Prediction for the Scottie game

We do a major disservice to our forward saying they pop up in the backline. We station some forwards wider to best utilise resources when moving the ball around. I think of the forwards and backs as two pieces which dovetail together. The forwards are the platform for our backs to work underneath.

That aside, the Scots have serious ammunition. They usually disrupt us at the breakdown. We've had several scares over the years, but also some blowout wins. There doesn't appear to be a middle ground.

In the WC, they stalled our game in the second half. The two tests before that were huge losses for them, one 28-0 in Scotland, in 2013. When they've take us close, they've bettered us at the breakdown and shut us out with robust defence, like the Bok lose at Murrayfield in 2010. We haven't faced a Scottish attack like this. Our defence has been carved up too often. Of our backline, we have maybe 3 assured defenders, in the forwards we have Kolisi, the loafing back. Steph is vulnerable to changes of direction and can be baited out of position. One would expect the Scots to expose this at least a few times, can they capitalise on these opportunities to get behind our defence? 

Scotland can win this game, but I'm going to show confidence in the Boks. They were embarrassed by the bumbling loss at Twickenham, had their pockets pinched in Pretoria, and the late scare at Stade will assuredly rouse them to lay down the law. The Boks to win, 25-17. I expect Scotland to show up and compete,  but be overpowered. 

There are one major weakness that reduces the effectiveness of the Springboks Tight 5 and reduces it to a Tight 4  and our loosies are questionable = hope Louw gets minimal game time.

However, despite the above I think the Springboks  will win by circa 13 points.  

Louw would be a tactical advantage, as we don't have much of a threat at the breakdown. Marx has been anonymous aside from barely a handful of steals. Who else is there? 

Du Toit made more steals this year that Louw did - 3 steals made by Louw in all tests played. Louw is too slow to be effective in any other aspects of the game.  

What is your source for these numbers? I know of at least 4 penalties Louw won contesting the ball in just two tests (the first Argentina and France) this year.

Balls - it just did not happen ay you said it did.  Stop dreaming up BS.  

Louw made two steals against the Pumas in the first test, and two against France. So, I myself can verify four. There must have been more. I can't remember many steals or penalties won by Steph. If you can reference them, I'll fetch the time stamps. 

Again Mike: what is your source for Louw and Steph's numbers? It's a simple question.

I think the Boks will win and they will do that by denying Scotland possession. Against Fiji, the Scots held the ball for long periods, grew in confidence and built many phases and there were numerous occassions where they made breaks from players hitting the ball at pace and at different angles changing the direction of attack.

Jocks by a hair, happy to be wrong.

I can't see us denying them ball, if anything we'll gift it to them with some of Edinburghs stratosphere.