Olivier aims to shatter perception
19 Jun 2012
Wynand Olivier says he will use a start against England to convince everybody including himself that he belongs at the highest level.
Olivier is set to replace Frans Steyn at No 12 this Saturday, as Steyn has plans to get married and has been granted a release from the squad.
Saturday will mark Olivier’s first start for the Springboks since 23 July 2011 when he played for a dirt-tracker South African side on a winless Australasian tour.
The last time Olivier started for a full-strength Bok team was back in the 2010 Tri-Nations. Then coach Peter de Villiers was swayed by senior Bok players to give Olivier a final chance, and unfortunately it was a chance Olivier didn’t use to alter the perception that he wasn’t Test quality.
De Villiers then dropped Olivier completely, only recalling him in 2011 when the majority of the first-choice players were not available. Once again, Olivier blew this opportunity to impress, and was not picked for the World Cup squad.
His most recent recall to the national side has come as a shock, although Meyer has responded to criticism by pointing to Olivier’s experience. Nevertheless, there is a sense that there will be no more chances following this Saturday’s Test, and nobody is more aware of the fact than Olivier himself.
‘I don’t want to say I’m going out there to prove a point, it’s more about proving to myself that I can make the step up to international rugby,’ he said.
Olivier has played off the bench in the last two matches, and it’s been clear that England prefer to attack the Boks’ 10-12 channel when he is on the park.
Defence coach John McFarland confirmed that Olivier made more tackles than any other Bok back in the second Test, and what this stat indicates is that the England attack have targeted his channel as a potential weak point.
Olivier feels that he can cope with the hard-running England backs this Saturday and that he will also offer the Boks some strong options on attack.
‘Manu Tuilagi is a big guy and I’m looking forward to the challenge of stopping him,’ he said. ‘I am enjoying playing alongside Jean [de Villiers]. We haven’t played [as a midfield combination] since 2006 and 2007. He’s a guy with a lot of experience and I believe he will also bring something else to my game.’
Olivier believes he can succeed where he has failed before, that he can show his coach and team-mates that he is more than just a solid Super Rugby player. While there is pressure to perform in this situation, Olivier said that he won’t let it affect his confidence.
‘I’ve been out of the team for a while now, but it feels different now compared to when I was involved with Jake White’s team and then Peter’s, I was young back then. I’m more experienced now and more relaxed and focused on what I need to do.’
By Jon Cardinelli, in Port Elizabeth
453 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 9 10 » Show All
19 Jun 2012, 21:20 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-293: Naah,he is only rewarding his former Bulls players to say thank you for the memories.I don’t see him heading to Cape Town in August with all those Bulls in his squad.
19 Jun 2012, 21:21 pm
That is correct……….Prawn……. and dusky you are?
19 Jun 2012, 21:21 pm
No – your mom takes care of me – all depends on whether I can afford the price your dad sets for her for the day. So, I dont need a wife.
19 Jun 2012, 21:22 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-302: Hell, I’ve bumped your mom so many times – I could be your dad.
19 Jun 2012, 21:22 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-293:
so you gimme your ‘objective’ summation boertjie boer bull
Wynand Olivier is kak.. is kak, was kak, always will be kak… 36 attempts later and he’s STILL kak.. you got a better objective opinion why he is STILL the go to guy at no.12 in green and gold when all else fails.. other than his blonde locks and systematic balletjies blou blou bevokte bedienste … any other ethnic intrinsic attributes and he would have been labelled “quota’ boy supreme by the very pundits that punt him as the best of the rest right here.. how much you wanna bet about it.?
played for Boks 36 times and lost 18 of those – 50% – with one try to show for all his appearances.. Mr. Mediocrity himself.. but he’s the absolute best we got when the sh’t hits the fan.. ain’t he just. Makes Adrian Jacobs look like Sonny Bill Williams.
19 Jun 2012, 21:23 pm
@Markel77(Markel77)-200: but i bet you had huge issues!
zane is a starter @ the bulls, that didn’t stop the quota chorus humming did it?
thought so.
19 Jun 2012, 21:23 pm
@Dusky(Dusky)-304:
Still come to Mthatha often?
