Tri Nations PreJudgement: Australia v South Africa ANZ Stadium, Sydney

The Tri Nations is finally here and after a fantastic and eventful SupeRugby tourney, its time to see if the International  coaches can capitalise on good form and use the correct combo's leading up to the IRB Rugby World Cup.

Ricky Januarie: Are we flogging a dead horse?

So, a 47 test veteran for the Springboks with 72% win record but at 29 years of age and looking overweight and unfit, should he really be in the SupeRugby setup let alone the International setup?

His stats are good but the bottom line is why is he being favoured over players that clearly have more to offer, are younger, fitter and more consistent?

There are 5 scrum -halves that have been named in the Springbok provisional squad : Du Preez, Januarie, Hougaard, Pretorius & McLeod. Who would you cut from those five names? In fairness Hougaard has struggled with injury and du Preez hasn't been his best, McLeod has been in sparkling form but Sarel Pretorius, WOW, he has been sensational!

Yes, Hougaard doesn't start but he can fill a utility position in the Squad. Januarie has hardly started for the Stormers in this season SupeRugby Tournament, he has been playing behind a great young talent in Dewaldt Duvenhage.

Peter de Villiers has said in interviews that he is speaking to the player (Januarie) regarding his fitness and weight. Surely, he should not be rewarded for being out of shape with a Springbok call up and surely that is a conversation that Allister Coetzee (Stormers Coach) should be having?

I don't think he should be in the mix when it comes to Springbok selection and possibly SupeRugby selection until he sorts himself out. In this professional era all players have access to dieticians, fitness consultants, training plans just to mention a few perks but the bottom line is, YOUR A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE! Act like one and show the discipline to look after yourself and your physique. The rest will fall into place as he undoubtedly has the talent and skill.

Most of our memories of Januarie of late have been negative but there is one thing we all remember about him and that's his game winning try against the All Blacks!

SupeRugby Round 12 Recap:

There were no real surprises in this past weeks results. The Cheetahs came out and smashed the daylights out of the Lions, I did think the Lions would challenge more and possibly win it. Other than that it was business as usual for most of the teams and for the first time in a while the Highlanders fall out of play off contention.

• The Hurricanes narrowly lost to the Blues in the opening game to Round 12. The Hurricanes looked a lop sharper than the usual rubbish they have been producing. An extremely hard and tough game and I think the Hurricanes might be turning the corner here...Lets see how they fare against the Highlanders in Round 13. Blues winning 17-11
• The Reds took all the points against the Rebels but the latter showed that you could unsettle the Reds team. It was never a cut and dry type of a win for the Reds as you always seemed to think the Rebels could pull one back. 12 kicking points missed by the Rebels changes things a bit. Reds winning 33-18
• The Cheetahs absolutely destroyed the Lions team on Friday night. Five tries scored by the visiting team and fullback Riaan Viljoen with a 3 tries earns him player of the week. The Lions were completely outplayed and looked extremely poor. Coach John Mitchell will no doubt run them into the ground this week. A serious miss on my Round 12 PreJudgement as I took a chance with the Lions. Cheetahs winning 53-19
• The Chiefs won what was always going to be a tough game for both the teams. The Highlanders have however been lacking some impetus in the past few weeks and it seems they are running out of gas for the end part of the season. The Chiefs are still 10 points behind the Highlanders but will no doubt be trying to catch them in the next few weeks. After this coming weekend they have 4 games left and 1 bye. Could they make the play offs? Chiefs winning 20-7 
• Waratahs fought hard for a win against the Force. It was a close game well fought out by both teams. I PreJudged a draw in this game and wasn't far off. The Waratahs needed the win to slip into the Wildcard section of the tournament. Great game to watch and a true derby game. Waratahs winning 20-15
• The game of the weekend was won by the visitors at Newlands on Saturday. The Crusaders won this tough game with some awesome skill from Sonny Bill Williams and 2 tries from prop Wyatt Crockett. Neither the Stormers or the Crusaders are in danger of missing out on qualification for the playoffs but how will this affect the Stormers now that they travel? Crusaders winning 20-14
• The Sharks did not slip up against the Brumbies as most people had predicted. An emphatic bonus point win has given the Durban based side the momentum again to push forward for the next 4 games. They are on a bye this week, then its 4 games on the trot to finish up. Sharks winning 34-16

WTF of the Week: Peter de Villiers stupid comments regarding SBW (Read Here)
Team of the Week: Cheetahs
Player of the Week: Riaan Viljoen (Cheetahs)

Springbok Selections....No 10

So, the debate/argument/discussion is happening already, whether its in the pub or on social networking sites:

Who will be the Springbok Flyhalf this year?

Yes, it is a position which is often depicted by who the scrumhalf is or vice versa and we are pretty sure to have either, Fourie du Preez or Francois Hougaard starting in the number 9 jumper. This will be discussed at a later date.

There are possibly one or two more options available to us but, honestly, we're looking at a choice between these guys:

 

Morne Steyn: Pretty much last seasons first choice flyhalf for the Boks. He is having a relatively poor season according to his standards but in fairness the entire Bulls team fits into that category. It would be tough not to start him and there is no ways on earth barring injury that he won't be in the squad.

 

 Patrick Lambie: A youngster on the international scene with a handful of caps for the Boks but currently the leading points scorer in SupeRugby for 2011. An extremely exciting player and we all love a running flyhalf but I think he might still be a bit raw. Its a tough one and I would love to see him as our first choice number 10. 

 Butch James: 2007 World Cup winning Flyhalf and apart from that, he is just damn good. One of reasons we like him so much is he busts his ASS to make sure his opponents go home feeling that he has hit them harder than a freight train. Soon to be running out for the Lions in the SupeRugby we are all keen to see what he has learned playing for Bath.

 Peter Grant: Back in Cape Town and playing for the Stormers after a stint in Japan. His plan was to become a better player and one thing is for sure, he is kicking a little bit better than before. The Stormers have however only scored one try in 3 games which isn't always his fault but you do tend to blame the pivot when the outside backs aren't doing the business. Still a great option and can't be overlooked.

Personally, I think this will be tough for everyone except Peter de Villiers, he will go for tried and tested and the most recent to fit into that category would be Morne Steyn and Pat Lambie. The latter however could fill a 'utility' position in the squad which will allow for either Butch James or Peter Grant...Who Else?