Weekend thread - Ita v NZ 1p | Eng v Ton 3.15p | Wal v SA 5.30p | Fra v Arg 8p | Sco v Aus Sun 2.15

[Big D]

Well we were crap but dug out the win. Beats being crap and losing.

[TheNatalShark]

Cagey game

[dkm57]

YESS!!!

[charltom]

Ashman you total cretin.

Fuck off.

He's a young kid on debut and has less than 10 professional top level games under his belt.

He made a mistake but to call him a cretin is nonsense.

His darts have been great and so was his try. Good debut.

[Paddington Bear]

Probably just about the right result

[Torquemada 1420]

TFFT.

Back to the cricket where Sco are still playing.

[Blake]

Great win for Scotland!!!

Now the Boks have a shot of winning back the Raeburn Shield next week!!!

Will be tough though. This Scotland team is electric.

[Big D]

Great win for Scotland!!!

Now the Boks have a shot of winning back the Raeburn Shield next week!!!

Will be tough though. This Scotland team is electric.

Maul and scrum til the cows come home and we won't get close to you.

Our current fit bench options at prop are no where near the required quality in thr positions they are being asked to play.

[boere wors]

great win for scotland

will be a tough day at the office next week for the boks

[charltom]

It's pleasing how often the close ones have started going Scotland's way now. Not all of them, but close losses used to be very common.

Lineal world champions for now...

[PCPhil]

I really like watching Scotland. It was really disappointing when they were just plucky losers but now they have a good team.

And Watson’s Scottish accent is a bit difficult to understand but fair play.

[Torquemada 1420]

Great win for Scotland!!!

Now the Boks have a shot of winning back the Raeburn Shield next week!!!

Will be tough though. This Scotland team is electric.

[/trying too hard]

[charltom]

Great win for Scotland!!!

Now the Boks have a shot of winning back the Raeburn Shield next week!!!

Will be tough though. This Scotland team is electric.

Maul and scrum til the cows come home and we won't get close to you.

Our current fit bench options at prop are no where near the required quality in thr positions they are being asked to play.

Schoeman and Zander often play the full 80. Perhaps they should next week.

[Big D]

It is actually nice to see a Scotland team missing a few from the pack get the job done.

A few years ago you take our half the starting pack and we'd have been smashed up front. Perhaps like I expect we will next week.

We do seem to win out fair share v Oz.

[FalseBayFC]

Australia Saffer take waterboy to new level

Hermanus boy. Pieter de Villiers the Scotland scrum coach is from Malmesbury. You're right about the Cape being the home of scrumming.

[Torquemada 1420]

It is actually nice to see a Scotland team missing a few from the pack get the job done.

A few years ago you take our half the starting pack and we'd have been smashed up front. Perhaps like I expect we will next week.

We do seem to win out fair share v Oz.

The Oz games seem to have a habit of being tight. Which is why picking this one for the FR was so vexing.

[OomStruisbaai]

Feel dirty after backing Scotland. Maybe it was the spite on PR which the Aussies ran.

Pierre Schoeman was very good for such a young fatty. Knew he got the goods. Next week come his real test.

Scot backline look awesome.

[OomStruisbaai]

Australia Saffer take waterboy to new level

Hermanus boy. Pieter de Villiers the Scotland scrum coach is from Malmesbury. You're right about the Cape being the home of scrumming.

My big teacher friend from Swartland coach Pieter de Villiers to scrum. Retired now at Stilbaai.

[Blake]

Great win for Scotland!!!

Now the Boks have a shot of winning back the Raeburn Shield next week!!!

Will be tough though. This Scotland team is electric.

[/trying too hard]

I am legit worried about Hogg running back bad box kicks and Russel bamboozling our defense.

I think we’ll have them at scrum time, and lineouts will be pretty equal, but they have a much better attacking backline that can really give us a bloody nose if we can’t shut it down.

[Blake]

Feel dirty after backing Scotland. Maybe it was the spite on PR which the Aussies ran.

I’m usually all about Southern Hemisphere solidarity, but I want the damn Raeburn Shield back.

[convoluted]

It's behind a paywall, hence:

Chris Rattue: All Blacks win shows test rugby in rotten state
7 Nov, 2021 10:26 AM

Yes, one of those rare times in All Black history has arrived.

It's time to panic, or at least think along those lines.

The All Blacks rolled out their B team against Italy and they were diabolical.

No, not Italy, although yes, they too were diabolical.

The All Black hopefuls were a shambles. They didn't even look desperate.

Wales B-plus lost heavily to the All Blacks last week, but they would have beaten the New Zealand mob which stumbled around in the Eternal City on Sunday morning.

TV pundit Jeff Wilson wanted to know at halftime which players among this hapless lot would turn the game around in putting their hand up for the All Black A team against Ireland and France.

The answer was a big fat zero, apart from the sprightly almost 35-year-old Dane Coles, who was surely in the A team anyway.

