Sorry for the belated posting but things have been a bit hectic this side. This Saturday past we had another game of two halves. We where close on annihilation of the English in the first half only to have injuries and fatigue make us look like palookas in the second. Fatigue, I feel, is the Boks biggest issue on this tour. We saw what they are capable of when things are “fresh”, and that should be an ominous sign for the English. I know they are talking brave and kudos to them, but the fact remains that when the Boks “turn it on”, the English have no reply.

When one looks at team selection for this coming Saturday one thing is clear. Meyer believes in continuity and Lancaster has no clue as to who his best team is. I believe that if Lancaster really wanted a strong English team he should decide who his best players are and stick with them, just Like Sir Clive Woodward did. With Lancaster changing his line-up again I don’t feel they will beat the Boks, as all the Boks will have to worry about is their fatigue levels.

If our forwards can get the go forward ball like they did last week our backs might come into play strongly again. I emphasise might as Wynand Olivier is in the backline this week and as all Springbok fans know, he has never managed to fire once in his previous 37 (or is it 36?) appearances. Even Bulls fans can attest to that. However if Olivier is given time and space he by his forwards he should have an easy night at the office.

However there is one prospect that does excite me and that is of Gio Aplon at the back. We all know he is a nuggety, nippy little fellow and given any room to move could be devastating. That being said though if our forwards don’t dominate and our backs are given no room then Aplon’s role in the team will probably be solely about defence, and with his defence I have no problem.

 Jacques Potgieter at flank could be a very good or very bad call. We all know the guy is fiery and abrasive but he doesn’t have the battering ram qualities of an Alberts. If anything I see him as more of a Marcell Coetzee type player than an Alberts type player. He does remind me of a young Schalk though… no regard for his own body! This should stand him in good stead but what does bother me a little is that he has had no game time the last while and that he hasn’t really proved himself at Super 15 level yet. Don’t get me wrong he has had good games but his injury robbed him of more experience and I feel that could count against him.

Morné Steyn’s overall game play still bothers me. We all know he is only in the team for his kicking but even his strength has now become a weakness. He is not doing what he is chosen for and I can only wonder how long Meyer will allow this to go on. Steyn is under performing and I don’t see him improving any time soon. It almost looks like his kicking has gotten worse as the season has gone on. The lack of a recognised back up is also an issue.

On the bench my only real concern is Elton Jantjies. We all know he is talented and that he has some serious BMT, but this year he has not been able to reproduce the same rugby that lifted the Lions’ game in the Currie Cup last year. He has looked out of sorts, maybe even tired and a little paunchy. He could have a very good game or he could have a disaster. Here is hoping for the former but I am expecting the latter.

All in all the Boks should win this one… as long as their legs hold out and if they do lose it won’t be because they were beaten by a better team, but more because of fatigue. It’s been a gruelling Super 15 and to go straight into tests would never be easy. But the Boks have shown glimpses of what they are capable of when they dig deep and England, for all the pomp and boasting, have not been able to match that intensity.

Well the team has been announced and is as follows:

15. Patrick Lambie

14. JP Pietersen

13. Jean de Villiers

12. Frans Steyn

11. Bryan Habana

10. Morné Steyn

9. Francois Hougaard

8. Pierre Spies

7. Willem Alberts

6. Marcell Coetzee

5. Juandré Kruger

4. Eben Etzebeth

3. Jannie du Plessis

2. Bismarck du Plessis

1. Beast Mtwarira

Reserves: 

16. Adriaan Strauss

17. Werner Kruger

18. Flip van der Merwe

19. Keegan Daniel

20. Ruan Pienaar

21. Wynand Olivier

22. Bjorn Basson

Now there isn’t really a surprise that Lambie is first choice at fullback. I think it would probably be fairer to say, “It’s about bloody time!!” Overall there aren’t many surprises either than Werner Kruger really. Dean Greyling offers more in general play and is probably on par with Kruger in scrumming ability. However, it seems that because he is an out and out loosehead he wasn’t chosen, so that makes me wonder why Kruger was chosen at all because he is an out and out tighthead and offers nothing in general play (plus he isn’t very smart). What happens if something happens to our loosehead? And what happens if the game does get loose? Kruger will really offer nothing then other than being a spectator… on the field! Other than that I am not surprised at the team selection, though I still bemoan the fact that Morné (Can’t Kick a Damn) Steyn and Meisiekind are still in the team. Drop them, bring in players of REAL quality (not HM’s make believe Bull… excuse the pun) and the team will perform so much better!

