1) Goal kicking
2) Lineout throws….Bongi is not great and the sub will be worse
3) Libbok…..he had a pretty poor URC final against Munster, apart from running in a long try. The Irish will have studied the Munster tapes. I hope he holds up under pressure
I’m expecting the Boks to be very conservative, which means the game is likely to be an arm wrestle….not the expansive Boks we saw at Twickenham
Identifying 4 issues where the Springboks are bound to fail and you now how he Springboks will play. That before the team fdor the match was identified
What was the miss ratio in kicks at goal in the Rugby Championship and the curtain-raisers and WC games thus far on which your statement on goal-kicking is based,
I think this is going to be a brutal encounter.
Plus you forgot a ref and one assistant ref from NZ???????????
A bigger concern.
YES HAVING NZ REFS ARE ALWAYS A BIG CONCERN DESPITE WHAT OU JW THINKS! Will depend on who the kiwis want to win.
Expecting the Irish to be launching phase after phase if allowed to. They will not shun the physical side but they will not want all out forward battle for 80 minutes.
W onder if Eben will be ready.
The main concern about this game: no stakes, IR may think it is better for them to face NZ and SA rugby may think FR for them.
Apart from group C that happens to be thrilling, with teams committing to play fully to qualify.
Same points I am concerned about ....
The quarter finals happen one month or more after the opening game.
Already, NZ players showed improvement in fitness for their second game (could be weather related)
It seems that NZ skipped the opening game to focus on the rest of the competition.
They rested their ageing players and preserved the most vulnerable ones.
The game against AR will tell.
Moffie, you raise two valid concerns but I don't agree with the lineout throwing.
Bongi had been a better lineout thrower than Marx throughout their respective careers.
Lineout throwing will always be a concern for any team because it's such a critical part of the game, but we haven't lost anything in that regard with the loss of Marx. Not for one second saying we haven't lost a technically brillia nt warrior who already has a claim to best hooker in the history of the game, but lineout throwing was probably the weakest aspect of Marx's game.
Two years ago I would have argued that Bongi was almost as good as Marx but his form has dipped in the last year or so. We'll need Bongi to recover his best form if we're going to win this thing. I back him to do it. Deon Fourie is a decent player but no-one can deny he lacks in physicality compared to the likes of Marx and Bongi. If Marco van Staden spends any time in the #2 jersey then we'll already be in deep trouble and paying for Rassie's stupid 4 scrumhalf strategy. .
Your other two points regarding goal-kicking and Manie are pretty much the same thing. I am really hoping Manie has a blinder and silences his critics but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried he might completely lose the plot and lose us an important game. If ever there was a case of cometh the hour cometh the man then this Saturday is it. With Pollard now waiting in the wings and the destiny of our RWC at stake, Manie is under a huge amount of pressure.
Come on Manie and . . . COME ON BOKKE!!!
It does not depend on the opposition.
It does Stupid Huispister!
"Springbok team to face Ireland in Paris:
15 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) - 35 caps, 56 pts (4t, 9c, 4pg, 2dg)You mob are paranoid about NZ refs
You mob are paranoid about NZ refs
...there's a reason for that..
not too fond of the Aussie refs either...
We are good though….NZ apparently prefer to play the Boks in the Quarters.
You are wrong Mozart. We prefer to play the Irish after you have softened them up for us (Sorry Irish Fans in the Forum). We are friends aren't we? and we want our friends to go far - sharing is caring right?
I missed the other big concern ….the most robotic center pairing in world rugby.
