What Bismarck’s loss means
21 Aug 2012
RYAN VREDE writes that Bismarck du Plessis is the most significant of all the Springboks’ injuries to date and further erodes the hope of them winning the Rugby Championship.
I wrote at the time that I didn’t believe the absence of Schalk Burger, Jaque Fourie, Danie Rossouw, Bakkies Botha and Fourie du Preez (who was courted for a Test return) among a clutch of uncapped players (Duane Vermeulen and Johan Goosen for example) would be terminal to the Springboks’ cause against England. There were competent replacements available who subsequently got the job done. Neither did I feel it would hinder them against Argentina last week, even with Pierre Spies and JP Pietersen added to that injury list.
It was their unavailability against Australia and New Zealand that most concerned me, although I still believed the depth was sufficient to beat the former and mount an appreciable challenge against the Blacks. But Du Plessis’ loss is a hammer blow. To understand it’s significance you have to take into account the tangible and non-tangible impact.
Technically he is the most complete hooker in the game. He is a brutal defender who has also grown as a breakdown scavenger in recent years. Indeed Heyneke Meyer highlighted this as amplifying his value, especially in light of the absence of a specialist openside flank. On attack he is a force at the gainline, a constant source of go-forward. His work-rate in both these facets of play is unmatched by any hooker on the planet (I know this because I’ve seen the Springboks’ analysis of all their competitors in this regard). Furthermore, his set piece work is excellent.
Away from the technical competencies, his game intelligence and temperament under pressure has improved markedly, as has his discipline, which was a point of concern early in his career. He has also become an accomplished leader. Meyer’s estimation of him in this regard has grown to the point where he had considered him for the captaincy. Finally, his experience will be sorely missed. Forty six caps into his Test career, Du Plessis’s presence at crunch times would have been a boon for a youthful and largely inexperienced Springbok pack.
Seldom will one player’s absence be decisive to the outcome, and I’m not suggesting Du Plessis holds such sway at this point in his career. He was, however, the heart and soul of the side and embodied every quality Meyer sought in his players. He has the capacity to galvanise those around him through the standard he sets. He is a match winner.
His replacement, Adriaan Strauss, is a fine player but he isn’t in Du Plessis’s class. That said, Strauss faces a decisive phase in his Test career, where his success or failure will have a significant bearing on the Springboks’ fortunes. In the context of their game plan he is an important cog. His lineout feeds will come under the microscope and with the Springboks’ rolling maul being one of their primary weapons, Strauss’s accuracy will be central to their ability to set this in motion. It is also a facet of play where the Springboks have traditionally had the edge over the Wallabies and Blacks.
In addition Strauss will have to rein in his fondness for lurking in the loose. It is a strategy that suits the Cheetahs’ approach but the Springboks will need him to get stuck in at ground zero in the coming Tests.
In Monday’s press conference in Mendoza Meyer described Strauss as world-class. That offering and other examples of his professed faith in him is not lip service. He has an extremely high regard for the player, whom he brought to the Bulls as a youngster and whose loss he deeply lamented when he returned to the Cheetahs. Strauss owes it to himself and Meyer to take the opportunity that now presents itself.
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579 Comments
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21 Aug 2012, 15:07 pm
@mikeybrass-148:
I think I also hate Potgieter so much because he straightens his hair.
Seriously, he looks like a 18 year old going to his ‘metro’ matric dance.
21 Aug 2012, 15:08 pm
@londonshark-149: I agree, was really disappointed in that aspect of the movie…I know it wasnt really about the rugby, but it detracted from the whole movie imo..
21 Aug 2012, 15:08 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-138:
“I also rate Deysel but is he not just recently back from another injury?”
Did you have the same reservations about Potgieter when he was selected for the English series after being out for six weeks with a injury?
Btw, I don’t rate Deysel as a Bok contender so the question is in no way meant to further his cause.
@Brigadier Van Zyl-141:
What exactly has JJ done to warrant a place in the Bok 22, let alone a starting spot?
Don’t give me the “he covers wing as well” excuse. From a playing/performance point of view this year, what has JJ done to deserve his place in the team?
…and no, this is not me punting for JdJ to be selected. I just want you to explain to me why JJ is in the team.
21 Aug 2012, 15:08 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-141: you are not answering the question, would JJ Engelbrecht be BOK “cover” if he was still at Province because none of his performances in a bulls jersey scream BOK BOK BOK…
the same with Potgieter, you ask if Deysel isn’t coming back from injury, meanwhile Potgieter was sideline for TWO or THREE weeks before he was called up to play in the England Series, he didn’t have to be match fit, be on form, contribute to his team or anything, just straight into the Bok bench.
ppffftt
21 Aug 2012, 15:08 pm
@poppa69-130: Hey Giulietta, are you ever anything more than a trouble stirrer, or is it your sole mission to log on to niggle? You seem to hit the threads running these days. No more “returning serve” it seems. Is that how absolutely and miserably sht you life has become? Do you need us to do anything for you? Like feed your cats when you crash and burn and get checked in again?
