….when they are debating tactics to beat the Boks almost two months before the first game. And looking at their team for Saturday it doesn’t really convince. There is a great record at stake and NZ has massive rugby IQ. But do they have the players? Will Jordan and Roigard aside their backs seem a bit worn out and their tight give sans some injured players looks vulnerable.
I’m calling for 2 Bok wins against the old enemy.
If we start with a backline similar to the one that is starting against Georgia this week then I could see us winning a game.
But I have a feeling that Sauron will pick a totally different one and opt for a full power game from the forwards and kicking from the backs...which the ABs will just go around or catch and run back at us.
Fabian Holland is there Dutch super power lock…..
Read about him today leaving the Netherlands to pursue his dream in New Zealand and he has become a All Black.
Lets see how he does against the Boks .
Big lad Fabian
I was surprised, they have universities in NZ!
Plum Dr Lucky is pretty shrewd…..gimmicks against the Italians to keep the gullible happy…..……and then Faf box kicking against the ABs. NZ will be expecting this, but will Lienart Brown be able to run around a totem pole?
I'm very worried about our rucks. I think that's where we're gonna lose both games. I feel like Rassie will want the power game but that ABs are gonna slow us down and steal a ton of ball.
For me, what we should have been doing all season, and hopefully will from now until then, is to refine the Williams, Sacha, Fassi axis. If we can get them firing they'll bring Kolbe and Arendse out and we could shock the ABs.
But we won't. It's gonna be Faf, Pollard, Willie and we're gonna go in as defensively as possible and revert back to our 3,6,9 game.
And I don't think it's gonna work. The ABs were brilliant at the ruck against France in that second game, who left players at home but still fielded a very strong side. Far stronger than the Italians that we faced.
All speculation, obviously.
The All Blacks was impressive for 40 minutes last week, faded in the second half. Hard to gauge as we don't really know how strong this French side is. Definitely better than our Italians. NZ just looks short on firepower. The commentators were very excited when Timoci Tavatavanawai took the field last week, but he just looks like a little tubby back and didn't do much at all. There's no Nonu or Julian Savea aura to this AB side. The Boks probably have the ABs outgunned both in front and at the back right now, but we'll see who manages to produce the max with what they've got on the day.
NZ teams have always had centers that were in the mix for world teams. Barrett is scarcely better than Dud and they don’t have a proven, in form 13. That seems like a major obstacle to their natural game plan.
I agree Pakie. It's not the Bok talent that will let us down. They do lack firepower. It's the game plan that will let us down though.
If this Boks squad plays to its potential, I think we'd blow the current ABs off the park.
Well the Boks must just never lay down and keep on going. Endurance to the end is our ticket to victory …. The AB seems to struggle with that Bok attributes.
That’s why fans need to be demanding rather than sycophantic, our current talent pool is outstanding.
100% on the same page, Moz.
We are nowhere near our potential. And the sycophancy is exactly what will keep this side from being great.
How others can't see that is total mystery.
With Marx, Eben, Ox, Jasper at the core of our pack and the insane backs that we have...this team could be on a totally different level to everybody else. Right now, with this side, we should be going to New Zealand almost certain of two wins on the trot. There is nothing to suggest that we couldn't be as dominant as Carter's ABs. Man for man we have same or better in the majority of positions.
The difference is that they understood balance and we still don't. I honestly don't think we ever will.
Barrett better than de Allende bwhaahaaaa
If Erasmus includes "miss kick" Libby and Kaptein Moerat in the squad you can call "GAME OVER" against the AB's.
I for one never underestimate the strength and depth of the ALL Blacks.
Not sure the All Blacks will be quaking in their boots with what they have seen from the Boks so far - except the outside backs. However, they know the Boks have been testing lots of new players, and the starting test team will be better than anything fielded so far this year when in New Zealand.
Steroidguard will probably be wary of the speed of Grant Williams around the base of the rucks.
I think the captaincy needs to be taken away from Kolisi, as I can't see him making the next World Cup.
Kolisi has had his best games against the All Blacks. There is usually a bit more space on the field, which suits his game.
Although if the Boks do badly at the breakdown, then Kolisi needs to be yanked from the field with Eskom coming on. We need a new number six who is good at the breakdown. The Boks have lots of ball carriers; they need at least one specialist fetcher in the back row.
Kolisi’s long suit is ball carrying…but in the WC whole games went by where he never carried at all….so his role was basically number one tenor in the national anthem.
How are you feeling after yesterday, Moz?
For me, the lack of cohesion is even more evident.
We put out a ridiculous backline to start, and they struggled like hell to break lowly Georgia down.
Iamgine the game plan being so bad that it almost completely nullifies the massive advantages that a guy like Sacha brings. We watched him turn games against teams that are better than Georgia, and with lesser teammates, in the URC. We saw what he did against the ABs in his first Bok season and his URC highlight reel, despite spending the first part of the season injured, is crazy. But we saw none of that yesterday. And we saw just as little against the Barbarians.
The Rassie worshippers here won't admit it, but to my mind, Rassie brings out the fighting spirit in players, and ignores backline skill. I'd go so far as to say that he suppresses it. I don't think Brown has very much say at all because we still see little to nothing in terms of backline play.
Of course, toward the end it became a little easier because the Georgian's are not a Test side.
I'm mega worried about the ABs games. More so than I was last week.
Also, PSDT was constantly being bigged up by the commenters...and for what?
It's actually becoming annoying at this point.
I'd don't mind giving credit where it's due, but the Georgians where making us struggle at the rucks. And yet Tsitsuka got flack and Eskom was barely mentioned. Yet a large part of why we struggled in the first half was because PSDat and Kolisi couldn't take control of a non Test side upfront.
It's as Aug always used to say, South African rugby analytics is based on sports jargon as opposed to facts.
I miss the guy
The media ratings perpetuate the myths. 365 and Planetrugby both gave PSDT an 8 for yesterday's performance, while DDA was apparently "punching holes with his hulking carries" in the Georgian defense. It's impossible to take these journalists seriously. A gathering of sycophants.
Journalists are straight up liar’s about DDA punching holes….far from it.
And to be honest, I think the Boks is the team that should be worrying more than the AB….
The AB looked the more composed team and ready to do battle…