Post RWC player movements; how might it effect the line-ups of S15 teams for 2012?

[TRF_stormer2010]

Players moving on to the NH or Japan, players retiring or crossing over to another S15 franchise? Who are their likely replacements?

Where do want your favourite team(s) to shore up on player depth, invest in a star player or simply cut loose the dead wood?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

For the Bulls, it is quite easy as the players moving on have already confirmed their departures (Steenkamp, Botha, Matfield, Rossouw, Du Preez). The Bulls have allready invested in giving some younger players time and it is more a question of who will fill the spots on the benches when these back-up players take over the reigns. A very probable Bulls line-up for next year;

1 Dean Greyling
2 Chiliboy Ralepelle / Gary Botha
3 Werner Kruger
4 Flip van der Merwe
5 Juandre Kruger
6 Deon Stegman
7 Dewald Potgieter
8 Pierre Spies
9 Francois Hougaard
10 Morne Steyn
11 Bjorn Basson
12 Wynand Olivier
13 Jacques Pretorius
14 Gerhard van der Heever / Akona Ndungane
15 Zane Kirschner

16
17 Chiliboy Ralepelle / Gary Botha
18
19 CJ Stander / Gerrit-Jan van Velze
20 that young guy at the u20 RWC
21 Francois Brummer
22 Gerhard van der Heever / Akona Ndungane

Not massive changes but the loss of some star players, although aging, will probably affect them. They have however already blooded all the likely replacement starters over the last 2 years and these might just carry on the Bulls' succesful run of the last 4 years. Also, don't be surprised if the Bulls sign another upcoming star as they do each year. My prediction is Riaan Viljoen...

Where I feel they can make changes is not in personel but in tactics; with FdP moving to Japan and with the new focus on law interpretations at the breakdown they would do well to adopt a more ball-inhand approach. Hougaard is the perfect 9 to replace FdP if that is the route they go and Steyn can do well in a running game behind a dominant pack. The question mark though is at center where I feel Olivier needs to either sharpen up his distribution or move outside.

 

[dan the man nz]

the blues will remain much the same quality but just a few diffrent faces.. joe is replaced on the wing by rudi wolf.. perhaps anscombe begins to cover flyhalf on the bench.. um jared payne wont be there so to afoa.. but overall the same strenth

crusaders will have the two rocks in mccaw and carter to maintain an automatic contender for the ***le. then add maitland israel dagg and guilford being fed ball by fruen at centre and you have a lethal backline. and if sonny bill stays on.. wow. forwards are not an issue with todd and read its allmost an allblacks loose trio. only concern is lock. thorn and jack are both too old and one is confirmed to be leaving.

hurricanes prospects are bleak. losing so many allblacks becos of a dumb ass coach. however this may be incredibly benefial becos..

the chiefs are now potencially the dark horse for next year if they sign up the hurricanes stars. imagine this 10 nanai williams, 11 mesaga,12 nonu, 13 kahui, 14 sivivatu(hopefully gear but..), 15 jane(both these two even less likely than nonu). enough said but even if this miracle happens as long as the forwards remain the same they wont win a thing. a bit like that club that signed rico gear and latham but still did ****.

highlanders will be same old. bar slade and cowan the rest is crap. bar thompson. it will be the same as when evans was there. great player. poor team.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Altho respect but regarding the Chiefs:

Hika is evolving his game.
Second row isn't that bad
Backrow is just awesome: Messam, Latimer, Lee.
Siva is gone, we do have a replacement in that other Fijian winger but would prefer to have a decent back up.
The Canes boys should be a great asset. Especially if Tana sticks around for another year.

Some upcoming talent in Sam Cane

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

The only Sharks player who is certain to move, is Steven Sykes and with Anton Bresler and Gerhard Mostert we have 2 very competent replacements.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

The only Sharks player who is certain to move, is Steven Sykes and with Anton Bresler and Gerhard Mostert we have 2 very competent replacements.

You must be secretly (or not so secretly) hoping that Smit and Terblanche are hanging up their boots? The Sharks would do well to settle with a clear hierarchy in the front row and get someone a little more dangerous at center seeing as Plumtree doesn't see Adi as a starter. If you could manage an entirely new and better midfield you'd probably be very very competitive.

For the Lions it will be interesting to see if their headhunting pays off; we might see a number of changes next season. I don't care to speculate.

