Bok team for 2nd test . . .

15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aphelele Fassi, 10 Handre Pollard (captain), 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Thomas du Toit

Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse

At last he's given some of the younger guns a go but you have to ask if it couldn't have been structured a bit better with more of a mix of youth and experience in both games.

Oh well, I'm more excited for this test than I was for the last one!

Can't really complain too much about this team. Except Marvin Orrie. Not sure why Thomas is back at loose head. Hopefully we can keep continuity.

Great to see Roos and Coetzee start.

Gelant and Fassi along with Arendse makes a mouth watering back 3

Not sure about Kriel but he is our only other 13.

Great to see Esterhuizen at 12, Polard at 10 and hendrikse starting

I am afraid that there is a real chance that the team as announced would lose.  My reservations are about -

*    Geland failing under high balls - he was atrocious in the game against Ul ster;

*    Esterhuizen is dumb muscle - very dumb and has defense problems due to pace  deficiency;

*     Orie is another loss at lock - totally useless

*    The loosie combination is ten times better than in the first test 

*    Both Nyakane and Du Toit are not good scrummagers - they cannot compete against relatively average scrumming.

I believe the above is an experimental team like the one was in June 2018 in Washington  - so    lets wait and see what happens.     

Marvin Orie is a joke, we say how bad he was against Australia last year. 
Jesse Kriel is a has-been, or a never was been. 

Other than those 2, it is an exciting team.
Wales must feel they have a good chance, because of so many new players- and combinations. 

Having a B-team tour may have been better to blood new talent and combinations, but I suppose a home game is as good a chance as any for testing. 

We know if we play a full-strength team, we can easily beat Wales at home, so what do the Boks have to lose? This will give the Bok management team a chance to settle the squad before the next world cup.

I am especially interested to see how Jaden Hendrikse goes
Also, Even Roos, Dweba, Marcell Coetzee and Fassi

If Marcell Coetzee can stay injury-free , his work rate is phenomenal. 

Can't  see wales winning this, boks should be better for the run.

But I also think Grant Williams is a waste when we have van den berg of the Bulls who way better at 9 in the URC. Jaden was neither here or there. He is classy, but not sure he has the aptitude to keep the momentum or pace of the game going. Looks half asleep most of the time.

But, great to see the whole squad getting a crack and all the form URC players get a crack, except for Orie who was hopeless.

I think the 3rd test will be close to our starting 15.

Just wish Kitaboff and Marx could start

Dave 

Esterhuizen was given  enough chances in 2018 and 2019 and that is where my analysis is based on.  He did not meet requirements and I should have added that his ball-handling was poor when playing for the Springboks.   That why he was not in the 2019 WC.  We will see whether he can take the step up to international level this time around - but I still have my doubts about him.    I must admit I have never watch him playing in England.

In the URC final and semi-final Gelant was total shit under high balls and there can be no argume nt about that.        

Wow a Springbok team without Kaptein Loosie....how can that be?

Agree that it is a better team than last week and should beat Wales.

Bokke.

Mike, you are smoking your tampon. Please stop doing that. Esterhuizen has been better, but overall they're all shit. You don't have good  inside centres. It's a traditional weak spot for south African rugby. even your beloved outside centre from the 80s was average. Big Afrikaner boners when everyone else is like, wtf? 

Yep that's correct, us Afrikaners does have big Boners 

I don't like it..too many changes at once, it breaks continuity and will probably disrupt the balance and cohesion of the team...amateurish over reaction to last week...this is basically an A side and not the real test side...Rassie and company has lost the plot.

He is evaluating players and giving game time. You need a squad these days to be successful Db. Erasmus knows that. Hold your nerve for fek sake, it's only game 2 and you're shitting your pants! XD

Well the good news is the Duds won’t both be on the park at the same time and with Kolisi gone we will be playing with 15 men rather than 14.  And with Pollard captaining we won’t have to committee on every decision to explain things to Kolisi.

And for Harrassmiss if we lose it will be Kneeknocker’s fault and if we win he will be a genius again.

Dve

It is not the question oc being tops in club rugby - it is about stepping up to higher level in international rugby that is the key to selection on higher level.   I said clearly we must see whether he now has the ability to play on higher level - which he missed out on in 2018 and 2019.

