Comments on: Three try flurry saves Stormers

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 10:14:06 +0000

No stress he did play most of last year outside Aaron Mauger.

By: David

David — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 09:58:51 +0000

rasta
You’re quite right, I realised that just after I’d posted.

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 09:25:13 +0000

David

Umaga has played both inside and outside centre after moving to midfield.He played his first 18 Tests on the wing.It was only against England in the Grand Slam that he moved outside as Conrad Smith was injured.

By: David

David — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 09:12:31 +0000

Rasta
Umaga plays outside centre. Personally, I don’t think there’s any fixed requirement other than the basics. Any player, at this level, must be able to tackle. Centre pairings are like marriages, they develop their own dynamics. Some work, some don’t.

By: boeja

boeja — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:50:59 +0000

I think de wet played very well at inside centre! think jean must be moved to wing and jouba back to outside centre! BEKKER really played awesome did excellent to steal lineouts hit the rucks got all his own lineouts and had a few good runs!! nevermisses a tackle.naas kicking was poor

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:40:43 +0000

Jongi Nokwe will never be a decent CC player let alone at a higher level.Benjamin has heart,but without the pace and skills to match will always dissappoint at CC level.For the sake of these two I hope they proove me wrong,but I have seen nothing that inspires any hope in either player so far.

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:38:42 +0000

De Wet is on form as displayed yesterday the best inside centre in the country.It follows a pattern in world rugby,tough nut at inside centre often equals great team eg Umaga for the Blacks.There is no place at any level for an inside centre that cannot defend strongly.

By: Andre_WP

Andre_WP — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:36:43 +0000

It’s a pitty that the youngsters in the team are not performing at all. They got great speed but there ball handling skills are up to ****. I hope they will sort this out during the CC. I think we going to have a different CC team this year. Hopefully we will do beter in the CC

By: boeja

boeja — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:33:58 +0000

I watched the game for the second time this morning!
Bekker and Barry had absolute blinders!! Benjamen was bad bad bad nothing new he cant catch a ball!! Grant did well when he came on for Naas.

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:31:21 +0000

All this miserable season shows for the Stormers is:
1.You cannot employ a coach with little CC experience.In the Super 14 you are measured against the best.Any frailties will be identified and exploited.
2.Playing players out of position does not work at Super 14 level for the same reason as above.
3.Coaches need to make better use of the squad system.13 matches is a long season and against top quality opposition players will struggle at some point.Rotate the players and pick players according to gameplan,that is assuming you have a half decent one.
4.Springboks need to step up to the plate if you are to compete.Great article on rugby365 regarding contracts and comfort zones.
5.Coaches need to work with players at Vodacom cup level in order to iron out weaknesses and build confidence.Then only introduce the players to Super rugby.
6.No player should be played on reputation alone.If Jean de Villiers is out of form drop him.He can always play his way back in.The cream will always rise to the top.
7.There is a lack of quality forwards coming through in the Cape.How is it that a province with some of the finest rugby schools and arguably the best University cannot produce more quality players.
8.There is always room for experience and the Sharks have shown that a few tried and trusted campaigners can make a world of difference.
9.The media is not the place to berate players and rather than excuse after excuse front up identify what’s wrong and work on it.The fans want a plan not excuses.
10.No one man is going to save a franchise.The appointment of Mallett is a step in the right direction,but it will need a team effort at management level to improve the situation.

Possibly the most hard-hitting truth is you can’t win everything all the time.If you want to build then at least have a plan and stick to it. You simply cannot chop and change at a whim.

By: bossies

bossies — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:07:29 +0000

Andre – the stormers can be glad to win the game. They played like people forced to be on the field – no commitment, no guts, no will no nothing. I am a big wp/stormers supporter, but it’s like masturbating with a cheese grater, slightly amusing, but mostly painful

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 07:10:52 +0000

Cats may have won 3 of the last 4 against Bulls in Super rugby,but a win today is like a donkey winning the July Handicap.The Force have shown much more promise this year than the Cats and as a virgin team,I think they can only go from strength to strength.

By: David

David — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 07:07:43 +0000

Andre
The difference is that the Force are coached by John Mitchell not Ludeke.

By: Andre_WP

Andre_WP — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 06:49:36 +0000

It came as a shock to me that the Stomers came from behind and win the game. It was there best game up to date this year. Looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Now for today , mmmmmm what a upset will it be if the Cats beat the Bulls. Look at ysterday what did the force do with them Saders. Unbelieveble !

By: David

David — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 06:48:21 +0000

Rasta,
There was an interesting meeting last week of the Bulls Rugy Union. Apparently the amateur union wanted the academy players to be under their control, not the professional association.
They wanted them available to club rugby.
I don’t know the outcome, but they may have pinpointed one of our problems. The move into competitive senior rugby is a massive wakeup call for kids that have been confined to age group competition.
All of a sudden big kids who dominated due to their size are brought down to earth and need to develop other skills to survive.
It also develops the sort of character that we seem to be lacking at senior level.
I get the feeling that our emerging youngsters are too protected by the academy system. It could also explain why our coaches are reluctant to blood them until it’s too late.
Lets face it, the rugby field is, at times, a battle for survival not an intellectual exercise.

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 06:04:40 +0000

I can in fact remember when there was debate in NZ as to how long Carter would remain in Mehrts’ shadow.It took him the best part of two seasons to beat off the other challengers and stand up as the next best replacement.

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 06:02:42 +0000

David

The loss of “key” players highlights the short-sighted approach in SA.In politics etc. there is the process of succesion.A replacement must be groomed and when said “key” player moves on his replacement elect steps up to the plate.The Crusaders didn’t whinge after the loss of Mehrtens and Marshall but had ready replacements available.One just happened to be King Carter,but I am sure he didn’t just pop out of the blue.We seem to hope that we will find the right player ready to beat the world.It is this lack of depth that should be addressed on a long term basis.The correct structures are there to nurture players and correct weakpoints in their game.

By: David

David — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 05:49:17 +0000

Rasta
You’re quite right in what you say. The problem is that our S14 sides seem to be in a permanent state of “building”.
Even the Bulls are claiming that they’ve lost key players. When you consider that the best they’ve done is to sneak a semi last year it doesn’t say much for their “key players”.
What I find dismal is that if they’re aware that the pack has been weakened, why the **** don’t they change their tactics to compensate instead of sticking with the same old 10 man approach.
Most of the time, I think, our coaches suffer from a severe lack of rugby intellect and imagination.

By: rastafox

rastafox — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 05:21:17 +0000

Early start this morning!!!

By: David

David — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 05:14:43 +0000

An extremely thoughtful post, rastafox, especially for that time of the morning.