Power and precision
11 May 2011
GAVIN RICH, writing in SA Rugby magazine, says Willem Alberts offers a lot more than physicality.
There is sometimes a tendency in South African rugby for the critics to overdo it in both directions when a new player comes on to the scene. As Nick Mallett once said, too often purple prose is wasted on praise when it is premature, and this can be more dangerous than the castigation that is a by-product of the passionate support the sport enjoys.
So it wasn’t surprising that when Willem Alberts burst on to the Springbok scene last season with two crucial tries in successive matches as a replacement, there were those who wanted to be cautious.
‘For heaven’s sake, improve your rugby knowledge, you can’t just select a guy for the starting team because he finished off two try-scoring movements,’ we said to those who were queueing up to elect the big Sharks flanker as South African rugby’s most important citizen. There was some merit in the caution, as the try against Scotland was the direct result of a poor opposition throw and all Alberts had to do was catch the ball and fall over the line.
It is true that Alberts still has it all to do as an international rugby player, and back then a healthy degree of scepticism was justified. Alberts owed his place in the Springbok match day squad to the absence of Schalk Burger, who was the target of a famous Alberts trademark thumping tackle in the Currie Cup final in Durban the week before the Boks’ departure.
Alberts may not even have been a first-choice player for the Sharks in those games were it not for the injury that ruled the impressive Jean Deysel out of the Currie Cup season and which has kept him sidelined for the past eight months.
But Alberts has followed up his end-of-year tour exploits by hitting this season running, and by round six of Super Rugby it would have been hard to name any other Sharks player – with the possible exception of Bismarck du Plessis – as the franchise’s most valuable player.
Statistics don’t tell you everything there is to know about a player, but in the loss to the Chiefs, when all about him were failing, the figures that were flashed up on the screen from Hamilton made for astounding reading – 55m covered as a ball-carrier and 17 tackles made. And that was when the game was only in its third quarter.
A studied look back at the Test against Wales, where Alberts made his international debut, will also give lie to any argument that he was fortunate to be in position to score his debut try. The reality is that the Springboks were being pounded mercilessly by the Welsh before Alberts came on to the field. It was no coincidence that there was a significant momentum shift at that point.
Alberts didn’t just feature in the try-scoring movement, he was there repeatedly as a ball-carrier, bursting seemingly from nowhere on occasions to take the pass as the Bok forward surges up-field overturned a half-time deficit and won the match.
Quiet and modest, Alberts tried to deflect attention to his team-mates after the game, and on other occasions when he was interviewed on that tour he came across as one of those humble players who doesn’t want the shouting about his exploits to reverberate across the valleys. But he did understand why he is so valuable to the Sharks.
‘The key to my game is my strength in getting over the advantage line, and getting that sort of momentum is a crucial part of the Sharks’ game plan,’ he told the media. ‘Everyone likes to carry the ball, but I’m fortunate in that my attributes make me the player who is given the role of taking the ball up. It fits into the game plan, and I’m more than happy to provide that go-forward to the team. That is my role.’
But Alberts is far more than just one of those lumbering big forwards whose only strength is his physicality. Listening to Sharks coach John Plumtree talk about him, it is possible to imagine that he is referring to a new flyhalf rather than a blindside flank, as ball-carrying ability and timing feature strongly in the Kiwi’s description of the loose forward.
‘Of course, the main reason we brought Willem to Durban was because we knew how important it was to our game plan to be able to develop momentum and go-forward,’ says Plumtree. ‘He stood out for the Lions as a physical presence, and we liked what we saw. He looked a very good ball-carrier.
‘But what impressed me the most was the skill set that he had to go along with his physical attributes. He was far more than just a freakishly big loosie; he was a provincial schools cricketer, so he has great ball skills. I felt he wasn’t reaching his potential at the Lions and I sensed that he could become a much better player with a bit of work.’
As it turned out, it wasn’t just ‘a bit of work’, it was quite a lot of work that was required, and Alberts readily admitted during the end-of-year tour that it was the work ethic of his new team-mates and the expertise of the Sharks’ conditioning staff that turned his career around and started him on the path to becoming a Springbok.
‘I didn’t realise how far behind the Lions were conditioning-wise until I moved to Durban. The Sharks’ fitness trainers Mark Steele and Jimmy Wright helped me a lot,’ he says. ‘It was also highly motivating to work with so many good players who had such a professional attitude and work ethic. Everything was positive whereas previously I had been in an environment where it was mostly negative. After that, once I had become fit, it was just about me getting an extended run so I could pick up momentum.’
