I think there will be changes - but those would be to ensure that the team remains competitive:-
15 Le Roux, 14 Mapimpi. 13 Kriel, 12 Esterhuizen, 11 Nkosi, 10 Pollard. 9 De Klerk, 8 Vermeulen, 7 Du Preez, 6 Kolisi, 5 Mostert, 4 Du Toit, 3 Malherbe, 2 Mbonambi, 1 Mtawarira
16 Van der Merwe, 17 Kitshoff. 18 Louw , 19 Snyman, 20 Notshe, 21 Papier, 22 De Allende, 23 Gelant
Mike there will be changes. Suspect Kitshoff and Du Toit will start with Akkers as front row. Esterhuizen and Kriel plus Mapimpi and Gelant.. Van Zyl also.
All depends how much Rassie wants a win versus the need to test out his other squad members. Given the series is won and the Rugby Championship is more important he may experiment quite a lot. Really don"t know.
What I would do Beenz.
Or to keep the starters more or less the same, but offload the bench early in the second half would probably be better.
Draad, England have their best chance at Newlands. could be a shower or two and conditions will suit them. We will be missing powerhouses Eben and Marx and perhaps will not field the best pack from the current squad.
Jones and team could be desperate. We could lose this test? see who Rassi e selects
My guess is he will play the four foreign club players - three of them will play virtually no rugby before the RC starts - Vermeulen will probably join one of the franchises for the rest of Super Rugby in July.
I think the problem at center has not been solved entirely and I guess Esterhuizen would start on Saturday - with Kriel or De Allende starting at 13. . However, I think Kriel will start with De Allende on the bench.
There are other problems where the situation will change drastically by the time the RC comes around - inclusive of Marx, Etzebeth and even Schickerling coming back into the picture. Mbonambi was better than he used to be and I think he will end up on the Bok bench.
Snyman started like a house on fire in Johannesburg - but was invisible yesterday. However, he was a stand-in lock at best anyway. I can see Etzebeth and Schickerling getting some playing time in the remainder of Super Rugby and guess that the RC lock combination would be Etzebeth, Schickerling and Du Toit. That means there is not much chance of Snyman and Mostert surviving after this series.
I also think Whiteley and Du Preez will be in the RC squad as loosies.
Malherbe did not have much game time on Saturday - so he is likely to be given another chance on Saturday, Coenie is out for the year and the other two contenders are Du Toit and Louw.
I agree with Draad about bringing on the replacements earlier than normal on Saturday.
Eating humble pie re Vermeulen now that he's been MOM?
Denny
What I wrote about Vermeulen was based on his performances for Toulon - where he aws holidaying for two years. He seemed to renew his interest in playing rugby again and did very well in both tests. Must have done some real hard training recently to get back into shape. /
@ Moz.
I would start Gelant and rest Willy just to see how he gets on and give him some gametime going into the RC.
We know what we have in Willy.
I like the idea of Esterhuizen and Am and would rotate Du Preez in for Duh Allende.
Good suggestions for a change - lets see how it works out
My team would be-
1. Beast/ Kitshoff
2. Bongi / Van der Merwe
3. Thomas Tank / Louw-
4. Snyman
5. Mostert
6. Kolisi
7. Stephanie / Donkey twin
8. Vermeulen /Notche
9. Faff- / Anyone but Ivan (except Hougaard)
10. Pollard/ Jantjies
12 Esterhuizen/ Delande
13 Dyanti / Jessy Kriel /AM
14 Nkosi -
11 Mapimpi
15 Leroux
Dyanti could be worth a shot closer to the action.
Get the backs on double duty learning & understanding how drift defence works.
The backline defense would e as long as we have Am a 13. Th attack is always on De Allende for poor defense - yet in the two tests this year he made 17 tackles missing only one. A Greenwood said elsewhere the defensive problem starts with Am, Playing a different player at 12 would not make a difference in the defense by Am.
