Your Springbok XV so far

[Jer1cho]

15. Patrick Lambie - The perfect replacement for Francois Steyn. Secure under the high ball, and plenty of pace. Kirchner has surprised me this season so far though, but i am a fan of youngsters.

14. Gerhard van den Heever - The form SA winger this season. He has a huge opportunity with Pietersen injured.

13. Jaque Fourie - Best 13 in the world. Pure class.

12. Wynand Olivier - Selfish as he is, with JDV overseas, and de Jongh being average, he is my pick.

11. Bryan Habana - Not his best season so far, but still a potent part of our team.

10. Morne Steyn - No contenders

9. Fourie du Preez - Easy pick



8. Pierre Spies - Having a fantastic season so far.

7. Juan Smith - Old faithfull, though the Stormers pair of Duane Vermeulen and Francois Louw have been outstanding.

6. Schalk Burger - He seems to be playing like his old self again, and with Brussouw out, he should get the nod.

5. Victor Matfield - Always the line-out threat, and has a boat load of experience.

4. Andries Bekker - Bakkies is game shy, and has been out for too long. Bekker has been immense, and must start.

3. Brock Harris - The Stormers 3 has been enormous at scrum time, and should fit in nicely.

2. John Smit - Captain, but not the best hooker we have. He is a must though.

1. Gurthro Steenkamp - Makes more tackles than most loose forwards, and has sorted out his scrumming issues. The best prop we have.


What are your thoughts? Apart from the face that my team is lacking some players of color...

 

[Haysie]

What's the story with quotas with regard to the national team?

 

[Jer1cho]

What's the story with quotas with regard to the national team?

There needs to be a certain amount of players of color in the starting XV. The exact amount varies depending on what mood the politicians are in.

 

[Bokbe4k]

Lambie is very good but for me Aplon is the No.1 fullback in the country ATM and for his small frame he is amazing on defense and watching him break lines like that reminds me of the Rolls Royce.
Bekker is the obvious pick but I will still put Botha ahead of him because Matfield just seems to perform better with Botha at his side!

 

[Haysie]

There needs to be a certain amount of players of color in the starting XV. The exact amount varies depending on what mood the politicians are in.

What is it at currently?

 

[Bokbe4k]

What is it at currently?

We'll get back to you when selection comes!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Pretty much agree with you:

Guthro by far the best at loosehead. Beast is the logical back up in case of injury but watch this space: PdV will play John Smit at loosehead! The man should be dropped entirely IMO except as the 4rth choice hooker.

Hookers berth to go to either Liebenberg or Gary Botha with Bismark injured. du Plessis remains my first choice, though; the man is a brawler of note even though Liebenberg does everthing at pace adn Botha is the most solid.

At tighthead I have a problem with Harris; BJ Botha is a must with Werner Kruger the best bet to understudy. Brok Harris and WP Nel are great prospects for the future but too green for me at the moment. CJ also still an option if need be.

Andries Bekker has been huge. Bakkies and Danie to cover.

Victor Matfield hasn't had a great year by his standards but always lifts his game on the international stage.

Burger is a shoe-in even if Brussouw were fit. F Louw and Jacques Botes (even Deon Stegman) would probably walk into most international sides but unfortunately have to compete against the best.

Juan Smith has also returned to awesome form and transforms the Cheetahs singlehandedly. Duane Vermeulen is my choice back-up and can cover no.8 as well. Deysel and Potgieter to a lesser extent should get mentions. Wikus van Heerden hasn't had a fair chance at the Lions.

Pierre Spies with Vermeulen as back-up. The scary thing is Spies still has a lot of room for improvement.

Fourie du Preez can't be left out with Ruan Pienaar changing my opinion of him slowly but surely playing at 9 for the Sharks. Lots of depth here to be honest.

Morne Steyn has the BMT although he left it behind end 2009. Grant is the backup for me as he has added accurate kicking to better general decision making to his arsenal this year. No doubt benefitting from Dewald Duvenhage playing inside him. I would love to see him play alongside an inform FdP.

Bryan Habana has been somewhat overanxious on attack for teh Stormers but with Mapoe injured there is no competition. Mjekevu quite exciting though in a Nokwe-like way.

Wynand Olivier because Fransie and Jean are overseas (they should be considered though IMO) and Juan de Jongh is an outside center. Olivier deserves another chance but should look to create more and focus on improving his general distribution/awareness.

Jacque Fourie has been getting better and better. de Jongh to deputise.

JP Pietersen looked a little bit like the overrated player I claimed him to be this year. Gerhard van der Heever is the leading try scorer in the S14 so far but will/can PdV pick a white winger? Probably not.
Might also consider doing a 'Cory Jane' by picking a pacey fullback to play at wing: Patrick Lambie, Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon spring to mind.

