The Sarel Pretorious Thread

[dan-the-man]

Decided to dedicate a thread to by far the most under-rated player in world rugby. On CURRENT form, he is the best scrumhalf in the world, almost single-handedly turning the Cheetahs' season around. His brilliant attacking prowess has allowed for guys like Sias and Robert Ebersohn and Riaan Viljoen to really excell for the Free State franchise. He doesn't constantly squander possession with pathetic box-kicks like du Preez has been doing all season and is a constant threat to the defensive line for those he is up against. He, along with Bjorn Basson (Bulls) and Sean Maitland (Crusaders), leads the Super 15 try-scoring with 9 tries in 2011.

He can be a mixed bag on defence. Sometimes he seems to frequently miss his first-line-of-defence tackles, but then I recall many occasions where he has made amazing tackles on cover defence (sometimes a try saving effort). His statistics make for pretty reading though, as he has made 85 tackles and missed 21 - a percentage of 80%. He is one of very few South African rugby players that is really creative and does special things with the rugby ball. The fact that he was ommited from the Bok squad for over-weight Januarie and has-been Ruan Pienaar is a disgusting joke and shows the pure idiocy of Peter de Villiers and South African rugby. Just when you think de Villiers couldn't be more of an absolute toss, he further omits Pretorious by calling up Charl "knock-on" McLeod when Januarie got injured. That was an enormous slap in the face to Pretorious and SA RUgby, as Pretorious' presence in our World Cup squad would really add value. We don't deserve him. He's going to the Waratahs; I hope he gets Australian citizenship and eventually makes the Wallabies and tears the Springboks apart.

Best of luck with your future career, Sarel! Only in South Africa does the world's in-form scrumhalf not even make the extended training squad!!!!

 

[nickdnz]

Don't know if I'd go as far as the world's best scrum half. I'd feel more confident with Weepu, du Preez and Genia. He's very similar to players like Mathewson, Care and Young in he has a very good running and attacking game, creating opportunities around the fringes. He's certainly in much better form than most of the South African scrum-halves, will be interesting to see if he qualifies for the Wallabies. Considering du Preez is gone after this RWC I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back after a stint with the Tahs.

 

[Gavin]

Decided to dedicate a thread to by far the most under-rated player in world rugby. On CURRENT form, he is the best scrumhalf in the world, almost single-handedly turning the Cheetahs' season around. His brilliant attacking prowess has allowed for guys like Sias and Robert Ebersohn and Riaan Viljoen to really excell for the Free State franchise. He doesn't constantly squander possession with pathetic box-kicks like du Preez has been doing all season and is a constant threat to the defensive line for those he is up against. He, along with Bjorn Basson (Bulls) and Sean Maitland (Crusaders), leads the Super 15 try-scoring with 9 tries in 2011.

He can be a mixed bag on defence. Sometimes he seems to frequently miss his first-line-of-defence tackles, but then I recall many occasions where he has made amazing tackles on cover defence (sometimes a try saving effort). His statistics make for pretty reading though, as he has made 85 tackles and missed 21 - a percentage of 80%. He is one of very few South African rugby players that is really creative and does special things with the rugby ball. The fact that he was ommited from the Bok squad for over-weight Januarie and has-been Ruan Pienaar is a disgusting joke and shows the pure idiocy of Peter de Villiers and South African rugby. Just when you think de Villiers couldn't be more of an absolute toss, he further omits Pretorious by calling up Charl "knock-on" McLeod when Januarie got injured. That was an enormous slap in the face to Pretorious and SA RUgby, as Pretorious' presence in our World Cup squad would really add value. We don't deserve him. He's going to the Waratahs; I hope he gets Australian citizenship and eventually makes the Wallabies and tears the Springboks apart.

Best of luck with your future career, Sarel! Only in South Africa does the world's in-form scrumhalf not even make the extended training squad!!!!

Disagree; Will Genia is the form scrum-half in the world but Sarel is not too far behind.

 

[dan-the-man]

Disagree; Will Genia is the form scrum-half in the world but Sarel is not too far behind.

Yes, but will Genia costed the Reds tons of possession against the Blues with his pathetic box-kicks and constant "chip" kicks. When he doesn't kick away possession, yes - he is the best in the world

Don't know if I'd go as far as the world's best scrum half. I'd feel more confident with Weepu, du Preez and Genia. He's very similar to players like Mathewson, Care and Young in he has a very good running and attacking game, creating opportunities around the fringes. He's certainly in much better form than most of the South African scrum-halves, will be interesting to see if he qualifies for the Wallabies. Considering du Preez is gone after this RWC I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back after a stint with the Tahs.

