Meyer picks Lambie, Drops Steyn

South Africa:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp

Substitutes: 16. Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo
 

Pity about JC not being there.

hougaard and kirchner are as always very lucky to be there. mvovo and taute would have added more i feel but lets see how things pan out

Agree to an extent Munch, Think the reason for Zane's inclusion is that he has been solid, but thats it nothing more. I have said it more than n hundred times, IMO do I think we need a fullback with a x-factor like Dagg.

Hougaard must get his head sorted, but Rhule would have been a better option as Mvovo can't tackle, not comfortable under high ball and can only open line tries.

I hope JP is really fit and will not break down.

Its clear that Meyer has gone for continuity and the side is what one expected. Hope he gets to give Taute a run at 15. Would liked to have seen Rhule but he is extremely young so I cannot really crit Meyer.

Mike will not like Guthro at loosehead!

rhule is a great find but i wont risk him against the poms now. maybe next year bring him in for a few cameos in the june internationals ext might be better man management but i really would not want to risk him. in terms of talent he has it all really. really happy that he is playing at the cheetahs. the likes of pollard and serfontein wont reach a the same level at the bulls like the cheetahs can develop there backline

Basically the same team as the one against Scotland - with two bench changes.   I really am woried about Pietersen - he may still be suffering from the injury he sustained.   There is no problem about him being involved in attacking backline play -  since it is highly unlikely that he would ever see the ball - unless he goes and look for it or gets it from a high kick.   Since he would be primarily be a defender and Mvovo is not sound in that regard - there may be a prolem in the event of a change early in the game.

De Jongh remains a serious liability from an attacking perspective - and his negative attributes will be severely tested in the game - England has a much better backline than Scotland - and the one backline player that has all the negarive attributes  to let us down is De Jongh.

Then we have the prop situation.   We really are up against it with FATSO in the squad and I personally think that he would repeat his performances of the Scotland test - good during the first 15 minutes and nediocre in the rest of the first half - if in fact he does last that long.

The other issue is that I think if Kirchner keeps on playing the way he did thus far this year - it may now be the time to bring on Taute - say at halftime.   I don't think that there is any serious intent on the part of Meyer to bring on Jantjies and he is unlikely to get any game time on Saturday.   Hope Lambie does not get injured - if he does another Soweto catastrophe is on the cards. 

As pointed out there are some real problem areas because of original poor squad selections and that could impact negatively on the chances of the Springboks beating England.   Matter of fact - I still think England has a 90% chance of winning. 

 Morne Steyn should not even be on this tour. It would be in his own best interests if he rests and tries to get back to the form he was in 2009/2010.

I am not sold on Elton Jantjies, but who else have we got at 10? 

Theres no reasonable explanation why Kirchner and Hougaard should be in this starting 15 selection, if there is i'd be pleased to hear it. I suppose Kirchner at fullback fits Meyers tactical gameplan more perhaps. I still have the impression that Taute or Aplon could be suited well at fullback with an attacking mindset, i'd like to see Kirchner join the backline more primarily when we have momentum in the opposition 22m line.

Leading up to this anticipated match i hope JDV plays like a team player, the no12 crashball technique is highly predictable especially when its being repeated constantly, if they're going to continue to execute this i'd move De Jongh at 12 instead mainly because he can crashball more effectively than any centre we currently have ofcourse, i'd definitely like to see him getting more opportunities to run this time around.

Meyer once again showing his lack of touch. He bangs on about Taute having his best game at 13 for the Boks against Ireland, which in itself was incorrect, given he was better against Oz, gives de Jongh a go against the weaker Scotland and then retains him for England. Why is the more physical Taute not at 13?

Pathetic, thank goodness I declined a ticket to Twickers on Sat, what a waste of money that would have been

I'm relieved that JP and Etzebeth are playing.....losing both might have been a bridge too far. Meyer obviously retained Juan because he saw more in his performance, than he did in Taute's Irish run. I concur.

I predicted Steenkamp would start. He had his baptism of fire against Murray, one of the stronger tightheads....no reason to change him for this week. CJ was obviously carrying an injury and Heineke had no option there.

Dropping Morne was a very smart move, which has not been properly understood. He takes enormous pressure off Lambie by doing that, in effect making the full commitment to Lambie to win the test. I hope and trust he will deliver.

