Team to be announced

It seems to be that the following has emerged in rrespect of selection of the team is concerned - since th injury report surfaced:-

*    Goosen has a nagging minor ankle problem - with a detrimental affect on goalkicking, but it does not impact on other aspects of his game and he will be selected.   Make me wonder though - even though it is denied - it must have some sort of an impact.   He had an excellent game for a first-timer -  a fully fit Goosen will be more of a handful than he was on Saturday.

*   Kirchner - no further report on that one.   Kirchner developed a similar problem in the second POM test and was replaced in the third test against the POMS.   Likely to be the case again on Saturday - so I leave him out of the team likely to play.

*   Steyn is out for the rest of the year - so no effect on the team selection at this stage.

*  Oosthuizen is fully fit and will be on the bench.

Bearing in mind the above, the team is likely to be as follows:-

15  -   Lambie

14  -   Habana

13   -  Taute

12  -   De Villiers

11  -   Hougaard

10  -   Goosen

 9   -   Pienaar

 8  -    Vermeulen

 7  -    Alberts

 6   -   Louw

 5   -   Bekker

 4  -   Etzebeth

 3   -   Du Plessis

 2  -   Strauss

 1  -   Beast

The bench will be as follows:-

16  -   Liebenberg

17   -  Oosthuizen

18   -  Van der Merwe

 19  -   Coetzee

 20   -   Jantjies

 21   -   De Jongh

 22  -    Mvovo

The backline bench players scare the hell out of me.   The All Blacks apparently intends to target Goosen in this game.    They are likely to attack in the channell because of Goosen's perceived weakness in defence.   Incidentally the Aussies tried the same and did not really get anywhere - but in the case of Jantjies defence in the channell really is a chronic problem.   Hope the All Blacks keep to the rules in this case - there would be a riot if they use illegal rough  stuff in an effort to get Goosen off the field.  

De Jongh is a reasonble defender - but means nothing in attacking play, in fact absolutely useless in attacking play.   He was useless in the Stormer backline and remain so now.

Mvovo - scary just to think about him.   He is useless under high balls and in defence.   Why the hell is he even a possibility to be on the bench?  Hopefully if Kirchner's absence is confirmed,  Meyer will call up another player that could go pn the bench to cover the full back and wing positions.   Magoe was called up - but he is one-dimensional and really not fit to play on international level.   Slightly less scary than Mvovo, bit still poor in defence.   Remember he played in the Lions backline -  enough said.

I would indeed  be surprised if there are any variation in the above selections - so lets wait and see what happens this afternoon.       

Mike your starting 15 is probably correct although you might find Kirchner starting if fit -meyer appears to favour him and lambie in 25 minuts faile dto make any marked impression.

On the bench Flip will be the reserve lock if he doesnt start. Of the backs Mvovo will not be there I dont think. Watch out for Mapoe a player who is more robust and likely I think to be on the bench. Another one of ou snapsters favourites looks about to bite the dust?

Anyway we shall soon know.

I watched the Bok/Oz game again last night. I actually thought the Boks forwards got on top of the ab pack more and had a better outing in Dunedin all in all. Goosen apart from a few breaks in the first half was pretty quiet thereafter with Pienaar taking over a lot o fhis role. Goosens first long range kick from 10 meters inside his half was really not a bad kick - he could have made it from another 5 meters out. It is vital these kicks are made on Saturday. How great it would be to land our kicks, take our chances and whip the abs by 20 at least!

Beeno

In dealing with the above I assumed that Kirchner will not play as a result of injury.   If I was Meyer I would call another player to cover the full back position if Kirdcner cannot play.   Mapoe is robust - but as thick as a plank when it comes to playing rugby.  He would be a disaster if he has to come on - something on par with Greyling, the ideal sup from an All Black perspective.

You missed out something when it comes to the forward play last Saturday.   It was an absolutely determined effort on the part of the Aussies to try and subdue the Bok forwards - it was even reported on  in the media.   The signs were there that they did exactly what was reported in the media - but was not really successful.   However, it left the backline stranded and the overall result was that they lost the game badly.

There is no doubt that the All Blacks will try the same stunt - if they do they are also going to come short.   To be quite frank some of the All Black players are highly over-rated individuals and not good in the tight phases of the game.   Wider out they look good - so they will have to play like they did Dunedin and that would not help much in this case..   

Why would Meyer play a less than 100% fit  player in Goosen if he is carrying aninjury? If that is not a sign of a complete lack of confidence in the backup player Morne Stains then I dont know what is?

That Ozzie team was shite and have been since the RC started no amount of glory hunting will hide the fact they area depleted and desperatley underpowered and underskilled team especially their forward pack without so many frontliners.

The SpringBoks are missing Hulk Burger and Bismark Duplessis( hes a seriously good player) but your replacments are equally good and the SpringBoks havent lost a lot if any from Burger but have lost some impact without Bismark. But the player group in South Africa is way better than in Australia.

Its interesting the way I read what some South African posters put on here about the arrogance of the All Blacks because you are obviously listening to the wrong bunch of people. You need only watch our Rugby Channel and you will see that the All Blacks themselves hold massive respect for the SpringBoks and most of our journalists put the South African clashes as the ones that New Zealand most fear but look forward too. So guys we are not arrogant in anyway and I suggest that you be careful who you listen to as I see just as much arrogance from plenty of SpringBok supporters.

Back to rugby - I disagree with many points raised in this forum but thats all cool - ka pai is what we say in Kiwiland! The Aussies were ok in patches but looked like a bunch of headless chickens at times. Will Genia alone would have made an immense difference - however you would have still beaten them.

There are just as many over-rated players in the SpringBok team Mvovo, Kirchner, Morne Stains, Frans Stains, Flip Merwe, Bekker (has had one good game), Vermuelen(heaps of hype but hasn't done much), JDV (wouldnt make many international teams on his form) Houggard (hes at 6ixes and sevens with his game) and even Lambie for the short times hes been on have all shown inconsistencies and have all failed to meet the level expected of a top international player so it probably cancels out your comment. 

The All Blacks completely dominated the Argentinians last week and that has set them up nicely for the return match against the SpringBoks. As for the kicking percentages - whats gone wrong? You cant have "not so bad" kicks that miss lol thats silly the only good kick is the one that goes over the bar.

Be mindful that this All Black team will be coming to South Africa to win and not come second. The SpringBoks will be a massive challenge and that is fantastic but I predict a win the the All Blacks by 15+ points and in the end do it easily after taking some pressure for about 60 minutes from the SpringBoks.

World Champs

Thanks for the nice contribution.   Let me explain - I do not really believe things witten by or said by others.   O am in the fortuntae position of being able to watch games reperatedly and identify certain players.   Years of doing that have resulted in some of my ideas about age of players, injuries, player performances, eic - which can really be contested.   Sometimes I post them merely to get a reaction..

Let me explain further - behind the Kings Park pavillions there is a braai area - where the fans gather after the games.   Normally they are father in groups of friends.   After one of the games - easily won by the All Blacks - we were having a braai (I believe you call it a barbegue) when we were joined by two All Black players.   They were mafgificent and extremely nice.

Much like the All Black players comments on SA Rugby - I believe thinking people in rugby circles here - share that respect. for All Black players   Do not take what some people write  too seriously.

By the way I differ from you completely about an All Black victory - we will see on Saturday what will happen.