Boks need for speed
24 May 2006
Following the injury to Bryan Habana at the weekend, the Springboks are looking decidedly thin in the wing department.
Habana’s absence along with long-time injury candidate Ashwin Willemse means that out and out wingers are as rare as hen’s teeth in the current Bok squad.
Habana is only expected to return to the starting line-up in three week’s time – possibly against France in Cape Town – while Willemse is unlikely to get back onto a rugby field again this year.
This wing crisis was starkly illustrated at Tuesday’s afternoon practice at Shimla Park. Only 27 of the original 45-man squad were able to train, which in itself must be a major worry for coach Jake White, but more alarmingly not one of them were recognised specialist wingers.
As the squad was put through its paces by specialist coach Anthony Eddy, the two backlines – with only six men each – featured Andre Snyman and Ruan Pienaar on the wing at one stage. Pienaar though was restored to his usual position of scrumhalf a little later – he also ran for a bit at No 10 – and Gaffie du Toit, Brent Russell and Jaque Fourie took turns on the outside.
All three have played in either the No 11 or No 14 jersey, but du Toit and Russell are considered utility backs, while Fourie’s most potent position is at outside centre.
Granted the wing situation is expected to improve by the time the Vodacom Tri-Nations swings into focus, but the potential lack of pace out wide for the Tests against Scotland (2) and France could come back to haunt the Boks. Tonderai Chavhanga, who is also a recognised wing, did not take part in training, but was spotted at the team hotel. No official news was forthcoming.
A silver lining though is that France-based Breyton Paulse has not yet joined the squad and his experience will prove invaluable in what is fast becoming a problem position. Paulse is expected to fly in after the World XV match.
On another positive note, the forwards gave the new Enforcer scrum machine a torrid working over under the expert eye of World Cup-winning prop Balie Swart.
Boks currently on the injury list: Andre Pretorius (groin), Ashwin Willemse (leg), Bakkies Botha (Achilles), BJ Botha (neck), Bryan Habana (ankle), Butch James (groin), CJ van der Linde (leg), Danie Coetzee (foot), Eddie Andrews (shoulder), Gurthro Steenkamp (wrist), Marius Joubert (hand), Pedrie Wannenburg and Wayne Julies (knee).
By Andrew Hollely, in Bloemfontein
148 Comments
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24 May 2006, 09:16 am
fuzzy, you on your own on this one mate. There are many afrikaner okes on the site who post in english. c’mon, respect other peoples languages and culture.
24 May 2006, 09:17 am
24 May 2006, 09:17 am
Rasta
How old are the Ndungane’s? Thought they were young enough if Os,Percy etc are still doing OK.
I also thought that FrikkieWelsh’s inclusion was a terrible failure. Habs at 11 and Akona at 14 were doing fine.
Last year I would ahve said Akona over Odwa ,but Odwa’s rise this season makes me think that placing faith in him in the 45 squad and giving him a chance in some easier games is not a bad option. To me he (they) are mnore proven than Nokwe,Chavanga,Dlulane etc were when they got bok callups…. heck we need wings,and they have been pretty good and balsy even under the high ball.
24 May 2006, 09:18 am
Hmmm…maybe Jake reads this stuff so Im gonna try some subliminal messaging….tbc
24 May 2006, 09:18 am
whose poepols wet,
Hoe gaan dit my ou maat?
24 May 2006, 09:19 am
Blok julle my posts? Ek het gister ook met ****** Fuzzy gesukkel. Fuzzy jys is n “box” dont live in denial!
Homer 56
Gaan kyk op suparugby site. Daar is artikel oor Spencer. Lions wou hom koop maar hy wou R2miljoen he. Hulle wou of kon dit nie betaal nie.
24 May 2006, 09:21 am
psssst….Jake – RONNIE COOKE
24 May 2006, 09:22 am
I cant imagine Carlos enjoying it in Gauties. He seemed to hate SA when he played. Tony Brown was always more mellow and unassuming. I dont thiunk Carlos would really connect with the ouens in Jozie.He’d also get into lank pubfights.
24 May 2006, 09:23 am
http://www.suparugby.com homer Ek ernstig, dis onder by recent news (ek weet ek het dieselfde naam)
24 May 2006, 09:25 am
Suparugby,
They cant aford him because they have to pay ******** R7mil over the next few years.
