I like the fact Meyer has blooded youth in the backline. A backline combo of 15. Le Roux 14. Senalta 13. Kriel 12. De Allende 11. Habana 10. Pollard 9. Reinach would be killer. They did good againgst Wxv. Forwards need to pick it up though. Should be too strong up front. I think after the worst SA super 15 campaign ever. Theirs a chance to gain a bit of rep before the RWC.
S15 has no bearing on the RC or the RWC.
If the Boks get the basics right they'll be just fine.
"That said, I agree we should "be just fine", but not if we have a very poor RC, and we have a squad of players that lack self belief."
Bingo!
You've nailed it.
Disagree that our talent pool is less than that of NZ based on the S15 performances - our S15 coaches mostly get their selections wrong and sides like the Sharks were depleted with injuries.
We have as much talent, if not more than NZ, but apart from Ackerman, our S15 coaches leave a lot to be desired.
SA rugby is let down by its coaches in a big, big way both at S15 and national level.
S15 results this year are not a reflection on the talent pool in SA
To think, players like Taute, Senatla, Pat Howard, Jean, Kobus v/Wyk, Ruan Botha, Jean Kleyn, Elstadt, Rhodes, Carr, Lood, Sadie, Coenie, Rhule, Jean Cook, Oupa, Arno Botha, Visser, Serfontein, Buyers, v/Zyl, Mellett, Visagie, Hattingh, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Liebenberg, Mnisi, Watermeyer, SP Marais, Jordaan, Frans, Tyler Fisher, Swiel, Lambie, Reinach, Thomas du Toit, Cooper, PSDT, Lewies, Alberts, Deysel, Mtembu etc saw little S15 action for various reasons
Even with weak links like Jannie, Pienaar and JP the boks are still competent to get the job done.
I'm predicting the boks to win by a comfortable margin. The forwards have the power to dominate up front and the backline can really fire with Damian creating opportunities.
3ku1, you are spot on.......therein lies the difference......if we had the Kiwi coaches we would be at the top of the rugby pile of that I am convinced.
Just look at our depth at prop for instance......Jannie, Beast, Thomas du Toit, Chadwick, Kebble, Kitshoff, Malherbe, Koch, S.v/d Merwe, Coenie, Maks v/Dyk, Mellett, Marcel v/d Merwe and Nyakane......do NZ have this kind of depth?
