This from SA Rugby Mag is symptomatic of confused thinking

‘No 8 Kwagga Smith has also come under fire for his performance, particularly after he was targeted under the high ball by the Lions backline.’

Let me say I was skeptical about Kwagga’s selection and while I admire his talent, to me he has always fallen somewhere between sevens and regular rugby.

But I was pleasantly surprised by his field coverage on Saturday. When the Lions threatened Kwagga seemed to be in the right place.He took several high balls in the first half….might have been out competed on a few in the second.

But I ask you with tears in my eyes…..how do you target a number 8 with high balls. The sheer stupidity….the reflex blame game in SA rugby is amazing. It’s not Erasmus or Malherbe or Stephanie who was a penalty machine at fault…..it was Mostert and Kwagga.

...confused thinking indeed, and you've been doing it for a while now...

So you agree….it’s possible for backs to target the number 8 with high kicks. Interesting.

Kwagga was absolutely hammered fielding a few of those kicks, but took the hit, retained possession and kept us going with clean ball. That's overlooked, but Lood was "immense". Immensely overpowered, being dropped like a corpse at least twice. Kwagga made some good carries, and a nice little breakout run. I wasn't a fan of his at Super level, and he had a pretty disappointing debut against Wales in 2018, but he has improved a lot since then. It's not like anyone else is doing much better! Always a scapegoat for every myth. 

Meanwhile Itoje rips the ball off Dud Toit and that’s not physical. If that had happened to Mostert Dave would have written a book. But honestly, I can never remember Mostert being out muscled like that.

Just as I thought…..not physical.

|What clearouts has Steph done? He is heavier than Mostert, not sure about stronger. Dave likes his thicc BBB. Heavy, slow, unskilled plodders who are predicted to monster opponents, but it never happens. I fell into that hype when I was a kid, thankfully I grew out of it. Seeing the biggest Bok pack ever against England in 2001. The hype was out of this world, and a Saffer businessman bet a small fortune the Boks would win. They didn't even come close. They were totally man-handled. This is the type of stuff Saffy likes. Seeing slow, heavy plodders exert weight without explosive power. Lood was stuffed. Steph is not a decisive factor in terms of anything.