One other thing that got my attention was an article on News24 about why Gio Aplon was not chosen. We all knew he would never be chosen for the match day 22. It would have been a pipe dream if you did. But to go and right an article where HM has to justify not picking a player of Aplon’s abilities, I feel, is not fair on Aplon. The whole country knows what the stance of HM is on everyone non-Bull (in other words lacking in Bullshit). He doesn’t like them and I feel Aplon was only chosen to placate the Cape masses. In HM’s team Aplon would only ever be chosen if every other Bulls player in the entire country has been injured. Don’t get me wrong though. Basson deserves his chance. I just feel Aplon is now being used.

Well half a week has gone. A few more days and its test time again. The teams have both been doing assessments and have lost the services of players. Let’s take a look at the impact it might have on Saturday’s game.

On the side of England, the services of one Mr Barrit and Mr Brown have been lost. The impact, I feel, will be felt. Brad Barrit was having a very good game in the first half before he decided to hurt his eye, because let’s face it, no Springbok player would ever have had a hand in that shiner… hehehehe! Jokes aside, it looked very serious and an op almost proves it, but then again he should be ready for the third test so it can’t be as bad as it looked. Loosing Barrit is a blow. He was strong in defence and organised it well, plus he was a bloody terrier on the ground, let’s face it, he was better than our loosies! When he went off we had the upper hand in the backline. Loosing Brown might not be such a huge loss. The guy has had a stellar season at club level and did a very good job at the back on Saturday. But Foden moving to fullback will probably bring more of an attacking edge to the backline than it had with Brown. So all in all the loss of Brown will be negated. In my opinion, the only real problem England will have is the loss of Barrit. I don’t see their backline proving a threat with Flood at flyhalf.

On the South African side we have lost the services of a Mr Oosthuizen and a Mr Kirchner. Now on the loss of Kirchner, that is a positive, not that I wish an injury on anyone… besides Morné Steyn. When Lambie came on for our Simpsons character things in the backline seemed to work so much better. But then again the introduction of Pienaar at scrumhalf also played a role. But the main reason I am happy with Lambie over Kirchner is two-fold. Lambie has better positional play and never misses a man-on-man tackle like Kirchner did when Chris Ashton ghosted him and Jean had to make a superb tackle (mainly because Jean was running to catch Ashton and we all know Ashton has some serious toe!). So all in all a positive outcome from losing Zane. But the loss of Coenie will be felt. He had a strong performance on both the tight- and loosehead side of the scrum against England. He COULD scrum on both sides. Now his place will probably be taken by Dean Greyling, who can’t really scrum on both sides. He is a loosehead, not a tighthead and a week is too short a time for someone to suddenly learn all the tricks of the trade when it comes to tighthead play. It is a totally different way of scrumming. It would also not help putting Werner Kruger on the bench. There would be no point in teaching him to play loosehead within a week, simply because he doesn’t look like someone who was able to learn much in twelve years of school, now imagine a week! And I know he isn’t very bright, I know people who went to school with him, and they never had anything pretty to say about his intellect.

Either way it will be interesting to see what sort of impact the injuries will have on this coming Saturday. On the England side I think the loss of Barrit will be too much, and, barring injury to our props, the loss of Coenie will be the only loss felt. So here is hoping for an entertaining test, one like the Baby Boks played last night… which I didn’t get to see… because I’m poor and cannot afford DSTV… and I’m using the internet at work to post these posts.

