So what worked and what didn't against Oz

Firstly Fourie du Preez worked. Those who laughed when Heineke brought him back should feel appropriately humbled. Seldom has one player made such a difference to a team.

Our scrum didn't work. I thought the Beast was very lucky not to be penalized, several times. We scrummed better when Bismarck and Juandre were on....but we certainly never dominated.

Our lineout was iffy. We lost a crucial lineout 5 metres out because Bismarck underthrew Kruger. Perhaps this hooker rotation hurts, but we can't play the ABs with those kind of mistakes.

Our power game represented by Etzebeth, Alberts and Vermeulen continues to dominate the tightloose. Those runs by Etzebeth into 10 channel traffic were pure gold.

Our kicking game was erratic, with some great up and under recoveries....but aimless kicks as well. Morne and Willie kicked directly into touch. Our goal kicking was superb again thanks to Morne.

Running from deep was productive, resulting in Kirchner's try. We looked best ball in hand....Jean was incisive, JJ was fast through open field....the wings were unlucky.

We conceded two yellows, Flip's being totally unnecessary.

Our subs didn't work. Kruger made a nice defensive interception but couldn't link with Bismarck in the lineouts. Serfontein's inside step is now anticipated. Kolisi isolated himself...generally better players on the day left the park.

I think one would conclude that we need some work on the scrum...again. Discipline has to be at highest professional levels against the ABs. And crucially, we have to continue with ball in hand play and not become lazy, resorting to the kicking game at the first opportunity. This is a good Springbok team with a real shot, better than 50%, of beating the ABs next week.

What did not work in the test can be summarised as follows:-

*   Morne Steyn's kicking game was offensively poor - it was aimless and did not work at all - just representing handing over possession to the opposition.   He also missed to find the line in the case of two penalties - in Eden Park he missed one - against the Wallabies 2 - will it be 3 next week?

*   Our loosies did not combine well.   Instead of protecting possession when a ball carrier was carrying the ball - even fellow loosies being carriers - they were nowhere in sight and the ball carrier was forced to hold onto the ball - with resultant penalties.  Have they never heard of the logic that they should support their fellow ball-carriers by being on their shoulder so as to protect the ball - apparently never?  They did not play as a unit should and they were ineffective with the penalties they gave away.   There was no power game obvious in any event.   A yellow card against Vermeulen is totally ignored - while Flip's one is highlighted.  Dismally poor performance due to immobility.

*   Kruger knocked on the ball in the line -out near the Aussie line - there was nothing wrong with the throw-in as Mozart tries to say - somebody else must be blamed since Kruger is one of his blue-eyed boys.   Kruger is ineffective in line-out play and that is a fact of life.   But according to Mozart he should be in the team since he can call line-outs and when balls get kicked in by the opposition, he takes over the role of the vice-captain and organise the receipt and subsequent play. 

*   The scrumming was poor and ineffective - if there was any power-game by the forwards - it should have been effective in this case as well.  But there was NONE and our forwards - inclusive of our loosies - were totally ineffective in that Department of he game as well.   

*   The line-outs were problematic - since we only have one effective line-out jumper in the team. 

This team and the way they played yesterday has NO CHANCE of beating the All Blacks - NONE AT ALL.

 Mozart maybe you could put yr money where yr mouth is, as at the TAB the boks are paying NZ$8.00 to the ABs NZ$1.05 for the outright winner.

 A sure bet by the looks of the odds you can't go wrong can you?

Bricy old chap I have a bull call  spread on google, funded in part by a bear put spread at a lower strike.....I prefer simple bets.

The team did rather well  since the end of last years Super 15.   Last  year the team came THIRD in the CR and they struggled badly to win the three EOYT tests against the Irish, Scottish and English teams - all three tests could have gone either way.   Then followed the June tests - which they played three low-rated teams - but still had some problems against the Scots.

Then came the CR this year where they did better than last year - but they will never beat the AB's.   I would say there is a marginal improvement in the CR from third to second - mainly because the Wallabies the Wallabies is so weak this year.   For the rest we have a team that is rather shallow in performances and tending to struggle against teams rated much lower than SA.   And they will always lose key games.

The problems with the team can be sorted out by changing the non-performers,  but Meyer swears by them and that is a major problem.  We can have the best team in the world - but not with a number of real losers in th team.

Saffex

Morne was the core problem with his aimless kicking and his passing game was sub-par.

The three loosies did the rest by the yellow card for Vermeulen.   They rained penalties for the Aussies - effectively giving away six penalties between the three of them.   Their ball carries routinely resulted in penalties.

And then there also was the prop situation - scrumming was very poor.

Mozart was forced to find another player to blame for the team performance - he could not blame Engelbrecht this time around - so now he went for Serfontein.

