An interesting snippet I picked up on…
It appears that former Stormers and Bok centre Marius Joubert, currently with Clermont in the French Top 14, may be talking to the Sharks about a possible role in their 2010 Super 14 squad. The Sharks have already signed another centre from the Cape in youngster Jean Stemmet.
More on this rumour as it develops.
Ok then
De Wet Barry to the Bulls, Marius to the Sharks?
Are these guys aiming for WC 2011 or are the Sharks and Bulls trying to increase the average age of their teams???
Not a bad move. His quality and experience will do us nicely. Was hoping for someone in the Mauger/Barritt mould, but Jouberts are usually successful here
@Morné (Comment 2) : I was never a big Marius Joubert Fan….but I think he learnt a few things overseas and improved as a player.
How old is he anyway?
@Pokkel (Rugby’s over, back to fishing) (Comment 4) : If he is even one degree better than Strauss I will be very happy with this signing!
we have two bok outside centres in our squad, unless murray is leaving now already, unless jouba wants to play 12 this is a bad idea
hmm, thinking bout it now, he is talking about a “role” in the sharks squad, what role will that be? player? coach? psychologist? (we definitely need one of those)
The Marius Joubert and Adi Jacobs partnership re-established???
@Morné (Comment 8) : from when? under 21s?
@Morné (Comment 8) : Good or bad Morne? Your opinion please
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 10) :
I rate Marius actually, always have.
Could be one of the more exciting center pairing around, depends on how much pace Marius still has in his legs…
@war1 (Comment 9) :
My bad, I was thinking Wayne Julies when they both played for Boland…
@Morné (Comment 11) : Thank you Morne, now I am truly excited, and brilliant timing too, this Saturday I am getting my season tickets
@Morné (Comment 11) : what does this mean for murray tho? i dont think he will fit into the bulls “culture” so, lions for him then?
@war1 (Comment 14) :
If I was Murray I would move off to the Lions where he can have a solid and good distributing 12 inside him like Doppies.
Barritt made Murray, I reckon he needs to leave to find his Mojo again.
@Morné (Comment 15) : i rate walter venter ahead of doppies, i reckon venter may have been a better signing than jouba
@war1 (Comment 14) : it’s just a rumour. And everyone is going to have to fight for their places next year. The guys who want to coast can do so on someone else’s payroll
@robdylan (Comment 17) : We are agreed on this one!
Marius is about 31 now isn’t he??
Was nominated as IRB Player of the Year in 2004.
He had two VERY good seasons in 2002 and 2004!!!
@robdylan (Comment 17) : can we get plum and strools on someone else’s payroll plz?
Marius Joubert is a Twilite fan
@war1 (Comment 20) : yes – good plan
Oh well working with his sussie and no talks about this. Still have two years on his Clermont contract but I can give you the news he is going to be a dad in the near future.
What a laugh. I wonder what Marius Joubert has to offer the Sharks.
Retirement Advisor Maybe?
No seriously if we want to shop for a centre Brad Barrit and Waylon Murray are the only ones we should be looking at.
@Original Pierre (Comment 25) :
What if Barrit is unavailable??
I thought Murray is still with the Sharks!!
In Murray’s case why the hell would anyone play Dries Strauss ahead of him?? No wonder he wants to leave!!
@Morné (Comment 15) : Same way that Dick Muir made Jeremy Thompson look great….I remember how great Thompson looked until DM left for WP and suddenly he wasn’t that effective anymore.
@wpw (Comment 26) : I recall reading somewhere HERE, that Murray is talking to the Lions.
Come to think of it, I read that about John Smit as well!
Of Course I`ll support these guys 100% if they do decide to move to Jhb.
After reading his book I`m starting to think I`ve been wrong to judge the players for this years failure.
If management select plonkers like Andries Straus in your place you`d start looking around for better offers as well . . .
In my humble opinion the problem wasn`t with the players at all. It`s not Ruan Pienaars fault for example that he can`t play scrumhalf. Yet we select him there to please Snorre so he can get kicking practise and now we`re the laughing stock of SA rugby.
