Springbokke next 4 years to 2027
He really has been struggling with that shoulder for a very long time. He hardly played for the Sharks because of it. I fear it might be long term. Was long term at the Sharks.
I would be quite happy to put Kleyn forward. He can steal lineout ball
Initial indications is that he's out for 10 days at least.
The medical team will be doing some scans and tests today and the results should be in by the end of the day to get to the full extent of the injury and then we'll know for sure.
I just saw that. Its the same shoulder he was out months for the Sharks. 10 days is targeted at the Irish game.........doubt he will be ready
He seems quite optimistic. Says he doesn't think its too serious.Sards wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 12:57 pmI just saw that. Its the same shoulder he was out months for the Sharks. 10 days is targeted at the Irish game.........doubt he will be ready
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boere wors
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Imho that ireland game is not that important any more now that we have the scotland game successfully out of the way. No need to risk Eben here if not fully fit. All the pressure is on Ireland, lose against SA and it is knockout stage in their game against Scotland already.
Exactly. Rather Eben in the quarters than not any more.boere wors wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 6:22 pm Imho that ireland game is not that important any more now that we have the scotland game successfully out of the way. No need to risk Eben here if not fully fit. All the pressure is on Ireland, lose against SA and it is knockout stage in their game against Scotland already.
No silly decisions needed here.I am very comfortable with the replacements we have
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average joe
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The Langebaan tikkie buster can have a bit of a rest. We have a viking.
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OomStruisbaai
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Willie le Roux get stick from Kolisi
You are obsessed with Willie hate
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OomStruisbaai
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I see another one circulating. I don't know who is behind this but it's clear it's a personal attack on Willie. Maybe it's Sandyvagina. He already started slurring Willie in the match.OomStruisbaai wrote: ↑Wed Sep 13, 2023 7:39 amGot that from Bloutoria.
I had a bit of a problem with him always shouting at ... basically everybody. But after watching "Reaching for the sun", I started to like the guy. He certainly is a playmaker and has a vulnerable side, which he hides well being a knob on the field.
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boere wors
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Malcolm Marx gooooone?! Picked up an injury in training apparently, going for scans, update later in the week
really bad news if he was out
really bad news if he was out
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boere wors
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From rugby 365: Lock Eben Etzebeth, who left the field with a shoulder injury midway through the first half against Scotland last Sunday, was initially given a seven- to 10-day recovery plan.
However, that has now been upgraded to 10 to 14 days, after a review of his scans.
However, that has now been upgraded to 10 to 14 days, after a review of his scans.
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boere wors
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Marx is out of the tournament. Massive blow.
Dweba in? We cant seriously consider Fourie and van staden to cover for the remainder of the tournament.
Dweba in? We cant seriously consider Fourie and van staden to cover for the remainder of the tournament.
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OomStruisbaai
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Pollard back.
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average joe
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Don't know, they said they're not bringing anyone in for now.
MASSIVE loss for the Boks. Our lineout just dropped to Tier 2 standard.boere wors wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 10:14 am Marx is out of the tournament. Massive blow.
Dweba in? We cant seriously consider Fourie and van staden to cover for the remainder of the tournament.
Nienaber said in the vid I posted pages back that if a lock or loose forward was injured they would consider calling up a back because those positions are well covered, but not if a frontrow player was injured. Marx and Bongi were the only real hookers selected, Nienaber did say in that interview he didn't want three hookers because the third hardly plays.average joe wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 11:49 amDon't know, they said they're not bringing anyone in for now.
They can only be waiting so Fourie can have a run to see how he goes, then call up Dweba or Pollard. Van Staden would be used so Bongi can be rested if they decide to bring in Pollard.
We have 1 hooker and two fly halves in France. Ludicrous to call up Pollard next!_Os_ wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 6:22 pmNienaber said in the vid I posted pages back that if a lock or loose forward was injured they would consider calling up a back because those positions are well covered, but not if a frontrow player was injured. Marx and Bongi were the only real hookers selected, Nienaber did say in that interview he didn't want three hookers because the third hardly plays.average joe wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 11:49 amDon't know, they said they're not bringing anyone in for now.