21 Aug 2012, 15:09 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-143:
We agree on Burger. But one question was, can you really compare Burger to Potgieter?
I just don’t think Pot is in the same league. Schalk was also the best ball poacher in the world for a year or 2. He has a very underrated skill set.
Like I said, Potgieter might prove me wrong. But is the Boks the place to do it????
21 Aug 2012, 15:10 pm
@poppa69-136: PLease dude show me where i sit here and throw mud at the Kiwi’s ??? would love to see, As for you?? its a daily thing here, people can be having a normal rugby chat and on entry by you it all changes,
Maybe a look at yourself first before pointing all those fingers??
21 Aug 2012, 15:12 pm
@londonshark-156: Lemme put it this way?? POtgieter was at the Sharks academy, he did not improve, they let him go
21 Aug 2012, 15:12 pm
@poppa69-152:
Yep, people kept saying ‘it’s not a rugby movie’. Well, it kinda was.
Mandela used RUGBY to bring a nation together. So the ‘rugby’ parts should have been given more attention.
When Joel started shouting ‘NO NO’ in slow motion just before he kicked the winning droppie, I almost started laughing.
21 Aug 2012, 15:12 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-150: I completely disagree on both counts.
JdV has shown his still has lots of pace. The Stormers were scoring tries at will in 2010 when “no pass” JdJ was at 12 and the tries were being scored by the backline.
21 Aug 2012, 15:13 pm
@katman-155: is this an example of “staggering wit”?
massive fail..
dont look now, but Londonshark and I are actually having a civil conversation..
but what to expect from a leeus-ers supporter now that he’s lost his sense of entitlement.. lol
21 Aug 2012, 15:13 pm
@sharks_lover-157:
Lol, you can’t bite when Poppa comes on here. Seriously.
21 Aug 2012, 15:14 pm
@londonshark-149: Hey, a friend of starred as one of the Bok players in that movie…..(one of my least faves if I must be honest)…
21 Aug 2012, 15:14 pm
@poppa69-136: Pop’s is it fair to say that since your AB’s won the WC last year you have been every bit as arrogant/belligerant as the Saffa’s you moan about post 2007?
21 Aug 2012, 15:14 pm
@nama1-153: Exactly. JdJ is much better than JJ and Olivier.
Watch the squad evolve over the next two years.
21 Aug 2012, 15:14 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-163: Oooops. A friend of mine.
21 Aug 2012, 15:14 pm
@sharks_lover-158:
I never knew he was with the Sharks!!?? He must have seen Marcell and realized he had no hope with us
21 Aug 2012, 15:15 pm
Please guys, don’t rise to the bait like I do sometimes against Poppa and let an otherwise interesting thread deteriorate down to his psychotic level.
21 Aug 2012, 15:15 pm
@nama1-153: snap!!!!!!!!!!!!
21 Aug 2012, 15:16 pm
@londonshark-167: LOL.
I didn’t know that either. I thought he came from the Eastern Cape and hadn’t touched the Banana Academy
21 Aug 2012, 15:16 pm
@mikeybrass-165:
To be honest, the Stormers backs (JDJ and Aplon in particular) should be blaming Robbie Fleck for their Bok exclusion.
How the heck does he still have a job????
21 Aug 2012, 15:16 pm
@londonshark-159: Hollywood, or Clint failed to grasp that aspect of how rugby was used as the primary vehicle, and by failing not to recognise it it lessened the whole impact of the movie imo..
it really was a defining moment in SA history, but you dont really grasp that fact from the movie
21 Aug 2012, 15:17 pm
@londonshark-162: Nah boet i have said my say to him, just wondering when a man his age would grow up, but again miracles to happen from time to time
21 Aug 2012, 15:18 pm
@sharks_lover-158: Potgieter is 26 years old. On the way to 27. Any loosie who hasn’t featured in a Big name franchise (Bulls) until he hits that age, is seriously lacking in something….
And if you don’t find that something before you hit 24 – you ain’t ever going to find it.
He is kak, and soon he will be OLD kak.
Look at some of the 18/19/20 and 21 year loosies coming through…..and then look at him at 26.
KAK.
21 Aug 2012, 15:19 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-174: Well like i said, he was at the SHarks academy, they let him go without a fuss
21 Aug 2012, 15:20 pm
@londonshark-171: Hmmm, I put the blame at AC’s door rather. The Stormers were scoring some wonderful tries in 2010 and Fleck was getting the credit. Fleck, however, can only operate within the gameplan and strategy set by the head coach, not to mention the head coach’s selections. The Stormers’ backline looked better this year on the occassion that JdJ had to move to 12. I am with Skoppie – 12 JdJ and 13 JdV for the Stormers with a different flyhalf plus a subtle change in the game plan emphasis and we would have scored more tries.
21 Aug 2012, 15:20 pm
@poppa69-172:
Yeah, I felt a bit cheated after watching it.
