The French win has sunk in

One has to agree with the podcasters when they say that this was the best win of the year and probably the best since the WC.

Would the result be the same had France had a few more games together under the belt this year? Perhaps. Had AD been on the park then the result might also be different. Who knows?

None of that matters. What matters is that win, and all of the context around it. France have been humbled and I bet they were calling their moms on Saturday night.

More than anything, I love the justice the win provided.

Justice for the way their fans behave; Booing the Boks in the WC and athletes at the Olympics. Disrespecting rugby by sending a B team to NZ.

From what I can tell, reading between the lines, most of the rugby world, while daunted by the win, also very much appreciated it because it'll both shut France up and remind them of why a failure to respect Test rugby is a road to peril.

Sacha scoring the final points on the day was also rather poetic. A reminder that while the Boks have been dominant, the new blood will lengthen and improve on that dominance - the conveyer belt is producing more and more frequently. Seriously, what in the hell? I'm befuddled by it and I live here. Imagine being a French or Irish fan, and all you know is that this distant land, known for producing great rugby players, is somehow increasing its output.

The Bok profile is massive right now too. Rassie is perfectly positioned as the loveable villain guarding an exciting and dangerous set of weapons. The new players coming through appear as though the result of imprisoned scientists were kept in a basement and forced under duress to experiment until such time as they produced genetic freaks capable of destroying the world.

As much as we all disagree on everything. We can agree that we are sitting mighty dang pretty right now.

I very much disagree with Draad's fears about peaking too early. It doesn't feel to me as though the Boks are actually at potential yet. Perhaps that's not really possible with the core group of aging players. If anything, I would be concerned that the Ebens and PSDTs in the side have the same effect that JDV and Matfield had when they were included in a WC squad while obviously being well past it. As long as we avoid that type of situation, we're in a very good shout in 2027.

The All Blacks in their prime was always a threat in the last 20 - even if you were 15 points ahead with 15 minutes to go, you always knew they were going to come back and probably win it. The Boks are now building that last 20 minute threat. Both the game against France and the last test against the All Blacks were finely balanced and then it started raining tries - 3 tries in the last 16 minutes against France, 3 tries in the last 12 minutes against the All Blacks. It is impressive, no doubt, and it points to superior conditioning, superior game management and superior mental fortitude.

I can see that there may be a few of the older playes in the 2027 RWC squad - but of those probablly Marx and Du Toit may be the only ones, But that depends on performance and not only age.

What bothers me most and came out in comments after the match by observers is the fact that team spirit in the team is a major problem for the opposing teams. The fact is the team is playing totally to the whole team and not individuals. Once one player is hurt or makes mistakes - the bond is even stronger than before.

I think that we do not find that in some of the franchises like the Sharks and the Bulls,and those two franchises needs a change as well. Ackerman inherited players like Pollard and Serfontein that hinder pogress of team development and I think they should look at what they can get.to ensure growth - and I do not doubt they would find the way to go forward.

In the case of the Sharks there are a new Head Coach is an essential and I think a new approach is needed. What about appointing Vermeulen as Sharks coach to replace Plumtree?

Another issue is that we must get away from amateurism and get proper game plans in place. The fact is the strong point in the present team is the team know where the strong points as well as weaker points in opposing teams are, They must defend against the strong points and exploit the weak points, So players must also be coached and trained to do just that. It may sound like theory - but it is what Erasmus main contribution as a coach represents and. Vermeulen will help masively in that respect.

What we need is available already since 2014 and was totally ignored by most of our franchise coaches and some training on coach level is necessary. These aspect emans the coaching team as a whole study detailed info of how the match should be played by evaluating individual player performances of opponents over a period of dsy four or five matches in terms of the process equitable to AI in rugby. That system follows every player in opposing teams and the Springboks use Jones as a central figure in that situation. The same should apply to potential opponent teams. Match schedues for the year on both test and franchise levels are provided well in advance and that si where every franchise should have a :"Jones" in their employ.

