This is Rassies moment, can he end on a high this year

Many of us have been debating for ages now on this topic and whether Rassie is a great coach or is he just lucky. The fact that will always counts against him is that he doesn't have a perfect record like so many of the top coaches. Hansen, Jones, Farrel and even mallet all had winning runs of 17 matches. Where as Rassie has never been able to get past 7. Most of this due to his own arrogance and rolling the dice.

This could be another season where people like myself will ask the same question. The good news is that Rassie 2nd coming as head coach now has him at 80% which probably the highest of any other coach in the last two years.

He has only lost 4 games out of those twenty games which remarkable.

Then when you think about it, he shouldn't even have lost some of those games. Especially the games against Argentina and the Ireland game was touch and go.

Of those losses, the hardest one to swallow was letting Ireland beat us in our own back yard.

Then, New Zealand has also struggled, so has Ireland and so has France.

There are 5 games left in the season.

What will Rassie do. Will he roll the dice again and continue with his rotation or is he going to try and put the best team out.

We still question some selections of Dud. Jessie Kriel is a forgotten memory and Pollard don't even seem to be getting a look. We haven't seen Koch or Bongi at all and Willie is hanging in there by a narrow thread and may still appear at Twickenham if we lose Willemse to injury.

I think Rassie should now settle and get us over the line.

Experiment against Japan and Italy, our squad is strong enough to see them off but please just go and beat Ireland and France.

Can we have a perfect end of year tour for once.

He can start next year with his final experimentation as we have a home series against New Zealand with A games, local games etc. But I would love for Rassie to white wash them.

Time to move on from the old guard and let the other players now gain experience. Time to bring in cover for full back, wing, front row and 9

Only a fucking idiot would put anything Rassie does down to luck - fuck me luck on one or two occasions plays a part in all sports but to even suggest it’s down to luck over a period of 8 years is just plain fucking stupidity and an insult

If luck plays no part, Dawie, then I suppose every Bok knock-on was part of Rassie’s masterplan too?

Oh wow that is so stupid I’m not even going to bother

That could be your crowning moment Doos

If Rassie continues along this trajectory and puts stampkar musical chairs behind him then I'd be very pleased.

I hope he does and I hope we dominate the end of year tour. With the type of rugby we played in the last two games.

What do you nhope Plum - that play stampkar and chose the stampkar king Esterhuizen in the critical 12 position?

I ponmted out repeaedly that the first AB test was lost because of three players - Willie, Pol;lard and Williams at scrummy - stop playing stampkar players and put Willemse at 12 and find another full back like Green in the squad at full back. That would to my mind the ideal backline all pacy and thinking players.

Well the last two games demonstrate just how unnecessary those lucky one point wins were…..we have by far the best player resources in World rugby. Debate that if you can.

And we are playing in a Rugby era where NZ is at their weakest and Australia has been at their weakest for 7 of Lucky’s years, just emerging this year, but not all the way back

Watching the NZ/Oz game yesterday just underscored how poor NZ is….they won on the back of some of the worst refereeing I have even seen.

These are our two biggest rivals….the teams who apart from England’s one win have also won WCs.

Diminished opposition, best squad ever, luck….not genius.

I have to give Rassie credit in how he transformed the team. I can’t remember when we were beaten by more than 7 points or completely out of it.

That said, that implosion we had against Australia was disgraceful. Conceding 38 unanswered points.

But if I look at squad depth then I think SA is looking better than any other team right now.

I think France is probably the only other team that comes close. But they only focus on 7 test matches and then throw the rest away.

I don’t see any other nation with our forward depth, even with new comers like Boan Venter, who was solid, we are still able to put a dominant scrum performance.

With Ox and Stenekamp injured, we lost Kittshoff for ever. That is a massive hole. Last year we had a lock crisis but we were still able to bring in some players.