Plumtree says that the need for Alberts to work hard was a big part of the discussion they had when he first met with the Sharks’ coaches to talk about a possible move.
‘He needed to understand that while we felt he had potential, he was still far from the finished product we were looking for. The problem was that before he came to us I don’t think he was even properly fit. We needed his buy-in before we would commit to him.
‘With his physical presence he has the ability to get the side across the gainline every time he touches the ball, and that makes him an amazing player to have in the team. But he needed to develop a work rate. Fortunately he delivered on his promise and worked damn hard. In Super Rugby at the moment he’s not only one of the top ball-carriers, he’s also one of the top tacklers.
‘I think that work ethic was always going to come once he moved to us because of the environment he was exposed to when he arrived. When you have other players like Bismarck du Plessis working so hard in pre-season they tend to pull the other guys along. It becomes impossible to shirk because you know if you do you will be letting your team-mates down.’
Plumtree, himself a flanker for the team that broke Natal’s Currie Cup drought back in the 1990s, is one of the foremost experts on loose-forward play in South Africa, so his opinion on what makes Alberts so effective is worth paying attention to.
‘Willem’s skill set comes from him having spent most of his early years playing flyhalf. He’ll tell you that he was a flyhalf up to about the age of 16. Those attributes that saw him play there haven’t left him.
‘But I think what is often the difference between the merely good loose forward and the great loose forward is the timing of the run on to the ball. If you are a player with good anticipation and have a natural knack for getting it right, and time your run on to the ball perfectly, then it makes you a damn difficult player for players to defend against.’
As Burger, who in many senses is the same animal when it comes to the love of physicality, discovered last October in the Currie Cup final, Alberts has something else that many of those players lauded for their skills don’t have.
‘He really likes hurting people; he puts in some massive tackles and it is great to have a player in your team with that physical edge,’ says Plumtree.
With Deysel due to return from his knee injury, it takes us back to a question that was asked before Alberts moved to Durban – why would the Sharks want a player in the Alberts mould when they already have one in Deysel? That question was partially answered by Deysel’s long absence through injury as it would probably have robbed the Sharks of any chance of winning the Currie Cup had Alberts not been on their books.
But as Plumtree explains, it was not just a case of Alberts coming to the Sharks so that he could be rotated with Deysel.
‘Jean is still struggling a bit with his knee and we aren’t expecting him back until after our first bye week [in mid-April], but when he does come back there’s nothing stopping us playing them both in the same loose trio.
‘It’s a long season and Ryan Kankowski can’t play in every game. Willem played much of his rugby for the Lions at No 8 and he likes that position. We have a nice balance to our loose forwards, with Jacques Botes and Keegan Daniel operating as the fetchers.
‘But Jean is a player who can also play in the fetcher role, he really likes attacking the ball and there could well be a role for him on the other flank in certain games.’
Regardless of where he fits in to the loose trio, or the make-up of the Sharks back row, Alberts has proved one of the most inspired buys made by the Sharks in recent years and don’t be surprised if he takes on a leadership role in the years to come.
‘He captained the Lions for a bit before he came to us and he does have natural leadership ability,’ says Plumtree. ‘We haven’t really used him in a leadership role as yet but he is one of those players who has natural onfield leading ability in that the other guys just naturally want to follow him. Bismarck is also like that, a player who sets an example that others want to follow.’
– This article first appeared in the May issue of SA Rugby magazine. The June issue will be on sale from Wednesday, 18 May.
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203 Comments
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11 May 2011, 10:39 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-131: ha ha…Brits as Boks hooker, the pom press overhype a lot of shite especially if they think mujati deserves a Bok spot fk that. mujati must head back to his stolen farm or stay up north.
11 May 2011, 10:40 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-147: no that’s what you do here everyday
11 May 2011, 10:40 am
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-148: koster and cj will be ok for blues game apparently.
Ruan Pienaar may also be vailable for Blues game if loan deal comes off and Leinster beat Ulster on Fri nite….
Some serious rotation will have to take place as well….
vermeulen….f louw…bekker …all need a rest….
cant see it happening in games against Blues either….
maybe in aussie
11 May 2011, 10:44 am
@grant10(grant10)-153: Thats good news. yip said the same thing, major rotation against Brumbies and Rebels. Blues game is vital.