The problem I think lies with Rudolf, he of Kamp Staaldraad fame . . .
@war1 (Comment 20) :
@Original Pierre (Comment 28) : you mean flyhalf ?
can’t wait to get this book.
Barritt’s not coming back to SA. He has already played for England Saxons (England A) and no longer qualifies to be a Bok. His future is in England, and they do rate him there.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 30) : correct. He’ll never come back
@robdylan (Comment 31) : woohoo I got one right!
Too bad it had to be this though, I think the loss of Barritt was a bad one for SA Rugby. Imagine having him at 12 for this EOYT?
@Dancing Bear (Comment 32) : i blame it on frans steyn
@war1 (Comment 33) : How can you blame Steyn, he did not select himself at 12 ahead of Barritt, that was the Sharks management and coaching decision. Blame them. Steyn may be blamed for a lot of things, but not his fault that he was selected ahead of Barritt.
Also, as mentioned in another post, this joke of a policy of not selecting Europe based players. You bring in JdV, BJ and CJ, but you leave out Steyn when Kirchner is rubbish and we need a big boot. Crazy! Either stick to the policy or select all these guys!
@Dancing Bear (Comment 32) : would have been superb… unlike Richard Clayderman, at least Brad is able to pass.
@robdylan (Comment 35) : Also a superior defensive player. Both in physical abilities and strategy. Didn’t he run the Sharks defensive lines when he played?
@Dancing Bear (Comment 36) : that’s the way I understood it, yes
@robdylan (Comment 37) : That’s impressive for a very young player (which Brad was at the time). You also felt he was captain material as well didn’t you?
@Dancing Bear (Comment 34) : i reckons his ego was too big to sit on the bench, but ur right, blame it on the management
@Dancing Bear (Comment 38) : definitely. In fact,he did captain the side on one or two occasions.
@robdylan (Comment 40) : Keeping him would have solved a lot of problems we will be seeing in a couple of years. Didn’t he also kick in school so might have been a long term kicking option.
@war1 (Comment 39) : There is plenty blame we can lay at Steyn’s feet for what he did on the field, but not his fault he was preferred to Barritt.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 41) : yeah – he was an 80%er. Apparently carried an injury of sorts with him from school – needed to get that properly fixed to sort his kicking, but it never happened.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 42) : spot on. It was weak leadership from the administration responsible for that. I don’t think any other player in the team would ever have supported dropping Brad under any circumstances.
@robdylan (Comment 43) : It was a royal cock up by the Sharks admin. Unfortunately Brad is now done and dusted to SA rugby and the Sharks, so have we given up on Swannie already?
@robdylan (Comment 43) : did brad coz he was shut out at the sharks or the boks, or a bit of both? he would definitely hav solved a lot of problems if he was still around, anyway frans steyn’s best position is fullback by far, tho even there he is a glory boy
I think a centre pairing of Swannie at 12 and Adi or a healthy Waylon at 13 would be quite exciting. You all are very quick to jump on Dries Strauss and how poor a centre he is, then surely Swannie would have been stifled having to play the entire CC with him. Still seems to me we had 12 wins and only 2 losses with Dries playing. I really think you all are far to hard on him. He is no brilliant centre and does not have blistering pace, but he is solid, defends well, and gives his all for his team. A true team man in my opinion. No different than a Doppies la Grange, solid CC centre, but no more. We could do a lot worse than him in the CC while our Boks are gone.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 44) : i think swannie could be awesome! we need to back him and watch him grow
@war1 (Comment 45) : I’ve been saying FB is his best position since 2007. Teams could not even take a 22 drop without worrying about Steyn dropping it right back down their throat for 3.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 48) : And if he misses, they have to do it all over again and give him another chance.
@war1 (Comment 45) : bit of both. Brad is very loyal and would never say anything bad about anyone, but I’m sure he must have been miffed at the way he was treated in Durbs.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 46) : DB, the real problem here is that the coaches don’t seem to get the difference between 12 and 13… Swannie, to me, is a superb option at 12 and should be our first choice. Dries could be his understudy and I get what you say about his qualities… it’s just that his lack of vision, to me, stifles the backline. He’s defensively solid, but not a good distributor.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 48) : except that when we decides to run he ignores his support, my only criticism of his FB play
@war1 (Comment 47) : I agree, the reason I brought it up is everyone around here seems to be very concerned about our centres for the Super 14. I think we are very solid with Swannie at 12. He even nailed a very nice drop goal in the CC this year.
