Etzebeth's incredible series tackling stats

This core of the Bok pack made an incredible 41 tackles and missed 1, which rounds up to a 98% success ratio......which is not only astronomically high but the second most tackles of any Bok. The ESPN tackles made/missed are: . Etzebeth 41/1....98% success . Kolisi 41/5...89% success . Step 39/6....87% success . Mostert 47/8 ....85% success .. All good, but 98% is exceptional.

 Eben and Franco's work rate off the ball has been impressive. Always seem to be in a position to make the cover tackle or scramble. The WHOLE pack has been good at this but they stand out.

 Wow, very impressive!
What about the back line? Some on here were predicting a disaster calling it the worst defensive back line, etc. From what I saw of the last test the backs did pretty well.
Boks look like they could give OZ a run for their money now, they are playing with confidence and they each seem to know their role. Thi s was not the case last year.

 Rooitwitterbug of course always thinks Eben is far too rough, no good etc. Man how wrong can rooitwit be!!! He never creases to amaze and amuse!

Well Rhule for example was 19 made/10 missed....in the mid sixties.

 
Etzebeth kept his funny faces to a minimum. It was refreshing to see him focus on rugby matters for a change. It showed in his performance.

Still ... the Goats are only 7 from 15 so please ... lets not crown them world champs just yet.

Does anyone remember how the captaincy of Schalk Burger transformed his discipline? Seems like the vice-captaincy and then captaincy has had the same effect on Etzebeth. That can only be a good thing. 

 
Yes Blue ... h e's a talented rugtby player and can be lethal when his focus is on the game.

A must for the Bok mix. I still rate PSDT as his better.

Lood is useless and shouldn't be there at all.

 Lood had his best outing for the Boks ever. Much better than expected, but he will have to play like that every time before we can be sure about him.

 I think that Du Toit had been on the bench in all three tests and to compare his tackle stats with other starting locks is really not realistic.   
However,  the Boks lock combination seems to be settled with Etzebeth, Mostert, Du Toit and  De Jager in the mix.   

I must say, Lood made a huge difference when he came on. I don't like him, and I was looking for reasons to fault him, but he had a real snorter of a cameo! But Db....I am 100% in agreement, he needs to do that a good few more times to get me in his corner again. 

Stephanie made 16 tackles and missed 4. Given he never played full games his quantity can't be compared.....his success rate at 80% is below the team average of 88%, 82% and 81%....for the three tests..

 
Pieter Steff Du Toit has been the better player all season long.

Throwing meaningless stats around doesn't tell the whole story ... but if that's what you wanna base your argument on by all means ... knock yourself out.



 

Yep that's why he is on the bench and Eben is starting.....LMAOFY!

 Dr Moz I told you from the beginning Eben was the deal. I am pleased you have at last realised thisNow ou rooi roses needs to accept E ben is a great lock.

Defense, not just the execution but the effort level, the biggest improvement over last year and will mean we should be "in" most games this year.
SA "A" team gave up a bunch though to a real scrabble of a French barbarian team. Second year that Ackerman's Bok teams have been less than stellar and an  observation that  his resume is short and heavily Lions dependent.

 There is a problem here which CC would never accept.   With Mostert in the mix there was line-out problems on Saturday and that was settled when De Jager and Du Toit came from the bench on Saturday  they both took French thrown balls, which Etzebeth and Mostert was unable to do.
There is also the issue of driving mauls on Saturday - the starting line-up got nowhere with those.   With De Jager coordinating the mauls the the difference was clear and the improvement total.
Mostert is a different kind of player - something like Matfield used to be.   Very good in open-field play and useless in the Tight 5.   That leaves a question mark over his continued stay in the team.   He may be on the bench in future - but I cannot see him lasting.         

Mike, the Etztebeth/Mostert/Marx combo worked fine in the first two test. I just think they were not having a good day in that department on Saturday. It happens. Unfortunately, I think the problem lay mostly with Marx's throwing at Ellis park. For me they should be the starting locks, PSDT is a great bench player because he covers both Lock and Flank. Lood....well...lets just see how he plays the next little while. As I  said, he was very good on Saturday, but he has been pretty poor lately , so I still need to see him consistently perform at that level before I'd even consider replacing Mostert with him. 

 The lineout takes I referred to was on opposition throw in and the driving mauls were not successful when Mostert was on the field of play.
Mostert is not a real lock - he is just not physical enough for that.   Problem is he cannot compete in the air in line-outs with the physically must stronger opposing players and while he is good in open-field play and good in ball handling skills he does reduce the strength of our Tight 5.
Furthermore I believe he is going north at the end of this Super Rugby season and will consequently not figure in the Springbok team in the longer run.