Rhodes had a great game against Munster

With 17 tackles he led the match tackle count, snuffing out the overrated Stampkar around the scrum....and making a bunch of great open field tackles. Blindside flanks have become rather blocky....Rhodes is a strong chap but agile. I don't think he is in the Juan Smith class....but better than any blindside in South Africa at this time. .. It was also great seeing Schalk come on doing so many smart things at the death. And who helped Wyles get the ball down after a kick chase....but Schalk. One of his skills is to be in the right place at the right time.....this was a great example in the match clinching try. It's fourteen years since he replaced Krige in the WC QF and stopped the NZ eight running rampant. What a legend. . Sadly our new loosies are damn ordinary.

 Vincent Koch as MOM played a huge role....he was always outstanding in general play. But even though he did well scrumming as the match progressed, one is haunted by the first few scrums when he was dominated. He seems fine when the scrum is set low, but if it gets in the higher ranges he seems to crack. A great pity because he has everything else one wants from a tighthead, and his counter rucking was awesome.

As always Rhodes does what he does best.....play a great game of rugby.
Great performance from Koch as well.
Sadly these players have made the move to greener pastures resulting in a great loss to SA rugby.

 Extrapolating club performances is usually delicate, especially as SA has no collective idea, no framework.

EN might inherit part of the performance in their international squad when they select the player as there is a sort of Saracens backbone in it.

The game was played between two sides with no genius, actions were wired, Munster's actions more than their opponent's.
Added to the club familiarity settings, players were on a rail to perform their best in their comfort zone. Improvisation was low.

The international games are different. SA will not reach the cohesive level clubs reach and NZ and some others are able to destructure their own game to set their opponents off their feet.

Well AJ, Rhodes is the kind of player lost to us with the new rule for selecting overseas player......but that Muster/Saracens game was only half a notch below test level and he was one of the most influential players.