De Waal crucial to culling Cheetahs
17 Mar 2010
Willem de Waal is a better backline bet than the inexperienced Tim Whitehead given the nature of Saturday’s clash at Newlands.
Juan de Jongh is unavailable for the Stormers this weekend prompting a debate on who’s the best man to fill the void. Allister Coetzee told keo.co.za on Monday he would choose between De Waal, Conrad Hoffmann, Whitehead, Frikkie Welsh and Dylan des Fountain to replace De Jongh and the suspended Lionel Cronje in the match 22. The team will be announced on Wednesday afternoon, and it seems Whitehead is the favourite to wear No 12.
The move makes sense in that Peter Grant will remain at flyhalf where he’s enjoyed a good start to the season. His hard running at the advantage line keeps the opposition defence from drifting wide, and his distribution (complemented by Dewaldt Duvenage’s swift service) is creating opportunities for the men outside. It’s believed the Stormers coaches don’t want to play De Waal at No 10, as his strengths are not with ball in hand.
The Stormers have scored nine tries in the last two matches. They want to keep the momentum going, but is exposing yet another rookie the answer? Are they so certain they can run the Cheetahs ragged? The fixture is more likely to be a hard grind up front with tactical kicking the order of the day.
Whitehead impressed in the 2009 Varsity Cup and has been part of the Stormers’ squad since the beginning of the season. With Morgan Newman injured, he now finds himself in contention for a start in the Super 14.
Another option, which has enjoyed success at this level, would be to move Grant to No 12 and play De Waal at flyhalf. De Waal only recently returned from a long-term neck injury, and but for that injury, would have started the season at No 10 as per the Stormers’ plans. Grant was originally expected to partner Jaque Fourie in midfield with De Jongh providing cover on the bench.
This move offers the Stormers more kicking options at 9, 10 and 12, with the flyhalf possessing the ability to punt the ball 60m into touch instead of 40m. And yes, 20m can make all the difference when you add the kicks up over the course of 80 minutes.
Two weeks ago, the Cheetahs were on fire against the Hurricanes. They have some good tactical kickers in Naas Olivier and Meyer Bosman, who must be the dangermen this Saturday. The Stormers need a player capable of countering this duo. They haven’t been tested in the tactical kicking department this season – the Brumbies’ kicked a lot, but lacked accuracy – and they haven’t met a forward pack that have put them to the test. They may find both on Saturday.
Coetzee is right in saying youngsters need to be backed, but not at the cost of a game-winning strategy. The Stormers have won four from five, but don’t need to get overconfident at this stage. Coetzee has also repeatedly said he will make selections or player rotations according to the opposition, and as history suggests, Cheetahs fixtures are tailor-made for De Waal.
The Stormers’ flyhalf orchestrated a win over the central franchise in 2009 and has proved the Cheetahs’ undoing in the Currie Cup as well. The Stormers are sure to continue in their attacking direction when they head off on tour, but they want to depart for that trip on a winning note. The smart selection for the Cheetahs’ fixture is De Waal. The tough decision on whether to stick with his boot or revert to Grant’s running game should only be made next week.
By Jon Cardinelli
147 Comments
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17 Mar 2010, 13:22 pm
While attending a marriage seminar on communication, Gatiep & Meraai listened to the instructor declare:
“It’s essential that husbands & wives know the things that are important to each other.
“For instance, gentlemen, can u name ur wife’s favourite flower? ”
Gatiep leaned over, touched his wife’s arm gently and whisper…ed, “Self-Raising, ne?”
17 Mar 2010, 13:23 pm
@GrantV: 100. You forgot Peter Grant walks on water too.
17 Mar 2010, 13:24 pm
Wpw
Your heart must have been in your mouth..
Sadly the cobras couldn’t afford him.. He certainly would have been a better bet than davies..
Dolphins should go for him they are looking to build a young team there he would be a great skipper for them..
17 Mar 2010, 13:30 pm
@gunther:
Look, I think Niel is decent but I just dont think we should sign him… I dont like the guy ok??
And it is all Joe Maher’s fault!!
17 Mar 2010, 13:32 pm
Heavens Game
It will save the cost of a plane ticket on their tour..
They can give Brok Harris two seats..
and two meals ..
17 Mar 2010, 13:45 pm
@Transformation: @93 & 97 i was talking about gibbs and the green “grass”. get it? do you need a picture?
who said anything about gauteng? i don’t live in gp.
