De Jongh set for Murrayfield start
13 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in Edinburgh, reports Juan de Jongh is likely to run on against Scotland, while Pat Lambie is expected to be retained at flyhalf.
De Jongh impressed for the Stormers in Super Rugby and recently enjoyed an excellent Currie Cup, scoring in the final. Coach Heyneke Meyer has been reluctant to use him. He is concerned primarily about the player’s size, worrying that this would compromise him in contact situations at Test level.
However, Meyer strongly suggested he sees Scotland as an opportunity to give the 24-year-old game time.
‘We’re a relatively young team and haven’t played together much, we want to keep some continuity. We respect Scotland and won’t just give Test caps away. There won’t be a lot of changes but the one that will probably happen is to see Juan come in. He has been knocking hard on the door and deserves a chance,’ Meyer said.
‘It isn’t definite, I want to speak to some of the [senior] players as well, but he probably will start. We’ll have a rotation policy in that position. Jaco Taute probably had his best Test against Ireland [at outside centre], and we’ll have to see whether we pair Juan and Jaco, who can also play inside centre, and give Jean de Villiers a break. Jean has played with a couple of injuries recently so he needs a rest. Jaco could also play at fullback [replacing Zane Kirchner], but again, I don’t want to make too many changes.’
Meyer is also expected to persist with Lambie at flyhalf after praising his performance at Lansdowne Road in difficult conditions. With the coaching staff in search of quality back-up to the injured Johan Goosen, who’ll reclaim his starting position if he stays fit for the 2013 Test season, Lambie has the inside lane to be that man.
‘I’ll probably stick by Pat,’ Meyer said. ‘It was a difficult start for him because we just didn’t have the ball [in the first half]. The second half was a bit of a catch-up. He did some nice things in possession. He has high standards and so do we, so we’re looking for an improvement. But he showed some good touches and I want to give him some confidence going forward.’
Meyer said there were likely to be changes on the bench, which could see Elton Jantjies replacing Morne Steyn as pivot cover. Elsewhere Gurthro Steenkamp has recovered from a rib injury that kept him out of the weekend’s Test, and will come into the frame to replace Beast Mtawarira, who has been sent home after suffering a recurrence of a heart condition he was treated for earlier this year.
Team doctor Craig Roberts, however, sought to allay fears about Mtawarira’s health and playing future. ‘He has been treated for an irregular heartbeat in hospital in Dublin. This isn’t life threatening or career threatening in any way and he is quite capable of playing with it,’ Roberts said.
‘Heyneke and I had a meeting with him today and made the decision to send him to Cape Town to have a minor procedure done later this week where they try to isolate and eradicate the cells that are causing the irregular rhythm. He had it done earlier this year, but clearly they didn’t get all the cells.
‘Anything can set it off, we don’t actually know precisely what does. I’ve also had quite a few players who’ve had it. Beast has gone into this rhythm a couple of times in the past and we’ve just managed it. I need to make it clear that he could have played this weekend at no risk.’
Meyer added: ‘If it happens again this week we’re back to square one. It worries me and it is at the back of his mind. You want guys out there that are totally focussed. He is also on medication that sometimes slows you down. It is also important for him to be with his family. It was a difficult decision, but the right one we believe.’
Jannie du Plessis picked up an ankle injury in Dublin, but Meyer and Roberts indicated that he was likely to recover. ‘He is looking good. We’ll assess him at training and we are hopeful he will be ready for the weekend.’
700 Comments
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12 Nov 2012, 22:50 pm
241 Bell
completely agree but he obviously has a problem with the size – but size means nothing if can tackle like de Jong – he’s better than jdv on both attack and defense.
12 Nov 2012, 22:51 pm
feeble little fuckwit prick thinking he’s a bloody enlightened genius.. I seen you for what you are you feeble little punk you can’t fool me with your suave pseudo enlightened intelligentsia garbage oozing out your supremacist intoxicated white arsed brain.. try bullshit the rest of the people here.. you are a pisswilly little prick with a fat opinion of yourself you miserable little punk eyed rat and it shows.
12 Nov 2012, 22:51 pm
@skopdiekan-250:
Go to bed you racist old man!
12 Nov 2012, 22:52 pm
@skopdiekan-252:
You really are a faaaking idiot, do you ever read any of the rantings you post?
