The Worst Springbok Team

The Worst Springbok Team… OK so have you ever uttered the words, “I can’t believe they picked him” or “He is the worst Springbok ever”? No? Well I have. I am actually pretty generous with such statements. For some reason a lot of people I know think that Wynand Olivier is the worst backline player ever to wear the Green and Gold. Sometimes you just dislike a player for whatever reason. You can’t stand him because ginger people scare you or you question his defensive abilities because your girlfriend thinks he’s hot. What ever the reason, it would be impossible to say who the worst player is in every position. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try… I started looking at players that started playing after 1992 as players in the older generations would be at a huge disadvantage with the amount of Tests that are played today. Also, I can’t remember a thing about Paul Roos’s 1906 touring side and whether any of those players were good or bad enough to make this side. So the least amounts of Tests brings you in contention for this side. I also excluded players still playing today as they might still add to their amount of Tests. Just have a look at how many of these players you actually remember… I can’t remember them all. If you know anything about any of these players, please put in a comment because some of them have simply disappeared. This team could probably be beaten by any of the top 10 sides in the world. And it is obvious that the Springboks went through some bad times when good players were scarce. Most of these 1 Test Springboks lost that 1 Test by a big margin. Before you knock my selections, it was difficult. So instead of criticising my selection, rather go to http://www.genslin.us/bokke/ and tell me who you would pick in that particular player’s spot. You can search all Springboks by position. Some people will say that at least they made the Springbok side which is true. They deserve a lot of credit, but someone has to be regarded as the worst selected. So you can call it “The players who just didn’t make the cut because of a lack of opportunities Springboks” or “The unluckiest Boks” if it makes you sleep better. I just call it The Worst Springbok Team… 1. Wessel Roux Wessel Gerhardus Roux was a pretty big boy. 120 KG big! He played for the Bulls and for the Springboks in a grand total of 3 Tests in 2002. The Boks lost to France 10-30, to Scotland 6-21 ( what a dark day that was), and to England 53-3. No wonder Wessel never got picked again. He was probably bad luck. He shouldn’t even be allowed to support the Boks. He’s currently 32 and should be in the prime of his career as a prop. 2. Henry Tromp What a sexy man!! Henry Tromp was picked for 4 Tests in 1996. He won 2 and lost 2. He is unfortunately also famous for murdering a black farm worker together with his dad. 3. Ettienne Fynn Our man Ettienne played one Test against France, which he lost, and one against Italy where he only came on as a reserve and the rest of his career for The Sharks when he made their team. Versatility you see. Able to switch between Prop and reserve bench. That’s what you need. 4. Geo Cronje Geo started 1 Test and came off the bench for 2 more. Obviously also famous for a racist incident with Quinton Davids where he allegedly refused to share a room with him, which didn’t help his career. Geo is currently 27 as he was only 23 when he made his debut. Could so easily still have been playing for the Boks. He was also dirty as hell and should be Captain of the Ugliest Springbok Team too. 5. Marco Wentzel Another player to debut at 23, Wentzel is currently 29. Played only 1 Test in 2001 and came of the bench for one more. He lost both Tests and represented the Pumas provincially. 2001, 2002 must have been lean years. 6. FC Smit A 2m tall 115kg giant of a loose forward, FC had the turning circle of an oil tanker. He played and lost his only Test in 1992 to England at Newlands 33-16. And will always be remembered for being tackled by a drunk Free State spectator only wearing his socks as he was on the way to scoring the try that would have put WP in the final in which they would have been overwhelming favourites. 7. Your Choice The second flanker proved to be the most difficult decision so just to prove how tough it was selecting this team I’m going to leave this position up to you. Please choose your (least) favourite and comment on what reason you dislike that player and why deserves his spot in this team. The options who played one Test are Luke Watson, Hendro Scholtz, Pierre Uys, Anton Leonard, Kabamba Floors, Warren Brosnihan, Warren Britz, Gerrie Britz ,and 2 Tests played are Adriaan Richter, Hendrik Gerber, Robbie Brink, and Andrew Aitken. 8. Mark Andrews I’m sorry Mark. I know you love reading Blog of Bam and this must come as a shock. Mark Andrews is a legend of South African rugby. For years he was the best in the world. He would be picked in my best Springbok team of all time too. But at lock. He was way too slow to ever be an 8th man. The fact that he played only two games at this position – a World Cup semi and a World Cup Final – makes it even more difficult as everyone knows he won the World Cup at 8th man. So he was selected there and it worked. He wouldn’t make a career of it though. 9. Deon de Kock What? Who? Yep Deon played 2 Tests against rugby giants USA and Italy in 2002. Another member of the Pumas team that made their debuts that year i.e. Marco Wentzel and Pierre Uys. So where did he disappear to? 10. Brent Russell I have no problem with Russell as a player. I used to be a fan of the Pocket Rocket and believe that the shuffling of positions he featured in disrupted his career to such an extent that he did’nt know where he fit in later on and became a sub for all teams. But he played one test for South Africa at flyhalf and whoever selected him at 10 deserves all the credit for his place in this team. You can’t play Australia with Russel at flyhalf… Would you choose him at flyhalf today? I have to say the only reason Jaco vd Westhuizen isn’t selected here is because he managed somehow to play 21 Tests for SA at 10 and will always have the world longest dropgoal attempt. 11. Khaya Molatana Khaya played in one game where they enthrusted him to cope with all the pressure in a evenly poised game against Spain. He played the Test, flew back home and became a presenter/commentator no one understands. I suspect he was pressured into the team by the SABC to provide him with some street cred for his commentating career. 12. Jorrie Muller 6 Tests and one try. I can’t remember much about old Jorrie. He was fast. But I know he pretty much inspired this team. And his was one of the first reserved spots in this team. He had a few matches that could only be described as shockers. Whoever picked him probably enjoyed his company because it couldn’t have been for his rugby skills. Even until today, Supersport’s website has an award they hand out whenever someone has an absolute shocker of a match and it’s called The Jorrie. 13.Danie van Schalkwyk Weighed 89kg which incidently is the same as… yes you guessed it Jorrie Muller. Played 8 Tests in 1996 and I don’t know what happened to him after that. 14. McNeil Hendricks Played for Boland and later for the Bulls. Was named as a reserve for two Tests in 1998 and even scored a try in one Test. It must have helped that Nic Mallet was Springbok coach after coaching Boland. 15. Ricardo Laubscher Played in 4 Tests in 2002 and 2003 – all against minor opposition. He started 3 of them and came on as a reserve. Played his provincial rugby for EP and Sharks. The likes of Wales, Scotland, Uruguay and Georgia must have shuddered when they heard Ricardo was selected…