Lets be more specifc as an example and refer to the Bulls and to a more major extent the Sharks, Under white game plans were and are not in existence. White had one game plan and that was use of stronge forward play and ignore the rest. I will give you two examples - the URC final this year and th Sharks thus far this season. The forwards overwhelm their opponents and the backlines collapsed and the team loses all the potential advantages gained by the forwards and in that way lost matches, Two URC matches stood out as typical examples and those are the Sharks playing against Ulster and h necks week the Lions played Ulster, The must stronger Sharks team lost and the much weaker Lions teams won. The anwer is relatvely simple - the Sharks approach handicaps the team and the Lions played the match as a 15 man team and not an 8 man team the Sharks used.

Both the Stormers and Lions have two advantages - the teams are made up with younger and more mobile playes than the Buls and Sharks have. The playes are often unknown but bonds together stronger as a team. If the few Springboks in for instance the Storemers squad is away to play on test level the team is not really weakened. I referred under a separate threat where I dealt with contracting that the Stormers contracted the cream of the crop - the Bulls and Sharks paid massive salaries to individuals and ignore the conveyer belt you referred to. That is a very real problem as well.

Take another example as to the flyhalf issue, The Bulls brought in Pollard as flyhalf - but he did not have a good match on test and club/franchise level this year and the Sharks flyhalf is a joke in bad taste while the Lions one is supershit.- out of the blue the Stormers produce another matchwinner in the form of Matthee. Nobody in SA knew about him before - now he is MOM in their latest match. Not a Sacha - but a hell of a lot better than any of the other 3 franchise 10's. So what next - the next Sacha type 10 Ahmed is contracted by the Stormers and nothing of note by the other three franchises.

So maybe the converor belt should also be studied more carefully - I am sure Ackerman is going to succeed in tat and wht White did was the totally wrong approach which is making Ackerman's siuation much more difficult - but I m sure Ackerman can reproduce what he did when the Lions was very good in 2014 and 2015 by using younger and.more unknown players than the other three franchises did. For the Sharks a more forward looking coach is an essential. My choice would be Vermeulen.

. . . . . . . .

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Yeah.

superior conditioning, superior game management and superior mental fortitude - Basically, quality.

Up and down the squad there are some crazy players in the Boks. Kinda, hold the oppo out or in reach and then let your quality see you home in the final quarter. Which is pretty much what those ABs were too.

Other countries don't have the sheer luxury of two or three world class front rows, second rows and back rows...lol. Those assets on the books go a damn long way.

The Boks have momentum and a good few brilliant players knocking on the door too - luxury problems.

Let's see what musical chairs await us next year but I do hope Hanekom can have a good spell and be a cert for the WC.

I wonder if old Stav-inkakker saw what happened in France and is busy building his bunker right now in preparation of the real Green Giants landing on them fair Irish shores. He's stocking up on toilet paper, beans, books, and iodine pills.

Plum

Very funny

This is a team that have been together for a long time with the newbies understanding the culture of the team.

I have to agree, AB of old was very hard to beat and how many games they won even in the last minute. Remember that Soweto test, broke John Smit tackle and scored in the dying minutes for a win. Man U was another team that alway won in extra time.

The reality is that it doesn't last forever

The formula to beat the 2011-17 AB's

However long left on the clock plus 10. This was the total points you had to be up on the scoreboard to MAYBE secure the win.

Its great to see Plumster regaining his ability to think clearly. It looked as though he was lost to the dark side and lies and confuson of Mozzietards hapless Mamapara Union.

I hope Plumster goes from strength to strength and there are no serious lapse.

Also good to see other posters appreciating the moment we are in regarding Bok rugby. Of course it wont last forever but hopefully it can last past the next RWC. A lot depends on finding another great coach as this has been a big problem since readmission.

Rassie has some tricky and hard decisions to make. How many more of the old guard will he scrap. I think barring injury the Bok greats like Eben, Marx and Du Toit in the pack should make it.

Siya is a question. Hanekom will be back so competition will increase.

Malherbe is a possibly question, he has had a long layoff and rest. Can he come back?

In the backs its hard to tell with Allende and Kriel but closer to the time it will be clear.

I think Rassie is pretty ruthless and will drop guys who he thinks no longer have it or have been overtaken. Eg Bongi, Mapimpi Willie Le Roux. Its hard because strong bond have been formed amongst this band of brothers who have gone through hell together.