12 Nov 2012, 22:54 pm
@whatever-254: I don’t need to read them I type them.., I know what I type.. you read them if they speak to you then perhaps the cap fits you also.. that for you to decide.
12 Nov 2012, 22:58 pm
@skopdiekan-255:
Yeah, but when you type your brain is frazzeled. I’m not saying that your brain would be unfrazzeled if you had to read them before you post, but maybe just maybe a little light would come through and some little cell somewhere in the inner recess of your mind would register that you were talking k uk!
Just saying……….
12 Nov 2012, 22:59 pm
@cab-251: it just makes no sense, it’s as if he hasn’t heard of or seen jdj since he burst onto the super rugby scene in 2010, and then he says taute is a 12 option.. It’s a bit upsetting i must admit, maybe it’s because jdj doesnt kick and actually runs lol
12 Nov 2012, 23:11 pm
What else did you do in the struggle, Skoppie? Did you boycot Karike Keuzenkamp concerts? Did you hand in your tax return late? Did you shave off your moustache? The whole country is grateful for your sacrifice.
12 Nov 2012, 23:19 pm
@cab-251: jdv’s had his best days i reckon, jdj does offer more and straightens beautifully before he passes creating space for his outside backs, he has a classic swing pass and that’s why he has a classic ‘throwback’ inside break, it’s devestating caus the initial movement for both the swing pass and the break is the same, so he’ll stop the drifting defense and pass and if the defense does not stop he breaks, it’s classic centre play but more effective at 12 than 13 though…
12 Nov 2012, 23:21 pm
I don’t even know why I make this my fight.. when it really isn’t my fight.. its the players like De Jongh and Jantjies and Kolisi’s fight with an outright dumb white racist national rugby coach.. that is where the fight should be fought.. but perhaps they don’t have the wherewithal to stage their fight so they just have to sit and suck up the racist baggage from the national coach because either he don’t know better or else he is so riddled with his intolerant intoxicated ideology that he thinks he’s entitled to act it out on the stage he has been given to portray his deficiencies on.
The sooner SA rugby roots this sick disease from out of its belly the better for the entire country as a whole.. If Heyneke Meyer actually thinks he is going to be successful adopting a racist slant in his selectivity program he better start thinking long and hard again.. because as sure as them little green apples come falling off the tree when they are ripe.. he won’t.
12 Nov 2012, 23:25 pm
@katman-258: shove it fckface I’m not interested in your pseudo little snot nosed pretentiousness and pathetic clever arsed attempts at humor.. your lack of humor is painfully boring.. go rub your snout up your own kinds backsides fckwit.. little pseudo arsed runts like you mean absolutely fck all to me stupid imbecile.. in other words take the hint you stupid feeble punk and get lost.
12 Nov 2012, 23:34 pm
@Bell-259: Kenner post.
12 Nov 2012, 23:40 pm
@Heavens Game-262: @Bell-259: quite right.. that is a kenner post
now how come it takes a kenner on keo to tell the dumb fck national coach what the fck is what and who the fck is who on the rugby field in front of his dumb fck delusional racially befucked up eyes.
Always said De Jongh should be at 12, and anyone else outside, JdV, JPP, Habana, Fourie, Mapoe, Jordaan, Ebersohn, or even Taute, wouldn’t make much difference as long as JdJ is playing where he should at 12.
13 Nov 2012, 00:00 am
@skopdiekan-263: SO De Jongh is 99% sure to be in the team.
- yes, I could’ve mixed up one of nama’s posts then, not that it is unlike you to argue, actually, you’ve said. Anyway.
You haven’t stopped calling a HM a racist yet. And I guess you won’t for the next 4 years. No matter what happens because you got the bit in your teeth and your not going to let go.
This is where we will unfortunately never agree. Probably more than disagree since it is the ongoing theme in all your reasoning. You say it is so. The other says it’s not. But your accusation carries more punch than the denial, because denial is always weaker.
The guy is picked now. Get over it.
Are you going to keep on going on about Jantjes till he is picked too. Ask any two fans and they’ll differ whether EJ or Lambie is the better choice now.
13 Nov 2012, 00:07 am
@skopdiekan-228: Nevertheless this does not excuse Heyneke Meyer making a totally insensitive and stupid decision regarding Taute to 13 over De Jongh who is by far a better center and specialist in that dept than Taute will or could ever be.
That is simply outright crass oversight and pathetic skewed (prejudice) judgment….
…..
