De Jongh’s small problem
15 Nov 2012
RYAN VREDE, in Edinburgh, writes because of his size Juan de Jongh has to be exceptional to force Heyneke Meyer to consider him as a real solution to his outside centre problem.
I wrote at the start of Meyer’s tenure that he is a disciple of size and strength, firm in his belief that a player must have this attribute to be successful in Test rugby.
At the time I cited De Jongh among the players who would struggle to push for a regular starting berth, with Meyer appreciative of his attacking capacity in Super Rugby, but unconvinced that he could replicate his hot-stepping in reduced space and time and consistently dominate the tackle fight on attack and defence in Tests.
De Jongh has, however, got an opportunity to alter his coach’s fairly rigid view, and bid to convince him that he can fill a void Meyer is concerned about going forward. His problem is that he’ll get one shot. As it stands Jaco Taute will be reinstated for the final Test of the tour against England at Twickenham. That is unless De Jongh produces something special against Scotland.
There has been no shortage of suggestions and, at times, accusations that Meyer is a racist for what is perceived to be the sidelining of black players. I’ve worked professionally with him for years, and have never got that impression. That he has a prejudice against smaller players of average ability (in a Test context) is undoubted. De Jongh is one such player. He is capable of feats of brilliance (his try in the Currie Cup final an example) but has not replicated these feats often enough to be considered a must for the Springboks.
In his favour is that he is 24 years old and still has time to grow. Also, Meyer has shown a willingness to have some of his views challenged. By way of example, Ruan Pienaar and Francois Louw have, on the strength of their performances and maturity they’ve exhibited, paved the way for a steadily increasing number of overseas-based players to be involved with the Springboks. Meyer had previously been adamant that he would select his squads from players based in South Africa, unless his hand was forced through injury.
Similarly De Jongh can advance the cause of the smaller backs. He refused to make soaring statements about size, but came across as confident in his ability.
‘I know where I’ve stood with Heyneke from the start. I know what attributes he is looking for from me, but I also know what I need for my game,’ De Jongh said. ‘Everyone has their opinion [on size] but I have an opportunity this weekend to prove people who think I’m too small wrong.’
510 Comments
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15 Nov 2012, 12:08 pm
@WP-Forever-38:
same weight as rhule according to your favourite condiment…
15 Nov 2012, 12:09 pm
@katman-98: LLOOOOOLLLL
15 Nov 2012, 12:11 pm
HM is just making me sick… he probably felt pressured to pick JDJ, and now the media jumps on the size issue!! Can you imagine the extra pressure created for the poor player? I just hate how some players have an easy ride no matter what, like morne being backed by his coach and given game after game to come right, but someone like JDJ eventually gets a game and heaps of pressure is applied? Why? Why some players from some unions gets this extra pressure?
And if he does not fire on Saturday he all the sudden is not test rugby quality? How many players will perfrom under such extra presure for nothing?
It is utter Bulkak!!
15 Nov 2012, 12:13 pm
@goodstuff-63:
Japie Mulder 77kgs? Not a farking chance pal.
15 Nov 2012, 12:14 pm
@grant10-79: That is where the problem lies. All these players are good, but the gameplan forced upon them is so limiting. Who would be the best team in the world if Hansen had control of the Boks and Meyer the All Blacks?!
15 Nov 2012, 12:14 pm
@John Galt-104: Beware of people who site Wikipedia as research sources.
15 Nov 2012, 12:15 pm
@Provvas-103:
Players just ask for consistency!
Some players get so many chances because the coach knows what they can do!!!
Some get dropped after one game, others never get dropped – ala Spies/Steyn etc
15 Nov 2012, 12:18 pm
How small is he.
15 Nov 2012, 12:18 pm
In a strange way,JdJ will be carrying the torch for smaller players on Saturday.Hopefully he will be able to prove to HM that size doesn’t matter in international rugby.On the other hand I really doubt it as HM got a particular style in mind and unless he changes his gameplan players like JdJ,Jordaan etc etc. will have a struggle on their hands to get into HM’s teams going forward.It was actually interesting,reading other rugby sites,how bulls supporters are already calling for the inclusion of Serfontein.The Pretoria okes have totally bought into HM’s gameplan it seems.
15 Nov 2012, 12:20 pm
maybe de jongh should move to korea/japan …. with his size he’ll fit in there – he can also do that kak gangnum style dance of his (they’ll love it over there) .. if he manages to score
15 Nov 2012, 12:21 pm
@John Galt-104: espnscrum.com/southafrica/rugby/player/11857.html#
15 Nov 2012, 12:21 pm
@Provvas-103: You cried your eyes out when JdJ was overlooked last week. Now that he has been selected, you are still crying because you suspect that that he “won’t fire” on Saturday. Why?
