Hougaard to wing it for Boks
4 Sep 2012
Heyneke Meyer is set to pick Ruan Pienaar at scrumhalf and shift Francois Hougaard to the wing for Saturday’s clash against the Wallabies.
Hougaard has failed to improve as both a distributor and a tactical kicker, and it would appear that Meyer has finally decided to move the talented player into a position where his other skills would be better utilised.
Starting Pienaar at No 9 will also give the Boks a stronger kicking option, and alleviate the pressure on struggling flyhalf Morné Steyn.
‘I’ve always said that we will have a horses-for-courses attitude,’ Meyer told the media in Perth. ‘Hougaard gives you something different on the wing while Ruan is a little bit more experienced and he has a brilliant kicking game so he can take some of the pressure off of Morne Steyn. It is not a definite thing but we are looking at that option.’
That being said, a strong showing by Pienaar could force Meyer to consider a permanent change in personnel. The same could be said of Francois Louw, who joined the side on Monday after playing for Bath over the weekend. Louw is likely to feature at openside flank and will be looking to change the mindset of Meyer who initially felt Louw surplus to requirements.
‘I want the option of a specialist openside, maybe on the bench,’ said the Bok coach. ‘Northern hemisphere refs are normally a bit more lenient at the breakdown and I want us to be covered there. But I’ve said before that the whole team needs to be able to compete on the ground and at the breakdown.
‘Our problem against Argentina was not just taking the opposition’s ball at the breakdown, it was protecting our own ball at the breakdown and that is not just the openside’s role that is the whole team’s responsibility. We need to be more effective at the breakdown, our body height should be lower and we should clean out more effectively.’
128 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 [3] Show All
4 Sep 2012, 19:00 pm
@nama1-97:
The main reason why the proteas did not win the last 2 odi’s was because the best cricketer in the history of SA’s cricket (not batsman but player) did not play. That is Mr Kallis of course.
ps.. I have to admit that the best batsman in the history of RBHS also contributed quite a bit towards England’s victories – I know Gary also attended that school
The fact that he is not available for the last game due to the hand injury will give the Proteas a better chance.
4 Sep 2012, 19:15 pm
@Robzim-101:
True. Kallis was sorely missed.
Trott is indispensable in the English setup at the moment.
But, whatever the outcome in the last match, England will stay at no. 1 in ODI’s till January, I think. Gary seems to be working towards a combination that could win the CWC in 2015 so I’m not bothered too much about us not being no.1 for now. To tell you the truth, I did not even know that the no. 1 spot was up for grabs in this series.
Natalie busy winning gold for SA at the moment.
You go girl.
4 Sep 2012, 19:16 pm
@Transformation-14: @Transformation-17: Hilarious, thanks for that. Even poor Ryan probably cringes when he reads those articles now
4 Sep 2012, 19:17 pm
This is the biggest chickenshit cop out capitulation arsewipe cringing move I ever seen.. I hope Aussie wipe this f’ng hopeless coach and his chicken arsed coward capitulation right off the richter scale lie another 49-0 or worse.. and maybe this moron hangs his head in shame and does himself and the Boks a favor and chucks the job up before he fck’s up any further than he has already..
Never seen such a chicken with no idea about rugby tenacity or rugby strategic ability and now he starting to second guess his own doubts.. starting to make decisions based on panic knee jerk reactions..
BIG fckup this and its only going to bring more tears…
F’ng cowards NEVER win they ALWAYS lose
4 Sep 2012, 19:17 pm
A four year plan until the WC?
Where have I heard that before?
4 Sep 2012, 19:23 pm
Play him at 15 Oom Heyneke.
4 Sep 2012, 19:30 pm
Waar’s ou extraball nou
4 Sep 2012, 19:31 pm
Remember Gary saying after the loss to Zim: If I wanted to win the tournament, I would’ve gone there with different players.
An indication that he is working towards a specific goal. The CWC in 2015 is my own interpretation of his goal. Maybe his is something totally different.
4 Sep 2012, 19:37 pm
Play Hougie off the bench if you don’t want him as your starter 9. He went into the squad as 1st choice SH.
That’s where he should play or from the bench. Finnish and klaar.
4 Sep 2012, 19:46 pm
where are all these Heyneke Meyer sing song singers disappeared to..
This schmuck is becoming an incredible embarrassment and they all thought PdV was bad.. this moron is downright bewildered beyond any semblance of rationality .. he going down I fear and all his singalong cheerleaders are absent without leave while the Bismark is busy sinking.
