We all watch a different game

It took you a while to work that one out, why I don't know when it's an accepted norm that opinions will differ and vary when it comes to a particular player, team, coach or performance. 

One man's junk is another man's treasure. If we all agreed most of the time then this forum would die of boredom.

Well, I do rate Lood and am somewhat disappointing that he is not selected ahead of Mostert.

I believe in horses for courses and under normal dry conditions, I would have indeed selected Mostert. However, very wet conditions are predicted which IMHO would have selected Lood rather than Mostert.

The stadium does not have a roof.

... and then there are those who see things in players that don't exist at all ... right, Mozart?

Let's face it, Dave ... you've come up with some doozies ... lol!!

Takes all kinds to make the world go round I guess.

Our locks should be Snyman and Etzebeth, Mostert should be at 7, Louw at 6 and Vermeulen at 8.

Agree on Eben and RG starting, but Rassie prefer RG on the bench-he covers both 4 and 5....but that's no biggie.

 I can live with Mosterdt at 5 given the physicality of the rest of the pack (and back row), we managed with Matfield for more than a decade, and he was even smaller.

PSDT is clearly the preferred blindside flanker of the coach and everyone else...except for 2...or maybe 3 people o n this site...for the rest of the world he is one of the talismans for the Boks. Key player.

The Boks have almost never followed the trend when it came to their choice in flankers, we don't even number them the same as the rest of the world...same goes for Kolisi....we have our own brand and it's been like it for decades....it's a team sport and the individual members cannot really be separated and isolated...combinations are the key.

Good post Saffex, I guess you are right when you say we watch a different game. I think that you are more likely to spot a player not pulling his weight if you are critical of him. Where as if he is your favourite or use to be amazing you would become far more forgiving because you can't believe that he can be so poor over night. 

There are definitely players I think should be ahead of certain players

1 Kitshoff vs Beast - Beast is back in form, so should be starting. Real menace at scrum

2. Marks vs Bongi vs Oupa - Well if it was up to me Bismark would be there instead with Marks coming off the bench, but Marks gets the nod. Bongi hasn't been that great with his line out throwing and you lose a lot in general play by not having Marx or Bismark

3. Malherbe vs Trevor vs Koch, how on earth Malherbe is still in the bok squad is beyond me. Trevor has worked really hard and deserve a start. Koch is great with general play and a great anchor

4. Etzebeth vs Snyman vs Lood - Etzebeth is probably our only try enforcer, but do you really need that type of physicality when the opposition can wind you up and get under your skin. Probably Snyman for me

5. Lood, Snyman, PSDT, Mostert - Moster is all heart, but for me PSDT is the better 5 lock. Lood has no pace and struggles to keep up with play. So I would definitely have Snyman and PSDT as my combo. Snyman has the potential to be the next Brodi, if not better. Great carrier with good hands and distribution 

6. Kolisi vs Louw vs Kwagga - For me it has to be Louw, out an out 6, but can cover 7 and 8. Kolisi always stand 2 players away from the break down and never tries to poach or disrupt a ball. Not my favourite player at all and question his involvement

7. Is traditionally hard as nails loose forward that can give you go forward ball. Kwagga don't have the size but boy does he have pace. So I would switch him to 7. Moster can cover a lot of ground, but not sure if you can get the skills that Kwagga offers

8. Vermeulen - Picks himself at 8 and has been our best 8. Lost a bit of pace but hopefully he still has something left in the tank. This guy is a true warrior. Doesn't cover the ground as well as Read or the other loosies but good all round

9 Faf vs Janjties vs Reinach - A part of me want to see Reinach have a go. He can turn a game on its head, but most of his tries has come from intercepts in the premier league. Jantjies has not set foot wrong all season. Seems to have the temperament 

10 Pollar vs Jantjies vs Steyn - Only Pollard stands out, not sure if we have any decent 10s around at the moment. Willemse comes to mind, but too instinctive

11 Kolbe vs Nkosi vs Mpimpi - Kolbe has to be on the pitch, he has matured a lot as player but probably would like to see him at 15 similar in the Mckenzie role. Maybe Willie on the wing

12 De Allende vs Steyn  - Neither has set the world alight for me. Both tractors 

13 Am vs Kriel - I think Am is over rated, really poor defence and lacks pace, but the Kriel has the physique but a really horrible left hand pass. Am is a way better distributer. So what do you go for, defensive organiser or creative player? Our outside channel with Am, Dyanti and Mpimpi has been terrible on defence

14 Mpimpi vs Nokisi - I would have gone for Nkosi, I don't think he is as quick as Mpimpi, but definitely way better under high ball and defence and strong runner. So given the lack of space, I would go for Nkosi purely on his strength

15 Willie vs Gelant vs Kriel vs Steyn - Yes Kriel, thats where he started and probably think he is a better 15 than 13. Gelant kicks the ball away too much and doesn't seem to have any pace. Willie can blow hot and cold and can do dumb stuff, but also our most creative player and enables us to score tries. So Willie but just. Although, I would have gone for Steyn given his size, boot and drop kicks, punish any exit kicks that goes to the 50m with attempted drop kicks. you only need to land 2 and at the same time keep the opposition in their 22

Well, in general I think the team is functioning really well. The boks have become hard to score against this year, but not sure its because teams were experimenting and not clicking into gear on attack. 

