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Springbok management kills Springbok talent

29th October, 2014
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The Springboks must be down in the dumps after losing to Japan. AFP PHOTO / Marty Melville
Roar Guru
29th October, 2014
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1690 Reads

With the 2014 ABSA Currie Cup done and dusted following the coronation of DHL Western Province, we Springbok fans find ourselves with some time on our hands.

Our beloved green and gold take on Ireland at Dublin next week, which will be a mouthwatering contest.

The Springbok squad for the End of Year Tour has been announced and other than a few rewards for Currie Cup form the pool of players remain largely unchanged. The most notable inclusion however comes in the form of Johan Goosen.

On the surface, he is a familiar face in the team but the merits for his inclusion creates the topic I have decided to explore.

Springbok mastermind Heyneke Meyer has revealed that he has picked the playmaker due to his apparent versatility in playing both fly-half and fullback. Nevertheless that makes a total of four fly-halves in the 36 man squad.

There seems to be a curse latched onto the Springbok jersey regarding utility players. For everything we are known for our utility players is one of the lesser regarded ones and with good reason.

For reasons known and unknown, South African players seem to struggle to perform in more than one select position. Sadly this also means that certain players, who management of all levels believe to be better suited to other positions usually also fall from grace.

Viewing recent history here are a few stories of success and failure.

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Francois Steyn
Perhaps the most successful utility player in Springbok history. Francois Steyn has played fly-half, inside centre, right wing and fullback during his career and has proven himself to be valuable in most of those positions for long periods.

For example he played 12 in the 2007 Rugby World Cup as part of the winning team. Following that he played 15 in the successful 2009 TriNations series before making a big impact in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, this time again in the number 12 jersey.

Add to this he played at 10 for the majority this year for the Sharks. Fransie seems to be our “Mister Fix It”.

Pierre Spies
How the mighty have fallen. Pierre Spies remains to this day one of the most complete athletes in world rugby.

Despite standing at 194cm and 108kg, Spies has a proven record of 10.7 seconds in the 100 metres. To add to this he has been tested as one of the fittest athletes in the world, being the only player in the world that is able to sprint 800 metres at full speed before slowing down.

Spies has physical attributes that Kieran Read and Duane Vermeulen can only dream of. When comparing the physical characteristics of all three these players, Pierre Spies would easily be far better than both.

Only he isn’t. He isn’t because he isn’t an 8, he is a winger. Having followed the legends of Pierre Spies all over the internet and finding nothing, I was fortunate enough to have been educated in school by a classmate of Spies in their years in Afrikaans High School.

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Spies in his school and early professional years showed the signs of being a legendary Springbok winger. It was only after current coach Heyneke Meyer convinced him to convert to 8 that his potential seemed to steadily regress.

Being in a similar position myself (albeit to a much lesser degree) I can understand Spies’ situation. Like him I played the majority of my current club career in the backline. Having played outside centre my whole rugby life the coach at my club offered me the chance of playing at 8. Being 191cm tall, he suggested that I have the potential to truly progress in the loose forwards.

Naturally that meant beefing up – I was only 78kg at the time. Roughly a year later my current weight is around 95 – 98kg. I tell you this because this experience has brought me the perspective to review Spies’ change.

He too had to change his lifestyle to build the body he needed to play in the forwards. The amount of supplements, high calorie diets and gym work to make this switch is nothing short of hellish. But the greatest obstacle I have to live with is the same thing that he needs to live with.

Admittedly the subtleties of the 8 position are what was Spies’ downfall. Even by looking at the way he plays you can see he has backline tendencies. Like me his rucking, scrummaging and channelling in the scrum are not his best skills. What he has mastered though is the art of the lineout – which is highly technical and highly commendable.

From personal experience, this switch has ruined my progress and I believe it has ruined Spies’ progress as well. Had he continued playing wing then Julian Savea might have found it a little harder to run through that channel.