Hence why I said and capatalised CURRENT form bro! du Preez has been simply pathetic this season and Weepu has only just come back from injury and hasn't even been in the same league as Pretorious. The only challenge is Genia and he was kicking away all the Reds' possession against the Blues

 

[Gavin]

Yes, but will Genia costed the Reds tons of possession against the Blues with his pathetic box-kicks and constant "chip" kicks. When he doesn't kick away possession, yes - he is the best in the world

You say on current form but Pretorious hasn't played for two weeks at least and how do we not know that he has went to pot since the end of the final game? Therefore it must go to one of the scrum-halves who played in the semi-finals and that was either Genia or Fotuali'i (who impressed me). The fact that Genia kicked poorly considering he has played more games than Pretorious and isn't on a 'break'

 

[Amobokoboko]

He 's a great and exciting player to watch and as he has been playing for the Cheetahs, every victory was considered as a huge achievement.
His major weakness is his defense.

 

[dan-the-man]

He 's a great and exciting player to watch and as he has been playing for the Cheetahs, every victory was considered as a huge achievement.
His major weakness is his defense.

80% tackle percentage for the season is hardly a weakness bro. McLeod is tackling at 85%, but when you compare the attacking prowess, Sarel's sheer brilliance is worth 5% less tackles being made

 

[Darwin]

Decided to dedicate a thread to by far the most under-rated player in world rugby. On CURRENT form, he is the best scrumhalf in the world, almost single-handedly turning the Cheetahs' season around. His brilliant attacking prowess has allowed for guys like Sias and Robert Ebersohn and Riaan Viljoen to really excell for the Free State franchise. He doesn't constantly squander possession with pathetic box-kicks like du Preez has been doing all season and is a constant threat to the defensive line for those he is up against. He, along with Bjorn Basson (Bulls) and Sean Maitland (Crusaders), leads the Super 15 try-scoring with 9 tries in 2011.

He can be a mixed bag on defence. Sometimes he seems to frequently miss his first-line-of-defence tackles, but then I recall many occasions where he has made amazing tackles on cover defence (sometimes a try saving effort). His statistics make for pretty reading though, as he has made 85 tackles and missed 21 - a percentage of 80%. He is one of very few South African rugby players that is really creative and does special things with the rugby ball. The fact that he was ommited from the Bok squad for over-weight Januarie and has-been Ruan Pienaar is a disgusting joke and shows the pure idiocy of Peter de Villiers and South African rugby. Just when you think de Villiers couldn't be more of an absolute toss, he further omits Pretorious by calling up Charl "knock-on" McLeod when Januarie got injured. That was an enormous slap in the face to Pretorious and SA RUgby, as Pretorious' presence in our World Cup squad would really add value. We don't deserve him. He's going to the Waratahs; I hope he gets Australian citizenship and eventually makes the Wallabies and tears the Springboks apart.

Best of luck with your future career, Sarel! Only in South Africa does the world's in-form scrumhalf not even make the extended training squad!!!!

Where are you getting your stats from? Not saying they are wrong, I just know that tackling stats vary quite a bit depending on your source. I don't think there is any doubt that his defence is poor; these stats suggest that he has missed more tackles than any other player in the competition, while stats from http://www.foxsports.com.au suggest he has only made 71% of his tackles this season (78/110).

In saying that, I think he is very unlucky not to be included in the Boks extended training squad, as in my mind he's been the most dangerous halfback with ball in hand this season. What really counts against him is that his style of play doesn't suit the more conservative style that the Boks are playing at the moment...

 

[Seaton]

None of these stats though reflect how bad his defensive positioning is though- just saying

And Janaurie wasn't injured, he retired from international rugby.

ZOMG!!! ZoWt AfrIkeN rGBy iz n JokE!!! SaK PdiVvie!!!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Also, it's Pretorius not Pretorious. Calling Pienaar a has-been is also a little bit out-there; he was voted player of the Magner's league this season. And yes, I do rate the NH competitions.

 

[dan-the-man]

Where are you getting your stats from? Not saying they are wrong, I just know that tackling stats vary quite a bit depending on your source. I don't think there is any doubt that his defence is poor; these stats suggest that he has missed more tackles than any other player in the competition, while stats from http://www.foxsports.com.au suggest he has only made 71% of his tackles this season (78/110).

In saying that, I think he is very unlucky not to be included in the Boks extended training squad, as in my mind he's been the most dangerous halfback with ball in hand this season. What really counts against him is that his style of play doesn't suit the more conservative style that the Boks are playing at the moment...

from ruggastats.com ...probab;y is a bit dodgy I won't lie