I think England has to start as favourites given they are on home soil. They will probably have some confidence after a strong 2nd half against the All Blacks.
Will the Boks be able to get the monkey off their back and focus on playing a good game of rugby rather than the referee?
The bomb squad are South Africa's key weapon, if they can stay within striking distance until the 50th minute.
England 33, South Africa 25.
I think the Boks will take this despite a few poor selections.
England are the favourites, and the more capable team. However, I have a gut feeling that the Boks will win a close game. We seem to be a bit more physical when we play the English, and that should be enough to eek out a win. That Kwagga and Hendrikse are on the bench beggars belief. If the game is open in the second half, Libbok could be a useful injection of youthful exuberance. The English are more capable, but can be patchy. I'll say Boks by 5.
A Draw 25 -25
Our pack is to weak, we are starting with Ox, Bongi, Orie and Mostert. Our best front row is on the bench. Our best 10 is on the best with no recognise kicker in the first 10 min.
England really turned on the screws in the last 10 min and post that dodgy try had some amazing attacking phases. Marcus smith has showed that he can be the difference in the last 10 min and doesn't seem to tire.
Some of our boys will come in cold and will not have enough time to play themselves into the game.
So as much as I hate it, this will go to the poms.
I’m not too sure about this at all !
Head, poms by 10
Heart, Boks 10
As to the score with these 2 teams it could be a real low scoring affair depending on which teams turn up.
I am expecting a scrappy error ridden game in the first half with a chance it will be repeated in the 2nd half but if one team clicks it will be a rout. Don't ask me which team that will be.
I certainly wouldn't put any money on this one even if I was a gambler
50/50 game….two teams trying to find their groove. I still think the Pom scrum is vulnerable ….which could lead to penalties. But we don’t have a kicker. Bat crazy really.
Our scrum is vulnerable.
The Bok scrum is fragile. We've lost a lot of scrum this year, and conceded penalties. We're quite fortunate that the belly flopping hasn't been picked up. Malherbe and Kitshoff were tier 1 props in 2018. What I liked most about them was their work rate around the field. With them, we successfully averaged 3 seconds per recycle of clean ball. They were reliable carriers as well as defenders. Malherbe's defensive stand against Australia on our tryline in our away loss of 2018 was tremendous. But they have yet to reach those levels again. Our last great loose head performance was by Mtawarira in the 2019 final against England. Interestingly, even during seasons where our scrum has been weakest, we almost always raise the bar against England. At present the current selection of front rowers are almost palette swaps. That's their strength, each can play a half without disrupting the game. Marx is the better presence at the breakdown, whilst Bongi is better in the set pieces and a slightly better defender. Mostert is a tremendous defender and usually very accurate. The test against France was uncharacteristic. Why should we vilify him now when the likes of Steph and De Allende have an entire career of mediocrity? Some players never receive the plaudits they deserve. There are too many extremes. The Boks are due a big win, yet it'd be hard to really commit to that prediction. I expect the Boks will break free for that decisive try in a close fought contest.
"Bat crazy really."
Actually it's "Bat $h!t Crazy"
I stand corrected.
Not really nè...
But we have Mako. He’s hardly a great scrummager, is he ?!
Klop Blob!
