Imports - worth the money?

Watching Sireli Naqlevuki fluff another critical Stormers ball on the line and gift the Sharks a try, it got me thinking about the various imports that South African rugby sides have called on this year and whether or not they have actually added any value.

There are not too many who have made positive contributions this season, and you have to wonder what message sends to young South African players trying to make a break into the big time.

Sireli Naqlevuki - He has had one or two decent games but he is one of those guys who looks good when things are good but when you need a good solid performer you tend to get a very lazy professional.

Andy Goode - SURELY Durban could find a better player than Goode to fill the flyhalf role. It doesn't send a very good message to aspirant flyhalves that you can pay decent money to an average performer.

Todd Cleaver - Actually the American hasn't been too bad a performer for the Lions before he got injured. But in a country which literally breeds world class loose forwards, what does it say about the long-term sustainability of the Lions if they want to find stop-gap players like this for their franchise?

Carlos Spencer - On the field, the New Zealander has been brilliant at times and at others he has overcomplicated an inexperienced Lions setup. Supposedly Spencer is going to be contributing off the field in a coaching role. It's hard to call his appointment / recruiting as a "success" when the side has conceded 530+ points and broken all the wrong records this year.

Not really too many of these "imports" have done much to add value to their franchises.

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Just women, no pride

The Lions rugby team just has no pride. I’m watching the Cheetahs take on the Western Force in Bloem and you can see that they actually want to be there and want to win.

Neither the Cheetahs nor the Force has anything but pride to play for and yet they are going out there to entertain.

The Cheetahs don’t have money and every year they are pillaged by bigger unions taking their players… and yet they are still able to do the basics right, put on a decent performance and if they win today they will at least take 4 wins out of the competition.

The Lions, one of the richest unions around can go (rightly or wrongly) and hire overseas players like Todd Cleaver and Carlos Spencer and Springbok coaches like Dick Muir but can’t buy a win.

I feel sorry for guys like Michael Killian and Cobus Grobelaar who try week in and week out for the Lions and put their bodies and hearts on the line only to see 50 points a match being run up against them.

If there are any Lions fans left in South Africa, maybe they should look at switching allegiances to the Free state guys – at least you get some value for money!

Foreign players...

... it's interesting - at the start of the 2009 Super 14 season and post the Rugby World Cup, a lot of noise was made about the outflow of quality players into the big money European leagues. If all was to be believed, South Africa was facing a MASSIVE talent drain....

A few rounds left in the Super 14 and we've got two of the top four teams on the table.

In contrast South Africa has effectively had two "foreigners" in our ranks - Sireli Naqelevuki and Todd Clever.

As a Stormers fan, I've been very unhappy with the performance of Naqelevuki and I have no idea what he has done to enjoy regular starts for us - yes injuries have been a problem but he just looks like he has no interest.

Todd Clever (Cleaver?) has been a really valuable addition to the Lions lineup - plenty of enthusiasm and some nice skill as well - an example of foreign talent boosting a local franchise.

Next year, I believe that Peter Grant has been considered for the Force so that will be another guy going out... wonder whether there will be any big name foreign signings for the local franchises.

Lions tactics...

I spent a lot of time watching the Lions last night and trying to work out how much quality is in this lineup and where they went wrong.

Let's be honest they did A LOT of things right in this game and if they continue to do these things right they'll be hard to beat at home... So HOW THE HELL DID THE CHEETAHS RUN THEM THIS CLOSE?!

What they did right:

• Heinke VD Merwe was a monster in the scrum - he sent a clear message to anyone wanting to take the Lions on upfront - Don't f#ck with our scrum
• Willem Alberts off the back of the scrum was brilliant even if he did keep quite a low profile
• Cobus "Baywatch" Grobelaar was everywhere and he competed for every inch of ground on offer and some that wasn't...
  
• Jano Vermaak at scrumhalf was a pain in the ass for the Cheetahs all night. Nippy, he opened up ground, made quick service available and delivered the goods
• Numbers 11 - 15 in the backline looked formidable at times. Defensively they need to tighten up on one or two things but that backline can hold its own against most of the big guns.
• Todd Clever - nice impact option and you can see the value he is going to add in the last twenty minutes of a game...
  

So where the hell was the problem??
- Hooker and the locks in the lineout.... The Cheetahs hassled them all night in this area of the game. If you can't find your lineout jumpers then you're in trouble...

- Number 10 - Strip out the two drop goals and some serious questions would be asked of the decision making and marshalling of the troops by Earl Rose and Andre Pretorius.

Early on Rose, was keeping it nice and simple letting his backline go and do what they did best. Then he got it into his head to get too involved in the action with side steps and piling into the rucks and twice he was caught in the scrumhalf position and no first receiver in place...

When Pretorius came on, he seemed to have decided to shut things down with some odd kicks onto the Cheetahs backs who couldn't wait to come running back at them.

(PS as an afterthought, watch that first Cheetahs try again and watch Rose. He backed away from both Smith and Brussow... Not saying I wouldn't have, coz I sure as hell would have but the big flankers will have noted the lack of willingness to slow them up.)

These are the two areas the Lions will need to address rapidly to remain competitive in the tournament...

The Lions - Super 14 Squad reviewed

I'm anything but a Lions supporter but one thing that does seem to be developing amongst this squad is a sense of self-belief and "gelling" as a team...

Cobus Grobbelaar, Doppies la Grange, Jano Vermaak, Louis Ludik, Heinke van der Merwe, Jaque Fourie, Franco van der Merwe, Earl Rose, Anton van Zyl, Willie Wepener, Jannie Boshoff, Willem Alberts, JC Janse van Rensburg , Gert Muller, Henno Mentz, Ashwin Willemse, Michael Killian, Jannes Labuschagne, Chris Jonck, Hansie van Dyk, Shandre Frolick, Todd Clever, Siegelaar Allister, Lawrence Sephaka, Dusty Noble, Thiliphaut Marole, Ligtoring Landman, Okkie Kruger, Divan Kotze, Barry Goodes.

To compound their probles, the Lions also happened to have the longest list of walking wounded with:
Ross Geldenhuys, Ernest Joubert, Jannes Labuschagne, Derick Minnie, Gerhard Mostert, Andre Pretorius, Ethienne Reynecke, Jody Rose, Dewald Senekal, Justin St Jerry, Louis Strydom, Johan van Deventer, Walter Venter, Justin Wheeler

... all out of action.

Apart from Cobus "Baywatch" Grobbelaar and Jaque Fourie, the three players I would be watching quite closely are Barry Goodes (this guy could be good this year), Ashwin Willemse (purely out of curiousity to see whether he's lost the skills that got him into the Bok side) and Todd Clever the American...