From ‘Trokkie’ to Jannie: the hits and misses of Super Rugby

RUDOLPH JACOBS

New Springbok: Juarno Augustus (Eighthman, Stormers)

A huge future has been predicted for the abrasive Stormers No 8 ever since he was a star for the Junior Springboks.

How highly the bulky 22-year-old is rated in the Western Cape became clear when the Stormers preferred to rather invest him than to lure Bok star Duane Vermeulen back to the Mother City.

Initially plagued by injuries, Augustus has been in sublime form this year underlined, by him being named Man of the Match despite the Stormers 14-24 Super Rugby defeat to the Sharks last weekend in Durban.

Biggest disappointment: Jannie du Plessis (prop, Lions)

The 37-year-old former Bok star was lured to the Lions with much fanfare in the off-season, but he has yet to show what value he actually adds.

While the Lions stated that his performances on the field would not be the only reason he was contracted – he could serve as an inspiration to the younger players with his vast experience – the struggling scrum has been partly blamed on him.

While Du Plessis started in the starting lineup for the first tour game against the Waratahs, he was dropped to the bench in the second game against the Rebels and didn’t even feature in the third and last game on tour against the Blues.

Most underrated player: Jaco Coetzee (flank, Stormers)

Jaco Coetzee of the Stormers tackled by Scott Scrafton of the Hurricanes during the Super Rugby match between DHL Stormers and Hurricanes at DHL Newlands Stadium on February 01, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The talented 23-year-old Stormers opensider has been on the national radar since last year but has yet to break into the Bok team due to frequent injury setbacks.

But after the Stormers won their first four games of the season, their coach John Dobson made the remark that Coetzee is probably one of the best opensiders in the competition.

His high workrate and even higher tackle rate has seen his shares climb, with national director of rugby Rassie Erasmus mentioning his name more than once.

Just prior to the clash against the Sharks, Coetzee again picked up a neck injury in training and has often been a victim of concussion, yet when he’s healthy and on-song, he’s menacing.

KEN BORLAND

New Springbok: Juarno Augustus

After being named the World U20 Player of the Year in 2017, the Tygerberg High School product was quickly backed to be a future star of South African rugby.

Over six feet tall and weighing 116kg, Augustus is a real brute with the physicality to match his God-given gifts. But two years of injury have delayed his unveiling and the man called ‘Trokkie’ is only now starting to explode on to Super Rugby.

Augustus is not only a basher, he has a great work-rate and good skills and vision.

Unfortunately, his best performance came in the Stormers’ defeat to the Sharks in the last weekend of action before the suspension of Super Rugby, but he is certainly on Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’s radar.

With Pieter-Steph du Toit out of action for the next three months, Augustus could well make his bow as the Springboks’ blindside flank in the mid-year Tests.

Biggest disappointment: Jannie du Plessis

Jannie Du Plessis of Lions is tackled during a match between Jaguares and Lions as part of Super Rugby 2020 at JosÈ Amalfitani Stadium on February 1, 2020 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)

The addition of the most capped tighthead prop in Springbok history to a rebuilding Lions pack seemed to make great sense at the start of the year.

The experience of 70 Tests and five years in the cauldron of French rugby with Montpellier could only help a tight five that was missing Malcolm Marx, Ruan Dreyer, Jacques van Rooyen, Franco Mostert and Andries Ferreira, right?

Unfortunately the 37-year-old Du Plessis seems to have forgotten the basic mechanics of scrummaging because he has certainly not provided much forward momentum to a struggling Lions pack.

If there are to be more Super Rugby matches this year then Du Plessis is going to have to add more if he is to win the No.3 jersey back.

Most underrated player: Ruben van Heerden (Lock, Sharks)

Ruben van Heerden of the Sharks takes the line out during the round five Super Rugby match between the Reds and the Sharks at Suncorp Stadium on February 29, 2020 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The Sharks lock pairing of Van Heerden and Hyron Andrews have each made more than 40 tackles but a deeper look into the season’s stats shows that Van Heerden is enjoying a fine season indeed and has played a largely unsung role in his team’s rise to the top of the log.

The 22-year-old former Bulls player has made 37 carries this season and gained 163 metres, as well as making seven tackle busts and winning three turnovers.

While his role as the No.4 lock will be different to that of Andrews at No.5, Van Heerden has shown plenty of mobility and work-rate.

The Sharks tight five has also been steadily improving in the set-pieces and Van Heerden played a big part in them eventually wearing down the much-vaunted Stormers pack in the last weekend of action.

HEINZ SCHENK

New Springbok: Aphelele Fassi (Fullback, Sharks)

Aphelele Fassi of the Cell C Sharks celebrates after scoring his try during the Super Rugby match between Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers at Jonsson Kings Park Stadium on March 14, 2020 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Gordon Arons/Gallo Images)

They affectionately call him ‘Weekend Special’, but Fassi really is more ‘all-round celebration’. The Sharks No 15 has been simply a class above the rest in this campaign, producing performance of the highest quality weekly.

The 22-year-old is a constant attacking threat, carrying the most metres in the tournament (622), beating the second most defenders (33) and making 12 clean breaks. However, the key to his success has been a balanced approach, which is particularly useful for Bok coach Jacques Nienaber.

Test rugby is far more attritional and gritty, yet Fassi playing in a Sharks system that essentially represents a bolder national game-plan will put him in good stead. More importantly, South Africa have a vacancy at fullback as Willie le Roux’s international career winds down.

Biggest disappointment: Damian Willemse (Flyhalf, Stormers)

Damian Willemse of the DHL Stormers during the Super Rugby match between Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers at Jonsson Kings Park on March 14, 2020 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)

A coaching backing him in the No 10 jersey, a Welsh legend just on his outside in midfield and a dominant Springbok-laden pack.

It’s little wonder there was much optimism regarding Willemse’s stint in his preferred position.

Yet it seems the gifted playmaker’s switching between roles in the previous few seasons has taken its toll.

Willemse is a man paralysed by having to strike a balance between the basic and the advanced, clearly trying to make too much of an impression as a creator.

As a result, he’s put himself under unnecessary pressure, which has also affected him doing the fundamentals well, such as kicking reliably to touch and at goal.

There’s still abundant time to get it right, though one really did expect more already.

Most underrated player: James Venter (Flanker, Sharks)

James Venter of the Cell C Sharks during the Super Rugby match between Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers at Jonsson Kings Park on March 14, 2020 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)

When the Sharks announced that their anointed fetcher would return home, you could sense that the Lions were going to regret it.

The irony about the 23-year-old openside flanker’s career at Ellis Park was that while he was undeniably underappreciated, he never looked out of form.

In fact, Venter was influential whenever he ran out for his previous employer, particularly at Currie Cup level.

With the Lions increasingly becoming criticised for not employing enough bulkier loose forwards – think Willem Alberts – it probably wasn’t surprising that they gave their blessing for Venter to leave – he’s after all just about as big as a Kwagga Smith or Marnus Schoeman.

But he’s provided much-needed balance to the Sharks’ loose trio, stood up brilliantly in the collisions and has been a steady if intermittent presence on attack.

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