It was bound to happen, but this is getting old. Since the first team selection, people have been talking about the “Blue tinted glasses” Heyneke Meyer wears when selecting his team. Players now have to face the ugly truth that sometime their selection or lack thereof will be because the coach insist that he knows the players well, instead of picking players on merit and allowing them to settle and proving their worth.
Keegan Daniel, was given ONE start to prove his worth, yet he was substituted early in the First Test against Argentina. Reasons was that we needed to counter the Pumas at the Breakdown, and Jacques Potgieter bought with him that grunt that we missed when Pierre Spies injured himself and had to withdraw. Keegan may not be the biggest player on the park, but he has shown that he can carry his own weight and he proved that over and over again. Potgieter in my opinion should never have seen Bok Selection, and those that want to differ with me can do so. CJ Stander at the same union played some excellent rugby and a injury to JacPot early in May, and still receiving a call up, despite Stander still playing his heart out, baffles me. Don’t mention that Stander signed to play in Ireland…..starting after the Currie Cup, he could still have played there…on Merit. Having a look at the stats paint a picture worth a thousand questions.
JacPot, is nowhere found when comparing the 20 players with the most of something. Most runs, Most running metres, most tackles made, no where. So I ask with tears in my Black and White tainted eyes…Why Mr Meyer, Why???? It seems that the Bulls have a punchline when signing players from other unions….come play for us, and you will get more exposure and more probably a chance at Bok Rugby, even if you are mediocre and even if there is better players then you.
I sit back and remember players that could never crack a nod at this level, or that was only given one or two chances to prove themselves, players like Shaun Sowerby, Charl van Rensburg, Schalk Britz to name a few. Instead, we stick with players that simply don’t deserve to play in the National team. It took injury to get rid of Pierre Spies, and eventhough the guy played 51 Test for the Bokke, he probably only proved himself in 3 or 4 of them. Morne Steyn got a man of the Match award last week….and this for converting Penalties and Conversions…in other words, doing his job. Does a Prostitute get a Employee of the month award for sleeping with people? And then there is the case of Sideshow Bob, Zane Kirchner who suddenly seems to be the best fullback South Africa has ever seen, but playing one dimensional is what we are all about.
Suddenly players that have put up their hands the entire season have to stand back while Springbok rugby is once again stuck with the same old players that don’t perform on a regular basis and given a chance week after week. I honestly have no more words, and if the trend continues, HM will find himself in a shitstorm. We CANNOT play winning rugby with players like JacPot, Steyn and Sideshow Bob. Francios Hougaardt is half the player he was last year, and the fact that Ruan Pienaar, European player of the year nominee this year is not starting cries for conspiracy.
Suddenly I miss Peter De Villiers because at least we had non biased selections, and he picked players that showed good promise and good form.