They can only be waiting so Fourie can have a run to see how he goes, then call up Dweba or Pollard. Van Staden would be used so Bongi can be rested if they decide to bring in Pollard.
RassNaber aren't orthodox.Sandstorm wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 6:32 pmWe have 1 hooker and two fly halves in France. Ludicrous to call up Pollard next!_Os_ wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 6:22 pmNienaber said in the vid I posted pages back that if a lock or loose forward was injured they would consider calling up a back because those positions are well covered, but not if a frontrow player was injured. Marx and Bongi were the only real hookers selected, Nienaber did say in that interview he didn't want three hookers because the third hardly plays.average joe wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 11:49 am
Don't know, they said they're not bringing anyone in for now.
They can only be waiting so Fourie can have a run to see how he goes, then call up Dweba or Pollard. Van Staden would be used so Bongi can be rested if they decide to bring in Pollard.
Can't see any reason for getting Van Staden some hooker training time, unless they're thinking of calling up Pollard. The next injury then probably means Dweba is called up. The logic would be that Pollard can then play against Ireland, which could be a very close and come down to kicking.
Not sure about Fourie's throwing. But Marx was the best, Bongi second and then no one (Dweba needed a lot of work on it, last I noticed him). I did see this on Fourie's throwing, which could be meaningless.
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average joe
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I reckon they're letting it lay till after the Romania game. No need to rush an announcement for this game but someone is probably packing their bags already.
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OomStruisbaai
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Deon Fourie will be great if getting a chance. At least he will poach like Marx did and even more. Probably the reason why RasNaber thinking about Escom as backup nr2.
Some ideas on what RassNaber is up too.
RassNaber finds an important characteristic and goes all in on it. For the 2019 RWC one of their areas of focus was speed, they wanted players that could play at a high tempo/reset defence quickly getting onside/rush the opposition on defence quickly. This is what Moster’s selection was about, his work rate/speed was much higher compared to other options that seemed more talented at the time. RassNaber also do this with opposition analysis, they find one core thing that team is about and set about dismantling just that one aspect of an opponent.
The key characteristic they’re focusing on now is utility. If a player can play many positions they like that player a lot more than if they cannot. With that in mind here’s some guesses.
1. Fourie
Even if Dweba is called up, they’re going to start Bongi and have Fourie on the bench. Bongi/Fourie is a step down on Marx/Bongi, but also doing some things a bit better than that combination, especially mobility from Fourie which is incredibly useful on defence. Mobility/speed also being something RassNaber always want.
2. Pollard
They’re going to call up Pollard at some point. Best way of playing him is to start him at 10, Libbok on the bench. In the second half Libbok comes on at 10, Pollard goes to 12, De Allende goes to 13, Kriel goes off. This will allow a Kiwi style dual flyhalf system (“first five-eighth”/“second five-eighth”) to finish games. And because Kiwis have done all the innovation on that, it’s not hard putting into place a known quantity.
On attacking ball flyhalf options can be on both sides on the ruck ready to direct an attack, or stacked with one flyhalf flat and another deep, giving the scrumhalf two options. Le Roux/Willemse at fullback can also be brought into this. Something has been done similar to this with Le Roux and Pollard already (both at first receiver on each side of a ruck, giving the scrumhalf two strong options, which also makes it harder for opponents to defend against).
RassNaber rebuilt the entire attack around Libbok, a flare player and very different flyhalf to what they had been selecting. This was all made to work in a very short amount of time, to the point where the Bok flyhalf was the outrageous showman of an important RWC match against Scotland where Finn Russell didn’t feature much. This would be further building that out. First half the old style defence/attack, absorb the opening blows from the opponent, second half the Kiwi style dual flyhalf attack that’s about half way there already.
3. Buckle up this is where it gets wild.
Danie Craven was the original Bok utility scrumhalf. He played, scrumhalf, inside centre, flyhalf, and eightman in Bok tests. But scrumhalf was his dominant position and where he mostly played and captained from. Craven wasn’t just any scrumhalf, he perfected the dive pass and was perhaps the greatest dive passer ever because of that (oom saw him play and can confirm this).
