Bok coach Heyneke Meyer has opted to drop Sharks captain Keegan Daniel to the bench this week in the only unenforced change to the side that will face Argentina in the second Rugby Championship test this weekend.
While several other players – most of them hailing from Pretoria – have been afforded the opportunity to play their way into form in the green and gold jersey, it appears that a different set of rules applies to Daniel, dropped after a single test start in which he performed no worse than the majority of the side, while admittedly failing to set the world alight. Bulls flanker Jacques Potgieter earns his third cap as he is named to start in the number 7 jersey, with Willem Alberts shifting from the side of the scrum to number 8.
Meyer’s reasoning for the selection of a relatively slow and one-dimensional loose trio this time out is that he expects that the Argentine forwards will be very physical, and need subduing early on in the game. The Boks’ current game plan, though, appears to be all about physicality and not much else; it must be said that the value of a player like Daniel is somewhat diminished if the side has no intention to keep the ball in hand.
The other changes to the 22 see Adriaan Strauss start at hooker for the injured Bismarck du Plessis and the uncapped Tiaan Liebenberg come onto the bench in jersey 16.
Springboks team:
15. Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 16 caps
14. Bryan Habana (DHL Western Province) 78 caps
13. Jean de Villiers (captain, DHL Western Province) 76 caps
12. Frans Steyn (The Sharks) 50 caps
11. Lwazi Mvovo (The Sharks) 5 caps
10. Morné Steyn (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 38 caps
9. Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 19 caps
8. Willem Alberts (The Sharks) 12 caps
7. Jacques Potgieter (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 2 caps
6. Marcell Coetzee (The Sharks) 4 caps
5. Andries Bekker (DHL Western Province) 25 caps
4. Eben Etzebeth (DHL Western Province) 4 caps
3. Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks) 34 caps
2. Adriaan Strauss (vice-captain, Toyota FS Cheetahs) 13 caps
1. Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks) 36 caps
Replacements
16. Tiaan Liebenberg (DHL Western Province) uncapped
17. Pat Cilliers (MTN Golden Lions) 1 cap
18. Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 15 caps
19. Keegan Daniel (The Sharks) 4 caps
20. Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N Ireland) 55 caps
21. Pat Lambie (The Sharks) 13 caps
22. JJ Engelbrecht (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 1 cap
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👿 👿 👿 👿 Drop SpiderShark for Bieber Potgieter?! I thought Meyer was all about continuity and letting a player find his feet. Bleddie Pretoria mentality!
Not unexpected, just grossly unfair.
It’s pathetic really, I don’t even know why he started Keegan in the first game. HM was never going to let Keegan get the ball anyway.
Why are people surprised??? 😯
@sharks_lover (Comment 4) : Exactly, when Keegan was pulled early in the game in Cape Town it was obvious that he was not fulfilling the role that HM had set out for him. Hard on Keegan, but not surprising or fair really.
keegan was always going to be the fall guy, Choosing a player like him and playing kick ans chase, bumper car rugby is not Keegans style.
@Salmonoid (Comment 5) : exactly
Unfortunately Keegan will never shine with the dumb-ass rugby the Boks have been playing. He simply does not have the bulk to run over 3 defenders, but in fact except for Willem Alberts nobody else does either
My concern is our poor cohesion at the breakdown – Argies had free reign on our ball
hahahahaha where is richard ferguson now with his “a coach worthy of his position” piece? 😆 i knew that the “love” for meyer was conditional in these parts
as long as he kept selecting sharks players then he’s be seen as “worthy of his position”
hey rich ferguson, what do you say NOW that meyer has SHIFTED a player to a position he probably last played successfully 🙄 🙂 😈 at the LIONS?
geez this guy and his blou blinkers I’m getting annoyed now,if you from bulls play till you find form or perform better if not 1 game to prove yourself(so ppl will think he is not biased) gosh this is annoying aga udoti wacoach lenja nxa
Totally unacceptable and yet predictable all the same! Just do us all a favour Heyneke, drop Daniel completely and let him return to the sharks where we appeciate the type of game he can play and use him accordingly.