I've thought for a while that the All Blacks are playing with fire, hanging on to the oft-injured although wondrous Coles. He's going to be pushing past the normal use by date come the next World Cup.
But the bloke has serious attitude, along with still-amazing bursts of energy.

Coles exudes a traditional All Black arrogance, or let's call it inner confidence, which has scared the opposition off or extricated them from tight spots over the years.

He also knows how to organise a rolling maul. If he hadn't been in the cheerless Stadio Olimpico who knows what would have happened against an Italian team which has lost 32 straight Six Nations games?

Test rugby is in a rotten state when a really bad All Black performance sees them end up "crushing" Italy by nearly 40 points.

Italy didn't launch one proper attack, which wasn't much less than the All Blacks managed.

These All Blacks were fanciful, as if muscling their way into form against a poor Italian outfit was beneath them. Ian Foster might be wondering if his development plan is on the skids.

Or to put it another way ... said it before, and will say it again: the All Blacks will be in major trouble when Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock have gone.




Onto the big test of the weekend - Wales v South Africa at Cardiff's magnificent sporting temple.

The singing in the rain was glorious, being interspersed with a powerful din.

The crowd cheered the Welsh defence on, because they didn't have much else to cheer about. It almost brought a Welsh team minus their finest warrior - Alun Wyn Jones - a victory.

The game wasn't that great, and involved just one try, but helped by that crowd and the close margin the trench warfare was gripping.

Rugby like this can gnaw away at the emotions in an incredible way, even if the head says the game is substandard. By the end, you feel drained.

There were eight tries across the tests in Rome and Cardiff, and five were scored by hookers.

There are hookers like Coles who fly off the back of mauls to score, and there are those like Springbok Malcolm Marx who prefer to trample straight through the crowd.

The bottom line is the same. The rolling maul is the increasing centrepiece of test rugby, a low-risk way of attacking the tryline.

It will probably decide who lives and dies at the 2023 World Cup.

[OomStruisbaai]

Ratpoo is the Keo version of SA.

[Slick]

Strange game

Strange atmosphere. Basically is none.

It was a strange atmosphere. Everyone just seemed to be delighted to be there and a bonus that there was a game on. Got louder near the end

[I like neeps]

I really like watching Scotland. It was really disappointing when they were just plucky losers but now they have a good team.

And Watson’s Scottish accent is a bit difficult to understand but fair play.

He sounds so similar to Rees Zammit eh.

[Slick]

Great win for Scotland!!!

Now the Boks have a shot of winning back the Raeburn Shield next week!!!

Will be tough though. This Scotland team is electric.

[/trying too hard]

I am legit worried about Hogg running back bad box kicks and Russel bamboozling our defense.

I think we’ll have them at scrum time, and lineouts will be pretty equal, but they have a much better attacking backline that can really give us a bloody nose if we can’t shut it down.

I’m really looking forward to the midfield match up, Johnson and Harris v De Allend and Am (Will that be the Bokke starting pair?)

[Yr Alban]

I really like watching Scotland. It was really disappointing when they were just plucky losers but now they have a good team.

And Watson’s Scottish accent is a bit difficult to understand but fair play.

He sounds so similar to Rees Zammit eh.

Quite. For some reason all Scottish people are supposed to sound like Rab C Nesbitt, but all Welsh people aren’t expected to sound like Tom Jones.

[Torquemada 1420]

Strange game

Strange atmosphere. Basically is none.

It was a strange atmosphere. Everyone just seemed to be delighted to be there and a bonus that there was a game on. Got louder near the end

I felt Scotland lost the "16th player" as a result.

[Slick]

Strange atmosphere. Basically is none.

It was a strange atmosphere. Everyone just seemed to be delighted to be there and a bonus that there was a game on. Got louder near the end

I felt Scotland lost the "16th player" as a result.

Maybe we can beat the 2nd ranked team in the world with that 16th man then

[OomStruisbaai]

It was a strange atmosphere. Everyone just seemed to be delighted to be there and a bonus that there was a game on. Got louder near the end

I felt Scotland lost the "16th player" as a result.

Maybe we can beat the 2nd ranked team in the world with that 16th man then

Maybe? Scots are the big favorites Bokke will need to up their game.

[Blake]

I’m really looking forward to the midfield match up, Johnson and Harris v De Allend and Am (Will that be the Bokke starting pair?)

I’d be surprised (and worried!) if that wasn’t the Bok starting centers.

[Insane_Homer]

Did the Bok scrum win a penalty at every scrum v Wales this weekend? I'm reasonable certain they did.

[FalseBayFC]

Did the Bok scrum win a penalty at every scrum v Wales this weekend? I'm reasonable certain they did.

There were 6 scrums. ESPN stats show we lost 1/5 scrums. I must have missed that. I was streaming due to loadshedding and had a few buffering moments and freezes.

