Players who never reached their potential

[Draggs]

Gatland wanted de Malmanche to turn out for Wales. Grandparents apparently from Wales.
Would have had quite a few caps by now, over 2009/10 Huw Bennett/Gareth Williams.

 

[Seaton]

Dare I say it? Dare I say it?

Earl Rose...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

For me for SA (and relatively recent);

Ruan Pienaar - stuck behind FdP at 9 and Morne Steyn at 10 for SA and moved about at the Sharks as needed. I won't even mention Ricky Januarie. He's still young but I can't see him as a regular Springbok with the best he'll probably get without injury to Hougaard is scrumhalf replacement on the bench. The 10 jersey is in all likelyhood no longer a problem for SA.

Wynand Olivier - won the Superugby trophy 3 times with the Bulls as an intergral backline player with consistantly good performances within the Bulls' gameplan (the stats back me up here). Has been absolutely terrible every time he pulled on a green jersey with gold trim. A complete mystery to me considering the paralels between Bulls and Bok rugby the past 4 years and the fact that FdP and Morne Steyn would be inside him in both set-ups, hell, even Spies at 8 and Kirschner at 15. ???

Pierre Spies - was supposed to be the next big thing (and to be fair had one good test against England) and he certainly has the physical make-up to warrant the label as potential great. Has been a ghost around the park for how long now with Bok fans constantly calling for the axe but everyone knows an axe is useless against the immaterial.

Andries Bekker - to be fair he might yet get his moment in the sun but being stuck behind Victor Matfield and consistently suffering season ending injuries after having had a Storming superrugby campaign for the past 2 years has put a dent in what could have potentially been a great Bok carreer (and hopefully will be yet).

 

[TRF_heineken]

Dare I say it? Dare I say it?

Earl Rose...

He never had potential IMO... like Luke Watson

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

He never had potential IMO... like Luke Watson

Yeah, only PDivvy thought there might be potential for anything other than disaster. Then again even he probably thought that the Bokke could win DESPITE Rose and just put him in to satisfy the nagging mother of his love-child.

 

[TRF_heineken]

let me have a go here at some SA players...

Riaan Viljoen - This guy has so much potential, but at some stages it seems he's falling asleep on the pitch and doesn't participate at all.
Ryan Kankowski - for such a big and fast guy, he could never stepped up to the plate... Super rugby he's brilliant sometimes though...
Meyer Bosman - Still waiting to see that magic Jake White saw in him...
Deon Stegmann - people said he would be world class... but his infringements on a regular basis is currently his downfall...
Jaqcues-Louis Potgieter - was great at the Cheetahs and then everything stopped...

 

[Seaton]

Yeah, only PDivvy thought there might be potential for anything other than disaster. Then again even he probably thought that the Bokke could win DESPITE Rose and just put him in to satisfy the nagging mother of his love-child.

Not a popular opinion I know, but Rose was easily in my opinion one of the best players in the 2008 Currie Cup, the reason why he was taken on tour.

However he Sharks f**ked him over really bad in one of the last rounds or so, and was half the player going into the play-off stages that he was before the game.

Just fell apart after that, having no decent coach around meant there was no recovery possible.

Louis Ludik was on course for higher honours, but injuries and... restricted gameplans have adversely affected his career, still time, but I doubt he will get anything more than the odd Bok cap at most.

Jean de Villiers? Probably reached his potential but couldn't sustain it for very long. His sabbatical up north somehow robbed him of the knowledge that he can pass.

Hmmm, Keegan Daniel? Lot of SupeRugby experience but isn't showing any of it so far. Cock.

As for Scottish players? Never given the opportunity to show their potential so the point is moot.

 

[welshglory]

Not a popular opinion I know, but Rose was easily in my opinion one of the best players in the 2008 Currie Cup, the reason why he was taken on tour.

However he Sharks f**ked him over really bad in one of the last rounds or so, and was half the player going into the play-off stages that he was before the game.

Just fell apart after that, having no decent coach around meant there was no recovery possible.

Louis Ludik was on course for higher honours, but injuries and... restricted gameplans have adversely affected his career, still time, but I doubt he will get anything more than the odd Bok cap at most.