When people say utility scrumhalves are “new” or even that “South Africa are destroying the traditions of rugby”. They just don’t know what they’re talking about. The eight man scrum in 3-4-1 formation, that was us. Lifting in the lineout, that was us. You could probably fill a book with everything we’ve added, these aren’t “traditions” they’re things that have been invented often by people speaking Afrikaans. When you see the Boks doing something “new” you can usually find something similar being done by us in the past.
Just on the idea of the utility scrumhalf. Ruan Pienaar played for the Boks at scrumhalf/flyhalf/fullback/wing. Francois Hougaard at scrumhalf/wing. Du Preez was the best scrumhalf I’ve ever seen play (and I saw Joost), his sweeping/off the ball running and tactical kicking were like nothing any normal scrumhalf does, he had the pass of a scrumhalf, the game sense and boot of a flyhalf, and the tactical awareness and positional play of a fullback. He could’ve easily played flyhalf or fullback.
Many of the top tier SA scrumhalves since Craven have been Craven clones. Nowhere else produces scrumhalves playing multiple positions to test level standard. Kockott wasn’t close to being fifth best in SA (Du Preez/Pienaar/Januarie/Hougaard/Vermaak all were better and all Bok capped), but was a test starter for France after he failed to make the Boks.
But why pick 4 scrumhalves? And why have some playing wing and flyhalf?
Laaitie Os read anything by Doc Craven he could find, Craven was the original rugby professor and innovator (RassNaber is nowhere near his level, but closer than anyone else we’ve produced recently). I’m sure in one of those books Craven says a side could run a dual scrumhalf system, which means two players on the field capable of playing scrumhalf to increase speed from the ruck. The simple way of doing it would be the scrumhalf and flyhalf being able to swap between those positions, and on attacking ball whoever is closest distributing from the ruck (they would have to communicate who was going for it, or each takes half of the field, there would need to be a system). The advantage is the speed of the attack potentially dramatically increases. Speed is something RassNaber likes.
Back to RassNaber’s Boks. Faf was a 9/10 at school, and anyone that remembers his Lions early years knows he’s a strong open field runner, on attacking ball he could play in the line:
Reinach and Williams are the fastest players in the squad. To play wing you need speed: chasing your side’s kicks, getting into the line from a position defending a kick option if the opponent didn’t kick, fielding opponent’s kicks. Anyone that has played there knows doing it well means a lot of off the ball running, and the faster someone is the better they are (can stand deeper on defence and still get into the line etc). Wing is the easiest backline position, but only if a player is fast enough. There are difficult areas of the position at the highest level, this is mostly about option taking on defence.
If you were going to try and get two scrumhalves onto the park, the way to do it would be by replacing a wing in the second half, with either Williams or Reinach. Wing is the easiest position for a fast scrumhalf to transition into.
Against the All Blacks at Twickenham Reinach played wing from the bench. Williams is starting at wing against Romania. Left wing is the wing that needs to be defencively stronger (defending kicks and runners from set piece) and where I would play Reinach, judging by his performance against the All Blacks, having more experience than Williams, strong tackling, and strong kicking game.
Potentially there’s Faf at scrumhalf and Reinach on the wing. Both working together to end matches in the fastest phase attacks possible. If Faf gets caught in the line as the phases build he’s capable of contributing.
What It Looks Like In Practice.
This starts the match:
9 Faf, 10 Pollard, 11 Mapimpi, 12 De Allende, 13 Kriel, 14 Kolbe, 15 Le Roux/Willemse.
It plays to the established attacking/defencive pattern. Could have Willemse at 15 as the point is just to absorb the blows from the opponent and he’s probably a bit stronger on defence than Le Roux. Pollard builds the scoreboard pressure through kicking.
This ends the match:
9 Faf, 10 Libbok, 11 Reinach, 12 Pollard, 13 de Allende, 14 Kolbe, 15 Le Roux/Willemse.
Deon Fourie would also come on at hooker, which would help on defence during phase play as he’s more mobile than a specialist hooker. Other than on first phase ball, an opponent seeking to exploit any defence issues will face four backrows.
