Leading SA’s rugby revolution
26 Dec 2011
What do Francois Hougaard, Bismarck du Plessis, Gio Aplon, Johann Sadie, Andries Bekker, Pat Lambie and Juan de Jongh all have in common?
They all have the X factor, something that sets them apart from the rest.
If the Springboks are to achieve consistent success against the world champion All Blacks over the next four years, they will have to change their conservative mindset and play an expansive game when the situation demands it.
These seven players can lead South Africa’s rugby revolution and take our game to the next level.
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Also in the new issue:
– Many junior players have failed to make the transition to senior rugby over the years because of flaws in the Baby Boks set-up, but the situation seems to be improving
– Why rugby is ripe for a global rebel league
– SA Rugby magazine reveals how Solly Tyibilika wasn’t the only black player to be mismanaged over the past four years and how South Africa has regressed with regard to transformation at the highest levels
– Saracens flyhalf Derick Hougaard on suffering from depression, the ‘soul destroying’ experience of Kamp Staaldraad, and his desire to force his way back into Bok contention
– England’s shambolic World Cup campaign left Martin Johnson with no choice but to resign
– Victor Matfield speaks to SA Rugby magazine about his post-retirement plans, why players should be treated like adults, and his second-row partnership with Bakkies Botha
– Your ultimate guide to the 2012 Super Rugby season: Everything you need to know about the 15 teams
770 Comments
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26 Dec 2011, 16:13 pm
Lambie, Bekker, de Jongh and sadie have done noting of note. The three aforementioned players having flopped badly at test level. Bekker in particular has failed in every test, de Jongh badly exposed in every meaningful test. The jury is still out on Lambie, a ten he sure as hell isn’t. A couple of shaky showings at 15 this year too. Aplon our most stable and reliable 15, Bismarck the successor by default. Other then that nothing much, certainly nothing amounting to a revolution. But what can you expect from Keo? More slosh dished up as journalism.
26 Dec 2011, 16:25 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-48: not at all. just an observation as to how immediately after heyneke meyer said he rates sadie even so-called experienced journo like keo suddenly jumped on the bandwagon and sadie was to be included in the world cup squad now he is the future of the boks.
26 Dec 2011, 16:41 pm
@Hondo-46: thanks for the stats Hondo.
funny thing is i read somewhere that 76% of all stats are made up
26 Dec 2011, 16:44 pm
@Horings-43: look, name me any player whose game improved with less game time in the year?
we are talking TALENT here, not form.
in 2010 JdJ and JF were deadly, but especially JdJ because that was the centre pairing and thats where he displayed his talent. same way Sadie displayed his talent in the few games he played in S15 this year, Currie Cup he was good without setting it alight.
You cant deny however that the only game for Boks JdJ didnt provide x-factor at WC was against Oz, but neither did Hougaard bring his A game.
JDJ’s time is 2012
26 Dec 2011, 16:58 pm
@Transformation-52:
ok.
for the person inside i hope things go well for him. it must be a awful thing to deal with the mental/psychological effects of not living up to massive expectations early on.
koster comes to mind but there are many.
26 Dec 2011, 17:02 pm
well sticking to the actual thread whih is about players with x-factor (subjective as it may be) that can allow the Boks to play more expansively to challenge the All Blacks:
Pat Lambie
Elton Jantjies
Andries Bekker
Willem Alberts
Heinrich Brussouw
Francois Hougaard
Juan De Jongh
Bismarck Du Plessis
Frans Steyn
IMHO i wouldnt yet put Sadie on above list as he hasnt produced regularly enough on appropriate level to warrant such
26 Dec 2011, 17:09 pm
@Yetirat-41: actually havent thought about that but you’re absolutely right.
quite short on quality wing cover.
why dont we though do like the All Blacks and put the hottest up and coming centres and fullbacks at wing first to prove themself? that way working themself into their preferred position?
like Colin Slade and Richard Kahui!
26 Dec 2011, 17:12 pm
Simon. I will not buy this issue cause you are writing kak …. AGAIN.
Aplon is the x factor for the future … ffs he is already 30, any back older than 28 is a has-been, fact!
Why is that non-passer de Jong there. Forget him and forget that about that camel, Bekker.
Why the hell is Lambie there, mr. slow coach “I’m not gonna play flyhalf next season” is not anywhere near the best fullback around.
And I’ve done nothing Sadie ahead of real players with x factor, such as Goosen and EJ … really.
Boys boycott that crappy issue and rather spend that 25 bucks on a beer.
