South Africa squad for the Rugby Championship

[Darwin]

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer announced five uncapped players in the 30-man Springbok squad for the two Rugby Championship tests against Argentina.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/7417767/Five-uncapped-players-in-Springboks-squad
Zane Kirchner, Pat Lambie, JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana, Lwazi Mvovo, Francois Hougaard, JJ Engelbrecht, Jean de Villiers (c), Francois Steyn, Morne Steyn, Elton Jantjies, Ruan Pienaar, Jano Vermaak, Keegan Daniel, Pierre Spies, Marcell Coetzee, Willem Alberts, Jacques Potgieter, Siya Kolisi, Andries Bekker, Juandre Kruger, Eben Etzebeth, Flip van der Merwe, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Tendai Mtawarira, Dean Greyling, Pat Cilliers.

A few interesting selections IMO. Great to see Kolisi picked, but I still think they need Brussow. Kirchner is still very lucky to be there - on recent form I would find it hard to look past Ludik at fullback.

 

[Sker]

Spies,M.Steyn and Kirchner... Well well well...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Vermaak, who hasn't even managed to get a starting spot for the Bulls, is picked over van Zyl
Kirchner, who is awful, is picked over the form full-backs Ludik and Pietersen
Spies is picked over Kanko (who might not be eligible but if he is, he should be there)
Flip van der Merwe is there but no Bresler... What does Anton Bresler have to do to be picked?

And why in the world are we without Aplon???

 

[austingtir]

Spies over kankowski is just crazyness. You guys have got atleast two or three 8's with more potential than spies......

 

[wangavegas1]

Heyneke Meyer has shown his hand and it ait a good one for SA but it is good for the res of the RC squads as it shows that they are definately going to play 10 man boring rugby again

 

[LittleGuy]

This SA side "could" and I emphasize could lose to Argentina in Mendoza.

 

[welshglory]

This SA side "could" and I emphasize could lose to Argentina in Mendoza.

In your opinion...

I completely disagree though

 

[wangavegas1]

Trust me the Argies will be bloody tough to beat at home and if anything the BOKs will be vulnerable with an out of form Morne Steyn looking like he wil;l be again steering a leaky BOK ship....For the first time fin a long time this would have to be one of the weakest BOK teams I have seen for a long long time.....bad luck South Africa obviously ypu just dont learn from your mistakes

 

[welshglory]

You really want to see the Saffas lose don't you. No surprise since you're a Kiwi.

 

[peanuts40]

It's a sad reality, because you are right in saying this could be one of our worst teams in a while, but only if Meyer is stubborn and picks the same old guys. If he decides to pick on form and quality, on paper I think we may have the best team.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Vermaak, who hasn't even managed to get a starting spot for the Bulls, is picked over van Zyl
Kirchner, who is awful, is picked over the form full-backs Ludik and Pietersen
Spies is picked over Kanko (who might not be eligible but if he is, he should be there)
Flip van der Merwe is there but no Bresler... What does Anton Bresler have to do to be picked?

And why in the world are we without Aplon???

What do you mean Kanko might not be eligible?? Isn't there a rule that if he has played for one onation he can't play for another nation anymore at senior level?

You guys can all disagree with the squad, and nobody will ever be satisfied. Heyneke is building slowly but surely. he has now again added 5 rookies to the squad who didn't play against England.

He has now brought in more players than any other coach in their first season coaching the Boks.

How about some praising?? I see the Stormers-clan are quiet now, is it because Kolisi finally got included?? Happy now??

Kanko has on time and time again showed he's not good at test level especially vs Australia and NZ. Maybe his history has done him in. Stop *****ing about Spies, there's no-one better at the moment who is fit, apart from Kanko.

As for Morne Steyn, I agree with all of you, he shouldn't be there, he's out of form, and needs some rest.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

What do you mean Kanko might not be eligible?? Isn't there a rule that if he has played for one onation he can't play for another nation anymore at senior level?

Isn't Kanko off to Japan? Could mean that he's unavailable through that.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Dunno what Jantjies has done to deserve being picked...

