Mother Nature to decide on Daniel
15 Aug 2012
MARK KEOHANE writes Keegan Daniel deserves a shot at the Pumas at Newlands on Saturday – if only to kill off his own prejudice about the Test quality of the Sharks captain.
Sometimes you see a player who is exceptional at provincial or Super Rugby level, but never makes the transition at Test level. Often a national coach will say the player is good but not that good to take the step up. Then you get another player who gets the chance, doesn’t deliver and continues to be picked with that same coach saying it is only a matter of time before the player comes good. I am being generic here so I am not singling a coach or a player. Look around the world and do your own math. Every national team has a player you think shouldn’t be there and every squad excludes a player you think at least deserves 80 minutes.
I am among those who have questioned whether Daniel can take the step up. I know he is a very good player. I know he has excelled in the Currie Cup and when leading the Sharks in Super Rugby. But he’s never done it in the way that I think has ‘Springbok Test loosie’ emblazoned across his chest.
Ordinarily I wouldn’t select Daniel at No 8 for the Boks ahead of Pierre Spies, as just one example. And no I don’t have a counter argument for all the times Spies hasn’t produced the kind of imposing performance you want to believe is a given for a player of his physical presence and natural talent. And no it doesn’t make me right. And no it doesn’t mean Spies is any better than Daniel. And I could continue to list the … and no …
It is just my gut goes with Spies and the only way it can ever change is to see Daniel get a go and make it work. I know Heyneke Meyer has always been a fan of Spies and he was always unlikely to select a player like Daniel ahead of Spies, a player Meyer has coached since his U20 days.
But that is why Mother Nature sometimes has to intervene and make decisions the mortals among us never will. Kings coach and former Western Province and Ulster coach Alan Solomons would always tell me that nature often makes the selection call a coach can’t, and never has it been more obvious than at last year’s World Cup when All Blacks coach Graham Henry believed Colin Slade to be the answer at No 10 and refused to accept Mils Muliaina was past his sell-by date. Had it been up to Henry, Slade and Mils would have been starters in the World Cup final and there’s a good chance the All Blacks may not even have made it to the final. Injury ended Mils’s World Cup in his 100th Test and injury also ended Slade’s participation. In their place came the brilliant Israel Dagg and very talented Aaron Cruden. And into the squad came Stephen Donald, a player I would never have picked for a World Cup final, and one no New Zealander would have had as a World Cup priority.
How ironic then that Donald should kick the most important penalty in 24 years of New Zealand World Cup misery and how ironic that Dagg and Cruden should bring an edge so missing with Mils and Slade.
When I first saw Corey Jane play for the Canes I told mates he should be playing for the All Blacks and that his aerial skills and all-round game would make for a better New Zealand back three. Does that make me some kind of soothsayer? Not quite. I also saw Kieran Read and told my mates just how KAK he was after his first few games for the Crusaders. I still remember writing that the Boks have Spies and the Kiwis have Read. That’s just one example of the problems they’ve got. For the one I tend to get right, there’s one that will always be an embarrassing wrong call.
Which brings me back to Daniel. Give him a go and give him an extended go, home and away against the Pumas. And if he is good, play him against Australia and New Zealand. And if he excels it’s another example when Mother Nature has to intervene and kill off the prejudice of the mortals who pick teams. We all have our prejudices when it comes to players. We all have our favourites and sometimes we refuse to see our favourite just isn’t that good and the other bloke is that good.
Daniel would never have played ahead of Spies. Is this a Mother Nature moment?
Something is telling me yes.
No Spies, No Duane Vermeulen, No Ryan Kankowski … Meyer had no choice now. He’s gone with Daniel. Now we’ll know and it won’t be because of a favouritism or a prejudice.
63 Comments
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15 Aug 2012, 20:29 pm
@HongKongSlong-50:
Rubbish. The Hill, Dayglo , Back combo went back to 1997. Woodward didn’t believe Back was big enough to be first choice opensider in 2003.
15 Aug 2012, 21:06 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-3: no thomson as 1.88m messam starts!
15 Aug 2012, 22:40 pm
@David-51: That’s news to me!
16 Aug 2012, 02:35 am
wait for it wait for it
Donald’s kick missed did it? and you know this how? because the linesman both agreed it went over? because the scoreboard had 3 points added to it?
Donald’s kick missed. hahahahahaha
you are a sad muppet, but great to see Te hurt is now at the cellular level.
this is going to provide many mirthful moment for years to come.
16 Aug 2012, 02:47 am
@wait for it, wait for it…-1:
lol you are becoming the laughing character on Keo.
Even a few South Africans think your missing a few cells in the head.
Its good to behind your team, you are totally a huge supporter but the one eye has conjunctivitis.
