The Upcoming Irish test series

The following was the team against Ireland when the teams played each other in November 2014:-

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Marcel Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3  Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Patrick Lambie, 23 JP Pietersen

It really was from a South African perspective a seriously deficient performance losing by 29-15 – the worst performance in the 2014 EOYT.   There were 19 ball possession losses  –  11 penalties given away – 13 missed tackles.   The most disappointing performances on the day came from the senior reputation players Meyer selected – but Hougaard and Pollard also had sub-standard games.

So what is going to happen in the upcoming irish series.    Of the 23 players in the squad that test  only 9 is still in the Springbok squad and there is no guarantee that all 9 players would be selected in the upcoming tests.   That means the whole story about what is going to happen in the upcoming series is difficult to predict.   It would depend  on the team selection – but the benefit is that the under-performing old guard Meyer selected is largely gone and that we may yet see a more enthusiastic and better tea m coming to the fore.

 Actually no....you are in a fog again trying to tie things to your pet theories. Hougaard's numbers tell the whole story. For the rest all the senior players had good numbers with one or two glitches. 
Hougaard passed the ball 62 times and kicked twice. He kicked twice! That has to be a world record from a test scrummie. It was in effect an attempt to play phase rugby....Pollard kicked 5 times. We kicked 7 times to Ireland's 18 times, which they achieved with 43% of the possession and 38% of the territory.
We dominated the game with 50% more metres, but we couldn't ring the register. In part because Hougaard coughed up the ball 3 times trying to play a high paced passing game. 
The seeds of this loss were sown in our home wins over the ABs and Oz where we scored some good tries. We decided we would run Ireland off their feet, instead we ended with the foot in the mouth.
And if we try and play like the Lions in the RC it will happen again. When the defence is clearly organized you have to revise your tactics.
SHHougaard0/002/62/41002033/00/010/0

It was poor play at the breakdown combined with the Bumbling of Hougaard. 
It is common knowledge that the game in the northern hemisphere allows for more competition at the breakdown.
If I recall that may have been Hougies last test for the Boks. Hougie is effective in a fast open game, or off the bench or at wing etc- but hopeless with slow messy possession. He never stands inside the ruck to clear, Instead he bumbl es at the base of the ruck- 

We are going to slaughter the St Paddies

 Nope he played against Wales....remember the penalty tap kick, followed by a kick directly into touch.
And I agree the NH teams generally struggle in RSA, and this is an Irish team compromised by injuries. The risk is we will lose perspective before the RC.

 The simplistic approach again - blame one player for the fiasco - in an effort to hid the deficiencies of certain team members.   There were 19 ball possession losses -  Hougaard contributed 3 of those - who did the rest?  Le Roux 3 - Serfontein 2, Habana 2, Coetzee 2.   There were 13 missed tackles - with Habana not making a single successful tackle - but missing 1.  Jannie Du Plessis missed 2 tackles, Vermeuen 2  and Hendricks 2.  The rest was shared.   However the penalties given away cost the Springboks dearly - with 5 penalties converted by S exton and Madigan,   So who were the culprits in giving away the 11 penalties?  Burger 2 - Bismarck du Plessis 2 - Serfontein 2 - the rest 5.Why could we not "ring the register"?  Hougaard and Reinach passed the ball 81 times - of those passes only 29 went to Pollard and Lambie.  Where did the rest go to?  We know 8 went to Matfield - who carried the ball 7 times for a meter gain of ONE meter only.   Most ball possession coming from the forwards were poor quality ball and the backline was under pressure most of the time.   With that kind of possession no team will "ring the register". With that kind of poor general performance a loss was inevitable - so is the blaming of a single player by the prejudiced uninformed.       

 I always find it interesting when a Kiwi team ... any Kiwi team ... is interviewed after a match. They always tend to mention the same thing that South African teams don't ever consider as a vital part of each contest ... and that is the attitude they approach the match in.
McCaw was always talking about their attitude. 
It seems we go into most matches without a single person pumped or psyched up. There no enthusiasm ... no attitude ... no force of will to win as a unit.
The Bulls of old had it ... well at least for the first 20.
The Lions lost to the Canes a few weeks back because we weren't mentally up for the game. The Canes on the other hand were most certainly up for it and they kicked our butts.
Novak was interviewed a little while back and asked what it was that separated the top tennis players from those a little further down the pecking order ... his response ... the mental aspect, how you think, what you believe, your approach.
Gary player said that the most difficult aspect of golf was what was going on in your head .. that winning a match or a tournament all depended on what your mental approach was.
We have talent coming out our ears and yet we find beating Scotland and Wales a mission. 
Andre Agassi improved his play dramatically once he got his mind right. 

Perhaps it's time we look toward being a little more professional ... the lack of talent is definitely not the issue.

Fair post CC

 "Andre Agassi improved his play dramatically once he got his mind right." His book "Open" makes for a very interesting read, I'm half way through it.....but if you're talking will to win in rugby then I think the Boks in the '95 RWC are a classic example.

Very true Denny 
Against all odds as well, with a surprise first game win against the Aussies
Suzie sure helped out

 The fact is the Springboks really had two psychological deficiencies - the one is the will to win, the other to play as a team and not as individuals.   At critical stages of games they do not pass balls and individual players get "white line fever"   Both are the result of defective coaching - I am afraid.   But then there are also selections that played a increasing negative role in recent years.  The players selected could not adjust their game since they entered the professional game playing a certain style of rugby and were unable  to change that when a changed approach became necessary after the 2008 rule changes allowing for a more comprehensive game to be played.  The result was a chronic inability to score tries because of predictability.   Before the game in October 2014 Hansen said something really to the point indicating a degree of worry about the outcome of the game - which they lost.  He said in his comments something to the effect that they were worried about the game because they know precisely what will happen with Morne Steyn as flyhalf - but they do not know what will happen with Pollard at flyhalf.   So although the issue about attitude is extremely important - we must never lose sight of the other persistent problems  over the past 8 years - especially the  reputation selections and predictable game plan usage.           

