Now that’s what I call proper planning.

I may not have seen much S14 (thanks Sky!), but the last game I saw, JDV was running sideways against France & cutting off all the space for his outside backs.

Lets face it he has only performed on the wing so far. He may have the skills but he has not shown them when its counted.

12 is the problem we need a playmaker to put his hand up.

Wrt Habanna – the problem is that with all his speed, he does not do anything else, he is not the complete winger, but he does seem to have a good awareness and can spot a gap, so maybe a 13 run would be fine. Should depend on form, between Jaques & him – will be nice to have some competition for the jersey.

If JW wants a bit more creativity – perhaps he should look at his backline coach & flyhalf / scrum half & tell them to unleash the backs & stop kicking (this would mean Fourie D Preez would need to be excluded from all games where we plan to play running rugby – but that does not seem too much of a loss!

Why did he model his position on Bo’D, cause the ‘useless’ Lions management said they will only be interested in him as a midfielder. However they need to know if he is committed to make the move. They then tasked him to write a 5000 word essay on who he thinks is the best midfielder and why. This was only 3/4 or so years ago and he has not been tested at a higher level.

Could argue that needs to be tried before cut out, if it was up to me I will insist an improvement in his defence before considering the move.

I took it as such don’t worry. I could have added Heineke Meyer to that list too. HM needs a good backline coach (Carel ?) to get the Bulls to fire on all cylinders.

Habana did not make his name at centre, everybody was amassed by his inclusion in the Springbok team. Jorrie Muller was the Lions leading try scorer the year BH entered the fray (& exited from the Lions) in less games.

And most of his try’s were scored wide emphasising his finishing abilities or from a typical AP bullet pass into a gap that the just run through with all his pace (which he clearly has). These try’s can still be scored if he is 11 (ala Rathbone and Tiquiri, don’t think he is physically as a strong runner as them though)

Habana is not a bad tackler but a useless defender, he might actually do well at fullback where he can use his pace in defence. He might just even loose the ‘intercept is the best defence’ mentality when at 15. This is not my opinion as his line has openly been targeted by many teams the last 2 years. With him and JdV next to each other the midfield will be one big gap.

He is not creative and has never shown any sign of creating opportunities, what he does do often (not nearly consistently enough looking at the Springbok games as people might argue lack of opportunity with the Bulls) is exploit a opportunity or even a half opportunity created for him.

I tend to agree on Carel and if Kitch is a Scot all the better for my theory.Regarding the days of yore I am not familiar enough to comment.It was however a toungue in cheek statement and not meant to offend.Ek is n “detribalised ********” n afrikaanse seuntjie wat n engelse skool bygewoon het.

We all know that Jake loves big players (Paulse is tiny), Jake has also said how we lack pure pace outwide (Paulse has lost his afterburners) so we must conclude that Jake has other reasons for picking him.

The guy deserves repect and has alot to offer the Boks as a second stringer and has even more to give to the Currie Cup/Super14.

Kitch was a Scot if I remember correctly (not Afrikaans).

I don’t want to go into this but Carel DuP lay’d the foundation for Mallett’s success and he’s defintely not a Soutie. Buurman van Zyl wasn’t a Soutie – and no-one beats him in my books. In Van Zyl’s time we didn’t compete internationally but if we had he would have made all Soutie coaches look like Souties.

no its more than size, it is athletic powerfully built wingers that are the biggest difference in the modern game. Mordt would have been perfect. Even that old little guy for France, is very powerful in breaking half-tackles and finishing off. These wings ask more questions outwide in a game with less space and better defences.

If size matters at wing, then Pierre Spies should be moved back there.