ABs and Boks Continuity Comparison

Trying again...hope it works this time...

Edited:

The data wasn't correctly parsed by CHAT, but i fixed it now. So it's accurate.

Perspective:

In their first 4 games this year, there is only one positon in which the ABs used more than two players in the starting lineup in that positon...and that was Ardie, who was moved from 7 to 8. So he' actually started all four games in 2025.

Other than that, the starting lineup is dominated by green dots.

For the Boks...they have 5 orange dots, meaning that in 5 positions, they started 3 different players over 4 tests.

Yep, that's a lot of mixing and matching.

The Genius Doc knows what he is doing, ja sure :)

Almost Zero Cohesion and Continuity when you play musical chairs like he is.

Thanks Plums,

This is brilliant and what we have been saying all along. Rassie and Saffex wants 4 players in every position. It doesn't work like that.

I don't know if you guys went through any trial rugby. Back in the under 12 and 13 days. I remember missing out on some trials and we were playing a year down with a match of the A team players and B team players. The under 12 A team beat the under 13. We were missing 7 of our A team players and we really struggled. The B team couldn't lift their game and the other 7 got frustrated because they couldn't keep pace.

This is the same problem Rassie has created but way worse. No amount of training will help. The only jong that helps is what the team does and match day and how often they play together. We destroyed all the other teams when the rest of our first team came back. We beat the likes of Paarl Gym by 50 points, SACS, Bishops, all of them. FYI, this was Durbanville under 13s.

Furthermore, theE guys play for their clubs for most of the year, so there isn't enough time.

The all blacks are not getting carried away.

We have players like Willemse, Moodie etc that can cover. Why do you need to add more players to the mix

Also, I really feel for Pollard, he is one of the great 10s and only 30, yet he has to either play a supporting role or miss out on games.

He has another 5 years left in him and we just keep messing him around. He might not be a Finn Russell when it comes to sexy rugby but neither are we allowing to be at the level of Carter or Wilkinson.

Rassie needs to start with him and the let Sasha come off the bench and fight for the spot.

Manie and Willemse are not 10s

my apologies, i just noticed an error...i will correct it.

Excellent Plum….but Dave knew that. Here’s a simple question, how many new incumbents have we found since Covid.

Arendse

Ox

That’s it….so with all our chopping and changing, we are actually way short of mid career incumbents

Please don't get Dave on this thread...when he sees that much writing, tables...colours...the page becomes blurry and his knuckles ache.

hahaha! that would be funny how Dave will ramble off all the talent. The hendrikse brothers, who have proven they are not test quality had not been for DEI pushing them.

Also, Rassie Stormers crop of players are now drying up.

Kittshoff, Malherbe - Both will never play again.

Kolisi and Pieter Steph are battling injuries

Eben being a giraffe on defence and out of place.

Bongi can't find his jumpers or keep up

So the list goes on.

Again, the first two test were the perfect time to play our next gen team and then switch to our best 22 for the other two games in preparation for Aus and All Blacks

So basically 1 season to build a new team of future Boks, sprinkled with the experience ones that will make 2027.

Erasmus will not start this year with rebuilding. He should have started last year already…..

"That’s it….so with all our chopping and changing, we are actually way short of mid career incumbents"

Exactly!

All the experimenting of last year, capping everyone under the sun...and yet here we are.

But then we have people make posts entitled "In Rassie we trust"

For me, our saving grace is talent. After the train smash that is going to be the next months, we have Sacha, Hooker, Willemse, Ox, Marx, Wilco, Hanekom, both Wieses, Elrigh Louw, potentially Roos, RG...and a few others that if we do finally wipe the slate clean, we can put together a good team in 2026 and build continuity for the WC.

I feel very sorry for Tsitsuka. Guy has held his hand up every time, and him, Jasper and Marco put on the best backrow display we've seen from the bosk this year, yet Tsitsuka gets ignored in both Ozzie games. Very doubtful that we'll see him until maybe Argentina.

JL is now chucked in at the deep end and, after being treated completely indifferently, suddenly has to step up and help Rassie save face against Oz.

Then there is Willemse. Hardly ever has a bad game, probably one of ur most gifted players, but he isn't even allowed to hold down the 23 jersey. So what have the years of investment in him counted for then?

Why is Faf even there if you're going to give him a bit of game time against terrible teams and then ignore him when it matters? Oh, that's right, Faf would learn something from playing against Italy.

Hooker, right up there as one of the best SA backs in URC this year...he gets 10 minutes against Italy. 10 minutes. And he'll get another 10 against Argentina...maybe.

I could go on and on about how nonsensical it all is. But the dots above tell the story well enough.

Will one season 26, be enough to build the necessary cohesion with the predominantly new team??

I don’t think so. Let’s wait and see what Erasmus does. Evidence so far paint’s a different picture of what this man wants to do

Australia is doing better in there second season together, but not there completely in there cohesion and continuity.

Australia will be in a good position come 27. They started early rebuilding a brand new team.

There won’t be anytime. The kiwis are touring SA, so that is out of the window.

Boks to lose 2 games against them and then it will be a revenge tour, with Etzebeth, Kolisi, Bongi, Willie, Moster and so on still running out with a year away from the World Cup.

on top of that Rassie wants to extend his contract to to 2031. Talk about having your cake and eat it