Springboks Withdraw from Rugby Championship

"Taking 50 players out of your Currie Cup completely dilutes it to a sub standard club competition."

The Currie Cup is a sub-standard club competition. 

Most CC teams will beat the NF Cluib teams easily - another stupid AO Comment.   When wioll you ever learn about rugby dimness?  

Fully agree Dave

Stavanger is correct, the crowd numbers are very high in the NH. 

Highest in an English match is 82,000; Quin’s vs Wasps 2018. 

"Stavanger is correct, the crowd numbers are very high in the NH. "

Good news!

In 1960/61 the Boks were touring the UK.....we had an unbeaten record of 28 wins and one careless draw against Midland Counties with one game to go.....a match against the Barbarians. 

The Boks were on the cusp of matching the Invincibles with  a harder itinerary. 

And the ultimate hurdle was a Barbarians team that supposedly was going to look like a Lions outfit.

Shamefully the Bok management decided to chicken out. The Boks made the suggestion the game be played as a festival game mixing players from each team.

Rightfully the Baa Baas rejected the idea and the match went ahead. But the damage was done, the Boks lost the mental edge and lost the game. It was sporting cowardice.

Pulling out of this tour doesn’t rise to that level....but it comes from the same mindset. We might lose so let’s not play. None of the facts have changed over the past six weeks, we knew back then our players would be undercooked.

So we dithered, watche d an AB/Wallaby contest and chickened out. I think this decision was a 100% in Erasmus’ hands  and he made the decision I would have predicted of him.

I don’t believe the ABs would ever have done this, which is why they will continue to be the World’s rugby team and we will remain interlopers regardless of our WC win. 

"We might lose so let’s not play. None of the facts have changed over the past six weeks, we knew back then our players would be undercooked."

No it does not. Due to factors totally out of our control, we will be totally unprepared It will do injustice to a more than a century old rivalry...the spirit of the game is about  competing on a level playing field...this isn't about chickening out, it's about not accepting a loaded deck.... let NZ, Aus and Argie come to South Africa and let them do the month of quarantine...or postpone things a month or two...don't call us chicken for not accepting the sh!t end of the stick in a sh!tty year. We are the incumbent World Champs after all. It should count for something, right?

It's like asking the heavey weight boxing champ of the world to fight a fully trained previous champ, totally unprepared. It's totally absurd even suggesting it. This is professional sport, not sibling rivalry...we have a duty to protect our brand...asking for a bit of common ground is not unreasonable. 

No we have a record to create....and this is the first step backwards. This was a classic case of lose and you lose nothing, everybody can see the handicap .....but win and your argument is indisputable.

"let NZ, A us and Argie come to South Africa and let them do the month of quarantine...or postpone things a month or two...don't call us chicken for not accepting the sh!t end of the stick in a sh!tty year"

Well said

"Being on tour with 5 players injured is vastly different to the whole squad having not played a test match since the WC victory and taking on sides that have played 4 recent tests against each other"

I have to agree......

"Nope lose and you lose the momentum and the confidence that took 2 years to build up"

Fully agree, just watching the docu series shows just how very important this aspect of the game is.... and it took Rassie a while to get the confidence back up there....

Look when Rassie demanded that they get to within a bonus point of the All Blacks, by going for poles.....and the players said "fuck you" to Rassie and went for the draw...…

The belief and confidence to do it, was there

It was awesome hey Dave, I agree

By the time we play test rugby again the whole WC aura and many of the players will be gone. This is wasting it, just as much as letting White go after 2007 was wasting it.

I understand it’s not a level playing field and you guys make some good points, but I think a loss under these circumstances wouldn’t be unexpected and wouldn’t sting as badly.....and a win would be monumental. 

This was our chance to grab the rugby world by the throat....instead we begin, undercooked and disconnected from our WC win next year against the Lions. If we lose that series we go all the way back to 2018, 2019 will seem like it never happened.

Huge mistake.

Some very goods points all around actually...….

"Wrong Moz, best decision in a long time was getting rid of Jake the snake post the WC"

I agree with moz on this one 

I think we lost a lot of impetus that White brought into the team..... I am not saying he should have stayed for a few more years..... but the timing of White leaving was not in the best interest of SA rugby at the time

Yes DA a civil discussion by posters with differing points of view...good stuff!

LOL @  moz