The point of the utility players becomes to go back to that original RassNaber characteristic, speed. Libbok/Pollard/Willemse have all played flyhalf for the Boks. Le Roux has played at first receiver (the flyhalf role) on attacking ball for the Boks. Faf will play at flyhalf from the bench against Romania. On attacking ball there’s 5 players capable of making choices if they find themselves at first receiver as the phases build (Pollard, Libbok, Le Roux/Willemse, Faf). This means Faf and Reinach can work together recycling as fast as possible, because who they’re passing to will always be a flyhalf with a bit of organisation.
But the genius is that it can also change gears within the second half by switching to using this this on Bok ball (not on opposition ball, as Libbok cannot defend in the centres):
9 Faf, 10 Pollard, 11 Reinach, 12 De Allende, 13 Libbok, 14 Kolbe, 15 Le Roux/Willemse.
And going back to the pattern of the first half playing off 9 Faf, 10 Pollard, 12 De Allende, 15 Le Roux/Willemse, with Reinach/Libbok/Kolbe as the chasers and finishers.
Chances Of This Happening?
I give a low probability of all this happening. But we’re about to watch a Bok match with four scrumhalves, so …
1 Wasn’t ever part of the plan. Fourie was only supposed to play some pool games against minnows, but Marx wasn’t supposed to be injured. The plan is clearly changing at hooker. High probability Boks could end up with Fourie as bench hooker.
2 Probably was always part of the plan. First of all it was using Le Roux and Pollard together as dual first receivers on Bok ball. Now Libbok is going to be brought into that.
3 Was never part of the plan. Mainly because it involves removing the 13, and it would’ve been foolish to replace Am. But Am is injured and it looks like the coaches are searching for what else they can do. If 3 wasn’t a possibility, Reinach wouldn’t have come on at wing against the ABs, Williams wouldn’t be playing wing against Romania. But the big thing is Faf wouldn’t be set to come on at flyhalf against Romania, the squad already has Libbok/Willemse, Le Roux would be a more logical choice if the intention was to find a third choice flyhalf. Pollard is also going to be called up at some point. There’s not many obvious reasons for not resting Faf against Romania and instead giving him flyhalf time, unless there’s a possibility of dual scrumhalves.
If This Did Happen What Would It Mean?
It’s interesting watching how foreigners are reacting to RassNaber. The stereotype of South African rugby is that we’re dumb, the nice way this is said is to praise Springbok “physicality”. The Springboks are never called intelligent, but the Wallabies are even when they’re shit. A lot of this is about the prejudiced way Anglos/English speakers outside SA typically view Afrikaners.
Whatever RassNaber are, they’re not stupid. Oubaas Markotter wasn’t stupid, Doc Craven wasn’t stupid, Izak van Heerden wasn’t stupid, Ian Mac wasn't stupid, Kitch Christie wasn’t stupid, I won’t continue the list with people still alive today. They cannot say RassNaber are stupid because that wouldn’t make sense (how have they done well if they’re morons?), but their stereotype is that we’re stupid. They have to say RassNaber is a crazy madman and a cheat, because that means they can keep their stereotype about the Springboks being stupid brutes they’re just now also nuts and cheating.
If a Kiwi coach was pulling all the shit Rassie and Nienaber are, they would be lauded as rugby geniuses. I’m not sure RassNaber will be able to do all of this, but it could all be in place and ready by Ireland, most of pieces are there already. Some stereotypes would have to change if even some of this happened and worked.
RassNaber finds an important characteristic and goes all in on it. For the 2019 RWC one of their areas of focus was speed, they wanted players that could play at a high tempo/reset defence quickly getting onside/rush the opposition on defence quickly. This is what Moster’s selection was about, his work rate/speed was much higher compared to other options that seemed more talented at the time. RassNaber also do this with opposition analysis, they find one core thing that team is about and set about dismantling just that one aspect of an opponent.
The key characteristic they’re focusing on now is utility. If a player can play many positions they like that player a lot more than if they cannot. With that in mind here’s some guesses.
1. Fourie
Even if Dweba is called up, they’re going to start Bongi and have Fourie on the bench. Bongi/Fourie is a step down on Marx/Bongi, but also doing some things a bit better than that combination, especially mobility from Fourie which is incredibly useful on defence. Mobility/speed also being something RassNaber always want.