19 Jun 2012, 21:24 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-305: We had an excuse from Mallet once I think it was after he was questioned why 11 of his squad came from WP in the year the Stormers finished in the bottom 3 of the Super rugby tournament.
He said its because they have contracts – and you have to make use of what you have before just summarily handing out new contracts.
Only explanation I can think of why the useless Olivier is still in the team.
19 Jun 2012, 21:24 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-296:
Stompie meant Firemans not the Ukraine.
I don’t know anyone who wants to go to the Ukraine. Unless it’s on business.
19 Jun 2012, 21:25 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-307:
My Gogo really missing you….
19 Jun 2012, 21:25 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-307: Sure – wherever I need to go to get a piece of that.
19 Jun 2012, 21:28 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-310: Eish Phil….with the prices your dad charges – I am sure he must live in a mansion with the property prices in Mthatha.
19 Jun 2012, 21:29 pm
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-309:
No… awesome place, spent some time there while at world champs in Bulgaria last year…. Should really go and explore the world!
19 Jun 2012, 21:30 pm
Vat hom Dusky
19 Jun 2012, 21:30 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-314:
19 Jun 2012, 21:31 pm
@Dusky(Dusky)-312:
Dont live there….the gogo’s sending all the money to the city…..
19 Jun 2012, 21:32 pm
@TooMuchRugby(TooMuchRugby)-299: bruvva why don’t you like our coach?
19 Jun 2012, 21:32 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-316:
Better test yourself!
19 Jun 2012, 21:34 pm
Blood in the water
19 Jun 2012, 21:36 pm
A glimpse into the future……
Wynand Olivier plays his final benefit game for the Bulls. The Bulls management decides to honour him, the will rig the lucky draw at the end of the game so WO himself will win it. At the awards ceremony they announce: “And the winner is…our own meisiekind! To claim your prize all you have to do is answer one easy question: How much is 1 + 1?” WO answers: “That’s easy – two!”
After a moments silence, the crowd shouts out as if in own voice: “Gee hom nog ‘n kans! Gee hom nog ‘n kans!”
19 Jun 2012, 21:38 pm
@Dusky(Dusky)-312:
Gogo really complaining… saying the boys from the cape really undercutting her……………
19 Jun 2012, 21:42 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-317:
Man, apart from crappy selections and a crappy game plan, he just gives me the creeps.
Call me a bigot if you want, but that’s just how I feel.
It’s not because of provincialism.
19 Jun 2012, 21:43 pm
And Pierre Spies is going into his 50th test with some sort of form behind him.
What is it with these Bulls that they take so long to develop form playing for the Boks?
Time for Heyneke to start kicking serious arse.
19 Jun 2012, 21:53 pm
all I can say is we pretty lucky its a washed up second rate England side we facing Saturday .. a full blown tough nut international setup and we could have been facing what Jake faced when he met France at home .. and lost.
19 Jun 2012, 21:55 pm
Now… this North South thing ……Why all the clever kids in the north(13 distinctions plus)… why has the North been dominating rugby for the past 50 years… Why all the money in the north???????? Why all the pretty girls in the north????? The girls at the South so ugly most men are skeef…… Any answers???
19 Jun 2012, 21:55 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-306: Not in my book. Zane is a solid starter for the Bulls and deserved a chance to play with Bokke. He is not a quota, not at all. Try again guapo
19 Jun 2012, 21:59 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-324:
We still have to play England away at the end of the year. After the Boks have gone through the Rugby Championship and the knock-out stages of the Currie Cup.
Let us see how they go at Twickers. Remember, Heyneke is determined to win every test. And that’s one test they won’t want to lose.
19 Jun 2012, 22:00 pm
Ya nee, judging from the press conference WO looked like someone who knows Meyer’s unwavering faith in him will be of no salvation should he flop on Saturday night.
Ironic. Juan de Jongh’s foreseeable Bok future depends on Manu Tuilagi’s mood this weekend… If ya kinda think about it.
19 Jun 2012, 22:00 pm
“Wynand Olivier says he will use a start against England to convince everybody including himself that he belongs at the highest level.”
Wynand “One try pony” Olivier has scored less Test tries than Tony Timberd*ck, ffs, in fact – big fat zero against any rugby nation ranked in the top 10. Hell will freeze sooner than convincing anyone, apart from himself, Heineken and a few die-hard blue bloggers.