I'm holding my breath for Saturday, but hopefully we will never see the same score line of 50 -3 that that saw with AC

"Disagree on Kolisi, I like him as a captain and player. He is our only real attacking forward who is good in open play. He does not need to fetch as we have Marx and Vermeulen for that job."

Atleast you get it. Our third center, forcing the overlap in midfield with good enough hands to get the ball to a finisher...a bit quiet this season, but the most clean breaks in tbe Rugby Championship last year. Not the conventional 6, but he had phenomenal stats in las year's RC, yet he gets labeled as a quota on this site by all but Saffex. Sad. Louw is a great bench backup, but he's too slow to start.  Pity about Deon Fourie not playing Super Rugby anymore...liked him as a 6....the Duracell playing for the Sharks ain't half bad either , but it's probably too late for him...

Strzok

"Nope, there are plenty of observers who understand the massive compromise Dud represents."

Name them and prove what you say is true.   

Dave 

Louw has become a bench passenger - in the main useless.   Pakie questioned his yellow card against Japan, but the real reason is his lack of pace.   He is too late at breakdown points and then try and recover balls..   In on recent test  he gave way three penalties and he is regularly penalized for exactly that problem.   

The other problem is that an opensider has to have a high tackle count and he ever gets that one in reality.   Our main "experts" disregards the impact of tackling and refer to some weord thng he discovered and calls "process" tackles in a desperate effort to denigrate players with routine high tackle counts.   

Because of serious pace deficiency Louw is not good in defense and neither is Steyn.

I think what happened in line-outs is important insofar as locks are concerned.   Mostert ,ade a total mess against the All blacks and took two line=pouts on own throw and lost one.  He was never used to do any line=out catching in the Argentine test and rarely used against Japan.  Mostert's main problem is that he is not physically strong enough to set up and organize a driving maul.   A typical example was when he was supposed to set up and organize a driving maul against the Japanese and was unable to do it.  At one stage last year we stopped using driving mauls totally because of Mostert's deficiency.   

I personally think that the real weak links  in the squad is Steyn, Louw and Mostert amd I h ave factual reasons for saying that.         .      

Pakie questioned his yellow card against Japan, but the real reason is his lack of pace.   He is too late at breakdown points and then try and recover balls.

So he was late to that breakdown, was he? Yet here he is, right in position even before the player goes to ground. You do make up the most delightful fiction.

Even the commentators aren't sure why he was penalized, guessing that a knee had hit the ground...maybe:

"I don't think he was too far away from this one...he was on his feet, thought he had it off the ground but, maybe just that left knee had hit the ground."

The only reason he got a yellow was because the team was on a warning.

Strzok

Dave has never condemned Du Tout ever and your opinion is as stupid and rugby ignorant as you normally are.   He likes the Du Preez twins - and preferred them.   Like a large number of people he  does not rate Mostert for very good reasons - but as per normal your prejudice take the cake.   Stupid and that is a fact.   Happy Di stortion and Liar Day to you.     

Comey

Whether you like it or not Louw was not legally recovering the ball and  off he went.   Your pics are normally as near to BS as possible, but Louw had his hand on the ground and not the ball - not legal at all - your photo clearly showed it.   

The other players backed off - he persisted and that is a fact as well.   Useless as per normal - he knew about the warning and still contravened the laws.  At best he was stupid to do what he did.   Anyway he got penalized more often than he makes turnovers at breakdowns in 2018 and 2019. Happy Distortion Day to you.   

Hand on the ground was probably a fair reason, well done ou Mike!

More brilliant work cost him a yellow - how odious is that thinking.    Louw was critically poor as per normal.   This is clear what when Strzok writes BS believe the exact opposite.  

I was under the impression it was elbows on the ground for some reason (mentioned by a ref as well on some referee forum or another I read a while ago), but having looked at the letter of the law earlier today it says this:

Law 15.6 OTHER PLAYERS
(a) After a tackle, all other players must be on their feet when they play the ball. Players are on their feet if no other part of their body is supported by the ground or players on the ground.

Remains a quagmire at best. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don't.

Yes he was supporting his own weight having his hands on the ground and not the ball in it.  That never counted as having supported  hiss own weight and has always been illegal.  When liars are caught out they always come up with some BS to cover their lies,   

Comey quoted the law - but he does not even understand English.   Is the hands another part of the body - idiot - Yes or No?    If no is the hands an extension of the feet.   

Happy Distortion and Liars Day to both of you.       

'Supported' is the key word Pakie.

Moz, he seemed to be putting a lot of weight on that right hand at the end there before he got the ball out. But again, you do get away with these sometimes.

Comey quoted the law - but he does not even understand English.   Is the hands another part of the body - idiot - Yes or No?    If no is the hands an extension of the f eet.  

Huh? I'm actually agreeing with you for once, you old fool. From the law I quoted I understood that Louw could be considered off his feet, as I pretty clearly stated.

Stop trying to be a tough guy and read. The only image I get when you put on this attack dog act is your false teeth flying from your mouth in a spray of spittle and landing on your blood pressure pills.

Yes he was supporting his own weight having his hands on the ground and not the ball in it.

His left hand was actually on the ball.