Time to reflect on Ralepelle
4 Jul 2012
RYAN VREDE looks at Chiliboy Ralepelle’s plight and asks some pressing questions with the hooker on the cusp of his 50th Super Rugby appearance.
This milestone seems a logical place to stop and assess Ralepelle’s career. As a schoolboy and junior international Ralepelle was widely regarded as among the best in his position in the world. The Bulls proclaimed a massive coup upon securing his signature and former Springbok captain John Smit later anointed him as his successor, an offering he should have been more conservative with in hindsight.
It hasn’t helped Ralepelle’s development or personal ambition that up until this current Super Rugby campaign he hasn’t started regularly when fit, or missed large chunks of the tournament through injury. However, despite his lack of game time in Super Rugby he was continually selected for Springbok teams under Jake White and Peter de Villiers’ watch, the coaches justifying his selections with glowing assessments of his talent, which in turn created an unrealistic standard against which Ralepelle would be measured from thereon.
His elevation to the Test stage was undoubtedly premature, and while he has never looked completely out of his depth in any of his 21 appearances (the majority of those as a substitute), the aforementioned created expectation was never met. As a result he has been unfairly branded a mediocre Test player by large sections of the South African rugby fraternity.
However, injury-free and backed by his coaches at the Bulls this season, Ralepelle has impressed and shown glimpses of the player we were told he is. But now his Test career has stalled, with no prospect of it progressing in the manner he would have hoped for unless those ahead of him in the pecking order – Bismarck du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss – are injured or suffer significant losses of form.
This was supposed to be the year Ralepelle’s intimate relationship with the Springboks’ tackle bags ended. But Meyer’s appointment saw a deviation from the script. Meyer has always been a great admirer of Du Plessis, and, form and fitness permitting, will commit to him for the duration of his tenure. And while even Ralepelle’s most ardent supporters would find it difficult to motivate for him to start ahead of Du Plessis, he had realistic ambitions of being his deputy.
Not so now. Meyer deeply lamented Strauss’ departure from the Bulls during his time as head coach at the Pretoria franchise, and had actively worked for his return thereafter, maintaining he was a world-class hooker who would amplify the team’s threat. It was therefore no surprise that Meyer opted for Strauss ahead of Ralepelle for the England series and will do so again for the Rugby Championship.
So where does this leave the 25-year-old Ralepelle? He is set to remain the incumbent at the Bulls until his contract expires in October 2013. Meyer has stressed that form will always be his primary criteria for selection. Ralepelle could endeavour to force Meyer’s hand through consistently outstanding form. But what is the ceiling of his potential in comparison to that of Strauss? And if both players are at or close to that ceiling, is Ralepelle better than his challenger? I’m not sure he is, but it is an indictment on Bulls and to a greater degree Springbok coaches White and De Villiers that 50 matches into his Super Rugby and 21 Tests that nobody can answer this with any certainty.
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122 Comments
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4 Jul 2012, 22:00 pm
@Blitzbok(Blitzbok)-76:
You must be joking….chili is good but does not touch bismarck with a ten foot pole!
4 Jul 2012, 22:28 pm
Look i am a bit worried about the next game for the Bulls, but maybe the man of the match performance might just come from this player. Just to show HM a thing or 2.
I in fact thought that HM would have pulled the rabbit out of the hat and pick Chilly and make him a popular Captain for all in SA.
5 Jul 2012, 00:51 am
He is still young and their are many more senor players than him, so captaincy, no.
Bizzie is simply amazing, so to have Chilly Pepper starting before him just yet, would be ridiculous stupid. Unfortunately Like Bizzie, he is going to have to wait, and hope no one will rise above his level in the next few years. Is he a standout? like Keo say undecided
I would like to see Beasty score a few tries he deserves a few coming his way, great team player. Just thinking of the last couple England matches where he saved the jumpers from extremely bad falls. BBeeeaaasssttttttyyy
5 Jul 2012, 03:28 am
Chilli is waaay better than strauss – he offers more on the ground, and in general intelligence. he matches him in scrumming, betters hi in throwing the lineouts, and just gets shaded by him in carrying (although he runs better lines).
I’ll take Chilli anyday…
5 Jul 2012, 03:58 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-104: He outplayed Bizzy in the first clash earlier this year too.
