congrats to the good ol USA for their 22-5 victory over the blitzboks in the plate semifinal, impressive victory for the yanks.
IMO with NZ winning the world series, blitzboks dont have that drive in this tournament which saw them clinch
three leg titles.
im sure they will be focused on the 7sWC though and will back to their best, :o)
im starting to feel for my saffa brus here, so i think ill ease up on this horrible weekend of rugby, :o)
then again, i saw no such consideration a month and half back, o_O
no no no, what would McCaw do??? sigh, :o)
keep ur chin up SA peeps, ur rugby fortunes will bounce back soon enough, :o)
This weekend has made me realise the mortality of SA rugby and the Boks. Meyer is probably going to have a very Blue Bok team without the deserving Cheetahs (Brussouw and Le Roux) being starters. He will probably stick with the useless Marcell Coetzee :/
@shezza,
i dont think marcel coetzee is useless, but i do think he needs to pull finger.
i dont agree on brussow, hes done nothing special IMO to warrant a call up in the Boks, but with meyer having no qualms about selecting players overseas, theres no doubt that louw will be back in the equation and deservedly so.
IMO theres nothing that brussow can do that fourie cant do better, and he has the hooker utility card up his sleeve.
fourie is a better ball carrier & a better ball pilferer, both have similar defences though.
at least when meyer picks a pro bulls team, its selection will be mostly justified this year, unlike in 2012.
Brussouw kept the Cheetahs in the game yesterday, he retained the ball whilst we were running around our own 22 like headless chickens when we would've lost possession and conceded and his turnovers are vital. Flouw is playing for the BaaBaa's against the Lion in Hong Kong on June something, don't know whether that'll affect his selection for the first test and so I'm hoping Brussouw will be chosen over Coetzee but then again Meyer has included Siya Kolisi who I reckon has potential but can't compete to Brussouw.
The loose forward trio I'd like to see is 6. Brussouw 7.Lappies 8. Arno Botha. But I know that is very unlikely to happen as Meyer is looking for consistency and for bonds to form even though with the opposition we're against presents us with the opportunity to try new things.
@shezza,
brussow kept the cheetahs game, WTF??? i dont what game u were watching, but if any one player kept the cheetahs inn the game, it was van der walt.
TBH brussows presence was noted (for a change), but much ado about nothing IMO.
but the boks could do a lot worse, i think kolisi is a great player, but i would pick brussow ahead of him every single time.
not too sure if meyer will risk changing much for the june test series, italy and a scotland were a real handful in the 6nats and the NZ heavy samoa team shouldnt be taken lightly. after the embarssment in menodza last year, meyer knows that any results similar or worse to the june teams could be detrimental to his coaching career heading into the RWC.
Don't know about you but I was watching the Cheetahs vs Hurricanes game, he was huge in the breakdown, kind of surprised you didn't notice may suggest you should watch the game again!
Scotland and Italy may of player well in the 6nations but it was a matter of who played worse this year in that tournament. Samoa gives us a taster of what to expect in the RWC and its good to get as many youngsters in the squad to get experiance versing them as they are as you say shouldn't be taken lightly.
I would also pick Brussouw over Kolisi as I said.
@shezza,
im a hurricane supporter hard bro, so ive watched that game three times already. and i say van der walt was waaaay better then van der walt, but eack to their won.
brussow was stronger in the breakdowns ( for a change) but van der walt killed it with ball in hand and on defence, IMO brussow has alway been a one trick breakdown pony and those models went out fashion years ago.
scotland should be the easier of the teams, but if u watched the 6nats, u would know that italy rarely played poorly, they have an awesome pack and a capable backline, but it would still be a huge upset if they could win.
IMO meyer dosent have the spine to try too many new things, evident with his EOYT selections of britz and gunthro, that is scremaing of zero preperation for the future.
so i wouldnt expect meyer to try too many new things unless injury forces him other wise, against scotland maybe, but even then i would be completely shocked.
This is the fourth time I've had to type this comment, keep pressing the ads underneath -_-
I'm a pretty big Cheetahs supporter as well bro, Van der Walt did play well as usual but Brusouw was the outstanding loosie with his defence not a problem, linked up well and breakdown ability an asset to any team. Van der Walt was the main contributor to trying to run out of the 22 but to be fair the Canes did apply pressure fantastically and their tactical kicking was pin point and often made it so Van der Walt had to run it out.
Italy and Scotland have progressed well but they still aren't a match for their other NH rivals or Argentina (Yes Italy did beat France but that doesn't mean they are better than them, please don't naive and think this!). I give Meyer a pass for last year as it was survival stuff with the lack of preparation and being out of coaching for a while.
@shezza,
i definately dont think the azzuri are better then france, but i do think theyre way better then then the impression i get when u talk about them.
i do think the Boks will beat them, but i have my doubts with wether meyer will make any changes to the Boks team which screams of future preperation.
u have a point with meyers prepration and what have u and he did bleed new players, but so did the everyone after a RWC year.
at first i thought Boks had a pretty easy june sereis, but not so anymore, i still expect them to win all three games though, regarldess of who they name in their team.
2013 is a new year though and we all survived the so called mayan calendar doomsday, so time to strap our boots and get ready for the new international season coming up.
BTW cheetahs is my fave saffa team, always have been since oos du randt days. good to see connie keeping the tradition of cheetahs monster props alive, :o)
We'll soon see what the June series outcome will be!
Coenie had a fantastic game and will be a Bok starter, Meyers a fan, he included him against England so that's the giveaway which will benefit the Boks :)
