Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has made nine changes to the side that was hammered by the Crusaders last week, for this weekend’s clash against the Reds in Brisbane. While injury has played some part in the selections, I must admit that I’m totally baffled at the strategy that’s being employed here. [...]
Posts tagged with: Selections
Nine changes for Bulls
de Villiers vs Meyer – who is better?
13 Sep 12 13:30 by Richard Ferguson | All Blacks, Original Content, Springboks, The Rugby Championship | 63 Comments
Heyneke Meyer and his selections and lack of a game plan that can win the Springboks a game of rugby has received a lot of air-time this week, with plenty of calls prior to the announcement of the team for both Johan Goosen and Pat Lambie to be included in the squad. My mind wandered to a time when we complained about the same two issues but with a different coach in charge. [...]
Committed to failure
You know what the worst part is about Heyneke Meyer’s newest team selection? Not that he dropped Marcell Coetzee, arguably the best player across the 6 tests Meyer has coached so far. He has been selecting Coetzee out of position anyway and this team needed a genuine open side flanker and some balance from the start, so bringing in Francois Louw makes some sense. I am not absolutely pissed off with this selection because Meyer selected Louw or dropped Coetzee to the bench, even though I think there are few who can say the Boks had a better loose forward out of the 8 Heyneke Meyer has used so far (only two of which are unavailable). [...]
Bok chances: some get plenty, others get none…
Excuse me, Mr Meyer, sir… but I’m very confused. [...]
A coach worthy of his position
20 Aug 12 09:42 by Richard Ferguson | All Blacks, Original Content, Springboks, The Rugby Championship | 66 Comments
The Springboks won Heyneke Meyer his third game in four starts, with the other being the draw in the dead rubber third test against England. A positive start for a new coach, who is heading into the tougher part of the Rugby Championship still unbeaten. [...]
Time to reward form, surely?
We’ll obviously all be glued to our TV’s on Saturday morning for the Super Rugby final, but something else is happening on that day too… and I’m not talking about the launch of Spud 4 either. [...]
SA Schools joy for Kearsney trio
Four boys from KwaZulu Natal schools – three of them from Kearsney College – have been named in a 28-man SA Schools squad to play again England, Wales and France next month. [...]
Consistency vs Rotation
15 May 12 13:34 by Richard Ferguson | Bulls, Original Content, Sharks, Stormers, Super Rugby | 11 Comments
Last week Sharks coach John Plumtree announced an unchanged side for the first time this year, and the reaction to this was positive, in that players were rewarded for good form and combinations were given another week to grow an understanding. All in all, this was seen as a positive, but for how long will we be happy? [...]
I’m right, but I might be wrong
“Don’t lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality” wrote Ralph Marston, and how true these words are when you relate it to our favourite rugby teams, and how fine the balance is between supporting your team at all costs, and supporting them blindly to the point of insanity. [...]
Picking the blindside-flanker for Week 10
I again made use of stats to determine the selections of a few of our Sharksworld team of the week players. Here’s an in depth look at how I came to my conclusion to selecting my 7. [...]
Sharksworld’s Team of the Week 9
26 Apr 12 14:06 by Letgo | Bulls, Cheetahs, Lions, Original Content, Sharks, Stormers, Super Rugby | 19 Comments
Sharksworld’s Team of the Week 5
28 Mar 12 10:00 by Letgo | Admin, Bulls, Cheetahs, Lions, Original Content, Other SA Teams, Sharks, Stormers, Super Rugby | 70 Comments
Taking their opportunities
For a number of the lads named to play for the Sharks XV in their opener against Border on Friday, their selections are just rewards for putting in the hard yards during pre-season and forcing the coaches to show faith in them, even though they may not have been quite so fancied in the past. [...]
Bold selections for Sharks
John Plumtree has named an exciting, albeit somewhat experimental-looking Sharks lineup for Friday’s Super Rugby crunch clash against the Bulls in Pretoria. [...]
Most to gain (and most to lose)
While tonight’s final warm-up match against the Kings will obviously be a key one for all the players concerned, with places in the team for next week’s match against the Bulls very much up for grabs, you have to acknowledge that there will be a fair bit more pressure for some than for others. [...]