The final nail was the knock on by the gruntless Kruger in that line-out five meters out that ruled out any potential bonus point.

 Mozart

I have four Jack Russells and they are the most spoiled dogs in the world - so don't feel sorry for them.

The problem is the dogs are really funny - they watch TV and on one occasion their was a show with monkeys in.  One of he dogs jumped up and stood before the TV and barked - she then went and looked behind the TV - and then went back to he front and barked again.

They also watch rugby and that is the difference between you and them.   They understand the game - you just don't.  You cannot see anything wrong with Meyer's team selection but criticize some players (especially Engelbrecht and now Sefontein)  endlessly - but in the main other players not in Meyer's squad - despite the fact that  out-perform your favourites.   The latter favourites are in the main a weird collection of rugby incompetents.   The players who really deserve criticism for poor performance are never mentioned by you since they are your favoured players.

So stop the personal attacks and use facts to prove me wrong.    An easy way to answer is to come back with facts and figures and give examples as to where my assessment is wrong.  

From what I written it would appear that I am an All Black supporter.   I am possibly the strongest and most passionate Springbok supporter on this site.   Nobody would hope for a Springbok win more than I would hope for the same.

However, I am also a realist and a person that criticize selection deficiencies.  Let me explain why I have misgings of certain of Meyer's selections.    

I have watched Morne Steyn play for nearly a decade and appreciates his goal kicking performances.  He used to drop kick balls accurately as well - but that has now gone completely.   Morne always had very little else to offer as a pivot.   He never was a running or attacking flyhalf - he always was entirely predictable.   He unfortunately always stood very deep in the pocket and that is a negative insofar as his passing game is concerned - since the defenders always concentrate on the ball recipient and not on Morne.   His strategic kicking game also went through phases.   At one stage his kicking abilities produced positive results - but over time it deteriorated and his kicking game is in general now questionable - more in hope that it would work out than anything else.  The other issue is that Morne often fails when under pressure.   Two recent  examples are the Eden Park test and the Super 15 semi.   In essence although I question his abilities I never question his loyalty to the Squad - as well as his good qualities a person.   He remains in my book an average international flyhalf with certain limitations in his make up.     

We are unfortunately thin on the ground in the flyhalf position - I realise that in full.   The only alternatives I can see for the future is Goosen and Lambie - with Zeilinga as a long term prospect.   Goosen is out with an injury and Lambie is not Meyer's first choice flyhalf.   I realize that and think that Meyer is too narrow as to what is expected from a flyhalf.   I said I am a realist and I also accept that Meyer will never change the situation.   It  is indeed a serious problem - which I hope can be sorted out in future.   To my mind performances should always be the key to selection of players  - so let hope that the next Super 15 season will be the norm for future selections.

My other bugbear is with the loosies.   To my mind loosies should have a reasonable ability to join backline players in attacking rugby.  They should be good ball carries in both open field attacks and in traffic.   They should be "hunting together and help each other in securing balls in tackle situation.   All three our present loosies are battering rams and not reasonable ball handlers.  Crashballing is their norm and they often enough get isolated in the process because they are too immobile to co-operate in the process.   It happened repeatedly yesterday that they give away penalties in the process.   I do not have major problems if we have two players of the same abilities in the team - but three of the same kind of players reduces the team efficiency.    The other issue is their tackling abilities. Since they have mobility problems - they are fairly restricted insofar as defence is concerned and their tackling stats are normally below those of other teams.   I would prefer one or  even two more mobile loosies - which I sincerely believe will strengthen the team. 

In general I always live in fear that Flip van der Merwe would be carded - he is a penalty machine and a card candidate most of the time.   On the other hand we have Kruger who has very little grunt and is always a problem in tight phases of the game - he sometimes show up in looser facets of play - like the incident preceding De Villier's try against the Wallabies in Brisbane - but he Is not one for the hard grind.   Problem is that Meyer apparently think our loosies should all be hard grind players with very little else to offer and that that would make up for the deficiencies of Kruger.   In the main we also have a line-out problem - very much the result of the fact that we have only one reliable line out jumper and the rest are also played.   Unlike the All Blacks who constantly falls back on Read to be one of their line out jumpers - the Springboks have nothing amongst the loosies to fall back on and as Kruger and Van der Merwe is not line out jumpers our line out options is limited.

The above are my main problems with our present team and I believe sincerely that if we can make a few changes in the areas mentioned - we can develop into the top team in world rugby.    We need at least three or for crucial changes to the side and if those are made  SA will be the top team in world rugby. However, it seem not to be important in Meyer's view of the situation and in my opinion, we are bound to be dragged back all the time by players with limited capacities.