What progress at the Sharks?

Playing at home, with virtually every Shark available for selection.....that was a pretty flaccid performance. The huge pack couldn’t scrum, they were poor at the breakdown apart from one Keegan Daniel turnover....and the backs had nothing to offer. .. It’s not like WP didn’t give them opportunities. They botched several kickoffs, Ruhan Nel defended horribly and lost at least three turnovers and the defence at times looked unbalanced. Still the Sharks had little to offer. .. The scrum has been discussed at length. Suffice it to say it’s a pity Thomas’ massive frame doesn’t translate to scrumming pressure. But some of us have noted that for some time. Nor does the presence of the two small locks, the du Preez twins translate to any forward dominance. Today Carr was easily the best loosie on the park....yes I know ‘quota’ but he absolutely outskilled the two kids. .. Mostly though the backline was a zero.....and it comes down to Bosch at flyhalf, who right now is a Louis Koen who can’t tackle. His defensive shortcomings are well noted. But as concerning is his complete inability to launch his backline....van Wyk and Am were totally anonymous, and Bosch never helped their cause. . Why we insist in believing local form against poor opposition, like Bangladesh in cricket, beats me. But the last two weeks have told us a lot about these hyped players and about Gelant last week. All these newbies have to make a compelling case at Super Rugby. .. In the meantime the joy that has been expressed about White’s departure looks a little silly.....I doubt a Jake Whiite coached Sharks team would have folded as easily.

 Robert du Preez said that Bosch's defense is a serious problem.    I think that's he may think to play him at full back when his son moves to the Sharks next year.   I like Biosch when it comes to kicking drop goals and that he can do at full back as well.   Willemse looked much better than Bosch did in general play.
When you asked me about the scrummibng after the Sharks match against WP about 14 days ago I said the scrumming of the Sharks was poor.   It was even a bigger mess today,     I think their problem is not only with Du Toit -  the loosehead (Geldenhuys) was even worse,  
I like  the WP  loosies Wiese and Van Dyk - they should rather have used t hem from the start,    Van Dyk played fairly regularly for WP in Super Rugby this year.   Carr is good on CC level - but the next step up to Super Rugby is beyond him.    
As to the Du Preez twins Jean-Luc went off the field with injury and a nice touch was when older brother Robert went to him when he was on the ground and asked him whether he was OK.   He is likely out of the EOYT as a result of his ankle injuty.      
   

Tomas duh tank does not appear to be able to scrum. 
It could be a creatine diet for Bosch. Perhaps not ready for senior rugby. Damian Willemse is a much better option at 10 at this stage- or even Robert Dupreez

Yes I agree the Sharks tighthead side was also under pressure. The whole scrum shunted back. . With regard to Bosch...he wasn’t physical enough to pull off the high smother tackles he was trying. At fullback he would be more involved in open field tackles, which would allow him to go low, which might help. He is very quick and a dangerous runner in space, again fullback -provides more of those chances. The high ball could prove to be a problem though.

 Bosch will be another in a long line of almost theres. He seems a bit gun shy on attack and frail defensively. APRIL looked more dangerous yesterday. Pity about Jean Lucs' ankle. Speedy recovery and maybe they can fix your hands at the same time.
Those twins are so blerrie frustrating. Big units and great tacklers but struggle to keep hold of the pill.
Defensively as a team the Sharks looked good at their structures but it was the man on man tackles that were poor. Vermuelen, Van Wyk, Bosch and April all missed some pretty regulation stuff.
Ah well, Wasps beat Saints and WLR played well. De Jongh broke his duck and theres always next year.
Congrats again WP.

De Jongh’s numbers look decent, it seems he is settling down nicely: Defensively: . J Jongh C 1 8 0 0.....one turnover conceded, but he made all 8 tackles. . On attack: . J Jongh C 0 7 6 37 1 3 0 0...37 metres in 6 runs, a clean break, 3 defenders beaten and a try.

 When will any of you realize that de Jongh is NOT an international level center.   NH club rugby maybe - but definitely not a useful unit on Super rugby level.   The midget will be run over time and time again by physically bigger players.        

 T ake the needle of the record Mike. You are becoming a bit boring and indeed significantly repetitive.

 
Congrats to WP. A deserved win.

I thought the Sharks' pack had it in them to set the platform ... especially without Eben and PSDT playing. Turns out not.

That was poor by the Sharks.

To think that Akker vd Merwe left the Lions for that rabble.

Puzzling??

 Listen Xavi
Yesterday Huw Jones scored two tries in the CC final and virtually sealed the win of WP.   I want to go back a few years when Jones was a center playing occasionally for the WP?Stormers - ie when De Jongh was injured,
Even though in the games he played in he showed class and was a much better center than De Jongh - clueless  Coetzee kept on selecting De Jongh ahead of him.
So where are we at present?   Jones is a recognized classy international center playing for Scotland - De Jongh is recognized as a flop on test level ever since he went AWOL in the 2012 test series and since then has been poor in the only two tests he played in 2016.   Clueless Meyer would not touch him again after the 2012 disaster.         

 Listen Mike.......
I don't care.
I'm not advocating for De Jong to be included in any squad. 
It was just a jibe.

 De Jongh may have been the reason we lost Huw Jones to Scotland.  De Jong was Vodacom Cup standard.Akkers is a world class talent being wasted by SA Rugby. He MUST start for the Sharks.Other wise go the the Bulle.I would love him to come to WP but he would not get in before Bongi on colour grounds.

Nobody ever said de Jongh is the ideal international centre....but Wasps are a good team and he is apparently make good contributions there. He is a lot better, miles better than Jessica Kriel.

 Mozart
You must have changed your mind because you were supporting his selection since 2012 and that remains a fact as well/   Delighted to see you have at last show common rugby sense.  

Better than Kriel, better than Venter, better than Mapoe......but size does matter, so always up against the odds. No SA centre makes deeper tackles than de Jongh and he is dangerous in space. Never an instinctive passer though. A competent placeholder. .., That summarizes my longstanding view on de Jongh.

 Well all I can say is thank goodness De Jongh is gone.

 I agree with Beeno here - he was the worst attacking center in SA and had the worst Missed Tackle Ratio amongst centers for years.   So let him play for his clubnin England - as long as he is gone the gain is by the Stormers and WP in playing a better backline.    

Rubbish de Jongh’s tackle stats at test level are better than average.....the guy who really has awful tackle stats is Fartty Viljoen.

 .