Meyer seems hell bent on not playing a 13 at 13. All the players you mention except Foutie of course are not natural 13's
Meyer places more value in a big guy at 13 than he does someone who is skilled in the position.
I thought Taute was the worst decision he ever made. Then he surprised me and picked De Allende at 13.
Jordaan was in great form last year until he got injured. But he is too small for Meyer.
I think not giving de Jongh a real chance and playing guys like JJ Engelbrecht ahead of him is pretty stupid.
JJ got loads of game time and did nothing. Juan gets a few cameos and then dropped.
I'll take the stupid back. It's idiotic and perplexing.
At least Serfontein has the skills set but he needs to now give him time. Of all these names he is the best equipped to make it work.
I am of the opinion any of 10-15 in the backline can play any other position from 10-15 in the backline given enough time there.
JJ would have been awesome at 13 had he actually gotten his defensive game right because he is amazingly fast and very strong. Given what I have said above he probably could have been international standard by now had Meyer stuck with him, but it would have been nice of the Bulls to assist in this regard in the same manner that using Hougaard exclusively at 9 would also assist.
Instead, we have had at least two outside centres each season now and that makes it difficult for anyone not accustomed to the position to establish rythm before building confidence.
It is a fairly tricky position to play in because there's not much leniency for error. One mistake and your winger (if even present) could be in a world of trouble, when this does not happen a change of direction could open up the opposite side for the opposition. The guys on the inside have the knowledge that there's a few people outside to make up for a slight mistake.
Your 13 does not have that luxury and the nature of his position means by the time he has to make a defensive decision (rush in for intercept or to close off, tackle inside player, tackle outside player or shift) he is already in a fair amount of trouble with fast runners coming from several angles.
Anyway, at least we have a coach who tries to solve a problem. It is evident what his motives are. Not long ago we had a real crisis at lock and now we're in a position that if everyone were fit it would give us Eben, Lewies, PSdT, that dude from the Lions, Lood de Jager, Juandre Kruger, Flip vd Merwe as well as the old guard in Bakkies and Matfield. That's 9 locks excluding Andries Bekker yet.