4 Sep 2012, 19:48 pm
Hougaard must play at NINE up front .. nowhere else
Play Pienaar and you going DOWN Mnr.. this straw gonna break your already very fragile back.. klaar kaput VREK.!!!
4 Sep 2012, 19:54 pm
Janee u could see this team unfolding from a million miles away – the worst thing is they should have been brave in Perth, which is their best chance of an away win and tgen could have built on that – u can see what team is – it’s going to be wrong by about 7 selections – beast strauss jannie etsbeth kruger Coetzee potgieter vermeulen piennar morne frans jdv hougaard kichner – dunno what Ozzie team is like but that bok team could get smacked – totally wrong we should beat this oz team they r not strong – even with the badly selected squad on tour he’s still get bok xv wrong
4 Sep 2012, 19:58 pm
Take it easy, Skop. Hougaard is potentially a great scrumhalf, but he’s also a great wing. Meyer thinks scrumhalves have to play like FdP, so for him Hougaard is better off on the wing – that’s not a train smash. The only other change mentioned is that Francois Louw might come into the side – that should please you. So what’s the problem?
4 Sep 2012, 20:01 pm
The other thing to bear in mind is that the Bok team hasn’t been announced yet. Remember that the genius bloggers on this website assured us that Butch James would be PDV’s flyhalf at the RWC – and that didn’t happen. For all we know, Hougaard may remain at 9.
4 Sep 2012, 23:05 pm
@fitz1ella-110: Who picks the people that picks the coaches…. it seems not you.
Let the guy be. This is not such a wrong move. I mean playing RP at 9. The guy has serious class. Maybe Meyer sees this and thinks he can bring out the best in him – consistently.
Hougaard could be a devastating wing. Better than Mvovo or Habana currently yes. Maybe not fully proven… Picking a gameplan for players is risky, because when the player becomes injured or unavailable the thing doesn’t work out. if they’re so good enough, they’ll be able to do what he wants, with some flair added.
And one is not neccesarily a singsonger if you do not slag off the Bok coach, any Bok coach all the time, for that matter.
The going is tough. What can you do.
4 Sep 2012, 23:07 pm
@nama1-109: why finish and klaar. who is eng now?
4 Sep 2012, 23:08 pm
@gunther-106: why not.
4 Sep 2012, 23:12 pm
@fitz1ella-111: Apparently Andries Bekker is next up to get the boot. Although I dont say it as colorfully as you, I agree with your sentiment in general.
I am finding it hard to believe that this is the man that brought the Bulls back from their mid to late 90s obscurity. The Bulls rebuilt through perseverance and continuity and what is happening in the Boks at the moment is an antithesis of that.
To me it seems Meyer is simply playing ‘Hungry Hippos’ – replacing players after each game if they dont live up to his fantasy. Soon the entire country will have Springbok jerseys. Say what you will about Jake White – at least around his time, we actually brought some semblance of pride back to the Springbok brand and he stuck with players despite them having a few ups and downs. The jersey actually became worth something again.
Did you know, Meyer has already created 11 new Springboks since he started as coach ? ELEVEN ! I know some of these guys are yet to be capped, and some were good choices but wow…..talk about cheapening up the jersey.
Craig Burden (ludicrous), Pat Cilliers (ludicrous), Marcell Coetzee (little soon, but ok), Eben Etzebeth (good call), Johan Goosen (little soon in my opinion – hope he doesnt make another Gaffie Du Toir here), Dean Greyling (ok’ish), Juandre Kruger (good call), Tiaan Liebenberg (no other options), Jacques Potgieter (average player), Jano Vermaak (ludicrous), Duanne Vermeulen (ok, but Duanne looked very rusty in his first game back for WP)
ELEVEN new Springboks……
Nee wat ou Heyneke…..your days are numbered buddy. You drove a go-kart very well but when you were put behind the wheel of a F1 car….you have no clue….not the foggiest idea. Sorry because I actually really liked you and thought you would make a brilliant coach.
4 Sep 2012, 23:15 pm
Hougard is OK, Pinaar has never been given the oppotunity thanks to our last coach giving him God status one week, then chopping off his apendeges the next week and ******** his international career up. Typical Dumb Bok coaches.
Thats something a coach should never do or say about their players.
