CJ starts.....Heinke on the bench

A scary thought is, if we followed the wishes of some pundits, this could have been young Kitshoff.....suddenly propelled into his first test. Whineke looks pretty smart today.

This issue with the Beast is concerning though. He could be medicated, but will that effect his play longer term. One wonders whether this affects him more than we know about....those quiet games when he inexplicably disappears. One of my regrets is that we have never had a plan to spring this guy in space. He is perhaps the fastest prop I have ever seen.

BIG loss.

Lucky Heinke was on hand...

he is the most superior scrummager SA has produced in a long while.

I have never seen him being being dominated by anyone.

Dr Moz it woul have been helpful if you explained what is up with Beast and why he is not starting. Man we seem fated to field badly weakened team this year!

As for Heinke I hope his scrumming has improved he was for ever scruming upwards and was being penalisd for this before he left SA. He was also no great shakes outside the scrum. Never was impressed by him so, as I said, I hope he has improved.

it will be of great interest to see how long ou CJ last. He is not bad when he is on but lacks staying power!!

CJ van der Linde, capped 73 times for the Springboks, will start at loosehead prop against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday following the late withdrawal of Tendai Mtawarira from the test.

Heinke van der Merwe, who has played in one test for the Springboks in 2007, will take Van der Linde’s place on the bench.

The decision to withdraw Mtawarira is a precautionary measure after he had a recurrence of mild heart palpitations on Saturday morning.

Mtawarira was admitted to hospital for observation on Saturday morning. A decision on his continued participation on the tour will be taken at a later stage.

UPDATED SPRINGBOK TEAM 15-Zane Kirchner, 14-JP Pietersen, 13- Jaco Taute,12- Jean de Villiers (capt), 11- Francois Hougaard, 10-Patrick Lambie, 9- Ruan Pienaar, 8- Duane Vermeulen, 7. Willem Alberts, 6- Francois Louw, 5- Juandre Kruger, 4- Eben Etzebeth, 3- Jannie du Plessis, 2- Adriaan Strauss, 1- CJ van der Linde. 
Replacements: 16- Schalk Brits,17- Heinke van der Merwe, 18- Pat Cilliers, 19- Flip van der Merwe, 20- Marcell Coetzee, 21- Morne Steyn, 22- Juan de Jongh, 23- Lwazi Mvovo.

Read Gavin Rich's preview of the test against Ireland.

 It appears it is the heart condiiton problem again. no wonder he does not contribute in the loose anymore, 

Yes thanks Sharkbok I have been saying for some years now that he loafs. I am sure this is the problem. A grea pity as beast might have been a great looshead otherwise.

@mozart,

i think u maybe onto something with beast going missing and those heart issues, as robbie fruean from the crusaders has problems of that nature too, both with the heart and going missing,,,

I expect the scrums would be a complete mess with CJ van der Linde around.   Really  bad load of rubbish - that one. 

CJ  gave Jannie as hard a time as he has had in recent years. I think he'll be fine at loosehead, tighthead is another story. But his ability to play 60 minutes is the big concern.

Nonsense Mike the scrum will be okay. Dont believe your misconceptions.

My hunch re the Argies was correct!

We should win this one.

Go Bokke

By the way muncher harken unto the wise words of Mallet - a backline is only as good as the good ball they get from their forwards.  Rugby 101 stuff page 2 - and hence munchers confusion!!!

Mike John Smith says CJ will be fine so please relax!

So CJ had a solid outing and Heinke effectively won the match with his huge scrum and penalty.....Dave and Mike feasting on crow again.

yes Moz as anticipated the scrums were fine and its crow pie for the two stalwarts mentioned.

The backs again didnt look threatening really. Is it time we tried Taute at 15 and De Jongh at center? I would also against Scotland if weather is okay like to see Coetzee at 8?

I was a good come back.

Beeno & Mozarrt

I told you that Van der Linde would flop and he did badly so.   If anybody call his performance solid - then there must be s aserious problem in evaluation.   Aside from him being weak in scrummaging - he gave away penalties like it is unbelivable.  Please admit that his selection to the squad was a really serious mistake.

Van der Merwe did make a difference when he came on.  I never really had a problem with him when he came on - but I think that Fatso and Uselesso really was the pits  

One certainty is that Kitshoff would have done a far better job than the washed up CJ - case closed