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Rugby World Cup 2015
Springbok Front-Row Discussion
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<blockquote data-quote="Darwin" data-source="post: 419230" data-attributes="member: 24910"><p><strong>Hookers:</strong> It's obvious that you don't rate du Plessis, but he is by far and away the best hooker in South Africa in my opinion. His lineout throwing is not "****-poor" - indeed there is nothing wrong with du Plessis's lineout throwing; he would easily be as good as Brits, and certainly far superior to Dean Fourie (who you have listed as a good front-rower to watch). He is a very good scrummager; many regard him as the top scrummaging hooker in South Africa! He is easily the most powerful hooker in South African rugby (if not world rugby) with the ball in hand; he frequently gets the Sharks/Springboks past the advantage line. As you have mentioned he is good at the breakdown, and is also a punishing defender. He gives away too many penalties, which is a valid criticism of him - I could almost understand if you said you didn't rate him because he gives away a lot of penalties, but to suggest it is also because he is a poor ball-runner/scrummager/lineout thrower defies belief!</p><p></p><p>As Nickdnz has pointed out, Scalk Brits is a poor scrummager, and doesn't relly do the work in the tight required of an international hooker in my opinion. He spends much of his time in the backline waiting to have a run with the ball, rather than actually doing the hard work at the breakdown to retain the ball for his team. It is clear that you like these sort of hookers (as you list Fourie and Burden as good front-rowers to watch), but I would much prefer to have a hooker that does his core duties rather than one that spends his time standing out in the backline.</p><p></p><p>My bench hooker would definitely be Adrian Strauss - he does the basics right, and is also a very powerful ball runner. I rate Ralepelle, Liebenberg, and Botha reasonably highly too. Depsite that, I would pick John Smit as my third hooker; he has a huge amount of experience which would be invaluable for the squad. He is also able to cover both prop positions (admittedly not that well!), but that sort of versatility would be useful in the squad (especially as the likes of BJ Botha, Steenkamp, and Mtawarira who I would pick in my squad only cover one position).</p><p></p><p><strong>Props:</strong> I think Steenkamp deserves to be starting in the 1 jersey, as he was probably the standout loose-head prop in the tri-nations last year. He solid in the scrum, and has a huge work-rate around the park. Like you I'd probably go for BJ Botha at tighthead too. The bench prop is interesting as they probably need to be able to cover both sides. One of the advantages of having Smit in the 22 is that he is capable of covering both loosehead and tighthead as well as hooker (admittedly not at a very high level though), hence this sort of versatility would not be required. Because I'm not picking Smit I'd go for CJ van der Linde, though I don't actually rate him that highly. My forth prop would probably be Mtawarira, as I think he's a good player, and I don't particularily rate J du Plessis.</p><p></p><p>You suggest a number of players shouldn't be picked as they are weak scrummagers, and suggest Bismark du Plessis's habit of giving away penalties may cost the Springboks, yet you suggest they should pick Coenie Oosthuizen - this confuses me greatly! Stats (<a href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/" target="_blank">http://www.foxsports.com.au/</a>) suggest that Bismark du Plessis has given away 16 penalties this season. Oosthuizen has given away 36! This is not a misprint... Oosthuizen has given away 36 penalties this year - over twice as many as Bismark du Plessis, and 16 more than the next prop (Wyatt Crockett with 20). Most of these penalties has come from scrum. While I have no doubt that the Oosthuizen is a promising young player, and I think his work around the park is phenomenal, he has a lot of work to do before he should be considered for international rugby.</p><p></p><p>So in conclusion, the front rowers I would pick:1. <strong>Steenkamp</strong>, 2. <strong>du Plessis</strong>, 3. <strong>BJ Botha</strong>; 16. <strong>Strauss</strong>, 17. <strong>van der Linde</strong>; 23. <strong>Smit</strong>, 24. <strong>Mtawarira</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Darwin, post: 419230, member: 24910"] [B]Hookers:[/B] It's obvious that you don't rate du Plessis, but he is by far and away the best hooker in South Africa in my opinion. His lineout throwing is not "****-poor" - indeed there is nothing wrong with du Plessis's lineout throwing; he would easily be as good as Brits, and certainly far superior to Dean Fourie (who you have listed as a good front-rower to watch). He is a very good scrummager; many regard him as the top scrummaging hooker in South Africa! He is easily the most powerful hooker in South African rugby (if not world rugby) with the ball in hand; he frequently gets the Sharks/Springboks past the advantage line. As you have mentioned he is good at the breakdown, and is also a punishing defender. He gives away too many penalties, which is a valid criticism of him - I could almost understand if you said you didn't rate him because he gives away a lot of penalties, but to suggest it is also because he is a poor ball-runner/scrummager/lineout thrower defies belief! As Nickdnz has pointed out, Scalk Brits is a poor scrummager, and doesn't relly do the work in the tight required of an international hooker in my opinion. He spends much of his time in the backline waiting to have a run with the ball, rather than actually doing the hard work at the breakdown to retain the ball for his team. It is clear that you like these sort of hookers (as you list Fourie and Burden as good front-rowers to watch), but I would much prefer to have a hooker that does his core duties rather than one that spends his time standing out in the backline. My bench hooker would definitely be Adrian Strauss - he does the basics right, and is also a very powerful ball runner. I rate Ralepelle, Liebenberg, and Botha reasonably highly too. Depsite that, I would pick John Smit as my third hooker; he has a huge amount of experience which would be invaluable for the squad. He is also able to cover both prop positions (admittedly not that well!), but that sort of versatility would be useful in the squad (especially as the likes of BJ Botha, Steenkamp, and Mtawarira who I would pick in my squad only cover one position). [B]Props:[/B] I think Steenkamp deserves to be starting in the 1 jersey, as he was probably the standout loose-head prop in the tri-nations last year. He solid in the scrum, and has a huge work-rate around the park. Like you I'd probably go for BJ Botha at tighthead too. The bench prop is interesting as they probably need to be able to cover both sides. One of the advantages of having Smit in the 22 is that he is capable of covering both loosehead and tighthead as well as hooker (admittedly not at a very high level though), hence this sort of versatility would not be required. Because I'm not picking Smit I'd go for CJ van der Linde, though I don't actually rate him that highly. My forth prop would probably be Mtawarira, as I think he's a good player, and I don't particularily rate J du Plessis. You suggest a number of players shouldn't be picked as they are weak scrummagers, and suggest Bismark du Plessis's habit of giving away penalties may cost the Springboks, yet you suggest they should pick Coenie Oosthuizen - this confuses me greatly! Stats ([URL]http://www.foxsports.com.au/[/URL]) suggest that Bismark du Plessis has given away 16 penalties this season. Oosthuizen has given away 36! This is not a misprint... Oosthuizen has given away 36 penalties this year - over twice as many as Bismark du Plessis, and 16 more than the next prop (Wyatt Crockett with 20). Most of these penalties has come from scrum. While I have no doubt that the Oosthuizen is a promising young player, and I think his work around the park is phenomenal, he has a lot of work to do before he should be considered for international rugby. So in conclusion, the front rowers I would pick:1. [B]Steenkamp[/B], 2. [B]du Plessis[/B], 3. [B]BJ Botha[/B]; 16. [B]Strauss[/B], 17. [B]van der Linde[/B]; 23. [B]Smit[/B], 24. [B]Mtawarira[/B] [/QUOTE]
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