17 Mar 2010, 13:57 pm
@the peanut gallery: my bad…
17 Mar 2010, 14:11 pm
It’s either Frikkie Welsh at 12 or De Waal at 10.
Could and Should rather have been Cronje at 10 , Grant at 12 maar nou ja…..
17 Mar 2010, 14:16 pm
@wp_boytjie: Yeah,that’s what it should be…so logical to go De Waal 10,Grant 12 then..or sensible…
Duvenhage’s swift service…Is that a dig at January’s pisspoor service..?
17 Mar 2010, 14:21 pm
@wpw: 101
17 Mar 2010, 14:22 pm
@wp_boytjie:
Frikkie Welsh is an OUTSIDE center!!!
17 Mar 2010, 14:22 pm
@nama1:
I see the witou’s don’t get it!!!
Its cos its Higher Grade!!! lmao
17 Mar 2010, 14:27 pm
@GrantV: You can’t serious. Feel free to make such bold statements when Steyn’s not the reason why wp can’t make it to a tournaments playoffs.
17 Mar 2010, 14:28 pm
@gunther: 105 hehehehe
17 Mar 2010, 14:31 pm
@wpw: You cant be stealing from the Warriors again, Warriors gave Mickey Arthur to SA, which set them back for a season, Keep Shukri and for the record, Prince and Boucher returned home, you guys still have Zondeki, Peterson and Justin Kemp that we have given you
17 Mar 2010, 14:33 pm
JC – please stop writing this junk. you’re meant to be a reporter; feel free to report but please bear in mind that you aren’t a rugby expert’s backside so please stop using this site as a platform for your opinions about selection etc. Plenty of other bloggers have already shot down your ideas about starting de waal and moving grant to centre, so I won’t repeat what has already been said with varying degrees of eloquence. I will say that it would be a huge step backwards and would completely disrupt the pattern the stormers are developing. Good for Coetzee, Fleckie and co for backing a talented young player and all the best to Whitehead.
Keo – how about posting a rugby playing CV for each of your journalists on this site. I’ve got a feeling we’d have a few C-teamers in the bunch. I’m not saying that you have to be a great rugby player to be a great rugby-writer, but a guy like JC should get creative with interesting story ideas, interviews, report new facts and basically pull his finger out and do some real journalism. We aren’t particularly interested in his ‘expert’ opinions.
17 Mar 2010, 14:36 pm
@GrantV: bloody hell mate….
whats with the nick?
Bloggers going to want to moer you on this site….you gotta have a bullet proof vest with that nic if you know whats good for you.
17 Mar 2010, 14:39 pm
Shukri told Bouch & Kallis that they weren’t good enough to make his quota tjommie team … nice to see how that blew up in his face
17 Mar 2010, 14:39 pm
@toughnrumble: 116
Well said. Articles should be facts rather than selection opinions. Often a tough line to follow, but that’s true journalism.
Don’t agree with your second statement though as most rugby players make pretty horrendous writers, but that just moves it back to the fact that article shouldn’t be opinion pieces.
17 Mar 2010, 14:49 pm
@Mutant: Mate, have another read of my post – what I said was that you DON’T have to have been a great player to be a great writer, which I think you are, in fact, agreeing with. I think we’d all prefer to hear opinions from people who have earned the right to spout them off. JC could have found one or two rugby experts – players, coaches, etc, who feel that de Waal should be starting and outlined their arguments here, and whilst I might disagree with his sources, at least the piece is backed up. If you can’t find an expert who shares your opinion and can give some solid reasons, then either you’re a lazy journalist, or they all also think your ideas are ****! sorry – starting to rant again, but I think we’re on the same page.
17 Mar 2010, 14:50 pm
and they haven’t met a forward pack that have put them to the test.
JC have you even watched any of teh Stormers games
17 Mar 2010, 14:50 pm
@Mutant: @toughnrumble: guys, take Pissant’s word for it, he came out and said these okes, Simon, Jon, Ryan Vrede have are no doubt talented writers & have been doing it for years.
17 Mar 2010, 14:56 pm
@Transformation: If the Mighty Pissant said it, then it’s clearly true. I shall henceforth treasure each word these great men write as a hallowed oracle shared by kind gods with us mere mortals.
