I still don't get it why world rugby decide to seed teams 2 years before the World Cup. I think they try to keep the first 2 years competitive because teams would need to get the right seeding, but we are seeing now is that teams still experimenting and trying to find their feet. Eddie did it last year by bringing in young talent. Australia have been sifting through old and well past their best Ausie players.
The only two teams that have been focussed and building momentum are France and Ireland. We have seen it in the passed where certain teams peak between world cups but I don't think this is the case. France only concern is what if Du Pont gets injured. The same can be said of Ireland and whether Sexton can hang in there for another 12 months.
Looking at our draw. We have Ireland in our pool and New Zealand and and France in the other. There is no escape this time like we did in the last World Cup when Japan sprung a surprise and won their group. Ireland and Scotland could not keep up with the frantic pace of the Japs. We had Japan in the quarters, Whales in the Semi final and a pap England after playing their best game under Eddie against NZ.
This time, whether we beat Ireland or not. We either face France or New Zealand.
We lost the mental edge over NZ by imploding at Ellis Park against them. So coming up against them in a quarter final won't save us.
I have no idea how we will do against Ireland. I know that our URC teams, the bulls and stormers managed to beat those Irish top teams in Ulster and Leinster full of Ireland stars. However, none of the SA players from the bulls and stormers really feature for the boks nor do the boks use the same tactics and game management of the Stormers and Bulls. Both those teams know when to be physical and when to use their superiour strike power at the backs. The likes of Libbok and Arendse might be on the light side, but they have turned games on their head. Then you have the speed and physicality of Roos who can eat up meters or just bash the door down. Coetzee is workmanlike in the tight, taking the hits with great off loads to build momentum. Then we have Louw who is just a hard beast that just work his way over the advantage line. The stormers do have Kitshoff and Malherbe the world best scrummagers.
The the spine of Libbok, Willemse and Galant really brought out great attacking. Not to mention the unsung hero Dyamani with seering pace for a guy that looks like he cant bent his knees and running on stilts.
This bring me to my next point. What dufaq, has the coaches been doing over the last 9 games. Moody was the big surprise. Hendrikse has excelled, but only at kicking and controlling the break down. His speed off the base for me is too slow. That is where we could bring in a guy like Zack Burger who can speed up the game when we need to up the tempo and a guy like Hendrikse that can control the game and fantastic at taking the pressure off.
The final run in and coming up next.
We have Ireland 1st up, followed by France, then Italy and finally England. It has been a long season for the boks. The likes of Kittshof have been playing non stop and will be going back to the URC for 4 weeks before going on a gruelling tour. Not sure whether they should be playing, probably should be rested over the next 4 weeks and then eased in.
What will the 3 blind mice come up with this time and who will they pick. We all know that it won't be the combination of the bulls and stormers, sprinkled with sharks as well as the outstanding foreign players that have put up their hands.
But, some players need to be dropped ASAP out of the bok squad.
The boks game plan also needs updating and maybe some masterclasses from Dobbo and White may help.
But the boks need to get rid of Stick and either bring back Swys or who ever is working wonders with the Stormers backline.
