JP’s midfield miss
24 Apr 2012
RYAN VREDE writes JP Pietersen hasn’t advanced his Springboks cause with his switch to outside centre.
I wrote in the pre-season that the move to midfield could rejuvenate Pietersen. However, on the evidence of what I’ve seen that belief was misplaced. Pietersen’s willingness to fill a void in the Sharks’ line-up deserves acknowledgement. But he has undoubtedly compromised his international future. Nine matches into his new role Pietersen has done little to convince that he could be a Test-standard outside centre.
Certainly for a player who has spent the majority of his professional career on the wing the transition has been impressive. He is competent in all the key performance areas of the position, but he hasn’t displayed the aptitude that would point to him being a force in elevated company.
Pietersen’s success has certainly been undermined by the Sharks’ mediocrity. Their pack has seldom established a platform of any note and as a result the back division have rarely had the space to exploit. He has shown fleeting glimpses of what he is capable of when offered such space, but the best 13s have the ability to operate in constrained confines. Even as a wing this wasn’t a strength of Pietersen’s.
Jaque Fourie was skilled in such situations and before he announced his unavailability Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer had intended to install him as his premier outside centre for the mid-year Test series against England as well as for the Rugby Championship. My colleague Jon Cardinelli wrote on the expected impact of Fourie’s loss last week and examined who the contenders are to fill the significant void he leaves.
Pietersen is well back in that queue. My understanding is that Meyer doesn’t see him as a midfielder and still believes he is best suited to wing. But others have jumped ahead of him in the latter pecking order, most notably Bjorn Basson, who Meyer believes has the skill set suited to the kick-chase approach he will employ.
This leaves Pietersen in a difficult position. He can request a return to wing. This may be the best course of action in the context of his international ambitions. The Sharks, however, will be reluctant to accommodate such a request as they seem to have doubts over Marius Joubert’s ability, evident by their promotion of Pietersen ahead of him and his consistent omission from the match 22s.
But if Pietersen has his own best interests in mind he would insist on a return to his favoured position. With the Sharks’ struggle for attacking momentum don’t expect him to suddenly return to prominence. But at least he will succeed or fail on his own terms.
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524 Comments
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25 Apr 2012, 16:44 pm
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-474: nobody under 35 still speaks that much afrikaas even in those townships…the irony is that the people think they’re speaking “tsotsitaal” or slang meanwhile they’re knee deep in Verwoerd’s language
one of the idiosyncrasies of SA
25 Apr 2012, 16:46 pm
trans i see it as a diff version like coloured afrikaans.still very cool and a way to breach barriers i hope.
met some black kids at afrikans schools who are there solely for rugby who are fluent and the kids mingle with no prob.
it gives me hope.
simple.
25 Apr 2012, 16:49 pm
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-502: ja, they have to assimilate to give you “hope”
nice
25 Apr 2012, 16:53 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-503:
nope,nice to see kids interact like that.pure and simple
do you not agree?
25 Apr 2012, 16:54 pm
there is no more struggle transie,the struggle has changed…
25 Apr 2012, 16:58 pm
FG I’ll pick up your answer tomorrow would be very interested to know, catch you Fernly.
25 Apr 2012, 16:59 pm
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-505: who said anything about the struggle? hehehe
your pigeonholing tactics are trite chap.
25 Apr 2012, 17:00 pm
@greentea(greentea)-499:
I work in immigration.
anyway look who’s talking my china.
what is it you do again?
apart from pay for chinese ikuku I mean.
25 Apr 2012, 17:00 pm
@greentea(greentea)-506:
catch yourself nzinchina,i am not your cuz or bro.
25 Apr 2012, 17:01 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-507:
so spit it out
kids get along and some speak afrikaans and you get into a twirl
what would you like to see?
25 Apr 2012, 17:02 pm
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-504: nice indeed, not that you see any johnny clegg type soutie or boere kids revelling in the intricacies of indigenous languages, now do you?
learn afrikaans and be nice, boy.
25 Apr 2012, 17:05 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-508:
good for you buddy, now I can see why you have so much time nobody emigrates to SA clever lad
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-509:
cuz or bro aren’t terms that I use
25 Apr 2012, 17:05 pm
keep in mind transie,black kids put their by their parents cause they reckon they will get better education…
goverment schools…
25 Apr 2012, 17:06 pm
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-510: a “twirl”? hehehe
25 Apr 2012, 17:08 pm
@greentea(greentea)-512:
now what’s your excuse?
apart from hitting on chinese schoolgirls.
25 Apr 2012, 17:08 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-511:
actually if you find a school who teaches in englis and afr and the white percentage is 10 percent it is. very common.
kids get sent for education firstly.
it shows the gov budget to education is not enough.
25 Apr 2012, 17:08 pm
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-513: who else would put them there except their folks
25 Apr 2012, 17:10 pm
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19(Fern)-516: ok fernly
25 Apr 2012, 17:15 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-515:
Haven’t we been here before but without wanting to repeat myself my wife and I have a little english school up here which keeps us busy but I have two young kids so getting out these days is challenging hence the time in front of my PC.
25 Apr 2012, 17:17 pm
Anyway its been a pleasure talking rugby with you all tonight – good night.
25 Apr 2012, 17:18 pm
@greentea(greentea)-519:
so you depend on us for a social life
25 Apr 2012, 17:37 pm
Hahah in a word.
Those long winter evenings must just fly by.
26 Apr 2012, 06:49 am
JP must lose the wingers mentality of trying to break or score himself, and change his mentality of trying to make space for his outside by straightening the line. He runs sideways.
He also allows players to get on is outside. He does usually drag them down eventually, but it unnerves the players outside him, who are caught between heloping him and marking their own man. He needs to get up further, quicker to make ball and all tackles, or drift more accurately right on his man’s channel, or slightly outside of them.
26 Apr 2012, 08:00 am
The Sharks have a history of ******** over their own players by placing them in positions that hurt their chances of making national selection, another reason why Plumtee should hit the road.
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