Springboks vs Wales @ Twickenham

[OomStruisbaai]

Springbok team to face Wales at Twickenham:

15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 3 caps, 10 points (2t)

14 – Edwill van der Merwe (Emirates Lions) - Uncapped

13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 68 caps, 75 points (15t)

12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) – 16 caps, 0 pts

11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 41 caps, 130 points (26t)

10 – Jordan Hendrikse (Emirates Lions) - Uncapped

9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 55 caps, 50 points (5t, 5c, 5pg)

8 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 0 points

7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain - Toyota Verblitz) 77 caps, 40 points (8t)

6 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 40 caps, 35 pts (7t)

5 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat, Japan) – 73 caps, 15 points (3t)

4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 119 caps, 30 points (6t)

3 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 49 caps, 5 points (1t)

2 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 64 caps, 85 points (17t)

1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 27 caps, 0 pts

Replacements:

16 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 68 caps, 65 points (13t)

17 – Ntuthuko Mchunu (Hollywoodbets Sharks) 1 cap, 0 points

18 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 69 caps, 5 points (1t)

19 – Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 points)

20 – Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers) - Uncapped

21 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 8 caps, 10 points (2t)

22 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) - Uncapped

23 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 78 caps, 55 points (11t)


Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 James Ratti, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Eddie James, 23 Jacob Beetham.

Date: Saturday, June 22
Venue: Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 14.00 (15.00 SA time; 13.00 GMT)
Referee: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)

[clydecloggie]

Utterly stupid fixture between two URC nations on the day of the URC grand final.

Bizarre scheduling.

[OomStruisbaai]

It's an important test for the Springboks. We'll need to hit the road running.

[Sandstorm]

Utterly stupid fixture between two URC nations on the day of the URC grand final.

Bizarre scheduling.

SA teams on the Highveld start their games early to avoid sunset.

[C69]

It's an important test for the Springboks. We'll need to hit the road running.

It won't b anything like a Test.
Wales are utterly shit and the team is a joke.

[boere wors]

Utterly stupid fixture between two URC nations on the day of the URC grand final.

Bizarre scheduling.

What is a Grand Final?

[OomStruisbaai]

60,000 tickets sold.

[assfly]

I don't think it's a stupid test at all. Gatland said that Wales need to test themselves against the best, and the Boks need to get a game under their belt before the Ireland series and testing some depth. And it's a nice payout for both teams. I think we'll start see more of these sorts of tests.

[bok_viking]

I don't think it's a stupid test at all. Gatland said that Wales need to test themselves against the best, and the Boks need to get a game under their belt before the Ireland series and testing some depth. And it's a nice payout for both teams. I think we'll start see more of these sorts of tests.

Yeah I think specially all the guys that play in Japan needs some game time, I believe they have not played for about a month already, so they need some game time to get match fit.

[bok_viking]

Utterly stupid fixture between two URC nations on the day of the URC grand final.

Bizarre scheduling.

SA teams on the Highveld start their games early to avoid sunset.

Unfortunately the highveld teams rarely have a choice these days and just have to play when the TV masters tell them to play, so many games are at very awkward times where the sun can be tough for fans with regards to heat and viewing directly into the sun in one half of the stadium. At least 6pm this time of year is after sunset for the final.

[Blake]

Utterly stupid fixture between two URC nations on the day of the URC grand final.

Bizarre scheduling.

I think this match was announced before the URC schedule was finalised.
And the 2023-2024 URC season had a late start because of the RWC.

It was a series of events that led to the scheduling conflict...but it wasn't as if a Welsh side was going to make the URC final anyway

[OomStruisbaai]

Utterly stupid fixture between two URC nations on the day of the URC grand final.

Bizarre scheduling.

SA teams on the Highveld start their games early to avoid sunset.

Unfortunately the highveld teams rarely have a choice these days and just have to play when the TV masters tell them to play, so many games are at very awkward times where the sun can be tough for fans with regards to heat and viewing directly into the sun in one half of the stadium. At least 6pm this time of year is after sunset for the final.

The 15h00 starts have a two way benefit for the Bulls. its like we need to acclimatize to the NH playing at 21h30 at night in their winter. Starting at 15h00 also leave enough time for the Bulls supporters to drink their charge office coffees and braai with good spirit after the game.

[OomStruisbaai]

I don't think it's a stupid test at all. Gatland said that Wales need to test themselves against the best, and the Boks need to get a game under their belt before the Ireland series and testing some depth. And it's a nice payout for both teams. I think we'll start see more of these sorts of tests.

This. Its always good to get that first game rust when the season starts out of the way.