You see, until that point in the sentence you were good. after that you lost it.
13 Nov 2012, 00:09 am
JOKE – Have a drink on the BLUE BULLS Rugby Team!
A man walked into a very high-tech bar. As he sat down on a stool he noticed that the bartender was a robot. The robot clicked to attention and asked, “Sir, what will you have?”
The man thought a moment then replied? “A martini please.”
The robot clicked a couple of times and mixed the best martini the man had ever had.
The robot then asked, “Sir, what is your IQ?”
The man answered “Oh, about 164.”
The robot then proceeded to discuss the theory of relativity, inter-stellar space travel, the latest medical breakthroughs, etc…
The man was most impressed. He left the bar but thought he would try a different tact. He returned and took a seat. Again the robot clicked and asked what he would have? “A martini please.”
Again it was superb.? The robot again asked “What is your IQ sir?”
This time the man answered , “Oh about 100″. So the robot started discussing Formula One racing and the latest cricket scores.
The guy had to try it one more time. So he left, returned and took a stool…. Again a martini, and the question, “What is your IQ?” This time the man drawled out ” Uh….. ’bout 50″.
The robot clicked then leaned close and very slowly asked, “A-r-e y-o-u a B-L-U-E B-U-L-L s-u-p-p-o-r-t-e-r-?”
13 Nov 2012, 00:11 am
@wnbb-266:
lol
13 Nov 2012, 00:12 am
Just though to end the day on a bit of a laugh.
13 Nov 2012, 00:17 am
The sensitivity argument is probably the better one – the one of ‘when/ where two players are close to equal the “BEE” policy should apply, but you don’t want to use it because it detracts from the player.
Which I agree with, that it is insulting to the player… but now to conveniently circumvent the problem you blame the coach as a racist. If you say, the coach don’t get it’, then fine, but if the coach believes rightly or wrongly that he has a gameplan and that he is going to pick, play and coach in a certain way then he is just doing what every other coach in the world is doing.
When Catrikilis won the game for WP the other day,, were you right then? OK… When you said Deon is not a nr 6/ 8 when he was first picked there, were you right then. Point is, as convinced that you are of certain things. It is not right to continue to slap these libellous comments on HM.
13 Nov 2012, 00:21 am
@wnbb-266: @Hurricane-267: you made that one up, after smoking half an arm right?
13 Nov 2012, 00:29 am
Djoko masterclass over Federer again.
13 Nov 2012, 00:35 am
@Robzim-271:
13 Nov 2012, 00:38 am
@carol-272:
I only play on grass courts in Devon
13 Nov 2012, 00:42 am
@Bell-259:
Nice description…”the swing pass”….we use to be taught you had to drop your hips to effect the classic swing pass, something that has gone outta fashion…but you are right if you can give the illusion of throwing the swing pass, (throwing the dummy) yet have the ability to transfer your weight and step back inside at pace, very tricky and elusive and a great skill to have in your back pocket.
13 Nov 2012, 00:42 am
@Robzim-273:
….. so you do!!
13 Nov 2012, 00:59 am
@Robzim-273: You will fit nicely into the new age camp in the Devon forest then
13 Nov 2012, 00:59 am
Ek se the kenners are out late tonight…keep it coming
13 Nov 2012, 01:08 am
@grant10-42: okes who want to drop Duane are insane…seriously
13 Nov 2012, 01:16 am
@shooter-269: It’s not libellous.Did Skop damaged HM’s career with his remarks?Don’t think so.Can Skop justify his remarks.Obviously he can if he feels the non-selection of JdJ amounts to racism in his opinion.Defamation law is very complex in SA.
13 Nov 2012, 01:18 am
@j59-278: jealousy from our northern and east coast brothers.
13 Nov 2012, 01:51 am
ja, we’re so CONFUSED because of the ‘past’ – we can’t trust anyone!!!! Except our own race, province, region, religion, language group, etc
When can it end, guys? Serious, can we just let go of the edge of pool and TRUST each other a bit
Yup, too much to ask
13 Nov 2012, 01:51 am
Perhaps some good news on the way. If Gurthro is back from injury and Meyer is willing to ahem “rest” De Villiers and give De Jongh a go we might have a goodish team.