15 Nov 2012, 12:22 pm
What is the issue
Is he too small
For what precisely
15 Nov 2012, 12:22 pm
@wnbb-109: Maak the Boks almal Booke takes on a new meaning with those thickos.
15 Nov 2012, 12:23 pm
@Finfan-112: That’s not what he said.
15 Nov 2012, 12:23 pm
@wnbb-109: What has Arno Botha done on SR or CC level to warrant a Bok call up? I am not talking about junior teams he repsresented….
But a guy like JDJ, even Vermeulen had to prove themselves over a few season before being given the nodd….. is is also getting to me this whole HM thing… I try to be loyal bok supporter, but with all the contradicting things he utters in the media and this constant weird selection criteria is getting to me!
I am not a big supporter of HM as I was beginning of his appointment
15 Nov 2012, 12:25 pm
@mikeybrass-115: I know, but he is not exactly celebrating either. Typical paranoid Province fan…
15 Nov 2012, 12:26 pm
@Finfan-112: Define “will not fire” If he scores no tries just like Taute, or never passes like Wyanand Olivier, would that constitute that he did not fire? Will he have to play superhuman like to cinvince the Bulls ok supporters that he is good enough? read my post on Arno as well…
15 Nov 2012, 12:27 pm
Bulls Bok supporters…
15 Nov 2012, 12:29 pm
@Provvas-116: Wears the right colour jersey and sings his Psalms very nicely.
15 Nov 2012, 12:29 pm
LOFL! suffer_guy, jPP, who happens to be black, is 6ft3 and 100+kgs while PJ is 5ft10 and 90 kgs GET IT?
BLOODY MORON!
15 Nov 2012, 12:29 pm
@Finfan-117: Actually he is right.
15 Nov 2012, 12:29 pm
@mikeybrass-111: That’s obviously where the Wikipedia entry got it’s info from. But it’s wrong by at least 15kg.
A while back Supersport repeatedly listed one of the Free State props as weighing 85kg, and this was then calculated into front row weights, pack weights etc. This went on for a few weeks before someone woke up.
Then Wikipedia had Duane Vermeulen listed as somewhere in the high 80′s for a long time, and Supersport repeated this on screen (or vice-versa) for weeks on end. Until someone got slapped behind the head, shown a photo of Duanne and asked if this could be true. so it was changed.
Something tells me ESPN doesn’t know sht from shinola when it comes to SA player stats.
15 Nov 2012, 12:30 pm
@Finfan-117: The difference between this “paranoid” province fan and all the bulls fans is that not one WP selection in the bok team is questionable!
Etzebeth deserve his place,
Duane desreve his place.
JDV desreves his place.
JDJ deserves his place.
Kirchner?
Hougaard at wing?
Earlier this year Potgieter?
15 Nov 2012, 12:30 pm
Vokken too small kuk
Who started this bs
15 Nov 2012, 12:31 pm
@Provvas-116: Couldn’t have said it better myself.
15 Nov 2012, 12:31 pm
@Provvas-118: No, you must define “will not fire”. I quoted you.
You are already making excuses in case JdJ buckles under the pressure.
Chill mate, maybe he will play well.
15 Nov 2012, 12:31 pm
@Dawn-125: Dawn, don’t get involved here. You’re just too small.
15 Nov 2012, 12:33 pm
@Finfan-117: O and stop measuring the boks performances from your beloved Rapport team points system on Sundays!
Mr Hamrse loves giving his pink cows nothing less than 7/10…. Zane being an example of always outscoring all the backs…. WTF…
15 Nov 2012, 12:33 pm
@katman-123: I agree there is no way he looked 77kg. I cannot find an official SARU stat though. Reckon someone typed 170lb instead of 180/90lb.
15 Nov 2012, 12:34 pm
@Finfan-127: Out of context boet.
15 Nov 2012, 12:34 pm
@John Galt-104:
Please see http://www.espnscrum.com/southafrica/rugby/player/11857.html
Japie Mulder
South Africa
Full name Jacobus Cornelius Mulder
Born October 18, 1969, Springs
Current age 43 years 28 days
Major teams Leeds Carnegie, South Africa
Position Centre
Height 5 ft 11 in
Weight 170 lb (77.11 kg)
Are you the only true fact?
15 Nov 2012, 12:34 pm
So let me get this straight: Hougaard, M Steyn, Taute etc get chance after chance, yet JDJ gets 1 chance to perform against Scotland else he is history?? What is this 1989? Jees, What happens if it rains on the day?