The only position I haven’t seen us dominate is at 9. Williams is great in certain conditions but doesn’t play well in conditions.

but if I was Rassie I would now just narrow the team to 38 or even 33.

Maybe 45 at the start of the season but never go beyond that and don’t cap more than 35 players in one season.

Utter bullshit

Oz proved against us just how good they are

It has fuck all to do with NZ being weak and everything to do with Oz making a welcome comeback

Rassie just keeps proving what a bunch of ignorant clowns you lot really are

The best you lot can do is tell us how weak everyone else is

Fucking embarrassing but hey ho who gives a fuck - Rassie is now by some distance the best coach we have ever had and he is achieving all this with different team selections each week

The man is next level

Of course NZ are poor, Australia are nowhere at the level they were through 2011, but better than they have been for the last 7 years,

But here’s the question for you Dave, do we have far the best player resources in the game. This is a Yes or No question.

No

Who has equivalent talent….just a name will do

France, Ireland, NZ and England

The Boks had the tools to dominate world rugby in the way the All Blacks did from 1996 to 2015: depth across positions, unmatched physicality, and a rich tactical heritage. Instead, we hamstrung ourselves with a coach whose approach was tactically narrow, technically underdeveloped, and reliant on gamesmanship rather than innovation... the most regressive appointment in South African rugby history.

NZ trots out Fletcher Newell and Notsomighty Williams as props and Dave thinks they have the same talent as we do….and the only difference is Erasmus. It must be Love.

Haha Dave rates Ireland have the same level of talent pool that SA has.

My word, this man is a plonker.

Dawie, how do you expect us to take you seriously when you say that DDA and AE are the same player and that Ireland's talent pool is equivalent to SA's?

Ireland talent is drying up and now with the 5 year rule they no longer have that foreign player conveyor belt. I think 5 of their regular foreigners are approaching retirement. They haven't found an alternative for Sexton.

Then their best team and player hoarder got completed skinned by a B team stormers 35 - 0 this weekend. First time ever.

I think England got some good talent coming through but don't think they have props or locks. The youngsters from Northampton are playing Fantastic rugby.

France is an enigma.

However, you can't put 45 players on the field in a single game.

So if the injury cloud stays away, the team works hard and remains disciplined then they have a great chance if beating the best team in the world.

However, based on recent evidence, if the boks van keep this up they will be seriously scary for future teams.

It could be the same All blacks team from 2011

Yes….we need to think big here. This could be rugby’s greatest team yet.

Buttplug you fucking idiot - Ireland have had the better of us of late - what does that tell you, you fucking idiot

No Moz de Groot, Lomax and Williams are up there with our props. Yes Ox and Wilco have the edge but it’s close

Newell is no great shakes

"Buttplug you fucking idiot - Ireland have had the better of us of late - what does that tell you, you fucking idiot"

That our stampkar coach was outthought by theirs.

But it seems to have told you that our 400k active rugby players produces an equivalent talent pool to Ireland's 100k.

It also seems to have told you that despite SA having players in every league that matters, and many that don't, around the world, that Ireland have an equivalent talent pool.

And it seems to have told you that despite Ireland having 7 of their current Test squad being foreign born, versus South Africa's zero, that they have an equivalent talent pool.

Why did it tell you that?

Because you're a tit, Dawie.

No what it tells me is that you have no fucking idea what you are talking about as per usual

Ireland, England, NZ and France have as good a talent pool as we do

We have an edge but it’s only slight

NZ and England are always good, France, Ireland, Scotland, Argentina and Italy are the best they have ever been

Oz are back on course

The only nation being left behind is Wales

We are the best side in the game thanks to Rassie, the best coach we have ever had and potentially the best coach the game has ever seen. It was Cups now it’s victories with record margins - Rassie just gets stronger and stronger and losers like you, Doos, Mpuff, Pakie and Moz can’t stomach the fact that he keeps embarrassing you lot

I think our talent pool is exremely big because Eramus killed t he quota system and expading the team and rugby has advance to being supported by more Blacks than Soccer. I do not think Blacks and Coloured in the team can be regarded as quota players anymiore,

I agree with you Mike that we have mostly merit players, but I think Rassie simplified his game plan to allow these players to play in his system. Ox, Bongi, Nayakani. The latter Bing a bit part player. But the former has definitely been world class and Ox is probably the best loose head in the game today.