11 May 2011, 10:44 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-150:
Are you twisting my post? I asked where KZN rugby talent is.
11 May 2011, 10:57 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-150: Thats a futile exercise….everyone knows WP has the best school talent
11 May 2011, 11:10 am
I guess the Tri nations squads will give us a fairly good idea of which way his thinking is leaning,
Alberts will be in the mix for sure, not nescessarilt to start, but likely off the bench.
Pierre’s form for the reamainder of the season will be crucial too, PDV is looking for an excuse to pick him.
11 May 2011, 11:13 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-155:
11 May 2011, 11:15 am
Alberts must be in the run on side for the Boks, either at 7 or 8. Stubborn selections for WC could cost us the title. Old out of form players should be dropped from the team and there are quite a few of them. Experience is good but why not have a mix.
11 May 2011, 11:15 am
@At least Os will still wear green (but no gold)(stormersboy)-157: Pierre had an outstanding EOYT – getting MOM against Ireland…pdv won’t drop him
11 May 2011, 11:20 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-160: Agreed. He is a big favourite of PDV.
11 May 2011, 11:27 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-160: That’s pretty much what I was trying to say.
Schalk is likewise a favourite and will in all likelyhood play too.
11 May 2011, 11:39 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-160: As a Bulls fan i would love to see Spies dropped from the Bulls and Boks, he is not a loose forward, maybe the Bulls need to try him at center to try use his strength and size to break the line at pace rather than what he does now.
11 May 2011, 11:54 am
Power and Precision?
Are we talking loose forwards or DIY tools?
11 May 2011, 11:56 am
Either way, barring injury or a freak yachting accident, Spies and Burger will be going to the World Cup.
11 May 2011, 11:59 am
@gunther is pretending not to be married to Sheryl Cwele but is enjoying the free drugs(gunther)-165: Both can be arranged.
11 May 2011, 12:01 pm
@MacToogie(MacToogie)-163: but you cannot discount the great performances he had on the eoyt…
11 May 2011, 12:02 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-166:
let me guess.
concrete rugby boots at the bottom of Bruma lake?
you are so joburg.
11 May 2011, 12:06 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-96: Ask yourself this.
Potgieter consistently keeps Danie Rossouw, whom everybody rates as an Alberts type ball-carrier *** line-out option loosie, out of the Bulls starting line-up and has done so for 3 seasons. Why, is all I ask?
Remember this. Heynecke Meyer has long been on record as a guy who rates size highly, and Ludeke has the same view as a disciple of Meyer’s. Now again I ask, why is Potties consistently regarded by these two as number one choice?
Consider that the Boks, according to you okes have a gameplan based squarely on the Bulls gameplan and if Potties is the Bulls number one having won the Supercomp two out of 3 years, why is he slated on this site. He is the same length as Alberts, and yes he does give away 12 kg’s agains Alberts, but I respectfully contend that 90 percent of that is flab, whilst Potties probably has the lowest bodyfat percentage of any forward in SA.
Consider that the Bulls have a Victor Matfield and Bakkies and Guthro and Spies and Danieand Flip as Supersubs and use them as ball-carriers, and can’t even do justice to the ball-carrying of these guys possession-wise most games, it surely makes sense not to try and force Potties into that mold as well, but to use him in other roles where they have shortcomings. Does it not then stand to reason that the boks might have those same shortcomings in their game seeing as it is the same gameplan and mostly the same players being employed? Makes you think doesn’t it..
For your info Pottie’s is equal to Juan Smith come line-out time any day and is used as such by the Bulls, whilst guys like Flo, Alberts and Daniel hardly feature in that role, (and when used are no more than 50:50 options), which is vital to Bok rugby as it is the best line out ball to attack from.
Workrate wise the guy dwarfs Alberts, who tends to play in stops and starts and disappears at critical times, defensively he out-does him insofar as he maintains the same tacklecount but out widerin midfield were the lethal runners lurk whereas Alberts makes his tackles around the fringes when the opposition pick and drive and thus carriers have very little momentum, and he does not have to cover so much ground.
I also beg to differ with your opinion about Potties as linkman. In fact he is the consumate linkman, and his option-taking is perfect for the most. Need I remind anyone about Alberts’s brainfart when he opted to selfishly not pass with two open teammates on his outside early season?
