Not very much went right yesterday - so what went wrong with the Springboks yesterday. I can summarize it as follows:-
Goal Kicking
Both Jantjies and Steyn missed kicks they should have made. Both are sub-standard flyhalfs on international level as well. So Coetzee needs to make a change here. While Pollard is off one can only hope that L:ambie becomes available . The alternative is to use Goosen at flyhalf
Loose forward combination
This combination is for the birds. Louw is slow and so is Mohoje – if they had ball sense and know how to follow the ball it would have helped. However, because they do not know how to really compete and is ignorant of bal protection as well – the situation is that penalties are frequent because of them and balls are often enough turned over. I would replace them both and suggest that they rather go for Kriel and Labuschagne.
Props situation
This is unfortunately positions where quota selection is a problem. Mtawarire (Beast) yesterday was sub-standard, as he is in most matches he plays in. The obvious solution is to play Kitshoff as a starter and then bring on Mtawarire or Nyakane.
Centers
The combination of De Allende and Mapoe is just not working. Despite all the criticism I would prefer Van Rensburg at 12 and De Allende or Jesse Kriel at 13.
Hookers/Captaincy
Strauss yesterday was a farce – both as player and as captain. A non-performing player is made captain in this case. Both Marx and Akker van der Merwe are better hookers than Strauss is.
