….Malcolm Marx with 5 tries, playing basically half of the time. Bongi who played the other half has 2. So 7 tries scored by our hookers out of 23 tries….almost a third of our tries. The peak was the first Aussie test where our hookers scored all three of our tries. Actually I was surprised I would have thought the maul would have accounted for 40%.
Are we entertained?
It's in the eye of the beholder...
5 wins against top 5 opposition in 37 tests. Yes, in the eye of the beholder.
Well, he's at 2.5 out of 6 vs the Allblacks...that's 42%...the best since Snôr's 45% 10 years ago....and without checking, his compounded points difference should look better than Snôr's team...the Allblacks are the benches after all ...or not?
Our game plan is built around countering the Allblacks...and it's more effective than it's been in years...not playing last year put us back, but we're slowly getting back to where we were in 2019.
Our game plan does not counter the All Blacks. In total, the All Blacks had 9 botched tries. If that's countering the All Blacks, you are deluded. Rather, an uncharacteristic lack of composure on the ball kept the Boks in games that were to otherwise have been blow-outs. Where were we in 2019? I agree with you on that. 5th and 6th. 5th after losing to the All Blacks in the WC opener, only to claw themselves up the rankings with double points against minnows. Nearly 70% of their total production in the tournament came from the Canada game alone, which shows they were not very productive outside of that game. The Boks played poorly in 2019, a little worse than 2018 in fact. Now? The coaches are following the predictable path of poor coaching: minimalism to strip away as many variables as possible to limit the threat of defeat. On top of that, José has instilled fear into the refs, so that has actually swung a number of games. Without it, the Boks would have had no more than two, maybe three, wins this season.
This is the most limited and awful Bok side since the 2002 team. Wonky aimless kicking, no structure or purpose on the ball, weak in the contact areas, bossed on the gainline, unfit, devoid of any vision. Ponderous. At least in 2002 we had physicality that was feared. This team has been dominated on the gainline pretty much all year. The Welsh test, I'd give the Welsh the edge there after the first twenty-five minutes. The Boks have never played well under José, and they never will. Hoping that teams play poorly and can't field high balls is not sustainable. We are already seeing that high ball skills are improving in our opponents, returning the pervious levels. You could see the Boks slipping in the Welsh test once they started catching those high balls. The Boks had no answer and relied entirely on Frans to generate some kind of pressure. No Frans no win. Likewise against the All Blacks; we didn't win because the Boks are their equal. Until Frans came on, the All Blacks were dominating us. But, had they scored even a fraction of those missed clear-cut chances, even Frans wouldn't have been enough.
It's time for the Plastiks to come to terms with reality. But why should we be surprised with what we are seeing? It only mirrors the rest of José's coaching career. You were warned, but for some reason, an ignorant sector of the South African population loves nothing more than burying their heads up his rear.
Eenoog is Koning.
Not playing last year ‘put us back’ . At last…..you recognize the unnecessary damage caused by the Chicken Run.
Agree, Rassie and Co should have competed in the Championship last year. Playing 6 test matches away from home might have been a bridge too far for the boks, but we have so many SA players in Europe that it would have been no problem selecting a form team.
He could have almost had two pods. 30 players from Europe and then 15 players from SA. The European based players could have played in the first 2 test and then integrate the SA best players.
Yup, it was a chicken run, definitely
"Not playing last year ‘put us back’. At last…..you recognize the unnecessary damage caused by the Chicken Run."
No Chicken Run...we asked for only a 2 week delay...NZ told us to P!$$0ff...if there was a chicken runs, it was them...like they did this year too...like the kicked us out of SR...one-sided partnerships aren't worth the effort...
And what about the Chicken Run of cancelling Super Rugby....? That was fine, né?
At the time canceling Super Rugby made sense, not so the Chicken Run…..Harrassmiss’ Chicken Run only made sense to those who never wanted to compete.
I'd actually argue otherwise. There's been a clear dip in standards across the board. This has allowed the Boks to be more relevant than they would have been with this damage limitation gameplan. Don't be confused by the Plastiks, 2019 wasn't a gold standard season that the Boks are striving to reach for, they simply took the model and slightly adjusted it towards those wonky shallow high balls ever so slightly. It's the same model as before.
