Pienaar and Luke Romano make the team of the week

Funny I can recall somebody telling me they were useless just a few days ago. It's also a positive that Strauss cracked the team. This guy looked like he was not going to reproduce his Cheetah's form in the internationals, but of late he is stepping up.

Mostly though it's a big accomplishment for Pienaar in view of excellent play from the French scrummies and kudos to Meyer for sensing his Hougaard problem early and acting decisively to secure Pienaar's services. Just another thing he gets zero credit for from fans.

it seems like the new rule of playing the ball in less that 5 sec is really fiting him like a glove. really happy for him. he was one of the few lights in the dark cave that was saterdays game

I do not rate Romano above Etzebeth as a lock forward.   Eisebeth really stood out amongst the Springbok - Irish forwards and I still rate him as the top 4 player in the world.

I do not rate Romano above Etzebeth as a lock forward.   Eisebeth really stood out amongst the Springbok - Irish forwards and I still rate him as the top 4 player in the world.

Mozart

I know what will happen - Dave is going to suggest that Hougaard replace Pienaar at scrummie - just wiat for it!!!!!!!

Strauss had a relatively good game, he has developed as a player well. I don't exactly know whats his problem when it comes lineouts, it seems like he takes too long to throw it in on a few occasions actually. Surely they have worked on this in training there should'nt be any problems with that, it could be costly. Despite that overall he was solid.
 
I still believe Schalk Brits is a better option hes a much more versatile and has much more to offer, if any one watches the premiership when he was playing for Saracens knows and will agree.

Well Mike, we never really rate NZ tight forwards....but guys like the Franks brothers, Mealamu, Woodcock and Thorn have consistently matched our chaps when the chips were down. Romano is nothing like the physical talent Etzebeth is....but he is a high tempo player. And on Saturday he was judged the best 4 on view.....that doesn't mean Etzebeth isn't by far the more dynamic prospect, it simply means Romano did his job on Saturday.

What a joke that Ramano made the side ahead of Etzebeth

Hougaard at scrum half is ridiculous, Pienaar is world class.

Oh so it was ridiculous last year and the preceding years when Hougaard was one of the best 9's in the game. Now all of a sudden some dimwits have him down as not being able to play 9 - what a joke

Continuing to bang on about Hougaard is a joke Swami.....if Steyn has lost it, Hougaard's fall is just as disastrous. You are the only poster who can't see the lad is totally at sea.

As far as Romano is concerned, he has impressed the impartial critics....not necessarily the bigoted, weight and height obsessed critics like yourself. But it is amusing, we have the argument about Romano last week.....and  within days we have the verdict.

Game, set and match I'd say.

Yeah, Saffex team would be a bit green and probably get trumped every game. Hougaard must not see the 9 jersey until he sorts his shit out. He, like Taute at 13, have proved they are not the best in those positions. Taute to 15 otherwise there is no place for him. We have better centres than him in the country that are not playing and JJ Engelbrecht is out of his depth.

Surely to be a bok you need to be consistent at Currie Cup and Super rugby level. This JJ is certainly not. He can have flashes of brilliance amongst a whole heap of crap. The fact that there is so much debate around him is proof that he is not good enough. Just like all the debate around J. De Jongh, M. Steyn, J. Taute, F. Hougaard. If a player is meant to be a Bok, everyone would agree unanimously as we do on players like Lambie, JP, Habana and co. Everyone agrees on Jordaan so surely that is due to what we have all seen!

Mozart, what I wana know is how come Adriaan Strauss is Bok vice captain when he will surely warm the bench for Bizzy.. What is the talk around that coming out of SA? Are they planning on benching Bismarck?

 boklogic, the thing is that not everyone will agree on certain players. When JP started his career he was labelled as a liability, look where he is now.

Some people claim that Lambie isn't good enough. 

Some people will claim that a players is bok quality after 1 or 2 good runs.

 Rugbylogic.