Mozart

With due respect to you - Meyer painted himself into a corner by the selection of Steenkamp in the first place.   That baptism of fire lasted 15 to 20 minutes and then Steenlamp fizzled out - he barely managaed to walk off the park at halftime.    The injury to Van der Linde also meant nothing - he was absolutely useless in both tests - matter of fact an absolute disgrace in the Scottish test.   If Meyer picked him again - it would have been pure madness - so sent him home early - it at least save them further embarrassment.

I expect the same - but even worse from Steenkamp this week - that is perhaps a few scrums where he is firm and then the fizzling out to occur.   I bet you the unfit one will not last till halftime.

As to De Jongh - I think Meyer hopes that his defence will work out - expect zilch from him otherwise.   His "darting  runs" are meaningless and end up in zero advantage - could be even negative since he often enough loses the ball.     I think here Mayer also picked De Jongh as virtually the only center option in the squad - and uselessness is fully expected.

The above are really the weak points in the team - and was part of it last week as well.    The fact that it is basically the same team as started last week (the only improvement is that Van der Linde is not on the bench anymore)- means that we will have serious problems against the POMS.   The latter team is much stronger than the Scots and will present more difficulties than you can ever believe.   Hopefully the loss will not be bad - but lose we will.

    .  .    

Dan Cole of England is much more of a threat than Murray. Cole and Franks are the best tightheads in the game. Add Corbeserio at loosehead for the Poms and they have a formidable frontrow who will eat fat Steenkamp for supper.

Its a pathetic move retaining de Jongh against the likes of Tuilangi for England - good old Meyer at his best.

The Poms will win this test

Here we go again Mike and also snapster predicting a loss. Why are you so convinced? Have you no faith in the guys?

Just as in the RWC07.....the Swami will be desperately disappointed if we win. Then in a few days he'll start  bad mouthing the Poms.

You forget Swami, we played against your boogie man Dan a few months ago....nada.....Murray, although in a weaker pack, is far more formidable.

Moz dont fucking insult me by saying I want the Poms to win you fucking idiot

Saffex

Calm down - calm down.   I share your opinion on the issue of Useless Eastace and FATSO and also believe that we will lose - so we are easy targets for the Meyer supporting crowd.   However, I think that a calmer approach would help.  

No I dont need to be calm when some wanker tells me I want England to win, how bloody insulting

Dave it's impossible to insult a turncoat like you.

 I think if Australia can beat England, the boks should also be able to.

The boks are marginally better than OZ at the moment, although this could change next year when more players return from injury on both sides.

I expect our forwards to pitch up. It is really a case of what backline is going to turn up. If it is the Morne Steyn clones or ones that take the right options. 

Moffie as I said, you are a fucking idiot

And as I said....anybody who can't enjoy the Boks winning the RWC is not a Bok fan. He is in fact a turncoat.

Moffie do you get a kick out of lying...............how do you equate me not rating Jake as a coach to not enjoying our WC win you ignorant twit?

Jake was only a worthless individual in the equation who should not have been the coach in the first place. His record was so damn poor leading into the WC that he came damn close to getting the chop. He was saved by the imaginative Eddie Jones and a great bunch of players. Our path to the final was of course also a help, but the best side won no thanks to Jake.

You seem a little confused with my distaste for an average coach with us winning the WC. No worthless individual, in particular Jake, is bigger than the truimph we achieved. My only point regarding that WC was that victory clouded Jakes standing as coach................the fact that we won was brilliant.

But hey ho you are too stupid to distinguish between my anti Jake and love for the Boks. Much like our match on Sat against England - our coach is selling us short both in terms of selections and tactics and England are the best side we will face on tour. Given how poor we have been and the fact that the side has got worse personel wise since the Ireland test. My call is that because of these factors England at home will beat us. That does not mean I will be supporting England now does it you dumb arse?

Your idea of supporting Bok rugby is, when you like the coach and you like the team, you support the Boks.

In fact you aren't supporting the Boks you are supporting your own biases. No law in being a total turncoat, but you adopting holier than thou attitudes about the Boks makes one want to puke. Come to think of it you never had any problem when your hero Watson wanted to puke on the jersey.

