Young Guns: Player watch - Who to Pick for SA A team

There are rumours circulating that Libbok and Hendrikse will be the fly halves for the the SA A team and that they will not be part of the SA team. Instead, the selectors will op for Willemse at 10 and Goosen as his backup with Frans Steyn being the final cover. Which is a load of croc if you watched him play against the Emerging Irish this weekend. 

Anyway, I think we should picked the youngster from the URC and some other teams. Build towards the future, but use the A games to introduce the youngsters to the bok culture. We saw that a kid like Moody, at 19 got his chance. So would it not be better to extend that to our other rising starts. 

My criteria is to select those under 23 or younger and only up to 25 if no-one else. I think it would be very hard to get the likes of Coetzee to play as he has club commitments. I would select players like Frans Steyn and Vermeulen as our elder statemen for these kids to learn of and get a chance to play with their heroes. 

Here is some players that really stood out for me so far. 

1/2. Jan Henrik Wessels 21, 120kg, 193cm- Playing hooker but originally a prop

2. Andre Hugo-Venter 21, 108kg, 187 - Son of Andre Venter. First pick for Stormers right now

3. Mchunu 23, 120kg, 188cm

4. JJ van der Mesh 23, 135kg, 198 cm - Regular start for Stade Francais, two tries over the weekend. 

5. Ruan Nortje 24, 113kg, 200cm - Little bit old, but performing, too light for Saffex. 

6.

7. Ruan Venter 19, 120kg, 198 cm - Did you see what he did to Hamish Watson. Can also play 4

8. Evan Roos 22, 108kg, 192 cm - probably not going to be starting, so should play with the next boks players 

9. Jaden Hendrikse 22, 91kg, 184cm - probably our starting 9 for the boks. 

10. Sacha Mgnomezulu 20, 91kg, 185 cm - Mike is right about this kid. Great boot and can cover 10, 12 and 13 or 15.

12. Rikus Pretorias 23, 102kg, 192cm - Great season for Stormers, but in Japan now. 

13. Henco van Wyk, 21, 90kg, 180cm - Not the biggest, but super fast, amazing off the ball and excellent passing. 

11. Hartzenberg  19, 91kg, 183 cm

15. Canan Moody 19, 89kg, 190 cm

Bit light on Props and a 2nd winger under 23. Hendrikse could be included at 10 and Sacha at 12, but I think he is way better than Hendrikse, so why put your best 10 at 12 to plug a gap. 

I know Saffex is going to run through a whole bunch, but I want players that are playing week in week out and not those stuck in the currie cup. 

Thanks Saffex, I was trying to keep the team as young as possible. Normally you need teams to play together for a while in order to build a world class team like the ABs did way back when. 

So the younger they are, the more time we have with them. 

I wasn't impressed with Moerat so far in the URC. 

Franco Smith had his team hyped for the Bools….and the Bools were flat. That said the ref was awful….there was a clear knock on before Glasgow’s first try and the penalty before the third came after 2 Glasgow forwards went right over the maul and contested while on the deck.

Agreed but the worst Bools player was the left wing..hopeless.

Let's bear in mind what happened last season when the Bulls are playing in the final in the URC and the stormers beat them.   The Bulls franchise is owned by Rupert and Monsepe and they can pull the plug on the coach if they repeat their awful display on Saturday during the present season.    

Maaik...they were barely beaten in the final after travelling back from Ireland, having beaten top-of-the-log Leinster in the semi ...a bridge just too far, but a very successful season none the less.

Wrong thread to moan about the bulls. Yes, they were awful, but also some questionable reffing. This screen running, players making contact with out the ball needs to stop. Leinster are the masters at that and have been getting away with it. How many players get pull out of the ruck that stands next to it, not even part of it and they get away with it. Reffing in the URC still needs a lot of improvement. 

Back to the young guns. Who have been the most impressive player for you? I wasn't sure about Moodie and he doesn't look to set the world alight, but very solid. Same can be said of Jaden Hendrikse. He went off the boil for the sharks last year but cam through for the boks. 

Roos has gone flat in his last 2 games, although he a great run in his first outing. Not saying he was bad, but players are marking him. His frustrations are showing.

Then, remember JJ van der Mesh. He is back at it again, this time for Stade. Look at his stats, plays regular and looks like one of those young players that made the right decision to leave the sharks. Man, the sharks kill all talent. Probably why Jaden went limp while playing for them but found his form with the boks. 

The sharks are toxic for the youngsters. 

I'm not a lions fan, but I wills support every SA team. Last year I was super critical of Rudolph Streauli not opening up the cheque book to bring known players. But looks like their coaching team with Jacqui Fourie is getting the best out of all these youngsters. 

I'm a big fan when unions build teams from the ground up and happy to go through the hard times to learn. So, they got 3 on the road which is no easy task. 

I would almost say to all the youngsters to head to the lions to get game time and develop. 

The sharks have many decades bought in players, so that is probably why they never won any trophies. Don't know the hurt of being rejected or losing. 

They produce great teams, but they just never have that mental edge.

Probably help the Stormers in taking in the rejects and fostering their talent and desire

Ja, Lorenzo looks great in his videos, but I saw the same with Tim Swiel. Not writing him off and was hoping he would stay at the stormer. Not sure if he'll get anywhere at the sharks. 

Ja, I watched Bruce too. Would be awesome if him and Lerenzo could team up. Would be such a lethal centre pair. Both physical freaks. Bruce to use his telescopic arms to get Boogie through the gap