And another thing I have picked up is that Potties just does not lose a ball in contact. He has better hands than most Bok backs. Couple this with his leadership qualities and team man approach and I say we could do a lot worse than having this guy in the 30 man WC squad. And where would you hope to meet a more humble and down to earth guy?
Look at how easy Alberts was worked out and isolated by the Saders and the Stormers, and the same happened to the Stormers loosies versus the Saders.
I for one can’t wait for next weekend when the Bulls front the Sharks. I think we will receive some answers then.
11 May 2011, 12:09 pm
@gunther is pretending not to be married to Sheryl Cwele but is enjoying the free drugs(gunther)-168: Does that cesspit still exist? Haven’t they filled it for health reasons, like they did with the Randburg “Waterfront”?
Anyway, I’m not sure which technique I’ll be using. My usual crew are laying low after the Kebble mess. Apparently Bad Brad is in the Delaying & Inconveniencing business. Might give him a call.
11 May 2011, 12:14 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-169: Dewald, is that you?
Actually I’ve long rated the guy. Way above his overrated team mate Steggman IMO.
Just don’t see a place for him in a very restricted tour group.
he’s certainly good enough to go, but I don’t think he will.
11 May 2011, 12:23 pm
@gunther is pretending not to be married to Sheryl Cwele but is enjoying the free drugs(gunther)-164: another attention seeking nick?you need psychological help urgently.maybe this will help in the interim.
Attention Seeking BehaviorsProtect yourself from the bad behaviors of others.
Published on May 12, 2010 by Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D. in Emotional Fitness
When a child is not able to get attention from his or her primary caretakers, he or she will do what kids do and act out by saying or doing something that creates some drama. Children do this because negative attention is still attention. We expect this because children are trying to figure out how to do life, and part of their job is to push the boundaries and our buttons.
What we don’t expect, and what becomes a big problem in relationships, is when adults act out in this manner.
Ask yourself why you need all the attention. There may be some insecurity or self-esteem issues going on for you. This does not mean that you are bad, broken, or evil; it means that there may be a little hole in your soul and you need to spend some time patching it.
The good news is that you can help yourself to heal, but first you have to acknowledge the need.
11 May 2011, 12:25 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-167: One swallow does not a summer make, there have been too many no shows by him on the field for my liking, he’s a wing convert, so he doesnt hit any rucks, he doesnt drive over any balls and he never steal any balls, all he does is wait to test the line from a standing start and he’s not that good at it
11 May 2011, 12:26 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-170:
Really I thought he was still in Murders and Executions.
11 May 2011, 12:28 pm
No player will be MOTM in every game. Sometimes they are off song. Overall, Alberts is the best 7 we have in the country. I’d also pick him at 8 if the choice was between him and Spies.
11 May 2011, 12:29 pm
@gunther is pretending not to be married to Sheryl Cwele but is enjoying the free drugs(gunther)-174: With a sideline in Mine access control…
11 May 2011, 12:33 pm
@Tecumseh(Tecumseh)-172:
I have no idea what you are talking about.
11 May 2011, 12:35 pm
@At least Os will still wear green (but no gold)(stormersboy)-171: Wish I was. Wouldn’t say no to that paycheck, I reckon But seriously, the guy deserves to be there on merit, but as you say probably won’t go. His biggest drawback is probably that 12 other Bulls will and P de V has other options in his position. Sad, because he would probably be a shoe in anywhere else.
11 May 2011, 12:44 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-178: Thing is, and I agree with you, but there are others like Duanne, FLO, even Kanko maybe who won’t make the side.
So it’s not like he’s the only one.
We are just gifted in that dept at the moment.
11 May 2011, 12:46 pm
@At least Os will still wear green (but no gold)(stormersboy)-171: Actually we are wrong. Truth is, all he has to do to go is overshadow Alberts and Deysel in two weeks time. Now I guess everybody will agree that if he does that and repeats it in a few weeks time, and he can manage to walz pass the Stormers and Cheetahs loosies as well he has every right to expect a phonecall.
11 May 2011, 12:48 pm
@At least Os will still wear green (but no gold)(stormersboy)-179:
I think part of the bulls problem this year is their lack of ball carriers.
Juandre Kruger and Danie Roussouw should have featured more prominently.
steggers potgieter and spies just doesn’t give you enough go forward.