Ludeke vs. Spencer mmmmh, Now that a difficult choice… what to do, what to do…
24 May 2006, 09:25 am
Fair enough ddrek
On the whole I agree with your points and they have done well this season.The older buggers you mentioned are seasoned internationals and I don’t think Jake will dish out new caps to the mid-twenties set too easily.They are definitely in my books far better than Nokwe,Chavangha or Frikkie Welsh.They are turn 25 the day before the World XV match.I am still concerned at the lack of quality wingers and as a whole find this position to be a worry.
24 May 2006, 09:26 am
Weet darem ook nie of Carlos week in en week uit wil verloor nie…
24 May 2006, 09:27 am
…are turning 25…
24 May 2006, 09:29 am
Redcard
Dalk as Ludicrious van al sy oorsese “courses” afkom is hy die volgende Robbie Deans!
24 May 2006, 09:32 am
psssst…RC
24 May 2006, 09:34 am
gaan goed stan. jy’s darem skaars deesdae.
24 May 2006, 09:37 am
let me go do some work. unlike the rest of you buggers…
24 May 2006, 09:41 am
Those who say Russell should’nt start because he is weak on defence should note that players like Paulse & Chavanga are no defensive masters. In fact both are probably weaker than Russell, & whilst I agree that Paulse offers more experience and Chanvanga offers more raw speed, neither come close to Russell in terms of creativity and Game breaking ability.
Only in SA can a player like Russell be ignored. Giteu, Robinson, Williams are all small players, not renound for their physical presence or defensive capabilities, yet they all regulars (well in Robinson case “were regulars”)for their respective national teams.
See the light Jake, play the Pocket Rocket!
24 May 2006, 09:42 am
Ja Rasta…glad we can chat unlike many oeuns here today ,humourous nonetheless.
If only we had a host of top centers then i would have no prob moving JDV to wing where he has been exceelllent before. But we dont have that luxury.
I just feel that given the situation….Jake should give ‘the best of the worst’ a chance.
I dont velieve in taking old boks and making them into wings just for experience factorDone it with MJ,Snyman,and Habs and JdV very succesfully admittedly. Ok so my arguments a bit floored here ,but I would rather see an wing with promise honed as a bok than a near hasbeen recalled. Their best days are always gone and the new talent is often unleashed wiuth nothing to loose and is also an unknown entity who takes the opposition by surprise for a season or two.
Habs is class but allteams will foul him and risk a penalty (as it selom gets worse)rather than concede a try.
24 May 2006, 09:45 am
Pete77
I agree with you bog time.
Es now the pocket man should atleast be on bench. He can cover so well.He is also not long in the tooth and has been playing all season.
Boks must however also play to his strengths.
When Breyton was dynamite I couldnt believe how little ball he got most games. Same is now the case with Habs and Pocket at times.
24 May 2006, 09:45 am
Sorry ‘big time’.
24 May 2006, 09:46 am
Stan post 88
Glad nie sleg gelyk nie nie, as dir nie vir die bietjie mank loop en die stut nie, sou jy nooit sê hy het ‘n besering nie
24 May 2006, 09:48 am
Hey I know….RC
24 May 2006, 10:25 am
Lighten up guys. If we want more overseas guys posting on this site, which I feel is good as it gives us another in sight into SA rugby, then we should not always use Afrikaans. No-one is saying all the posts should be in English. You have got to admit that most of the first posts where in Afrikaans.
24 May 2006, 10:44 am
as ons in ons moedertaal wil praat sal ons. As fuzzy net ordentlik vra is ek seker niemand sal omgee om te vertaal nie! dit gaan oor hoe jy dit benader! Go ATKV en kyknet!!
24 May 2006, 10:45 am
Fuzz, posts 27 & 90 refer:
You got on your high horse and started the insults.
You want people to be curteous towards you but you insult them?
No wonder everybody started telling you to get stuffed. Once you remove the chip from your shoulder, you’ll read my posts in context and maybe understand that asking, rather than insulting will get you a lot further. Insulting people without provocation does not say much about your calibre.
Anyways hope you are enjoying “the better things” to do. Have a cracker of a day.
Regards,
24 May 2006, 11:18 am
Agree with you ReCard, he did act like a wan$%r. The guys on this site would be a lot more accommodating if he has asked nicely.
On another matter, where is Dawn and Sharkgirl? What a turn on, ladies who know their rugby. I need a cold shower.
24 May 2006, 12:07 pm
coldwater,
The shower is for afterwards boet.