@Megatron (Comment 9) : can you please try to avoid making personal attacks on the writers? Thank you.
@sharks_lover (Comment 6) : Totally, why bother to pick him at all in the first place if the way he plays is against your coaching philosophy.
@Megatron (Comment 9) : you couldn’t resist huh lol
href=”#comment-412700″>Megatron (Comment 9) : I think they were coming from the right place, but yes this is difficult to ignore. It quite simply bias now.
@Megatron (Comment 9) :
It was a theory, I was wrong..
I apologise for writing MY OPINION on a blog which is meant for OPINION pieces..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 16) : don’t ever apologise for writing well thought-out pieces that stimulate debate. Remember also that Megatron’s modus operandi here is to always take a contrary view to get a reaction. It’s a pity, because when he does decide to be brave enough to submit his own articles, they’re generally also thought-provoking.
Perhaps he’s scared that if he writes more, some other troll will dish out some of his own medicine 🙂
@KingRiaan (Comment 1) : Bieber Potgieter
@Bokhoring (Comment 8) : This is highly subjective as I was watching on a Drifta and missed a few parts of the game but it seemed as though our ball protection was okay and regressed once Potgieter came on
We all know that we don’t play Keegs game at the Boks. He was set-up to “fail” by Meyer – but Meyer still has to convince me that even in this type of game, Spies is better than Keegs.
Keegan loves looser play, I’m sure he’ll make an impact of the bench
@neilster (Comment 11) :
Unacceptable to who?? 🙄
To Sharks supporters?? To neilster??
@robdylan (Comment 17) : 😕 you calling him a chicken? That sounds like an attack to me
@robdylan (Comment 12) : this is not a “personal attack”, we has a difference of opinion, he never acknowledged my point and resorted to “i give up”
it’s in good spirit rob, no malice.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 16) : come on Rich, you know better than to fall for Megs stuff?? And u also know that opinion pieces are the toughest as people WILL disagree with you. Don’t take it personally…Rob has taught us that! 😉
The question is: Will Heyneke Meyer change his game plan if we get hammered by the All Blacks and maybe even beaten by the Aussies. We played some good rugby last year when PDivvie’s men got beaten by Australia in the World Cup semi final. Thus far, this year, I have not seen an improvement in the Springbok’s game.
@vanmartin (Comment 18) : Unfortunately Verusco does not seem to have stats for the RC, and Rugbystats seems very incomplete for the game, but what I can remember of breakdown turnovers:
– JDV twice
– Potgieter once
– Marcell at least once
– Alberts once
The Argies competed fiercely at the breakdown and if they did not manage to steal the ball or force a penalty, disrupted our ball. I recall the one lock to be particularly prominent in this regard.
@Bite me (Comment 25) :
I think we all knew that HM was always going to play a conservative type of rugby.
Dominate in the forwards, kick for possession and the kick and chase game, if executed successfully could work as proven in 2009 when the Boks were basically unstoppable.
Why are people surprised that he is not selecting players with ‘game breaking abilities’??
@KingRiaan (Comment 1) : Strange I always thought of him as the fourth Kardashian sister.
Horses for courses, but I still dont believe J Potgieter is the right guy for HM’s plans either. CJ was the standout loosie at the Bulls but still think Josh Strause was the better of the battering rams.
@wpw (Comment 27) : I don’t think we’re surprised, just disappointed that we once again have a coach not willing to take the road less traveled.
Remember in 2009 the rules of rugby suited the kick and chase game plan, especially with Brussouw’s ability to get the turnover at most every breakdown. Back then you didn’t want the ball ’cause you’d just get turned over or give away a penalty.
Since then the rules were adapted because the IRB decided that kick and chase rugby is killing international viewership.
