Good buy, bad buy...

Western Province Rugby’s Senior Professional Coach Rassie Erasmus has gone to great lengths to tell us he does not need to ‘buy a team’ and has all the player resources he needs. He may well be right…

However, within weeks of having suggested he has all the forward resources he needs, he went cap-in-hand to Saracens and secured the services of Springbok Deon Carstens.

Jan de Koning takes a look at the recruitment of the Cape Town outfit and asks if it all makes sense?

It is easy to get caught up in the PR that comes from their headquarters and then think that they are indeed well stocked at Newlands.

Just in the past week we heard that Peter Grant will return from Japan at the conclusion of the Japanese domestic season, to again play for the Stormers in 2012, and there was also the signing of versatile front row forward Deon Carstens from Saracens.

On their website the Stormers/WP told us that with some very promising young props coming through the ranks – such as Kitshoff and Malherbe. But why did they let CJ van der Linde go, just to sign Carstens – as Saracens CEO Edward Griffiths told us: “In an hour of need.”

Why did they create a situation where they found themselves ‘desperate’ for a seasoned prop?

They will also point to other recently signed players like Joe Pietersen and Gerhard van den Heever.

They told us that they have this season, as they put it “strategically”, brought through the ranks talented youngsters.

When confronted with the list of players who have departed – Lionel Cronje, Sam Lane, JJ Engelbrecht, Johann Sadie, Tim Whitehead, Adriaan Fondse, Conrad Jantjes and Pieter Louw – the Stormers brainstrust countered with what they term “young players that have opted to stay”.

These include Kitshoff, Ntubeni, Malherbe, Etsebeth, Roux, Kolisi, Carr, Schreuder, Van Aswegen, Coleman, Groom, Catrakilis, Klaassen and Brache. 

At a glance it all does make sense.

But it is when you look a bit deeper into their tight forward resources that you begin to wonder if it really is that well planned?

The best way to look at the recruitment policy is to compare their front row signings.

In fact the perfect example, or case study, is Deon Carstens and CJ van der Linde.

Both are utility front row forwards, meaning they can play on both sides, they are also both seasoned Springboks.

However, that is only on the surface.

The departure of Van der Linde, from Western Province to the Lions in mid-season, leaves many unanswered questions.

Why let him go if you are having to go and buy another prop from Europe? Is Carstens really that much better than Van der Linde?

Granted, Van der Linde did not play much rugby for the Stormers and Western Province – through a combination of injury and Springbok call-ups.

However, his real value was seen in the Currie Cup play-offs. Despite supposedly being ‘underdone’ and lacking game time, he scrummed the WP props into submission and then more than held his own against the much-vaunted Jannie du Plessis, arguably South Africa’s premier tighthead, in the Currie Cup Final.

Van der Linde also has a lot more international experience – 73 Tests worth of experience against the nine caps of Carstens.

And, while on the subject, Carstens – who has also had an injury interrupted run at Saracens since he joined them from the Sharks last year – has barely featured in the starting XV for the English champions.

In fact, one got the impression they were as keen to let him go as the Stormers/WP were to pass Van der Linde on to the Lions.

A quick glance at the two props suggest the Stormers may just have made a strategically ‘bad buy’ – letting Van der Linde go.

CJ van der Linde:
Date of birth: 27 Aug 1980
Current age: 31
Test summary: 73 Caps
First Test: 16 November 2002 – against Scotland at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Last Test: 22 September 2011 – against Namibia at North Harbour Stadium, Albany
He started 31 Tests as tighthead prop, six as loosehead prop and played 34 times off the bench

Deon Carstens
Date of birth: 3 Jun 1979
Current age: 32
Test summary: Nine caps
First Test: 16 November 2002 – against Scotland at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Last Test: 4 July 2009 – against B&I Lions at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
He started two Tests as tighthead prop, started one as loosehead prop and played six times off the bench

* You decide, was it a good buy or a bad buy?