November tour predictions

All those predictions are done under the premise all teams rely on regular squads (which is far to be set in the stone)

SA rugby will face in order: IR, FR, IT and EN.

From the get go, an outcome appears: 1 win (against IT) 3 losses as all teams are superior.

Yet a 1 3  record is far too bad for SA rugby. It can not be afforded.

A 2 2 record would be more acceptable.

Who is going to take the bullet:

It is unlikely to be IR.  First game in the tour, they achieved a spectular performance agaisnt NZ and losing against the likes of SA rugby would jeopardize the legacy.

FR hosts the incoming WC. They are announced as a favourite for the win. A winning record (they have beaten all the teams before going to the tournament) would paint them as a credible contender.

So far, only SA rugy are missing to complete the view.

Italy will lose.

Remains EN. EN is the most likely candidate to concede a convenient loss to avoid hurt too much SA rugby supporters' feelings.

EN will likely target NZ as their main objective during the tour (AR, JA, NZ, SA rugby)

So they could be contended with a victory against NZ.

Another input: SA rugby stand a chance against diminished teams.

EN will come from a difficult game (vs NZ) while SA rugby will come from a game against IT.

One team is likely to be fresher than the other.

So predictions:

VS IR: loss

VS FR: loss

VS IT: win

VS EN: win.

Actually I fancy our chances against Man United and a win Connacht is in the bag.

Not a problem.

Rasnaber lost my support with his treatment of Roos...and the way he clings to old players without atleast grooming their replacements.

Predictions, predictions. It still is early and they can be changed over time.

Well, my heart wants it to be 4/4, don't care who runs or who the coach is. But my head is telling that this will be a long tour and could actually end up being 0/4. Italy has beaten us before. The only saving grace is that Rassie is back. So maybe he can make better choices during match day and not what the physio did but selecting unfit players. 

I think we will get the strongest of these teams. Their run will be 3/ 4 test matches, 6 nations which is 5 games and then no games until the World Cup. So they have only 8 games left. Don't think Eddie will be messing around and you can see from the squad that he has selected. All form players, even Danny Care, Kyle Sinclair, Marler have been dropped as he shapes up his team. 

They beat us last year with a relatively young team, but had a really poor 6 nations, losing to Scotland, France and Ireland. 

As for France, I have no idea who they will field nor much about their squad other than Dupont and Ntamak the flyhalve. But they have a monstrous pack that can give wee Kwagga and Kolisi a hard day on the park. Then their backs are simply sublime at the moment. Don't see old man Mpimpi run anyone down any time soon. 

I just hope the Physio select form players with decent amount of game time. 

On the other hand, seeing a lot of the boks not getting much rest. Willemse is back on the field after playing almost every game for the boks this year. 

Not sure about the players condition. I would have just rested the boks, maybe two weeks of URC matches and then 2 weeks of training camp before the tour. 

So my prediction is 2/4. Think the boks will beat Ireland and Italy. 

Donkey... Roose got absolutely hammered. Wiese won't be bettered by Roos. Get real. He had a shot and put a bullet between its eyes.... shouldn't have taken that too literally! XD