Even  Frans Steyn  - a real dud by 2019 - was selected above him for the WC squad.   Steyn did not play in the play-off  phase of the series for more than 15 minutes (never center) and  in the final he took a rotten decision when he came on in the last  10 minutes of the final.   

As to Gelant - based on what happened in the semi-final and final a few weeks back Gelant would be peppered by Wales with high balls and under pressure in those to games he was shit.,    

"Mike, you are smoking your tampon. Please stop doing that"

Mike.... he did say please....

LOL

Mike you can’t seriously be stupid enough to judge a player based on 2018 fuck me

The joke of course is that Esterhuizen was just fine for the Boks in that period, including being instrumental in our win over Australia for the way he shut Kerevi and Foley down.

Well, I for one can’t wait. Just hope they stay brave and drop kwotalisi completely. 

Hope they new guys can stay calm and follow the game plan and not over do it. 

Should be a great game and exactly what I was hoping for. Create some competition and have the other guys bricking it. 

The only safe players are Pollard and Etzebeth. 

Listening to press conference's and interviews it seems like this team has been training as a side all of last week. Also this side was gonna be given the 2nd test to prove themselves in a meaningful game rather than a dead rubber.

As fans though I think we need to separate Rassie and Jacques. When we win and play well, it's Rassies "Genius" but if we lose or scrape past then it's Nienabers team and selections. 

Just a thought.

"I don't like it..too many changes at once, it breaks continuity and will probably disrupt the balance and cohesion of the team...amateurish over reaction to last week...this is basically an A side and not the real test side...Rassie and company has lost the plot."

Have to agree Draad, I would have gone the conservative way, meaning a blend of youth and experience in all three games with say around 60 - 70% experienced and say around 40-3 0% newbies/inexperienced. I'm not knocking the skillset or potential of the youngsters but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Boks lose this one.

Xavi

I do not think there is reason to blame anybody for losses or give credit to anybody for winning.  Erasmus as Director of rugby is involved in the functioning of the coaching team as a whole. and cannot be separated from the rest of the structure as people try to do at times.   

The team for the second test is an experimental team  giving opportunity to players of the past to stake claims for selection on test level in fut ure.   As I said elsewhere it is not in the case of some players capabilities  to move upwards from club/franchise level to test level rugby and it seems to me that the test on Saturday would be the ideal opportunity to see whether players can move up and be effective on test level.   .    .   .   

Xavi

I do not think there is reason to blame anybody for losses or give credit to anybody for winning.  Erasmus as Director of rugby is involved in the functioning of the coaching team as a whole. and cannot be separated from the rest of the structure as people try to do at times.   

The team for the second test is an experimental team  giving opportunity to players of the past to stake claims for selection on test level in fut ure.   As I said elsewhere it is not in the case of some players capabilities  to move upwards from club/franchise level to test level rugby and it seems to me that the test on Saturday would be the ideal opportunity to see whether players can move up and be effective on test level.   .    .   .   

"As fans though I think we need to separate Rassie and Jacques. When we win and play well, it's Rassies "Genius" but if we lose or scrape past then it's Nienabers team and selections. 

Just a thought"

This is echoing precisely what I stated multiple times last year...

Ja, have to agree on who is the real coach with Xavi. Both Rassie and Niena are part of one unit, since their army days. So it should be both.

I hope the team had enough time to settle as unit and can play together too.

But as I said, a lot of form players, except for PSDT and Pollard who hasn't played a lot this year. Hendrikse wasn't consistent this year and neither Williams for my liking to be in the squad but they have been in the boks system for over a year now so maybe will perform better than they did at the saarks.

Orie is the only dud

Even if this team is a raving success, it won't tell us how this players will fit into the actual test side...what does 4 years of consistency in selection help if you suddenly decide to to throw it all to the wind...new players should be phased in gradually....caps should be earned... I wanted all these players to get decent shots in the Bok side, not all at once in an experimental side.

Ja, the previous time was also vs Wales...and we lost.

Rassie is the real coach right, then why oh why does he act like a real TIT gets himself banned ( which has brought us no good or positive progress, bye the way) when the team needs him now the most??? Agree Draad, This team might be the berries, but I doubt it, as Rome was not build in one day....they should have started last year already making changes and bringing in some young guns, which would have had some caps by now already....now they want to do it all at once, with a team that has had no building time together?? Just feels very desperate to me....and can maybe backfire on them badly....but ok, I hope I am wrong and by some miraculous intervention, this team gel together in the first half of the game....Nienhaber and Rassies partnership is not perfect by all means, and definitely needs some fine tuning....just feels to me that Rassie wants his bread buttered on both sides....with taking on director Post of SA Rugby + he wants to be called Director of coaching and Nienhaber must just be happy being his bitch, or Puppet as Dave has called him before....which pretty much fits the bill exactly....a big time clash of Ideologies and Priorities.