1 Gurthro
2 Strauss
3 Jannie
4 Etzebeth
5 Kruger (who else is there pff)
6 Louw
7 Alberts
8 Vermeulen
9 Pienaar
10 Lambie
11 Rhule would be nice
12 Juan de Jongh
13 Houghaard (my fantasy – but a damn site better than having Taute there)
14 JP Pietersen (hopefully he wont have 2 bad ones in a row)
15 Taute (lets see what he can do – cant be worse than Zane)
16 Heinke 17 Brits 18 Cilliers 19 Flip 20 Marcell 21 Jantjes 22 Mvovo
13 Nov 2012, 02:55 am
252 responses/postings and the like should be disallowed on this site . This is a Rugby site and not a hate site.Come on guys watch the ball
13 Nov 2012, 03:13 am
Alberts at 4. Juandre is pathetic. Marcell to start.
13 Nov 2012, 05:51 am
Heinkie should start of Guthro
13 Nov 2012, 06:40 am
Poor attempt at humour from the Poodlephile.
13 Nov 2012, 07:06 am
@skopdiekan-252: And you are just a foul mouthed little doos with a huge chip.
13 Nov 2012, 07:08 am
@skopdiekan-261: Sir, would you please put down the tik pipe and step away from the keyboard!
13 Nov 2012, 07:46 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-118:
blegh.!!…
enjoy it, dear
13 Nov 2012, 08:09 am
@Te Rangatira-274: that’s right hey, i suppose it comes back to basics and that’s not the only one that’s underappreciated, low into contact, tackling shoulder first, arms above the tackle to offload.. Basics hey, and the greats did the basics well…
13 Nov 2012, 08:11 am
Heyneke Meyer personifies the racist afrikaner male. i have never seen a coach being so openly racist. I ha supported the boks through markgraaf, strauli. He is a thorough bred racist
Suddenly after Gwede Mantashe opens his mouth, De Jong will be picked and Elton be on the bench. Why is this . They deserve to be there on merit.
Suddenly Taute is now a fullback, cause he can’t perform at centre. why then not JP at fullback or do only whites have the luxury to shift positions to stay in the team.
When MVovo were dropped, nobody said his actually a 13 centre or a fullback.
13 Nov 2012, 08:18 am
@adi-291:
You are a vegetable.
Beware, Skop might have you for dinner.
13 Nov 2012, 08:46 am
Mr Editor, do you have a racial/language/decency policy regarding the blogs on this site? The racist/foul language of the blogs from skopdiekan only serve to lower your site down to below gutter level.
Brent
13 Nov 2012, 08:53 am
Bring the man on!
A cautious reminder:
The Beast, Kirchner, Mvovo and Aplon were all in the line up of the 2010 Boks that subsequently lost to the Scots!
13 Nov 2012, 09:15 am
@bmck-293:
ag nee fok man, ek sal raai jy hou anders dop wie nie genoeg geld by die sondae kerkdienste se kollekte byvoeg nie. verkrapmte christelike so jy maak my moer net suur, Brent.
stryk jou vrou jou hemp voor aandete..?..
13 Nov 2012, 09:19 am
@adi-291: Everything you don’t agree with is racist. In the process you do real ant-racist movements a huge disservice by devaluing the accusation. It should carry much weight and shame, but plonkers like you have reduced it to the equivalent of “you wanker”.
13 Nov 2012, 09:24 am
Good move now drop Sideshow Bob once and for all and Taute to 15.
13 Nov 2012, 09:33 am
Why should Taute be moved to fullback. Is he on form the best fullback. Suddenly because he is not performing at centre, he is a good fullback.
When hougaard were bad a scrumhalf, he suddenly is a wing in the first team.
I you are not the best in your chosen position , then you should be dropped, not shifted.
13 Nov 2012, 09:44 am
the accusation will never be “devalued” no matter how some try or wish it will or can be!
racism, anti-semitism etc will always be abhorrent
13 Nov 2012, 09:51 am
@adi-298: You’re picking the wrong fight here. Everyone probably agrees with you on Elton and JDJ, but Taute has played most of his rugby, and by far his best rugby, at fullback for the Lions. He only got shifted to centre when they had injuries and were short in the midfield. His lack of experience at centre showed against the ABs when he missed 3 tackles. To be fair, he was decent against Ireland, but his best and preferred position is fullback, and I believe he is our best option at 15 for the present and more definitely for the long term. Our best backline combo from this squad in my opinion: pienaar, lambie, mvovo, jdv, jdj, pieterson, Taute. Bench: Hougaard, Jantjies, Kirchner.
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