Small things too. Like when the Bok team jogged down the steet, right past a 2009 Hyundai Getz. Or how they left the Ellis Park roof in the film that was built for the 2010 WC (the above the boxes).
But, I guess the yanks liked it (kinda), and they were paying the bills. But still.
At least it had a happy ending
21 Aug 2012, 15:22 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-174:
HE IS 26!!!!!!!!!!?????????
WTF?? No man, I thought he was 22 or so.
That confirms it, shocking pick from Meyer (I thought maybe he was a bolter of sort, but at 26, if you never made it, you never will).
21 Aug 2012, 15:22 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-174: Some players come into their own later in life. Fair enough. I can think of a few such examples. I do not buy into the age criteria. However, Potgieter is bloody brain-dead on the field. Mules have more intelligence and finese.
21 Aug 2012, 15:23 pm
@Skeppie-164: yep, but do you think the penny has dropped with any of those who were as arrogant pre 2011?
do you think they get my point? nah, of course not, If SA beat us this year at all it will start again…
could they finally understand that what they had dished for 4 years is now coming full circle?
strange concept I know, but a simple one..
21 Aug 2012, 15:23 pm
@mikeybrass-176:
Fair point hey. Either way, someone in the Stormers setup is stopping that team from becoming truely awesome.
21 Aug 2012, 15:24 pm
I am more than happy with Bissy out and Strauss holding the fort.Strauss got the better skills set and is the better disciplined player.Don’t rush back Bissy.
21 Aug 2012, 15:25 pm
@mikeybrass-179:
Mmmm, props come to life in their late 20′s. But not flankers.
But ja, like he said, Potgieter just doesn’t have the head for international rugby.
21 Aug 2012, 15:26 pm
@londonshark-177:
yeah, guess the happy ending depends on perspective 
but it served a much greater purpose then just crowning the World Cup champs, and as such it was probably the right way for the tournament to end..
see, us spiritual guardians of the game were quite happy to assist in something much greater then the game itself
21 Aug 2012, 15:27 pm
@londonshark-178: Actually he is 27
21 Aug 2012, 15:28 pm
born 24 April 1986) ok this is his date of birth my bad
21 Aug 2012, 15:28 pm
@wnbb-182: SMOKING THE WEED AGAIN??
21 Aug 2012, 15:29 pm
@londonshark-183:
Jacques Potgieter (born 24 April 1986) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Blue Bulls.[1]
He represented Eastern Province at the annual Craven Week rugby tournament in 2004 and then clinched a move to the Natal Sharks, whom he represented at various youth levels before playing in the Vodacom Cup for two seasons before moving back to the Eastern Province Kings for the 2009 Currie Cup First Division season.
In August 2011, the Blue Bulls announced that they had signed Potgieter for the 2012 season on a two-year contract.[2] An early release of his contract was secured and he joined the Bulls on 1 September
21 Aug 2012, 15:30 pm
@poppa69-184:
LOL, your kindness towards the Boks was much appreciated
But ja, I was only 11 at the time, so the true scale of what was at stake was beyond me.
Now that I look back, if the Boks had lost, a huge amount of country building never would have occured. Very important moment.
21 Aug 2012, 15:30 pm
@londonshark-181: We need a flyhalf who can create space and we need a coach who can create enough space in the gameplan to bring more balance to the attack-defense ratio. The structure of the Stormers is first rate as could be seen this season. The problem lays in how the backline is being selected etc, while the forwards are very very good as a collective unit and will keep growing together. To my mind, that is AC and not Fleck.
21 Aug 2012, 15:31 pm
@sharks_lover-188:
Meyer’s scouting abilities just took a dive in my books
21 Aug 2012, 15:32 pm
@londonshark-183: Pienaar, Teichmann and above all Danie improved with age and really came into their own later on.
Potgieter was well known and highly regarded in the EC. Meyer poached him.
21 Aug 2012, 15:33 pm
@londonshark-191:
21 Aug 2012, 15:33 pm
@londonshark-183: Btw. Coming into their own and coming to life are two different things
21 Aug 2012, 15:34 pm
@londonshark-189: agree totally, and some could say that it was indeed fated..
besides, we won the real tournament the following year…
21 Aug 2012, 15:35 pm
@londonshark-177:
thats back when rugby was hard and physical… but honestly contested in good spirit. not clean as a whislte sure, but at least it strived towards this.
its gone to the dogs since.
21 Aug 2012, 15:38 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-196: As if Richard Loe ever contested in good spirits!
21 Aug 2012, 15:38 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-196: hahaha cant help yourself, love it..
the 81 tour was hard and physical, and not just on the rugby field…. but you were probably still a laaitie on the teat at that stage huh?
21 Aug 2012, 15:39 pm
@poppa69-180: I hear you and I am sure a lot of “us” don’s see it as the circle turning but it’s been give and take…..some of the AB supporters on this site have been as bad as some of the saffa’s…..
21 Aug 2012, 15:40 pm
If you think Bismarks’s loss was big , imagine if Strauss gets injured and Liebenberg has to play.
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