Frans Steyn has always been a fullback IMO. Kirschner has raised his game a tad and is probably the encumbant in any case but it just feels a shame to waste the all-round talents of J Pietersen, Lambie and Aplon.

In summary
: G Steenkamp / G Botha / BJ Botha / A Bekker / V Matfield / S Burger / J Smith / P Spies / F du Preez / M Steyn / B Habana / W Olivier / J Fourie / G van der Heever / F Steyn with my bench: T Mtawarira / T Liebenberg / B Botha / D Vermeulen / R Pienaar / P Grant / P Lambie if only because Steyntjie can cover center and I want to see him play more.

du Plessis, Brussouw, Smit, JP Pietersen, Kankowski need to overcome injuries to be considered. Not even considering Januarie, Jantjes, Ralepele and the others, Jannie du PLessis, Muller.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

We'll get back to you when selection comes!

There has never really been anything official, though unless I'm mistaken.? Just sh1tloads of pressure. I mean, it would be quite a psychological blow to officially call any player a quota player. I see my choice first XV only includes Habana and Guthro as players of colour and they aren't all that dark enough to start with. Eish. What we should do is do DNA testing as i am sure lots of the white players have some coloured blood in the mix somewhere if push come to shove. I have done my research and know I have at least 1 coloured ancestor; blue eyed and pale as I may be. A lot of silliness, really but a reality in SA even though we should have moved on after 16 years already post apartheid.

 

[Bokbe4k]

There has never really been anything official, though unless I'm mistaken.? Just sh1tloads of pressure. I mean, it would be quite a psychological blow to officially call any player a quota player. I see my choice first XV only includes Habana and Guthro as players of colour and they aren't all that dark enough to start with. Eish. What we should do is do DNA testing as i am sure lots of the white players have some coloured blood in the mix somewhere if push come to shove. I have done my research and know I have at least 1 coloured ancestor; blue eyed and pale as I may be. A lot of silliness, really but a reality in SA even though we should have moved on after 16 years already post apartheid.

So jou groot groot groot grooooot ouma groeitjie is n' kuludz!
Oh,by the way,I will say this only once and I will never ever ever ever ever repeat it but good luck with Stormers on Saturday hope they looi the Sharks,Eish that hurt...........

 

[King_D'Arcy]

13. Jaque Fourie[/B] - Best 13 in the world. Pure class.

Now c'mon Jer1cho... You know the forum rules by now

 

[Teh Mite]

That Jandre Kruger is crap and shouldn't be anywhere near the Boks. In fact, he's so bad you Saffie lot should cancel his coming-home contract and tell him to stay exactly where he is...

 

[Versus]

15. Gio Aplon

14. Gerhard van den Heever

13. Jaque Fourie

12. Wynand Olivier

11. Bryan Habana

10. Peter Grant

9. Fourie du Preez

8. Pierre Spies

7. Juan Smith

6. Schalk Burger

5. Victor Matfield

4. Andries Bekker

3. John Smit

2. Bismark Du Plessis

1. Gurthro Steenkamp

I'd even be tempted to drop Wynand Oliver and put in Morne Steyn in 10 and Peter Grant in 12. I think that would be a very lethal combination, would have to be tested against a lowly team like Ireland though.

 

[durbutter]

Ow....................

 

[Versus]

It was a joke about the Ireland thing, considering they beat South Africa three times in a row.

 

[Jer1cho]

Seems Ireland have become somewhat of a bogey team for us. Although i think that we would thrash them at home. France are our Achilles heal though. They have beaten us in 7 of the last 8 tests. The frenchies just know how to whoop us.

 

[Versus]

France knows how to whoop anyone, that is the ***** about them, they are annoying, a fly in the ointment. I have no doubt South Africa would beat anybody in Pretoria, Boks are amazing at home but quite rubbish away, although in saying that Stormers and the Bulls have been playing better away than at home recently.

 

[Jockstap]

Seems Ireland have become somewhat of a bogey team for us. Although i think that we would thrash them at home. France are our Achilles heal though. They have beaten us in 7 of the last 8 tests. The frenchies just know how to whoop us.

You aren't the only ones

 

[Conal]

what happend to François Steyn he used to be awesome

 

[SuperSheep]

THAT IS A AWESOME TEAM!!!!! dont think any team in the world could beat that! but luckally we can pick overseas players... so obviously.. 15 - frans steyn (this boy can kick a goal from over 60m) and 12 - JdV (who els)

 

[Conal]

but i thought he was only playing as it was a second string side hence the exiles