Spies: No Bok selection favours
15 May 2012
Pierre Spies believes his form is good enough to put him in contention for a starting place with the Springboks but stressed that he expects no favouritism from his mentor and national coach Heyneke Meyer.
Meyer has worked with Spies from his school days and was instrumental in converting him from a wing to a No 8, a move Meyer promised would see him become a Springbok. Less than a year after the switch Meyer’s promise became reality and Spies has felt indebted to him since, while Meyer has always followed his progress as a Test player closely.
Meyer stressed at his first press conference that form would be his primary criterion for selection and Spies feels he fits the bill in this regard.
And while Spies’s Super Rugby form has been good, he certainly hasn’t scaled the heights he did in the Bulls’ championship winning seasons of 2009 and 2010, where he was among the pre-eminent players in his position in world rugby.
This website understands that Meyer has some concerns around Spies’s game at present and indeed was leaning towards selecting the Stormers’ Duane Vermuelen ahead of him for the June Test series against England. However, with Vermuelen ruled out until at least July with a knee injury, and with no players advancing their cause, Meyer is unlikely to look beyond Spies (although he admires elements of Ryan Kankowski’s game).
Spies, though, has no serious concerns about the standard of his performances.
‘I feel I’ve gone pretty well, my form is good,’ Spies told keo.co.za. ‘I haven’t been as prominent as I hoped I’d be with ball in hand and there’s many reasons for that. For example in the last two matches I’ve carried seven and five times respectively. So I understand when people question my form. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. It’s up to me to get more involved, but generally I thought I’ve done well, especially considering the added weight of responsibility as captain.’
Spies’ lack of punch at the gainline relative to his impressive physical constitution has been one of the primary criticisms of him. It’s an area he believes he has improved markedly.
‘I’ve focused on that facet of my game. I know I should be dominating more contact situations, it’s a quality shared by the world’s best No. 8s, and if I want to consider myself in that group I will have to continue to improve.’
Asked how he sees himself placed in relation to other South African No 8s and his prospects for the Test season, Spies said: ‘I’d like to think I’m right up there. If you want to be considered for Bok selection you have to be playing consistently well.
‘Heyneke and I do go back a long way but that won’t have any impact on my selection. He has too much integrity to do me a selection favour,’ Spies said. ‘Honesty has always been important in our relationship and if he felt I wasn’t up to scratch he’d tell me straight and have a list of things for me to do to get back to the top.’
Spies did, however, say that he felt Meyer was the one coach capable of rousing him to an elevated level of performance. ‘With no disrespect intended to my current or previous coaches, Heyneke’s the best motivator of all,’ he said. ‘He knows just how to get the very best out of his players, especially me, given that he has worked with me from the time I was a teenager. He knows what buttons to press.
‘That’s why I was pleased when he got the Bok job because I knew he would help take my Test game to a new level. I’m looking forward to that. I believe he can make me the best player in my position in the game.’
By Ryan Vrede
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78 Comments
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15 May 2012, 20:01 pm
@skopskiet(skopskiet)-48: Agreed. He has had so many chances, yet he has never delivered! I guess you get lazy and lacking when you are playing behind a good pack for the majority of your career. Take Morne-Deep in the pocket up and under- Steyn for instance. Completely lacking talent to play the game yet he looks the real deal at times. But he is sooooo overrated!
15 May 2012, 20:13 pm
At the moment spies is playing well in a good bulls pack and i think he deserves to be included in a bok squad.The cheetahs ashley johnson has got that mongrel in him but he has played poorly when he played for the boks,he is not even first choice for the cheetahs.So who else is left to challenge spies for the No8 jersey.
15 May 2012, 20:27 pm
Spies is just lucky that there aren’t really any other options.
15 May 2012, 20:27 pm
@blueboy(blueboy)-52:
At the moment, nobody, unless you agree with HG that Daniels is the best 8 in SA. But that doesn’t mean that Spies is the answer as the Bok 8.
15 May 2012, 20:30 pm
Spies is not an international No.8 Period
ANY of
Stander, Kolisi or Coetsee could fill the No. 8 spot way better than Spies is doing at present and so could Vd Walt, and probably Daniel also (although too small for international attrition rugby – yet would Still ADD 100% more than Spies does)
15 May 2012, 20:34 pm
@skopskiet(skopskiet)-55: It would be a pretty big call to play Stander, Kolisi or Coetsee at 8 for the Boks when they haven’t played 8 for their Super Rugby teams – they Kolisi may yet get a game there for the Stormers. Realistically, it’s not gonna happen.
15 May 2012, 20:41 pm
what everyone seems to be MISSING is the fact that the Boks under the personnel of
Smit
Spies
FdP
Steyn
Kirchner
the golden thread that Danie Craven spoke about as the back bone of an international team
Have NOT won ONE decent international encounter SINCE Eoyt 2009
2009 Eoyt Lost to France & Ireland
2010 Lost to NZ x 3, Aus x 2 – won 1 from 6 in 3N
2011 Lost to NZ, Aus, Aus – won 1 from 4 in 3N
2011 Lost to Aus in WC 1/4 final.. and almost lost to Wales had Smit and Spies not been subbed, and Hougaard not saved the day.
