Wales will be a stern test....

When we played Wales last year, I remember thinking they were better in a lot of positions. With some of the changes like JP, Pollard and F du Preez we have negated some of that. But Wales will be stronger and much more savvy at centre....and even at flyhalf with Biggar.
I also think they will control the ball on the ground unless we find an awesome counter ruck. 
Their weak under belly is scrumming. And today the Beast and Jannie stood strong in the scrums.
0 won, 2 lost (0.0%)Scrums on own feed7 won, 0 lost (100.0%)
 Much is ritually said about Malherbe again....but I ask the question I always ask....did he finish one scrum on his feet. His pencha nt for falling in the trenches combined with the wrong ref could be a nightmare. Still we should be able to put the Welsh scrum to the sword and that could be the corner stone of a trip to play the ABs in the Semi.

 Xv against Wales Mozart, what would you go for?

So far I am not seeing very much wrong with Jannie. Bok scrum functioning well, and giving the backs good ball. 
Wales entire game revolves around their three big ball runners. They have a predictable game plan they have been running for years. It's designed to wear you down physically. We are looking much better now, but we cannot play too much ball in hand against them. This is Ali v Frazier II. We must box clever and take our few opportunities. All our games over the past fifteen years with them have been close, often a single score deciding it.
You can give up breakdown superiority if you have line integrity and don't play too many men at ruck time. But I think we are capable of generating good momentum and that will make it very much more difficult to apply pressure. From what I have seen of the Scot game, we were continually going forward.
The Welsh defend with their opensider wing and 9 in the line and spread out the width of the field. 15 has to defend the entire backfield himself. They have an oppressive rush and immense containment on the outside, but are susceptible to aerial bombardment. Thus would be the area I'd target. Lambie is a fanatic defensive fullback and can help the Boks exploit that weakness. Pollard is a disadvantage though, as he looks for contact. Morné will give us width to our pass and a kicking outside of 9. If only we could kick from 12, we'd have a serious edge over Wales. As it is we have got to fight fire with fire and suppress their big ball carriers. Can Damian handle that? Can he return fire? All I know is that we cannot go wide against them, not without a lot of hard work inside. It's going to be exhausting. If we play as Michael demands we should, we'll be beaten. It's going to be a game of few opportunities and if we allow Wales to score early it's going to be a nail-biting finish. They can shut us out. The bench is going to be influential. 

APD much of the team seems settled now. There are three questions in my mind.
1) Is Strauss or Bismarck the best bet? Close call, but I would still go with Bissie
2) Do we keep the young locks or start with Matfield. No doubt Lood provides a more physical edge, but once again he called himself in the majority of the lineouts and lost a crucial lineout on the Scots 5 metre line. Matfield's calls are less predictable, his handling is better...and he provides leadership. And Etzebeth is faster and more powerful than Lood....with Matfield on he carries more and we lose nothing.
3) Can we win this thing with today's centres. I doubt it....but Step hardly provides an alternative. JP is a wing and shifting him to 13 reduces his effectiveness. jDV was a real loss for the balance of the team....the only player with similar credentials is Frans.  Find a way to get him there to anchor the best of the youngsters. Who that is, is a tough call. Allende is so easy to beat and Kriel is so hesitant, it's unclear.
No doubt others will disagree, but that's my take.

