Well played Poms.
We saffas often fail to neglect when our opposition play well.
You guys nullified our explosive pack and closed hougaard down really well.
Congrats on the draw.
As for Steyn... even Heyneke must get bored watching him play.
Its time for Elton to shine!
Flahdokota - I fully agree with you. However, anyb ody would have been a better flyhalf today than Steyn. We could still have won the game - and should have - but for his goalkicking. Kaksleg is the best term to describe him.
Hope Heyneke wakes up that this guy has now become a liability for both the Springboks and the Bulls. Five of the last seven games he played in was lost - we should have lost today too - largly becaue he was poor.
Nonsense these guys just played containment rugby.....as for your comments on Steyn I bet he beat 5 tackles today. The only problem with Morne is his goal kicking....and I found the change to kicking coach Koen an interesting data point.
Explosive bok pack? I would play:
Coenie, Bissie, Jannie
Etzebeth, Bekker,
Coetzee/Schalk, Vermulen and Alberts.
bench:
Beast, Strauss, Elstadt and Coetzee/ Schalk
Now we are talking about a Bok pack.
Schalk is now under pressure as Coetzee has been outstanding.
Thanks, Flash :)
It's been a steep learning curve for our new guys and, as I said all along, we are building a team for 2015. That's what it's all about at the moment. Lots of injuries pre and during the Tour, but I'm really pleased with the attitude of the players. They don't panic, they stick to the task and I'm looking forward to seeing them progress because we have already come on in leaps and bounds since the 6 Nations. It would be nice to be able to pick the same team twice ! But, I am greatly encouraged by what I'm seeing.
I was all for the selection of Lancaster as Coach and I believe this really has proved to the doubters that he really is the man for the job.
Not a whitewash, which was great news !
Now you guys need to go out and win the 4 Nations....or whatever it is you're going to call it ! I'll be supporting you all the way, as ever.
Hasbeen there is no comparison between Coetzee and Schalk in terms of mongrel, sticking to the ball and tackle count. Coetzee will be dominated by the ABs. I'm losing elevation on Etzebeth as well......that was a flaccid performance. As for Juandre Kruger.....Muller would be way better and he is a step below Victor and Bakkies.
It's not looking good for the FN.
Dr Mozzzz Schalk is an outstanding player but is coming back from a long injury. Lets hope he is okay. Coetzee is a babe in the woods but has played extremely well. Our loose trio looks to be Schalk, Vermuelen and Alberts.
As for Etzebeth I have expressed my concern about the way he is being rushed. To me Flip actually played well and I suggested elsewhere that he and Bekker could start with Etzebeth on the bench.
Muller is over the hill and down the dale - a never has been like matfield. matfield would have wekened thsi apck even more and also our backline - bwahahaahahahahaha its like asking to have daniels play against the poms!
So how about this selection:
Coenie, Bissie, Jannie (Keep an eye on Malherbe)
Bekker and Flip
Schalk, Vermulen and Alberts.
A nice 941 kg pack. Nice mobility and huge gainline power. These guys would blow the abs away much like our juniour Boks did. Coenie at 127 kg is a mobile loosehead who loves to drive the ball up. beast is not strong enough at 116 kg to do this as well as Coenie.
Reserves are Beast, Strauss. Etzebeth and Coetzee. Now Beast is very mobile and could do very well when things open up.
Only real issues are whether to persevere with Hougie at scummie and what to do about Morne.
To me Meyer is playing to our competitive advantage but just needs the injured players back. I see no reason to be pessimistic at all - in fact just the opposite.
Regarding the Hougaard issue I think we should keep doing what we are doing and let him develop by playing 50 minutes or whatever and then let Ruan take over.
the one thing this test proved is that while their is depth in the Boks squad for all positions, their is a serious lack of cohesion amongst them all. i think meyer recognised this and it played a big factor with some of his pro combination selections.
the forwards were rubbish, especially compared to their performance in the 2nd half of the first test and the 1st half of the second test. in the thrid test they were all avergae at best and im wondering if they were physically tired already, cos they looked mentally lethargic.
alberts who was one of their big game players in the first two tests was missing and if the Bok forwards can only preform if hes there, then they are up sh!tcreek without a paddle, cos his top performances wont always be there, let alone himself. its a dangerous presidence to set when u rely on one player.
i dont think the problem was with e ezebeth or j kruger either, both were relatively quiet in the grand scale of things, but that was the entire team and the leaders like bismarck, spies, mornehabana and JDV showed very little leadership qualities in trying to motivate the team.
i think this draw will hold those youngsters in good steed, as they now realise they have a lot more to do then just the basics, theny need heart and to be able to dig deep when required.
my Springboke forward pack,,,
1 c oosthuizen, 2 b du plesiss, 3 j du plesiss, 4 e ezebeth, 5 j kruger, 6 m coetzee, 7 w alberts, 8 s burger
16 a strauss, 17 greyling/kitshoff, 18 franco van der mewe, 19 brussow
a forwardpack cant be all about mongrel, it needs balance and my forward pack would do the trick IMO.
Well at least for this year we can forget about Coenie. There was nothing wrong with the Beast today....he had Coles under a lot of pressure. Nor do I think Flip Flop is an answer....he was average at best today.