 People really struggle to see things in perspective. Let's look at Taute.My oppinion is that he is a 15. Due to the nature of how we have been playing he has received almost no attacking ball where he could have done anything...his fault?NO. My pick at 13 will be Jordaan.. Would he have done more with the ball that Taute got, NO... Tautes defence has been very good(bar the disaster miss on dagg)

Some people are saying that Lambie did not control the game as he should have... His fault, or circumstance? 

Some say Devilliers has been useless.I don't believe this.

Some said Joost was crap.

Some call McCaw a cheat, I call him brilliant

My point is that there will always be debate over certain players, good or bad.Human nature.

Debate is good. Debate surrounding Lambie is whether we play him at 10 or 15 but all know that he should be in the team. Debate around Frans Steyn is 12 or 15 but we all know he needs to be there.

Debate around guys like Engelbrecht, de Jongh, M. Steyn and co is whether they are even worthy of being in the squad.

Lets look at the backline in the past. We all knew Fourie Du Preez was the best 9, we all knew Butch James needed to be at 10. Jean and Jaque were by miles our best centres (Prior to that era Barry and Joubert were the manne), Habana was a no brainer at wing and you also felt safe with Monty at the back.

Now we are tossing up Kirchener, Lambie, Taute and Joe Pietersen at the back and some even want our best 12 (F.Steyn) to return to the back. We not sure who to play at 13 between Jordaan, De Jongh and Taute amongst others like Engelbrecht and Howard. Quarter of the people want Lambie, others Jantjies, other Goosen and some M. Steyn at 10. At 9, we hear some pro Hougaard guys, some Pienaar and now we hear of a newbie in Reinach.

We just do not have the resources we once did. Our coaches need to settle on some combinations and instill confidence in them. If Taute is our best prospect at 13 (I believe it is Jordaan) then the coaching staff need to play him at 13 every game that he is fit! Win or lose. It will only do him good moving forward.

What I mean by my previous post is that we are all just clueless on what our best team is right now. So many guys there that are good, but not great whereas we are used to greats. How can we expect to beat the AB's when we do not even know what our best team is? They have it all sussed from 1 to 22! We cant even decide whether Taute is really a 13 or are we missing a trick by not playing him at 15. Is De Jongh up to it? Is JDV still our best 12? Who should play 10? Is Pienaar the answer at 9? Should Hougaard even make the match day 22 anymore if not at scrummy? Only thing we are sure of is JP and Habana and those were two players from the last team we had that was great.

SA rugby need to sift through all this bullshit and settle on combinations now and back them!

Saffex

I woould love to see Hougaard at 9 - I think he hads poential and should make the grade.   However, something has gove drastically wrong in his case and his palay has deteriorated during the past year.   I really cannot lay mat finger on it as to why it happened.   In the first test played this year thee were signs that he was not up to standard - boyh insofar as his passing and kicking game was concerned.   One would have expected that it was a emporary phenomenon - but instead of improving it deteriorated in succeeding tests.   A similar tendency was noticed in the game of Morne Steyn.

Meyer at one stage admitted that Hougaard and Steyn were not up to standard and he made a remark that he would coach them back into form.     That did not happen and it was evident that replacement would be necessary.   I know you said there was no deterioration - but there were indeed some probblems.   Since there was no improvement - there was no option but to bench him or move him to the wing, 

I know you refuse to recognise that there were problems - but Meyer would not rwmov a top player without reason,   I hope that Hougaard gets over his mental bloack and improve to his previous level    Instead of improving it even got worse - his game in the CC semi-final was really not up to standard and he was in fct outplayed by a rookie.   In the latter game there was indeed indications that his passing game did improve - but his kicking game in fact was worse than before.   

I - like many others - hope that he recovers his form in Super 15 next year and that there would be no impediments insofar as future selection as Springbok is concerned.   If there is no improvement  the chances that he would ever play for the Springboks again will be remote.         

Clevermike and other Etzebeth fans, Bok locks aren't reknown for their ball skills or mobility around the paddock whereas NZ has produced locks that play as tight and loose forwards that is they have a broad set of skills. I don't see this yet in Etzebeth. Much is made of his potential, but he doesn't contribute much  beyond the scrum, lineout and mauls. Romano does which is why he's in the weekly team. Etzebeth does have a killer stare down though.