Big Joe to fill big boots
19 Jun 2006
Joe van Niekerk is the favourite to play in the No 6 jersey against France.
Jake White played Van Niekerk as an openside option against Australia a year ago and has always believed this could be Van Niekerk’s best position. With the injury to Schalk Burger, White has the option of reintroducing Wikus van Heerden or of being more expansive and giving Van Niekerk the jersey.
It would be conservative to bring back Van Heerden. He is a solid but is not a match winner. With White not going to pick Luke Watson as an openside specialist, the most logical option would be to go with a player familiar with White’s playing structures. And that means Van Niekerk.
It would be the least disruptive and it would also mean being able to pick the physical Jacques Cronje at No 8.
White has now lost Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie and Burger in the space of a week.
There’s a message in that.
87 Comments
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19 Jun 2006, 13:41 pm
Pruik Paulse pulled a hair muscle….
19 Jun 2006, 13:42 pm
If we could get Jonah Lomu to run over Mike catt again,that would be pretty funny!
19 Jun 2006, 13:42 pm
Dood?
Oh please is there really anyone out there that considers a win in the Amateur era to be a WC success? Come, come now surely not even the most die hard SA rugby fan would consider it a RWC success. I saw 95 more as an amateur rugby festival. I didnt even know there was a winner?
19 Jun 2006, 13:42 pm
Lyk my die kapenaars is nie gebou vir n harde sport soos rugby nie….
19 Jun 2006, 13:42 pm
What do they have to do with english rugby?
we have saffa’s playing in those teams!!!
eish StM you are looking like a real idiot now mate.
19 Jun 2006, 13:44 pm
the dood,
StM believes that rugby was invented in 2003.
the 100 years before that is of no consequence to him…
19 Jun 2006, 13:45 pm
england do not have a great rugby heritage, and therefore simply do not have understand the importance and meaning of each and every game as a test match.
proper rugby nations like the kiwis, saffas and welsh do.
19 Jun 2006, 13:47 pm
The only thing that is relevant to StM in reference to 1995 is that he bought his brain for Z$1995.
19 Jun 2006, 13:48 pm
By the way I think they ripped him off.
19 Jun 2006, 13:48 pm
yup,I’ve noticed that he seems to be a bit ignorant.
But he’s like all poms,ignorant and arrogant!
If he opened up his mind and tried to be a little unbiased then maybe he’d realise that there are some excellant players out there.
Like I said,I usd to think he was trying to annoy us,but now I realise he’s just an idiot!
Maybe he should stick to football!
19 Jun 2006, 13:52 pm
StM, not sure about the the new zealenders being english, seem to be largely derived from maori and celtic stock.
But, I am quite happy being grouped into the non-anglised category, there is an honest passion that the celts play with that is only matched by the boks who share the unpredicatbility of the french. there is after all a big french influence in SA. viva the gaul.
19 Jun 2006, 13:52 pm
Wow St M
You are one seriously funny MoFo.I can only appreciatte that dry British humour of yours. Some of the funniest things I have encountered are poms taking the piss out of themselves.How you manage this so well and still maintain a serious manner only you will know.
Lest we forget the might of the English in the 6 nations.What with a dour loss to the inferior Scots,a defeat at Irish hands in London no less and I believe a 31-6 hammering by the French in Paris.It seems you finished fourth not even a bronze medal there chap??
19 Jun 2006, 13:53 pm
throughout history england got f-ked over time and time again.
they tend to hang on to insignificant little achievements that mean f-all to the rest of us.
what ever makes them tick i suppose.
19 Jun 2006, 13:56 pm
Luke Watson
19 Jun 2006, 13:57 pm
Big Joke can’t even fill his own boots
19 Jun 2006, 13:59 pm
This is bad for south african rugby , so many injuries so early in the year. Sorry to hear about Schalkie.
19 Jun 2006, 14:05 pm
Rastafox,
Guilty as charged to the set of results. Scotland was just one of those things. It happens to England every 5 years or so. And those little Irish gits! Arent they just a pesky outfit? The French result was poor. But for me its adds to the rich tapestry of the game. I guess its why HQ is always a sell out and the Boks have to give thousands of free tickets to school kids and still not fill a 25,000 capacity stadium.
Since the game went professional England enjoy a winning record against all but 2 teams in world rugby. And at home a winning record against all but one. But people forget in the days of Johnson, Leonard and Delaglio England did lose. I can remember defeats against all the top test playing nations (Aus, NZ, Wal, Fr, Ire and Scotland) and even due to an Andre W*tson special as video ref England once lost to SA in Bloemfontein and a home defeat in 96 I believe?
