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Cobus Wiese


Well this article says he's staying put for the 2020 SR season:

https://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Sup...y-super-rugby-in-2020-stormers-coach-20191114

I see him as a future bok yes, but he's still young and there are areas for him to improve on. Plus he's going into the dreaded 2nd-year syndrome period now, and I hope he doesn't falter like so many others have in the past.
 
Damn shame if we do lose him. TBF we have a ton of quality loose forwards (I see him as a big 7/8 rather than a 'small' lock) personally. Kolisi and PSDT are the two encumbants for the Stormers in the backrow and Etzebeth has the #4 lock sewn up. If he plays lock he is not a line-out lock and we have Shickerling there. So its a straight shoot out for #8 between Wiese, Jaco Coetzee, Juarno Augustus, Ernst van Rhyn and Kobus van Dyk. Notshe has also moved on but we won't miss him.

Granted, that is a hell of a lot of competition and quality competition but I have him as close to top of that pack. Coetzee and Van Rhyn probably have the better shot at specifically #8 but of the lot I see Wiese as being the best shot for test rugby long term alongside maybe Coetzee though they are different types of players. I see Wiese as a PSDT mark 2. Possibly a little more nimble than PSDT while being as huge.

So to answer the OP:

Is he a big loss: Yes
Is he a future Bok: Probably no now since he is moving on before making a name. There is too much quality in the lock/blindside dept at home for him to get a cap if he moves off before properly staking his claim first I'd imagine. If he stays I can see him as our future blindside for sure. But him moving off now possibly another Braam Steyn- quality young SA loosie playing against us. We can afford to lose these players but it does irk me.

EDIT: Just saw that Dobson says he will stay on. trust and hope that is the case. He'll get his game time. I am sure Etzebeth, PSDT and Kolisi will see a lot of rest. Hope to see Wiese and Coetzee get the lion's share of the available time.

EDIT again: OOOAARgh, I see Etzebeth is also pushing off. Now I really hope Wiese will stay on. We'll probably see him at lock. PSDT might also play at lock for us.
 
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Yes he would be a massive loss, that said would like him see half a season playing without being injured
 
Damn shame if we do lose him. TBF we have a ton of quality loose forwards (I see him as a big 7/8 rather than a 'small' lock) personally. Kolisi and PSDT are the two encumbants for the Stormers in the backrow and Etzebeth has the #4 lock sewn up. If he plays lock he is not a line-out lock and we have Shickerling there. So its a straight shoot out for #8 between Wiese, Jaco Coetzee, Juarno Augustus, Ernst van Rhyn and Kobus van Dyk. Notshe has also moved on but we won't miss him.

Granted, that is a hell of a lot of competition and quality competition but I have him as close to top of that pack. Coetzee and Van Rhyn probably have the better shot at specifically #8 but of the lot I see Wiese as being the best shot for test rugby long term alongside maybe Coetzee though they are different types of players. I see Wiese as a PSDT mark 2. Possibly a little more nimble than PSDT while being as huge.

So to answer the OP:

Is he a big loss: Yes
Is he a future Bok: Probably no now since he is moving on before making a name. There is too much quality in the lock/blindside dept at home for him to get a cap if he moves off before properly staking his claim first I'd imagine. If he stays I can see him as our future blindside for sure. But him moving off now possibly another Braam Steyn- quality young SA loosie playing against us. We can afford to lose these players but it does irk me.

EDIT: Just saw that Dobson says he will stay on. trust and hope that is the case. He'll get his game time. I am sure Etzebeth, PSDT and Kolisi will see a lot of rest. Hope to see Wiese and Coetzee get the lion's share of the available time.

EDIT again: OOOAARgh, I see Etzebeth is also pushing off. Now I really hope Wiese will stay on. We'll probably see him at lock. PSDT might also play at lock for us.

Why would you play PSDT, the World Player of the year at lock when he's so valuable at flanker?? Stormers have Shickerling as well as Van Zyl and Moerat who are all very capable locks. I think PSDT should only be considered to play there should the other guys get injured and you have no other viable replacement left.
 
Why would you play PSDT, the World Player of the year at lock when he's so valuable at flanker?? Stormers have Shickerling as well as Van Zyl and Moerat who are all very capable locks. I think PSDT should only be considered to play there should the other guys get injured and you have no other viable replacement left.

SR is much faster/open/loose than test rugby. PSDT's size is an asset in test rugby but he looks cumbersome in SR. The Stormers also have much more depth in quality in the loose forwards than at lock. I get where you are coming from but horses for courses and personally I'd prefer whats best for the Stormers- which I think is reasonable. At least the Stormers have managed to retain the bulk of our Bokke - we should get some benefit from them. Damian Willemse is another player where he gets played out of position at SR to accommodate the Bokke.
 
SR is much faster/open/loose than test rugby. PSDT's size is an asset in test rugby but he looks cumbersome in SR. The Stormers also have much more depth in quality in the loose forwards than at lock. I get where you are coming from but horses for courses and personally I'd prefer whats best for the Stormers- which I think is reasonable. At least the Stormers have managed to retain the bulk of our Bokke - we should get some benefit from them. Damian Willemse is another player where he gets played out of position at SR to accommodate the Bokke.

True. But PSDT has showed in this WC what an engine he has. He went 80 minutes on so many games, and didn't look like it slowed him down even a little bit. The pace of SR shouldn't be an issue for PSDT at flanker. Plus, his combination with Kolisi must also count for something?? Personally, I think it would be the best for the Stormers to have the guys who were at the WC play their preferred positions where they want to play. That's one of the things that Rassie has been trying to emulate, as the players know where they will perform the best.

I get your argument though in that the Stormers have a lot of good young loose forwards, But maybe it would be in the Stormers best interest to have that depth in that position, and who knows, maybe Rassie brings in a policy where Springbok players are not allowed to play more than 4 games in a row, and must have 2 weeks off instead of one...
 
I am all for PSDT on the flanks for the Bokke.

I still feel for the Stormers' benefit, not necessarily PSDT's benefit he would be most valuable in the locks. I don't question PSDT's fitness. I question his speed off the mark. But, I will concede that this is splitting hairs and I suppose we'll see soon enough. The window is still open to recruit so it might even be that we lose some talent in the LFs and get more in at lock which would totally nullify a large part of my reasoning. I suppose this speculation is just to get us past the vacation and lead up to SR.
 
I am all for PSDT on the flanks for the Bokke.

I still feel for the Stormers' benefit, not necessarily PSDT's benefit he would be most valuable in the locks. I don't question PSDT's fitness. I question his speed off the mark. But, I will concede that this is splitting hairs and I suppose we'll see soon enough. The window is still open to recruit so it might even be that we lose some talent in the LFs and get more in at lock which would totally nullify a large part of my reasoning. I suppose this speculation is just to get us past the vacation and lead up to SR.

fair enough yeah. Although this might cause problems between the Stormers and the Springboks coaching setup. But let's wait and see the squads before we make these assumptions.

All we know so far is that Wiese will be part of the Stormers setup for 2020.
 

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