@keo-2:
lol
As for you mentioning Cory Jane, i have noticed his name has popped up in a few of your posts.
He could be one of the best all round wingers we have had. He has all the skills, his kicking, recieving and defence and especially his attacking skills with a second to none fend off is something few wingers have. I cant wait to see him back in black again.
16 Aug 2012, 02:47 am
lol. Wait for it
you can tell if a kick missed at Eden Park NZ while sitting watching the game in the Republic of SA?
hahahaha. pathetic, and shows how deep the hurt is. people say I need medication, but you have stolen that crown.
I understand though, you were probably born late 70s, early 80s, so have only seen the Bokke beat the ABs 12 times in your lifetime.
it shows
16 Aug 2012, 06:29 am
Ah poep – the era of the crooked refs bossed by chief crook o’brien. ted knows that’s why he whines about barnes.
16 Aug 2012, 07:36 am
@poppa69-56:
poppa
this relationship has run its course
i accept there is no love here
i am moving on
i suggest you do the same
—————————————————
i am on my side of the blog.
please stay on yours
@Hurricane-55:
hi hurri,
please, dont let me get to you. i will not refrain from telling the truth but i will stop telling it as much.
16 Aug 2012, 07:39 am
@58
he says it his his highlight baiting saffas on here
keep in mind he is a single nicky no mates keewee in sydney working at a casino
if you have no friends or wife/gf that must free up a lot of spare time i suppose.
16 Aug 2012, 07:56 am
@Fern is not a stud,he is merely no19-59:
poppa needs medication or counselling.
he goes through some wild mood swings.
a casino?
serving people (yes sir no sir) all day long can make you bitter. its bearable if you do it for a short while in your varsity years because you know its a means to an end and can even be character building.
i worked in the service industry as a waiter for a while and i farking hated it, i quickly came to loath the people i would make fake smiles at and knew i had to get out and quickly because it wasn’t who i was.
once you get stuck there and ten years go by…. well… i can just imagine his bitterness.
all speculation of course as regards poppa.
16 Aug 2012, 08:04 am
Okay KEO/Mark…
Yesterday you pointedly ignored several requests that you address the issue of people using the identities or nics to impersonate other posters to post inflammatory and derogatory comments which not only kick the hornet’s nest but make life on the site pretty uncomfortable for the real owner of the abused identity.
What happened to the old system of posting the original sign-on nic with whatever new nic is used?
Why was it changed?
It seems it was obviously a conscious decision your part.
Your silence and Nikita’s comment the other day about it being a democracy… whatever that means… leaves little room but to accept the conspiracy theorists that this change was a management decision to empower the trouble-makers in an effort to drive up your decreasing monthly hits.
Some have speculated that your staff members are in fact guilty of this ‘crime’. I dismissed this as passing the buck, but perhaps they have a point after all.
There is also the problem of people registering several nics about which I appreciate there is little you can do but that is not half as annoying as people using the current identities of current members to stir up controversy.
This is not right or fair or ‘democratic’. In real life democracies it is illegal to impersonate anyone else. Surely the most basic of your responsibilities is to protect the identities/nics/personas of your members.
What a pity that you have decided to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I have always defended the fact that you have allowed full and robust debate with little censorship but this new low (even for you) low-road approach you seem to have adopted (in the absence of any comment or effort to sort the problem by you) leave me very disappointed in the site in general and you in particular.
This approach may attract hits in the short-term but you are underestimating the ill-feeling it is causing and you will lose hits and members in the long-term.
It seems you do not appreciate that while you created this site and facilitate the discussion on it… it is the many members who participate upon it that MAKE the site what it is.
I signed up with your site when you started it but I am no longer willing to tolerate the implied arrogance your position suggests, or participate any longer in this farce, so will vote with my feet. I will post this comment several times to ensure you can’t say you did not see it and then withdraw from the site. I may reconsider if and when such time as you have addressed the issue and returned the posting protocol to what it used to be with someone’s original identity always being visible to all. I know I am only one person and you may well ridicule my stance but hey… so what.
Cheers to all the decent people on this site, many of whom are very knowledgeable, intelligent, humourous and entertaining. I would suggest that everyone who disagrees with KEO’s low-life approach also leave the site but obviously you must all do what you feel is right for you.
Cheers
ufo…
over and out…
16 Aug 2012, 08:05 am
@60
he is a security gaurd there
did his vip protection 3 day course a while ago
he can now carry pepper spray and a donkiep iel.
16 Aug 2012, 08:06 am
@60
he is a security gaurd there
did his vip protection 3 day course a while ago
he can now carry pepper spray and a donkiep iel.
he loathes the fact that i have property at a dam
you have reached rock bottom when you start to envy chunt du fernly…
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