[assfly]

This. Its always good to get that first game rust when the season starts out of the way.

Absolutely. I advocate for more tests like this. Given our depth, we need to give the fringe players a chance to wear green and gold.

[Blake]

This. Its always good to get that first game rust when the season starts out of the way.

Absolutely. I advocate for more tests like this. Given our depth, we need to give the fringe players a chance to wear green and gold.

Agree and disagree.

Yes we need to give fringe players and the assistant coaches a space to sink or swim, but I don't think it should be in Bok matches outside the test window.
I'd much rather such games be "SA A" and be played as a parallel series.

I don't like us (and our opponents) being hamstrung in selection due to the matches being outside of the official test window.

[OomStruisbaai]

This. Its always good to get that first game rust when the season starts out of the way.

Absolutely. I advocate for more tests like this. Given our depth, we need to give the fringe players a chance to wear green and gold.

Agree and disagree.

Yes we need to give fringe players and the assistant coaches a space to sink or swim, but I don't think it should be in Bok matches outside the test window.
I'd much rather such games be "SA A" and be played as a parallel series.

I don't like us (and our opponents) being hamstrung in selection due to the matches being outside of the official test window.

Rassie will always think out of the box and do things differently. Vok know we have to be thankful for this after having suffer so long with amateur type of coaches.

For any player playing for SA A compare to play for the Springboks is totally something different. They need to be test under that pressure.

[OomStruisbaai]

This. Its always good to get that first game rust when the season starts out of the way.

Absolutely. I advocate for more tests like this. Given our depth, we need to give the fringe players a chance to wear green and gold.

Thats something we learned from Ireland or more specific Leinster. The Springboks have a hectic program until end of year. We need depth. Cant play the strongest XV week in, week out. Means we can take some losses along the way. Rugby's cycle is world cup driven.

[Sandstorm]

Oom is right. Fringe players like Fassi need to be tested at a higher level than Gloucester to see if they belong in the Boks. Warmup Tests against minnows is a good indication for him.

[Sards]

Absolutely. I advocate for more tests like this. Given our depth, we need to give the fringe players a chance to wear green and gold.

Agree and disagree.

Yes we need to give fringe players and the assistant coaches a space to sink or swim, but I don't think it should be in Bok matches outside the test window.
I'd much rather such games be "SA A" and be played as a parallel series.

I don't like us (and our opponents) being hamstrung in selection due to the matches being outside of the official test window.

Rassie will always think out of the box and do things differently. Vok know we have to be thankful for this after having suffer so long with amateur type of coaches.

For any player playing for SA A compare to play for the Springboks is totally something different. They need to be test under that pressure.

Agree here with ouboet. What's the point otherwise really. What would you call the Welsh team. Wales A . Get the vok out of here

[Sards]

Oom is right. Fringe players like Fassi need to be tested at a higher level than Gloucester to see if they belong in the Boks. Warmup Tests against minnows is a good indication for him.

Oh my word.......

[Sards]

This. Its always good to get that first game rust when the season starts out of the way.

Absolutely. I advocate for more tests like this. Given our depth, we need to give the fringe players a chance to wear green and gold.

Thats something we learned from Ireland or more specific Leinster. The Springboks have a hectic program until end of year. We need depth. Cant play the strongest XV week in, week out. Means we can take some losses along the way. Rugby's cycle is world cup driven.

For us. Others are satisfied with a 6 nation's or Rugby Championship cup

[Sards]

Geez. Ouboet is starting to talk sense. Or is his account hacked

[assfly]

Oom is right. Fringe players like Fassi need to be tested at a higher level than Gloucester to see if they belong in the Boks.

That's a pretty disrespectful way to talk about CLASH OF THE EUROPEAN GIANTS

[assfly]

I'd much rather such games be "SA A" and be played as a parallel series.

I'd be very happy to see the Emerging Springboks, well, emerge again.

[Sards]

Loftus almost sold out. Couple of thousand tickets only left

[Sandstorm]

Loftus almost sold out. Couple of thousand tickets only left

[OomStruisbaai]

Geez. Ouboet is starting to talk sense. Or is his account hacked

When it come to the Springboks, I am not provincial biased. I'll back all the players on saturday, specially Fassie, vd Merwe, AE , Hendricks, SMZ, Roos & BJD. Its their big chance.

[Blake]

I'd much rather such games be "SA A" and be played as a parallel series.

I'd be very happy to see the Emerging Springboks, well, emerge again.