@DB

I don't think I'll mind if we lose this test if we've performed well. 

The idea of Evan, Marcel and PSTD running at Biggar and Tompkins warms my heart. I want us to batter them physically, soften them up as it were for next weeks game which I believe Jacques best side will play in as they'll face the All Black's shortly after.  If we win... bonus if all we do is turn them into marshmallows for next week I'll be content.

Also side note.

I've been promoted to 1st team and senior assistant coach which will be the first time I'm coaching players better than me 

Mpower

The Springboks played NO rugby in 2020 and last year was still hampered by travelling restrictions and especially by the absence of potential players still playing rugby in Europe.  It as not the time for starting younger players under those circumstances, especially since all tests involving SA were played in Australia, bar one test against Georgia and the Lions series played in SA.      Only idiots will start experimenting with players in  tests against the Lions 

So please be logical for a change.    They could not start last year what you said should have happened.   What you  wrote about Erasmus is total BS and one would think based entirely on prejudice..

        .      

This from Planet Rugby sums it up nicely....

A brave Springboks selection

Madness or genius? We will find out this weekend as a much-changed South Africa side hosts Wales following their narrow victory in the first Test in Pretoria. There was a certain amount of surprise when Jacques Nienaber altered 14 of his starting line-up for this weekend’s clash and there is a significant chance that it could backfire. It is not the individual quality of the players that have been brought in but just the sheer disruption that many alterations can bring.

No doubt South African fans will remember their clash with the Welsh in Washington in 2018 when they named seven debutants, produced an error-strewn display and duly succumbed 22-20. There is a risk history could repeat itself but, listening to head coach Nienaber, the logic is pretty sound. These players – particularly the talented younger ones such as Evan Roos who may be commanding a regular first team place soon – need to be challenged and put under pressure.

The question is whether playing them in a potentially disjointed Springbok team is the right way to go about it. A win with a solid performance and the coaches are vindicated but a loss, where the side fails to gel, and they may regret their decision to experiment. It would not just be the end result but also what they will have learnt from the clash. Is this an environment where those individuals can really thrive? If not then they will have done those players a disservice but, equally, there is an outstanding brains trust in South African rugby at the moment who are smart and innovative, and are quite rightly trusted by their fans and hierarchy.

&&&

Win, lose or draw in my not so humble opinion it's madness, there is no genius, it goes against the grain of conventional wisdom and it can cause irreparable damage to the careers of our finest prospects. It's a test for goodness sake, a big occasion with stands packed to the max, Bok fans delirious, the excitement reaches the players, the occasion affects the players, more so the Rookies, things can go horribly wrong. 

There was no need to throw the Rookies in at the deep end, with no-one to turn to but themselves their only saving grace is playing on home turf.

The talk of losing the game as long as they play well is just foolish.

Ever heard of an All Black fan, player or official think it's A-Ok to lose a Test as long as the players play well?

Go Bokke!

I think the whole thing appeals to Harrassmiss and it’s so typical of his MO under criticism for not introducing a new generation of Boks. A finger to his critics.

But it’s  also  an insult to the Welsh, who travelled to South Africa to play a full strength Bok team.

The mind game here is that it puts Wales under a lot of pressure. Tactically it’s going for the jugular…..hard edged competition. Similarly unconventional  to exposing the Lions to a shadow Bok  team last year when they were due to play the Bok junior team. 

But is it in the spirit of touring rugby?   If I was the Welsh coach I’d name a similar B team which would expose the cynicism. 

If development is the main objective putting 4 or so close to Bok players in the starting lineup serves that objective far better.

As things stand the B team may very well win, but it’s just another example of gamesmanship from the Harrassmiss regime rightly condemned by Gareth Edwards.

"The mind game here is that it puts Wales under a lot of pressure."

Disagree. Pressure is on the Bok Rookies not on Wales. Any post match assessment of the Rookies should be made with them being suffocated by unnecessary added pressure.