Another good weekend by SA teams other than the Saarks. Bulls completely destroying the welsh team and the Lions are starting to make use of the highveld.
The only blotch for this weekend was the Saarks. Boy, were they rubbish!!!
The Saarks have some serious problems in their team. Just put a bit of wet weather and all of a sudden the team implodes. The backs were completely outplayed, other than Mpimpi, can't say the backline played smart.
Curwin Bosch needs to go, very gifted player but just can't step up in games likes this. There will be more wet weather games up north and you need a flyhalf that can control the game. The same can be said for Grant Williams, very good on a dry field but so glad he wasn't selected for the boks. Ox, Bongi and Du Toit were monsters in the scrum. The Machunu boys looked good but not the same dominance.
The saarks back row with Kolisi and Noche were absolutely rubbish. No decent ball carry in the wet. Kolisi had a few good hits. Really think the Saarks need the likes of the Du Preez twins back. Would have really helped them. But hopefully with Etzebeth next season we can see a change.
The Stormers, boy was this nail biting affair. They almost seem to stop playing after the first 14 min. Ulster is a quality side but think the Stormers should got further ahead in this game. Wilemse was invisible all game again, I think Rikus would have been far better. Time to put Willemse on the bench. Jantjies was a complete disaster at 9 when he came on with his erratic passing and nearly threw the game away. That TMO call could have gone either way and the Stormers didn't look that threatening in the backline other than their counter attack. Although, the back line is firing nicely and the pack was great too. Still not convinced about Marvolous Marvin, think they should have been better with schickeling and Botha as the locks.
Roos put another big performance in for me, faded towards the end but compared to Duane, probably did more on the field but Duane was the smarter player and paced himself better through out the game made contributions where it counted.
The lions completely destroyed the Ospreys, still a few tries in the early part were butchered but the came good. Simalane seem to be handful as well as Edwill Van Der Merwe. The 9 of the Lions were the best player for me on the the day. Tsishuka but a monster performance in and dominated the collisions for me. Hendrikse is coming on nicely at 10 and way better than bosch. Wonder how well the brothers would play together in the same team. Ruan Dreyer to me was the best front rower on the day in the lions game.
The bulls, wow, Arendse seem to effortlessly bamboozle the entire team. Another Kolbe in the making and we are not short on hot steppers, but his casual kick return from the 10 meter line was pure magic, by luring in his chaser and then out stepping both defenders that they almost tackle each other rather than him. Absolutely class. Marcel Coetzee is had another great game and should also be considered for the boks. Right now way better than Kolisi and should be our first choice 6 but with out politics and quota targets, this will never happen.
Also, big mention to Embrose Papier in this match. He has been stand out SA player over the last few weeks and should replace Jantjies in the bok team.
All and all, really enjoyed watching these matches.
But, the Welsh are complaining again and wants the SA teams to be kicked out and only form a celtic league with no Italy. Although, the Welsh are absolutely rubbish, wonder how they ever put a decent test team out.
Looking forward to more quality matches this weekend