Exactly this. We need a proper brand for an emerging Bok team. Maybe revive the "Leopards" moniker or something to add some tradition to it.
Use it as a transitional team to bridge players between u20 and around 25 years old and also build a second tier of coaches and management staff.

Give them exposure to the Boks' training environment and systems and also use it for players returning from injury or that are performing at URC, but where you just aren't sure if they can make the step up. Send these guys on tours to Europe, America and the Pacific to play Tier 2 nations. It's a win-win-win for all parties involved.

[Sards]

Loftus almost sold out. Couple of thousand tickets only left

It's Loftus. Over 50k.

[Sards]

I'd much rather such games be "SA A" and be played as a parallel series.

I'd be very happy to see the Emerging Springboks, well, emerge again.

Exactly this. We need a proper brand for an emerging Bok team. Maybe revive the "Leopards" moniker or something to add some tradition to it.
Use it as a transitional team to bridge players between u20 and around 25 years old and also build a second tier of coaches and management staff.

Give them exposure to the Boks' training environment and systems and also use it for players returning from injury or that are performing at URC, but where you just aren't sure if they can make the step up. Send these guys on tours to Europe, America and the Pacific to play Tier 2 nations. It's a win-win-win for all parties involved.

What about...


The Springboks

[Blake]

What about...


The Springboks

A couple of problems:

1. There are only a limited amount of tests available per year and world cup cycle, making it difficult to give emerging players enough gametime, especially when it comes to things like experience with the Boks' defence system against real opposition.

2. When the best players are fit and their game time is well managed, it's difficult to justify dropping them and to get new players into rotation. Bongi and Maarx were the best 2 hookers for 5 years with almost no injuries...until the lead up and during the World Cup. That almost cost us badly since we banked on Dweba to be a strong 3rd choice...and he wasn't. You need a second tier, just under the Springboks, do build your depth chart and do your succession planning.

3. The Boks (and other Tier 1 teams) are coming under increasing pressure to reach our and grow the game. With limited tests available annually (usually only 12: 3 in June/July, 6 for TRC and 3 on the end of year tour) we are going to see more and more cases where the Boks need to sacrifice a June test (like we did now to play Portugal) and possibly a November test in future, to meet this "quota". I'd have much rather have had a 3-test deciding series against the Irish and it would have brought in more money than a one-off nothing test against Portugal.

Sure, the Portugal test is useful to shake off some rust before we play the 6N champs, but it's still a bit of a waste IMO.

4. Our record. Yes we've come to accept being mediocre in between world cups if we win the ultimate prize, be our tune will quickly change if we don't win the next world cup AND we have a bad record between cups. These out-of-window test matches and Tier 2 matches are banana peel matches. Easy to trip over them because the players don't take them seriously enough, or because of selection restrictions you can't pick settled combinations or experience when you need to. It messes up our record, and I'd much rather we set a target to claw back having a winning record against other teams than a losing one.

[ASMO]

It's an important test for the Springboks. We'll need to hit the road running.

It won't b anything like a Test.
Wales are utterly shit and the team is a joke.

I would be amazed if Wales keep it under 50 point difference

[Sandstorm]

Don’t expect champagne rugby from the Boks. There will be too many fringe guys trying to impress e.g. Estherhuizen so instead of giving the obvious pass to the player in space outside, he’ll try to run thru the Welsh defence.

[assfly]

Don’t expect champagne rugby from the Boks. There will be too many fringe guys trying to impress e.g. Estherhuizen so instead of giving the obvious pass to the player in space outside, he’ll try to run thru the Welsh defence.

[C69]

It's an important test for the Springboks. We'll need to hit the road running.

It won't b anything like a Test.
Wales are utterly shit and the team is a joke.

I would be amazed if Wales keep it under 50 point difference

Wales have perhaps the worst international fly half I have ever seen. Truly shocking team.

[inactionman]

Not available for the Boks, sadly, as he's now a registered Bath player and we're outside international window, but it sounds like Regan Grace is likely to get a few Welsh caps later this summer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union ... jjmdk5pmko

I've not seen him playing a game of Union yet - signed for Racing but ruptured his achilles - but he was electric in league.

[Sards]

A good weekend and a good game for the Welsh tomorrow

[C69]

A good weekend and a good game for the Welsh tomorrow

Rubbish it's an appalling time for Wales to play a game outside the international window.
We have players that would not even make the squad for most top 10 teams actually playing tomorrow.
Wales are truly terrible

[inactionman]

Again, not the boks, but Kurtley Beale is back in the Oz squad for the Wales Test

[SaintK]

A good weekend and a good game for the Welsh tomorrow

Saffers by 40 points!!!