Originally Posted by
Draggs
After the disappointing end to our Currie Cup, we have no choice but to look onwards to the upcoming Super Rugby season. We do have plenty of positives coming out of the Currie Cup, such as:
-Sibusiso Sithole, this year's Mvovo: Bags of pace, just needs some hands.
-Jan Andre Marais and Anton Bresler: After losing Mostert and Sykes we have two young second rows to take over.
-Ross Skeate: Not fantastic but showed that he can be a dependable second row.
-Marcell Coetzee: Strength comparable to Alberts and Deysel but better pace and handling.
-Ross Cronje: Had his ups and downs but still relatively young and no need to write him off.
-Wiehahn Herbst and Eugene van Staden: Both dependable props who have a shot at making the first XV
There are quite a few negatives as well:
-Midfield: It’s been our problem for a while now. Terblanche is gone, Joubert is passed it, Bosman is unreliable. We have signed Whitehead but I don’t think that will fix our problem.
-Jean Deysel: Once a powerhouse blindside, now looking out of his depth at lock. His 7 shirt is now between Alberts and Coetzee and seems to have lost his dynamism.
-Keegan Daniel: Much like Jean Deysel, he just seems almost out of his depth. He is a penalty machine and a constant yellow card worry. Definitely not a captain.
-Lineouts: Still painful to watch, no one seems to know what is going on.
-Scrums: Despite having a Springbok front row, we still get shoved about. Mtawarira is a constant penalty and Jannie seems disinterested at times.
Time to get the front row sorted out. Tendai and Jannie are Boks, but often seem clueless or disinterested. We have Herbst coming through who looks eager and could be a started next season. Bismarck is undoubtedly our first choice hooker, while Kyle Cooper and Craig Burden will fight over the reserve hooker position.
Despite losing Muller, Sykes, and Mostert over the past year, we are still doing pretty well with second rows. Anton Bresler and Jan Andre Marais are two young locks with a good future ahead of them. Ross Skeate and Alistair Hargreaves are two of the more senior locks, but are both still in their twenties. Deysel has been tried in the second row but with little success.
Backrow is where we have most of our depth, without a doubt. Keegan Daniel, Ryan Kankowski and Willem Alberts/Jean Deysel were used for most of the Super Rugby season, but Marcell Coetzee is now pushing for the blindside spot. Keegan Daniel is hardly a guaranteed starter and could face opposition from Francois Kleinhans.
Since Ruan Pienaar and Rory Kockott have left, we have had no one scrumhalf claim the 9 shirt. Charl McLeod was preferred for most of the Super Rugby season, and we have seen Ross Cronje and Conrad Hoffmann play throughout the Currie Cup. Despite some poor performances, I feel that Ross Cronje will be our best option for 2012.
We need to decide where to play Lambie. He is in danger of being the next Russell/Steyn. I have always said to play him at 10, and Michalak’s performances seem to support this. Michalak has been a danger all season (to us) and apart from his goal kicking, there is little that he offers over Lambie. Michalak might be better off at scrum half, where the shirt is up for grabs.
With the emergence of Sbura Sithole, the wings have become even more crowded. JP Pietersen is the only guaranteed starter, with Odwa Ndungane, Lwazi Mvovo, and Sbura Sithole competing for the other side. Odwa Ndungane is favoured by many for his experience, but his (lack of) pace is a poor asset for a wing. Lwazi Mvovo is a more powerful runner whose only issue is positioning in defence. Sithole is by far the quickest of the three but suffers from poor handling.
Onto the issue of midfield… Meyer Bosman is probably still our best bet at 12. His boot is exceptional and at times looks comfortable in our backline. When paired with Terblanche, he was forced to be a one man midfield, with Stef going missing often. Give him a runner at 13 and he will be better off. Adi Jacobs is reliable but not seen as a starter, unfortunately. Marius Joubert is simply passed it. I’d like to see a young center such as Jordaan given a shot sometime during the season, or perhaps try Louis Ludik at outside centre.
Utility back Riaan Viljoen will join us next season. I’d like to see him play in his favoured 15 shirt, over the incumbent Louis Ludik. No disrespect to Ludik, who is a reliable fullback, but Viljoen might provide a bit more of an attacking spark from deep, and his boot would be a nice luxury back there.
My preferred 22 and reserves for the Super Rugby squad:
01 Tendai Mtawarira
02 Bismarck du Plessis
03 Jannie du Plessis
04 Anton Bresler
05 Ross Skeate
06 Keegan Daniel
07 Marcell Coetzee
08 Ryan Kankowski
09 Ross Cronje
10 Patrick Lambie
11 JP Pietersen
12 Meyer Bosman
13 Louis Ludik
14 Lwazi Mvovo
15 Riaan Viljoen
16 Craig Burden
17 Wiehahn Herbst
18 Jan Andre Marais
19 Willem Alberts
20 Frederic Michalak
21 Adrian Jacobs
22 Odwa Ndungane
23 Kyle Cooper
24 Eugene van Staden
25 Jean Deysel
26 Francois Kleinhans
27 Charl McLeod
28 Conrad Hoffmann
29 Paul Jordaan
30 Sibusiso Sithole
