Tony Ball

Appears to be working. The most important thing is selecting the type of player who can execute this game plan.

Sasha and Libok can do this, especially with Willemse at 12, or Esterhuizen, and perhaps even Ethan Hooker.

The first all-Black test with Pollard, Delande, and Kriel starting did not have the firepower to claw back at Eden Park.

On the Sasha try from inside his 50, it could have been scored by either Sasha or Moodie - but Sasha called for it and carried it over. Where was Delande?

Delande is still locked in the 12-man game. Once a clean break was made, he was never involved. He no longer has the pace and athleticism - certainly not for Tony Ball. He has always struggled to read the game, be that creating space for others or knowing how to run into space himself- but now he can't even keep up with the tempo game.

Wash and repeat on this website.

OMG

DDA never had the pace.

And even if he did have the speed, he doesn't have the reactions and rugby IQ to be involved and to be there in support.

Two weeks back, AE was involved in making two tries and scoring one himself in the 40 minutes he was on the field.

Yesterday, in what can only be considered a try fest, DDA was involved in a single try and created one turnover...in 80 minutes.

The guy has no more cause to be selected in this side. He adds little to no value and it's very clear that AE is far superior.

Willemse is so damn good at 15. He lost the ball once when he stopped and got turned over. But outside of that, he was brilliant yet again.

Wonder if Erasmus set him up as a last gasp experiment. Anyway, whatever, his used by date is over.

I would love to see hooker at 12 , that little chicken wing to PTSD was pure sonny Bill, held up the defence and got the ball out. His natural position is 12, but his work rate off the ball is next level and that is why is selected at wing. He has tremendous pace too and may not be a battering ram, but why did you need your twelve to be a De Allende tractor type when you have PTSD and Wiese that van crash up the 1 channel with same impact.

I know some rave about Willemse at 12, but he came into the game when he was moved to 12 after injury to Fassi. He was a bit off yesterday as he didn't join the line as often and tried to counter a bit from deep. Needs to work on his tactical kicking and reading space from back.

Based on recent games I would love to see.

Berg, Sasha, Arends, Hooker, Moodie, Kolbe, Willemse as our backline

Let's count the amount of time it takes for Dawie to come and tell us...

"Bullshit, Willemse is the new 12"

Right now, I'd have AE at 12 and then graduate Hooker to the jersey once AE is done in a couple of years.

Well Buttplug trust you to miss the fact that Willemse’s impact playing fullback yesterday delivered less than half of what he achieved playing 12 against the AB’s

Are you really this devoid of rugby awareness?

He created so much from 12 and was constantly in the game

Yesterday he was solid, created nothing of note - in a nutshell completely wasted at fullback

It’s a pace thing - you need the pace of a Fassi on the counter. Willemse is about dancing feet, explosive pace off the mark and power

So without doubt Willemse simply has to be our 12 as the AB and yesterday’s proved beyond doubt

So in Fassi’s absence let’s move Moodie to 15, play Kolbe and Edwil on the wings, Hooker at 13, Willemse 12 and Sacha at 10

Last week I was toying with temporarily moving Sacha to 15 given he has not been back to his sparkling self of late but boy oh boy did he put that to bed yesterday

So in a nutshell fuck DA and AE at 12 - move on from the power game and let’s embrace the creativity and soft touches Sacha and Willemse will deliver from the vitally important 10/12 axis

Fassi is badly out of form. He might not be back this year...depending on his recovery goes.

Suck it up, fatty...Willemse will be starting at 15, with AE at 12.

Just like it should be.

...and JJ will be watching it all on DSTV ;)

Ah yeah like AE always starts does he - you dumbfuck

Go ask your ugly girlfriend to talk you though the difference between the performances of Willemse at 15 vs 12 as it’s clearly beyond your limited rugby grasp

...this from the guy that to this day believes there is no difference between AE and DDA

Bwhahahaha!!!

There is very little difference between AE and DA with DA being slightly better hence starting for the Boks for close to a decade now

You are too fucking stupid to appreciate his value

Dawie, if rugby knowledge was measured like DA vs AE, you’d be AE - slightly worse, but still somehow starting in the comments for a decade now!

Doos given your rugby credibility I’ll take that as a compliment you fucking halfwit

Glad you’re taking compliments these days, Dawie, self-awareness looks good on you.

