Thursday, September 3, 2009

Back to the future...


If you stop to think about all the achievements that the Springboks have had and then think about the ages of the players, it's startling to think how young they really are! Everyone knows and speaks about how the current crop can all play through to the world cup, but if you actually think of the amount of experience they will have it becomes scary!

I looked at the ages of the current Bok squad and a few possibles for the next few years. Have a look at the table and you'll see how young they'll still be at the next world cup! The first column is their current age and the second column their age by October 2011.



2009
2011
1 Mtawarira 24 26
2 B. du Plessis 25 27
3 Smit 31 33
4 Botha 30 32
5 Matfield 32 34
6 Brussow 23 25
7 Smith 28 30
8 Spies 24 26
9 du Preez 27 29
10 M. Steyn 25 27
11 Habana 26 28
12 de Villiers 28 30
13 Fourie 26 28
14 Ndungane 28 30
15 Pienaar 25 27




16 J. du Plessis 27 29
17 Ralepelle 23 25
18 Russouw 31 33
19 Burger 26 28
20 Januarie 27 29
21 F.Steyn 22 24
22 Jacobs 29 31





Squad


Pietersen 23 25

Bekker 26 28

Kankowski 24 26

Olivier 26 28





Possibles


Steenkamp 28 30

vd Linde 29 31

BJ Botha 29 31

Muller 29 31

Sykes 25 27

Potgieter 22 24

Kirchner 25 27

James 30 32

Nokwe 28 30

Chavhanga 26 28

Deysel 24 26

I have left out some players that might make their mark in the next 2 years. Obviously, there are also those Heinrich Brussow's that will bounce onto the scene.

Take a look at their ages, think about your age in comparison and how young this side is and how much they can still achieve!

Bring on Saturday! Go Bokke!

2 comments:

godfreycarter said...

Hi Dale some interesting stats. However we must never become complacent and will need to think 5-10 years ahead.

Dale F said...

I agree, and with all the talent coming through it's scary to think what SA rugby is still capable of!

Complacency is one ingredient for disaster, so there is no place for it in any winning team!