11 May 2011, 12:54 pm
@gunther believes *** with your sister is a bulls tradition and is very nice(gunther)-168: you need to get a life buddy… other than keo.co.za
11 May 2011, 13:01 pm
Yes, 181, I guess, like Danie did against the Chiefs. No extra go forward, no physical contribution in the rolling mauls. Go look see, he was a passenger, and he actually seemed a little out of his depth, to the extent that I was disappointed in him, being one of my big heroes.
11 May 2011, 13:03 pm
@Tecumseh(Tecumseh)-182: I take it you disagree about the poodle thing then.
11 May 2011, 13:04 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-169:
Point one:
The Bok gameplan is not completely based on the Bulls blueprint and even so it doesnt give precedent that Pottie’s should be chosen or the whole team should have a Bulls feel about it.The Saders teams of the past have been successful in Superrugby but theyve never completely been an AB team and never has a AB loose trio been completely Sader-like.Especially in the earlier yrs where Saders were all too dominant under Deans-6.Thorn 7.McCaw 8.Tuiali’i…..That hardly made Ab’s chose them in unisen And the assertion that 90% of that bulk he give away is all speculation so lets stay away from making open ended statements as fact.
Point 2.
Looking at the Bok dynamic that is being proposed,the are mostly specialist and in Bulls he mostly makes up for Spies’s shortcomings especially on the tackle and cleaning front.That isnt the same dynamic as the Boks where with a loose trio of possibly Brussow/Juan/Alberts there is no such shortfall.All fulfill their roles and the balance is much better than Bulls.Add to that the athleticism if Sharks frontrow especially Bismark and Beast in comparison to Guthro/Greylin & Botha,its almost chalk and cheese.So no Potgieter doesnt fit there in my opinion.And with Burger on the bench even more so.
Point 3
The assertion that Potgieter is same quality of lineout exponent as Juan Smith who is the best in the world inat blindside role and has superior length,size & experiemce to Potgieter is a fable as best even the most ardent of bull fans may differ there.And Alberts has played lock at Superrugby level and CC so he is a viable lineout option.was used there for Boks in EOYT quite well when he came on.
Point 4
I did concur that Potgieter does have an higher workrate than Alberts and a lot of the other loosies.But to use the word “dwarf s”is a hyperbole with little merit especially when you see that Alberts has the second highest tackle rate in entire Super 15 tournament.With Whiteley on other SA loosie in equation,where is your beloved Potgieter?? And Potgieter never stops runs behind the advantage line as he isnt as impact-full in the collision point especially around fringe areas where for a FLANK its in handbook its one of his primary roles.Wider channel tackling is mostly done on scrambling defense & loosies all come into this situation most notably the 8.
Point 5
Linkman.Never said he isnt one just stated he isnt the standard.In my view Kankowski is the best in the country in that role and has the real and athleticism that Potgieter doesnt and allows him to flourish there.Also it depends what role your 8 going to play and with the slower pitches down under especially around WC time the ball carrying-over the advantage line 8 is more suitable for such.Which potgieter isnt and Alberts is. Also the Ozzies and AB’s will employ such eg: Palu & read equally adept in those qualities. And qouting one example out of the DOZENS where Alberts has excelled is quite juvenile and is only an subset of the entire package.
Point 6
Potgieter does have a great pair of hands and fairly accurate in contact thus not losing ball there.But neither does Alberts nor Smith nor Brussow.Kanko has improved greatly there this season.Rossouw has a problem there at times but he covers 4/5/7/8 at international level where its invaluable thus trumps a lot of the players in squad valuation selection.And Im sure Potgieter is a great leader but he isnt in leadership role in Boks as he still cant cement even a squad place and there are enough leaders in team with more than enough caps and captains in extended squad. yes he is a nice bloke,but thats not a prerequisite to selection.
Point 7
As for being isolated by Saders and Stormers-the Sharks limited gameplan played it part in that.Add to that Alberts was immense vs Stormers last yr in kingsPark and vs saders he was one of the shining lights in performance at Twickers. How about Potgieter in many of the subpar performances by Bulls? namely Highlanders where he was outplayed by Soakai an unknown or vs Force where without Pocock they were dominated by diluted Brown.Or was completely outplayed by Flo as well vs Stormers???
We shall indeed see next weekend.Will be watching the loose fwd battle with interest.
11 May 2011, 13:11 pm
@MacToogie(MacToogie)-173: I agree. If he was a tad quicker off the mark,could step, had hands and could tackle, he would have been a perfect 13, but then that is true about every other current rufby player in SA. Such a waste.