2. Pollard
They’re going to call up Pollard at some point. Best way of playing him is to start him at 10, Libbok on the bench. In the second half Libbok comes on at 10, Pollard goes to 12, De Allende goes to 13, Kriel goes off. This will allow a Kiwi style dual flyhalf system (“first five-eighth”/“second five-eighth”) to finish games. And because Kiwis have done all the innovation on that, it’s not hard putting into place a known quantity.
On attacking ball flyhalf options can be on both sides on the ruck ready to direct an attack, or stacked with one flyhalf flat and another deep, giving the scrumhalf two options. Le Roux/Willemse at fullback can also be brought into this. Something has been done similar to this with Le Roux and Pollard already (both at first receiver on each side of a ruck, giving the scrumhalf two strong options, which also makes it harder for opponents to defend against).
RassNaber rebuilt the entire attack around Libbok, a flare player and very different flyhalf to what they had been selecting. This was all made to work in a very short amount of time, to the point where the Bok flyhalf was the outrageous showman of an important RWC match against Scotland where Finn Russell didn’t feature much. This would be further building that out. First half the old style defence/attack, absorb the opening blows from the opponent, second half the Kiwi style dual flyhalf attack that’s about half way there already.
3. Buckle up this is where it gets wild.
Danie Craven was the original Bok utility scrumhalf. He played, scrumhalf, inside centre, flyhalf, and eightman in Bok tests. But scrumhalf was his dominant position and where he mostly played and captained from. Craven wasn’t just any scrumhalf, he perfected the dive pass and was perhaps the greatest dive passer ever because of that (oom saw him play and can confirm this).
When people say utility scrumhalves are “new” or even that “South Africa are destroying the traditions of rugby”. They just don’t know what they’re talking about. The eight man scrum in 3-4-1 formation, that was us. Lifting in the lineout, that was us. You could probably fill a book with everything we’ve added, these aren’t “traditions” they’re things that have been invented often by people speaking Afrikaans. When you see the Boks doing something “new” you can usually find something similar being done by us in the past.
Just on the idea of the utility scrumhalf. Ruan Pienaar played for the Boks at scrumhalf/flyhalf/fullback/wing. Francois Hougaard at scrumhalf/wing. Du Preez was the best scrumhalf I’ve ever seen play (and I saw Joost), his sweeping/off the ball running and tactical kicking were like nothing any normal scrumhalf does, he had the pass of a scrumhalf, the game sense and boot of a flyhalf, and the tactical awareness and positional play of a fullback. He could’ve easily played flyhalf or fullback.
Many of the top tier SA scrumhalves since Craven have been Craven clones. Nowhere else produces scrumhalves playing multiple positions to test level standard. Kockott wasn’t close to being fifth best in SA (Du Preez/Pienaar/Januarie/Hougaard/Vermaak all were better and all Bok capped), but was a test starter for France after he failed to make the Boks.
But why pick 4 scrumhalves? And why have some playing wing and flyhalf?
Laaitie Os read anything by Doc Craven he could find, Craven was the original rugby professor and innovator (RassNaber is nowhere near his level, but closer than anyone else we’ve produced recently). I’m sure in one of those books Craven says a side could run a dual scrumhalf system, which means two players on the field capable of playing scrumhalf to increase speed from the ruck. The simple way of doing it would be the scrumhalf and flyhalf being able to swap between those positions, and on attacking ball whoever is closest distributing from the ruck (they would have to communicate who was going for it, or each takes half of the field, there would need to be a system). The advantage is the speed of the attack potentially dramatically increases. Speed is something RassNaber likes.
Back to RassNaber’s Boks. Faf was a 9/10 at school, and anyone that remembers his Lions early years knows he’s a strong open field runner, on attacking ball he could play in the line:
Reinach and Williams are the fastest players in the squad. To play wing you need speed: chasing your side’s kicks, getting into the line from a position defending a kick option if the opponent didn’t kick, fielding opponent’s kicks. Anyone that has played there knows doing it well means a lot of off the ball running, and the faster someone is the better they are (can stand deeper on defence and still get into the line etc). Wing is the easiest backline position, but only if a player is fast enough. There are difficult areas of the position at the highest level, this is mostly about option taking on defence.