You make me sick fatty.

does meyer really need chilioboy, malharbe, franco van der mewe,a botha, j veermak, l mapoe, r rhule to hold up the tackle bags in training, what was the purpose of taking them on the EOYT??? for depth coverage only, was scotland really that much of a threat that they couldnt have intergrated a new player or two over the first two games???
the theres the janties and mvovo, if they actually get a game. cos if the eng test match is as close as the 3rd test earlier on in the year, i doubt we will see either one of them inless theres an injury to lambie, an innury to the backline will see taute get called in first, as the only thing important to meyer is the win. another big problem with meyer is that he dosent have the necessary faith in the Boks squad that he tries to portray and many one eyed supporters think he does.

steenkmap was good in the first 15mins that the Boks were attacking the all u can eat buffet the other night before they ran out of food, in the Boks vs scotland game,IMO he was shit, lumbering his fat ass around all over the field and having little to no effect in the breakdowns and general play. and the arguments about steenkamp being better then kitshoff is now rendundant, cos IMO a player shouldnt look like hes one cheeseburger away from a heartattck after 10mins of rugby.
is malharbe even in the squad or did he go home??? cos he should be on the bench and pat cilliers who IMO has had plenty of chances this year and hasnt really made the grade.

they should have started with taute at 13 too, de jong was given a nice opportunity to make the most of his selection against scotland and he didnt, i still rate him as a player and i know he can deliver, but some players need to make the most of the limited opportunites they get and de jong has sadly not done so.
i wouldnt mind seeing taute at 15, but as unimpressive as krichner has been, he has been the poster child for meyers mundane antiattacking rugby game, so i dont think that will happen.
if jp dosent last the 80mins, i would expect taute to get the first crack of the bench.

if i was janties and mvovo, i wouldnt hold my breath expecting any gametime, cos this is the only match i think the Boks might lose, but at the moment im picking the Boks by 4pts, but it will be very close, if england have a 8pt plus lead come half time, then the englisg should pull away for the win.
i reckon tuilangi is going to have a field day with de jong and that flood could give lambie a lesson, but not if lambie lives up to his superstar reputation, something that lambies hasnt done all year on any level except in the CC and even then, only in a few matches.

Stop whining....Jantjies amd Mvovo both had their chances.....and failed. You geniuses that think  that  calling for  any young player versus an experienced international is smart, need your heads read.

Moffie you are pathetic. I will always voice my disatsifaction when our coach is selling us short.  Meyer is a coach  who has so far proved himself to be no better than Jake or PDV. The guy is completely out of his depth and his results to date reflect this.

You in fact are the worst SA supporter I have ever come across, no supporter shows more anti towards SA players than you do, in particular the youngsters - its pathetic.

Moffie I always support the Boks regardless of coach or the odd player I disapprove of. Its your stupidity that is incapable of grasping this obvious fact. Why not look up the meaning of the word turncoat for you clearly have no idea.

As for Luke, he was a great player who on merit was always good enough to play for the Boks. However Luke the person, fuelled by an agenda not related to rugby stood in the way of what he could have achieved as a Bok. At the time he was our only true fetcher, before Brussouw appeared on the scene. Luke was a great player.

See that just show cases your ignorance. Luke was never a great player. The Bulls had his number every time....they simply over powered him. He was fine as long as he wasn't playing against a power pack....and there were plenty of those easy S15 games to keep the myth going. He could fetch over the top of all the hard work Schalk put in, take the ball from the scrummie and slow up the backline. No matter it looked like he was the focal point.  But in the big games they simply blew him away. When he got picked for the Boks he had every chance....but he just couldn't deliver.

Against the Italians in South Africa he made 4 metres in 4 carries and 2 tackles.....as a starter!  Then down in NZ when So'oialo picked him up and tossed him aside like a toothpick, it was all over. Even a political beneficiary like PdV couldn't justify his further selection. And of course the manne wanted to see the back of him.

Great player....what a laugh!

What - Jantjies has had his chance and failed?????

Bullshit Watson was a great player and there has always been a place for a 100kg openside flanker. Watson had far superior rugby skills than a player like Schalk. Schalk was never a 6, was always a 7.

Watson was a great link player in the Daniel, Brits and Skinstad mould, there is always a place for these talents at the highest level, especially as impact players, except for Bob who was a born starter.

Schalk was a great player as was Watson, completely different players......much like Bismark vs Brits.......I'm all for both types in my squad

Great players flaunt their wares playing the British Lions, not the Golden Lions. This guy did squat at test level, he can't be considered a great player. End of.

Bullshit, Watson was solid in the handful of tests he played no better or worse than those around him. Not possible to judge given he played so few tests and was always ill at ease thanks to his own doing