So now he has a chance, has he gotten over how the last coach treatment, and my Sharks team treated him poorly too?So one wonders why he doesnt pull the middle finger to SA rugby and say screw you wankers. If I was in his shoes I might just do that. Depends on what happens over the next yr. Pinaar’s downfall is mostly his passing. He has made some really poor passes missing players completely and finding the dirt, but then again, his rugby brain is brillant in comparision to Hougie and perhaps these poor passes is to let the backline know where they should be intercepting it…! lol
Hougie’s tactical kicking is surely the reason for the change and its time for experimentation in suck a weak Bok team, hell why not I say. This is much like a B- team anyway with regards to the amaising player retirement and all other injuries at the moment. Pinaar is game aware, tackles a bit high too often- a problem with nearly all our Boks at the moment so ,not out of key.
If he sharpens up his passing he could be world class. But then again, at this stage he should have done so already.
At the end of the day, not much of a loss when replacing Hougie, if non at all.
I’d rather have Hougie on the wing than Habanana, who should have been dropped 2yrs ago.
Jeez, give me the bok coaching job, I’d have Margret Thatches “Iron Balls”…
and do things how they should be done…lol
Pinaar hopefully you grab this oppo with two hands boy! Gd Luck
4 Sep 2012, 23:17 pm
@shooter-116: Playing Hougaard at 11 brings another kicking dimension to our backline so that is all I can imagine Heyneke must be thinking.
Ruan Pienaar ? Confidence ******. When he loses it – he loses it big time. If he is on song – he is excellent. My feeling is that rugby as competitive as test matches vs. Australia and New Zealand are always going to freak Pienaar out.
I know there aren’t a lot of options and of all the options, probably Pienaar and Hougaard are the best.
4 Sep 2012, 23:22 pm
@Greenies-119: The coach that r@ped Pienaar and destroyed his spirit was Pieter De Villiers.
Ruan Pienaar wasn’t even the Sharks 3rd choice goal kicker at the time yet De Villiers insisted on Pienaar performing those duties in a test vs. the British Lions at Loftus where the entire crowd were just looking for a reason to get him off and Morne’tjie on.
And before anyone starts about how Pienaar wore about every number on his back for the Sharks – that is entirely inaccurate. It was Jake White who first played Pienaar at flyhalf, fullback and even wing. After that, yes – the Sharks used him when there were no other options to fill in at 10.
4 Sep 2012, 23:23 pm
@Dusky-120: What we not allowed to say
m o n k e y ? Serious ? How feeble.
5 Sep 2012, 01:35 am
I am guessing what has caused HM to delay this switch as well is that he does not have 100% confidence in Pienaar as a starter. Each time when given the 9 jersey he has an average game, as if the pressure to constantly deliver is too much. If Pienaar was consistent enough in HM’s mind this switch would have been made ages ago.
5 Sep 2012, 01:52 am
I have to say that HM’s selection and game plan does not show an appreciation for the philosophy of rugby. It requires ALL types – not just big heavy ball carriers. Some players need to be big and difficult to stop (8th man, blindsiders, locks). Some need to have speed. Some need certain other skills like kicking. But some need speed AND size/strength – this speed and size combo is a critical feature of an opensider. He needs to attend rucks FIRST. Not a half second later. e also needs to be big enough to rip opposing players hands off the ball, or smash the oppsoiong player off.
It truly is a game for all size and speeds, and HM’s gameplan just doesn’t seem to get this…
5 Sep 2012, 05:12 am
@SjamBok-124:
When in doubt go big? Don’t agree but JW did it, PDivvie did it and now the Meyer is doing it. Difference is that the Meyer is new, had little time and may welll improve on this simple formula given time. It is not all doom and gloom…
5 Sep 2012, 06:28 am
Within the context of Meyer’s gameplan this selection would make sense.
If it happens you’d have to think it’s the last opportunity for Pienaar to take the shirt on a more permanent basis.
5 Sep 2012, 06:35 am
Not just the context of the gameplan BH, Hougaard lost all confidence at #9 and had to make room for the next person. You are right about Pienaar though, he has not shined that much in a Bok jumper with teh opportunities he had to date.
7 Sep 2012, 09:36 am
@fitz1ella-104: Wow now I see a man that has zilch for Rugby brains.and I am sure never really represented any decent level of Rugby in his life as your comments are as low down as probably your life is as well .Meyer is doing the best with what he has available.And make your comments after the game .And if you think that you are that good ,start coaching and refereeing and you may have a chance of improve South African Rugby .But take a lesson from the other commentators like Dusky,Shambok and shooter.They make plausible comments.
Pages: « 1 2 [3] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.