Springboks 2010 End Of Year Tour

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I reckon Bakkies and Schalk are probably genuinely good blokes off the paddock, but sometimes complete meat heads on it.

 

[rustycruiser]

So much for resting players.

Victor Matfield has been named as captain of the Springbok end-of-year tour on the first day of a preliminary training squad get together.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers made the announcement at a media conference and also confirmed that Juan Smith would be the tour vice-captain.

more here : http://www.rugby365.com/all_news/sa/news/2653421.htm

 

[Blue]

Bakkies is a great player, but he's also a liability to the Boks. I know his go is to sail very close to the line between hardness and thuggery, but I shake my head sometimes. If he can't find a way to channel that aggression and put into pulverising blokes legally then he shouldn't be selected.

Fortunately for the opposition, Bok management don't get it.

He'll get 2 or three yellows on tour. He averages a yellow every second test or something.

Enough. He cost us a solid start to the 3N tour Paarl. First game and 2 mins in we lose a player. Don't you think its a problem?

 

[Blue]

So much for resting players.



more here : http://www.rugby365.com/all_news/sa/news/2653421.htm

Matfield looked tired in the CC semi.

All the uninjured Boks will tour and start all the test matches. The coach has a job to keep. Stuff the welfare of the players.

In the interview PdV says he meant the players were fatigued, not tired. Fuck me.

The circus continues. Same clown. Different suit.

 

[PaarlBok]

Look like I was the only Schalk watcher all year. He was the only Bok on fire in the 3Ns and lead the Stormers and WeePee from the front. No silly shite just awesome rugby and my SA player of the year by a mile!

 

[Baldric]

Look like I was the only Schalk watcher all year. He was the only Bok on fire in the 3Ns and lead the Stormers and WeePee from the front. No silly shite just awesome rugby and my SA player of the year by a mile!

I agree, he did have a great year for Stormers, Boks and WP.
Could it be because some of the other players were just plain shite?

 

[Blue]

I agree, he did have a great year for Stormers, Boks and WP.
Could it be because some of the other players were just plain shite?

Like everyone else in the Bok, Stormers or WP teams or everyone they played against.

Either way the answer is no. Schalk has had an awesome year.

What it has to do with Bakkies, not resting Matfield and the Boks sucking beats the shit out of me but there you go.

 

[Baldric]

Blue, what I am saying is that the usual SA standout players seem to have gone missing this year. OK, some are not there because of injury, sometimes mediocre players were selected and maybe some guys just had quiet seasons.
For me Schalk was one of the few players who consistently seemed to be trying and did manage to play well.

 

[Blue]

Diabolical.

http://www.keo.co.za/2010/10/25/going-nowhere-slowly/

RYAN VREDE thinks it is a travesty that the Springbok selectors have completely ignored scientific guidelines on player conditioning when picking Victor Matfield.

I cringed when Matfield was announced as the tour captain. My distress wasn’t a reflection of my estimation of his capacity to lead, but rather born from a deep concern about his physical condition and, more pertinently, his future value to the Springboks.

Matfield has played more rugby than any player in South Africa. He was rested for one Super Rugby fixture, and inexplicably played the mid-year Tests against Italy. During the Tri-Nations he was a shadow of the dominant player he had been in 2009. I can’t recall seeing him delivering as laboured a performance as what he did in the Currie Cup semi-final. Despite the four-week conditioning camp he had just come off, he looked a spent force.

Now he will be tasked with lifting his performance for what the Springbok coaching staff has deemed a crucial Grand Slam tour. It is against the background of a diabolical season that a tour that was initially meant to offer exhausted players a much-needed rest, now becomes one geared towards ensuring that Peter de Villiers and his assistants make it to the World Cup in 2011.

Matfield is the prized sacrificial lamb that De Villiers hopes will contribute significantly towards appeasing his rugby gods (read: South African Rugby Union bosses).

Certainly there are others who need a break – Schalk Burger, Morné Steyn and Bryan Habana chief among those – while Ricky Januarie would benefit from a conditioning programme tailored for him. But none of that quartet is in the very twilight of their careers, and the latter trio are backline players who take significantly less contact that the 33-year-old lock does.

