The Challenge Ahead

If only our next game could be at home. It won't be, instead we travel from Mendoza to Brisbane. To a miserable hunting ground in Suncorp Stadium. The Boks have played 11 tests: 10 against Australia and 1 against Samoa in the ill-fated 2003 World Cup. We have only won twice. Thumping Samoa, and downing newly elected coach, Uwin McKenzie's Wallaroos in 2013. It's a poor record that goes back to 1965, when Nelie Smith's Boks went down 12-8 (what would have been a 12-12 draw today).

Fastforward to 2018 and we have a Wallaby side in a crisis of its own. The pressure is slowly beginning to squeeze Cheika after a series loss the Ireland and two successive defeats to an All Black side they never looked like beating at any point point of the Bledisloe series. They are without star player Folau, but they are back home. Can the Boks break the Wallabies? Can we do what has only been achieved once before in 53 years? Or will the Wallabies find relief once more in a Bok encounter. For many years it's the Bok encounter where the Australians have been able to relieve pressure. We can guarantee with certainty that Cheika and his troops will be desperate to stem the tide which stands at 1 win in their last 7 tests.

For Rassie, a defeat in Brisbane will mean traveling to Wellington on the back of two defeats for a 42% win percentage. It will also mean sliding further down the rankings from the miserable 7th we currently occupy.

Two coaches with something to prove; Two teams in dire straights. 

Suncorp (Lang Park) Record:

1965 - Australia (12) vs South Africa (8)

1997 - Australia (32) vs South Africa (20)

1999 - Australia (32) vs South Africa (6)

2003 - Australia (29) vs South Africa (9)

2003 - Samoa (10) vs South Africa (60)

2006 - Australia (49) vs South Africa (0)

2009 - Australia (29) vs South Africa (6)

2010 - Australia (30) vs South Africa (10)

2013 - Australia (12) vs South Africa (38)

2015 - Australia (24) vs South Africa (20)

2016 - Australia (23) vs South Africa (17)

AO

That is exactly the reason why the best team available should play against the Aussies.   We cannot afford to have a "dead" loosie combination like we had in the last test - we cannot afford another debacle at lock - we cannot have two centers who failed test after test.   

Those are the positions where review is most urgent.  

My further comments will follow after Erasmus has announced the squad for the Australasia n tour part of the RC 

The challenge ahead is to prepare the termination of rugby in SA. That is the first and only challenge. It will not be taken.

The Wallabies unlike the Boks are a settled side,  also unlike the Boks they have shape and they are playing on their patch. Both teams are coming off a loss, both are average teams, I don't fancy the Boks chances.

The Wallabies have uncertainty at centre. Beale missed 6 tackles in that last game. He was their 10 in the first encounter. They have more experience in the backs though. They also lost Folau, their chief attacking weapon. If I remember correctly, they lost another back. So, theoretically, the Boks have an easy layup. If only it were that simple. 

Which Bok team will show up? The one who was too lateral? Or the power play of the first game? I think the former is too much for Australia. The more the Boks force Australia into a wrestling match, the better our chances. 

The big question for me though is defence, and offloads. These were a big problem in the last game. We need to contain the Wallabies. If we don't, they'll carve us up. I must concede that the Wallaby loose trio is a significant advantage. Leadership is another. There are pros and cons to both sides. It'll certainly be interesting.

In the end. I can't go against history. The last time we won, Albert's, Louw and Duane formed a formidable loose trio that demolished Australia at the breakdown. We also had the services of Morné who did an excellent job of pressuring Folau with high balls. The backs were terrific and the maul was absolutely unstoppable. We don't have those weapons, but we still have usable tools. In the end, the desperation of the Wallabies will shine through and I forsee a loss. 

Bathing in the past. The good old days.

SA rugby have no present and the future is termination.

AO

Let me remind you Kerevi is out with injury and replaced by Kuridrani.   Both two players are great Mozart heroes - he can give you more info on them.   Kerevi wa the guy upon which Goosen made a try saving tackle - which Mozart classified as a weak tackle.   So his biased opiniuon would be of great help to an equally biased individual.

Let me remind you that O Z has two of the best loosies in the world and they will mke mince meat of the seriously deficient  loosies of SA.   They will rule the breakdown points and will pilfer more and more balls of the Springboks.  

We don't have established combinations, and we've wasted time with some very poor players; The fans typically have very poor judgement. The slide began when Meyer tried to appease the plastic fans. He was rewarded with shambolic performances. As predicted, he was shown no mercy. The fans have what they wanted, but all those who had their pitch forks in hand aren't honest enough to now admit they were wrong. 

The Boks can lose to any team and follow it up with a win against any team (Except maybe the AB's). The Boks are now that side. How sad.

This excludes SA from being like FR. FR could beat anyone and lose to anyone.

SA will only register home wins (due to rigging the scene with the altitude, jet lag etc) and will not be able to beat the ABs (home or away)

Mozart

The blast must be from both the Meyer and Coetzee past - remember Japan!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I am pretty sure the flop Louw will really be gone.

The blast must be from both the Meyer and Coetzee past - remember Japan!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn

Malherbe was effective without being exceptional in the first test. I ranked him high because he was very busy and supported a lot of what we were doing even off the ball; that wasn't the case when those around him weren't dominant. He can be okay if we are dominant , if not, then is exposed. He'll never be a reason why we dominate. His scrumming is another concern. The signs were there, even in the first test, that he was shaky. The Aussies typically expose those kinds of weaknesses. We've had better front rows break against weaker Wallaby scrums. I recall how they milked us for penalties in 2012, a feat which saved the game for them.