 The fact is the Springboks really had two psychological deficiencies - the one is the will to win, the other to play as a team and not as individuals.   At critical stages of games they do not pass balls and individual players get "white line fever"   Both are the result of defective coaching - I am afraid.   But then there are also selections that played a increasing negative role in recent years.  The players selected could not adjust their game since they entered the professional game playing a certain style of rugby and were unable  to change that when a changed approach became necessary after the 2008 rule changes allowing for a more comprehensive game to be played.  The result was a chronic inability to score tries because of predictability.   Before the game in October 2014 Hansen said something really to the point indicating a degree of worry about the outcome of the game - which they lost.  He said in his comments something to the effect that they were worried about the game because they know precisely what will happen with Morne Steyn as flyhalf - but they do not know what will happen with Pollard at flyhalf.   So although the issue about attitude is extremely important - we must never lose sight of the other persistent problems  over the past 8 years - especially the  reputation selections and predictable game plan usage.           

 Yet, after the so-called "2008 law changes" a certain SA side won two S14 titles. Guess who was the flyhalf?

 Mike ... you seem to be stuck in the twilight zone ... or somewhere else ... but there where you are wearing blinkers seem to be the order of the day.
Believe it or not (don't rightly give a fcuk) but there was a time a few years back when Morne, with his deft little inside passes and sublime chip kicks over the top was absolutely the best 10 in the country.
He was selected shortly there after and proved it to us all.
Even Fourie Du Preez asked him where all that wizardry was coming from. 
Morne Steyn was a confident 10 and at that time a friend of mine and I honestly thought that we'd finally found our Dan Carter.
He was superb.
I do not know what took place but within two season his confidence had gone and we saw him playing a lot deeper than usual.
He never managed to return to that spell of brilliance ... and we the fan lost out big time.
You seem to love harping on about the old players (stuck record) and how their selection rob of us of victory ... but you seem to conveniently forget what they once were and how proud we were of them at that time.
I was a big fan of Morne Steyn ... he lost his way under Ludeke and the rest is history.
It would be nice if you'd stop making out that the players you don't like sucked right from the onset.
Look at your recent horsesh!t about Alberts.

 Serfontein is out injured
Link to article
Irish are dropping like flies & now the bocks seem to be doing the same.

 On the mental aspects of the game, e.g. attitude, ability to deal with pressure and still perform, etc. the ABs introduced a sport pysch after the 2007 debacle in the RWC. 
Since then you see a different response to pressure. Look at the likes of Beuaden Barrett, when he makes a mistake he strikes back fast & effectively. 
An example was in a test against the Boks in their "fortress", 2013 when after his mistake he got the ball & sliced through the defense to score a fantastic try. This is a game we all remember because the Boks committed to open rugby and ran in some great tries. The ABs struck back to win the game.
Video highlights

There were many other examples. 
Ireland vs ABs 2013
Video highlights
Some might say the ref was a factor but I will not comment on such unsubstantiated BS

 Looking forward to that series. Not for the games but to count the number of in form players who make it to the field.

Now, taking into account the complex racial classification imposed by the excellent men, the count might be wrong and exaggerated.

No matter what, and despite this bias, cant wait to see how far from the transformation targets these squads are going to be.

Borado makes more sense. At least he knew how to eliminate Blah, blah. blah...does any rational thinking, poster understand this guy, really, I'm serious.

 Transformation of the pigmented brain cells is what's needed, not transformation of perception. Base the premise on cultivating normal sport in a normal society, there cannot be abnormal sport(quotas, which is racist) in a normal society. Dress it any which way that you desire...quotas, transformation...it is and remains racist.

I know we have here a few loose screws here but this one is really a candidate for the cuckoos nest.

 No we don't...I find our friend quite perceptive.

The law changes took some time to phase in and for teams to adjust to them.   In the case of New Zealand it was implemented faster than in other countries.  They were followed by Australia and Argentina and there were some signs that even in Europe they were implemented slowly - basically because so many SH players play for Clubs in Europe.  However, in South Africa De Villiers to his credit tried to make some adjustments in 2008 - but he was too weak to implement anything - and with Meyer it was never a consideration - partly because it was impossible to get the older players to learn anything new.   About Morne Steyn what most people remember is the more recent performances and one can only sympathies with him - although I have never met him - is I believe really a very nice person.  However, Morne was ruined as a player by his coaches who expected him to play the style of rugby which they prescribed and in the process lost his earlier skills.  He is definitely not the first player who fell into that trap. Matter of fact with Ludeke and Meyer around Pollard was going in the same direction - but he is still young and can be s aved from that trap.       

 That is exactly what I think as well...the political psyche of sport,rigid conservatism and how everything, including sport effects our way of thinking.

We have so many misunderstandings of our deeper problems...we are a country with problems...deep problems with very decent but simple people that are easily led...it goes to group thinking, tradition, mixed colour and the hurt of past wrongs...we are very stereo-type because of this and for us the real variations and degrees  of problems are often blown out of proportion and context and thus misunderstood, emotional, irrational, out of context and used by the clever politicians to manipulate.

To come back to rugby...Mike your accessment of Morne Steyn and the mindset of our choices and strategies in rugby, sounds about right..."However, Morne was ruined as a player by his coaches who expected him to play the style of rugby which they prescribed and in the process lost his earlier skills.  He is definitely not the first player who fell into that trap. Matter of fact with Ludeke and Meyer around Pollard was going in the same direction - but he is still young and can be saved from that trap.