It sucks being a Springbok supporter

If only we were able to select our best team without the interference of the quota system...its been said SO many times before and has effected Springbok rugby for many many years now, but WOW this Springbok team could be the best team in world rugby were it not for the quota system!

I am a huge fan of Beast, JP and Brian...and I would select them in my starting line up every weekend. But to persist with a player such as A.D. Jacobs is becoming criminal. Jacobs is at best an impact player...bring him on in the final 20 mins of a game to inject a bit of flare (if the game requires us to score points). But to leave the best outside centre in the country on the bench (if not the best in the world) is becoming inexcusable. And then to bring him on in place Jean De Villiers! Does Peter De Villiers really think that the South African public is that stupid?

As for Ricky Januarie's selection...the man was dropped by the Stormers...he was not injured. His form has been shocking to say the least. He is slow to the breakdown and his passing has become a liability...he has obviously spent the past year practicing his kicking game and forgetting about the fundamental objective of a scrumhalf, which is to get your flyhalf quick clean ball.

As much as I celebrated his try in Dunedin last year, I also grimaced because I realised that this was going to buy him another year in a Springbok jersey. Can you believe that the there was actually mention of him being the number one scrumhalf in the country...De Villiers made a comment about form being temporary but class being permanent...if anything he should have been talking about Fourie Du Preez...Ricky Januarie had one very lucky bounce of the ball. That is not class, that is a moment of luck.

And I'm not only speaking about the selections of the Springboks on the field. Our coaches (I include Dick Muir and Gary Gold) have been found out in this series. There complete incompetence has been somewhat astounding. Their only saving grace is that they are coaching the best team in the world, and as poorly as this team has been coached, the individual talent of this team is too strong to lose to the 2009 Lions team.

Schalk Burger has been the biggest disappointment of this series. Not because he did not play well, but purely because he let down his fans by resorting to eye gouging...something a player of his class does not need to be involved in. I think Schalk is a tremendous player and all the talk about him not having had a good Super 14 is absolute BS...the guys stats for the season were great...he out-tackled every opposing no.6 throughout the tournament. But playing around such a weak tight 5 meant that he had to play a lot tighter. I can promise every Stormer supporter that if Schalk had played as a typical open side flanker, we would have been looking at a far worse points difference at the end of the season. But as much as I am a great fan of his, I am furious at his lack of discipline...he resorted to tactics which you would expect from Bismark or Bakkies.

Funnily enough, I have always felt that Schalk can play blind-side flank and be almost just as effective as he is when he plays open side. And the lose forward combination which ended off should be the Springboks future trio. I do believe that Juan Smith is a tremendous player, but I feel that Schalk should get the jersey ahead of Juan. Brussouw has proven that there is a need for a fetcher in the starting line up (this contradicts my opinion before the Lions series where I felt that if the Springboks keep to there traditional game plan then we didn't need a specialist fetcher!).

So another feather in De Villiers's very flimsy hat...and yes, I believe it is another extremely undeserving feather.

Thank goodness the All Blacks are looking so rusty! But we need to be weary of the Wallabies, and I honestly didn't think I would ever be saying that again...