Hi Guys , Been a long sabbatical for me the last few months but I am happy to be back in the swing of things , my 2 cents or maybe 200 cents re the Stormers game
After much waiting the Stormers finally got their campaign going with the very last game of week 2 !!!! First off who at WP union agreed to this crap schedule ?? OMG why why could we not have played the game earlier first ? I am sure the guys wanted to get going after our Bye last week.
Now to the game , boy was I bitterly dissapointed , not the result but the manner how we played. We had firstly too many greenies for a debut game and one in a very importatnt position !! Here is a rundown of how I saw it.
15 - Janjies seems to have lost a yard and it seems as if the horrific injury suffered left just as much mental scars as physical. He offers little to nothing currently.
I'm inclined to agree but I think he also had a bit of an off day. Still, I'd prefer him over Aplon at 15 for tight games and bad weather as he is a little more solid under the ball and most importantly has a booming boot where Aplon has no boot whatsoever but is the man you want to attack space from deep. Aplon is still a week or two away from coming back into contention so there really isn't antone else (man, I miss Pietersen).
14 - Poolman ?? Just Who is this kid ? Talented in some games for club maybe but found wanting very wanting at S15. Cant hardly blame him though , he was thrown to the wolves , Why coul d they not play De Jongh as well on the wing ?? Or where is JJ ?
Again, with Aplon out there is only Engelbrecht or one of our centres on the wing. The last worked in the CC but I wouldn't try it in Super rugby unless absolutely necessary. Engelbrecht was the better option IMO as well but I'm sure the coaching staff know better with the info they have where fans are afforded only so much to base opinions on.
13 - The self proclaimed worlds greatest centre was okay , nothing great but he did some ok things
Yeah, I was a bit dissapointed with Fourie and the backline in general but I blame the slow ball (Januarie/Van Aswegen) and a very spirited flat defense. Defended well and did well to cross the advantage line where other wouldn't have with the shitty ball he got.
12 - Like Fourie he was okay , thought De Jongh looked much better when he came on though for Fourie
I'd either play a combination of JdJ and JF or JdV and JdJ and not JdV and JF as they are too similar. JdJ is the form centre IMO and needs to start as he has more penetration and speed.
11 - Honestly seriously Habana can gerus eff off now , he offers niks , nothing. I am gatvol of him playing on rep , just like last year he seems to hold back and someone needs to tell hom that he is here to do a job , not loaf !!!!!
Agree wholeheartedly. The best thing for Habana is a spell on the sidelines. He looks over eager every time the ball comes near him and he makes rookie mistakes and places his team under pressure.
10 - Why why why not Edgar Watts ? Van Aswagen is simply out of his debth at this stage. Edgar Watts looked better than him in the warm up games anyways , The diffs when grant came on was HUGE !! Dear God , please look after Peter Grant otherwise we wont even make the playoffs which at this stage already looks like a reality.
I'd say he looked better than Watts in the pre-season. To be fair he did allright for a first game especially Januarie inside him. I'd have liked to see him play outside Duvenhage more to be able to compare apples with apples as, yeah, the last stretch with Duvenhage and Grant looked much more promising.
9 - RICKY !!! Jassis , how many lives does this oke have ? How can you pair a rookie scrummie with the worlds slowest scrummie who cannot pass to his right ? Ricky was always valued for his in your face play above the traditional scrummie strenth but now he has lost as well and its a case of he does something special so once in a while to win us that game !! The thing is that once in a while now comes every 6 games only !! We will never be champs if we think like that !! The diffs between us and the crusaders and Bulls of this world , we hope to win , they plan to win. Ricky is just plain *** and I would like to know the wisdom behind picking him ??
I think Januarie only started because Duvenhage had an injury scare. Lets hope Januarie doesn't see himself on the field again. We are screwed if we lose Dvenhage.
8 - Vermuelan is another who was a pedestrian the weekend , he has lost ground as the premeir loosie hardman to the likes of William Alberts and even Ashley Johnson. Wheere is Kid Koster ? When will he be ready ? Seems an aweful long time that he is being developed ? I would have the kid on the bench
This was not the type of game for Vermeulen. To fast and too wide. I'd still like him on my team though. I think Koster is behind Elstadt, both Louw's and Siya Kolisi in the pecking order. It would be interesting to see him brought up but first in the CC.
7 - Fransouw Louw also continued where he left off last year , ie in poor form.
Horrendous form, yes, he got picked for the bokke, played very badly and then brought that back to the Stormers. Maybe its a confidence thing as he didn't play this badly before being picked.
6 - Cappie , always been my favourite player no matter what but he offered little on the day , I hope teh injury is not too bad
We need him if only fo his attitude.
5 - Bekker was One of the few players who showed grunt and liss for teh game , personally my man of the match for the home team
Good to see Bekker back and I'm glad he looks like he missed playing rugby. Lets hope he keeps injury free and gets more chance. Line-outs were a shambles though and he needs to take responsibility.
4 - Elstad I actually liked this laaitie a lot , think he showed great hunger and skill , I dont think he is a lock though , def not an enforcer type and I dont think he should ever play alongside Bekker. I would actually play him more at 7 than 4
Do you know where Anton van Zyl is? Elstadt looks like a good prospect but they need to pick a position for him and then let him specialize IMO. Fondse a better fit at this stage.
3 - Erm.....jy is a prop !! Not a centre !! Thats why you so tired at the end and give away penalties
That was a pretty fast paced game and I thought he did well.
2 - Fourie please please paractice your lineouts , your general play was good , very good but you have the tallest lock in the world playing with you and you missing him consistently , never mind that all three your loosies are jumpers as well.
Yes, his throwing was very low and we are missing Liebenberg big time. Fourie is a great impact player with his bustling pace for a hooker but he lacks the grunt and basics required to start.
1 - Ai toggie , what did I say last year ? I DONT SEE the fuss re CJ , he cannot I repeat CANNOT scrum , never was an imposing prop and will never be !!
Great bench option but I agree. We saw time and time again in the internationals he played in that he is not a good scrummager.
Reserves - both Grant and Duvenhage did more in the short time when they came on than the people they replaced did the whole game !! Unsung hero Pieter Louw is another that did well , as well as De Jongh. I did not notice the rest if they came on.
Coaching staff really really erred in their selection ! Also we had no gameplan ? It was like we just hoped the other team lost ? a 4/10 at best !
Lastly the ref was utter crap , how can you yellow card a team for repeat infringments in the 20 min of teh first half ?? That was very strict but I thought okay at the time I guess the Lions will also get a yellow for their crap play , yet they were warned officially twice !! They got 2 last warnings !! And between the first last warning and the second I counted at least 4 penalties for the same repeat infringment !! I blame the cappie here actually , he should have highlighted that and questioned it.
Yeah, the Lions also were offside for large parts of the game and were allowed to seal the ball in the ruck but you are going to get those types of games and the players need to learn to adapt to the game.
Oh and while I am about Refs how bad was Kaplan in the Rebels game ? Forward pass tries and silly penalties that won the game for the Rebels