11 May 2011, 13:24 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-180: Well I’ve always said let’s pick the team in August not March, but I’m pretty sure that there are only a handful of spots that have not yet been allocated.
But yes, he could still make it.
11 May 2011, 14:03 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-169: You see, this is why I don’t visit this site so often. Your entire post is a bloody hyperbole! I have never denied the merits of Alberts and cannot for the life of me understand why you deem it necessary to take me on about what I have said to the almost rabid extent that you do.
I have conceded that Potties will probably not make the cut because PdV has other options. Truth be told, if he were to get playing time there, I, like many others on this site believe that Potties will be a classic 8 in the mold of Morne du Plessis and Gary Teichmann, both of whom were childhood heroes of mine. Need I remind you that he is not smaller or shorter than the great Zinzan Brooke, so for what it is worth, I don’t really subscribe to the size conundrum either. But alas he, in the interests of the team dynamic at the Bulls, has to play behind Spies who is the Bok incumbent. Cudos to Potties that he is willing and able to.
Have you ever stopped to think that it would be quite easy for the guy to put on the extra weight to close the gap between him, and the other heavies, and for the Bulls to assist him via their physio in doing so if they felt they needed that? But then he would just be another one of the heavies, one of many.
Instead, he has opted to be his own man and compete with the best at the highest level, which is something worth appreciating instead of the continuous slating he is subjected to from provincially blinkered bloggers on this site.
I have had occassion to meet the odd coach and international player in my time and each and every one only has the highest regard for this guy and his game, and in fact most are in fact envious of the Bulls, but that’s their problem. Funny that three of those are currently coaching S15 teams in SA. Makes one think.
And all this talk about Brussow on his way to the Sharks, or them courting him, confirms what I have already known for a long time. Even the Sharks themselves aren’t happy with what they have at the moment, and what message does that send to the incumbents there, because Brussow and his ilk will sure as hell not be prepared to warm the bench when he rocks up there. It sure as hell has nothing to do with depth, that’s for sure.
My point being? There are far too many facets to looseforward play to run to the book for black and white support of an argument when the entire game is grey.
It is all about combinations gelling with the coaches vision to put the cups in the trophy cabinet. The Bulls have three to back up their argument. How many does your team have? With that I am not saying they have it all figured, no not all all, but they, and their combinations of resources within their team, are doing something right, don’t you think?
So I reckon it would be fair to say that there won’t be too many tears shed in Pretoria if our magic man doesn’t get that phonecall either.
11 May 2011, 14:06 pm
@Tecumseh(Tecumseh)-182:
jail time is inevitable for you.
11 May 2011, 14:36 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-169: you make some incredibly good points….I agree with a helleva lot you say.
11 May 2011, 14:45 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-188: potties at 8 would be a huge bonus for bulls……and open up options for boks
11 May 2011, 15:29 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-188:
Bud first and foremost you are the one who chose to take me on in such a vehement fashion, writing a post that long and dissecting every point while using hyperboles at will. Im just responding to that post.
Never saw du plessis play but Teichman and Brooke were favourites of mine.But that was 11-13yrs ago.The game and its pace & physicality and requirements has changed a fair bit especially loosies. So to use the same standards especially regarding size is debatable. But i get your point
Courting Brussow i never spoke about but most unions in SA knocked on his door when he was rumoured to be close to end of contract at free State. Its not about not being happy with what Sharks have,its always striving to BETTER the dynamic. Brussow is the best pure openside flank in the country. Even Bulls expressed some interest but werent willing to spend that type of money. Even with Lionel Mapoe a few months ago they did the same even with up & coming talent in their ranks in Hougaard/Helberg and Van den heever & Ndungane in mix. Its all about making team BETTER and expanding quality of team.
Not personally attacking you or Potgieter.Far from that,Im disputing and debating some of the reasons presented.
No tears expected from my side in terms of bulls country regarding non call for their man.
11 May 2011, 20:06 pm
@grant10(grant10)-191: Thanks for the words of support. Nice to know I’m not the only voice of reason out there. I also agree with some of what Mshiniwami said above, but not in the way he would expect.
I have done a lot of thinking about the modern game and I come back to the same question every time.
Why does McCaw enjoy the longevity in the game that he does? He is not the world’s best fetcher, or carrier, or defender, or line-out option, or distributor or linkman, whatever. No, he is none of that, because he is not a specialist.
