SASaffolk
Captain30,741 posts
SASaffolk Captain30,741 posts
09 Oct 2023, 18:49#1
To start against France which will call for some risky decisions none more so than leapfrogging Am straight into the starting side ahead of the robotic Kriel.
This call is a no brainer if Am is fully fit which would be measured in training in his ability to step.
We have to attack the French scrum and in order to better facilitate this we have to start the stronger, bigger and far more gifted RG ahead of the bog ordinary bloody Mostert. We need RG on the field for a minimum of 50min not the 30 he gets off the bench
Pollard vs Libbok is a tough call but I agree that scoreboard pressure is tantamount so Pollard has to start
On the wing we need the size of Moodie on the wing ahead of Arendse
At 8 it’s a close call between Wiese and Vermeulen but for me Wiese has had more of an impact
Willemse has more than proved his worth at 15 and is a must
The side has to be:
15. Willemse
14. Kolbe
13. Am
12. de Allende
11. Moodie
10. Pollard
9. Faf
1. Kitshoff
2. Bongi
3. Malherbe
4. Etzebeth
5. RG Snyman
6. Kolisi
7. PSDT
8. Wiese
16. Fourie 17. Ox 18. Nyakane 19. Kleyn 20. Kwagga 21. Williams 22. Libbok 23. Esterhuizen
Willie vs Esterhuizen is a close call on the bench as is Reinach vs Williams
SASaffolk
Captain30,741 posts
SASaffolk Captain30,741 posts
09 Oct 2023, 18:58#3
Agreed it’s a tough call not starting Libbok but we just can’t afford another Ireland kicking debacle
09 Oct 2023, 19:12#4
If you pick Libbok to start and his Kicking is not on, we might risk not taking all our points and end up chasing the game….Start Pollard and get a good start and then bring Libbok of the bench like in the Tongan game. I would start AE , but on the bench is better than no Andre. Let’s hope Rassie has enough sense to make the right choices….Moodie on Wing is good choice but if Am is not fit, he should start there. When will the team be announced?
PLPlum
Captain21,007 posts
09 Oct 2023, 21:17#7
Playing Am in this game, with zero game time, isn't brave...it's the tried and tested mixtures of conservative-stupid that us Saffas excel at.
It goes something like this..."form is never greater than experience".
It completely ignores that experience is nothing without form, while form is only partially, and not always, reliant on experience.
Selecting Am for this particular game, even on the bench, would be a massive mistake. But exactly the type of thing we would do.
It doesn't apply to Am, but we also get to a point where we completely overvalue experience. Where eventually we have players that are clearly better than their more experienced counterparts but because experience is so overvalued, we simply never pick those better players...until the experience demigods retire way past their prime. Remember when we took the once great Matfield to a WC long after he wasn't test quality any more?
Doesn't matter if you're half the pace that you used to be. Doesn't matter if you're only a fraction as sharp. The only thing that matters is that you have been to the most rodeos.
It's South African sport anti-logic 101.
I predict a calamitous and embarrassing weekend ahead for the Boks.
I don't want my crystal ball to be right but all signs are pointing to us getting wrecked.
SASaffolk
Captain30,741 posts
SASaffolk Captain30,741 posts
09 Oct 2023, 22:38#8
So you would not select Am and you would stick with Kriel or would you select Moodie at 13
I hear you regarding the experience thing and players knowing the system - it’s utter bullshit
Matfield is the perfect example, so was Os du Randt and Percy Montgomery
Vermeulen, Frans Steyn are the more recent examples and why Mostert keeps getting the green light
But the Am scenario does not apply here. My theory is that Moodie is not even in the equation at 13 and Kriel is the conservative crap option as he offers very little on attack. So for me if Am proves his fitness in training then I’d rather gamble with him starting and him giving us so X factor at 13 instead of the boring predictable stuff we will get from Kriel.
It’s a knockout game you need to go for broke you can’t play it safe. Moodie has shown glimpses but he is far from the finished article. Am ahead of him all day but I’d rather have Moodie start ahead of Kriel if Am is not ready.
Pollard went straight into a game after a far longer layoff than Am has had. He only had 30 min for Leicester before that Tonga game.
Am to start with Moodie on the wing to move to 13 if need be but we would also be covered with Esterhuizen on the bench
SASaffolk
Captain30,741 posts
SASaffolk Captain30,741 posts
09 Oct 2023, 23:21#10
The Irish only dominated the breakdown in the second half which is ironic given we had Kwagga, Fourie and v Staaden on the field
It highlighted the flaw in having three smaller players in the forwards. Given this fact the expected impact of the 7/1 split was neutralised. Too many smaller players in the pack results in us being less effective in clearing out and preventing turnovers
For the record Wiese effected a turnover or two so was doing a Vermeulen job
PLPlum
Captain21,007 posts
10 Oct 2023, 01:11#11
Moodie coming to this WC was completely pointless.
It's not like he's 29, they've just discovered how good he is, and want to give him as much game time as possible so that he can soon start regularly going forward.
No. They brought him to the WC and never intended on playing him in any games that mattered while already having plenty of cover at 13.
Why bring him? What's the point?
And why on earth play him in warm up matches at all?
What the F is he warming up for?
We already have Willie, Willemse and Kriel, who are all utility players and who can all cover 13, and while the knew Am would be back later in the competition too.
Then, why play Moodie against Wales and the ABs at all when it's been ages since Kriel played beside DDA and you are beyond certain that DDA and Kriel will start all your big games in the absence of Am?
It makes zero sense.
Perhaps there is some master plan, but I don't think there is.
Everybody else is just window dressing and it'll be...Pollard, DDA, Am, Cheslin, Arendse(cos Mapimpi is injured) and Willemse.
That'll be the starting backline announced tomorrow. Perhaps Am will come off the bench and Jessica will start.
Now, if Mapimpi wasn't injured he'd be there too.
And there you have it, an almost identical backline to the one that played the 2019 WC final. None of them as sharp as they were 4 years ago, most of them rusty as hell, and outside of Willemse/Arendse everybody severely lacking game time at this WC.
That is where we find ourselves.
We we were almost certain we would play France, at home, in the 1/4s...and this is how we going into it. It's a joke really.
And just to add more madness to it all...
Eben, for some unknown reason played 80 minutes last week. Then, Willemse, by some distance our best back, has had an insane amount of game time at this WC...starting against minnows.
Kinda like we don't give a shit if the worlds best lock and best 23 are injured before the knockout stages.
So some of the first choices get almost no game time at the WC up to the knockouts, and others play full games against minnows.
And then you look at Ireland. No funny business. No bullshit. They simply start their best side and build on top of already well established combinations.
It's a circus versus an army. I don't think Ireland are better than the Boks. They are just coached and managed at a level that is so many tiers above what the Boks are.