Cheetahs will probably lose all their good Griquas players and probably 1 or 2 extra. I would be surprised if Pretorius and Viljoen were still there next year. Maybe the Cheetahs can work something out with the Griquas. It would be awesome if they could build on on this season. They got over their traditional weakness of the backs not building on the work of the great forwards and past the middle mark of the season the backs even managed to outshine the forwards. taht and sharpened up defense which helped them get some way to travelling better; they were always formidable at Bloem.

Stormers will look pretty much the same as well. If we don't go all the way, I am happy that we did go a long way and blooded some youngsters along the way. What I would like to see is our young props getting good gametime in the CC and with Francois Louw off by all accounts we need to find his replacement. In the backline I'd like to see Ricky Januarie say goodbye and Conrad Jantjes retire. A better attacking force at the back (but with a bigger boot than Aplon) should see us improve; maybe if Joe Pietersen could return, Lionel Cronje could play there or if we could manage to sign either Riaan Viljoen or Frans Steyn (though i don't know what sort of shape he's in). I would be in heaven if we managed to lure the Griquas combo of Sarel Pretorius and Riaan Viljoen who I am sure are available for a move. Do it, Rassie!!

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I hope Smit and Terblanche will retire, since the first is over the hill and the second has shown cracks in his play this year. I expected Terblanche to retire after captaining a Currie Cup winning side.

When looking at replacements there is a bunch of players who I would love to see added to the mix in Durban. Waylon Murray, Jaco Taute, Josh Strauss, Jano Vermaak and Elton Jantjies are several Lions who would do good with the Sharks, but also Riaan Viljoen would make a perfect addition.

 

[Draggs]

Marius Joubert will hopefully help to sort out our midfield. I would still like to see Bosman sort out his (many) issues. He is actually decent in defence and often the highest tackles.
Attacking he is horrible, really.

 

[psychic duck]

why don't the Sharks and the Bulls, leave the Cheetahs and the Lions alone for once

they always poach all the good Cheetahs or Lions players

if there was a province of origin match (like the State of Origin match in Australia), Orange Free State and Traansvaal would be much stronger

 

[Darwin]

Great work psychic duck!

The Highlanders aren't expected to be hit too badly at all next season. Alando Soakai is heading to a Japanese club, with John Hardie the obvious replacement from within the franchise. I'd imagine the Highlanders will be looking round for a quality openside flanker, though Tim Boys could again be brought into the squad. Kade Poki has also signed with a Japanese club, though is thought to be keen to stay with the Highlanders, so may try to get out of this contract. James Paterson, Kurt Baker, and Telusa Veainu will all be competing for the vacant wing spot should Poki leave.
http://www.therugbyforum.com/forum/member.php?48703-psychic-duck

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

why don't the Sharks and the Bulls, leave the Cheetahs and the Lions alone for once

they always poach all the good Cheetahs or Lions players

if there was a province of origin match (like the State of Origin match in Australia), Orange Free State and Traansvaal would be much stronger

I think you could blame WP for it more. van der Linde, van Zyl, Januarie, de Waal, Vermeulen, Fourie, de Villiers, Habana, Jantjes... of the top of my head, 9 players snatched away from the other provinces.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Great work psychic duck!

The Highlanders aren't expected to be hit too badly at all next season. Alando Soakai is heading to a Japanese club, with John Hardie the obvious replacement from within the franchise. I'd imagine the Highlanders will be looking round for a quality openside flanker, though Tim Boys could again be brought into the squad. Kade Poki has also signed with a Japanese club, though is thought to be keen to stay with the Highlanders, so may try to get out of this contract. James Paterson, Kurt Baker, and Telusa Veainu will all be competing for the vacant wing spot should Poki leave.

Poki signed on for another 2 years (end of 2013) last week, not bad for a bloke no onewanted six months ago!

http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/162932/rugby-five-more-signings-highlanders

 

[Darwin]

Poki signed on for another 2 years (end of 2013) last week, not bad for a bloke no onewanted six months ago!

http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/162932/rugby-five-more-signings-highlanders

Cheers Jabby, I somehow missed that Poki had re-signed. Great news for the Highlanders!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

+1 Psychic duck RE the Aus breakdown of confirmed/rumored player movements. The big moves and resulting losses/gains IMO are Kurtley Beale, AAC and James O'Connor if he does move. Beale has been THE standout Aus player for me at test level last year and in S15. Cooper gets all the media attention but I feel its a toss-up between Genia and Beale for the actual best Aus back. AAC and JOC are class as well but have been badly mismanaged in Super rugby this season IMO. I hope the find their opportunities to show their undoubted class elsewhere. Burgess is a big blow for the Waraths. Getting in AAC but losing both Beale and Burgess is a net loss IMO. I don't really rate any of the forwards that are moving. Can't say that I feel these moves would really make for massive changes in their teams performances; not as much as changes in coaching/tactics might.