19 Jun 2006, 14:05 pm
Chemical Joe would like to fill Bolla….
19 Jun 2006, 14:06 pm
Why is everyone banging on about the message?
19 Jun 2006, 14:09 pm
Hallo Dawn…
19 Jun 2006, 14:10 pm
Read elsewhere that DR (Pakslae) was running in place of Burger…
Our slowest ‘flank’ against the French?!
Joy…
19 Jun 2006, 14:11 pm
saint prick, southern hemisphere teams are group together because of their style of play, mainly cause of the weather that allows, please do not ever compare ur **** hole of a country to the greatness that is sanza
19 Jun 2006, 14:16 pm
greenbok,
This is not Danie’s fault. We should blame White.
19 Jun 2006, 14:26 pm
The physical Jacques Cronje? Was this a joke. Cronje is oneof the biggest boks but for some reason a tackler half his size will drive him backwards. Pedrie had a great Super 14 and deserves a chance before Cronje, as does any other flank/8th man in SA. My choice would be AJ at 8.
19 Jun 2006, 14:31 pm
St Michael
If you are going to start bringing in facts to back up your ramblings,please make sure you get them right.
SA played England at Twickenham in ’95 (24-14 win),’97 (29-11 win – Snyman scored a great try-caught the English defence flat-footed) and in ’98 (13-5 loss).
19 Jun 2006, 14:38 pm
StM…. spewing forth dregs of ****.
19 Jun 2006, 14:41 pm
xsaffa
Ask the Kiwis about their glorious sunfilled days and dry playing conditions. It’s only SA and Oz that rely on dry fields. That’s the genius of the current ABs. They display the type of ball handling and running skills that are generally confined to dry weather conditions.
19 Jun 2006, 14:46 pm
David, their handling is frighteningly good, some rare knockons in the 1st test, but on their day if they really get it together, they can destroy anyone.
were 18-0 up againt the irish after 30mins, but credit to the irish chaps for coming back, the rain probably helped.
19 Jun 2006, 14:50 pm
Agree with Bok Fan. AJ should be in line for the boks.
19 Jun 2006, 14:50 pm
Danie Roussow has been running as blindside with Juan Smith at openside and Joe at 8.Habana has also run at 13 with Fourie on the sidelines doing some work alone.
19 Jun 2006, 14:53 pm
Cab
The one thing that most people miss is that the ABs play in conditions not dissimilar to the NH yet manage to combine the skills of both hemispheres.
The Boks are much more at home in Oz and the NH teams should have no excuses about playing conditions in NZ which should suit their style.
19 Jun 2006, 14:56 pm
yes, very true.
19 Jun 2006, 15:12 pm
The English really only have one stadium to play at. Loftus, Ellis Park, Newlands would be fill when playing the French, All Blacks etc, with tickets at a decent price.
Thw Twicks tickets are reasonably priced, for the pound, and the English are desperate enough to grab a glimpse of their team winning – fleeting as it is, to preserve the memory in the hell times to come.
19 Jun 2006, 15:30 pm
Hope Schalk Recovers. Joe to Replace and pedrie at 8. wknd team
1.Os
2.smit
3.Eddie
4.Danie
5.Big vic
6.Joe
7.Juan
8.pedrie
9. Du preez
10. Jaco
11. Bryan
12.Julies
13.wynand
14.Gaffie/Brent
15.percy
not my favourite but it’ll be that way
19 Jun 2006, 16:55 pm
The whispers become shouts, then screams. Now are we going to keep out top 35 players out of the Super 14 and Currie Cup? Are we going to rectify the heavy travel schedule of our players in the Super 14? Are we going to reconsider our participation in the Super 14?
The time is now.
19 Jun 2006, 19:37 pm
The only player worthy of filling Burger’s shoes is Luke Watson. Now Jake can be slightly satisfied with him. Luke was seen jumping against the World 15.
20 Jun 2006, 07:46 am
According to MWeb, “when the Springboks trained at Bishops on Monday, it seemed as if Juan Smith would move the other side of the scrum.
Danie Rossouw, who produced the best performance of any Springbok in Port Elizabeth, then can move from lock to No 7, with Bakkies Botha returning to the lock position.â€
“Danie has always been a flank who also played at lock,†said White.
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