Jean de Villiers? Probably reached his potential but couldn't sustain it for very long. His sabbatical up north somehow robbed him of the knowledge that he can pass.

Hmmm, Keegan Daniel? Lot of SupeRugby experience but isn't showing any of it so far. Cock.

As for Scottish players? Never given the opportunity to show their potential so the point is moot.

Thats because he signed for Munster :run:

 

[Gavin]

The most incredible player who did not reach his full potential: Jonah Lomu

 

[sonnench]

Brent Russell definitely comes to mind. I remember watching him at Kings Park fairly early on his career and just being awe of his natural ability. He was just such an attacking weapon and though he was a good rugby player throughout his career, it could of been far greater. I think constant rotation maybe dented his progress and never really solidified his spot in the Bok jersey in any particular position. He ended up going to France and never really heard much since, a shame he was. Another player on similar path as Russell is François Steyn. He too has a bag full of potential, but like Russell, he was constantly rotated and still in my mind not made any position his own. Just hope he gets a proper a chance somewhere down the road. Would welcome back both these two players to the sharks

 

[Draggs]

Russell is scoring tries for fun in Clermont. Intercepted one against Toulouse last week.
Bloody little pocket rocket. Just a few weeks back he nearly scored coming in off James' shoulder at incredible pace. I'd rather him on the wing than Odwa right now.

 

[sonnench]

Russell is scoring tries for fun in Clermont. Intercepted one against Toulouse last week.
Bloody little pocket rocket. Just a few weeks back he nearly scored coming in off James' shoulder at incredible pace. I'd rather him on the wing than Odwa right now.

Great to hear he is doing well over there. It's hard for me to keep up with NH rugby as I don't have the rugby channel, but maybe I should just pay the extra $8 a month. I have never been of fan of Odwa's to be perfectly honest. He's not bad, but would love to maybe give one of the younger guys a go eg. Jordaan or Sithole.

 

[Draggs]

Great to hear he is doing well over there. It's hard for me to keep up with NH rugby as I don't have the rugby channel, but maybe I should just pay the extra $8 a month. I have never been of fan of Odwa's to be perfectly honest. He's not bad, but would love to maybe give one of the younger guys a go eg. Jordaan or Sithole.

Must have read our posts, he scored again today.

 

[psychic duck]

Russell is scoring tries for fun in Clermont. Intercepted one against Toulouse last week.
Bloody little pocket rocket. Just a few weeks back he nearly scored coming in off James' shoulder at incredible pace. I'd rather him on the wing than Odwa right now.

He's scored 4 tries this season, but hasn't really played much, he's very much a reserve for Clermont and is only playing because Malzieu is with France and Sivivatu and Murimurivalu are injured

 

[Draggs]

He's scored 4 tries this season, but hasn't really played much, he's very much a reserve for Clermont and is only playing because Malzieu is with France and Sivivatu and Murimurivalu are injured

Four tries in what, six matches? After missing half the season through injury, that's not bad.
He was unfortunate that Habana and Paulse were in great form for much of his career. He could have made it at 10 in a different country, but SA wanted Pretorius or van der Westhuyzen hoofing the ball around.

 

[psychic duck]

Four tries in what, six matches? After missing half the season through injury, that's not bad.
He was unfortunate that Habana and Paulse were in great form for much of his career. He could have made it at 10 in a different country, but SA wanted Pretorius or van der Westhuyzen hoofing the ball around.

4 tries in 7 starts, quite impressive strike rate, shame he isn't preferred as a regular starter though underused in my opinion

I really like Russell, really like his style of player, shame he was messed about the backline not just with the Springboks but also at club level so it was harder for him to mount a challenge for a position

and as you say, Habana was amazing when Russell was in SA as was JP Pietersen who had a great year in 2007, but both of those wingers have faded since

 

[Draggs]

Yes, he really wanted the 10 shirt, but Sharks had James and Stormers had Grant. Both perhaps considered more steady options than Russell.
His versatility was his downfall. Could step and accelerate like no other (except for Shane) and also provided a goal kicking option.