Deans gets defensive
3 May 2006
Crusaders coach Robbie Deans has defended his controversial decision to rest captain Richie McCaw for the second successive week in the Vodacom Super 14.
The All Black flank was left out of the match 22 for the champions crucial match against the Bulls at Loftus – one they must win if they hope to finish top of the log.
Deans told the The Press newspaper that McCaw had been “flat” after a massive workload and he wanted to make sure his skipper was “fresh and firing” for the challenges ahead.
Deans said he could understand people saying that it was risky to rest McCaw with the Crusaders yet to clinch a semi-finals berth, but he argued it was questionable whether McCaw would be back to his best without the break.
“It’s not just about nailing a semi-final place. Yes, we’ve got to do that. But it’s no good limping in there and getting spanked.”
To those who felt it was folly to leave out a world-class player from such a crucial match, Deans said people seemed to forget “Richie played against the Force and we didn’t win”.
He said the coaching staff had “picked the team we think will help us (win against the Bulls), and also to go forward from here”.
“The obvious thing is that Richie has benefited from his break, but we are not convinced, in consultation with him, that he’s right up there,” Deans said. “We don’t want to push him. We want to get him back up there … With the games ahead, it’s important to have Richie fresh and firing.”
29 Comments
3 May 2006, 22:34 pm
dragons
3 May 2006, 22:34 pm
Whooo-hooooo!!! I am first!!
Didn’t they see that Bands is not playing!?
3 May 2006, 22:35 pm
Tempting to slam them and laugh at the fear they have of fortress Loftus and how we klnow he’ll be targetted. Having said that Deans makes a good point in resting this Dragon again.
Hell if they cant secure a semi without him ,then they are not a wiinning team….and we know they are. theyw ont be so bad this weekend,but they might loose with or without him anyway. Whoever is taking his place will not be ‘flat’ and will be amped for the game.
I somehow feel if Burger got a few rests in the international game and someone like Watson played ,he would be so motivated i think he would be effective.
Time to give Schalk a rest anyway,before the Bok season begins. hope White is now asking the coaches to consider this.
I would however have liked to see MaCaw on the park as it would have been fun to watch whether he was on fire or getting spanked around the park.
3 May 2006, 22:43 pm
So Biltong boer ,we both thought we were 1st ,but you need to post a one worder to sneak them these days.
I think Deans makes these decisions. MaCaw doesnt strike me as a scared player….just a wize one. The guys too damn cool ,even when he looses ,he is gracious and seems to have some brain cells still,as his interviews are somewhat worth listening to,unlike the “we can take a lkot oif positives ” and “the boys showed karakterrr” ,and “there’s a lot of workto do this week”.
It bodes well for us they he will be fresh for the Brumbies and will miss this w/e ,as long as we dont have a false sense of our abilities at the breakdown as im sure the ne wboy ill be super focused at diving on loose balls faster than our back 3.
Cant wait,its gonna be almost as epic as the Sharks / Bulls game.
3 May 2006, 23:08 pm
oooh, i just got the most beautiful smile from Morne Steyn. VERY yummy in the flesh girls! (um, yes Stan, I’m a girl!). would have chatted him up if there wasn’t a blonde with him
Then again, hey, Stan, are you single?! haha! 
3 May 2006, 23:21 pm
Ikeys
What you studying babe?
3 May 2006, 23:23 pm
Hello Diesel, I’m actually an alumnus!
3 May 2006, 23:26 pm
Stan or Steyn?!
Stan is a miserable git on this website (sorry mate).
Steyn is the 10 for the Bully boys!
3 May 2006, 23:26 pm
Oh, how long ago?
3 May 2006, 23:28 pm
Stan is da man, the one and only quota loving man.
3 May 2006, 23:32 pm
Hehehe…Im sure he is!
3 May 2006, 23:35 pm
No man mackie, i did see Morne but I was just teasing Stan!
Dieselboy, a looong time ago, which would make me a cradle snatcher when it comes to Morne! hehe!
3 May 2006, 23:38 pm
Well, Ikeys.
Next time you see Morne, make sure you walk real slow.
Cause if you’d like him to tackle you, then you’d better do things in slow motion so he can actually get a good hold.
3 May 2006, 23:39 pm
Steyn does have a fetching hairdo, not so Ikeys?
Hehehe, that boy needs a girl in his life.
Ikeys, you couldnt help him out with that, purely for the spectators sake? Jeeez man when he goes for the poles you get a good minute of looking at his piss pot hairdo! Not good!
3 May 2006, 23:40 pm
Ek dink Stan het ook maar n piss pot hairdo!
3 May 2006, 23:41 pm
Agreed Mackie, but as Ikeys said: he was with a blonde.
3 May 2006, 23:43 pm
LoL@Diesel and Mackie!
3 May 2006, 23:48 pm
Dieselboy,
Well…I was gonna say Dieselboys but the plural thing bothered me so I didnt. Care to explain?
3 May 2006, 23:52 pm
Name of my fanatasy rugby team
4 May 2006, 01:05 am
Deans obviously knows what he is doing….why question a guru like him
4 May 2006, 03:36 am
I think Stan has the classic Saffas hairstyle like his grandfather used to have…military style with a “gat in die middel”.
Not to worry Stan, mine is fast going that way too…:-)
4 May 2006, 05:43 am
Hi. My first post here and possibly the last as I am **** at it. A little off topic but some people were mentioning in other posts about the sa rugby player stats. So as an interesting exercise and with JW’s “45″ in mind I went through all the stats and put together the current 1st, 2nd and 3rd XV springbok sides based on the stats. Where I was unsure of actual position i.e 4 or 5 I just went by order but where I knew the position I used that in the first instance. Some very interesting results and probably confirms the saying “lies, dammned lies and then statistics”.
