Brits wasted in front row
30 Mar 2006
Keo, in his News 24 column, writes that a change of position will bring Schalk Brits a change of fortunes.
In 1998 Nick Mallett toyed with the idea of playing Bob Skinstad as an inside centre.
He never went through with it and we will never know what Skinstad would have done in the midfield. Now there’s another forward with stunning skills, who should also think about moving into the backs.
Schalk Brits is a phenomenal footballer. He is not as good a hooker as he is a rugby player. His skills are more suited to wearing the No 12 jersey than the number 2 jersey. The criticism of him at hooker would not apply to Brits, the midfielder.
Every time I see Brits play I am more convinced the one fell off his jersey. That’s the one that goes before the two. In a season of woe and wobbles for the Stormers he has been the one player who has provided those magical moments.
Against the Highlanders he embarrassed their defence with a sidestep where his hips took the defender to London and his feet danced towards Singapore. The change in direction was stunning.
In that same game he set up a try-scoring chance by beating the first tackler with pace, sucking in two more defenders and then squeezing his pass out in the double tackle. It was the stuff you associate with the game’s most creative midfielders.
Brits has also shown strength in the tackle to score a try this season and serious gas over 20 metres to outstrip the Cheetahs defence and score. He has been the Stormers most effective runner in broken play or whenever he gets the ball in space.
What the hell is such a talent doing squashed between two fat boys in the front row?
When Skinstad threw the most outrageous of dummies to bamboozle Australian midfield maestro Tim Horan and score at Ellis Park in 1998 he displayed a skill few midfielders in world rugby had when attacking Horan’s defence.
Some of what Brits has done in this year’s Super 14 has been of similar vintage.
Realistically, Brits is going to struggle to make the Springbok World Cup squad as a hooker. John Smit, the Bok captain, is number one.
The Bulls Gary Botha is another who will be picked before Brits and even Brits’s regional teammate Hanyani Shimange is ahead of him in the national pecking order.
The criticism of Brits, the hooker, has been his lineout throwing and concerns about his scrumming. The national selectors, for the past 18 months, have not picked him because they consider him to lack the basic essentials of a test hooker.
But even they have been forced to acknowledge his qualities as a rugby player.
Currently Brits is the most explosive player in South Africa. He is also the most dynamic when he has the ball and a bit of space.
The crowd knows this and there is an expectancy of attacking brilliance every time Brits gets the ball. The guy this season got the Cape Town crowd more excited than any backline player wearing black, including the mercurial Jean de Villiers.
The Stormers coaching staff is too conservative to move Brits into the midfield and to give him a run. The same coaches run Western Province, so they won’t make the move either.
Any change of position will have to be driven by the player.
Brits needs to know that his international options as a hooker are limited, but as a footballer they know no limits.
South Africa missed a chance with Skinstad. It would be a shame if five years from now the talk is of another missed chance with Brits.
The opportunity is there to reward the qualities of this player and not knock the perceived deficiencies. As a Test hooker Brits is viewed as being vulnerable. As a Test midfielder he would be invaluable.
*Check out what Brits has to say about his Bok prospects in the latest issue of SA Rugby Magazine.
124 Comments
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30 Mar 2006, 11:08 am
I still struggle each week to see what is so great about G\gary Botha. I try ,I want to see it….he doesnt look bad,but whats the fuss about ,he seems adequate and obviously a decent player but I fail to find what the bloubulle faithful see in him that is so ‘uitstekend’.
Agree w Munki,work on his deficencies(sp?) and work on JW’s attitude twds picking him. Im sorry butr Brits ahead of Shimmie anyday. Sorry Splinters,but we would see a lot more of Brits in the last 20 and you only in the last 2 mins if at all.
Yes I think Bobo played flanker at Rondebosch High before becoming a center.
30 Mar 2006, 11:17 am
Ddrek , true about BoBo , fact is his an ordanary centre.
If you fail to see Botha’s impact read the stats.
30 Mar 2006, 11:23 am
Ja,very ordinary centre. Runs after guys but cant quite catch them.
Where will i find the stats on Gary Botha.
I will accept that he looks like he’s trying but doesn’t have the x-factor,like a Brits etc. Even a John Smit ,the way he charges.GB is probably a very ‘useful’ player. i expect more from someone who is harped on about so much. However i will read the stats and hope im misssing something….as we need all good players to be brilliant ones. BOKKE
30 Mar 2006, 11:30 am
ddrek, Botha is solid, and has been a regular bulls player for a few seasons. His strongest asset is his familiarity with Bakkies and Vic (IMO). All you need to do is be a regular starter for the bulls, and bulls fans will pump your bok credentials. At the moment Smit is undoubtedly the best hooker in the country, and must be one of the top hookers in world rugby.
