South Africa squad for the Rugby Championship

[Draggs]

What exactly have I missed.

A troll, and not a very good one.

 

[big ginger 8]

A troll, and not a very good one.

Ah right.

Anyway the boks will be competitive even some of their players aren't the the best in the country. People saying they'll lose to Argentina I find that highly unlikely as they are well able to match the physicality IMO Aus are far mTore likely to lose to them. S.A. do need to change if they want to be the best but they're still bloody hard to beat.

 

[Draggs]

Meyer isn't entirely without sense. He says that du Toit would be considered to replace Etzebeth if he was fit.
Anybody know how long PSdT is out for? He has been named in our Currie Cup squad, so they must believe he will be fit soon enough.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Both Maritzburg College boys as well.

You are saying exactly what I am getting at. OK, Grant isn't a world class outside half, but he offers so much more than Steyn.

I disagree, I think Steyn and Grant are both equally one dimensional. and based on that, I can see why HM will only pick one of them for his squad. Although, I do think he picked the wrong one this time around as Grant is in way better form at the moment than Steyn

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Meyer isn't entirely without sense. He says that du Toit would be considered to replace Etzebeth if he was fit.
Anybody know how long PSdT is out for? He has been named in our Currie Cup squad, so they must believe he will be fit soon enough.

I read that as well and also thought that bodes well. That and the inclusion of Pat Cilliers who I right very highly at tighthead. I

think we might struggle to end 2nd in this years edition but I think we might surprise next year with a bit of luck on the injury front and the younguns getting another year of top level rugby under the belt. Lets be fair, Meyer has actually given a few rookies a fair chance already despite the penchant for selecting Bulls 'experience'. We might even surprise this year with Lambie and Ludik in the right places (please, God, surely there is still time for a miracle) and if we manage the breakdown for once.

We are going to miss a lot of players unfortunately; C Oosthuizen, Etzebeth, Burger, Brussow, Vermeulen, J Smith, J Goosen, JP Pietersen and Jaco Taute are players that could have come in real handy if it weren't for injury. Also, give guys like Piet van Zyl, Ludik, Pieter Labuschagne, Willie le Roux and Jan Serfontein another year and who knows.. I don't think we are going to struggle with depth at all, maybe depth in experience for a while but certainly not depth in quality.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

All the teams are going to struggle to win in Argentina, I think... Likewise in South Africa and NZ.

 

[big ginger 8]

There seems to be a few parallels between Lambie and Jeremey Staunton...exactly better start playing him 10....

 

[Icemn]

That's your opinion. He's a good player but i think you are overrating him greatly. He isn't that much of a stand out imo.

i'm compairing him too all the other players in SA... not NZ
in SA he is a standout...

 

[welshglory]

Well i think that Pietersen, Basson (who's out injured) and Mvovo are better attackers on the wing. He's too short to be a fullback and they have better options there.

Just because you think he should be in the squad doesn't mean he should.

 

[Icemn]

Well i think that Pietersen, Basson (who's out injured) and Mvovo are better attackers on the wing. He's too short to be a fullback and they have better options there.

Just because you think he should be in the squad doesn't mean he should.

pietersen ? which one? joe or Jp :?
basson can't tackle...
can't think if i've seen mvovo tackle :?

well everytime Aplon touches the ball the whole newlands go "befok", so 50 000 people can't be wrong...

 

[nickdnz]

I personally think Aplon should be in there. I'd agree that he is South Africa's best attacking player. And yes, I'd have him in the All Blacks over Guildford. He's not over rated at all in my opinion, he's got an amazing step, a very good turn of pace and compensates extremely well for his lack of size with good technique. He's scored tries this season and last that I don't think any player in South Africa (and for that matter New Zealand and Australia) could.

Size is something that kills me, when people criticize an outside back for being too small. If being short and light was a reason not to select a fullback, we'd have never seen Jason Robinson. Someone from Wales saying an outside back is too small to be useful is terribly ironic.

 

[welshglory]

Well that's because i rate Shane Williams and Jason Robinson much more than i do Aplon. Don't put Aplon in the same sentence as Robinson please.

Sorry but i just don't think he's that great a player, good highlight player on youtube but meh i don't see it.

And about NZ...
Aplon would never make it in NZ. Steve Hansen after all said that Shane didn't have the size to be an international wing. With the options you've got Aplon wouldn't even be in the top 10.
He'd be like Tim Nanai-Williams, a great attacking player but never considered for higher honours.