By Meyer’s calculation guys like Riche Mccaw, Matt Giteau, George Gregan??
15 Nov 2012, 12:35 pm
I dont get this too small stuff
And why JDJ specifically
Will someone please explain it to me
15 Nov 2012, 12:36 pm
DeJong is no Ettienne Botha.
not even close.
15 Nov 2012, 12:36 pm
@goodstuff-132: See post 123
15 Nov 2012, 12:37 pm
I will believe Meyer’s theory if he wins more than he loses.
15 Nov 2012, 12:38 pm
@Dawn-125:
i like big boys, dawnie
how bout you..?..
15 Nov 2012, 12:39 pm
@Finfan-127: No sense in me or you or anyone but Meyer defines that term… earlier this week he told us Taute had his best game in a bok jersey… how he got to that I dont know…… .and to add to the confusion dropped him for JDJ!!
If JDJ is given enough ball on Saturday and not forced to play like HM wants him to play, he will be ok and will not “missfire” His defense is great, running is also good…. so if he misses tackles and knocks balls and squandre try scoring chances, then I would say he did not fire.. .Cause those are the things he usually do well!
15 Nov 2012, 12:40 pm
Generally across the world, black guys are bigger than white guys? So by that account the whole team should be black right?
15 Nov 2012, 12:41 pm
@Provvas-116:
exactly the same as what Raymond rhule has done….why don’t you single him out?
15 Nov 2012, 12:41 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-138:
I’m not joking
15 Nov 2012, 12:41 pm
@Dawn-142:
neither am i.
15 Nov 2012, 12:42 pm
Ponder on these imponderables for a minute during your lunchtime break:-
1. If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does
he become disoriented?
2. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren’t people from Holland
called Holes?
3. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
4. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
5. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
6. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
7. When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?
8. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who
drives a racing car not called a racist?
9. Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?
10. Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?
11. Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced onety one?
12. ‘I am’ is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language.
Could it be that ‘I do’ is the longest sentence?
13. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow
that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted,
cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners
depressed?
14. What hair colour do they put on the driver’s licences of bald men?
15. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons
and forks so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use?
Toothpicks?
16. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are
we supposed to do, write to them? Why don’t they just put their pictures
on the postage stamps so the postmen can look for them while they deliver
the mail?
17. You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.
18. No one ever says, ‘It’s only a game’ when their team is winning.
19. Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little
bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards:
NAIVE
20. Isn’t making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing
section in a swimming pool?
22. OK … so if the Jacksonville Jaguars are known as the ‘Jags’ and the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as the ‘Bucs,’ what does that make the
Tennessee Titans?
23. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhoea, does that mean that one
enjoys it?
24. Why if you send something by road it is called a shipment, but when you
send it by sea it is called cargo?
25. If a convenience store is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days
a year, why are there locks on the door?
15 Nov 2012, 12:42 pm
@katman-98: But are they white?
15 Nov 2012, 12:43 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-141:
Raymond Rhule will never play.
Just like Siya (I know he’s injured before everyone has a hissy fit)
Cosmetic selections
Meyer has spare blazers he hands out every week
15 Nov 2012, 12:43 pm
@RugbyStudent-133: JDJ is not liked by HM. fullstop! He does not like his size, he does not like the dancing after tries, so he just dont wanna pick him, but I believe media pressure and the injury of beast (read black player lost) forced the selection…. and now he is putting as much pressure on JDJ to fail or to have an excuse not to select him again..
15 Nov 2012, 12:44 pm
@Provvas-129: Huh?
The point I’m making is that there was a major outcry last week when JdJ was overlooked (including myself), but now that he is in the team, you (and others) are still b1tching and moaning because now you feel sorry for him because Ryan Vrede believes that HM believes that he is too small.
Why don’t you just wait and see what happens on Saturday before getting so depressed?
By the way, he will never retain his spot in the team anyway. When Frans Steyn is back and lets say Jaques Fourie is available, will you still insist that JdJ be included? Yes, he is good, but not necessarily the best. You’re too subjective. Typical Province fan
15 Nov 2012, 12:45 pm
@Dawn-125: Hello Dawn
15 Nov 2012, 12:47 pm
@katman-136: Whatever you say buddy.
Here is a another one for you.
http://www.genslin.us/bokke/
Japie Mulder
Full names: Jacobus Cornelius
Date of birth: 18 Oct 1969
Place of birth: Springs, South Africa
School: Hugenote, Springs
Debut test province: Lions
Physical: 1.8m, 77.1kg
Current age: 43
But you can believe wat you want I guess.
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