Hell, even their non-starter Bands is discussed in gushing terms, yet he’s delivered nothing but the odd cameo for 3 years.
I long stopped listening to bulls fans talk about their own players – but the same can be said for most provincial supporters. Instead I tend to take notice when someone starts gushing about a player from a team other than the one they support.
30 Mar 2006, 11:37 am
I’d like some stats from his bleep tests, sprint times etc.
Even at the Lions, he was the best attacking option we had. Lots of tries scored from his breaks.
30 Mar 2006, 11:44 am
munki
“I long stopped listening to bulls fans talk about their own players – but the same can be said for most provincial supporters.”
Get a pair of balls and stand by your conviction, can not always cover both bases.
30 Mar 2006, 11:52 am
Thanks Munki
Well i appreciate your comments. I just am bored of all the GB talk as ive never really seen it….i keep thinking I must have really missed a season of his where whe went ballistic.I realise it never happened . I watch him with focus and I dont see a bad player at all.But heck, whats the fuss. You hit it ,thanks.
30 Mar 2006, 12:08 pm
stats are readily available on fantasy league gents – it makes for interesting reading.
30 Mar 2006, 12:19 pm
Munkiboy,
#104
“even their non-starter Bands”
Maybe we should talk about other non-starters like Joe, Guthro, Juan, Enrico etc
Quality players, but they seem to be injured the biggest part of the season for most seasons.
Take Guthro, how many games has he played for the Bulls ?
Big Joe is coming back now after how long a layoff ? How many games has he played/missed for the Stromers/WP since he moved there ?
Now it’s Juan’s turn again.
How can Jake build a consistant team with players that’s always injured ?
Maybe he should overlook their brilliance and stick to players that will play most matches and build an experienced team that way ?
30 Mar 2006, 12:42 pm
Maar naai sal daar genaai word…
Men’s club with a difference
30/03/2006 10:22 – (SA)
Tokyo – A group of 40-year-old men in Tokyo have added a different stitch to the stereotype of Japanese men: a needle and a thread.
Members of a men’s only sewing club in Tokyo meet once a month to recover from the stress and fatigue of their jobs as marketing professionals, computer system engineers and film directors/producers.
As the club’s seven members do not consider themselves experts in sewing, their stitches are not aligned, fine seams are nowhere to be seen, but their works are creative.
“We decided that we don’t have to be perfect,” said 42-year-old sewing club leader, Shoichi Ishizawa, a fashion designer. “We can make a moving salamander toy, but we can’t even sew buttons.”
Their latest project was to make creative covers for “The Protector”, emergency buzzers children carry for safety. The male sewers made key-chain holders for the beepers shaped as primitive bears, spiders and other animals.
Start with a beer
Ever since Ishizawa invited his drinking buddies over for a sewing session in December 2003, their club activities have expanded to holding exhibitions and their membership has opened to children, called the “Minis” and to women, the “Flowers.”
Visitors to their exhibitions are keen on buying the frog-shaped purses, children cling tight to sheep-like toys with a long nose and a cloud of puffs, while others ask where they too can learn to sew.
The key to their success, Ishizawa says, is not to try and learn th A to Z of sewing, but just to follow where your needle takes you.
That said, the leader begins every session by first opening a can of beer as he proposes the day’s projects. Then the members choose a needle from Ishizawa’s set of more than 30, as if they were picking a favourite truffle out of a box of chocolates.
After threading the eye with a colourful thread, they choose a piece of scrap fabric to shape into something creative and maybe even useful.
“It’s just like mothers thinking up a dinner menu out of what’s in a refrigerator,” Ishizawa says. “We don’t measure every kind of seasoning. It’s like we taste too much salt in our dish, so we add curry powder to musk the taste. That’s what sewing means to us.”
“I have nothing else besides work that I do with full concentration,” Masayosu Yoshida, a 40-year-old computer-system-engineer, says. “But when I’m running a sewing machine, my hands know no stopping.”
The sewing circle members are pleased that they have overcome the prejudice and stereotypical image of sewing as a “girly thing to do,” Ishizawa says, adding they enjoy the feeling of satisfaction that comes from completing a project.
And now they have a new resolution to make something for someone special. – Sapa-dpa
30 Mar 2006, 12:47 pm
Just because Brits has good hands and vision, doesn’t mean he should be sent to the backline, as if his skills are out of place among forwards.
Why not leave him in the forwards, and take the view that all forwards should strive to gain the same skills Brits has, and thereby raise the standards of ball handling, passing, etc among the forwards?
30 Mar 2006, 12:52 pm
Keo
Have you been reading my notes!!??
Haha, this is so close to my thoughts about Brits, it is scary.
