[2014 EOYT] South Africa

[TRF_stormer2010]

So what have we learned and who will we see next year?


Assuming no injuries bar JdV at that stage what I'm going for (will keep updating):

1 Beast Mtawarira/Trevor Nyakane (Beast if he gets back on top form)
Dark horses; Schalk van der Merwe (can he keep it up?), Thomas du Toit (too young still?)
2 Bismarck du Plessis (assuming he can get his line-out throw ins on target again)
3 Frans Malherbe (our most stable TH IMO though I know you don't rate him as highly)
4 Eben Etzebeth (if he can get back to his best..)
5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (assuming he won't take as long as Etzebeth getting back to pre-injury form)
6 Francois Louw/Marcel Coetzee? (tough choice between these two)
Dark horses; Jaco Kriel (if he keeps up his form going into SR), Heinrich Brussow (should I even mention him?)
7 Willem Alberts (first name on the sheet when in Europe IMO)
Dark horses; Schalk Burger (too old?), Oupa Mohoje (still a bit of a question mark IMO but he is in the extended squad so I assume in line for continued selection), Arno Botha (Out for so long, will he be able to get back in?)
8 Duane Vermeulen (assuming he gets rest some time)
Dark horses; Nizaam Carr (showed his class), Warren Whiteley (very much still in the run IMO)

9 Fourie du Preez (in Europe I'd rather have a thinking/kicking 9 than a running 9 sad to say)
Dark horses; Ruan Pienaar (injured for November we don't know where he stands with HM), Kobus Reinach (ahead of Hougaard ATM for sure) Francois Hougaard (has done his name some damage in November IMO)
10 Patrick Lambie (has been the btter of the two main options up North)
11 Bryan Habana (his work off the ball makes him invaluable nevermind his pure pace)
Dark horses; Lwazi Mvovo, Seabelo Senatla
12 Frans Steyn (perfect for Euro conditions)
13 Jan Serfontein (I am assuming he'll have a season of SR at 13 under the belt to keep building on)
Dark horses; Juan de Jongh (with a possible move back to 12 from Serfontein? Could be worth trying)
14 JP Petersen (just more of what you want in a crunch game than Hendricks IMO)
Dark horses; Kobus van Wyk (like a young JPP)
15 Willie le Poux (Though if he doesn't come right and fooks up in the shortened RC he's out of this fantasy Bok team)
Dark horses: Johan Goosen, Jaco Taute, Cheslin Kolbe, Zane Kirchner, Louis Ludik, Lwazi Mvovo, SP Marais, Jesse Kriel.. none of which make me think; 'yes, of course- that's it!'

16 Trevor Nyakane/Beast Mtawarira
17 Marcel van der Merwe (I like what he offers off of the bench)
18 Adriaan Strauss
19 Marcel Coetzee/Francois Louw
20 Cobus Reinach (my 2nd choice for SH)
21 Handre Pollard (breathing down Lambie's neck- the competition can only be a good thing surely?)
22 Damian de Allende

 

[Draggs]

Pienaar over Reinach? Ignoring my Sharks bias, but Pienaar is dire, I haven't seen a good Bok performance from him in years.
Pollard and Lambie still fighting for the 10 shirt. Pollard was good in TRC, and Lambie up north. No way should Morné return.
Think we could see Frans Steyn return with JdV out, provided he gets his contract issues sorted with SARU. Fullback is an issue. Le Roux has been poor for most of the year, but the other options don't help. Marais hasn't settled in for us, and I can't see Kolbe going to RWC. We need Ludik back!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Pienaar over Reinach? Ignoring my Sharks bias, but Pienaar is dire, I haven't seen a good Bok performance from him in years.
Pollard and Lambie still fighting for the 10 shirt. Pollard was good in TRC, and Lambie up north. No way should Morné return.
Think we could see Frans Steyn return with JdV out, provided he gets his contract issues sorted with SARU. Fullback is an issue. Le Roux has been poor for most of the year, but the other options don't help. Marais hasn't settled in for us, and I can't see Kolbe going to RWC. We need Ludik back!

