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Well that's because i rate Shane Williams and Jason Robinson much more than i do Aplon. Don't put Aplon in the same sentence as Robinson please. Sorry but i just don't think he's that great a player, good highlight player on youtube but meh i don't see it. And about NZ... Aplon would never make it in NZ. Steve Hansen after all said that Shane didn't have the size to be an international wing. With the options you've got Aplon wouldn't even be in the top 10. He'd be like Tim Nanai-Williams, a great attacking player but never considered for higher honours.
Originally Posted by welshglory Well that's because i rate Shane Williams and Jason Robinson much more than i do Aplon. Don't put Aplon in the same sentence as Robinson please. Sorry but i just don't think he's that great a player, good highlight player on youtube but meh i don't see it. And about NZ... Aplon would never make it in NZ. Steve Hansen after all said that Shane didn't have the size to be an international wing. With the options you've got Aplon wouldn't even be in the top 10. He'd be like Tim Nanai-Williams, a great attacking player but never considered for higher honours. well Breyton Paulse played, Deon Keyser played... i think on a few occations Breyton had to mark Lomu...
This can't be Naas Botha.........This man is running with the ball...
It's purely Stormers fault that Aplon is kept out of the squad, we don't utilize him enough to really display his talents, he rarely gets the ball more than 4 or 5 times a match. Not that I'm insulting the Stormers, they have a great structure and a brilliant strategy but it's a bit of a waste having a wing with such flair when our game plan doesn't call for expansive play.
Originally Posted by TRF_nickdnz I personally think Aplon should be in there. I'd agree that he is South Africa's best attacking player. And yes, I'd have him in the All Blacks over Guildford. He's not over rated at all in my opinion, he's got an amazing step, a very good turn of pace and compensates extremely well for his lack of size with good technique. He's scored tries this season and last that I don't think any player in South Africa (and for that matter New Zealand and Australia) could. Size is something that kills me, when people criticize an outside back for being too small. If being short and light was a reason not to select a fullback, we'd have never seen Jason Robinson. Someone from Wales saying an outside back is too small to be useful is terribly ironic. Aye. IMO Aplon is A WORLD more physical than Shane Williams, I've seen him placing some hits I've never seen made by Shane Williams, Aplon is more prone to physical contest than Shane, they have quite different under this aspect, but they are equally talented, in the case of Shane Williams, someone realized (with some delay) his potential and used him well. In the case of Aplon not entirely. Just the way of Welsh attacking patterns, spreading the ball wide to the winger since the very first phase tells how they want to explore space (in width) before doing it in depth, trying to create chances of exploring the defence even for small-sized players! Which is CLEARLY not a Springbok's pattern. Instead this is one of the ways the Stormers attack (especially in the last 2 years, not too often this year, they prefer some direct runners BTW), and Aplon is more suited to Stormers plan than SA (obviously) IMO Aplon in Wales' jersey would have been (almost) as terrific as Shane Williams.
Last edited by madflyhalf; 08-08-12 at 03:22 PM.
When a small guy can get up and finish off the match after this, you know he is as hard as nails...
http://www.therugbyforum.com/RugbyLa...es/Ireland.pnghttp://www.therugbyforum.com/RugbyLa...ic/Munster.png
Etzebeth set to face Argentina Etzebeth and Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts travelled to Johannesburg on Tuesday where the player was assessed by a hip specialist. http://planetrugby.com/story/0,25883...973018,00.html
Originally Posted by welshglory Well that's because i rate Shane Williams and Jason Robinson much more than i do Aplon. Don't put Aplon in the same sentence as Robinson please. Sorry but i just don't think he's that great a player, good highlight player on youtube but meh i don't see it. And about NZ... Aplon would never make it in NZ. Steve Hansen after all said that Shane didn't have the size to be an international wing. With the options you've got Aplon wouldn't even be in the top 10. He'd be like Tim Nanai-Williams, a great attacking player but never considered for higher honours. I'll do as I like. And I'm not saying that Aplon is as good a Jason Robinson, meerly that size doesn't determine how good an outside back can be. I rate some small outside backs extremely highly, Jason Robinson, Christophe Dominici, Breyton Paulse and Shane Williams being obvious examples, but modern players like Marc Andreu and Christian Wade are also phenominal. If there is one position that I feel you can take some risk with in favour of attacking potential, it's the wing. If Aplon was 3'' taller and 10kg's heavier but performed exactly the same, there is no doubt he'd be starting for the Springboks. It's mental. In fact South Africa's selection mentality of size over skill is mental. If there's one thing the Sharks have shown, it's having a backline which is dangerous and creative is a world more important than a backline that is big and can crash it up. Even with South Africa's game plan, an outside back which can utilize space is hardly going to a disadvantage. In terms of Nanai-Williams never going to make the All Blacks, I disagree on that as well. Nanai-Williams has been on the wing for the Chiefs, which I think is a huge diservice to him, as he's 5x the player at fullback. He is quick, but like many fullbacks he's really at his best when given space to create oppertunities or run in broken play. If he is moved back to fullback in the foreseable future I think there is every chance he could have a long career in the All Blacks (he's still only 23).
Last edited by TRF_nickdnz; 09-08-12 at 10:31 AM.
