Boks - 5 Key Battles

01.Bernard Foley v Handre Pollard

There was a lovely break against the All Blacks in Auckland to remind us of the Waratahs five-eighth's class. It was timely. It was beginning to feel like a long time since Foley led the Waratahs to the Super Rugby title and then excelled at the 2015 World Cup.

Perhaps a lack of competition has been bad for him. Beauden Barrett had to see off Aaron Cruden even before Richie Mo’unga arrived. There is little doubt Barrett’s performance in Bledisloe II owed a little to Mo’unga’s rise.

Regardless, the Foley-Kurtley Beale double act remains critical if the Wallabies are to ignite their attacking game. They are an extreme handful when they mix up the wide-wide game plan with some direct running, as Beale’s try against Ireland in Melbourne in June showed.

Pollard has all the fundamentals but even his supporters will have been underwhelmed by his Rugby Championship so far. In the opener, his goal-kicking gave him grief, and those woes seemed to infect the rest of his game in the loss to the Pumas in Argentina. Both No.10s are searching for a big performance. Verdict: Draw

02.Tatafu Polota-Nau v Malcolm Marx

Hindsight suggests the return of Polota-Nau straight back into the Wallabies team was a mistake, although Australia's much-improved scrummaging performance in the second Bledisloe Test was a strong move in the right direction.

Still, it would take a brave man to predict that he will be the No.1 choice by the time of the World Cup. If not, has a trick been missed in not backing one of the younger brigade? Instead, Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Tolu Latu must now work back from being unceremoniously dropped.

Regardless, there is probably not a hooker in the world who can compete with Marx at present. Big, strong, aggressive and mobile, Marx will kill the Wallabies at the breakdown unless they are accurate there. Verdict: Marx.

03.Marika Koroibete v Aphiwe Dyantyi

Koroibete was full of industry against the All Blacks but the harsh reality is that against that calibre of opposition he looks to lack a bit of polish. Still, he remains a finisher of some quality when the Wallabies can work him into some room, as he showed in the Ireland series. What we really need to see, though, is the offloading game he brought in the second half of last year.

Dyantyi is exciting. The try he scored against the Waratahs in the Super Rugby semi-final was a brilliant piece of individual skill and he backs himself. But he’s raw, too. Defensively, the Springboks have been average this year and the Pumas really tested them out wide in Mendoza, with both wings grabbing tries and profiting from the Springboks’ wings tendency to get a bit narrow at times. Verdict: Draw

04.Will Genia v Faf de Klerk.

Normally this would be Genia all day but the Rebels No.9 simply didn’t look at his best physically against the All Blacks. When he is on top of his game, Genia makes the position look easy: he has time to run, pass or kick but he rarely looked like a threat against the All Blacks and some of his defensive work wasn’t great.

De Klerk has become vital for the Springboks. They are definitely trying to play the game with some pace and de Klerk’s speed to the breakdown was superb against England in the June series, although not as memorable as his driving tackle on No.8 Nathan Hughes, to whom he conceded about 40kg.

However, it would be a mistake not to think Genia won’t be sharper than during the Bledisloe series, where he came in cold after a fairly long lay-off due to injury. Verdict: Genia

05.David Pocock v Francois Louw/Siya Kolisi.

There were some interesting set-ups in the Wallabies’ back row against the All Blacks.

At times, from defensive scrums, Pocock was at No.7, Lukhan Tui was at No.8 and Michael Hooper was on the blindside of the scrum, which shows that the numbers on their backs don’t mean a lot.

Similarly, the Springboks could move Kolisi back to the openside against the Wallabies after two games at blindside should they wish to play Pieter-Steph du Toit in the back row.

Regardless, Pocock is likely to face plenty of competition at ruck time from either Kolisi or Francois Louw. It’s an area where Pocock has famously dominated the Springboks before and his form this year continues to shout out ‘world class’.

Pocock really has no peer as an out-and-out scavenger and in a close game he is well capable of nudging the result towards the home team. Verdict: Pocock

by SMH.co.au

I mostly agree with these. I wonder who Clermont will have at 12. I think Faf is an edge. Pollard hasn't been as bad as some believe. He will be a handful. If Kolisis' workrate deteriorated even further we need to bring him a deck chair. No match for Pocock. Hooper deserves a mention as well. Clermont's loose trio is a significant edge. 

