The Kolbe drop

How bizarre - poor Kolbe must have felt awful given the shoreline at the time

Take that try and the penalty try out of the equation and leaves the Argies with 16

Sacha is on a different planet

Given the way we are playing (Tony Ball) we simply have to move on from AE and DA a centre

We need Willemse outside Sacha at 12

What the hell is the fascination with Nortje at lock - like Mostert he is physically inept and misses far too many tackles

Reinach once again was shit - why the hell is he our starting 9

Willemse, Kolbe, Hooker, Moodie, Sacha, Marx, PSDT and Wiese were our best players today

Wilco, Wessels, RG, vd Bergh and Libbok were good off the bench

It must have just been a lack of concentration where he dropped-kicked, instead of just kicking the ball before it bounced.

The Sasha kick pass to Kolbe, who ran onto it at pace and was unstoppable.

David

i must be honest, I know Reinach has made a few silly knock on mistakes in the past 2 games, but overall he is a machine.

he paces the game well. He tackles better than any other scrumhalf. His passing is crisp. He is lightning quick.

overall, I’m actually quite happy.

in saying that, though I’m not a huge fan of van den Bergh… he showed me today why Rassie likes him. He’s a good baller.

see Mike… right there. I did it.

I have changed my mind about a player. try be more open minded old fella.

Rassie called it a brain fart

The cross kick by Sacha was brilliant on two levels - the accuracy of the kick and the Kolbe skill to catch it running at pace

Rassie called what a brain fart?

I'm still not clear on what happened there. There were 3 Argies close to Kobe when he made the drop.

Yes, I know they weren't involved in the try.

Here is what Chat says...

"In rugby, the opposition must retreat at least 5 metres back from the goal line when a team takes a goal line drop-out (law introduced in 2021).

If they fail to do so, here’s what happens:

1. If they charge too early / are inside 5 metres at the kick:
2. It is an infringement by the receiving team. The referee will usually stop play and award a free-kick (or sometimes a scrum) to the kicking side, taken at the place of the infringement.
3. If they interfere with the kicker or prevent a fair drop-out:
4. The referee may escalate to a penalty kick for obstruction or unfair play.
5. If the kick is taken anyway and the opposition gain an advantage while being offside (inside 5m):
6. The referee should call them back and penalise them, returning play to the appropriate restart option for the kicking team.

So the short version:

?? The opposition must be at least 5m back from the goal line.

?? If they are not, the referee penalises them — normally a free-kick to the team taking the drop-out, from where the infringement occurred."

Then I asked, what if the kick is taken quickly...

"When a goal line drop-out is taken:

1. The receiving team must be back at least 5 metres from the goal line before the ball is kicked. That’s a law requirement, not just “if they have time.”
2. If the kicking team takes it quickly and the opposition are still inside the 5m zone (haven’t had time to retreat yet), then technically those opposition players are offside the moment the ball is dropped.
3. In practice:
4. If the quick drop-out doesn’t create an advantage, the referee will usually stop play and award a free kick to the kicking side at the place of the infringement.
5. If the offside players interfere (e.g. catch or charge down the drop-out while still inside 5m), it can escalate to a penalty kick.
6. If the kicking side plays on and no advantage is gained by the infringing players, referees sometimes let play continue — but the law says the opponents must be 5m back, so they’re always at risk.
7. 
   

?? Bottom line: The opposition must retreat the 5m no matter what. A quick restart is legal, but if the defenders haven’t got back in time, that’s their problem — and they can be penalised."

What chat is saying here is pretty much what I thought.

Must be honest…

I simply put the act down to a small brain fart by Kolbe.

you could see that look on his face afterwards. As if yo say “what the fuck was i doing”??

Kolbe was innocently passing the ball to Sacha to take the drop out

By choosing to drop kick it to him while innocent obviously counted as the goal line drop out.