26 Dec 2011, 17:21 pm
Maak al die Leeutjies Bokke
26 Dec 2011, 17:24 pm
some of us are showing the airs and graces of the all blacks these days… thinking they are automatically owed the world.. hehehe loving it…
cannot wait for the reality check for the ab’s and ‘some of us’…
26 Dec 2011, 17:39 pm
The way Clive Woodward utilised the British Marines and what ol’ Straeuli did were very very different. Straeuli’s idiocy has been correctly derided by the vast majority of the players involved; it was barbaric and utterly unprofessional.
26 Dec 2011, 17:50 pm
@Michael-59: you are indeed a great thinker.
@Michael-61: Keo still had nightmares watching Bakkies break an egg on Matfield’s head, Eish.
26 Dec 2011, 17:56 pm
@Alucard-51:
Because you know nothing about rugby and the players in question, rather don’t say anything because that way it will take longer for people to recognise how stupid you are.
Laughable.
26 Dec 2011, 18:05 pm
@Michael-61:
no, that is not true.
most of the players said they took positives from it.
there were only a few who had reall issues with it, mostly the weak ones like big joe, and hougaard
john smit said if he had to relive it he would do it again.
26 Dec 2011, 18:06 pm
@Roar my Lions …. Currie Cup Champions 2011-62: I have to entertain myself somehow while spending Boxing Day evening doing academic work.
26 Dec 2011, 18:06 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-64: Only so they would never have to go through it again. It had nothing to do with developing professional rugby skills.
26 Dec 2011, 18:09 pm
On Stall:
“All that suffering in the pit achieved nothing, in fact it had set us back,” Smit says.
Go through it again my arse.
26 Dec 2011, 18:11 pm
@Michael-61:
anyway, i think we are agreeing that such training can benefit rugby players and teams if done in a way that best maximises its utility.
26 Dec 2011, 18:13 pm
@Michael-67:
no, read his whole book. he also says in the book that he would do it again.
26 Dec 2011, 19:27 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-68: Yup and that doesn’t include military-style nonsense.
26 Dec 2011, 19:30 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-69: Not in its entirity which is the point, hence why they did this:
sport24.co.za/Rugby/Straeuli-leads-Staaldraad-II-20110401
26 Dec 2011, 19:52 pm
Doesn’t matter who you put forward as the ‘next generation’ of world beaters, the new coach will ultimately decide to have his cronies lead the pack. PDivness had his f*ckbuddies, John, Fourie and Victoria, run the show, regardless of the obvious ‘greatness’ of their replacements, Bissie, Hougaard, etc.
26 Dec 2011, 19:56 pm
@kwas-72: thats correct Fourie du Preez and John Smit along with Spies fckd the Boks chances outa sight and the fckng know it all Smitty arsecreeps still won’t see it…
26 Dec 2011, 19:59 pm
@Michael-70:
in that case we’re agreeing, mostly, as i would include aspects thereof.
of course there are many roads to the same destination.
@Michael-71:
i read the book and in it he says that if given the choice it was something he would do again (if i remember correctly). unfortunately i gave my copy away so cannot check in order to quote it verbatim.
26 Dec 2011, 20:31 pm
only deranged saffas think professional sportsmen need/have to be put through “bootcamp” style routines to achieve success
26 Dec 2011, 20:44 pm
@Papoose-53:
Number are from my own notes taken during a game or from the replays
@Roar my Lions …. Currie Cup Champions 2011-58:
Hear, hear,,
Spot on!
26 Dec 2011, 20:47 pm
Every year brings along new names
26 Dec 2011, 21:19 pm
@Hondo-76: moron, couldnt even interpret the sarcasm dripping from my commentary
seriously
26 Dec 2011, 21:28 pm
@Transformation-75:
such diversity of opinion.
love south africa.
26 Dec 2011, 21:35 pm
@Hondo-76:
you are not supposed to count the replays again.
the replay is only to check if you counted correctly if the tackle was made or missed in the live play.
if you replay the same tackle four times to check you cannot count it as being missed four times..?..
i suggest you cross reference your stats with another stats collecting organisation.
26 Dec 2011, 22:10 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-74: I think we can agree that the way to use such training is ala Woodward and what the Boks did this year, and for the nonsense like boxing, ripping heads off chickens, standing naked in a pit, etc to be left in the past.
Personally, I think that is the point Smit has made too.
27 Dec 2011, 00:03 am
The other real X-factor player Sarel Pretorius will probably end up playing for the Wallabies. Such is the folly of SA rugby
27 Dec 2011, 08:45 am
they will have to change their conservative mindset and play an expansive game when the situation demands it.
