now the real deal at test level, but Kriel as a back up is spot on given the injury to Kolisi. I think Carr's best position would also be openside and its good to see him rewarded. The selection of Oupa is a strange one, he looks useful enough but certainly does not have the physical impact the likes of Jacques du Plessis, Rhodes or Elstadt would offer. Whitely is a good player but I suspect he is not physical enough for a test standard 8. I am a huge fan of Mtembu's all round skills and would rather have seen him in the squad ahead of say Oupa. Of all the old players recalled or retained, Schalk is the best of them for the simple reason that his game has evolved. He has learnt to look beyond taking contact as the only option. Would I have him in my squad - no, for there are better youngsters about.
The Bok squad has shown little progression and Meyer continues to sell Bok rugby short in a big way. We will struggle on this tour under Meyer for we will once again see the kicking game employed in the name of NH conditions. With the likes of pap Matfield, Jannie and Oupa in the engine room, we will struggle physically against England and Wales in their backyards.