It was piss poor sportsmanship of the Argies to take the try - not in the spirit of the game

No Chip - Reinach is kak - I can’t stand that step and wind up before he passes - it wastes time

Williams, vd Bergh, Papier etc are all better than him

Williams yes

van den Bergh not yet

Papier no

It easy to knock me down now, because he has made a few silly mistakes in the last couple of games (the unforced knock ons), but I love his energy, attitude and all round ability.

One small criticism of Williams is that he doesn’t dictate the pace of the game as well as Faf or Reinach do. But I am sure he will learn quickly.

Dave, the interesting thing now is how Ras plays Sacha, Manie and Pollard (who is still phenomenal).

we are truly blessed at the moment.

The point is, is the ref not supposed to award a free kick or penalty if there are players too close to Kolbe when he takes the drop?

Here is m eam for t he London test against Argentina

15 Willemse - there is nobody else available and I would prefer him at 12

14 Kolbe

13 Moodie

12 De Allende

11 Hooker

10 Sacha

9 Van den Berg

8 Wiese

7 Du Toit

6 Kolisi - may be used from the bench

5 Nortje

4 Etzebeth

3 Du Toit

2 Marx

1 Nche

16 Wessels. 17 Venter, 18 Louw, 19 Snyman, 20 Kwagga, 21 Reinach, 21 Libbok, 23 Esterhuizzen as a replacement flank forward, As a backline player he is NO GOOD,

In the end of the year tour I believe since Hnekom is not available that Roos should be in the team in future, WE have class loosies like Du Toit, Wiese, Hanekom and Roos available - the rest is not comparable to those 4.

Pollard is too slow in decsionmaking and acting to keep him around in the team anxd am not overly impressed by Reinach either. I think that Papier is a hell of a lot better scummie than Reinach anyway,

Well done Mike...basically the same team but you drop AE.

I can't say Reinach is the greatest 9 or our best, but he can handle the physicality around the ruck when players aren't protecting the ball. Williams did really poor when he started at Eden park. For all his pace, he was useless when some of the forwards we making contact.

Reinach bid kicks were poor, often very short and should have gone 10 meters further.

Van den berg made a real difference and we seem to get our backs and forwards running better lines off him and he wasn't afraid to carry the ball and delay his passes.

However, you need a robust 9 that can handle the bumps when the game start. We saw the Argentina forwards drop their intensity in the second half which made it easier for van den berg.

So you’d put Eaterhuisen on the bench as a forward?

im confused by your logic Mike.

He si not a center and not anything lse. His rugby most of this year for the Springboks at 6 bar i test was at flank.

What is amazing you quack on about all th over-30 years old players- but when it cmes to RWC 2027 Essterhuizen wil be 33 years old no better than he as ever before, Two gift tries - one by Du Toit and the other by Willemse was all he could do in his 23 tessts he played in. He never really stake his claim to play in the 12 position - but i prefer Wilemse to play ahead of even De Allende to play at 12 - not a slow thinker and doer.

I was not impresed by Reinach either and we should concentraste on younger players in 2027, There are very few of the older players ever staking his place in the team, I am srtill thinking only the following older players really have proven that they still needed in 2027 and those are Du Toit, Etzebeth and Kolbe - despite his brain fart yesterday.

As to the 12 posiition Willemse is my first choice - but there is no other real choice in that position - but definitely not Estehuizen - then rather De Allende. A far better defender than Esterhuizen, I am not sure about the other option. Hooker is a defnitely better at wing than he was at center for the Sharks in the URC. h would be a wasted talent to play him at 12, where I hope te Under 20 players showed how good they are by 2027.

Frankly I do not know whether Pollard will make 2027. He is injury prone and in hi case it mans long absences from playing to recover, Sacha and Libbok is far better than Pollard is at present and if ever there is a need fr another flyhalf it would be better to use Willemse at 10 rather than Pollard,

As to the forwards - the only player still in full force is Du Toit, Etzebeth is hot and cold and Marx is not the player he used to be. There are younger players that would produe the goods in 2027,

Mike you are speaking utter shit