Herewith our view on the new Boks squad as posted yesterday evening
I respect the fact that Meyer is the type of guy that looks at character first, and that there are a couple of injured players also, not available for selection.
One can also respect the fact that he only has a week to prepare before for his first test, effectively forcing him to select the bulk of the players from two teams i.e. the Bulls and the Sharks.
In short we have 13 Bulls, 12 Sharks (counting Ruan Pienaar as a Shark), 3 Stormers, 2 Freestate and 2 Lions players in the Squad
Meyer has no time to work on new combinations, so he needed to select existing working partnerships. A good example is protecting Morne Steyn by selecting Jano Vermaak, the off-the-bench number 9 for the Bulls.
That said, I am not sure about a couple of selections:
In short we have 13 Bulls, 12 Sharks (counting Ruan Pienaar as a Shark), 3 Stormers, 2 Freestate and 2 Lions players in the Squad
Meyer has no time to work on new combinations, so he needed to select existing working partnerships. A good example is protecting Morne Steyn by selecting Jano Vermaak, the off-the-bench number 9 for the Bulls.
Jano Vermaak
That said, I am not sure about a couple of selections:
Franco van der Merwe, Lions lock and captain in 2011, gave the captaincy away to Joshua Strauss after the pressure got to him, no character there. On form I would also struggle to see the method behind the madness. Respect however to Franco for sticking it out with the Lions.
JJ Engelbrecht Bulls Wing and Center is a good runner, but he missed a couple of basic tackles in SupeRugby that cost the Bulls dearly. Not sure if he is the right guy for the job. One could argue that selecting Wynand Olivier (not sure why) on center, forced his hand to select JJ to get the combination in place, but this is not the case here, so not sure what to make of JJ’s selection.
Keegan Daniel: Not sure what to make of Keegan Daniel’s selection either. Yes he is a good leader, but new at it. Yes he had a good game against the Stormers, but the Stormers could not field a full loose trio against him, so he had a great time behind a strong Sharks pack.
Marcell Coetzee: On form Marcell Coetzee, Sharks loose forward should be in the squad and he deserves the jersey, but Jacques Potgieter, Bulls Looses forward is recovering from an injury.
Franco van der Merwe
JJ Engelbrecht Bulls Wing and Center is a good runner, but he missed a couple of basic tackles in SupeRugby that cost the Bulls dearly. Not sure if he is the right guy for the job. One could argue that selecting Wynand Olivier (not sure why) on center, forced his hand to select JJ to get the combination in place, but this is not the case here, so not sure what to make of JJ’s selection.
JJ Engelbrecht
Keegan Daniel: Not sure what to make of Keegan Daniel’s selection either. Yes he is a good leader, but new at it. Yes he had a good game against the Stormers, but the Stormers could not field a full loose trio against him, so he had a great time behind a strong Sharks pack.
Keegan Daniel
Coenie Oosthuizen: Personally I cannot wait to see Coenie Oosthuizen, prop from the Freestate in action. Hopefully he will get some good game time and we can see a goosestep or two.
Coenie Oosthuizen
Marcell Coetzee: On form Marcell Coetzee, Sharks loose forward should be in the squad and he deserves the jersey, but Jacques Potgieter, Bulls Looses forward is recovering from an injury.
Marcell Coetzee
In closure, really hoping that Meyer has the right approach to select
character first. Unfortunately it also looks like he could be placing character before form.
I am always a big believer in the approach that one should or could rather select the player that has pulled the Springbok jersey over his shoulders before, but it looks like Meyer doesn’t agree. Character plays a great part on the field, and so does talent. Let’s hope that both are with us for every game.
I am always a big believer in the approach that one should or could rather select the player that has pulled the Springbok jersey over his shoulders before, but it looks like Meyer doesn’t agree. Character plays a great part on the field, and so does talent. Let’s hope that both are with us for every game.