I should have been more clear. My 2nd is certainly reinach behind FdP. My post was who I want as 1st choice but inconsistent with the 'dark horses'. I just think HM might still be seriously considering Pienaar.

I can't see past Frans Steyn for the 12 jersey. The closest other options for me is De Allende who'll slot in there since JdV will be out for the Stormers as well or moving Serfontein back to 12 and bringing in De Jongh at 13.

Le Roux's poor showings are very upsetting..

I see I don't have a lock on my fantasy bench... I'd like to see Jacques du Plessis play there for the Bulls.

 

[Draggs]

Lewies was very good for us this year. If we didn't have PSdT in the back of our minds, I think we'd be pushing for more Boks caps for Stephan. He has come from nowhere these last 12 months!

De Jongh must return, he was a very reliable player and leader for WP. Serfontein is now suffering from being moved around, I can't remember where he was better off: 12 or 13. De Allende will be at least great bench cover, more so than Mvovo. A new fullback must be tried, and I don't mean Kirchner with a haircut. Said it all year, Willie looked bad. Tried to force things too much and would kick randomly. His howlers against Wales were awful, really amateur stuff. Who else is there? Marais is just as unpredictable. Coetzee I don't think is that good. Kolbe probably not the right man. Who do the Bulls have at FB? Visser still? Ugh.

Maybe we will give Van Tonder a shot over SP, we are bare at fullback having let both Viljoen and Ludik go. Furthermore, Sean Robinson went to RM92 I think. Mvovo isn't anything more than FB cover, especially when we don't have any wings to replace him with.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Lewies was very good for us this year. If we didn't have PSdT in the back of our minds, I think we'd be pushing for more Boks caps for Stephan. He has come from nowhere these last 12 months!

De Jongh must return, he was a very reliable player and leader for WP. Serfontein is now suffering from being moved around, I can't remember where he was better off: 12 or 13. De Allende will be at least great bench cover, more so than Mvovo. A new fullback must be tried, and I don't mean Kirchner with a haircut. Said it all year, Willie looked bad. Tried to force things too much and would kick randomly. His howlers against Wales were awful, really amateur stuff. Who else is there? Marais is just as unpredictable. Coetzee I don't think is that good. Kolbe probably not the right man. Who do the Bulls have at FB? Visser still? Ugh.

Maybe we will give Van Tonder a shot over SP, we are bare at fullback having let both Viljoen and Ludik go. Furthermore, Sean Robinson went to RM92 I think. Mvovo isn't anything more than FB cover, especially when we don't have any wings to replace him with.

I can't believe I forgot about Lewies. Picked up and dropped by HM just like that. I know Meyer was concerned with a lack of experience but in hindsight maybe we'd have been better off giving Leiwes or De Jager more chances.
@TRF_Draggs, you and I know we mucked up not picking up Ludik when he was the form SA fullback what was it 2/3 years ago? I think Taute and Jesse Kriel will get chances at 15 for the Stormers and Bulls. I'm still hoping Taute can get back on the horse but 3 horrible injuries in 2 years. Kriel one to look out for but 2015 is too soon for him IMO.

 

[Draggs]

Yep, we wasted time with Bakkies in hindsight. Ok he had a few tests, but he didn't do anything that others couldn't do. Etzebeth is injury prone, as is PSdT. I am very skeptical of Matfield's ability to make it to 2015, he has had a few good performances, but will he survive the RWC encironment? There's just a handful of tests to prepare, so they will have to do something! I'd go with PSdT, Etzebeth as first choice, probably De Jager bench, and someone like Matfield or Lewies as the last second row (I assume four will go).

Meyer has some sort of thing about experience. He'd rather play someone retired for three years than a new guy... I really feel he has a fear of the unknown, and this year is much worse for SA than results show. They were very close to a loss to Wales in June. They barely beat Arg in the rain, and then got so lucky down in Arg. The ABs match was a good result, but very much out of he ordinary.

I was genuinely confused why Ludik never even made a Bok wider training squad. I'm not saying he was Percy, but I felt he offered a more reliable option than Kirchner yet still capable of attack.