Jaque Fourie
A success story of some note. Jaque Fourie first plied his trade at fullback for the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup. After this, he was selected for the Boks in the right wing position where he also didn’t disappoint.

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It was only until later in his career that he moved to outside centre where he thrived. At his peak he solidified his partnership with de Villiers as the very best in the world. After watching his games of 2008-2012 recently I was astonished at how many times the New Zealand and Australian pundits begged the Springboks to get the ball to Fourie.

A testament to his abilities was his two amazing tries against the Crusaders in 2010 and scoring seven tries with the Stormers in 2011 regardless of the fact that the Stormers had the attacking impetus as sharp as a teaspoon at the time.

Patrick Lambie
Admittedly not a believer in the Messiah type hype that usually surrounds Lambie, I do feel infinitely sorry for the man.

He made his debut for the Sharks at inside centre but made it no secret that he preferred the pivotal role. Lambie hasn’t been able to perform consistently across his 30-plus caps due to the fact that the Bok management seems to enjoy playing musical merry-go-round with him, switching him from 10 to 15 in vigorous regularity.

I believe Lambie to be a better 15 than he is a 10 but after his previous two performances he might make a believer out of me yet.

Ruan Pienaar
Like Francois Steyn, Pienaar has been literally everywhere. From his debut at the Toyota Cheetahs to where he is now Pienaar has played 9,10,11,13 and 15 respectively.

A gifted footballer with a rugby genius about him Pienaar has been shoved around far too much.

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This is no longer an excuse however seeing as he’s played at nine consistently for long enough now without proving his worth. One can only fathom why he can’t play for the Boks like he plays for Ulster.

Francois Hougaard
We all know his story. Is he a 9? is he an 11? Time will tell is what everyone keeps telling me. Time has told me that he played 9 in 2010, 11 in 2011, 9 and then 11 in 2012 and now just 9 again in 2014.

My heart bleeds for the man.

Jaco Taute
A marginal success story that’s more like a mixed bag. Most Roarers will remember him as the Willie le Roux like fullback at the Lions in 2011 and 2012. Of course in 2011 he also spent a lot of time at 11 for the franchise before being called up for Springbok duty in 2012 in the number 13 position.

After signing with the Stormers in 2013 he suffered a career threatening knee injury in Super Rugby. The injury required a complete surgical reconstruction that bothers him to this day.

He currently still plays with a heavily bandaged right knee and subsequently hasn’t been the same since.

Until now.

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Taute played the majority of the Currie Cup at 12 and has killed it. In 10 games he has amassed a whopping 120 tackles with a 95 per cent completion rate. For an inside centre that is massive.

Add to that his attacking impetus at 12, the breaks he made against the Bulls and the jaw dropping offloads he supplied against the Kings show that maybe, just maybe he’s getting back to his best.

Perhaps 15 just isn’t for him anymore but on current form he may be a solution at 12 or 13.

Handre Pollard
The most frustrating example. Having scored two world class tries against the All Blacks the Bulls saw fit to switch him to 12 for the Currie Cup semi against Western Province.

I can understand the Bulls needed a replacement for Odendaal but when Meyer himself uttered the words “I’ve always thought he could make a world class 12” I shuddered.

We have finally found our hero at 10, please don’t do to him what you did to Lambie.

JJ Engelbrecht
An explosive player with explosive pace. Few could forget his dummy and outsprinting of Julian Savea in last year’s Ellis Park Test. The irony? He was on the wing when he did so.

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Engelbrecht is a very talented player who I feel is being wasted at 13. As further testament to this he has played 15 games for the Bulls at 13 with no points scored. He played 35 games at 11 for Western Province and scored 115 points.

Nick Koster
Like Spies, Koster is a big man standing at 193cm and 104kg. And also like Spies, Koster played 14 until he was convinced to play eight by the Stormers.

He proved to be just as fast as Spies in the 2010 Super Rugby season and like Spies he could have been a Savea type winger for the Boks.