I can’t see Matfield’s conditioning improving significantly enough for him to reach the World Cup in optimum condition. The 2011 Super Rugby season, an extended one, is his last for the Bulls. He will insist on playing every game and the Bulls’ coaching and conditioning staff will offer little or no resistance, despite their assurances to Springbok conditioning coach Neels Liebel that the national interest will be given greater priority than it has in years past.

Prior to the first home Tri-Nations Test at Soccer City against the All Blacks, Liebel was given the implicit directive to silence the media’s criticism of patently fatigued players (Matfield among those) by offering a plethora of elaborate statistics and data collected from an expensively acquired GPS monitoring system. Liebel said elite rugby players where capable of playing between 1 400 and 1 600 minutes before their performance dropped markedly. Matfield has far exceeded that total.

Two weeks later in Pretoria De Villiers told the media: ‘…something is wrong with Victor’, and after the Test at Loftus he said that Matfield (and John Smit): ‘…didn’t know what it was like to feel good anymore’, in response to questions about their conditioning. He would then play both men against Australia a week later. Now Matfield will again be strapped on to De Villiers’ chariot and asked to haul him into a battle on three legs.

What then is the point of conditioning measurements when they are wilfully ignored? De Villiers, along with the rugby bosses who retained him after a post Tri-Nations review then pressured him into selecting senior players running on empty, will all need to be held to account when fatigue adversely affects key senior players’ (Matfield one of the most important) attempts to mount a successful title defence.

Perhaps if De Villiers and Liebel bothered to check the reading on Matfield’s GPS they would have seen the warning that read: Going nowhere slowly.

 

[PaarlBok]

Like everyone else in the Bok, Stormers or WP teams or everyone they played against.

Either way the answer is no. Schalk has had an awesome year.

What it has to do with Bakkies, not resting Matfield and the Boks sucking beats the shit out of me but there you go.

It has everything to do with Bakkies. Schalk had been on the wrong side of yellows and citing like the others are saying but he changed and concentrate on his game, no reason why Bakkies cant do the same.

I do have this feeling that Schalk know his place in the Bok side aint safe with Brussouw breathing down his neck and know he have to perform, I know he will always be a good captain, so maybe this motivated him. Matfield , Smit & kie is plainly to sure about their Bok jerseys and dont care at the moment. I blame Snor for this and wont be surprise at all to see Rassie , Coetzee and Schalk taking the Bokke further after the WC 2011.

 

[PaarlBok]

Just to add I think Matfield is in more need of a kick under his arse then rest. This resting kak dont fit well in my books, this lot dont deserve a rest, they need to deserve it. The rest the whole vokken year.

 

[Blue]

Matfield , Smit & kie is plainly to sure about their Bok jerseys and dont care at the moment. I blame Snor for this and wont be surprise at all to see Rassie , Coetzee and Schalk taking the Bokke further after the WC 2011.

Maybe you're right, but it's not their fault. Oh and I think Bekker getting injured is the worst possible thing that could have happened. There is no pressure on Vic until he comes back.

I somehow think Bakkies will never get back to his best again. I don't think he has the mental strength to get through this. From that article, he has all but lost his mind. Let's see how he goes in Europe but I am not too excited. Danie and Flip are more than good enough.

Whether Schalk is the right Captain is debatable. I have my doubts over him pulling the guys from the various provinces together.

I would be very happy with Coetzee and Rassie as coaches. I think they will put on a hell of a good show. Them or Heyneke. Don't really mind who.

 

[Blue]

Just to add I think Matfield is in more need of a kick under his arse then rest. This resting kak dont fit well in my books, this lot dont deserve a rest, they need to deserve it. The rest the whole vokken year.

You are being totally ignorant.

Take a good look at what he has played since the last World Cup. He has hardly ever been injured and never been rested. He isn't a spring chicken and has not been managed,

Saying the resting issue is bull is just being silly Paarl.

 

[PaarlBok]

Whether Schalk is the right Captain is debatable. I have my doubts over him pulling the guys from the various provinces together.

As long as Kots Watson dont figure in his team ,he'll do just fine.

 

[PaarlBok]

You are being totally ignorant.

Take a good look at what he has played since the last World Cup. He has hardly ever been injured and never been rested. He isn't a spring chicken and has not been managed,

Saying the resting issue is bull is just being silly Paarl.