In the first half of the game Between England and the Boks I got what I expected the match to be, a drawn-out tit-for-tat. But my oh my I was not prepared for the second half. The intensity increased, the physicality increased and the pace increased and a “fresher” England could not keep pace. Sure they say they took positives out of the match and now say they can beat us, but frankly I don’t see how they should. They faced a team full of “tired” Super Rugby players, who had only had 5 days prep for the match, and should have been there for the taking but when it mattered most they fell away against the “tired” opposition. If you look at the weekend games it is clear to see that our northern brethren still have a lot of catching up to do. I’m sure if the Aussies were at full strength the game would have been easier than it was against the Welsh.

Anyway here are my player ratings for the game and I WILL be taking into consideration the short prep for the players, my ratings are out of 10

15. Zane Kirchner – 5

- Zane didn’t have a bad game but it wasn’t good either. He would have had a 6 if it wasn’t for that one bit of lethargy, where he had to run back for a ball, gathered it and did a funny side step and then got caught by arriving players. Luckily we had players who helped him out and we won the ball. Other than that incident his game was solid. Could have looked for a bit more work though.

14. JP Pietersen – 7

- Had a solid game and his defence was top notch and finished the game off with an offload for Jean to score. Could probably have tried to be a bit more involved.

13. Jean de Villiers – 8

- He was Captain Fantastic for the Boks. Lead with aplomb and bled for the team. Stood up well to Tuilagi and capped off his day with a wonderful team try. He did give to Tuilagi as good as he got though.

12. Frans Steyn – 7

- He had a solid game and didn’t put a foot wrong. Great on defence but tends to try and do a bit too much on attack. Kept cutting back in instead of looking for team mates. Granted his space was cut down mostly because Morné isn’t the quickest of flyhalves or one of the best distributors of a ball.

11. Bryan Habana – 9

- Mr. Habana is back! Easily his best game in the green-and-gold for ages. His hard work has paid off. Was great on attack and defence and looked for work. For once he used his pace to do his talking!

10. Morné Steyn – 5

- Seemed a bit slow in his running. Wish he would look to come off the line with some pace. Kicking was woeful for someone of his calibre and since this is the reason he is in the team, is it enough to keep him in on current form. Granted Hougaard’s service to Steyn was pathetic and he did look better once Pienaar came on, but his bad kicking cannot be overlooked.

9. Francois Hougaard – 4

- He had an appalling game. What made it worse was that everyone knows he is much, much better than this. Can’t help but think if the game plan had an effect on his game overall. If that is the case then maybe someone like Duvenhage would be more suited to this kind of game. Hougie will also have to work on his decision making.

8. Pierre Spies – 7

- Easily his best game in a green jumper ever. Still doesn’t dominate the collision as he should with his frame. But overall he had a good game.

7. Willem Alberts – 9

- The bone cruncher is such an apt nickname for this man mountain. Spies could take some lessons from Alberts when it comes to winning collisions. But then again, Alberts didn’t just win them, he murdered them. Excellent game and well deserved of his accolade.

6. Marcell Coetzee – 7

- Had a slow start but as the game wore on he became more prominent. He has a never-say-die attitude that is very pleasing. Can’t help but feel we missed Brussouw though.

5. Juandré Kruger – 7

- Yes he lost a ball in the lineout but that was because his inside arm was played which made him not catch the ball. Walsh should have seen that and we should have had a penalty. I’m sure Juandré’s game will just carry on improving. He had a good, solid game and in my opinion it was his help at the try line that helped Jean get the ball down.

4. Eben Etzebeth – 7

- Along with the other rookies started slowly but as his game progressed he became more prominent. Tremendous work in the tight and I see a bright future with Juandré as lock partner.

3. Jannie du Plessis – 9

- I should be eating humble pie. I thought Jannie would have an error riddled game but it seems the work with Pieter de Villiers has helped tremendously. Scrummed well but the cherry on his cake was that run down fat alley, towards the goal line. Great game!

2. Bismarck du Plessis – 7

- Had a solid game but missed a tackle which almost led to an English try. Still finding his feet with the jumpers but was good in all aspects of the game, including a few steals. If it wasn’t for the missed tackle he would have had 8

1. Beast Mtwarira – 7

 -Had a solid game but wasn’t at his explosive best. Other than that he didn’t put a foot wrong.