In SA, yeah, all 3 'big' teams have used both Cheetahs and Lions as feeder teams the last number of years with the Sharks having had the most recent go it and while the Bulls had signed Flip van der Merwe, Basson and JLP recently i think the real culprits are more the WP and Sharks than Sharks and Bulls like Ezequiel also pointed out (they could have kept vd Linde though LOL). I think a bigger problem though is competing with foreign markets; if we could keep hold of those players there would be a pool of top notch players that could cater for all 5 (6 in 2013 if reports are to be believed) franchises. A positive out of he current scenario though is that it allows younger and/or fringe player to step up and play super rugby.

TBF, as much players as WP has signed over the past couple of years, the recent trend has been to give the talented youngsters a go (we have lost our fair share of local talent as well, particularly to the Bulls). Look at the recent trust the Stormers has shown in youngsters like Johann Sadie, Danie Poolman, Lionel Cronje, Gary van Aswegen, Kurt Coleman, Steven Kitshoff, Rynhardt Elstadt. The same can possibly be said of the likes of Juan de Jongh, Nick Koster etc a year or two ago but we imported as much (more even) as we gave chances then. Now I would just like to see an able replacement for Francois Louw as well as a solid signing or giving a youngster a chance at 9, 15 and in the front row.

 

[TNT88]

I agree, Beale is probably our best back.

As for the Force. We only lose Fairbrother and Smith off the top of my head (from the starting XV). Longbottom is playing well so we have Fairbrother covered, they might need to sign a winger in the off season though.

We may lose O'connor, it is still completely unclear. Other than the fact he still hasn't re-signed.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Marius Joubert is not moving to the Cheetahs

 

[TNT88]

There is some crazy rumor going around about JOC re-signing for 1 year. Should find out this week hopefully. James said:

journos everywhere at training- nothing finalised yet tweeps n want you guys to be the 1st to know. Hopefully have something for you soon..

So keep an eye on his twitter.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Stormers

IN:
Confirmed:
Rumours:

OUT:
Confirmed: Ethienne Reynecke (Connacht), Francois Louw (Bath), Ricky Januarie (Lyon)
Rumours: Anton van Zyl (Lions), Peter Grant (Japan), Jaque Fourie (Bayonne)

You win some (Januarie) you lose some (Jaque Fourie). Though Jaque is undoubtedly our best back I feel Louw going to Bath would hurt more than Fourie's (rumored) departure would as we have both De Jongh and the recently unearthed Johann Sadie to cover. The front row and backrow depth is still an issue at the Stormers IMO. I wonder who will step in for Januarie and Grant (if he does leave).

I would be happy with the youngsters taking over but there are also such talented players around tat might fill in; Ruan Pienaar and Sarel Pretorius spring to mind. I still want a good 15;, Joe Pietersen, Riaan Viljoen.. I would be happy with any of these players coming to CT (or back to CT).

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

You guys have Duvenhage to cover for Januarie, no need to lure Pienaar or Sarel to CT haha

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I don't think Fourie will go to Bayonne, that rumour is quite old and I haven't heard anything since, meanwhile the Lions are interested in Joe Pietersen

and remember Gcobani Bobo is a free agent and I haven't heard any rumours about where he's going, does anyone have any ideas?

would you want Bobo in your team?

Phew, what a relief RE Fourie, though I would sleep more soundly with confirmation. Bobo would be wasted at WP; we allready have 3 Bok centers.

While the Lions are interested in anything with 2 legs that can hold a ball (or not) I'd be very dissappointed if Pietersen came back but not to WP; we need an attacking 15 and he can cover 10 as well which might come in handy.

You guys have Duvenhage to cover for Januarie, no need to lure Pienaar or Sarel to CT haha

It's a long season and if anyone has seen what might be required ITO depth at 9/10 then it's us (it was you guys last year and it realy hurt your chances). Pienaar would be good to have with Duvenhage on the bench. Both could cover 10. We could even see them play together at 9 and 10. I don't see Sarel fit into the Wp set-up though, you're right.