I don’t know if I should just shake my head and keep quiet or laugh my *** off…
27 Dec 2011, 08:51 am
@rex-82: the folly of supporters like rex is that they comment without doing any form or research…
sarel pretorius is NOT elligible to play for the Wallabies having played for both the Sevens Blitzbokke & Emerging Boks.
them’s the fax(facts) Rex
27 Dec 2011, 09:06 am
@Michael-81:
ok look, i know we both just want the best for the boks and for them to go back to where they rightly belong…at the top, thats all.
so yes, there are subtle ways of getting the guys in a ‘staaldraad state of mind’ and i will support any coach who employs these ‘subtle’ techniques.
heyneke can do this, even mallet.
@PissAnt-83:
they looked pretty expansive against oz to me… so expansive the ref had to step in and just put a stop to that ‘outrageous’ situation…
@Transformation-84:
the ozzies would have a tongue twister pronouncing sarel’s name all the time… bet they’d give him a nickname…
27 Dec 2011, 09:25 am
so sad ….Tendulkar out 0n 73….the elusive 100th 100 still not a reality
27 Dec 2011, 10:04 am
85 You say where the Bokke rightly belong, in the last 20 years how many would you estimate the Bokke finished as the best side in the world?
27 Dec 2011, 10:19 am
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-85: And Smal. He knows what “total rugby” should be from his days in WP and Bok sides which played just that.
27 Dec 2011, 10:31 am
@NZINCHINA-87: We lust after the pre-isolation days of Bok rugby.
27 Dec 2011, 10:58 am
89 The Bokke had their nose in front by 3 matches head to head, overall winning % the Ab’s were still ahead against all nations, take out 76′ when the Sa ref cheated and it was pretty even.
27 Dec 2011, 10:59 am
@rex-82:
Aside from eligibility… Sarel is seen as defensively frail and arguably a tad too small by the Wallabies…
He’ll be competing with Brendon McKibbon for a bench spot behind John Hart’s nephew Grayson at the Tah’s…
27 Dec 2011, 11:24 am
@NZINCHINA-90: Well we consider ourselves to have been cheated of a few by NZ refs so even-stevens in that regard.
We were the only nation at the time of isolation to have a winning ratio against all other nations. Our sense of self-entitlement goes back to this instead of believing we have to earn the right again.
27 Dec 2011, 12:22 pm
@NZINCHINA-87:
funny you only mention the ‘last 20 years’… and we both know why.
besides, in these 20 years we still managed to beat the all blacks more times than the rest of the world combined has managed.
also, th fact that we managed to win two wc’s and were the only country other than england and nz to hold the official title rank of irb world number one…
but no sir…as you well know rubgy is about a lot more than just ‘the last 20 years’…so you would well know we were the only country to hold a positive win ration against the all blacks as well a positive win ration against the rest of the world… no sir indeed… like real madrid in football e are the grand champions of the ages and you are just a recent phenomena… the new boys… a blip…kind a like wales were… and with time you too will go the way of the welsh but springbok rugby will stand supreme…
@Michael-92:
as sure as the birds sing and the sun falls, we will earn that right again…mark my words… the springboks have done with bias before and they will do it with bias again… the cheats can cling to the little they have…
27 Dec 2011, 12:25 pm
@Michael-88:
no, i do not rate smal.
27 Dec 2011, 12:29 pm
Our franchises are coming together nicely. We need to keep the coaches in place to continue the evolution of our rugby from the ground up which is another reason why I think appointing someone from the outside like Smal as Bok coach would be the best solution. The Boks will come together as long as we can get a proper attack coach for the backline.
NZ rugby strength isn’t anything recent. We are age-old rivals. What we need to do is re-establish a winning sequence to close the win-loss ration which has grown too large.
27 Dec 2011, 12:30 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-94: 4 and a half weeks until the announcement of the next Bok coach.
27 Dec 2011, 13:02 pm
@Michael-96:
i really do, with all my heart, hope it is heyneke meyer.
or mallet
or woodward even
smal would just be a middle of the road man.. just like he was as an assistant… i just know it
27 Dec 2011, 13:08 pm
Merry merry all.
At the cr?cket. Its look?ng shaky but the beer ?s cold so thanks uncle jacob.
John sm?t for bok coach!
27 Dec 2011, 13:11 pm
W?th fdp and v?c as ***?stants.
V?va bokke!
27 Dec 2011, 13:12 pm
proteas can be so frustratingly inconsistent…..
got tickets for 1 st day of third test at newlands.
congrats to Marchant
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