Sadly we’ve still not moved on, we’re still playing 2009 game plan under 2012 rules. In 2012, you don’t want to give the ball away because it is next to impossible to get it back, unless you successfully commit a lot of bodies to the breakdown.
@wpw (Comment 21) : Ahem, still supporting England are you?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 16) : HTFU
i venture loads of opinions here too and anybody can challenge them! what is the point of discussing “opinions” if we won’t have them tested, measured and dissected? this place will be BORING if everyone becomes a yes-man or woman!
@Salmonoid (Comment 31) :
You’re clearly lost. 🙄
I’m not surprised though – Sharks supporter residing in the Western Cape…
😉
@Megatron (Comment 32) : in this case I will be a Yes-woman…I agree.
@wpw (Comment 33) : I’m on a mission of enlightenment.
One thing we can look forward to, is that all of the new Bok coaches came in with a couple of players they favoured even though we all could see them not being Bok material, but most of them got outplayed eventually by better players. Eg. Jaco Vd Westhuizen, Jorrie Muller, Enrico Januarie etc.
@Ice (Comment 34) : 😉
@wpw (Comment 21) : Unacceptable treatment of Keegan Daniel. Aren’t you contrite. Run along to Mommy now!
Why persist with Flip van der Merwe off the bench?Jandre Kruger is a better bet. (although I think the Sykes/Bresler team could do better).JJ Engelbrecht? Who knows what he was thinking?Louis Ludick deserved it more than he did. 😛 Keegan fits into the Wayne Fyvie mould of player (you are too small to play for the Boks!)Look how destructive Wayne was playing Currie Cup. Go figure. Maybe HM can’t get over the old laager mentality of thinking – if you are not a big Bull then what are you? 😎
@neilster (Comment 38) :
Why are you getting so emotional? To quote Megatron: HTFU! 😕
Keegan certainly didn’t cover himself in glory in the 4 tests he has played thus far.
In fact, he was fairly average! 🙄
@wpw (Comment 40) :
I agree but it was mainly due to the brain dead gameplan and not entirely Keegan’s fault.
@Pokkel (Comment 41) : ahhh the game plan, so marcell can immerse himself in the gameplan but keegan can’t…well toughies for keegan…meyer wants a 8 that picks & drives, crashball all day and keegan can’t…
time to sit down
@Pokkel (Comment 41) : keegan is like zac guilford, brilliant for his franchise but lacks the required skills set (or bulk in this case) required by national coaches. it’s a tough life 🙄
@Megatron (Comment 42) :
Exactly!! So we feel the same about it then.
See my question to you on the other thread.
@wpw (Comment 40) : Funny that, there i was thinking you brought emotion into it! I was merely expressing an opinion, which is one of disappointment in the gameplan in general. Yes, Daniel has been average and yet he has only been given 50mins as a starter in a gameplan that doesn’t suit him. Hardly a measure of his ability. I think most of the educated rugby public are calling for more finesse and less physicality, and yet Meyer reacts the opposite. If its not working, we need to up the physicality…
Must say that i am not overly surprised at this because meyer has shown his bias and double standards when it comes to the bulls players. would have been ok if a good player replaced daniel but a mediocre one puts the cherry on the cake.
Simple fact is that broadly speaking, there are two coaching philosophies. On the one hand you have coaches (e.g. Jake White) who determine what they believe to be an effective game plan, and then select players that they think are most suited to said style of play. Then you get coaches (e.g. Rod McQueen) who select the best players, and then tailor their game plan according to the players’ strengths. Keegan is a victim of our current Bok coach being a fan of the former school of thought
I love how Heyneke Meyer uses the excuse that he knows the Bulls players and because of that uses them more easily and comes with…………. drum roll……. Jacques Potgieter. The guy who hasn’t even played for the Bulls province and franchise for a full year.
Well, he did play 2 matches in the Vodacom Cup for Wildebeest in 2008…