If you were going to try and get two scrumhalves onto the park, the way to do it would be by replacing a wing in the second half, with either Williams or Reinach. Wing is the easiest position for a fast scrumhalf to transition into.
Against the All Blacks at Twickenham Reinach played wing from the bench. Williams is starting at wing against Romania. Left wing is the wing that needs to be defencively stronger (defending kicks and runners from set piece) and where I would play Reinach, judging by his performance against the All Blacks, having more experience than Williams, strong tackling, and strong kicking game.
Potentially there’s Faf at scrumhalf and Reinach on the wing. Both working together to end matches in the fastest phase attacks possible. If Faf gets caught in the line as the phases build he’s capable of contributing.
What It Looks Like In Practice.
This starts the match:
9 Faf, 10 Pollard, 11 Mapimpi, 12 De Allende, 13 Kriel, 14 Kolbe, 15 Le Roux/Willemse.
It plays to the established attacking/defencive pattern. Could have Willemse at 15 as the point is just to absorb the blows from the opponent and he’s probably a bit stronger on defence than Le Roux. Pollard builds the scoreboard pressure through kicking.
This ends the match:
9 Faf, 10 Libbok, 11 Reinach, 12 Pollard, 13 de Allende, 14 Kolbe, 15 Le Roux/Willemse.
Deon Fourie would also come on at hooker, which would help on defence during phase play as he’s more mobile than a specialist hooker. Other than on first phase ball, an opponent seeking to exploit any defence issues will face four backrows.
The point of the utility players becomes to go back to that original RassNaber characteristic, speed. Libbok/Pollard/Willemse have all played flyhalf for the Boks. Le Roux has played at first receiver (the flyhalf role) on attacking ball for the Boks. Faf will play at flyhalf from the bench against Romania. On attacking ball there’s 5 players capable of making choices if they find themselves at first receiver as the phases build (Pollard, Libbok, Le Roux/Willemse, Faf). This means Faf and Reinach can work together recycling as fast as possible, because who they’re passing to will always be a flyhalf with a bit of organisation.
But the genius is that it can also change gears within the second half by switching to using this this on Bok ball (not on opposition ball, as Libbok cannot defend in the centres):
9 Faf, 10 Pollard, 11 Reinach, 12 De Allende, 13 Libbok, 14 Kolbe, 15 Le Roux/Willemse.
And going back to the pattern of the first half playing off 9 Faf, 10 Pollard, 12 De Allende, 15 Le Roux/Willemse, with Reinach/Libbok/Kolbe as the chasers and finishers.
Chances Of This Happening?
I give a low probability of all this happening. But we’re about to watch a Bok match with four scrumhalves, so …
1 Wasn’t ever part of the plan. Fourie was only supposed to play some pool games against minnows, but Marx wasn’t supposed to be injured. The plan is clearly changing at hooker. High probability Boks could end up with Fourie as bench hooker.
2 Probably was always part of the plan. First of all it was using Le Roux and Pollard together as dual first receivers on Bok ball. Now Libbok is going to be brought into that.
3 Was never part of the plan. Mainly because it involves removing the 13, and it would’ve been foolish to replace Am. But Am is injured and it looks like the coaches are searching for what else they can do. If 3 wasn’t a possibility, Reinach wouldn’t have come on at wing against the ABs, Williams wouldn’t be playing wing against Romania. But the big thing is Faf wouldn’t be set to come on at flyhalf against Romania, the squad already has Libbok/Willemse, Le Roux would be a more logical choice if the intention was to find a third choice flyhalf. Pollard is also going to be called up at some point. There’s not many obvious reasons for not resting Faf against Romania and instead giving him flyhalf time, unless there’s a possibility of dual scrumhalves.
If This Did Happen What Would It Mean?
It’s interesting watching how foreigners are reacting to RassNaber. The stereotype of South African rugby is that we’re dumb, the nice way this is said is to praise Springbok “physicality”. The Springboks are never called intelligent, but the Wallabies are even when they’re shit. A lot of this is about the prejudiced way Anglos/English speakers outside SA typically view Afrikaners.