Some glaring ommission, B Habana, B Botha and Os to name a few and some terrible inclusions like Earl Rose but here for your viewing pleasure are the results. At the bottom I have also included my own choice for the 1st XV only.
1st
1 Deon Carstens
2 Schalk Brits
3 Brendon Botha
4 Barend Pieterse
5 Victor Matfield
6 Jacque Botes
7 AJ Venter
8 Pedrie Wannenburg
9 Fourie Du Preez
10 Andre Pretorius
11 Odwa Ndungane
12 Jean De Villiers
13 Ronnie Cooke
14 Wylie Human
15 Percy Montgomery
2nd
1Pietman Van Niekerk
Tian Liebenberg
Eddie Andrews
Corneil Van Zyl
Ross Skeate
Schalk Burger
Wickus Van Heerden
Jacques Cronje
Ruan Pienaar
Naas Olivier
Giscard Pieters
Wynand Olivier
Adrian Jacobs
Frikkie Welsh
Earl Rose
3rd
Jaco Engels
John Smit
JD Moller
Andries Bekker
Willem Stolz
Ryno Van Der Merwe
Luke Watson
Ernst Joubert
Ricky January
Derek Hougaard
Jacque Fourie
De Wet Barry
Bradley Barrit
Aswhin willemse
J P Pietersen
Personal XV Choice
Deon Carstens
John Smit
Brendon Botha
Bakkies Botha
Victor Matfield
Schalk Burger
AJ Venter
Pedrie Wannenburg
Fourie Du Preez
Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen
Brian Habana
Meyer Bosman
Jacque Fourie
Jean De Villiers
J P Pietersen
For the record I am by birth a cats supporter but as I live in OZ I will generally support any SA team thats playing or is doing well.
Interested to hear (or read) your comments.
4 May 2006, 05:52 am
Yeah right. The previous thread by Andrew is such bull and now this more balanced one by Simon has really got us talking about Richie. The guy is not “scared” – since when can the captain sidle over to the coach and say “hey, I’m scared of these hairybacks – please leave me out”. It was the coach who made the call for the love of mike. In NZ 59% of respondents support rotating Richie out of the side for the sake of the guy’s performance in the semi’s and in the All Blacks.
Deans is no fool and has stated he wants Richie firing on all cylinders for the final home game vs the Brumbies – see http://xtramsn.co.nz/rugby/0,,12428-5730777,00.html
That game could be the decider for whether the Crusaders get to play a semi at home or not. It makes sense keeping firepower for that game as the Brumbies are more likely finals contenders than the Bulls (looks at the log man).
4 May 2006, 07:26 am
A lesson to be learnt for SA coaches,Deans is not a legend for nothing.Decisions like these are taken with the players interest at heart and one man doesn’t a team make.I for one can’t wait to see Richie firing on all cylinders in the semi’s,he is an immense player!!!
4 May 2006, 07:28 am
The guy is just terrified.
Noone says he has to play the whole game guys. He can sit on the bench and come on in the last 10 minutes if neccessary.
Hell, he can spend 5 minutes on the field if need be, or not all.
The fact that such a hoohaa is being made about the whole thing leads only to one conclusion : the Crusaders are afraid.
4 May 2006, 07:38 am
Resting McCaw against the Stormers would make less sense than against the Bulls.The Stormers have two quality flanks that compete well.There is no real need for McCaw against the Bulls as there loosies are easily countered at the breakdown.
4 May 2006, 09:21 am
Saffa in sydney
I like the look of your team. I will in the case of guthro steenkamp being fit pick him in the frontrow. Although AJ Venter has been playing really good I would go for Juan Smith, he really looked impresive for the cheethas before he got injured. Thus it would you would have to pick between AJ and Pedrie Wannenberg at 8. That would depend on what role you want your 8 to play. Pedrie is on fire so I would pick him with AJ on bench to cover both 7 and 8. I wont have pietersen in my team. He is a talent no doubt, but I will wait a year or 2 before putting him in my team on a regular basis. Maybe start by giving him 20 minutes against teams like scotland and the world 15. At 12 I think meyer will do a good job, but better than JDV? I dont know. But this does solve a problem on wing, as we will have 2 very good wings then. At 12 I would also have a look at wynand olivir for the southern hemisphere, and maybe barry for the northern hemisphere. I wish Dries Stoltz could regain some form, he could be amazing in northern hemisphere conditions, but its probably wishfull thinking as the guy hasnt played a great game in 2 years. Then there are also dark horses like Butch James and Aswin Willemse who could be fit for the world cup, and if they are fit and on form, they could be great for the cause as well.
Dont stop posting bud
4 May 2006, 09:44 am
saffa in sydney,
which stats are you talking about?
as for richie, he is clearly scared!!! bwahahahahaaaa!!! the decision was made after consultation with him.
robbie: hows you fealin mate?
richie: think i’d rather sit down coach
robbie: you scared richie?
richie: bloody scared coach
robbie: ok have a rest mate, i’d be scared too
lmfao
5 May 2006, 01:40 am
JUSM,
on sarugby.com they have a stats centre which will tell you just about everything you want to know about any player or team. Stuff like tackles made and missed. Meteres gained etc etc.
Yoda thanks for the welcome. I will try to post regularily. I agree with you about JP Pietersen, I guess what I was trying to do was to make the Fullbakc position a bit more attack orientated. Dont get me wrong, It hink Percy is a legend but I do feel he is not as agressive on the counter anymore and in todays rugby it seems most tries come from broken play counter attacks.
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