24 May 2006, 12:28 pm
Russel’s defence is suspect, Paulse is a damn good defender for his size. He isn’t scared to tackle and positional play is excellent. But it wouldn’t hurt to play Russel on the wing against the World XV although in tight matches it might be better to start him off the bench later in a game when the game opens up and the opposition don’t focus on taking advantage of his defensive frailties
24 May 2006, 12:30 pm
Rugbystudent i like your team. Andre Snyman will be in infront of Chavanga.But i like the idea of Gaffie on the wing, he has come along way since Mallet messed his head up.
24 May 2006, 12:37 pm
Thing is though White could play bosman at 12:
9. Pienaar/Januarie/Bolla
10. Jaco/Bosman/James
11. Gaffie/Habana
12. Bosman/JDV/James/Wynand
13. Fourie/Snyman
14. JDV/Paulse/Willemse
15. Monty/Jaco
Russel on bench
24 May 2006, 12:47 pm
Willemse is beseer vir lank! Bolla en Januarie voor FDP? Bosman nie goed genoeg vir starting line up nie!
9.Fourie/Pienaar
10.Jaco/Andre oor paar weke/Butch
11.Habana/Russel/Snyman
12.JDV/Olivier
13.Fourie/Snyman
14.Snyman/Paulse/Gaffie
15.Monty/Jaco/Gaffie
24 May 2006, 13:05 pm
Ya Gaffie is good, play him on the left wing. Isn’t he injured though? I’d play Paulse ahead of Snyman. And Jean has to be at centre, he’s our best attacking back and needs to be making play from midfield
24 May 2006, 13:09 pm
The World XV kicked off its three-match programme with a 64-14 win over a Saracens.
lol the okes must play.
24 May 2006, 13:09 pm
Chavhanga for the No. 14 jersey definately. He has done nothing wrong as a wing to warrant any criticism. Those giving him **** on this post are doing it due to his faults when he was at fullback, due to the problems that the Stormers had as a team. As a wing, he is perfect. Out and out pace for sure. This year, he absolutely gassed Soseni Anesi (fastest in NZ) and Sitivini Sivivatu and we all know what he’s done to Joe Rokocoko.
24 May 2006, 13:11 pm
yes lazy, now we just have to teach him to catch the ball.
24 May 2006, 13:15 pm
yeah chavange is good ,,, can check he wanna play rugby
24 May 2006, 13:18 pm
RedCard in regards to 51… Your Gran must have some serious gas to burn and a pretty mean sidestep.
24 May 2006, 13:18 pm
Can’t turn my back for 5 mins and everyone’s brawling.
24 May 2006, 13:20 pm
Lazyshaztqwbefwfwboy
WTF you talking about ? Chavanga is as kak as they come ! How on earth can you attribute him not catching a ball kicked on him to the poor form of the Stormers ?
To make him a good player you have to teach him: How to catch a high ball ; how to take a pass; how to make a pass; how to tackle.
His eyes grew wide
when some of the NZ backs ran onto him; he looked exactly like Mr Bean !!!
Absolute plonker !
24 May 2006, 13:44 pm
Nduganes brothers? Do they just disapear and then reappear at the Super 14 every year? How can one compare Gaffies speed to theirs. They are without a doubt along with BH the best finishers weve got
24 May 2006, 13:48 pm
They must start off with…
9.) Pienaar
10.)Jaco(only cause there is nobody else)
11.)Russel
12.)JDV
13.)JF
14.)Gaffie or Tonderai(Tonderai for speed)
15.)Monty
Snyman is a carthorse and must retire and paulse wont be there, and sadly Ndungane bros either.
24 May 2006, 13:53 pm
Dawn,
good to see you joined in at last.
24 May 2006, 14:14 pm
Rudebud Chavanga might not be good on the high ball but putting Carthoarse Gawie(who had failed us time and again) and gradpa Snyman is suicide. Chavanga just needs his head put straight and when he gets the lets be honest when he gets the ball no wing will catch him. He just needs training but I do agree he played **** this year.
24 May 2006, 14:15 pm
lazy, and you must see her pissing it up after a match!
24 May 2006, 14:44 pm
I’m trying hard to stir but no-one’s taking bait.
24 May 2006, 14:54 pm
Dimitri Yachvili at 9
25 May 2006, 05:34 am
Fuzzy, post #90;
No, we didn’t think you were a farm labourer.
We all realise from your outstanding grasp of spelling, grammer and punctuation that that you are a University lecturer in English Language.
Farm labour surely couldn’t express themselves as eloquently as you have!
(appologies to all real Farmers)
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