Give the boy a chance

I am certainly not the biggest Oupa fan.
But i am so shocked by the reception he is getting.
He didn't pick himself or ask to be a Bok.

Yet he has been castrated by the Aussie media and some of our local journos.

At the press conference earlier today JdV was asked directly if Oupa was a token selection.

Come on saffas. Leave that kind of treatment for convicts and thugs. This is a decent bloke who will probably go out and play tha game of his life!
Guaranteed we will see him walk off the park with a 7/10 rating. 
Remember those words.


Like i said above... he certainly wouldnt be in my starting XV, but I'd still like to see him succeed! I never want a Bok player to perform badly... except for Luke Watson.

Go on Oupa

#TheShowWillGoOn

He scored an amazing try against the Crusaders. He looks to have the speed of a wing. He had such limited playing time in the Super XV tournament this year, it is hard to assess his true ability.If he is 24, the where has he been?
He looks like one of those players that is a combination of a backline player and forward- aka Pierre Spies, Bob Skinstad. These type of player though can have a low work rate as a forward. In the tighter games these type of players go missing.
I think if the game opens up though, he could stamp his mark.

Never seen him play, but I share SB's concern if he is more of a running type of player. Few opportunities for that, which is why Spies looks impressive at CC level but is a waste at test level. But I'll give him a fair chance, he did indeed not select himself. Good luck Oupa . Shut us up.

 Whatever happens this poor bloke will have this BS hanging over him .Good luck to him.

 I hope he has a good game, as said he didn't pick himself & hopefully all this BS talk will motivate him.

 Bob Dwyer did pick Phil Kearns out of a 3rd Grade side to be a Wallaby.

 SA politics takes getting used to.....umm it's complex.

 Flash please dont set up false targets. It's not Oupas fault he was selected. He did have a choice though to say no he didnt want to be a quota player like guys like Breyton etc have said.The major blame lies on the imposed quota system which the racist anc is imposing. THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING AGAINST. LET'S NOT DIVERT ATTENTION FROM THAT BY CURRYING SYMPATHY FOR OU PA
We do however wish Ou pa all the best as I have been calling for more pace in the loose trio on the highveldt at least. Having a tight 4 though is not going to be bene ficial.

 GIVE the boy a chance is the proble. Rsther let him earn it like it happens throughout the sporting world.
Tighten those many loose screws bycy me mate. Did you see my thread exposing the fact the Bryce Lawrence is the son of that Keith Lawrence who wrote the get the yarpies stuff. makes ya think eh brycy.
Found this:But the alarm bells would have sounded throughout the camp on the eve of the game when a contrite Lawrence suddenly conceded he had made several wrong penalty calls against the Wallabies in their 15-6 loss to Ireland in a Pool C game. (Lawrence awarded 21 penalties to Ireland and 12 to Australia in that game).(All according to plan)
One can but wonder what impact that feeling of guilt had on his handling of the quarter-final. Former All Black captain Taine Randell had no doubt it did.
He was scared to make a decision, said Randell, adding that just as referees can spoil a game with too much whistle so they can destroy a contest by failing to blow the laws.(Hhaahhahaha he was reffing to plan)
The Boks strategy was obviously based on playing a territory game to bring the match-winning boot of Morn Steyn into play. The Springboks had 80% territory in the second half in Wellington and applied all the pressure, while the Wallabies, in spite of constantly going off their feet at the ruck and a blatant late tackle in the closing minutes, were penalised just once in their own half (and Steyn kicked that penalty).
The New Zealand referee was reluctant to make any tough calls. It was a dereliction of duty, and even the match-winning penalty awarded against lock Danie Rossouw came not from Lawrence, but from the assistant referee (touch judge).
Of course the South Africans, with their domination, should have taken the referee out of the equation by scoring tries, but the Boks argument is that their attack was often illegally blunted at the breakdown. The Wallabies (led by the remarkable David Pocock) (DAN RETIEF COUNTED 5 HANDS IN RUCKS BY WOBBLIES !!!!) were regularly able to slow up the South Africans possession at the tackle. Without quick ruck ball the Boks attack lacked momentum. allowing the Australians to scramble back and reorganise their defences.
Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists, paging back through history, are having a field day. Lawrence is the son of New Zealand referee manager Keith Lawrence, who was in hot water back in 1999 after one of his e-mails went astray. Lawrence senior was reprimanded  and had to apologise to his South African counterpart, Freek Burger  after he sent a note to his Australian partner in which they agreed to teach the Japies (South Africans) a lesson.(hE SAID TO THE OZ REFS - GIVE THOSE JAPRIES HELL)
But enough of the New Zealand family Lawrence.
New Zealanders will surely now be mightily relieved the Japies have gone home. Instead of having to play a Springbok team who were dominant in Wellington, a team with a robust pack, an organised defence and apparently peaking at the right time, the All Blacks are up against the Wallabies, who were brave but badly outgunned in the quarters.
On the playing front a number of Springboks returned from RWC with their heads high. The combative but underplayed Bismarck du Plessis and Francois Hougaard, along with Pat Lambie and Frans Steyn, were the Boks young stars of the RWC, but a number of veterans  among them Victor Matfield, who was a commanding presence at the lineout, uncompromising flank Schalk Burger and centre Jean de Villiers  again underlined their talent in the quarter-final.
Heinrich Brssow, who had his quarter-final prematurely ended by a cynical shoulder charge by Wallaby Dan Vickerman at a ruck, had an otherwise excellent RWC.
The arguments will rumble on over whether John Smit and Bryan Habana should have started ahead of Bismarck du Plessis and Hougaard. And had the Boks known that referee Lawrence would leave the law book in the changeroom, flyhalf Butch Jamess ability on attack would have been more valuable than Steyns kicking game.
But in the end the players hard work and heroics were overshadowed by refereeing controversy. New Zealands Paddy OBrien, the International Rugby Boards head of refereeing  and, incidentally, a close friend of Keith Lawrence  told reporters ahead of the tournament that no World Cup game had ever been decided by a referee (man can you credit this complete twit!!!!!!).
While OBrien should now be choking on his words (rubbish he was over the moon at the success of the plan), South Africans are having to find ways of dealing with their own recurring flashbacks.
How much easier it is to cope with a decisive beating rather than this lingering, hollow feeling of what might have been. (BUT FOR A CHEATING REF).


fANCY bRYCE BEING THE SON OF KEITH lAWRENCE.  fANCY kEITH LARENCE BEING A FRIEND OF PADDY OBRIEN.FANCY AFTER THESE HORRENDOUS EFFORTS AND HSI DISMISSAL FORM THE ELITEL PANEL OF REFS  BRYCE LAWRENCE WAS NZ REF OF THE YEAR.
BRYCY IT'S TIME YOU FOUND ANOTHER POSTING NAME. HOW DO YOU BEAR THE SHAME OF THAT NAME! OOOOOH THE DISGRACE OF IT ALL!!! Samoa have never beaten the Boks and NORMALLY SHOULD NEVER DO SO.. However quota picks could give them a chance so never say never. If we have to field an under strength Bok side we could find many teams beating us.
I agree it was a tradgic loss to Oz in the first test due to a bent/ incompetent ref. What will we get this afternoon I wonder.