Bok defence can win World Cup - Whiteley

Yes indeed Rassie has turned things around and am sure all agree the Boks are genuine contenders. Whitrely of course icks the brilliant Steph at 7. Whitely obviously appreciates great loose forward play as does Beeno!

The Springboks not only have the side to win the World Cup, but they have the defensive system that can help them achieve this, former Springbok captain Warren Whiteley believes.

Whiteley has been adamant that the rush defence has been such an asset to the Boks thus far this year that it could easily be their catalyst on the way to the World Cup and certainly makes them a much more daunting prospect for any opponent than 18 months back.

Whiteley believes while there have been some defensive lapses, the Boks were exceptional over the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and have proved themselves ahead of the World Cup.

“I think our defence has been amazing. That has been a turning point with our side in the last two years and that is how we beat the All Blacks last year in Wellington. We are creating a lot of defensive pressure and that defensive pressure is giving us turnover opportunities. Those turnover opportunities are where we are scoring tries at the moment,” he said at the launch of the Invictus Springbok medallion in Fourways.

While there have been some questions on players shooting out of line, Whiteley believes the game against New Zealand showed how comfortable the Boks are with their defensive line, and with the scramble defence if someone does break the line.

“Guys are shooting out of line, but we want to put skillset under pressure and that is the heart of the matter. Attacking lines are so good these days, if you think of the New Zealanders and their skillset, if you give them space and you give them time to make a decision, nine times out of ten they are going to make the right decision and they are going to score tries. So you need to put that skillset under pressure.

“The only way is by coming off the line hard, and that is what (defensive) coach Jacques (Nienaber) is good at doing. Yes it took some time, if you think back to when we played the test match series v England. But we have seen in the last couple of games the fruit of that work coming through.”

Whiteley also believes that Bok captain Siya Kolisi is ready to take his place in the Bok squad again after a great performance against Argentina in his first test back from injury.

“Siya was phenomenal when he came on and he played. We must remember he is coming back from injury and the amount of pressure he is under as a Springbok captain. All eyes are on him and for him to still perform like he did is brilliant.

“I think he will start for us as captain, probably with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Duane Vermeulen. Flo (Francois Louw) has been really effective off the bench. Probably Flo off the bench is where my mind is going now, if I had to shoot a loose trio for that first test match against New Zealand.”

The Bok World Cup squad will be named on Monday in Johannesburg

He is right, but it's by no means perfect. In that Wellington test, there were huge chunks of Kiwi possession gifted by poor defending and silly mistakes. One Steph rush out of the line resulted in nearly twenty phases deep in our territory. If we can cut these errors out, we are a very difficult side to beat. The problem is that we are at our best when the opposition is in front of us. Most teams can move a lot of our players around and out of position, take contact and allow the attack to play through that first engagement. Once this starts happening, we look lost. That's where this Bok side will be tested. Our World Cup hinges on this team standing strong in those moments. Can they do it? Yes. Would I put money on it? No. 

Yes piss brain went awry again,  He did not want to see the feeble missed tackle on Sanchez by Mostert and now made a wild statement on Du Toit again in the Wellington test again.  Really the man is dilly - in the Wellingon test Mostert missed two open-field tackles that cause huge territory gain by the AB's - so he has to blame Du Toit for those two tackles as well - blaas my siel, the dunce is ignorant as well as prejudiced,   That is a deadly combination for a rugby illiterate..  LMAO.          

in the Wellingon test Mostert missed two open-field tackles that cause huge territory gain by the AB's

Which Wellington test? 2018 or 201 9?

2018.    There was  only one try scored by the AB's  and the three Idiot Speakers blamed De Allende for that one.   Normal style for them to attack only certain players. and blame them fopr everything -while the real bugger-uppers gets away with everything they mi shandle.      

2018.    There was  only one try scored by the AB's  and the three Idiot Speakers blamed De Allende for that one.   Normal style for them to attack only certain players. and blame them fopr everything -while the real bugger-uppers gets away with everything they mi shandle.      

The only really confused people on site are the three Idiot Speakers.  

The 2018 Mostert defence? I can review that. I have all the games of this cycle. 

AO

Your review is worth as much as the ones posted recently by Pakie and Mozart - in other words worthless.   Are you still insisting that Mostert did not miss the tackle on Sanchez?  LMAO  

AO

Your review is worth as much as the ones posted recently by Pakie and Mozart - in other words worthless.   Are you still insisting that Mostert did not miss the tackle on Sanchez?  LMAO  

AO

Your review is worth as much as the ones posted recently by Pakie and Mozart - in other words worthless.   Are you still insisting that Mostert did not miss the tackle on Sanchez?  LMAO  

Your review is worth as much as the ones posted recently by Pakie and Mozart

Sometimes, in moments like this, when I see a doddering old fool ridiculing the only people on this board who actually try to provide some in depth play by play analysis, I question the wisdom of spending the time I do making those, or for that matter any contributions on this board.

I immensely enjoy talking about and analyzing the game, but to have a geriatric child doing his best to drag your every contribution into the gutter as soon as you post it is getting old.

There was in your review on Steyn at least 5 cases where you gave him credit for doing zilch - but being present near the are were the ball was,   Get the message?   There is one element present in the reviews by Mozart, AO and yourself namely PREJUDICE resulting in a lack of objectivity and  having a totally negative value of your analysis,  

You missed the plot completely on the kicking issue as well.   That issue does not center about possession turnover on the issue of quality of kicks and the pressure the recipient is under when eh gets the ball.    That is where I have problems with Faf - some of his klicks are valueless from all perspectives.   The other two players I refer to rarely made inadequate kicks,  

This was total different under the previous two coaches where aimless and inaccurate kicks caused havoc for the Springboks in tests.   I got used to scream out curses virtually every time their teams made kicks.   Morne was so bad that in the Dunedin test over the air the commentators called his kicks BS and in the PE test in 2012 he was boo-ed by the crowd watching the mess he made through aimless and poor kicks.   That was his hallmark in the kicking game.   Pollard went off the boil in 2015 and only recovered his form in 2018 and 2019. 

There can be a variety of reasons for the latter - but one element was the so-called game plan Meyer prescribed in the WC - leaving the flyhalfs nothing to do bar kicking balls. '

After the game in Wellington this year - we seen a very weird situation.

The Boks were behaving as though they had won it.

The All Blacks were behaving as though they had lost.

The Boks cannot improve however the All Blacks haven't even got out of first gear yet.

The Boks have no idea of what is in store for them come the first game of the world cup.

Linda, I will have no problem if the Boks lose the first match against the Alblacks, in fact, it would actually statistically improve our chances to beat them in the final...and BYW, the Boks are on the way up and there's still lots of room for improvement.  The Allblacks on the other hand, have been in decline since Ritchie retired...still the best team in the world, but much more likely to be beaten than a few years sgo.