I remember last year when everyone raved about yet another good Brits performance and how he must become Springbok hooker, I usually replied saying “Yes, what a brilliant performance for a centre”
I also suggested that at the very least he must play flank because he won’t make it as a Bok hooker.
B16, many of his tries and brilliance has come from being in the midfield, that position fits him perfectly.
30 Mar 2006, 12:55 pm
B16
Agreed.
At least we have good handling in Os, Vic, Bakkies and Schalk.
Dont recall about the rest.
30 Mar 2006, 13:00 pm
Jak, agreed – good loosies and hookers should be able to combine well with the backs, and be able to play with similar skill – I think he’s just doing what any good hooker shoudl do, which is to combine well with the backs, esp in 2nd / 3rd phase play – I don’t think though that it justifies moving him to the backs – that’s a bit drastic.
Also, he’s quick and powerful over say 5 metres (close to the try line) but I reckon most other backs would catch him in a 50 metre sprint.
Lots of forwards have played well among the backs, esp in phase play (Skinstad, Matfield, Brits, etc) but I don’t think he’s a first phase backline player.
30 Mar 2006, 13:09 pm
B16
A 12 does not have to have searing speed, he need to be fast over the short distances, creating gaps and distributing very well.
This is exactly what Brits has done against my team the Bulls.
He sidestepped like no hooker could opening up gaps and he really gave the Bulls a headache.
On the other hand he is not as good at scrimmaging or the general expected forward play. Thus based on the primary skills expected from a hooker, he will not compete as well.
This was my argument with “Brits for Springbokhooker” fans last year: “But he is not a good hooker”
Only other option is to move him to 6 where he can contest for the ball and still be able to link up with the backs.
Point is, he is a brilliant footballer and I would love to see him play where he is best suited.
30 Mar 2006, 13:14 pm
I reckon the Brits should rather play openside flank ahead of centre, he would be explosive as an opensider … he would definitely give Smith & McCaw at getting to the breakdown first
As for centre, it would be an interesting move and definitely thinking outside the box but will the coaches do this, especially with their jobs at stake? Probably not if he is a SA bread coach … now the Aussies would definitely try it.
30 Mar 2006, 13:41 pm
If in NZ, S Brits would have been an all black by now, and most proberbly the incumbent NO 2.
30 Mar 2006, 14:19 pm
Keo
did you consider that it is impossible for a backline coach the antisipate where one of the tight forwards will be in his aplication of his defensive pattern ?
making it possible for a very mobile tight forward to leave his intended marker behind fromm phase to phase and unsettle the backs man on / man out pattern.
if brits was in the line he would be factored into this equation and would be unlikely to see the same results.
Flank maby but …
Big But ….
30 Mar 2006, 14:58 pm
I checked the stats: 181cm and 98kg.
About the same size as a big centre or a small flank? About the same as Gerge Smith..
The thing is that an inside centre must be able to work as a flanker to secure ball in the ruck as well, which is where I think his upper body strength would come in useful. HOWEVER: This si subjct to him haing the pace. He may have looked good in the past beating props on the outside, but can he cut the pace of the midfield, or when opposing hookers cut the line in his channel? He must have at least the pace of a typical inside centre, or else he will be a defensive liability at inside centre. Dunno about his distribution either…
I reckon he could be a very valuable asset at openside flank tho’…
30 Mar 2006, 15:24 pm
how did he get wasted? was it only for one game or does he do it all the time?? isnt there some rule against it
did he run on drunk or did he get it from his waterbottle or what?
sounds very strange
30 Mar 2006, 16:36 pm
Interesting article – wherever you play Brits, hooker or not, he’s a great player. Maybe if he went to OZ like Rathbone,we’de see all the skills & possibilities our coaches & supporters miss.
KEO may be wrong about using him at centre, perhaps the question is ‘if we can keep playing Schalk Burger out of position, why not Brits’
Like Brent Russel, he’s not perfect but are the brains trust making the best use of either players talents.
30 Mar 2006, 17:07 pm
Schalk Brits took a whole bottle of Rohypnol and it only made him blink………….. once!!
30 Mar 2006, 17:16 pm
Keo,
Trying to pave the road for Shimanga? I wonder
Uli Schmidt was smaller and lighter when he broke into the NTvl lineup in 1985, he faced the likes of Shawn Povey, Wessels Lightfoot and Chris Rogers who were all having a 30kg weight advantage on him, and so?
Britz is more than adequate hooker, his throws in can be easily rectified and with the ever changing Sormers locks’ combo it’s difficult to get consistancy, has it occured to you mate?
30 Mar 2006, 17:40 pm
i think keo is right about brits,
he se has displayed skills that are wasted in the middle of the scrum
only once it has been tried (a number of times) will anyone ever know for sure,
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