Tank Lanning
Mere hours to the 2012 Currie Cup final, and having been asked to submit my best ever Currie Cup team of all time to ABSA, and my form team of the 2012 to Blogz buddy, Sportbilly, I thought I would jot them down on the Grunt and see what people think …
Of course this opens one up to all kinds of abuse, but just remember that opinions are much like arseholes – we all have one. And this is just one person’s opinion … So jot your team down in the comments section and use the ammo for your water cooler arm wrestles at work rather than for throwing stones at me 🙂
In my best ever team, I was more inclined to go for players I had the privilege of playing with or against, or players that I really looked up to as a youngster like Du Plessis and Serfontein. I was also more inclined to go for the older players given that they played a lot more Currie Cup games in those days. Habana and Matfield being the exceptions …
My Currie Cup XV of all time (with contenders after the dots):
15 – Andre Joubert … HO de Villiers, Gysie Pienaar, Percy Montgomery
14 – Carel du Plessis … Ray Mordt, James Small, Chris Badenhorst , Neil Burger
13 – Faffa Knoetze … Hennie le Roux, Jean de Villiers, Rob Fleck, Pieter Muller
12 – Danie Gerber … Michael du Plessis, Peter Whipp, Jacque Fourie
11 – Bryan Habana … Pieter Rossouw, Breyton Paulse, Tony Watson, Cabous vd Westhuizen
10 – Naas Botha … Henry Honiball, Joel Stransky
9 – Divan Serfontein … Fourie du Preez, Joost van der Westhuizen
8 – Morne du Plessis … Tiaan Strauss, Jannie Breedt, Bob Skinstad, Gary Teichman
7 – Andre Venter … Francois Pienaar, Gert Smal, Schalk Burger, Theuns Stofberg
6 – Ruben Kruger … Corne Krige, Waal Bartman, Rob Louw, Heinrich Brussow, Schalk Burger
5 – Victor Matfield … Friik du Preez, Mark Andrews, Neil Hugo
4 – Louis Moolman … Bakkies Botha, Kobus Wiese, Adri Geldenhuys, Krynouw Otto
3 – Jan Lock … Keith Andrews, Cobus Visagie, Hempies du Toit,
2 – Uli Schmidt … John Smit, Bismarck du Plessis, James Dalton, Andrew Patterson
1 – Os du Randt … Heinrich Rodgers, Guy Kebble , Henning van Aswegen, Frans Erasmus
And my Currie Cup Form XV for 2012:
Mine:
15. Louis Ludick 14. Lwazi Mvovo 13. Paul Jordaan 12. Brache 11. Raymond Rhule 10. Dimitri Catrakilis, 9. Cobus Reinach 8. Phillip VD Walt 7. Keegan Daniel 6. Deon Fourie 5. Anton Bresler 4. Michael Rhodes 3. Jacobie Adriaanse 2. Scarra Ntubeni 1. JC Janse Van Rensburg
The Sportbilly compellation (with votes in brackets):
15. Louis Ludick (6) 14. JP Pietersen (3) 13. Paul Jordaan (4) 12.Tim Whitehead (3) 11. Raymond Rhule (8) 10. Butch James (4) 9. Cobus Reinach (6) 8. Keegan Daniel (6) 7. Jean Deysel (5) 6. Deon Fourie 5. Anton Bresler (4) 4. Michael Rhodes (6) 3. Jacobie Adriaanse (4) 2. Scarra Ntubeni (4) 1. JC Janse Van Rensburg (6)
Bench: 16. Callie Visagie (1) 17. Steven Kitshoff (2) 18. Franco VD Merwe (3) 19. Jaco Kriel (2) 20. Nic Groom (1) 21. Elton Jantjies (2) 22. Marcel Brache (3)/ Gio Aplon (3)
Weekend predictions up at sparrow’s fart tomorrow morning …
Bring it on Tank…
NPC XV
15. Christian Cullen – Israel Dagg*, Lindsay Harris
14. Jeff Wilson – Stu Wilson, Joeli Vindiri
11. Jonah Lomu – Bernie Fraser, Cory Jane*
13. Tana Umaga – Joe Stanely*, Bruce Robertson
12. Sonny Bill WIlliams* – John Schuster, Warrick Taylor*
10. Stephen Bachop – Grant Fox*, Frano Botica*
9. Graeme Bachop – Piri Weepu*, Sid Going
8. Zinzan Brooke* – Kerian Read*, Aaron Penny
7. Richie McCaw* (C) – Josh Kronfeld, Kenny Stewart
8. Jerome Kaino* – Michael Jones*, Mark Shaw
5. Brad Thorn* – Richard Knight, Colin Meads
4. Gary Whetton* – Robin Brook, Anthony Boric
1. Tony Woodcock* – John Drake*, Keith Murdoch
2. Sean Fitzpatrick* – Anton Oliver, David Latta
3. Olo Brown – Richard Loe*, Owen Franks
*Denotes Rugby World Cup Winner..
Nice selections Tank – a nice read.
One thing though – we fight with the backs when they don’t distinguish between tighthead and loosehead. By the same token 12 and 13 are specialist positions – you’ve got Muller and Fourie the wrong way around!
Cheers,
Primate
Pretty decent all-time XV… don’t agree with all, but your opinions are valid.
Helgaard Muller an absolute CC legend that I think should be there in the mix.
Chester Williams and Jacques Olivier ahead of Cabous vd Westhuizen.
Yes all relative I suppose. I would have had to make place for Michael Doep even though Faffa was my hero growing up. Fourie du Preez was brilliant and perhaps better than Divan another childhood hero. Rob Louw was a terrific tearaway flanker with flair to boot but whow there you have some great loosies there. At four I would have loved to see a real tight lock like Andrews. Geez we had some great players over the years, a wonderful tradition and history. We should not be nr 3 in the world.
Interesting selections Tank!
Carel was a natural 11, with Michael & Danie specialist at 12 & 13. Habana has to play 14 then. Naas best at 10, Garth Wright was a running backline’s dream scrummie, with the best pass in the business! Andrews great lock, the best! What about Ockie Oosthuizen, legendary prop.
My best XV would be: + (second choice)
15. Andre Joubert (Gysie Pienaar)
14. Ray Mordt (Niel Burger)
13. Danie Gerber (Faffa Knoetze)
12. Michael du Plessis (Jean de Villiers(c))
11. Carel du Plessis (Bryan Habana)
10. Naas Botha (Henry Honiball)
9. Divan Serfontein (Fourie du Preez)
8. Morne du Plessis(c) (Bob Skinstadt)
7. Gert Smal (Andre Venter)
6. Rob Louw (Schalk Burger)
5. Victor Matfield (Hennie Bekker)
4. Bakkies Botha (Louis Moolman)
3. Hempies du Toit (Tommy Loubscher)
2. Uli Schmidt (Bismarck du Plessis)
1. Henning van Aswegen (Os Durandt)