What happens when Pollard and Am return?

Dave

It i not sure what will happen in the Pollard case - he was frequently injured since 2021 affecting his performances negatively.    That was the case on both cub and national level.   In recent tests he extremely rarely attacked the gain line and  his kicking was at times poor.    

I do not think Pollard - or for a matter of fact any other player - should not be selected based on reputation - and he will have to earn his selection on the basis of performances.       

It's Pollard or bust. As per 12? If those are the only options we will have, we are in a rather bad state. Esterhuizen needs partner Am. Kwagga needs to start. Willemse is a bench utility back, he can't nail down one position, but is cover for a multitude of positions. 

Yes, we keep reading that noone cares about anything but you. 

I have not watched much rugby this season but want to see more of Libok. Am will definitely be back in the side. I agree Pollard needs to prove form.

I want to see Libok at flyhalf and Willense at twelve:

Faf,Libok,   Willemse, Am,   Kolbe, Arendse and Willie.

Put that backline behind a dominant Bok back and see what happens. on form. Pollard is an excellent player and Allende has been consistently good. We can experiment a little before the world cup.

We need to get to the point where we can rest players without weakening the side. 

Brilliant.

Throwing a new 10 into the mix going into a World Cup year complicates matters, as Meyer found to his peril. Libbok is the new kid on the block, but he hasn't exactly had the debut of a Pollard. I don't trust him, he looks like he might have better instincts than the other hyped Bok flyhalves of the past, but he does not have the profile of a successful Bok 10. As stated before, we have far too many questions; few answers. We are not where we need to be heading into a title defence. Seems very similar to 1999, only more glaring. 

 I think you underestimating Libbok....the way he slotted in at 10 on test stage, was very impressive....he also have the vision to spot opportunities and space ahead....and together with his excellent passing game, this will definitely be a 10 you want to take with to WC 23.....Pollard is the incumbent and very good @ it most of the time ....Pollard should start,  but give Libbok time of the bench so he can get to a stage where he can start....would you rather take Elton as second Flyhalf to WC?? I think that would be a mistake....Willemse is definitely not a bench player....the combination of him Willie, Arendse and Libbok was very good....Willemse was very good against England.....Such a excellent Talent that excels in more than 1 position should not be benched.

Slotted in... he came on well after Kwagga broke an Italian side that made us look very ordinary prior to his presence off the bench. We have never seen Libbok start a test, control a test. What we've seen was him throwing passes around against highly fragmented defences. I'm not underestimating him at all, he has simply not shown anything of reasonable substance that can make me a believer. Even if he were, he absolutely does not fit the Erasmus model - he'd be a better fit for Coetzee. Willemse has been very poor this year, aside from the England test, where England played as badly as they possibly could from start to finish. Arendse only looks good in free space. The Digby Ioane of Bok rugby, but with much less physicality. Arendse has shown very many glaring problems. I would rather take Elton to the World Cup than Libbok. The data at hand does not support his inclusion in the squad at this time. 

Libok deserves a solid look...been phenomenal in his first season in URC...way better option than Jantjies...good player, but he's got off the pitch issues ATM...Manie is nou die ou!

We've missed the boat on him. I foresee tragedy if we go the way of Libbok now. Lets say we are stuck in a knockout game like the 2015 Welsh or Kiwi test, do you honestly mean to tell me you trust him enough to put the game in his hands, that he will control the game and steer the team out of trouble? You certainly cannot point to any significant body of work to affirm that position. That's the trouble. We have an Earl Rose situation. We seem to be lacking the steady minds to guide us through these pitfalls. 

When  ignorance is bliss you can get a lot of loony comments on site.   Pollard did not play much rugby in 2016 snd 2017 - he had injury problems and rarely played for the Springboks in tests.   He also lacked confidence after being nearly destroyed by Meyer and Coetzee.

When Erasmus brought him back to play for the Springboks he was properly coached and used - but did not play in all tests in 2018 - which was a year in which he received proper coaching  and he was developed into a key player by 2019.   He actually did not have a lot of preparation to play for the Springboks in 2019 in the WC. 

After that the situation developed in 2021 and 2022 that he was injury-prone and his performances on test level was far from perfect.   One can only hope that he resturns to the form he displayed in 2019.    There is no guarantee that he would recover and be less injury-prone next year.

So the idea that Pollard based on epxerience he gained in 2019 can just wak into the Springbok team is rather fare-fetched,   Everybody is hoping that he will be over his injury problems  ad recover  his confidence.

As to Esterhuizen he is slow and rather defective in defense because of his deficiency in pace.  He is a poor replica of De Allende - who can carry balls in traffic and not cause  possession loss or penalties in the process - a quality Esterhuizen lacks.   Those deficiencies were clear in tests in 2018 and 2019 and those were the reasons he was not selected in the WC squad n 2019.   .   Even when Kriel was injured and had to be replaced in 2019 Etserhuizen was not called up - Willemse was preferred.  He was again called up to the Springbok squad this year and rarely played - when he did play he was not a house on fire.    It is highly unlikely he will be in the WC squad in 2023.           

Michael, ever the contrarian. Or are you Archbishop of the Church of Erasmus?