Sireli Naqelevuki does the bare minimum
Sireli Naqelevuki cost Western Province an all important bonus point at the end Saturdays huge North/South derby.
I am a fan of having atleast one big wing in the starting lineup and Naqelevuki is a particularly large winger, standing at 1.93m tall and weighing in at 118kg, but what good is it playing a guy like him if he isn’t interested in being on the field? Whilst I appreciate the fact that he has that Fijian style of ‘lazy’ running, the truth is he is absolutely lethargic at the best of times, not using his size to our advantage.
Naqelevuki was generally unfit for most of the Super 14 2009 season, often hanging around somewhere behind the backline or just not showing up for a set piece move involving him. On more than one occasion his ‘I don’t give a toss, I’m getting paid anyway’ attitude has cost us the win. Who can forget that game against Boland last year in Wellington when he dropped the ball over the try line?
I’m all for having an international player here and there if absolutely essential to the success of the team, but do we really need him? In my opinion we don’t.
In Tonderai Chavanga, we have one of the fastest men in world rugby, if not the fastest. I know Chavanga’s hamstrings have been a liability of late, but atleast he wants to be on the field and generally looks for work. Chavanga should be backed up on the bench by one of WP’s young guns. It is time to get rid of a non performing Naqelevuki, play Chavanga, and blood some young talent off the bench.
Some of the young players that WP could blood include:
Marvin Christians
Marvin Christians:
Marvin is part of the SA Seven’s squad, is a great finisher, and has the sizeto compete at senior level. He can run the 100m in 10.8 seconds and has come through the WP ranks from age group levels, so knows the system.
Height: 1.85m Weight: 95kg
Tiger Bax
Tiger Bax:
Although his best position is probably fullback, Bax can play almost anywhere in the backline. He is no slouch, made his Super 14 debut earlier this year and runs near perfect lines.
PJ Vermeulen
PJ Vermeulen:
A centre by trade, Vermeulen has been in the the WP setup for year’s, captained SA at age group levels, has gas to burn and has already shown he can cut it at senior level, making his debut in the Absa Currie Cup in 2008.
Height: 1.83cm, Weight: 88kg
Hayden Groupes
Hayden Groepes:
Hayden made his WP Vodacom Cup debut off the bench against Boland at age 18. Played in the 2007 WP u21 team who won the championship. Groepes is a fullback, but has the skill and pace to play wing.
Height: 1.80m, Weight: 89kg
Marcello Sampson
Marcello Sampson:
One of UCT’s brilliant young wings, Sampson has gas to burn and is a live wire out on the wing. He represented Vodacom WP at under 19 and under 21 level.
Height: 1.83m, Weight: 85kg
Morne Jooste
Morne Jooste:
Morne has one of the highest weight to strength ratios in the WP setup. Jooste broke Chavanga’s record for pull-ups last year (50 something), so he has the strength as well as gas to burn. He represented WP at both u19 and u21 levels.
Height: 1.77, Weight: 80kg
In all honesty the penalties that werent taken and not playing till the whistle blows cost us the game.To correct you on Sireli Naqelevuki not being involved in the game.There where a couple of set pieces where he came off the wing looking for work ,where the ball was past forward to him ,and the second occassion it failed to reached him. Surely one player in our team couldnt take the full fault for us losing the game against the Bulls.
@Clement De Villiers, thanks for the comment mate. I wasn’t faulting Naqelevuki for WP’s loss, I was faulting him for WP not receiving an all important bonus point once they had already lost the game. On his work ethic, I agree at times he does look for work or use his bulk to WP’s advantage, but the fact that he isn’t around at other times isn’t good enough to warrant his continued selection in my opinion.
Thanks for your support, have a look around and leave some other comments. Like it says on our ‘about’ page, I write the posts in my opinion, that doesn’t necessarily mean that my view is correct. Feel free to disagree.
Yoh, thought this was a current article,was confused for 37 seconds
@Clayton, just reiterating that there is a patern there…
Indeed
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