Bok form team.

If I was Heyneke Meyer my Bok team would be taking shape by now.

There are some positions I would ink in for the June test tournament.

1. coenie Oosthuizen, mobile, devastating with ball in hand, solid scrummer and pilferer as well, he has a high work rate and doesn't shirk his defensive duties either.

2. adriaan Strauss, this guy has ked the Cheetahs who are on their third choice fly half for the season to 4th spot on the Super XV log, mobile, strong ball carrier, good captain, good line out thrower and leads from the front.

3. Jannie du Plessis, the Sharks have shown again tonight how strong their scrum is, Dependable, good defender and solid scrummer.

4.Pieter Stef Du Toit, he may have no experience, but this guy is a twin of Etzebeth, mobile, strong and gains the advantage line.

5. Eben Etzebeth, what a phenominal player, ripped the Reds line out apart tonight and has it all.

6. Siya Kolisi, this guy is just incredible for his size, no matter the size of the ball carrier he will tackle them back, has good lace and offloads too.

7. Lappes Labuschagne, tackling monster, high work rate

8. Spies seems to have blossomed again this season, his line out work must be ul there if not better than any other number 8 in the world, he is carrying ball and gaining front foot ball again and his defence has been solid.

9. Piet v Zyl, good pass, good sniper, good boot, quick clearance, who else currently in SA has those talents?

10. Morne Steyn, yes I don't like him, but he has been having his best season since, well forever.

11. habana, he is leaving for France soon, but still has jet shoes, great anticipation and still the best 11 in SA.

12. Jean de Villiers, again, I don't like him for the Bok jersey. But he has been very strong indeed carrying the ball, always solid on defence, but just don't want him as the decision maker on the field, he messed up enough games for the Stormers this season with ooor decision making.

13. Jan Serfontein, or JJ Engelbrecht, both have been very good for the Bulls.

14. Willie le Roux, if there is another player in SA as talneted as this guy, I haven't seen him yet.

15. Jurgen Visser, yep totally from left field, has made his debut for the Bulls this season, but this kid has talent, I don't care if he doesn't have enough experience, the best in form full back in SA at the moment.


Now just watch how my team doesn't look anything like Meyer's come the test sereis.

Glad youre not Meyer Biltong. Definitely an in form team though so many newbies as firsts at once might be a different prospect.

Coenie and v Zyl certainly are full of running, they dont want to stop playing after this series stops. Agree with Morne S and I figured he'd be back in the mix with his earlier form. JDV though limited is the epitome of the Bok rugby attitude and his after mach comments (always impressive) scream out his continued passion for the game as does his ball carrying as you say.

Once again Meyer faces similar issues as last year though its eased somewhat by the form of his Bulls side.

Taylorman, I am betting only 8 of my selections will be in the Bok team

If you dont want Jean DV, can we have him?

Come on Laurie, you have plenty good ones.

We do but they dont/cant do what theyre meant to do.

And Morné Steyn will be one of your selections BB...

It'll be interesting to see what Meyer does this season. Part of the new shift in gameplan came about due to the huge injury toll last season. With the Bulls performing well this Super season you get the impression Meyer will plump back for the brute strength low percentage backline gameplan. He will look at the Cheetahs and see the games they win and then compare the Bulls approach and see their winning percentage. I think it's possible to combine both but why do I get the impression that he'll favour the more forward oriented power element than the attacking with width and pace element?

That will be the best second row partnership in the world for a long time I reckon. Du Toit and Etzebeth. Both very young, both phenomenal players. What a combination that will be.

That's not really fair, Bilt.

I've seen those guys play. They can run and catch and all sorts. We can't have that sort of sh!t happening in games where we play you.

Scotland has just lost its coach in waiting today and doubtless the Scotland manager will now be Mark Dodson's wife's hairdresser's friend. I expect Sympathy Capitulation from your guys. Just pass that on for us please.

No need to worry mate, Meyer won't select that team.

Agree with all, more-or-less, except Visser had a shocker on Saturday!

Shipping off quite a number of regular names there bill.

No Beast, Bis du Plessis, Chiliboy, Etzebeth, van der Merwe, Alberts, Hougaard, Lambie, Frans Steyne, JP Pietersen or Kirchner.

That looks like a Bok equivalent of some of the Home nations touring teams minus the Lions.

Maes, Etzebeth is there.

Bismarck has been injured and has not played 1 minute of rugby this season.
Alberts have only just come back from injury and has played one match
Hougaard has been injured and played 2 matches, not in any form
Lambie is in a confidence slump, the Sharks are struggling (They have 16 injured players in their squad) and even though you could make excuses he hasn't taken control and led from the front.
Frans Steyn is now injured, but in the worst form of his life, he is slow, lethargic and useless
JP Pietersen is injured and leaving SA
Kirchner is injured and leaving SA.

Surely if it's a form side you have to have Robert Ebersohn at 12 Biltong, the guy has been superb for the Cheetahs.

True Ozzy, but as much as I don't want to, de Villiers has been superb for the Stormers, he has led from the front, defensively he has been outstanding and in a backline of incompetence by the Stormers he has been rattling off tries.

I agree Ebersohn has been good, but remember this is test level we are talking about, and I just don't think he is that good.

Biltong wrote:Maes, Etzebeth is there.