Capture.PNG (34.97 KiB) Viewed 759 times

[FalseBayFC]

Our lineout continues to be a thing of beauty with 12/12 and one steal. The Boks do need to find ways to control their own destiny a bit more rather than waiting for oppo to make mistakes. We utterly dominated possession and territory in the second half and despite the conditions should have score more points.

[Blake]

Our lineout continues to be a thing of beauty with 12/12 and one steal. The Boks do need to find ways to control their own destiny a bit more rather than waiting for oppo to make mistakes. We utterly dominated possession and territory in the second half and despite the conditions should have score more points.

This.

Our forwards and set pieces really are solid at the moment giving us a solid base to strangle opponents, if we can just keep penalties down.
Our ground game is also very good depending on how well we adapt to the referee on the day. There is a nice balance between fetchers (Marx, Kitshoff, Vermeulen, Kwagga, Van Staden), cleaners (Bongi, Kock, Nyakane, Nche, Lood, Wiese), and disruptors (Kolisi, Etzebeth, Mostert). It makes opposition ball so slow and puts their backline on the back foot for the defense to line them up.

Our backline needs to start earning their keep, and the issue is undoubtedly 9 and 10. We really have regressed there.
I am not opposed to the current kicking gameplan; I get it. I agree with the coaches that until the ruck laws change to give the attacking side more benefit when taking the ball into contact, that we are better served kicking (almost) every ball in our own half and try to make it messy in the opponent's half.

BUT, I'm getting increasingly fed up with Jantjies and Pollard not even looking for other opportunities when we have quick ball. They should have license to kick when there is nothing on or when we aren't making headway, but it shouldn't be the ONLY instinct at every situation. From time to time these guys have to run some strike moves and try to create something. That it why I am still partial to Willie being a starter; the only time the Boks have looked threatening over the last 2 years is when he has slotted into 10 to take Pollard out of the attack. It is also the reason I'm not keen to blood Fassi at 15. I am he and Galant are Willie's successors, but I don't think Fassi will have the confidence (yet) to slot into that playmaker 15 role for the Boks yet.

We really have a challenge at 9 and 10.
Herchel has been poor in every game since 2019. He has just not played well. He used to be deadly with little opportunistic snipes. Now he is just a kicking robot that doesn't even look for alternatives...and he doesn't kick nearly as well as Faf. Reinach changed the game on Saturday and Jantjies should be benched. He's lucky to even be on the bench.

At 10 we have a similar issue with Pollard. He also hasn't really been close to 2019 form. Every time he has been subbed in in 2021, the Boks started to play better. The big challenge is that you kind of have to play Pollard-Le Roux or Jantjies-Steyn as combinations. Jantjies-Le Roux doesn't work as well as you then have two left footed kickers, both with medium clearance range, and both with a similar flaky temperament if they start making a couple of mistakes. I'm just not comfortable having them both on the park at the same time in a tight match. Both capable of brilliant play, bit also both capable of being absolute lemons on the day.

But somehow we need to get the ball past the 9 and 10 quickly when there is something on; so if that means starting with Reinach and Elton for the remaining 2 tests I'm all for it.

[Chilli]

Our lineout continues to be a thing of beauty with 12/12 and one steal. The Boks do need to find ways to control their own destiny a bit more rather than waiting for oppo to make mistakes. We utterly dominated possession and territory in the second half and despite the conditions should have score more points.

We utterly dominated a pretty crappy Welsh team.
On paper we have such a talented backline but they just can't perform.

[I like neeps]

Just saw the Wales highlights.

A drunk Welsh fan ruining the game for them. How annoying! At least they finally know how we all feel.

[Big D]

I felt Scotland lost the "16th player" as a result.

Maybe we can beat the 2nd ranked team in the world with that 16th man then

Maybe? Scots are the big favorites Bokke will need to up their game.

If you truly believe that, which I don't think anyone does, then you'll be delighted to find odds of nearly 3/1 on Scotland winning or if you are feeling cagey, Scotland with a 7 point head start is 10/11.

[Torquemada 1420]

It was a strange atmosphere. Everyone just seemed to be delighted to be there and a bonus that there was a game on. Got louder near the end

I felt Scotland lost the "16th player" as a result.

Maybe we can beat the 2nd ranked team in the world with that 16th man then

I hope so!!

[OomStruisbaai]

Maybe we can beat the 2nd ranked team in the world with that 16th man then

Maybe? Scots are the big favorites Bokke will need to up their game.

If you truly believe that, which I don't think anyone does, then you'll be delighted to find odds of nearly 3/1 on Scotland winning or if you are feeling cagey, Scotland with a 7 point head start is 10/11.

I am not a gambler so dunno what that mean. Scotland were impressive yesterday. They beat a team that give us the biggest hiding since many moons ago.

[average joe]

Just saw the Wales highlights.

A drunk Welsh fan ruining the game for them. How annoying! At least they finally know how we all feel.

What a bunch of limp pussy pitch invaders you guys have up there? He did not even try to tackle the ref.