Ex-springbok hooker, James Dalton, used to be one of South Africa's past bad-boys on the rugby field and was infamously thrown out of Rugby World Cup 1995 after being involved in a huge punch-up against Canada in Port Elizabeth. It was fittingly dubbed "The Battle of Boet Erasmus".
James recently spoke to Sports24 and responded to questions from fans regarding the current Springbok team, Heineke Meyer, and the problems in the scrums.
Dalton feels that Heineke Meyer is the right man for the job of leading us to 2015 World Cup Rugby glory in the UK. He refers to the performance record of the current Bok team under Meyer's leadership, which speaks for itself. The Sports-Man agrees fully with Dalton on this point!
Furthermore, he feels that the main reason the Boks are still trailing the All Blacks is because they do not play a full 80 minutes of quality rugby. That, according to Dalton, is where the All Blacks still have the edge.
James Dalton rates Bismarck du Plessis highly and does not think that any other hooker comes close to his stand-out abilities and work rate. He does add that, and I agree again, that Strauss is an extremely good hooker in his own right, while he is very impressed with Scarra Ntubeni from the Sromers and Western Province.
In regards to the scrums in the modern game, James adds that it is clear that selecting the biggest pack of forwards and opting for the old fashioned dominating tight-head are no longer as important. Teams are preferring forwards with more skills and ball carrying abilities, compared to how it was when he played. He feels that most of the problems are actually coming in the form of the referees who are exceedingly inconsistent when it comes to scrum-time. Last weekends performance by referee Alain Rolland got some flack from Dalton, as it has from most Wales and Bok supporters.
What are your best / worst memories of James Dalton? Share them with us and give your personal views on his above responses?
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