Only other top flight internationals we won in the past 3 years were
Eoyt 2010 when Smit and FdP were not present,
and ONE win vs Aus in 2010 under Matfield,
and ONE win vs NZ in 2011 under Matfield.
ALL other wins were against mickey mouse teams on tour like Italy etc.
15 May 2012, 20:42 pm
Jaques Cronje’ and JvN are better Test level No. 8s than any of the current players available in SA, that included Vermuelen, Daniel and Albert.
Marcell Coetzee comes to mind as a great prospect next season.
Spies should not get the nod,
15 May 2012, 20:43 pm
#56 Kaksioek i agree with you i aint gonna happen and who knows maybe spies will come good if he is picked against the poms.
15 May 2012, 20:44 pm
@kaksioek(kaksioek)-56:
Either of those Stander or Kolisi or Coetsee would play 100% better than Spies at 8 at International level.. Guaranteed
My Bok loosies would look like this
Coetsee
Elstadt
Kolisi / Brussow
bench Stander, or Vd Walt – ahead of Spies
15 May 2012, 20:49 pm
@skopskiet(skopskiet)-60: 25% better maybe, but it isn’t going to happen.
15 May 2012, 20:59 pm
I tell you this much
let Matfield, Spies, FdP and M. Steyn with Kirchner at FB run on vs England and I doubt I will be able to muster any desire to root for Boks.. because then I don’t propose we deserve to win with that kind of retrograde mentality running our rugby.
15 May 2012, 21:01 pm
I won’t really be able to stomach Matfield and FdP – that’s for sure.
15 May 2012, 21:39 pm
@Flat distributor(Flat distributor)-51: Then Peter Grant must be hond k a k because he is playing behind the “best” pack in the competition and the Stormers cannot score any tries.
15 May 2012, 21:54 pm
I really like the idea of Coetzee as a possible 8. He’s a fantastic player, but at the moment we have quite a few guys coming through in the 7 position, so the move could be good for him. Kolisi should really consider the move to 8 as well as he seems to have a very complete skill set and he has a little more pace to run the ball back at the opposition.
Carr makes more sense at 6 than Kolisi if one considers their respective builds. Carr has the right build to become a ground scavenger once he has developed those skills.
8. Kolisi 7. Elstadt 6. Carr – brilliant combo going forward for Stormers (and perhaps even Boks). And Duane will be around for a while as a 8/7 before this combo becomes a permanent fixture (which I venture it will)
15 May 2012, 22:25 pm
hehehe Skoppie, “maak die Stormers almal Bokke”
16 May 2012, 02:08 am
aaaah kuk Spies, your form is nowhere………….you get knocked back in the collisions and have no mongrel. If there is any biff you turn your back and walk off like a baby………… feel free to blow smoke up your own a rse though.
Is Alberts injured, he has just gone off the scene and I have not seen anything re him being injured?
16 May 2012, 05:16 am
Spies definitely had it, but he also definitely lost it…. years ago. He has got to the point of actually being insignificant on attack and pathetic on defence. When was the last time he made a big tackle and imposed his physicality on someone?
16 May 2012, 05:33 am
@HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)-68:
When exactly did he have it? I would like to say like Meisiekind he is just not up to test rugby but that will be unfair towards Meisiekind, he has actually done well at Super level where Spies is failing even at that level as well.
16 May 2012, 06:05 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-69: Spies’s highlight reel will make for much better viewing then Meiskind’s, unless you happen to be viewing from a head and shoulders perspective!
16 May 2012, 06:20 am
@HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)-70:
Hehehe I am no fan but Meisiekind has had good moments in Super rugby over the years, he is just not made out for test rugby where he falls flat. Spies currently seems tio struggle in Super rugby and it seems he will wear the #8 jumper in a few weeks
16 May 2012, 09:23 am
Spies will be selected, if for no other reason than the fact that there isn’t really anyone to push him at the moment! The reason he doesn’t dominate the collision is because he is the rugby equivalent of a “pumped up cruiserweight”. It’s the same reason that Evander Holifield always struggled to knock out other decent heavy weights. Spies is a wing turned loose forward. Jonah Lomu was a natural loose forward turned wing. A very big difference when it comes to the collision. Spies can therefore excell in the faster and more frantic Super Rugby environment, but never dominates in the tighter test environment, where physicality rules.
16 May 2012, 09:29 am
Spies should essentially be a wing or centre. He does not have the natural strength of the other 8′s. Even Daniels is a better option than him.
Spies needs to drop down to about 95 kaygees and the Boks would have another option at centre.
16 May 2012, 09:35 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-73: Wing maybe, but not a centre. Not sure he has the skills for centre.
16 May 2012, 09:38 am
Spies is a one trick pony like Donkey de Villiers. He just runs straight. Perhaps you are right.
BTW de Villiers should be playing this weekend. Any bloggers want to take bets on how long before he is injured again..
I say three weeks.
16 May 2012, 10:03 am
Spies is a very poor 1st choice for bok no 8,and this hint,hint Heyneke will bring out the best in me is pure suck up bullsh*t!
27 May 2012, 07:38 am
@NicG(NicG)-14: You speak th truth. Can’t be a International class 8thman and not dominate opposition in defence. He’s a luxury player to have. He’s missing at Maul time, might as well have him on the wing.
27 May 2012, 07:41 am
I just hope we dont end up playing Bulls Rugby.
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