Moaning mopes aside....here's the scoop.

The Boks rotate the squad, changing five starting positions, and whip Scotland 28 to zip.....the moaners moan. Heaven only knows what these guys will do if we lost a game to anybody but NZ. Repetitive negativity.

The fact is Meyer is deepening his squad and winning. He now has huge depth at lock and has improved the backline defence, something we badly needed to do after Ellis Park.

The fact is Willie is our best spark in the backline.  JP who one of the mopes hated, was superb. Fury certainly wasn't explosive, but just as quick as theScottish wing....and his tackling is so much better than JJ. Not only that, he knows when to rush and cut off the pass. It's chalk and cheese.

Lambie has made some fine tackles in the last two weeks. But I can't remember one instance of him creating opportunity for his centres. I am open to him getting the nod, but only if he can convert kicks under pressure.

In the pack Alberts has proven to everybody, but the dumbest, that he is a force in tests. Flip Flop has finally been coached properly, and is now a contributor. Steenkamp, despite howls from super mope, continues to play effective rugby. And Bakkies was every bit a test lock on Sunday....our cup runneth over.

Smart coaching of the technical stuff, real rotation of tired players, clever use of experienced Boks and tries......lots of tries. What's not to like, one wonders....but still the mopes are so desperately unhappy.

HO - HO - HO - HO.   Somebody's cup runneth over - but the following is unfortunately not supported by facts:-

Botha

0/0

0

0/3/6

2

0

0

1

0

4/3

1/2

0

0/0

A player who carried the ball six times making 2 meters gain who made 4 tackles and missed three - who caught one line-out ball on own throw and stole two from the opposition balls and missing two line-out catches on own throw.   Now those are major achievements against one of the weakest teams in the Six-Nations.

O - I suddenly remember the standard norm - if you want to praise the player without getting anywhere near the truth - forget about the statistics 

Somebody's cup is runneth over with tripe!!!  I really am laughing about that statement - because it definitely is a wild one far removed from reality.

 Beeno

When people point out realities they are not mopes - they are realists.  When somebody writes tripe on this site without any substance and members point out the fallacy - they are not mopes - they are realists.   The only mopes are those who argue against reality and there are plenty of those around. 

Sharkbok

I often listen to Marshall's comments when he  is commenting on matches - be it Super 15 or tests - and you can always clearly understand why he is such a good commentator - always honest with a clear knowledge of the game.   Because he is so objective - he is disliked intensely by the New Zealand rugby supporters - if a player underperforms irrespective of which team they play for - he is sure to identify the issue honestly and forthrightly.

I doubt not that Meyer has brought about a turn for the better in the Springbok team.    My criticism this year has been with regard to some specific selections - more than anything else - and the fact that some players specifically are not delivering - yet he retains them in the team - while bringing in other players on reputation and nothing else; especially when those players were part and parcel of the unsuccessful 2010 to 2011 set-up.

Personally I always think that a person must set a goal in life and try to improve yourself in an effort to reach specific objectives to achieve success.   I still believe that the Springboks can improve further - and think that some players will make such improvement possible.    That is why I am sometimes disappointed about Meyer.

However, as Beeno loves to point out - Meyer may have longer term moves in mind and that we are too impatient - that the changes will come.  One can only hope for that to happen and that some of the players like for instance Steenkamp and a few others are fazed out.

 Not as much a joke as your avatar Dave.

Who should we have feeding them out wide? Mnisi??

28 - 0 is no joke Dave. We also had stars out and the job was done in the first half without them. Sit back and enjoy the ride boys. We are notching up some fine wins with this new combination. Remember when we used to lose with that oke at 13..What was his name..JJ I think..What a joke hey. How we would have love Fourie against the AB's a few months ago!

Cleancut

Sure there is much to do as you put is.   The member who started the thread is tryng to justify some selections of Meyer.   I have no problem with Willie and hav reservations about the no 13 position.   For various reaons I do not see - and I think we agree on that - that neither Engelbrecht or Fourie  is the real answer in this case - so much work to be done as you aptly put it.

Where I think that we can only hope that Super 15 will show us the way forward is in the critical flyhalf position.  Despite the praise singing I do not rate Morne Steyn as the best flyhalf in SA - too robotic and too many negatives in evidence.

The other position where much work is necessary is at scrumhalf.   We cannot rely on Fourie du Preez only - he is at times showing some deficiencies, but his overall game is still better than any other scrummie we have at present.   Ruan Pienaar is way past his best and there is a tendency to forget about Kockott.   I think Super 15 will identify the way to go in future.

Have still got problems with the clumsy Alberts - the 20% of funtions-to-be-performed loosie.   He is adequate in tackling players within the pocket and his ball carries are basically always less than 3 meters - meaning he gets tackled by the first defender.   In essence the carries produce nothing of substance.   It would be interesting to see how the better all-round  loosies like Arno Botha and Labuschagne performs in Super 15 next year - and what Alberts in fact achieves.   I know we differ on this one - so let it be.

Anybody who thinks that Steenkamp at present is even a half-decent prop in scrums is showing some serious signs of delusion and needs to see a shrink.   Botha can be an option if  all other four options are not available as we discussed previously.     

 Pime

I have no problem with Alberts performance in the limited number of funcions he performs - but overall he is not a loosie - rather a tight 5 player masquerading as a loosie.  Unles a player runs straight at him there is no tackling on his part - whether it is a forward or a backline player.   Two meters out with a slight speed - like Read did at Ellis Park and the Samoans did in the June test - and Alberts missed the tackles.   He missed four of those in the CC final as well.

Alberts gets huge plaudits for his ball carries, but the distance he effectively carries balls and the results are ignored.   In the Scotland test he carried the ball 10 times gaining an average of 2,3 meters per carry.  Against Wales - he carried the ball 8 times for a gain in total of five meters - not even a meter per carry - and the media wrote as if he was the mighty ball carrier personified.   He is being tackled by the first opposition defender.  and the carries invariably ends up in mauls.

I do not fall for hype about a player - I look at his performance and determine what he does during games.   Despite the hype Albets tackling abilities are limited by his lack of speed and his ball carries have minimal effects.   For the rest he is not performing any of the other functions of a loosie at all.

You are welcome to look at his tackles and his ball carries and shout and scream about those - but I frankly am not impressed at all - to much hype and too little substance.          

Clown Cut

As far as I am concerned Alberts is a tight five player - but not good enough to be a lock in the Springbok team.  Definitely still not in my Fantasy selections.