But what he does so well is to do what the situation in front of him requires, and intuitively so. He doesn’t have to think, he simply acts, and then I got to realizing something else. That is exactly what Potties does.
Yes Brussow is a better fetcher and Alberts a better carrier and Juan Smith may be a better line-out option and Schalla might be a better tackler and Spies might be faster and Kanko might have a better step, but he still does all those things very well- in fact better than most, and more importantly he does all of them combined at a higher level than anyone else, and he can do them instinctively as and when required. He is the closest thing we have to McCaw. Add in his workrate and I know what I see in him- the best darn generalist we have playing the game in this country.
Problem is in SA we like to put players in boxes. Maybe I’ve made the same mistake, seeing him as a tackler who can mix it up a bit.
Maybe we , I included, underestimate his ability to read the game, and maybe it is not just the number of tackles, but when and where they are made relative to play that is important. He does seem to pull off many of those high value tackles which, if not made, inevitably lead to tries.
Maybe Jake White had a point about fetchers. I am asking myself why the Boks seem to ultimately lose games where we deploy a dedicated fetcher, although the latter comes out smelling of roses in spite thereof, while we win those where we play Schalla and Smith together.
I wonder if that might not be an interesting analysis that one of the stats boffins can make.
Are we not so spoilt for choice amongst the specialists we have in the S15 that we discount the true value of a generalist, and thus get our knickers in a knot when we play against a team that has at least one really good high workrate generalist. like the Saders.
Are we not polarizing our play and becoming even more stereotype than what we realize? For some or other reason the Boks can only attack to the right with their backline. Ever wondered why? And is it a co-incidence then that the Stormers and Boks centres are the same guys, and the Stormers seem to display the same affliction? And no, I’m not saying the problem is with the centres. The problem is, Scalla doesn’t fetch or compete the ball anymore, he stands out in the backline more often than not and he plays off 6, so there is no good, quick ball coming available when play occurs on the righthand side of the field to attack with. Even their own ball is slow to become available.
I’m saying the problem lies with the loosies and how they dovetail.
11 May 2011, 20:20 pm
@grant10(grant10)-191: I agree about Potties at 8 Funny thing is the Bulls have currently got 4 SA Schools 8′s on their books and they are all in a bottleneck behind Spies, who is struggling. Crazy.
11 May 2011, 20:51 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-193:
Very interesting view, lots of room for thinking and debate, well put !!
Good rugby post !
11 May 2011, 21:13 pm
@Ogre(Ogre)-193: Bloody good post! Yup, the pigeonholing is a problem…
11 May 2011, 21:37 pm
@justrugby(justrugby)-195: Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not knocking Schalla, I’m just saying often players get suckered by circumstance, like selection pressure, into trying to fix something that aint broke. It’s not that he can’t, it’s just that he doesn’t fetch when it’s on anymore. He has put a lot of focus into trying to carry and defend, which he obviously feels are his stronger suites where he can compete with someone like Alberts, whom he sees as a threat, especially after the CC final last year, but to do that something had to give, so he played to the ball far less to buy some extra time and get into position to carry quickly.
I suspect that at some point this year Potties also tried this and carried more often than the situation dictated was necessary for HIM to carry, but reverted to his own game when he saw the folly of that approach. I note that his game has its old balance back, which got him noticed in 2009 and 2010.
Just my view.
11 May 2011, 21:46 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-196: Think about it. Come WC time it will be raining almost every day down under. You know what that means.
12 May 2011, 04:19 am
@Ogre(Ogre)-198:
Some very good posts above… imo the most important aspect of loose-forwards is selecting the correct balance… not what one perceives each trio ‘should’ include (eg a fetcher an uncompromising blind-sider an elusive powerful speedster… or any mix of the above)…
The Stormer’s are a case in point of finding the correct balance despite being quite an unconventional mix on top of their obvious physicality… and the results have followed within their game-plan…
Neither Schalk nor Flo are outright fetchers… but both do pilfer ball when in the tackle-zone… none of the trio are speedsters… but Schalk’s hands are now on par with many centres… Vermeulen still runs too upright… however he’s the only RSA forward that leg-drives in the tackle…
Every negative out-weighed with a positive… and the results speak for themselves this season and last.
Bulls just seem to lack that balance (yet Ludeke persists)… and methinks it’s the same for the Boks of late…
12 May 2011, 04:52 am
Interesting, I never realised he was an ex-flyhalf. That explains some of those chips he puts in when he’s broken into space.
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