I stick with remarks I made a few years ago. After sawing Muller du Plessis play for the sevens today the guy has -
* ball skills and ball sense\
* amazing pace, and
* excellent defense.
This youngster is special - he would give the Springbok backline a major attacking advantage,
It's unfortunately not always about the skill set.... and we should all know this by now
Look how many cricket and rugby players we have already lost over the many years.... to other shores...…
Your skin colour very often dictates how you fare as a sportsman in this country, not always your talent
Tyrone Green could easily be the one....Xavi sent us a video on the Quins versus Bristol game which I guess very few watched as it seemed insignificant at the time of matches of more interest amongst Saffers who don't watch much rugby when other teams play.
It was a brilliant game and massive comeback result after half time by Harlequins of which Tyrone played a major part. Well worth watching.
Kolbe was a good 7's convert.
"I wonder sometimes if the bok coaching staff ever reads forums like ours? It would do good I think"
Can you imagine a panel of selectors comprising of the Huffer, Mozzz, Saffex and Ol'Maaikie....
lol.....
Tyrone Green.
"Muller is small and can get away with it in 7’s."
Muller Du Plessis's height and weight is on par with Zane Kirschner and Louis Ludick your past favourites....no?
Also, he's more talented than either of them.
The dynamic Jason Robinson was a mere 173cm.
I started this thread on the replacement of Le Roux as he was assessed as rating a 4 in all tests played in 2021 - so something needs to be done since his performances are below par. The other failuer in all tests were Nyakane - but he is not a stating prop and should npot be. The top-rated players for the year were Etzebeth (8) and De Allende (8).
Now back to the replacement and the players mentioned above, So what are the stats of the players mentioned:-:
Muller du Plessis - weight 85 kgs - height 1,85
Uphellele Fassi - weight 87 kgs - height 1,87
Damian Willemse - weight 90 kgs - height 1,84
Warrick Gelant - weight 89 kgs - height 1,78
Tyrone Green - weight 89 kgs - height 1,79
So none of the players are really heavyweights and the difference in height is minimal as well So one has to look at three aspects that should be consdered, namely pace, defense and ball skills:-
Pace - 1 Du Plesssis, 2 Fassi, 3 Green, 4 Willemse, 5 Gelant
Defense - 1 Green, 2 Du Plessis, 3 Willemse, 4 Gelant, 5 Fassi
Ball skills - 1 Du Plessis, 2 Green, 3 Willemse, 4 Fassi, 5 Geland
Ball sense - 1 Du Plessis 2 Green, 3 Willemse 4 Fassi, 5 Gelant
I base my assessment on actual performances on both test and 7's level. In the assessment Du Plessis is by far first in 3 of 4 aspects mentioned and in the other one second. For me pace is as issue at full back - Le Roux was definitely deficient in that category and ball sense and attacking ability is important when it comes to backline attacks.
I like Green a lot - both on provincial and club level - but pace left him out on 7's level.
Sorry - but my choice remains the same. .
Greene does not have the pace for test level, Fassi is much faster.
Kolbe is smaller than Willie Leroux - but is much more physical.
Well, we need to actually start evolving our backline attack and not just play off 9 or use our 15 in broken play to get the ball away on counter attack.
I always felt that we need to be able to play off 10 and 12. Probably why England ripped us a new one. They have better distributers.
So, I think Fassi is great, still worried about his defence but then Willie has been rubbish.
Green is in form and seem to find the gaps and good field position, pace doesn't really help you much if you can't find the space.
But agree with Saffex, probably end playing for England, but then England new 15 is super tall and did exceptionally well against the boks.
Not Gelant, he kicks the ball away far too much. Great player though
You make a very thin to the description - must be kidding - he is no thinner than Fassi. I do got my eights from the profiles provided by SARU - so I do not know what the other weights you are using? Anyway I disagree with you. Du Plessis is pacier than any of the above players and has more natural skills than them.
There's a lot to like about Muller and if I had to single out a few I'd pick his ability to think on his feet as well as being a double thinker and he also has an instinctive ability to read play. To me that's arguably his greater strengths, there are others.
Fassi is sp[eedy - but reaqlly not an acceptable defender. He is also not really a thinking player. I have sen him play many times and was always afraid of the inevtable msitakes in games.
Gelant is slow and no agile - a good performer in traffic - but too slow for a wing or full back.
Yeah, the rugby world misses great fullbacks like Andre Joubert, Sergio Blanco, Christian Cullen, Gavin Hastings and Jeff Wilson....none available in this league.
Jeff Wilson was a great wing...the only survivor of the wings who plaid in the 95 RWC final...he probably played 15 too, but I liked him as a wing...
Hugh Reece Edwards was also a great fullback in the Fransie mold...Fransie should have been our full time fullback till Willie took over...should have played many more tests...
PS, You forgot Don Clarke too...another Fransie type 15.