Look up the word sarcasm - it’s under s

I can bet money on it that by the end of 2026 Estehuien wil not be in any Spring bok squad will not be in the Spring bok squad and by 2027 he would struggle to keep his place in the Sharks squad - where he was poor the past season anyway. Esterhuizen is a slow wit and slow pace player and cannot help any backline to play a attacking game. He cannot do anything better than De Allence and the imaginary BS on site is meaningless and without any proof whatsoever.

This from Rassie.....

“Everyone will agree that Sacha was brilliant on the day,” Erasmus said. “But a performance like that doesn’t happen overnight. You get a little bit better each time you play. Sacha is on 11 caps, and he has learned along the way. This performance was the result.

“Tonight, Damian de Allende helped him, Cobus Reinach helped him, so did Damian Willemse. Ultimately, Sacha did incredible things, and he will also thank (assistant coach) Tony Brown and (veteran flyhalf) Handré Pollard.”

Of all people, how did DDA help Sacha?? He was absolutely invisible yesterday….this must be one of the stupidest Erasmiss comments ever!

The measue of help is not based on how many metres, clean breaks etc made

Grrr!!!

I hear you Draad :)

The Sub A class needs to go out for their break

de Allende did nothing to ease Sacha into the game on Saturday. In midfield, ‘help’ isn’t measured by how many metres you carry or how many clean breaks you rack up - it’s about communication, defensive organisation, holding the line, and creating space for your partner. On all those counts, he left Sacha exposed. Dawie’s definition strips the role of its core responsibilities and reduces it to box-score vanity, which misses the entire function of a senior 12 alongside a debutant.

Hahaha…..Dud Allende helped Sacha? Anybody with half a brain can see Lucky is just defending his allegiance to Dud.

But it sounds like Lucky is getting a bit jealous of the attention Sacha is getting. Hopefully he doesn’t feel the need to ‘put him in his place’.

And oh Dearie me….it’s use by date…not ’used by date’. Just to help you understand Hysteria it’s a food industry term telling consumers the date after which food is no longer fresh. A similar term is ‘best by’.

Perhaps you should test some of your ideas on Chat GPT before posting, I can’t always be there to help you.

Also, Sacha doesn't need help from DDA.

The kid was born with more innate rugby understanding than DDA could acquire if he wore an orange robe and became a meditating rugby monk for twenty years.

If anything, I'd want him learning from Pollard, AE, Willemse and Faf - people that can actually read the game and make a difference.

I'll never forget Willemse slamming the ball into the ground after DDA screwed up a brilliant attacking chance against Ireland. That little action told me everything I need to now about how frustrated the actually talented players in the Bok side are with Dumbo.

As per normal the issue t he site idiots write above is total BS sice hey do not know what Tony Ball immply. What you clainm it to be is BS. In the main it entails the loosies to be involved in backline attacks - togther ith thinking players being in the backline as well.

It also entail another issue and that is the functiong of the half backs. In the case of the Ackland tests the hlf back pair did not unctio and when both were removed in the sbsequent tests the prolem was in the main solved.

So the alleged slow player being De Allende is blamed for the loss, But then Engelbrecht is slower than De Allende and a slower thinker as well, So he is not going to play on Satirday - if he does it may be from he bench - but even that is in doubt. In essense both Sacha and Pollard preferred De Allende at inside center and stated so in the past, He constantly alerted the flyhalfs of potential options and that is why they regard him as the best 12 they ever played with.

In their wisdom both Plum and other posters crtiticized Du Toit as being in a sitation where he is often fond on the wing. I hope they realize is that they were totally wrong as per normal. Du Toit asa a key playe in Estrhuizen irst try eefor the Springboks where he made the try and off-laded to Estehuizen with an open tryline in front of him. The same apply to hi being out wide to take the crosskick and Kawagga scored a try and also Du Toit's forst try on Saturday - it was all part of Tony-Ball as you called it.

So Uncle BS you already tried to lie on the " Sacha at Twicks - Schools of thought Thread….where you said :

" Both Pollard and Sacha believe they pla better with De Allende as inside center and those were openly stated by both Pollard and Sacha"

Now you trying to lie on the Tony Ball Thread by saying:

" In essense both Sacha and Pollard preferred De Allende at inside center and stated so in the past, He constantly alerted the flyhalfs of potential options and that is why they regard him as the best 12 they ever played with."

So yet again, PROVIDE PROVE of your source where Pollard or Sacha made either of these statements??!! I say again, I smell BS Spreading Deluxe….

