From what I've read so far, one thing is very clear, the plan is to play South African Traditional Rugby. Uncompromising, physical, forward dominated rugby. Which, IMHO is the best way to knock-out England.
Heyneke said last night that this squad will change for the Rugby Championship as he has different plans against different oppositions, and he said he knows that some of his selections won't be favourable by the SA public... which clearly are evident in the remarks above. But I am of the opinion that Meyer has a clear plan with each guy and what their individuality brings to the team.
Yes there are very few Stormers Players in the squad, BUT, the reason the Stormers are top of the log, is because as a team they play tremendously good, but have few individual players who stood out so far this season. Guys like Siya Kolisi, Gio Aplon, JDJ and Joe Pietersen all should be in the Bok squad I agree, of which only Gio and JDJ has played Springbok before. But apart from Kolisi, they don't bring the physicality which Meyer wants.
Another thing we should consider is that Andries Bekker, Duane Vermeulen and Nick Koster are all injured, and would have been picked ahead of some of the guys selected. Many news reports has said that the Stormers are overplayed and over-worked, and I think that this played a part in Meyer's selection. He wouldn't pick guys with the fear of fatigue bringing more harm than good to the squad. and this is where AC should have implemented a better rotational plan like the Sharks, Bulls and Cheetahs.
I can also understand why Brussouw wasn't picked, he's off form at the moment, and his best attribute is to poach the ball at ruck time, but let's look at the guys who were picked that can do the job as well: Bismarck Du Plessis, Coenie Oosthuizen, Juandre Kruger, Chilliboy Ralepelle, Franco van der Merwe and Keegan Daniel. This shows that Meyer also knows that having just one fetcher isn't enough as he can't attempt to get the ball at every ruck, but if there are more than one guy who's able to do it, then the opposition will have a tough job ahead of them.
I don't see Jano Vermaak getting much game time, and is there purely as back-up if either Ruan or Francois gets injured. So no need to carry on discussing this further.
I feel sorry for Peter Grant, but with that said, he's like Morne Steyn at the moment, in that he should only play fly-half. Lambie, Francois Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and Hougaard can play different positions and like we all know, Meyer loves to play guys in more than one position. Our backs are good, apart from Kirchner, who should not be there!!!
one last thing, I won't be at all surprised if Kankowski plays lock for the boks vs. England. Like Danie Rossouw, he has the height, the skills but a bit more mobility to play lock. which might help our strong pack.
So guys, lets wait and see what the team does before we go and protest... Something has to happen first. And there aren't any news yet on guys who got injured yesterday, so maybe that will also bring in a guy who should be there over one, which is very debatable.