Whatever RassNaber are, they’re not stupid. Oubaas Markotter wasn’t stupid, Doc Craven wasn’t stupid, Izak van Heerden wasn’t stupid, Ian Mac wasn't stupid, Kitch Christie wasn’t stupid, I won’t continue the list with people still alive today. They cannot say RassNaber are stupid because that wouldn’t make sense (how have they done well if they’re morons?), but their stereotype is that we’re stupid. They have to say RassNaber is a crazy madman and a cheat, because that means they can keep their stereotype about the Springboks being stupid brutes they’re just now also nuts and cheating.
If a Kiwi coach was pulling all the shit Rassie and Nienaber are, they would be lauded as rugby geniuses. I’m not sure RassNaber will be able to do all of this, but it could all be in place and ready by Ireland, most of pieces are there already. Some stereotypes would have to change if even some of this happened and worked.
Last edited by _Os_ on Sat Sep 16, 2023 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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OomStruisbaai
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Great read Ox. 
If Fourie get his throwing right, he will be deadly for the Springboks. Not much of a risk anyway because Dweba and Bongi also struggle with it. Dweba how ever is a very good scrummer.
With Pollard back it gives us lots of options. For me I want AE to start in 12 before Ellende.
If Fourie get his throwing right, he will be deadly for the Springboks. Not much of a risk anyway because Dweba and Bongi also struggle with it. Dweba how ever is a very good scrummer.
With Pollard back it gives us lots of options. For me I want AE to start in 12 before Ellende.
It's really disrespectful and arrogant to play games like that against an international side and especially during a RWC.
How must the opposition feel especially if they are 2nd tier. Even for top international sides.
While it's nice to be able to do this, we better start settling down.
I am not sure how many got to watch the ABs game last night. The world was put on notice. I am not talking about the extent of the win against a lower tier side. I am talking about the ridiculous skills and combinations.
Taking this RWC lightly and being windgat and arrogant could be a banana skin that's going to leave us red faced and laughing stock of the RWC.
Rassnabber better deliver.
At this point I am hoping for a quarter against France. If we get ABs we could be going home. Especially as we know Rassnabber likes the team that played against Scotland. The same side that waited in NZ whilst the other team destroyed Australia in the RC.
How must the opposition feel especially if they are 2nd tier. Even for top international sides.
While it's nice to be able to do this, we better start settling down.
I am not sure how many got to watch the ABs game last night. The world was put on notice. I am not talking about the extent of the win against a lower tier side. I am talking about the ridiculous skills and combinations.
Taking this RWC lightly and being windgat and arrogant could be a banana skin that's going to leave us red faced and laughing stock of the RWC.
Rassnabber better deliver.
At this point I am hoping for a quarter against France. If we get ABs we could be going home. Especially as we know Rassnabber likes the team that played against Scotland. The same side that waited in NZ whilst the other team destroyed Australia in the RC.
As I suspected Eben is pretty much gone for 2 of our most important games. And I really can't see him playing any further tbh. At the Sharks they gave him as much time as possible and eased him back in . As much as it's a RWC and everything to play for. I hope he doesn't. If he agrivates the injury which appears to be recurring, we won't see him at all for the Sharks this season.
This is all of Pollard's plays:
Also this is some analysis of the Scotland match by the same SA analyst. Worth a look some interesting stuff in there, would normally put it on the match thread (match threads we're really interested often run for a long time after the match has ended after all) but i suspect that would go down badly:
https://analystgus.substack.com/p/room- ... n-analysis
Also this is some analysis of the Scotland match by the same SA analyst. Worth a look some interesting stuff in there, would normally put it on the match thread (match threads we're really interested often run for a long time after the match has ended after all) but i suspect that would go down badly:
https://analystgus.substack.com/p/room- ... n-analysis
He is looking sharp._Os_ wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 6:39 pm This is all of Pollard's plays:
Also this is some analysis of the Scotland match by the same SA analyst. Worth a look some interesting stuff in there, would normally put it on the match thread (match threads we're really interested often run for a long time after the match has ended after all) but i suspect that would go down badly:
https://analystgus.substack.com/p/room- ... n-analysis