The game is going to be won at the breakdown. You'd think that through the decades and through successive Bok coaches there'd be at least one who appreciates the value of a Fetcher. 

We need to be physical. In 2013 our power game rendered Australia impotent, absolutely blunted everyone at the breakdown. We need to be clean and efficient at the breakdown and in contact. Rassie's selections can really mess this game up before it even begins. We are going to learn a lot about him as a coach. 

We need to be physical.

Kolbe is on his way.

That's why I am worried about Rassie. We also have Damian too, who bleeds possession. We talk about Pocock and Hoper et al, Damian will be feasted upon. We can't afford to field players with such a lax sense of secure carries. Even more important, ball presentation. Damian getting caught in awkward positions makes it harder for us to maintain possessions. In the England series it resulted in penalties and turnovers. This goes for everyone, I highlighted Damian because he was a very standout example. Kolbe will be overpowered. To be effective on attack one needs to be able to play through the oppositions line, not merely dancing around or behind yet. The backs can generate or eliminate momentum. If they can't play through the defence phase play stalls and we get picked off. 

Denny, you are easily the most knowledgeable poster on this site. It's a pleasure reading your insightful contributions.

You should honestly consider posting a little more often.

I'm already growing tired of the continuous nonsense coming from Mozart and his side kick Augi.

Yes, I absolutely agree that the breakdown is a key area to target in every test match, meaning that we should have a specialist openside flank starting at all times.

Kolisi isn't one and neither is the hasbeen Louw.

The Ozzies have Pocock and Hooper and you can bet your bottom dollar that they have plans for that area.

The match will won or lost at the breakdown.  

Dragon

100% true - we have a serious problem.   The Aussies are strong at the breakdown and that is where the battle will be lost.   We have two sub-standard loosies if Louw is selected again and so is Kolisi.   The oproblem ios further complicated that Whiteley is also not  factor at breakdowns,

I would frankly rather not have Kolisi - but the politico's will scream blue murder,   So that passenger will remain.   So what will be the other two?   I would play Van Staden at 6 and Du Toit at 8 - where he did play when Louw was selected last year at 8.

My bench loosie would be Whitley and my bench lock will be in the absence of De Jager Mostert .

Not sure about the selections up front - but would like the following:-

1.   Mtawarira/Kitshoff, 2  Marx, 3  Louw/Malherbe, 4  Etzebeth, 5  Snyman, 6  Van Staden, 7  Kolisi, 8 Du Toit.

16  Van der Merwe, 19  Mostert, 20 Whiteley.

In the backline I would freeze about the center combination especially.   To play Esterhuizen and Am - who was in the losing side in all tests they played as that combination - bar in one game will be suicidal.   

By the way Mozart and his user name-changing sidekick has no interest in performance - only which players are  on their pet hate list - that result in total  BS and lies being posted on site.   Not really interested what they c ome up with.   

That is an interesting selection. Never really gave much thought to Du Toit as an 8th man. I certainly would like to see him there. I think he'd fit in nicely at the back of the scrum. He's a quality player and we should get as ball to him as we can.

I'm not a fan of Whiteley. No disrespect intended but he doesn't do it for me at all. I would still however prefer him over the token and current captain.

It is such a pity that De Jager isn't fit. He's been on fire this season and we need to establish our lock pair of Etzebeth and De Jager as soon as possible. They could dominate the world.

Yes, our center pair is a mess. Esterhuizen is a very poor rugby player. I understand that it will still be quite some time before Serfontein makes his way back from injury. He was solid at 12 and certainly impressed with his defense at 13.

Who do we put in at 13 though?

I prefer Jesse Kriel as a full back but would use him as a super sub covering 13, 11, 14 and 15 from the bench.

Esterhuizen has been the best performing 12 for the Boks this year. Easily, had an outstanding game against Wales and was rock sliding against the Pumas. What did he do wrong in any test he has played? You've yet to actually point anything out. So too CC. 

I'm not sold on Lood. Steph has actually been very good. Lood defends like a totem pole and has hands of stone. If we want to play this modern game and be like New Zealand we can have a lock like that. 

Serfontein is a good centre. His reading of the game really showed itself at 13. You'd have Kriel on the wing? A bench option seems reasonable. 

I'm not a fan of Whiteley either, but he has been playing well. Agreed, Kolisi has been non-existent and a terrible captain. I can't recall a Bok captain with so little presence before. What does he actually do?