News filtered through last night that Bulls and Springbok eighthman Pierre Spies has injured his finger and will take no part in the Rugby Championship after being ruled out for anything from 8 to 12 weeks.
A SARU media release explained that surgical correction is needed to his finger to prevent any long term damage, and as a result, will sit out the Rugby Championship.
This opens the door for a complete loose trio shuffle ahead of this weekend’s opening Rugby Championship fixture against Argentina in Cape Town, with a fair amount of options available to Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
Meyer could go for consistency and prevent further disruption by simply replacing Spies with Daniel at the back of the scrum, forming a full Sharks trio of Marcell Coetzee, Willem Alberts and Daniel. This is highly unlikely as Daniel has always been touted as being too small to fulfil the eighthman role, with a more likely shift to the back of the scrum for Willem Alberts, as Daniel, Jacques Potgieter and Siya Kolisi fight it out to join Marcell Coetzee in the trio.
Further news on the injury front is that Eben Etzebeth took part in training yesterday and is likely to be named in the starting line-up today.
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Would really like to see the loose trio of
6. Kolisi
7. Alberts
8. Coetzee
Think Coetzee could be the answer at number 8 for the Boks. He’s great on attack and defence and has a lot more pace than people give him credit for. Reminds me a lot of Kieran Read.
@13 (Comment 1) :
I must be honest, that is not a trio that came to mind, especially not with Coetzee at the back..
Interesting..
This could get ugly!
Hopefully SpiderShark Daniel to get a start. He deserves that based purely on his S15 form. And in the S15 he played 8 and never seemed as if being ‘small’ hampered him
Whoever gets the shot should play at least a half-decent game, and show our coach why Spies should not ever be there again!
Is it wrong of me to hope Morne lets the mascara brush slip?
to my mind, Meyer should look at what worked for the Sharks. Daniel 6, Coetzee 7 and then let Alberts play 8 (where he was superb for the Lions)
Spies injured the finger he tackles with…..
I still feel Kolisi needs to prove himself.
Kanko really stuffed himself with his going to Japan. I suspect Heyneke will go for Coetzee – 6, Potgieter – 7 and Alberts – 8. I would also have liked to try Daniel, Coetzee and Alberts
@Bokhoring (Comment 9) : I agree with your selection. I think Meyer will go for what creates the least disruption without playing players outside of their positions. Meyer sees both Coetzee and Daniel as a 6. If you discount them then only Alberts remain as someone who has played 8. Daniel also gives you plenty of options off the bench.
Start the Sharks loose trio that did so well in the first half of the Super Tournament. Keegan was outstanding at 8.
If there has to be a switch then swap Keegan and Marcell around. Both have the ball skills and speed to play 8 and 6.
This is the chance for someone to stake a claim for the Bok eighthman spot and show the world that we do have options and talent at the back of the scrum.
I am just wondering what HM will do ito replacing Spies. My guess is he will wait and see what Vermeulen does in the CC and then make a call to see if he can get Vermeulen or Kanko to join the group. Watch this space.
Sorry Spies but I still believe he will make a great centre. 8 is not his best position
Heyneke Meyer probably told Spies he needed to pull finger if he wanted to stay in the team…
… and then he promptly injured it.
@KILLER SHARK (Comment 14) : Spies should be playing wing. He doesn’t have the aggression to play in the forwards despite all of his natural athleticism and gifts.
My three choices from best to worse would be:
8 Daniel
7 Alberts
6 Coetzee
then
8 Alberts
7 Coetzee
6 Daniel
Then
8 Coetzee
7 Alberts
6 Kolisi / Daniel
@ChrisS (Comment 16) : As someone once said…Spies is built like a Ford F150, but performs like a Ford escort!
@Ice (Comment 18) : or a ford Ka
@MJ (Comment 19) : Float like a bee, sting like a butterfly
Kolisi has been great all season. I wouldn’t mind seeing him there, but most likely he won’t even make the bench.
I suspect Potgieter will get the start at 7 with Alberts moving to 8.
I would go…
Alberts
Coetzee
Kolisi
It would have been better if Spies had jut been dropped outright, because I never want to wish injury on anyone. What has happened has happened though, and hopefully someone else will get a chance to establish themselves as a viable alternative. It’s actually frightening how many potentially superior options we have; Kankowski, Daniel, Alberts, Coetzee, Kolisis, Vermeulen, Strauss, Zola Budd, Riaan Cruywagen, Pieter-Dirk Uys…
@Culling Song (Comment 22) :
You think Budd will be allowed onto the park without shoes?
@Culling Song (Comment 22) :
You do have a way with words….
@Culling Song (Comment 22) :
@Culling Song (Comment 22) : you’re forgetting Jan van Riebeeck
@Culling Song (Comment 22) :
@robdylan (Comment 26) : oh – and my gran
@robdylan (Comment 6) : ” (where he was superb for the Lions” – that’s like how many years ago?
thank goodness spies is out, now someone can step up unfortunately the hoff has been ruled out by the japs.
@Megatron (Comment 29) : about a million… around the same time we saw a competitive side in red and black hoops.
@robdylan (Comment 31) :
@wpw (Comment 32) :
He said red and black…….maak oop jou oë Wes!!
@Pokkel (Comment 33) : eina
@Pokkel (Comment 33) :
Waarvan praat jy Pokkie??
@wpw (Comment 35) :
Net omdat jy enige tyd kan ‘edit’ beteken nie jy mag misbruik maak daarvan nie.
Ek check jou!!!
@Ice (Comment 18) : love it!!
Listen is it just me or am I smelling a rat?? I recall Spies also injuring his hand/finger which ruled him out a whole season. I mean seriously what rugby player will miss a whole season for that. And there has been many rumours of him being on some juice…just wondering…