Yes Ireland is oozing BMT….the Boks have it to but the combination of older players that does not have the necessary skills to adapt to this new side of our play and like you said before not really understanding and executing the new Game plan right ….our Backline was Rudderless… no one really making things happen…..but Sacha as he has showed at the stormers, is a masterclass….together with the likes of Willemse , Moodie and Libbok Sparks will fly….not counting Pollard out, but they are just more gifted in Attack play.
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In close games like this one player often steps up to win the game. In the WC that player was Pollard. Today he was flawless again, albeit with relatively easy kicks. But it wasn’t enough.
The amazing luck winning 3 one point games in a row comes into better focus. We learned a lesson today close contests aren’t always going to go our way.
Most of the match was a shapeless mess. The Irish centers weren’t great. Our lineout wasn’t great winning 14 out of 17. We still have no structured attack. Today Sasha was the player who provided the individual brilliance. This kid has far more potential than Libbok and maybe even Willemse.
We also had the whistle on our side most of the game…8 penalties vs 11 to Ireland.
The lasting impression from this game was the professionalism of Ireland when they fell behind. This is a very mature team