I have to agree with Sharkbok (not begrudgingly) that Nyakane is a better bet. He fills a quota spot, without being a quota. Maybe that could pave the way for Kolisi to be phased out of the starting XV. It's something I'd have in mind at this point. 

Th problem is that Meyer never tried to appease anybody as stated by AO.  He was forced to select some players due to injury of his favourites and those players ended up in situations where they had minimal game time at the star of the WC.   Those players had to make up for serious failure of Meyer's reputation players.   He had so many of those in the squad and the funny part at least two of them played less than 30 minutes during the WC - while some never played at all.

Despite the lack of test experience the newer players were more successful than the reputation players they replaced.   One only have to go the Japan test to realize the failure of most of the experienced players and Meyer's panic selections to remedy the situation. 

The situation is that none of the players you apparently had in mind failing - so some real BS had to be dreamt up in that case and the fact that the Springboks had a deficient or virtually non-existent game plan completely neutralizing the backline was never realized by you.

One cannot argue with dreamers who cannot comprehend what happened in practice - really a tragedy  in your case.       .   

Pretty good team, but alas, no cigar  ..... as Jake once said, 'I never ever got to pi ck my best xv.'

He selected... 

1. Goosen for Morné
2. Lambie for Morné, 
3. Lambie for Pollard 
4. Pienaar for Hougaard 
   
5. Reinach for Pienaar
6. Vermaak at 9
7. Taute at 13
8. Arno Botha at 7
9. Basson at 11
10. Serfontein at 12
11. Damian at 13 and 12
12. Willie at 14
13. Lood ahead of Victor
14. Goosen at 15
15. Coetzee at 7
16. Boshoff at 10
17. Lambie for Kirchner (15)
18. Keegan Daniel
19. JJ at 13
20. Kriel at 13
21. Bekker at 5

Meyer made a mess of his chance as Bok coach. No loss there at all.

Looks as though Erasmus is going the same way.

Funny how everyone knows how to fix the Springboks.

Meyer is a good coach, but lacked the courage to follow his conviction. Rassie has done nothing that can match many of the things Meyer did. I can already see he is less adaptable and innovative. Another 4 years for Jake would have changed everything. Peter left the Boks stagnant and never got the best of that squad. 

Now, we will see what Rassie is really made of. A win in Australia will go along way to alleviate pressure and boost morale. Can he do it? I don't think he could have a better chance. He needs to be prudent. He has the framework for a strong team. This is going to define what kind of coach he really is. 

I agree. He does have a cowardly nature and it cost him.

We'll soon see. He has money to burn where he's at now.

I expect he'll put a team of rugby gods together and dominate all comers. You have to ask yourself though. Is it his skill as a coach, or the money that allows him to bat beyond his capabilities?

He will forever be remembered as the coach who was outplayed and outsmarted by a team that had no right to walk away the victors.

The wisest words come from the Dragon. They should never have fired Jake White, Jake had built up a great team barring pap weak backline wannabee Matfiled. He wins the world cup and gets fired!! The Politicians thought it an ideal time to bring in buffoon Pieter De Villiers who could ride on what Jake had built. The disastrous move set us back badly.

Now Rassie has even more stringent quota requirements. Who in his right mind believes Kolisi deserve the captaincy. he shows no leadership skills whatsoever. There is a debate as to whether he deserves his place but what vs certain is he cant be dropped.

Adding to these problems is the fact that so many SA players are plying their trade overseas. No longer is it just guys nearing retirement its youngsters as well.

Dragon your team was very interesting. Pack excellent and backline full of flair. Kwagga should have been made into a center years ago. Just like Cheslin Kolbe should have been playing at scrummie. What a monumental waste.

Organhuffer when we play down under the refs are a huge problem, they simply blow you out of the game. Big reason for us to go north. You can seldom beat a bent down under ref they have i t down to a fine art as we all know!

Meyer and Jake have proven they can build teams. That's not debatable. Meyer kept a team that had no right being 2nd in the world punching well above its weight. The plastics, however, believed the next gen players were the best in the world. JJ and Serfontein was the best centre pair in the word. Then Damian and JJ were the best centre pair in the world. Steph and Lood were the best locks in the world. Coetzee was among the best players in the world. Lambie was one of the best 10s in the world, for a time they claimed the best in the world. Goosen was the best 10 in South Africa in 2012, best 10 in Super rugby that year . Reinach was the best 9 in the world. The list goes on and on. Here we are, and now the golden generation isn't here to hold their hands, we see that cupboard is bare. It always was. It was never Meyer, but our inferior stock of players.

You're joking, surely?

Serfontein and JJ better than Nonu and Smith?

Reinach better than Aaron Smith?

Lambie better than Dan Carter?

Steph and Lood better than Whitelock and Retallick?

Wow!!

Have you lost your mind?

The question is not who were Meyer's crisis picks - but how many tests they played in for the Springboks before the WC?   Some were merely replacement picks and never lasted for more than 2 or 3 tests.   

The fact is flops like Morne had to be replaced and in some cases the replacements in fact were better than the junk rugby geriatrics Meyer relied on.