Mozart
Your questions are all BS as per normal.   Lets look at the 3 questions raised by you:-
*   When Jannie was on the field of play - aside form his yellow card yesterday - in all three matches our scrums struggled.  It happened in all three matches thus far.  Was messy against the Japanese, more or less slightly on the retreat against Samoa and also questionable yesterday.  Was especially a problem yesterday as well.  So you do not see a problem there and your non-thinking pal DF neither saw one as well.   That  joke as well - smooth that over and put a question as to which of the hookers should start,  Are the two of you blessed with absolute stupidity or not.  After Malherbe came on we even won a scrum from a Scots throw-in although that was messed up by Pienaar.  So no problem with Jannie - especially also with his yellow card.   What a joke you two are?
*   Let me remind you of one thing - Meyer's game against the Japanese allows for the use of rolling mauls.  That plan went out of the window because Matfield in particular refused to implement that part of the plan - because Matfield himself is seriously defective in rolling mauls - both by the Springboks and by the opposition.  So what have we here?  The attack on De Jager - the MOM yesterday for missing a line-out on own throw-in - Matfield messed up two line-outs against the AB's last year - the one preventing forming of a maul in the away test and the one handing over possession to the AB's in the Ellis Park test leading to an AB try - yet you have no question about the Matfield issue.   What a joke - if Meyer messed up with Matfield the same would happen as happened in the Japanese test.  No question about that - every sane commentator said the Springboks best weapon was the Etzebeth-De Jager lock combination, so you want them changed by including the physical deficient Matfield in the mix.
*   Did any of you two idiots realize what Meyer's game plan yesterday involding the centers was?  Obviously not and you also missed out why the ratings of De Alnd was so high in the media.  Also the three breakdown possession turnovers by De Allende when the Scots were on the attack by De Allende.  Enough said.
Stupidity is the norm insofar as you two are concerned.  So why do i\I even bother to question this stupidity as well.  Happy Idiots day to the two of you.                     

  Our best weapon today was the was the rolling maul  

 
Jannie was pathetic ... as he always is.

Yet another card!

He is such a liability.

Useless as a tight player and useless in the loose.

WHY IS HE THERE??

Hopefully Meyer's replacement will get rid of this sham and select a proper tighthead.

We are tired of watching this pretender.

It's way overdue.

Same goes for the heart palpitating Beast.

Time to move on from these chumps!!!

 

 THE Proteas selection for the game against Wales should be as follo ws:
1. Matfield2. Matfield3. Matfield4. Matfield5. Matfield6. Matfield7. Matfield8. Matfield9. Matfield10. Matfield11. Matfield12. Matfield13. Matfield14. Matfield15. Matfield
Bench.16. Matfield17. Matfield18. Matfield19. Matfield20. Matfield21. Matfield22. Matfield23. Matfield

 with this game pattern we played against the scotland b team we will be going home.....forwards running off 9 are easy to defend but meyer's ultra conservative mindset wi ll cost

 Boks did not play predictable as you say, they played a smart game throughout.

 Duplicate BS

 Really? I suppose you cannot tell me why you believe they were predictable? How about telling us how the Boks attacked, who they used and how. Now that would be something! 

 Actually what was pathetic was the card for Jannie.

 fox watch the knock out games......the hapless scots made our attacking game look way better than what it was. dont be fooled by the scots they are not even top 10 material which worries me a lot as we are going to hit a welsh team battled hardend from a tough pool group. 
if we pitch up with the same intent and game pattern on attack we will be flying home early.
from the qf's onwards total rugby is whats needed and if your off in one of your focus areas on the day you will be going home. all the teams from the qf stage onwards play a high ball possession based game due to there heavy nz coaching influence so aimless kicks and one off runners of 9 in the narrow channels around the rucks is as easy as eating apple pie.
lets rather identity the problem areas now and fix it before we go home early. pollard needs to be allowed to dictate the game more. allow the runners to be off him and le roux and attack with more width and speed. that is where the space is.

 I thought so too. Jannie was not as bad as I expected. And our scrums were not as bad as I heard either. Lots of bleating for nothing. As usual, you press the sheeple for answers and they cannot tell you a thing . Scary to think we have people like these in powerful positions all around the world!

 the scots are set piece obsessed so i dont think we did badly at all. people might bash jannie but he sets the table for the impact players to eat off. its a process of sapping the forwards down in the scrums and then with the impact players throwing that knockout punch. jannie's on his last tour so i dont see the need to change that now. malherbe has a bright future ahead of him so let the juniors mature on there own.
this is still the pool stages so you dont want to risk a junior in a high pressure game and his wheels come off. vets know how to handle that pressure and thats the real key to success in a rwc.
i do feel kitshoff should have been there as well i really do rate him as a prop. koch is also right up there 

What bullshit, de Allende is twice the player Roberts is......I cant recall when last Roberts made an impression. As for 13, well they don't have one right now as Davies and now Williams are both out injured.
Just shows what utter crap is written at times.

Allende twice the centre Roberts is?  Hmmm sounds like nonsense and who says its not going to be Step? After all 6 months ago you were telling us Step is the best young centre in rugby.