17 Mar 2010, 14:57 pm
@toughnrumble:
Its SIR Mighty Pissant to you
17 Mar 2010, 14:58 pm
Stormers by at least 14 against FS with a bonus point try with or without WdW
17 Mar 2010, 14:58 pm
@Alfred E Neuman: i grovel….
17 Mar 2010, 14:58 pm
@toughnrumble: Yip, we’re on the same page although I don;t agree with putting up a rugby-playing CV, that’s all.
@Transformation: No way I’m doubting their journalistic skills. I’m in the industry and the guys can write, there are some excellent articles here and in their mags. It’s just that this article is based on JC’s opinion, which is not journalism. Maybe he was tasked with writing an opinion piece, but I don’t think he’s got the pedigree to be doing those yet (whereas Keo does). The point is, we don’t really care what his opinion on team selection is – we’ve all got one. He should have got a qualified opinion from a coach or player, that’s all.
17 Mar 2010, 15:00 pm
@Mutant: 127. My, my… some professional bitching going on here
17 Mar 2010, 15:03 pm
@Mutant: fair play. i retract my request for playing CVs and acknowledge they are not relevant. my sudden urge to see JC’s rugby playing credentials was probably cruel and uncalled for, but was also a knee-jerk reaction to his self-appointment as an authority. And, it’s become a bit of a habit for the man – he quite regularly uses this site to bless us all with his latest thought on selections.
17 Mar 2010, 15:04 pm
@Heavens Game: LOL, yes but the rant is over! Thanks for bearing with it.
17 Mar 2010, 15:05 pm
@Heavens Game:
it is the professional era
17 Mar 2010, 15:05 pm
@Alfred E Neuman: Agreed…my picks are in and I went Stormers by 15
17 Mar 2010, 15:05 pm
@toughnrumble: I thought the same thing when I read the article. Its a bloody stupid idea to even suggest using dewaal at flyhalf.this from this from the same people that have been hypercritical of the stormers attack up until the hurricanes game. Realy poor journalism
17 Mar 2010, 15:07 pm
@Alfred E Neuman: 131. The professional area for SA rugby journalism?
Other than on Keo.co.za, I think not.
17 Mar 2010, 15:07 pm
So moving on, what’s your guys opinion? I’d say back the youth and play Whitehead. We’re always going on about the Kiwi’s and Aussies playing youngsters, time for us to back our systems and send the lighties onto the field. IMO.
17 Mar 2010, 15:12 pm
@Mutant: I dunno….Willem sure knows how to beat those Cheetahs…
17 Mar 2010, 15:14 pm
@Mutant: I agree. losing de jongh is going to be a disruption, but bringing whitehead in means that there’s only one position changed and from what I’ve seen of the lad, he’s talented and will allow the players around him to maintain the style and strategy that has been working so well. if you bring de waal in, then you’ve got a vastly different type of flyhalf and a very different kind of inside centre – your whole game plan changes and not for the better in my opinion.
Besides, this kid is highly rated and on the way up. De Waal is not exactly in his prime or playing anywhere his best rugby, so for me it’s an easy decision.
17 Mar 2010, 15:15 pm
anywhere NEAR his best rugby…
17 Mar 2010, 15:17 pm
@toughnrumble: OK…I’ll go with that
17 Mar 2010, 15:42 pm
Its short, sweet and simple
Any journo advocating moving Grant to 12 and bringing in De Waal at 10 needs to be shot.
Patently ridiculous…
17 Mar 2010, 16:01 pm
What is this country coming to?
LEGAL DRAMA IN DURBAN ….. You HAVE to read this!
UNBELIEVABLE !
A seven-year old boy was at the centre of a courtroom drama yesterday at the Durban High court when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible..
The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him.
After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.
After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to The Sharks whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.
17 Mar 2010, 16:03 pm
Whitehead is in… De Waal onthe benchwith Sireli..
17 Mar 2010, 16:04 pm
tim whitehead is selected… de waal on the bench
17 Mar 2010, 16:04 pm
@Mielieboer: 141. Substitute Surrender ******* (Lions) for Sharks and then the article is spot on.
17 Mar 2010, 16:05 pm
@Mielieboer:
17 Mar 2010, 16:07 pm
sorry… something seriously wrong with my connection to keo… took forever to post that… tried again too… hence two posts…
17 Mar 2010, 16:25 pm
maybe it’s with keo.co.za…
doesn’t seem to be refreshing or updating…
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