Winning his way into the record books….say no more. Incredible that Eluckmiss was quite content to leave this man at home.
Winning his way into the record books….say no more. Incredible that Eluckmiss was quite content to leave this man at home.
He was injured at the time the WC squad was announced for fuck sake
Do you honestly think Rassie would have left a fit Pollard out of his WC squad
Moz your anti Rassie is childish man
"Moz your anti Rassie is childish man"
And Pollard could still make one more World Cup. (In 3 years, he would be 33 years old).
Libock offers more on attack - but in the tight matches Pollard is a proven world beater.
Pollard might be a useful bench option in 2027 . . . assuming Siya Masuka is fit . . . otherwise he starts.
It was totally clear he was almost over his injury….he played before we had our second World Cup game. But we selected Hendrikse as a fourth scrummies rather than Pollard. Criminally stupid…only saved by the Marx injury.
It was yet again luck that brought pollard to the rescue….Tassels had a close one there : )
No it was not clear he was over his injury he had not played a game of rugby in months - the only test is playing a game after an injury.
His first game back after months off injured was off the bench for Leicester the weekend before his call up
Fact
So he played for a few minutes for Leicester and that made it all good? Complete drivel Dave, you are sounding like Mike.
You didn’t have to be sure he was going to be able to play….you had a big squad with 4 berths reserved for scrum halves. If he couldn’t play, he couldn’t play….no harm. You get another player on the next bus.
But if he could play he could be the player than wins the WC and he was.
Utter stupidity in the cause of some principle that Eluckmiss had dreamed up. A thick oke, who believes his own bs and got incredibly lucky.
Yes if he gets through a match he is ready to join the squad
Rassie’s selection policy requires a player to be match ready before being considered for selection
At the time the squad was selected Pollard was not match ready
Rassie was spot on and remained true to his policy knowing full well that during a WC injuries would happen and that if the likes of Pollard and Am were match ready he would bring them in which is exactly what he did
No undermining of the squad took place by deviating from the selection policy - as per usual our awesome coach got it right yet again
From Planet Rugby August 20th 2023.
World Cup-winning Springboks fly-half Handre Pollard is reportedly fully fit and waiting for his chance to return to the fold for the South African side.
According to Rapport in South Africa, the Leicester Tigers star, who was left out of the Springboks 33-man World Cup squad due to injury, has taken part in full training last week.
The reports also state that Pollard was getting some time at inside centre where it is believed head coach Jacques Nienaber was set to give him a run during the Rugby Championship if it were not for concerns over his recovery.
Manie Libbok has stepped up in Pollard’s absence, looking particularly good in attack. However, the major concern is the fly-half’s goal kicking which has been unsatisfactory and will be a lingering thought in Nienaber’s head going into the World Cup.
Springbok veteran Faf de Klerk spoke to Rapport and claimed Pollard is raring to go if he gets the opportunity to.
“Handré is training fully and he looks good, like the old Polly. It’s nice to have him in the group, among other things because of his experience and leadership,” De Klerk told Rapport.
“I think he’s burning to play again. He is completely fit again and now he is waiting for his chance.”
………..
And there you have the real logic. Eluckmiss was convinced he could turn Libbok into a match winner and he didn’t want to undermine that outcome by including Pollard. Libbok was his man.
Yes that’s him being ready to play for Leicester long after the WC had been announced
He was not ready to play at the time the squad was announced
Hellooooo
Bullshit was Libbok his man - a fit Pollard, like a fit Am and like a fit Lood would have been in the squad and would have started for the Boks
We all know that just like you do
Who in his right mind, especially a so called Genius, would leave his star Fyhalf behind …that has played his first game in recovery …besides that, they could have rested pollie in the first couple of pool stages….but instead he chooses 4 Scrumhalfs instead of a Specialist Hooker?…imagine Marx did not get injured and Pollard could not come over, would we still have won the WC??
Wake the fuck up and pay attention you stupid prick
What part of Pollard not being match ready at the time of the WC squad announcement do you not fucking get
Its fucking irritating dealing with stupidity
So what if he was not completely ready at team announcement?? He was already training and was going to be ready , come game time. ….which is a undeniable fact! It would have been a much better choice to have picked Pollard and a specialist Hooker…but instead it came to luck that Pollard did eventually join and saved Tassels ass.
Because the team policy is that players are only selected if they are test ready which makes complete sense
You don’t select players that have been out for months and have yet to play a return match
Pretty bloody obvious
Do you fools really think Rassie would leave out class players like Pollard or Am huh?
Fucking hell how stupid are you lot?
Is it a WR rule or a Bok protocol?
No Dave not stupid - they are prejudiced and isn making BS assumptions as fact. Th e player lists was submitted to World Rugby by 1 June 2023. That was months before the WC. The problem si that if an injured player is on the list as submitted and eh proves to be incapable to play in the WC - he may not be replaced by a substitute.
Mozart did not go bananas on that issues when Meyer selected Alberts - who did not play any rugby before the 2015 WC for 14 months selected him in the squad. When you and I criticized some selections of Meyer that proved to be factually correct - there were 8 passengers in that squad that should never have been in the squad - Mozart went beserk because we accused Meyer for doing the unaccpetable in squad selection he was in full defense of Meyer - who had int toal 8 unplayable players in the 2015 WC squad - and Mozart accuse Erasmus falsely of refusing to do what Meyer did.
For the apst year Mozart conducted a lying and falsified account on anything he could dream up to attack Erasmus - so this is nothing new/
It’s team protocol something Neinaber and Rassie have stressed a number of times
Well I think Rassie should de stress this team rule…thru experience he knows very well how to way up a player if he is nearly ready or not….it really looks like he was thinking Manie will pull it thru….but then the Irish game proved that Kicking was not up to standard. The rest we know but could have been prevented and planned better. So far this season the selection’s are looking better and with the Youth present, we can build. Kriel, Dan du plessis and masuku must be added to Bok group for upcoming season.
So you have a potential (and as it happened confirmed) WC winner and you don’t select him because of a self imposed protocol. Instead you put all your eggs in the Libbok basket, months after he flopped in the 2023 club final.
Genius!
No it’s a protocol that makes complete sense
You don’t select players that have not played a single game in months and is yet to prove he is injury free
The same Libbok that kicked that vital end of game kick not that long ago
Piss off with that kick in gale force wind and rain - that is no measure of a kicker at all
Pollards kicking record is no better than Libbok’s
If you listen to this squid guy he clearly states that pollard,s in between WC stats is not that high but consistent….then when WC comes, it shoots up to a 100% ….I for one am not sure if Manie would have made those crunch kicks….and I am not sure if he will in the future…I hope he improves in that department….so thru the role of the dice, it worked out in favour of King Rassie…any other variations in the constellation of events, and we would have not won the WC.
Enough of the bluster Dave…..you forget, Libbok made one kick and missed 2 against Ireland, resulting in the kicking being given to Faf. Would Libbok have made that 52 meter kick Pollard made to defeat France. Nobody with half a brain would bet his WC on that….and that includes Eluckmiss who finally understood the match and the WC was on a knife’s edge and yanked Libbok at minute 44.
He was right to switch to Pollard, he was hopelessly wrong by not picking the rugby equivalent of Glenn Maxwell when he was available. Lady luck saved his blushes.
Case closed.
Who knows whether he would have made it or not, yes he was crap against Ireland but that does not define him as a kicker
No case closer at all. A fit Pollard obviously would have been included in the WC squad and would have an obviously been our starter.
Same applies to Am and Lood
But all three were not fit to play at the time the WC squad was announced and this is a fact
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