Deysel best of dirt-trackers
17 Nov 2009
Keo.co.za brings you the South Africa player ratings from their loss at Wembley.
Ratings out of 10:
Earl Rose – 6
Nice touches with ball in hand, but his tactical use of the boot wasn’t good enough and isn’t strong enough in the air for an international fullback.
Odwa Ndungane – 5
Looked disinterested again and doesn’t have the strength, power or pace for an international winger. With the Boks on attack and in a hole, he simply lost the ball in contact too easily.
Juan de Jongh – 6
Finished well for the first try, but thereafter tended to hold on too long when had options out wide. Has a good break, but tries too often to take on defenders, who read him easily as the match went on.
Wynand Olivier – 6
Did all the basics of a No 12, something which Adi Jacobs can’t do for the Test team. His hit on former team-mate Derick Hougaard would’ve pleased him, but more importantly showed his defensive ability and physicality. Was also productive in setting up second phase, securing the ball well and setting a target for his forwards. A must starter for the remaining two Tests of tour.
Jongi Nokwe – 7
Looked dangerous with ball in hand on numerous occasions with his inside backs giving him plenty opportunities in the opening half. Chased well for his first try and was on hand for the second.
Ruan Pienaar – 5
An anomaly at flyhalf, does one decent act followed by something poor, but more negatives than positives. From the first kick-off opted to run from deep and handed Saracens three points inside the opening minute. Bettered Hougaard in the tactical kicking game when he did use the boot, but in the second half especially didn’t opt for territory enough. Is just too inconsistent all-round to start at 10 in Tests, and in his goal-kicking.
Heini Adams – 6
Taken off at half-time after making some sniping breaks, but his service lacked precision at times. Also doesn’t offer a decent kicking option, but probably should have been kept on as Francois Hougaard hadn’t had regular game-time at No 9 in ages.
Ashley Johnson – 5
Not as industrious as his fellow loose forwards. Contested a high ball well for Nokwe’s try, but also made some basic mistakes in decision-making when running from deep.
Jean Deysel – 8
Willing ball-carrier, but couldn’t benefit from a disorganised Bok attack at times. Strong defence and added some grunt around the contact points in a physical contest with his pack largely going backwards at the set-pieces. Will have made Peter de Villiers realise he was wrong to originally leave him out of the squad as Deysel must now be in Test contention.
Dewald Potgieter – 6
The captain made some good steals at the lineout, while was also solid at receiving kick-offs as Sarries attempted many straight down the middle. However, lacked discipline at the breakdown at times.
Andries Bekker – 6
Showed great pace in a run that could have resulted in a 75m try, but was also willing to do the hard work and play tighter without Rossouw starting. Taken off at half-time to save him for the Italy Test.
Alistair Hargreaves – 4
Late replacement in the starting line-up for Danie Rossouw and on occasions didn’t even have the strength to clean out one player at ruck-time. Was tossed around and in grave need of a notable bulking course sometime very soon. Until then shouldn’t find himself in a Bok jersey again. More suited to the looser role when Rossouw came on.
CJ van der Linde – 5
Started strongly at scrum-time but worryingly off after 10 minutes as his injury worries look like they aren’t behind him.
Adriaan Strauss – 6
All over the park in the loose, but as the scrum creaked so the rest of his game faltered. Missed his jumpers more as the match went on.
Heinke van der Merwe – 3
Late replacement for Wian du Preez in starting his first game since 18 April, nearly seven months to the day. Had to move to tighthead with Van der Linde’s departure after 10 minutes, and struggled technically. This judgement is not his fault however, he’s not a No 3 and was an unfair position to put him in. Coach De Villiers must take the blame for the Bok scrum being marched back yet again as this was his selection.
Subs:
Bandise Maku – Not enough time to be judged.
Wian du Preez – 5
Came on for Van der Linde after initially being pulled from the starting XV. Solid with ball in hand, but with his tighthead struggling, couldn’t make an impact at scrum-time.
Danie Rossouw – 6
On at half-time for Bekker and as he only had 40 minutes should be able to start against Italy. Useful ball-carrier in getting his team over the advantage line.
Davon Raubenheimer – Not enough time to be judged.
Francois Hougaard – 3
On at the start of the second half and his charged down kick brought Sarries back into the game via Ernst Joubert’s try. The Bok No 9 shouldn’t have gone into the wheel and made many errors in a poor half of rugby from a talented scrumhalf.
Meyer Bosman – Not enough time to be judged.
