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'He rarely speaks': Leicester's compelling insight on new Springboks recruit Wiese

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Uncapped No8 Jasper Wiese will fly out to join up with the Springboks at the end of the Gallagher Premiership season next weekend with a ringing erndorsement from Steve Borthwick, his Leicester head coach who was fulsome in his praise over what his bulldozing forward has achieved in his first full season in England.

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Leicester snapped up the 25-year-old Wiese when the Cheetahs unravelled in the pandemic, their team no longer participating in the Guinness PRO14 and their players falling prey to offers from elsewhere.

Wiese arrived in the East Midlands as an unknown but he has become such a favourite that he forced his way into the 46-strong Springboks squad announced last Saturday by Rassie Erasmus, who hinted he could now go on and have a huge part to play against the touring Lions following the ankle problem picked up by Duane Vermeulen, an injury that has since been operated on.

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“Lucky for us Jasper can play No8 with Duane’s injury now,” said Erasmus at the weekend. “You can’t ignore the form he is in. He is just the outstanding South African guy playing Premiership, he is just knocking the door down.”

His stats illustrate his impact. In 14 Premiership appearances for Leicester, there have been 177 carries for 705 metres from Wiese, an average gain of 3.98 metres per carry. There have also been 117 tackles, 54 defenders beaten, 21 passes, eight clean breaks, five offloads, four turnovers won and three tries.

On the debit side, you will find 16 penalties conceded (13 in defence), eleven turnovers conceded, two yellow cards and one red, but those negatives haven’t diluted his appeal to Leicester boss Borthwick who gave RugbyPass an insight into the Wiese that will arrive in fresh and new to the Springboks. 

“Generally he is a quiet, reserved character. On the field, he leads by actions. He rarely speaks but when he does his words have a significant effect on those around him. He wants to learn all the time, wants to get better, he’s brilliant. It has been a privilege to coach him over this last period of time.     

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“They will know him very well. They have been tracking him. He is a real passionate, driven rugby player. A fierce competitor and still a young man. He is young in his professional rugby career. He is desperate to take on every bit of learning to improve. 

“There are plenty of (standout) moments. He is a player who the other players love playing with. If your teammates want to go on the field with you then it says a lot about your character and what you bring to them.”

   

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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