5 Jul 2012, 08:42 am
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-98: What does Michael Jackson and vodka have in common?
They both come in small tots.
5 Jul 2012, 08:43 am
@SjamBok(SjamBok)-104: What you said. plus he doesnt lose the ball in contact as often as Strauss.
5 Jul 2012, 09:40 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-107: Yeah. You’re right. He rarely loses the ball, because he never touches the ball. Chilli’s never in the right position.
5 Jul 2012, 09:41 am
Chilli’s biggest mistake was taking a contract with the Bulls.
5 Jul 2012, 09:42 am
Strauss always looks for contact when he has the ball and 8 out 10 times he looses the ball in contact – not to mention any momentum the attack might have had. He is the epitome of a dumb player. You can get away with that dumb rugby in Currie Cup, and maybe the bottom half of Superrugby table, but at the top level it just doesn’t work. His cousin, soon to be Irish international Richardt, has at least learnt to keep the ball alive – If only Adriaan can learn from him.
5 Jul 2012, 09:43 am
@Bouts(Bouts)-108: Out wide in the backline?
Agreed he’ll need to work on spending more time on the wing if he wants to compete for the Bok number 2 jersey.
5 Jul 2012, 09:47 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-106: Faaaaaaaaaark thats just wrong but does create a bit a bit of a chuckle
@Bouts(Bouts)-108: Wrong Bouts. Chilli carries the ball quite a bit. I will admit though that he does not carry it as much as a Bismarck or Adriaan but when you have ball cariers like Potgieter/Stander etc. why would you not use them?
Chilli was hampered by injury but has shown his ability the last season and a half. I expect him and Bissie to dominate the number two position for the next couple of years.
5 Jul 2012, 09:48 am
@Bouts(Bouts)-109: What a load of cccap ,
Chilley is by far the best line out hooker in country, ask Mr Bismark why England scored
Bismark is better in loose
Straus maybe a better runner
Scrums 50/50
For me line out trowing and scrum is first priority. In that sense its not clear cut.
5 Jul 2012, 09:53 am
@gecko(gecko)-110:
Always preferred Richardt to Andries. He’s a more skilled and intelligent player.
5 Jul 2012, 12:05 pm
this is a completely unfair and irresponsible article.
the guy is playing decent rugby and enjoying it and has been able to keep his injury hoodoo away.
that bismaark and strauss are preferred for the boks is irrelevent. I’m sure he is more thrilled to be the starting 2 for for the bulls every week instead of warming the bench for the boks every week.
5 Jul 2012, 12:49 pm
@David(David)-114: The one is a hooker, the other is a midfielder
@Bouts(Bouts)-109: Indeed.
@superBul(superBul)-105: Yes but Bissie does not pitch up for first games or dead rubbers.
5 Jul 2012, 13:23 pm
@willievz(willievz)-116: He’s talking bout Richardt, the other cousin who is indeed a hooker, currently plying his trade for Leinster. Not Adriaan, the midfielder.
Too many of them to keep track, I agree.
5 Jul 2012, 14:31 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-117: Hehe, you both have fallen into the trap
Andries is the midfielder.
Adriaan and Richardt are the hookers.
5 Jul 2012, 14:42 pm
@willievz(willievz)-118: lol.
Wish I could make that blushing smilie.
5 Jul 2012, 19:20 pm
It’s pretty simple. Ralepelle is a fantastic, Test-class hooker – elite in the loose, slightly sub-par in the scrum (but still showing clear improvement), and deadly accurate at the line-out, with that rare gift of being in the right place at the right time as a ball carrier. Unfortunately for him, though, South Africa currently possesses probably the two most talented hookers in world rugby, and neither of them is named Chiliboy – I’m talking, of course, about Bismarck and Strauss. The fact that he’s still third-best despite his injuries and lack of game time in a country where we’re absolutely blessed with talent at his position is a measure of his undeniable talent.
5 Jul 2012, 22:01 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-106: Jeez Tah. That was a seriously poor joke. I mean bottom of the jar mate. Time for a rethink.
5 Jul 2012, 22:08 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl(Brigadier Van Zyl)-115: With respect VZ, I think this is a great angle for a story, well structured and written(for a change). I think it is a wonderful subject to draw out a debate. Which, after all, is what this site is all about. No?
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