Bismarck has been injured and has not played 1 minute of rugby this season.
Alberts have only just come back from injury and has played one match
Hougaard has been injured and played 2 matches, not in any form
Lambie is in a confidence slump, the Sharks are struggling (They have 16 injured players in their squad) and even though you could make excuses he hasn't taken control and led from the front.
Frans Steyn is now injured, but in the worst form of his life, he is slow, lethargic and useless
JP Pietersen is injured and leaving SA
Kirchner is injured and leaving SA.

Cheers Bill...

The S15 often seems to be on when we are looking after our Grand Daughters and they don't like me watching rugby when we could be playing Lego, my other great love...!

Your reasoning and justifications look awfully similar to many posts about our teams in other nations, lethargy, confidence, injury all playing a huge part in the make up of our ideas of a form squad.

Meyer should use these games to build his next RWC squad.... chaps like JDV won't be there. His youngsters will be at home, they will have enough to get past the opposition.

If not and you'll have to ask... what players has Meyer brought along during his tenure?
The RWC is only 2 years away, not take a couple of risks now will cause the boks to suffer the same fate as in 2011.

What do you guys make of Cobus Reinach and his chances of being a Springbok?

We are thin on experienced half backs, so at the moment pretty good.

Biltong wrote:5. Eben Etzebeth, what a phenominal player, ripped the Reds line out apart tonight and has it all.

6. Siya Kolisi, this guy is just incredible for his size, no matter the size of the ball carrier he will tackle them back, has good lace and offloads too.

14. Willie le Roux, if there is another player in SA as talneted as this guy, I haven't seen him yet.

15. Jurgen Visser, yep totally from left field, has made his debut for the Bulls this season, but this kid has talent, I don't care if he doesn't have enough experience, the best in form full back in SA at the moment.

I agree with Etzebeth on 5, although he only played the last game their, but he looked really comfortable there.

On 6, I think Brussouw will have something to say about that, but Kolisi has been really good.

On 14, Willie is really good, but I think he would still only been on my bench in place of Lambie who would not be in my match 22.

15 - I don't think Visser has been all that great. He plays almost the same as Kirchner - I would rather have Willie on 15 - he can also play anywhere in the backline.

FerN wrote:

Biltong wrote:5. Eben Etzebeth, what a phenominal player, ripped the Reds line out apart tonight and has it all.

6. Siya Kolisi, this guy is just incredible for his size, no matter the size of the ball carrier he will tackle them back, has good lace and offloads too.

14. Willie le Roux, if there is another player in SA as talneted as this guy, I haven't seen him yet.

15. Jurgen Visser, yep totally from left field, has made his debut for the Bulls this season, but this kid has talent, I don't care if he doesn't have enough experience, the best in form full back in SA at the moment.

I agree with Etzebeth on 5, although he only played the last game their, but he looked really comfortable there.

On 6, I think Brussouw will have something to say about that, but Kolisi has been really good.

On 14, Willie is really good, but I think he would still only been on my bench in place of Lambie who would not be in my match 22.

15 - I don't think Visser has been all that great. He plays almost the same as Kirchner - I would rather have Willie on 15 - he can also play anywhere in the backline.

Fern, we need to take a chance on Wllie, we need someone who is unpredictable, as for Visser, sometimes you just get a feeling, we have no form 15's at the moment, Visser is bloody fast, he has good hands and he distributes, something Kirchner never did. He reminds me of Pierre Spies' father.

Kolisi isn't really an openside... he's the right size but his game is closer to that of blindside. He tackles hard, runs hard but just hasn't developed a link game or floor skills yet.

Going forward I don't see the boks dominating up front like they used to with Bakkies et al. That allowed them to play two blindsides (Schalk & Smith) as they always got front foot ball anyhow and the opposition backrow was always on the backfoot.

They now need a player like Brussow especially given NZ and AUS have improving front fives.

Talking of Brussow, Meyer has said he isn't selecting Brussow because of his potential penalty risk against NH referees

I drew Brussow's stats.


20 tests
19 penalties
15 times refereed by NH referees.

Utter nonsense from Meyer

Oh and Kolisi, not a linking game?

You must have missed the times where he took the space, ran a few meters and passed accurately to his backs.

one minute its his size, then its his penalty count, then its his lack of attacking prowess... lineout presence etc etc... Meyer and especially SA rugby can't understand a flanker whose primary role isn't to smash someones face in.

Biltong wrote:Oh and Kolisi, not a linking game?

You must have missed the times where he took the space, ran a few meters and passed accurately to his backs.

For me he just isn't a natural yet... he's done it before mind in bits I agree... remember when we beat the bulls in the highveld.... it was Kolisi's run which set up Habana for his match winning try.
Perhaps its Coetzee's style... we are a very defensive side and Kolisi spends a lot of time in midfield dealing with the big centres/his opposite numbers so rarely gets chances to attack himself.

Kolisi has only conceded 8 penalties in the 11 matches he played.

not bad.... although the fact he isn't prolific on the floor would increase this.

McCaw, Pocock, Brussow... they all get picked up a lot because they live in the grey area of the law.

By the sounds of it I don't think Meyer will choose Kolisi anyhow... he likes big lads in the backrow, a lifters height and reach is also important and that will factor against him like Brussow.

I agree Meyer isn't going to select Kolisi.

He might go for Labsuchagne, Alberts and Spies

Biltong wrote:Taylorman, I am betting only 8 of my selections will be in the Bok team

All but Van zyl and Visser in the squad so far Biltong so looking ok so far?

With the shave to 15 do you think you'll gt more than 8 now? looks good doesnt it?