19 Jun 2012, 22:03 pm
@Nils(Nils)-329:
Inside centre not there to score tries…… his job to create tries for 11,13,14 and 15……. did you not know that?
19 Jun 2012, 22:04 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-324: Ah fck off you miserable old kont, is all I can say. Which is probably a good deal more than you deserve.
19 Jun 2012, 22:04 pm
Must be from the South……….
19 Jun 2012, 22:07 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-325: you the freak with the North / South skew ball parenthesis
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-327: PdV SMACKED England much bigger AWAY at Twickers than HM did here at Kings Park and Ellis Park..
PdV’s AWAY record vs England is 7 tries to 1 in favor of Boks with a huge points difference advantage…
HM will need to go some to do as well at Twickers later this year.. PdV never lost to England once either home or away.. lets see how we progress from here.
19 Jun 2012, 22:10 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-331: fuckoff yourself bb ******* fucknut…
19 Jun 2012, 22:11 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-333:
Lets make this easy on all and just agree that the north are far superior……….
19 Jun 2012, 22:12 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-333:
But to win a game of rugby, all you have to do is be 1 point better than the opposition. That’s all. So far, Heyneke’s doing ok.
19 Jun 2012, 22:12 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-330: No, I did not. Funny how he use to score while blue bullie, he does not know your wise words, I guess.
19 Jun 2012, 22:12 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-334: Back to your microwave macaroni cheese and crossword puzzle, you sad old ****.
19 Jun 2012, 22:17 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-338:
rennet free thangyaverymuch.
19 Jun 2012, 22:17 pm
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-336:
But both his wings has been top of the table in tries scored over past 5 seasons…
Do your homework….
19 Jun 2012, 22:20 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-338: you the little boertjie bloujobkont that needs a good revue to your skeef screwball education.. only you pathetic little cleverdick creep still don’t know it yet .. niet.
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-336: Ok is OK…
Heyneke is doing OK.. I can go along OK with that… if that’s all you concerned about is doing OK.
I see some gnashing of teeth down the highway.. I hope Heyneke got balls of steel cause he gonna need them.. and somehow my sixth sense tells me perhaps he don’t.
19 Jun 2012, 22:24 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-339: It’s from seven-11′s frozenrockhard section and was prepared by 180 kids in a warehouse in Laos in 2001. Hard to be exact about the contents.
19 Jun 2012, 22:25 pm
@TooMuchRugby(TooMuchRugby)-322:lol what? “he just gives me the creeps. Call me a bigot if you want,”
care to elaborate on the above,if you wish.
19 Jun 2012, 22:25 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-341: Let’s have that again in modern-day English, old kont.
19 Jun 2012, 22:28 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-342: a typical little snotnosed neanderthal believing he’s evolved… divert the discussion away from the reality.. that’s the way the bloublou vernekers like to pretend its all bloubevok beeyootiful on the horizon.
How little do you peanut brained little pisswilly punk actually know.
19 Jun 2012, 22:29 pm
I see the senile old midget is still going at it hammer and tongs. Man, this guy must be trying to make up for something he lacks in the real world.
19 Jun 2012, 22:30 pm
@louis schropnel(louis shrapnel)-341:
The change I find refreshingly different is that Heyneke wants to win every test the Boks play. And not this “judge me in 4 years time kak” or “judge me at the World Cup”. If you aim to win every test, as it should be, then series victories and trophies will take care of themselves.
I was being facetious when saying the oke is doing ok.
I mean, he only has 2 tests behind him. Played 2, won 2. So far that’s ok.
19 Jun 2012, 22:30 pm
Tell us about Caprivi snottieshyte?
19 Jun 2012, 22:31 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-344: its all WAY above your pisswilly little fucknosed head fucknut… get to grips with it sonny …
19 Jun 2012, 22:33 pm
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-347: halelujah! I couldn’t stand that “judge me at the world cup” *****, because if we are really honest, it was simply an excuse for losing any game in between world cups…
I see a lot of people, mostly without fail from the Cape, are complaining about the make up of the Bok team… as long as the team wins and is winning, I see no reason to go all goo goo gaga like a little baby.
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] 8 9 10 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.