However, Rassie problem is that these players are past their sell bye date and should no long be in the team. Bongi, Kolisi, Mpimpi. He doesn't have any backups to fill this void.

What I am exited to see is that the Junior boks with exceptional black talent won the junior world cup and that is a sign for me that we have the talent for the next decade. I just hope the juniors can produce some more titles and we can finally hurry the quota tag.

When the whole (end result) is (somehow almost always) greater than the some of the parts (players), it tells you something...

ALL quotas should be banned immediately, but it will never happen.

It is such a diservice to the real genuine coloured and black sportspeople that break through and perform.

I remember that it was not that long ago that some coloured and black cricketers and rugby players wanted the quotas to be abolished because they felt like they were not deserving of their spot in the team when they were chosen, and felt like the colour of their skin got them there, and nothing else........ and you don't ever want a person feeling like that.

Point taken but one can only knock Rassie not quotas when he selects Suleiman SeMoer as Bok captain.

There are no longer quotas in rugby

There are as many average white players as there are good ones

Same applies to the non whites

The quota what the Devil is talking about is that their is a demand to field certain amount of players that matches the colour groupings on the team still.

The coach should pick who he believes is his best players

Well if I was selecting my best Bok side it would have Fassi , Kolbe, Moodie, Willemse, Arendse, Sacha, Williams, Ox and Kolisi in it

That’s 9 players of colour on pure merit

Rassie is close to that in terms of selection with only average Reinach somehow now ahead of Williams

The quota what the Devil is talking about is that their is a demand to field certain amount of players that matches the colour groupings on the team still.

Spot on King, this is exactly what I am referring to

Just imagime Rassie picks an all white team 3 games in a row...... the quota issue will rear it's head again

That’s 9 players of colour on pure merit

Agreed

We can’t keep pretending quotas are gone when it’s openly written into SA Rugby’s agreements with government.

The Minister of Sport himself has stated more than once that transformation targets must be met, and SARU reports on this every year.

That’s not “merit only” selection , that’s government interference in team composition.

If rugby was truly on merit, then it wouldn’t matter if Rassie picked 23 white players or 23 black players …

The only discussion would be about form and fitness. But the reality is, if an all-white team was picked for three games, alarm bells would ring in government circles and pressure would follow.

That proves the quota system is still alive.

The real tragedy is that this undermines players of colour who are world class and deserve their spots on merit, because their achievements always carry the shadow of quotas, whether fair or not.

So no, we don’t have a 100% merit system. We have a political requirement layered on top of rugby selection, and that’s the truth.

In principal the quota exists but in reality it does not need to be applied given the majority of our merit starters are non white

This seems to apply at test, SA schools, Baby Boks and provincial level

So thankfully SA rugby is in a healthy state regarding colour, which in itself is a pathetic provision that one even has to consider in this day and age

According to fcked up BEE laws, Sacha is white because he has a white father...horse sh!t! ,I know.

If rugby was truly on merit, then it wouldn’t matter if Rassie picked 23 white players or 23 black players …

Yep, and if 23 Blacks players were the best SA could provide, and they consistently beat all the teams around the world, I don't have a single doubt in my mind, that this entire country would be 100% behind them...

That's the incredibly sad part.

Never again will an all white Bok team be a merit only selection...there are simply too many players of color clearly the best in their position...

I agree, but that is not the point I was making

I gurantee you right now, that if an all white Springbok side was picked for a few games in a row, even in 10 years time, during a world cup...... the quota issue will rear it's ugly head and become another national discussion point again.