Riaan Viljoen – 4
Some poor decisions at the back when a cool head was needed.
By Grant Ball
112 Comments
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18 Nov 2009, 12:08 pm
All say after me, Grant Ball is a drol.
18 Nov 2009, 12:19 pm
I believe the Springbok management missed a major trick on this tour. I will use Meyer Bosman as an example for my argument, but feel there are a few more players like him. One of the main objectives for this for this tour was to test our depth for WC 2011. One of the areas where we needed to test our depth was at inside centre, seeing that JdV left for Europe (although he might return by 2011, we still needed to find who was our best 2nd and 3rd choice inside centre).
The Boks chose three inside centres for this tour – Jacobs (PdV said so from the start), Olivier and Bosman. One would then assume that these three players were seen as the best three players in their position currently in SA. What I do not understand is, why would you give one of the three players 3 test matches, one two midweek games ( and bench for tests) and the thrid player only 27 minutes of rugby on the tour. What is that going to tell you about all three’s ability to handle pressure, play different conditions and who is really no 1, 2 or 3.
Wouldn’t it have made sense to decide before the tour (bar injuries) that Adi should play France and Ireland, Wynand play against the Tigers and Italy and at least give Bosman one full game to prove what he is about. At least give all three and opportunity to show what they can offer the current management.
The problem I see is that we have seen nothing new from Wynand at Test level as what we have seen before. He wasn’t much better or much worse than in his previous outings in the Green and Gold. Adi at inside centre is an experiment, one that’s not that convincing at the moment. The only other player on tour in this position who hasn’t played under the current coaching staff was Bosman, but he only got 29 minutes to prove himself and show that he can offer.
This tour was a perfect opportunity to see if players like Bosman could be an alternative to Olivier and Jacobs, whether they could deliver the goods. I do not think Bosman would have made less of an impact in the game than Olivier or Jacobs, but he could’ve brought something different. We will never now. The same goes for quite a few other players. The Bok management missed a golden opportunity last night.
18 Nov 2009, 12:26 pm
#98 Charlie:
#88 moedeloos:
Amen.
I don’t know what game Grant was watching, but it wasn’t this one.
I can’t believe that he takes a swing at Adi in a game that he didn’t even play in.
Rose (surprisingly) played very well. Apart from one great tackle Meisiekind was ****! To give them the same score is a joke. Grant then has the audacity to say that Rose “isn’t strong enough in the air for an international fullback”, but he calls Olivier a “must starter” for the rest of the tour. WTF?
Grant at least had the honesty to give Adams a bigger score than Hougaard (although I think Adams deserves more than a 6). However, he calls Hougaard “talented”, but Adams’ “service lacked precision” and apparently he can’t kick?
We know the writers on this site are a bunch of opinionated hacks, but can’t they at least try to hide their personal agendas?
18 Nov 2009, 12:30 pm
Last year PdV was experimenting… this year he got it spot on. Give him another season with these boys and they’ll be picking up 8′s and 9′s in the ratings, unless Grant Balls is doing it. Ballas is a quota journalist and dont deserve to rate any players
18 Nov 2009, 12:44 pm
#104 The Dude: i think that is what i will refer to them as in future. Keo’s quota-appointments.
18 Nov 2009, 13:33 pm
#103 siener: I agree with you – Rose was very good – and I am not usually a fan of his. I didnt think Olivier was that good either.
You have to be objective when rating the players not pushing through your own agenda and feeding the mindless on keo as to what their opinions should be!
18 Nov 2009, 15:24 pm
wynand olivier a must start for the bok team.Dont talk kak.This poster boy for you kno who is just plain popo.He is not yet a hol haar of ADI.
18 Nov 2009, 15:29 pm
Grant gaan speel met jou ballas
18 Nov 2009, 15:32 pm
#108 saru1983: HUH???
18 Nov 2009, 16:10 pm
Grant se ballas ryk soos vrot eier.
Ps! Clearly the effects of the anthem has not worn off yet. We cannot win another match again. Only Roseanne Barr can break the curse…
18 Nov 2009, 23:37 pm
#35 stephen: Many apologies, it was late at night when I posted that and I was being ignorant. My apologies to Grant, but my point still stands that Hargreaves had a good game and that it would appear he wrote this before the match started. My bad for being a moron though…
18 Nov 2009, 23:39 pm
#35 stephen: Actually, I take my apology back. He changed the wording of that after I made my post. He got it wrong initially, so meh.
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