After twice beating the Lions we started with Olivier....

.....in the third test. He got run over by Heaslip which led to a Williams try, he got beaten to a chip kick by Flutie which led to a Williams try and finally when we still had a flicker of hope, he got intercepted by Monye for a try. The fact that this guy is still playing for the Boks is truly astonishing

Now after beating the Poms twice, we field Olivier in the third test. Can lightning strike thrice er twice. The analogies are a bit ominous, and go beyond Olivier. The Lions set up their third test win with a strong performance in the the second test. I think the Poms got some real belief last week, especially the forwards after some massive scrummaging.

We by contrast will field a changed team because of injuries.....just as we did against the Lions. Our motivation has to be a bit lower after winning the series, just like it was in the third Lions test.

I'm not predicting a Pom win, but I expect this to be the toughest of the three tests.

Mozart - you know I differ from you in respect of this one.  I predicted a POMS victory based on the following:-

   *    Steyn's wedding is going to cause chaos in the back line with Olivier -neing his repalcement since the latter has nothing to offer, is not really up to any standard and what he is doing in the team is really a miracle.

   *    I was hoping that they would bring in Pietersen if Steyn's goal kicking let him down again - but that is unlikely to happen; and

  *    With Alberts not available - the available loosies look poor - we can only hope that Spies perform better than he did in the second half last Saturday.   The only loosie which tried his best in the second half disaster was Coetzee - I like the performance of that youngster very much.    He was criticized by some, but he worked very hard throughout the game.

  *     That really major bench problem.

I have not seen the team - but with the players practising - I would indeed be surprised if we can expect anything else than I felt would be the case of the starting line up and the bench.

By the way - they said that Werner Kruger flopped as a  bench prop - so the flavour of the week is going to be Greyling.   The POMS would know that Malherbe put him to the sword in the last Super 15 game and he is going to flop as well.    That is going to lead to the same shambles as was the case when the bench players came on last Saturday.

By the way the scrummaging was poor in the second half - but the question remains whether it was only the props or did Van der Merwe and Danield not add to th poblem when they came on?   if they do not do what is required from the supporting players - can we only blame the props and hooker for the problem?   

My contetion remains - I will not put a cent on the Springboks winning this test.     

A lot of influential players are out so if Meyer can get his guys up for this and win it he is a motivator par excellence.

To question whether we can win is reasonable  in the circumstances - its a 50/50 call.