Probably nobody outside of the coaching staff knows what Tony has brought or what he has actually changed. We seem to be doing more offloads and our players seem to be playing more instinctive. There will be other signs that you'll pick up on if you have the time to analyze before and after Tony games in detail, but who has time for that.

Most of these journalists and pundits talking about "Tony Ball" are just tossing stones into the dark.

We definitely see more of PSDT and Kolisi out wide

The number of passes per game have increased dramatically along with less kicking

along with less kicking

Not sure about that. We kicked more in both our last victories than we did against France in the World Cup, for example. It's not clear cut, although the boxie appears to be less prevalent. Not sure about passes either - we will obviously pass more when we have more possession, although NZ with less possession passed more than us in the 43-10 win. Argentina with only 40% possession threw just 10 fewer passes in the last game. I can't see a clear increase if you weigh it up against possession. Against France we threw 82 passes with 40%, against Argentina 128 with 60%. What will point to a difference is where those passes are going, numbers alone don't really say anything.

"The number of passes per game have increased dramatically along with less kicking"

And smarter and more accurate kicking.

https://x.com/Oom_Rugby/status/1972953142448034143?t=bVgn1ZdbVy8huy4XQ5IEmQ&s=19

Great try - Brown ball in full flow :)

I just wish ou Mozzietard was as lucky in his posting as Rassie apparently is in his coaching.

Maybe we would occasionally get some sense from the loon!

Rassie knows how to bring players along.

How many here were calling for the axing of Willemse earlier in his career. Or how about the getting rid of Manie. I know I had doubts about Manie's defence and nerves when it came to goal kicking. Look at how Nortje has developed.

Nortje and Du Toit are the two very big engines in the Bok pack and can be relied upon to play 80 minutes at high energy levels. This means if you have a 5 - 2 split only one other pack member has to play 80 minutes.

Rassie is managing the bringing in of youngsters very well. We are still winning, still number 1 in the rankings and looking on course for a great RWC.

I always wonder what Mozzietard is going to say if Rassie wins a third RWC. He and poor Doos will expire with rage. ????????

Plum and others

Right now, I'd have AE at 12 and then graduate Hooker to the jersey once AE is done in a couple of years.

It is always amazing how sote members knowws mopre about rugby then experts like Mallett, De Villiers and Schalk Burger know.

So as to the above two things -

1. A E is at least 20 meters in a 100 meters race and he is also a slow thinker t hat reacts lat at what to do; and
2. A E is already done so we will se nothing of him next year in the Springbok squad,

By the way - why do you want to waste Hooker's sublime talents at 12 - he is a wing and not a center. If you have not seen that yet - it proves that you and your fellow idiots know even less about rugby then I tought yoi did. LOL

Wrong Mike Hooker is a centre - played there throughout school and for the Baby Boks

He is only playing wing because he is new and the Boks have DA, AE, Jessie and Am at centre along with Willemse and Moodie.

At the Sharks they have AE and Am, hence him being used on the wing there as well. Also young Jurenzo Julius was selected at 13 quite often

He is definitely a centre being used on the wing

Hooker is a beast, Mike. He's gonna gain a few pounds and he loves being involved. I think that in terms of rugby IQ, a combination of Hooker and Sacha is a very tasty prospect. Hooker has the size to hold the 12 position and he has the speed and acceleration of smaller players too. Importantly, he possesses a lot of the type of calm so vaunted in 12s and is able to maintain that sense of calm on attack.

I mean, who knows, Sacha might have better synergy with Willemse so there is an argument for him to play at 12. But I do think that Willemse is best suited to 15 where he has the freedom to get involved in play where he chooses and pop up at different locations to cause chaos.

I guess I just have a feeling that Hooker might be a very good partner for Sacha.

No fucking way must Willemse play 15 when he is by some distance our best prospect at 12

Hooker as the back up

Willemse’s strength is creating something from nothing using his feet and power

You need out and out pace at 15 which he does not have and which Fassi does

I can’t begin to comprehend how a rugby follower can begin to entertain the thought of playing Willemse at 15 when you have Fassi and more importantly the fact that Willemse is such a gem at 12

We need X factor in every position in the future Bok backline - that is the case with 9 Williams 10 Sacha 11 Arendse 12 Willemse 13 Moodie 14 Kolbe 15 Fassi - that combo is non negotiable right now

The likes of Jordan Hendrikse, Edwill ,Jooste, Green, Horn, Jurenzo, Henco v Wyk, Hooker, David Kriel, Libbok, vd Bergh and Pead will push hard especially considering most of these have X factor as well