So who would play on Saturday against the AB's

There is one huge difference between Meyer and Erasmus.   Meyer ignored performance as a norm for team selection and based his selection criteria on two remarks he made during his tenure as published in the media, namely -

*   that the Springbok backline players do not have the skills to play a ball-in-hand game; and

*   that in selection he bears in mind what player were capable of in the past.

The  result was obvious - the crazy squad selection for the 2015 WC where there were 8 totally unplayable players in the 31 man squad. 

Erasmus on the other hand would by now have studied the game on Saturday in every detail in respect of each position.  He would have seen what really happened on the field of play and identify every contribution to the game of each player - both the positives and the negatives involved.  He would discuss his findings with his coaching staff and other experts and get their inputs as well and would then select a team for the Saturday test,   That would also take into account performances in Super Rugby and even performances by NH club comp games. 

What Meyer would ignore is the type of garbage so evident on this site and the team is likely to look like the following:-

15  Willie le Roux

14  Cheslyn Kolbe

13  Jesse Kriel

12  Damian de Allende

11  S'bu Nkosi

10  Handre Pollard       

  9  Faf de Klerk

  8  Duane Vermeulen

  7  Pieter-Steph du Toit

  6  Kwagga Smith

  5  RG Snyman

  4  Eben Etzebeth

  3  Frans Malherbe

  2  Malcolm Marx

  1  Steven Kitshoff

16  Bongi Mbonambi

17  Tendai Mtawarira

18  Trevor Nyakane

19  Lood de Jager

20  Marcell Coetzee/Francois Louw/Elstadt

21  Hershel Jantjies

22  Elton Jantjies

23  Lukhanjo Am

There are obvious unknowns and I would believe the following are part of those:-

*   He may start Am ahead of Jesse Kriel at 13 - but against the AB's I doubt whether that would happen.  Anyway the three enters considered for selection would be Am, De Allende and Kriel

*   There is a chance that Hershel Jantjies impressed him so much that he would start him before De Klerk at 9

*   He could play De Jager as starter and  Snyman as replacement lock

*   He may have had an objective look at the three potential loosies and come up with the real performer of the three - I would not put any money on any one of the three mentioned - it could be anyone of the three who ends up on the bench.

We should know by tomorrow who will be in the squad for Saturday.  What I am sure of the Idiot Speakers on site will shout and scream - irrespective of what happened.   For their sake I hope the Springboks lose on Saturday otherwise they would be ridiculed beyond belief on site.   What happened after the Aussie test would be mild compared to what will happen if the team wins against the AB's.  

1. Kriel is inferior to Am. Am is likely to be the starter. 
2. Damian is inferior to Frans and Andre.
3. We should try Elstadt at 7. 
4. Mapimpi is the best wing in SA. Nkosi demoted for Kolbe would be the better bet. Either that or shift Mapimpi to 14 and Dyantyi to 11. That is arguably our strongest combination. 
5. Rather Steph on the bench, dropping Lood. This covers more positions. 

No AO -  I did not spit venom at Meyer  - I merely referred to what he himself said about player selection - ignoring actual performance was the norm in the case of Meyer.   Erasmus practice the exact opposite - player performance  is the norm for selection. 

I also stated that Erasmus will be very careful in teams election and Idiot Speak will not play a role in that.    You are an expert in the latter - so I take I from whom it comes. LMAO

No AO -  I did not spit venom at Meyer  - I merely referred to what he himself said about player selection - ignoring actual performance was the norm in the case of Meyer.   Erasmus practice the exact opposite - player performance  is the norm for selection. 

I also stated that Erasmus will be very careful in teams election and Idiot Speak will not play a role in that.    You are an expert in the latter - so I take I from whom it comes. LMAO

player performance? I thought you said Andre was useless last year? Why was he selected thereafter? Likewise Louw? What about "geriatric" Brits? Or passed his best Duane? Or Damian? Or Kriel? Or quota Kolisi? Or Frans? Or Mostert, the destroyer of the rolling maul?

You have a bit of a contradiction here. Remember, J-Raz only ever selects based on performance! 

Mi?ego dnia 

Dyanti, is he he fit to play. if so wings would probably Mpimpi and Dyanti. Am left early for NZ so maybe he will get a chance but personally i prefer Kriel.

You ill probably see Frans Steyn on the bench along with Louw. Both are utility players. Rassie may not have a reserve lock as Step can cover lock, so he may go for another loose forward.

Who knows. There are a number of options.

Replacing Steph by Elstadt hahahahahahhahahahaha ou Organhuffer the troll strikes again. Very funny Orgs! Maybe Elstadt will get another chance against the Argies.

Beeno

As I said Erasmus will study the game against Australia with a fine comb and will deal with selections based on performance only.

He kept some players back in SA because of previous injury absences and used them on Saturday - eg Kriel, De Jager, Du Toit, Mtawarira and Etzebeth to give them game time.   He includes some players in the Aussie game to see what they bring to the party - some succeeded and some did not.

I think that the players whom I am unsure abut may be in the mix.   The problem is the fact that Erasmus is not going to drop Am to cater for Steyn and the other alternative is he might drop Jantjies and put Steyn on the bench that way - but that too is unlikely since Steyn cannot cover the flyhalf position at all.   

Be it as it may there are very few players I mentioned that will not be in the squad fo r Saturday..         .

Dave

I wish Pierre Schoeman was in the mix and so is J-L du Preez.   Bit I cannot fault pu on your viewpoints,

Dave

I wish Pierre Schoeman was in the mix and so is J-L du Preez.   Bu t I cannot fault pu on your viewpoints,

AO

No contradiction at all.   We have one established  12 and 2 established 13's in the squad.  It is always dangerous to only have one player in any position and it is obvious that Erasmus would look for alternatives as back-ups.  

That was the case on Saturday and he did try Esterhuizen and Steyn - but both was t my mind deficient and likely to not get to the WC.

The dark horse in the case as Damien Willemse.   He will be back in the squad as soon as his injury healed.    He can cover three positions effectively and has pace and is a much more effective player than Esterhuizen and Fat Fransie.     

Now the back-peddle begins. You must be wrong about these players then. I should add Mtawarira to the mix, another you slated as passed his best. Man, J-Raz is making this hard for you!

Willemse is no 10. Willemse has thus far been a washout at test level. 

So has Esterhuizen and since 2012 Fat Fransie.   Last time The Shark center were sent flying y Kuridrani, so what?   

Good points Herr Haifisch , he was also the starter at 15 against England at Twickenham. Rassie essentially gave him the keys to play the Willie playmaker role. He and Damian had tons of front foot ball. The pack pulverised the Poms - it was one of Steph's best tests. Yet these two ball hogs couldn't inflict so much as a dent. Our wings saw little ball that game.