Nee Blou, they had some rest now and Matfield & kie look out of touch. Resting now wont help the WC cause at all, maybe next year before the tournament starts?

 

[rustycruiser]

Tour squad (in alphabetical order. * Indicates new cap):

Backs
Gio Aplon (Vodacom Western Province); Age: 28; Test caps: 9
Bjorn Basson (Vodacom Blue Bulls); 23, 2
Juan de Jongh (Vodacom Western Province); 22, 6
Jean de Villiers (Vodacom Western Province); 29, 63
Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Blue Bulls); 22, 5
Bryan Habana (Vodacom Western Province); 27, 66
* Elton Jantjies (Xerox Golden Lions); 20, 0
Ricky Januarie (Vodacom Western Province); 28, 47
* Patrick Lambie (The Sharks); 20, 0
* Lwazi Mvovo (The Sharks); 24, 0
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N Ireland); 26, 43
Frans Steyn (Racing Metro, France); 23, 39
Morne Steyn (Vodacom Blue Bulls); 26, 21

Forwards
* Willem Alberts (The Sharks); Age: 26, Test caps: 0
Bakkies Botha (Vodacom Blue Bulls); 31, 68
Schalk Burger (Vodacom Western Province); 27, 63
* Keegan Daniel (The Sharks); 25, 0
Bismarck du Plessis (The Sharks); 26, 32
Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks); 28, 20
Alistair Hargreaves (The Sharks); 24, 2
Ryan Kankowski (The Sharks); 25, 16
Victor Matfield (captain, Vodacom Blue Bulls); 33, 101
Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks); 25, 22
* Coenie Oosthuizen (Vodacom Cheetahs); 21, 0
Chiliboy Ralepelle (Vodacom Blue Bulls); 24, 17
Juan Smith (Vodacom Cheetahs); 29, 65
Pierre Spies (Vodacom Blue Bulls); 25, 37
Adriaan Strauss (Vodacom Cheetahs); 24, 7
CJ van der Linde (Vodacom Cheetahs); 30, 65
Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls); 25, 6

 

[rustycruiser]

So if Juan de Jongh is crocked (went off limping in the Currie Cup final), whats the plan? Frans Steyn or maybe Lambie to 12 and JdV to 13? Call up a player to cover de Jongh? If so, who? No other real quality 13s around at the moment with Fourie injured. Please no Adi Jacobs! 12 would be easier to cover, with Doppies available.

 

[rustycruiser]

Notable omission from the squad that are not on the injured list are Danie Roussow and Zane Kirchner. The only one that made me go huh? was Danie.

 

[rustycruiser]

And Ricky Januarie is out of the Tour. Knee injury from the Currie Cup final. Thank you Jesus/Allah/Buddha/Shiva/Isis whoever!

 

[Blue]

And Ricky Januarie is out of the Tour. Knee injury from the Currie Cup final. Thank you Jesus/Allah/Buddha/Shiva/Isis whoever!

Some listened. We donlt know who, but they did.

We may have jinxed ourselves. If de Jongh is out we are in almighty shit. It didn't look that bad at first so let's hope.

They will replace him with Adi. One of PdV's little mindless obsession. You have to have a fat bald bloke i nthe squad and jeez Adi has been piling on the pies on the Sharks bench.

Show's a complete lack of 13 back in SA. We have two great ones but if they are gone we are fucked. I agree - Doppies at 12 would be my pick. Not happening.

If you move Frans to 12 Aplon is the only 15 cover. Not sure I want him against the teams up North at 15 if it's wet.

At first I was perplexed about Danie. Then I saw the CC final. Both Keegan and Alberts 100% deserved the callup. In truth, Rossouw was poor in the home leg of the 3N and nowhere in the CC semi when he came on. Looked off the pace. Simply not enough room, although if I have to be honest I would have him instead of Botha or Spies. Take your pick.

Daniel is an interesting selection. Again I though wtf? Then I watched the final. He was immense. Louw was nowhere to be seen the whole game. Maybe we are seeing that when it's a close and tight game, F Louw disappears. Between Bismarck and Daniel they robbed the WP blind at the breakdown.