Nick Koster – Where will he play?

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Tom Humes

I haven’t seen this lad play, but given this controversy I cannot wait to see him play for Stormers. SA rugby has definitely killed many careers by mismanagement of the raw talent that is available. As Ron said, Brent Russel is a classic example. Right now we have a player whom I think is very good in Frans Steyn being played in every position in the backline, and I do think it will affect his game negatively. A player needs to know where he is playing and start mastering that position. You can’t be a jack of all trades at this level!

My thinking is that Rassie, and the Boks actually, have a lot more option in the loose forwards than at wing. In my view, the number 14 position is still up for grabs for the Lions Tour…..maybe Koster is being groomed for that jersey.

Ron. Why in your view is the bok number 14 jersey available this year? Is JP retiring? What about his performace for the boks in 2008 dissatisfied you?

Odie, I am actually referring to the Bok number 14. I hear you about JP but lets not forget the shocker if a start to 2008 he had. He could not even deliver for the Sharks let alone the Boks. he came good at the end of last year and he will start this year as the favourite for the 14 but what if he starts 09 the way he started 08. I do not feel JP is consistant enough to make the number 14 his own and this I say the jursey is up for grabs by whoever is serious about getting it.

Quite an interesting debate brewing here, may I please add my fair share.

Firstly, I think we have lost the plot the moment we start questioning certain players simply because of a dip in form. Gents, Brian Habana is partly the reason why the boks have their WC trophy, the Bulls have their S14 trophy and the reason why Jake White’s record is what it is today. Please note, i said partly the reason why, because no single player can win without teammates. However, my point is this, Brian Habana is a player of class and his record and stats prove it for themselves. Yes, his form dipped but so does the form of EVERY rugby player. May i remind you of a few wrold class players that had a dip in form in 2008, Richie McCaw, Victor Matfield, Fourie Du Preez, Joe Rocococo…I could go on and on. Please do not put Brian Haban in the same class as JP Peterson. Yes JP is a very good player, but how can anyone compare the 2?

There are certain players that are so good that they can be allowed to dip in form and yet their all round play is still good enough for them to make the team. Kambas hit the nail on the head, in my opinion, Brian Habana can go a whole season without scoring a single try, but his overall contribution in defence and in team phyche would more than make up for it.

In conclusion, based on consistency of selection, I would never drop JP and Brian simply because there is no time for games. Gents, the British Lions are on their way and the boks’ record in the last 10 games is not looking healthy, there is no time to even think of Nick Koster playing in the 14 green and gold jumper. The next time the boks play will be against the British Lions, unless both players have lost an eye and are on cruches, I would not replace either one of Brian Habana or JP Peterson.

I guess the old cliche of “form is temporary but class is permanent” may be appropriate here. The simple difference between JP and Habana, in my opinion, is that Habana has shown he has class, quite frankly I don’t think JP has shown that at all. I really think the Boks are still looking for class in that number 14 jersey, which is why I threw in my own left field comment that maybe Rassie had seen an opportunity to groom somebody with class to play at 14 for the Stormers, and ultimately the Boks.

Now this is where the question of dropping “class” players comes in. It is always very difficult to drop a classy player, even if he is out of form for the simple reason that you know he could decide to snap out of his rut in the very game you decided to drop him! If we were coaches, we would not be reluctant to drop players like Umaga, Carter, McCaw, Gregan, Larkham, Wilkinson even if they had a dip in form? I know I would…these players are proven class. A lesser player who experiences the same dip in form is likely to be dropped without hesitation, and I think JP falls into this latter category. IF…IF JP has a shocker against the Lions in game 1 and Koster (if he were to be picked at 14 in the Bok squad) were on the bench, I would bet my bottom dollar Koster would start in game 2. If Habana has a shocker….well…better luck in game 2 for him!

Manny. That little cliche is the exact reason why the Blue Bulls had such a shocker at the beginning of their 2008 Super 14. People were romantic about the abilities of Fourie du Preez, his skill and captaining abilities, but it all flopped badly. I think the Crusaders, Blues and Hurricanes managed to shave 50 points off the Bulls, and all Fourie kept saying is that he doesn’t like the elvs. Habana was vrot, Matfield was terrible when he joined, and Fourie was a nightmare too. Poor Ludeke kept saying that he had no idea what was wrong because at that stage, that team had about 10 of “Jake’s Springboks” including your, Petrie Wannenbergs and Wynand Olivier’s, and Danie Rossouw’s. At the moment Fourie has to worry about whether or not he gets a start for the Boks, (Ricky and Ruan). Butch was rightly left out for the Northen Hemisphere tours when even he realized he was not up to snuff, and look how great Ruan is doing now. If all the coaches and experts were stuck in their rugby rutt of “class is permanent”, you never would have seen how great Ruan can shape up and yes, with his decision making, he is making Butch look ordinary, and assuring us that the 10 jersey should never be in the hands of Frans Steyn. No player, ever, is entitled to endless opportunaties. Not in a country where we have so much talent.

I am not saying that a player can never be dropped. No, never. What I am saying is that when it comes to classy players, it makes sense to give them a chance to regain their form if they go through a rut, rather than to have a knee-jerk reaction and drop them straight away. The reason for this, as I stated, is that a classy player has already shown how good he can be.

A big problem that South African rugby has always had was giving out Bok jerseys willy-nilly to so-called “form” players, but who over time have proven to be a flash in the pan at best, example, Derick Hougaard. If the Boks were always selected on form from a handful of games, you could easily have 40+ caps each year…..30 guys picked from super 14 for the mid year games…then after currie cup another 30 “in-form players” from that competition!!! And the next year its another 30 new faces! That does not make sense. One reason why Australian rugby, and Australian sport in general, is so good is that they believe in consistency. It takes time for a player to be considered good enough to be picked for the national team. But a player is only picked if over several games the selectors have identified in that player what I am referring to as “class”. Once picked, the coach and selectors must show faith in that player because he has already demonstrated to what sort of level he can play.

Tying this in with the original point about Nick Koster, I repeat, maybe what Rassie (and according to Ron Nick Mallet) see in Koster is that he may prove to be a winger of class i.e. over several games he will on average perform to a very high standard. And to me JP does not, over a long spell of games, produce performances that are of a high enough calibre to make that number 14 jersey his own. That means the 14 jersey is up for grabs, and maybe Rassie, Mallet and others are aiming to groom young Koster for that right wing position.

I am reserving judgment until I actually see was the fuss with Koster is about. He did not set my world on fire during the barbarians match in December 2008 at all. Before we start tearing an in form JP Petersen’s jersey off his back, can we see what he can do first? Let’s see if he deserves the Stormers 14 jersey, before we run off and hand him the boks one.