 

[welshglory]

That didn't stop them selecting Frans Steyn, Ruan Pienaar and Johann Muller. Granted those are experienced proven internationals while Kankowski has been a constant disappointment at that level. So yea i agree with Heineken, people should stop *****ing for their favourite players to be involved

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Kanko might not be eligible because I read somewhere his contract with Toyota includes a paragraph saying he cannot be called up for international duty.

The issue is the same **** now. Yes, we are going to ***** about Kirchner, Spies and Morne Steyn because they are just poor.

This is the chance for Heyneke Meyer to try something new. Why not have some balls and pick form-guys in stead of the same old ****?

The front-row is easy to pick, although I hope Cilliers gets the starting spot in stead of Jannie (who is past his prime)

The second row has a lot of potential but van der Merwe is just not good enough. Why not call up Anton Bresler who is in perfect form? We have Kruger, Etzebeth and Bekker to fight for the 3 spots and Bresler can learn from being in the squad. Think about the future here.

Backrow can be very easy. I don't say this because I am a Sharks fan but what if we just bench Spies and have Coetzee blindside, Kolisi openside and Alberts at 8? Daniel off the bench.

Scrum-half... Man, how is Vermaak in the squad? Why don't we just call up Cobus Reinach? He didn't play any significant rugby either. Hougaard and Pienaar are good options. Pienaar has the experience we can use against the big teams while Hougaard is flashy, but has his on and off moments

Fly-half.... I just hope Lambie plays. Just give the guy a chance... I even prefer Elton Jantjies over Steyn at the moment but it is not going to happen so we will play BB rugby (Boring Bulls). You can say what you want but changing the pack doesn't make a freaking difference if you stick to the same one-trick pony in the number 10 shirt.

Habana on the wing is another player who seems to have a guaranteed spot in the starting line-up. When will we ever see Aplon and Pietersen start on the wings together? I guess when Habana is either injured or retired.

Centers I am happy with, but the full-back is a joke. Krusty is the worst full-back in Springbok history and is picked for no other reason than familiarity with the coach. Joe Pietersen and Louis Ludik are the form full-backs but both are not even in the squad?


The desired change of scenery with Heyneke Meyer is still far away... It's a sad day in Springbok history once again.

 

[SomeOke]

This is my biggest issue with HM selections and it isn't really about specific players.

South Africa's tactical game plan has in recent years revolved around a few "elements" we now lack, I say elements and not players because when we lost Fourie du Preez and big Vic weren't just losing a couple talented players we were losing actual game-play elements that were previously part of our strategical game plan. The "territorial" rugby which SA has favoured since Jake White's time needs a game controlling scrum half with a masterful kicking game and an unassailable line-out.

I'm not saying their replacements aren't good but in a way HM is trying to enforce the same strategy without actually considering the loss of key parts. We need to try something different and play to the specific strengths of our players.

It's like the old spring-bok squad was a nice reliable Jeep, but then the engine blew, and the fan belt broke and we replaced the missing parts with the parts of a Lamborghini. The Jeep just doesn't work like it used to.

 

[Icemn]

Fly-half.... I just hope Lambie plays. Just give the guy a chance... I even prefer Elton Jantjies over Steyn at the moment but it is not going to happen so we will play BB rugby (Boring Bulls). You can say what you want but changing the pack doesn't make a freaking difference if you stick to the same one-trick pony in the number 10 shirt.

:O u sounding like the icemn now
beter late than never
pienaar on 9 with lambie on 10 and it's game on!!!

 

[Icemn]

It's like the old spring-bok squad was a nice reliable Jeep, but then the engine blew, and the fan belt broke and we replaced the missing parts with the parts of a Lamborghini. The Jeep just doesn't work like it used to.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

:O u sounding like the icemn now
beter late than never
pienaar on 9 with lambie on 10 and it's game on!!!

Yeah, but I don't support NZ sides because of SA's gameplan I don't like. Guess I am more patriotic about the Springboks than you are. I don't really care what type of rugby they play, as long as they win. With Morne Steyn, we won't win.

 

[TNT88]

It's a talented squad and probably the best forward pack in the world. But they seem to lack a bit of depth in the backline. Interesting choice to stick with Kirchner.