Imagine the prospect of him and Spies on the wings?

Coenie Oosthuizen
When Shrek burst onto the scene he was regarded as a Springbok legend at prop in waiting. His contributions at loosehead made him revered among all who faced him.

That was until Os du Randt came up with the idea to implement “Mission Coenie”.

“Mission Coenie” or “Operation Coenie” is easy to understand. You take a strong, impressive loosehead prop and force him to be a strong, ineffective tighthead prop.

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I just love Springbok rugby.

Willie le Roux
The Magic Man himself, Willie le Roux made a name for himself playing 14 against the best the world have to offer in 2013.

It is now 2014 and Willie is playing 15 now. His season hasn’t been as great. Go figure.

Schalk Burger
Most don’t know but as a school boy Schalk Burger was a very accomplished centre. His story is of success.

As entertaining as seeing him in the Springbok 13 jersey would be I think we’re all thankful that he ended up at blindside flanker where his tireless work rate and aggressive displays have often won the Boks plenty of games.

There is an upside to it though. The new Schalk version 2.0 has highlighted his years at centre as the foundation of his new adventurous play.

Andre Esterhuizen
Most of you will remember him as the 193cm, 106kg inside centre who swatted his opposition players out of the way to the Junior World Cup final.

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A high school classmate of mine at KHS (Klerksdorp High School), Esterhuizen spent most of this year playing at the U/21 Natal Sharks team under the tutelage of Jake White.

A while ago Esterhuizen played a game at 7 for the Sharks U/21 team. To the eye it just seemed like a last minute cover for an injured loose forward but the truth was much harsher.

It was revealed that White had intended to convert Esterhuizen to become a blindside flanker.

This caused dispute as Esterhuizen did not like playing at 7 and threatened to move to Western Province where he was assured he would flourish at 12 if White persisted with the idea.

Whether or not this caused the dispute between White and the Sharks that led to his resignation or whether it was just a contribution to the dispute is currently unknown.

Nevertheless, Esterhuizen got his wish and is currently playing at inside centre for The Sharks.

Those are only but a few examples of players who have progressed and regressed under the shackles of South African rugby management. It would seem that while some players are custom made for playing several positions others unfortunately are not.

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And some players are but shadows of what they could have been had they continued playing in the position they had played their entire lives.

What seems apparent for me however is that for a side that relies so much on collision domination, the Springbok rugby empire seems to carry little to no interest in big, athletic players in the back line especially not on the wing.

As mentioned three exceedingly big players (Spies, Koster and Esterhuizen) have been cozened to changing position to the forwards regardless of the fact that South Africa continuously manufactures big players for those positions.

Only Andre Esterhuizen has declined the offer to switch positions.

While I am not exceedingly interested in the size of players alone the truth of the matter is that the rugby world has begun to embrace these bigger back line players.

The All Blacks possess Ma’a Nonu (182cm, 107kg), Sonny Bill Williams (194cm, 108kg) and Julian Savea (193cm, 107kg). The Wallbies have Israel Folau (194cm, 103kg) and Tevita Kuridrani (196cm, 105kg). England have Manu Tuilagi (185cm, 112kg). Wales have several in Johnathan Davies (186cm, 103kg), Alex Cuthbert (198cm, 106kg), George North (193cm, 109kg) and Jamie Roberts (193cm, 110kg).

Compared to those players South Africa can only match up with Francois Steyn (191cm, 110kg) and perhaps Andre Esterhuizen (193cm, 106kg) in the future.

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Now I am certainly not advocating that the Boks aim for the bigger is better approach in their backline, but it seems that when the opportunity for such a type player is given they usually decline with the intention to convert them to forwards.

Nevertheless the positions of the players seem to be in constant debate, whether or not they can handle playing in all the positions they are instructed obviously doesn’t matter to the powers that be.

One thing is for sure, the talent in South Africa is an endless production line. It is the management’s job to ensure the Boks get the best of it.

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