This is partly offset by his ability to arrive at the ruck quickly and to get the ball out of the ruck quickly. Despite the occasional loop, the Cheetahs (and the Tahs) scored tries aplenty with him at 9.

I can think of other teams who feature 9s with better passes that look less threatening on attack than the ones Sarel has featured for to date.

A perceived issue. Yes, his man-on-man defense has let him down last year. Yes, I know he missed the most tackles in last year’s tourny.

But how many cover defensive tackles does he make? And how many tackles missed this year so far?

The Aussies have picked Quade Cooper, whose defense is not great, but otherwise a 10 that complements their game perfectly. In fact, he can be world-class if viewed as a package.

In SA we keep on finding excuses not to select a particular player, hammering on the weak points instead of embracing the brilliant ones.

If McCleod can be a Bok, so can Sarel.

Ellis admitted “you’ve got to wonder” if the Australian conference have it a little easier, and last year’s winners the Reds had the luxury of “getting to play the Force and the Rebels” twice.

The South Africa conference had “a couple of weaker sides”, which meant the top teams might “get a bit of time off”, he said. “Certainly, the New Zealand conference is by far the strongest. We’re playing the toughest rugby week-in, week-out.”

Dis uiters poef

Fourie, Hougaard, Vermaak

Before Fourie was Joost so Bulls have a serious history with quality 9s. Always crucial in a knock out game. Probably been the biggest problem for the Stormers in the last few seasons, Duvenage is average at best

‘Amper’

Take him anyday before Allister “amper” Coetzee

If “Ludekak” does indeed win 5 S