@war1 (Comment 51) : That’s because when he runs his hair gets in his eyes and he can’t see his support.
@war1 (Comment 47) : watch him grow? How much bigger do you think he can possibly get?
@robdylan (Comment 50) : I’m fine with him as an understudy in the Super 14, although if Swannie were to get injured, I would rather move Pienaar to 10 and Hernandez to 12. Adi and Waylon would cover 13 well, although I have always wondered if Waylon would not make a good 12. He has the size, can crash when needed, and I think he can pass
Anyway, I think we are well covered at centre for the Super 14 if Waylon stays. Strauss will not get much game time, but will be there in the CC. I think Strauss set up the Sharks defensive lines in the CC if I am not mistaken.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 52) : Swannie is Brad 2.0. If we lose that kid too, then I’m literally going to do my nut. Sorry for Adi, whom I like very much, but I just cannot fathom picking him at 12 ahead of Swannie right now. Swannie has to start at 12 with Adi, Waylon or Stemmet outside him – whichever of those three wants it the most.
@robdylan (Comment 54) : He is a large lad isn’t he? 105 KG centre as I recall. I was really impressed when he snapped that drop goal, it was needed at the time, and he showed some real skill and athleticism there.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 55) : I think so too, but a centre has to offer more than just defence… Meisiekind is a case in point
Jislaaik but a centre pairing of Swannie and Waylon would be scary for the opposition. Those are two very large lads. Adi for FH backup?
@Dancing Bear (Comment 57) : he’s just on 100, I think. Nut VERY solidly built. Tells me he’s also been known top put over some long range penalties. I reckon Swannie is probably a good compromise between Brad and Fransie
@robdylan (Comment 58) : I know, I am talking about purely in the CC, which is why I would find another solution if we lose Swannie to injury in the Super 14. I’m telling you, Strauss could be the kind of guy to carry the Sharks through many CC campaigns, hell he would probably even make a good CC captain.
@robdylan (Comment 60) : Would like to see him used as a long range place kicker then. Also have him play deep on oppo 22 drops and see if he can pull a Frans and drop it down their throat.
It just seems most bloggers here were expressing huge concern about our centres for the Super 14, yet nobody seemed to mention Swannie still being there. Like I said, I think we are very solid in the centres.
Didn’t Hargreaves captain the Bok U/21 side? Is he a possible captain for the future? It seems he is likely to take over from Muller at 5 when Muller moves on (I hope Ali bulks up some though).
@robdylan (Comment 54) : i meant grow as a player, his rugby brain and experience
@Dancing Bear (Comment 63) : i reckon sykes and al are the future lock pairing, would do well
@war1 (Comment 65) : watch out for Marais as well…
@robdylan (Comment 66) : and bresler
that gives us good depth
@war1 (Comment 65) : I think they are about the same age, and Sykes has come on in leaps and bounds, while Ali has not been quite as effective. I just wonder why a professional rugby player with nothing to do but train and play, can not seem to bulk up more than he has. Does he not like the gym?
I think we should consider a loose forward combo of Deysel at 6, Alberts at 7 and Kanko at 8.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 68) : it has a lot to do with metabolism as well, im sure he has been trying very hard, al is a bit younger than sykes i think, al is 23 this year, 24 next year, i think he will do well
@Dancing Bear (Comment 69) : i agree, that would be my first choice, not sure if plum feels the same
I think Deysel can be a devastating opensider. If he can fetch like Brussow, and with his ability with ball in hand, he would be a real contender for McCaw. Brussow, while a superb fetcher is somewhat of a one-trick pony. While Brussow may have ‘owned’ McCaw in the fetcher stakes, McCaw offers much more in other facets, and I think Deysel is more like that.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 72) : you know I agree