 

[Icemn]

Well that's because i rate Shane Williams and Jason Robinson much more than i do Aplon. Don't put Aplon in the same sentence as Robinson please.

Sorry but i just don't think he's that great a player, good highlight player on youtube but meh i don't see it.

And about NZ...
Aplon would never make it in NZ. Steve Hansen after all said that Shane didn't have the size to be an international wing. With the options you've got Aplon wouldn't even be in the top 10.
He'd be like Tim Nanai-Williams, a great attacking player but never considered for higher honours.

well Breyton Paulse played, Deon Keyser played... i think on a few occations Breyton had to mark Lomu...

 

[SomeOke]

It's purely Stormers fault that Aplon is kept out of the squad, we don't utilize him enough to really display his talents, he rarely gets the ball more than 4 or 5 times a match.

Not that I'm insulting the Stormers, they have a great structure and a brilliant strategy but it's a bit of a waste having a wing with such flair when our game plan doesn't call for expansive play.

 

[madflyhalf]

I personally think Aplon should be in there. I'd agree that he is South Africa's best attacking player. And yes, I'd have him in the All Blacks over Guildford. He's not over rated at all in my opinion, he's got an amazing step, a very good turn of pace and compensates extremely well for his lack of size with good technique. He's scored tries this season and last that I don't think any player in South Africa (and for that matter New Zealand and Australia) could.

Size is something that kills me, when people criticize an outside back for being too small. If being short and light was a reason not to select a fullback, we'd have never seen Jason Robinson. Someone from Wales saying an outside back is too small to be useful is terribly ironic.

Aye.

IMO Aplon is A WORLD more physical than Shane Williams, I've seen him placing some hits I've never seen made by Shane Williams, Aplon is more prone to physical contest than Shane, they have quite different under this aspect, but they are equally talented, in the case of Shane Williams, someone realized (with some delay) his potential and used him well.
In the case of Aplon not entirely.

Just the way of Welsh attacking patterns, spreading the ball wide to the winger since the very first phase tells how they want to explore space (in width) before doing it in depth, trying to create chances of exploring the defence even for small-sized players!
Which is CLEARLY not a Springbok's pattern. Instead this is one of the ways the Stormers attack (especially in the last 2 years, not too often this year, they prefer some direct runners BTW), and Aplon is more suited to Stormers plan than SA (obviously)

IMO Aplon in Wales' jersey would have been (almost) as terrific as Shane Williams.

 

[Gavin]

When a small guy can get up and finish off the match after this, you know he is as hard as nails...

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Etzebeth set to face Argentina

Etzebeth and Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts travelled to Johannesburg on Tuesday where the player was assessed by a hip specialist.
http://planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3821_7973018,00.html​

 

[nickdnz]

Well that's because i rate Shane Williams and Jason Robinson much more than i do Aplon. Don't put Aplon in the same sentence as Robinson please.

Sorry but i just don't think he's that great a player, good highlight player on youtube but meh i don't see it.

And about NZ...
Aplon would never make it in NZ. Steve Hansen after all said that Shane didn't have the size to be an international wing. With the options you've got Aplon wouldn't even be in the top 10.
He'd be like Tim Nanai-Williams, a great attacking player but never considered for higher honours.

I'll do as I like.

And I'm not saying that Aplon is as good a Jason Robinson, meerly that size doesn't determine how good an outside back can be. I rate some small outside backs extremely highly, Jason Robinson, Christophe Dominici, Breyton Paulse and Shane Williams being obvious examples, but modern players like Marc Andreu and Christian Wade are also phenominal. If there is one position that I feel you can take some risk with in favour of attacking potential, it's the wing. If Aplon was 3'' taller and 10kg's heavier but performed exactly the same, there is no doubt he'd be starting for the Springboks. It's mental. In fact South Africa's selection mentality of size over skill is mental. If there's one thing the Sharks have shown, it's having a backline which is dangerous and creative is a world more important than a backline that is big and can crash it up. Even with South Africa's game plan, an outside back which can utilize space is hardly going to a disadvantage.

In terms of Nanai-Williams never going to make the All Blacks, I disagree on that as well. Nanai-Williams has been on the wing for the Chiefs, which I think is a huge diservice to him, as he's 5x the player at fullback. He is quick, but like many fullbacks he's really at his best when given space to create oppertunities or run in broken play. If he is moved back to fullback in the foreseable future I think there is every chance he could have a long career in the All Blacks (he's still only 23).