I like Willemse a lot and I think he has a huge amount of talent, he's a better distributor and ball runner than Bosch BUT unfortunately while I don't want a fly-half who is only a kicking fly-half not being able to kick for polls is a deal breaker.
I kind of like Coenie actually, he's always offered a lot in the loose but his discipline and scrummaging have let him down in the past, he's improved both in recent times.
Cassiem is an interesting pick, but I do rate him, I don't think he's better than JLDP but what can you do, he's probably more work-man like, it could be a balance thing as Kolisi, Kriel and JLDP are all quite flashy.
No problem with the Bulls centre's they are both improving, young and have heaps of room to grow. Serfontein is becoming a better line-runner and learning to be a little bit more elusive which he needed, he was too one dimensional for a while which doesn't work at this level.
J Kriel is a prodigy and I'm a huge fan he's struggled to defend in the 13 channel before but I do believe he's someone we should have in the set-up, pure pace and power with a natural finishing ability.
Combrink and RJVR are game breakers and should probably be in the set-up but they've been a little unlucky with injuries this year. I don't agree with (but understand) them not being in the 23.
Rhule is not a international level player for me, but it's pretty obvious he's a quota selection. For me if we must have a black player in that position I'd rather try someone more solidly defensive (like Ulengo) or someone with more potential and finishing ability like Senatla or Nkosi. Senatla has had his critics this year, but at the very worst he's a very hard working wing who tackles hard, chases hard and is a nuisance at the break-down, and if you put him in space he's just as likely to score as Rhule. Nkosi is just one of the most natural finishers we have in South Africa, very hard to put down.
I like SP Marais but agree with Heineken that he's not a complete player, his defensive record is almost as bad as Rhule and he's unreliable as a kicking option. For pure attacking and creative flair he's the best we have but it's just not enough. Coetzee is our best option, solid in all the necessary aspects and he joins the line well in attack, not a world beater like almost any FB in NZ but our best option for now.
The team is a good one, I'm more concerned with tactics and moral than I am with the players. No SA team should lose to Italy but it happened, this is why I put up with Whiteley despite him being pretty average, gees and belief is what elevates the Lions to beat a team when they are 20 points down. We need that attitude in the Bokke.
As note on quota's: as much as it leaves a bad taste in one's mouth, getting black players to love rugby is the route to our future success, if we can get the 90% of the country that doesn't care for rugby to care we will be unstoppable. Perhaps it's worth it in the long term, there already seems to be more and more black talent developing at younger levels (and in more varied positions).
