Heinrich Brussow off to Japan

[Blue]

Will continue to play Super rugby which is at least something but effectively ruling himself out for the Boks.

Well fucking done Heyneke Meyer.

Brussow is only 26.

 

[Mank]

Will continue to play Super rugby which is at least something but effectively ruling himself out for the Boks.

Well fucking done Heyneke Meyer.

Brussow is only 26.

Yeah, because when a player throws a strop at not being selected for the national team and goes off to play for Japan it's all the coaches fault. If this is the attitude, we'd have only 23 professional players left in South Africa.

 

[Blue]

Not every case but definitely in this case.

He is not going to get a Bok contract. HM has said as much. He is a world class player who is worth more than his Cheethas salary.

Explain to me what you think he should do? Just accept the situation?

HM fucked thsi one up. No two ways about it. To have Marcel Coetzee in the Bok squad ahead of Heinrich is beyond ridiculous. It's a sick joke.

 

[Zander]

Brussow is a waste on the bench, I can understand Meyer's reasoning - if he's not in the 15 he's not in the 23.

 

[Mank]

Not every case but definitely in this case.

He is not going to get a Bok contract. HM has said as much. He is a world class player who is worth more than his Cheethas salary.

Explain to me what you think he should do? Just accept the situation?

No, it's entirely his prerogative to go earn as much as he can. Don't make this decision anyone else's though, no-one is forcing him.

HM fucked thsi one up. No two ways about it. To have Marcel Coetzee in the Bok squad ahead of Heinrich is beyond ridiculous. It's a sick joke.

This is your opinion. Don't try to tell me selections are an exact science and you are objectively correct. Sport is littered with cases such as this where a coach prefers certain players over others. If you were the coach you'd have to make some tough decisions and no doubt certain sets of fans would hate you for it.

 

[Mank]

Look, that came out a little harsher than I intended. I don't mean to be, it's just that this stuff is all subjective. You might feel one way, and other fans feel another.

 

[Bairdy]

Pretty simple really, I would've had Brussouw over Coetzee or Kolisi at openside but I can see the logic behind Heinrich's decision to go to Japan for some coin.

For whatever reason, he is not in Heyneke's calculations, as has been hinted in the media he would prefer the youngsters to develop their pilfering rather than select Brussouw, and work on his attacking game.

 

[Mank]

I thought Coetzee had a good debut season, but he is too one dimensional at the moment and is being found out. He'll need to add to his game because I can't see him being a long term prospect on current ability.

 

[Nusadan]

I didn't think Brussouw is in the same sort of form he was in couple or so years ago when he was the star for the Boks. Think his run of injuries have impacted on his play, and furthermore, he is more one-dimensional than Kolisi or Coetzee.

But it's a matter of personal opinion and I don't care either way as long the Boks lose to the Wallabies!

 

[Rassie]

Yeah, because when a player throws a strop at not being selected for the national team and goes off to play for Japan it's all the coaches fault. If this is the attitude, we'd have only 23 professional players left in South Africa.

No they leave because they are seen as midgets. Meyer like Frankenstein monsters.

 

[Richo]

Brussouw is the only Saffer that actually makes me nervous at the breakdown. I'm stoked that he's off to Japan.

 

[BDA]

I agree with Richo. Brussouw added an extra dimension to the boks. Louw is good, but Brussow was a game changer.

 

[Ruggo]

Brussouw is in the Pocock and McCaw level of player. He should be one of the first Bokke selected but instead seems a victim of a rather stale coaches pathetic obsession with size.

 

[Rassie]

Brussouw is in the Pocock and McCaw level of player. He should be one of the first Bokke selected but instead seems a victim of a rather stale coaches pathetic obsession with size.

Sadly its the case. You can just look at what Frankenstein freaks they want if you look at what Meyer and co have done to youngsters

Spies Wing--->no 8
Hougaardt Wing----->no 9
Engelbrecht Wing --->Centre
CJ Stander Flank-----> Hooker (he fled)
Pollard Flyhalf ------>12

So you can see they trying to create a type of breed that big and fast but only problem is those blokes don't like hitting rucks.

