Your players of the year...

Mine are;

Sacha - Obviously

Marx - Back to his best and when he is, he's probably in the top 3 forwards in the world - make him captain for the 2027 WC.

Wiese - There's a Bok pack with Wiese and then a pack without. It's night and day. Not even Marx's absence leaves a hole the size that Wiese's does.

Hooker - What a year. If the arrival of Sacha on the scene caused the opposition alarm bells to ring, Hooker's performances have caused those bells to echo for a seeming eternity. With the forward platform we have, and then backs like Hooker arriving out of nowhere and looking like they'll easily notch up 120 tests, I'm pretty sure our opposition is envious as all hell. You can't buy the type of composure Hooker has - potentially already the most balanced back we have.

RG - How he doesn't get way more praise is staggering. He's already my favourite Bok lock of all time and I'm not ashamed to say it.

Willemse - I called him a future superstar about 4 years back, and my word he has lived up to the hype. I have serious rose tinted glasses when it come to Willemse and love everything about how he plays his rugby.

AE - Nobody can do what he does. There is nothing about his game that i can fault. From his hybrid role to his starts at 12, he didn't put a single foot wrong this year. I'll never stop reminding everyone of his performance in Wellington. The perfect 12 for this Bok side.

Wilco/Ox - Yin and Yang. I'm sure that if coaches around the world could pick two players from the Boks to play for their sides, it'd be Ox and Wilco. The two of them provide, on a platter, probably the most valuable thing in rugby. They already get a lot of praise but it'd be far more if the rest of our props weren't also very good. There's everybody else props, then our backups to Ox and Wilco and then miles out ahead of everybody else sit Wilco and Ox. If you think about it, the difference between them and the rest of the props in WR at the moment, is probably about the same size as the difference as the between the Boks and the rest of the sides.

Fine, it seems like a long list, but when you consider the size of the squad and the amount of players used, its not too long.

Not a bad post Plum. Keep up the good work.

Sacha

Willemse

Ox

Marx

Wilco

Thomas

RG

Wiese

Kwagga

Jasper Wiese.

The difference he made to the pack since his return has been immense. I honestly think we win in Eden Park if he plays that match. Silly boy getting himself banned against Italy.

Honourable mention - Nortje

Mention in despatches for Willemse and Esterhuizen.

I did not rate Nortje at all apart from his line out work - he was physically owned in contact, especially against Ireland

Another fucking powder puff Mostert

We can do so much better at 5 - I wish Rassie would wake up to this fact

Nortje, Our line outs misfired when he is not selected. It is like your driver in your bag. Least used club but matters when you need it to the most.

Great list, can't say anything negative.

Overall really happy with the performances and the underperforming ones have been rooted out.

Still missing Roos, Rassie mentioned in the post match interview.

I guess Rassie has an system try players out and see how they fit into the 50 man vision and squad that he is building, knowing that there is always and injury crisis about to hit in one position.

Just hope we never see Orie again.

Same can be said for Hendrikse brothers who are going from bad to piss poor if the game against Connacht is anything to go about

Nonsense our line out was fine when Lood was calling the shots

Fuck me we don’t need to be selecting a player just because he happens to be good in the line outs but a physical liability in so many aspects of the game

Thats on par with selecting useless Morne Steyn as your test 10 just because he kicks so well, but is utterly useless on attack and a complete liability in defence

Kicking for poles does not define a player just like managing the line outs is not

Wiese, Mostert, Marx, Reinach,

I forgot to add Nortje to my list.

He came on wonderfully this year and we can expect to see him in the mix pretty much until he retires.

Long live the warrior spirt!

Trust you to rate him - makes perfect sense

Don't you mean "Trust you AND Rassie to rate him"?

No just you

If Lood can stay on the field or even make it to the field. He is either injured or gets injured during the game and then just gets carded. I, know the last one is a bit harsh but he has been very injury prone and already pushing 32/33.

I don''t have problem with Nortje, but I know Dave likes them big and brash.

I would like to get your thoughts on JJ van Der Mesh. Not the most muscular specimen but he can motor and seem to be a rich trying scoring form. His game has gone up since he joined Northampton and made it on the scoreboard once more. Fantastic ball carrier for a such a baby fat looking lock.

Nortje is a dynamo. Dave has a blind spot for the value these more mobile tight forwards add - Rassie clearly not. Nortje was top tackler again against Ireland, made 4 gainline carries and hit 26 rucks in total. Only Marx with 25 total rucks comes even close.

Fuck me Pakie he can hit as many rucks as he likes or make as many carries as he likes - they are all physically ineffectual

He was piss poor in traffic and contact against Ireland

Damn right I don’t rate physically challenged tight forwards - I will never change my view on that

It’s not the job of a lock to make loads of process tackles - he is just another fucking powder puff Mostert - just a better version

Give me RG and Ruben v Heerden over this physical pretender all day long.

Fuck it pisses me off when I see this light weight lining up close to the line with a view to impose himself and try score or make an impact only to be predictably shut down or bashed backwards

I've changed my my mind, Nortje is my player of the year

You missed a trick it should have been Mostert and Nortje

But Dave, what do you think about JJ Van Der Mesch, Becs should be happy with him given he is playing for Northampton.

Standing at 144kg and 2m.

Imagine having him in the pack with Wilco, Marx, Stenekamp. We could have a 1 ton pack

Dud Toit and Dud Allende

vd Mecht is setting Saints alight with his storming carries

A friend of mine has it on authority that Duane Vermeulen met with him while out on tour

So who knows - maybe telling him to continue shedding the kilos and smashing would be defenders into submission and a Bok call up could be on the cards

He is 26 so get him on board I say

He isn’t playing that amazingly well for us.

He has his moments and is definitely losing some of his bulk.

Bullshit Becs he has been awesome for you what bloody rugby are you watching

I’ve watched every match. He’s been ok.

He’s been the best carrying lock in England by a country mile

A human wrecking ball

Not to mention all the value he adds in the mauls, scrums, clean outs and maul defence

Take your word for it…..