 Dave
The situation has nothing to do with the backline and everything to do with the proper functioning of our forwards.   When we last played  Wales last year  and lost it, the reason for the Springboks loss was  was because our Tight 5 capitulated,   If we have Matfield and Jannie in the team - we may as well surrender.      

DA is the best centre in the game right now.....no centre comes close to this lad in terms of strike rate when it comes to defenders beaten.....the measure of a centre.
Serf has been out of action for most the year so bringing him into the status equation is a little childish. Nothing has changed in terms of Serf's class or my faith in him. 
Next season Serf will be back in business and we will have Serf, de Allende, Kriel pushing for 2 spots.....not to mention Vorster, Swanepoel, Mnisi and Odendaal.
Serf only got the ball once yesterday and did you see that hand off.....poor Scot landed on his arse

 Saffex
 
Status: Hall Of Fame 
Posts: 13768RE: Wales will be a stern test....
October 04, 2015, 20:31:48

 is a little childish. Nothing has changed in terms of Serf's class or my faith in him. This is w hy he has been my starting 12 in most of my squads.

Sharktwat.....you lying scumbag..........low life  

Dave you are the most delusional groupie I have ever come across....totally, utterly clueless. But at least you are enthusiastic.  

Nope Moz I have it spot on.....I told you from day one that Meyer had it wrong, much like you did and with that came 5 wins from our last 13 major tests, a drop to 5th in the rankings and the insult of all insults - Japan.
Part of that issue was the clueless coaches blind faith in washed up has beens like Jean and Matfield......not to mention Pienaar. In Pienaar we had a passive 9, with Jean our attacking clout died and with Vic, the chance of winning the physical battles went out the window.
Q the exit of these 3 and our side looked twice the side......we were monsterous in the collisions thanks mostly to Lood and Etzebeth. 

You are utterly clueless.......for the simple reason that after Lood's performance yesterday, which is anything but a one off.....you are still stupid enough to want useless Vic ahead of Lood.....its not clueless, its utterly stupid.

 Twice the centre that Roberts is? ROFLMAO!!!!!!

Ok 5 times the centre hasbeen Roberts is.......the best Roberts offers these days is the direct route with little reward.....no subtle touches, no speed, no feet.....average as they come these days......much like Jean was.  

At 12 that's the most important quality to bring. That's how you lay a platform and create space. 
Five times better. Not quite as funny as Michaels "Lamebie is 250 times better than Morné" insanity induced ramblings, but a chuckle to be had nonetheless. 

 Lambie is not a routine bench player for a club - now is he?  

 He may as well be Michael, may as well be...

 We cannot go into the projected Wales game with the plan used against Japan - with disastrous consequences - that is using Burger as the first of second receiver after breakdown ball recovery.   In the Japanese and Scots game there was one difference - Burger did not spill balls like he did in the Japanese game.
We will - like Habana said - have to up our game iro all aspects of play - especially backline play.   The low point in the game against the Scots was th skip pass of Pollard that was intercepted.   Flat skip passes are extremely dangerous when the opposing defenders are virtually among the defenders - it also wa the case of Pietersen's first try.   That was virtually the only mistake made by Pollard against the Scots and shpould not b repeated,
Now back to the Wales game.  The reason for the disaster against Wales last year was diverted by Dim Fox and Mozart from what it really was - namely the forward capitulation.   Th key to that was Matfield - so the best thing to eb done in the quarters would be to ensure that Matfield is as far away as possible from the team in the quarters.
So why should the Japanese disaster not be repeated against Wales hpoing for a different result.   Lets look at the issue objectively:-
*   Matfield refusal to use driving mauls because he himself is useless in that component of the game should be eliminated.
*   Penalties should be eliminated.  Against the Japanese our forwards gave away 11 penalties -  against Samoa it was 12 (Jannie 3 and Matfield 2) and against the Scots it was 6 - a vastly improved situation, but eliminated by Jannie's yellow card.  Please note that the worst elements (Jannie and Matfield) were not fully represented in the Scots test.   Jannie played for less than 40 minutes and fortunately for the Springboks Matfield did not play at all.   
The reality was that as per normal our resident BSters never got to the real problems in the team and targeted Kriel and De Allende as the deficient elements, while not considering the real problem cases,   
With Matfield and Jannie in the team against Wales - the Springboks can take an early flight home after the game - so lets hope we are not landed in the unfortunate situation f having those two anywhere near the team.  The Perth disaster should be sent back to Stade Francais asap.  If he is anywhere near the team against Wales the 2011 quarterfinal disaster will be repeated.   All three (Matfield, Jannie and dear Morne) was present in 2011 and all three will make sure that result is repeated in 2015 in the quarterfinal.
What a mixed up bag of nitwits we have on this site in Mozart, Dim Fox, Ceradunce and co - pretending they know more than anyone else about rugby and coming up consistently with tripe.                      