 

[Mank]

Brussouw is in the Pocock and McCaw level of player. He should be one of the first Bokke selected but instead seems a victim of a rather stale coaches pathetic obsession with size.

Brussow is a pilfering machine no doubt, but he is nowhere close to the class of McCaws all round play, and behind Pocock on that matter too.

Do you guys look at these other aspects?

 

[Rassie]

Brussow is a pilfering machine no doubt, but he is nowhere close to the class of McCaws all round play, and behind Pocock on that matter too.

Do you guys look at these other aspects?

Can I ask. With pilfering abilities or with "reading the referees interpretations"?

And you must understand a world class loosie on a special day takes around 3 to 4 steals.

And no we are not going to talk about that quarter final as I do not think you want to know how freak that game was in terms of referee analysis and his ratio where in one match his complete mechanics changed.

 

[Zander]

Brussow is a pilfering machine no doubt, but he is nowhere close to the class of McCaws all round play, and behind Pocock on that matter too.

Do you guys look at these other aspects?

This is why he should be not be on the bench. He's a fantastic player but with a limited skill set - a very good skill set still.

I would play Louw over him so I can understand Meyer's reasoning perfectly.

 

[Ruggo]

Brussow is a pilfering machine no doubt, but he is nowhere close to the class of McCaws all round play, and behind Pocock on that matter too.

Do you guys look at these other aspects?

McCaw has evolved his game over a substantially longer career than Brussouw. Look at the style of player he once was when younger. These days I would actually class McCaw's game more of that a 6 rather than a seven.

It is the size fetish that gets him discriminated against although the rugby world has so much proof to debunk this attitude. Smaller and lighter players are all over the show holding their own plus some in most cases. Warburton, Tipuric, Duesitour, George Smith, Hooper, Gill, Cane. (please correct me if I am wrong but I think Smith is the only player in that group that is over 100kg) All internationally capped players.

Brussouw adds the balance that the Bokke have lacked for some years in their back row adding pace to the breakdown which is often your weak point.

Sure Brussouw is a pilfering machine but he is also much more as a tackling machine, running machine and a supporting machine.

What is also fair to say about Brussow and the players listed above is they know how to use what they have to maximum effect and all so often larger players tend to be somewhat lazy in this regard. All to often you see them have so much more physical impact through skill than larger players. You also get this happening in other positions but that is a topic for another day. Actually you could have a good thread dedicated to players playing above their weight.

 

[Brisbok]

IMO a lot of posters on this forum's thoughts on Brussouw are skewed heavily towards the form he showed when he was at his best in 2009 - 2010. In the last couple of seasons he has not had anywhere near the same consistent impact as he had back then. He has struggled with injury and when he's played he has often found himself on the wrong side of a high penalty count.

He is a decent ball runner, but certainly does not strike fear into the hearts of the opposition with ball in hand and provides very little in the way of lineout options.

He has hardly been a standout this year for the Cheetahs so I wouldn't exactly say that he has been banging the selectors' door down with his performances.

Rightly or wrongly Meyer prefers the hybrid type of flanker who is good in a number of areas as opposed to a specialist scavenger and IMO I don't think Brussouw's performances for the Cheetahs this season have given Meyer any reason to alter that thinking.

 

[Mank]

Agree with Brisbok.

Louw today (against Samoa) offered more of a full game than Brussow would have. If Brussow is reading this, I hope he understands that I rate him as the best ball pilferer in SA, with one of the best attitudes in SA too, which is fantastic. But there is more to the game than that. I do not agree that McCaw started his career as only a pilferer, he has always been a fantastic all rounder rugby player.

If Brussow is selected, I'm totally for that, and will support him all the way. I actually think he has more to offer than just pilfering, and hope it comes to the fore soon. But right now, Brusssow isn't the guaranteed spot that people make out.