Well, if you want to play flatter on the line then that's what can happen. The best formed plans can come undone by one good defensive read. Heck, Jean, Habana and Fourie tortured New Zealand and Australia with interceptions on the line. You can't have safety and assertive attack; the rewards comes with risks.
We have been using the maul with Vic. It's not really up to him though. From what I can see the Boks are using the maul to tie up the oppositions forwards together and conceal an attack at the seam between the defensive line with Damian. The ploy was merely used more againt Scotland because they are more vulnerable there, but it has been used well with Vic too.
Morne was not the reason the Boks lost the Perth test, nor was he the worst player either. I openly concede it was not among his better performances, but to discard him for that? Utter insanity, more so now that Lambie has had another run and failed. 
It's a fact that Damian cost the Boks a win in Australia. Morné's Perth test was miles better than that showing. Each one of Damian's misses could have ended in a try. He was ruthlessly exposed and they got two tries out of him, included in that is the match winner. I am not being biased, I am stating a fact. 
PS: Morné has never lost to Wales. Lambie has, and he was a big reason why, him and Reinach.

 Dimness 
You really have gone off your rocker in what you wrote above.  It is so dleirious and delusional - it is unbelievable, making it impossible to even refute all the BS strung together in one input.  
Fact is one van give up on any reasonable discussion with this guy who throw facts out of the window and thrives on distortions and lies.      

Lambie/Reinach vs Wales analogous to Kriel/Allende...hesitant, reactive not proactive....scared to try for fear of failure.

 Mozart
As long as you do not accept that the disaster against Wales and Ireland last year and against Japan this year was not directly linked to our forward deficiencies you can continue to dream on about imaginary deficiencies.   The key disaster against Wales last year had very little to do with Lambie and Reinach and everything to do with the forwards been poor and providing poor balls to the backline.  
Lets take the Welsh test in June last year.  In the first test the starting props were Jannie (2 penalties given away)and Steenkamp.   The locks were Matfield and Vakkies Botha.   Steenkamp and Botha was replaced early by Beast nd De Jager - a vast improvement on Steenkamp and Botha,  Despite problems in the Tight 5 - a magic display by especially Le Roux won the test convincingly for us.  The second test was a   near disaster.  This test there was a rel problem up front.  he props were Mtawarira and Jannie - the locks Matfield and Flippie,  between the four players they gave away 8 penalties and Flippie made his standar contribution as a yellow card as well.   To that must be added 2 penalties dpnated by Coenie when he came on.  The main reason for the near disaster can be traced back to a disastrous flop in the Tight 5.   
Now onto the Wales test in November 2014.   The forwards were constantly in reverse gear and the only player who fought a brave battle up front, the rest of the Tight 5 was a disaster, 
In the Japan test the whole team played in a trance  and again th leader of the pack was no good.  The scrumming by Beats and Jannie was bog ordinary - while Bismarc rained penalties and Matfield refused to implement driving mauls as instructed by Meyer.   Matfied did squat bit stood around in the backline.
So whgat dies the above teach us in what to do in the possible Wales quarterfinal?  Make sure that Matfield and Jannie should never be in the starting line-up.   At best use them from the ebnch - but even that is undesirable.   Keep Morne Steyn away - as far as possible from the line-up and stop making Burger the first or second recipients of the ball.   It can never work against Wales.  And for heavens sake don;t make aimless kicks as advocated by Dim Fox and yourself.  
       

 Good lord! It's like talking to a plank.