Reserves:

16. Adriaan Strauss – 7

- Great replacement for Bismarck. Had a solid performance.

17. Coenie Oosthuizen – 8

- There is life in tighthead after Jannie. Played some good ruggers while he was on and apart from scrumming also showed up in the loose.

18. Flip van der Merwe – 6

- Seemed very quiet when he came on and not his usual in-your-face self. Otherwise didn’t have a bad game.

19. Keegan Daniel – too short

- Didn’t have the time too show us what he is capable of on the international stage but I’m sure his time will come soon.

20. Ruan Pienaar – 8

- The backline game improved with his introduction. His service was crisp and his decision making good. Great game

21. Patrick Lambie – 7

- Lambie was a lot more involved in the game than Kirchner. He had a solid game and looked good.

22. Wynand Olivier – too short

- Didn’t have enough time on the park but also played out of position.

All in all I think the English will have to improve vastly before they can take a win off the Boks. Don’t see it happening anytime soon.

I am going to do an opinion piece on every Bok player picked for this game. Please note that these are my opinions (shared with almost 70 odd percent of the country). So shall we get started?

15. Zane Kirchner – well if I was coach Zane would probably be my fifth or sixth choice fullback. He isn’t the best reader of a game at the back and in my opinion offers nothing extra to the role. If anything he is an average Super 15 player who in his previous 16 Bok appearances has done nothing to warrant wearing the green-and-gold. Does have pace and size and is a good distributor. Defence isn’t his strength but at the same time it isn’t a massive weakness. He also doesn’t have a great boot on him. In my opinion a lucky Bok

14. JP Pietersen – a stalwart of the Boks. Has hardly ever disappointed and has pace, strength and the ability to change a game. Hi defence is one of his strengths and you won’t find someone beating him on the outside with ease. Reads the game well and showed in this Super 15 he can play centre if needed. He is also a great distributor of the ball. I wouldn’t go to war without him in my squad.

13. Jean de Villiers – Jean is an old head and a clever player. His creativity has been blunted a bit ever since becoming a Bok but still offers more than most. Is quick, has great distribution skills, is an awesome leader and reads a game better than most. I just feel he should never play at 13. He doesn’t have the skill sets for the position. Great choice as captain though.

12. Frans Steyn – Boy wonder can probably not be called a boy anymore. He is almost the complete package as a backline player. He has loads of pace, tackles hard, can kick the ball miles, reads a game well and has awesome distribution skills. Add to that he has BMT and X-factor and you have an awesome player. I feel inside centre is his best position but would have preferred him at fullback for this game.

11. Bryan Habana – his best rugby may be behind him but he is still a class act. Has loads of pace still and always gives 150% in every game he plays. His hand-eye coordination isn’t great. It never has been and his distribution skills aren’t the best but every now and again he can break a game wide open. His defence is excellent and can sometimes act as an extra “fetcher”.

10. Morné Steyn – this has not been one of his best seasons with the boot. His goal kicking if mediocre and kicking out of hand has been up one week and non-existent the next. Morné is only picked for one reason and that is his kicking ability. He reads a game ok, can’t defend and has no pace. His distribution skills are average at best. What happens when his kicking game fails? He offers us nothing then. Lambie would have been my first choice with Grant as back up.

9. Francois Hougaard – by far the best scrumhalf in the country at the moment and soon to be one of the best. He is strong, quick, has an excellent step and passes very well. Reads a game well but isn’t at the level of a Fourie du Preez or Will Genia in that respect just yet. Getting there quickly though. Best choice as scrumhalf.

8. Pierre Spies – probably the only person in world rugby who gets picked on the basis that he looks like he should be a beast when the truth is that he purrs like a kitten. He has no grunt in his game and isn’t the hard-hitting sort of loosie that this country tends to develop. His attacks are usually soft affairs and even though he tackles well, there is no beef in them. He doesn’t read a game like a classic 8^th man and all he has going for him is his pace. He disappears in a tight game. I think he should thank his lucky stars that Vermuelen and Burger are injured otherwise I am sure he would be warming the bench, if that!

7. Willem Alberts – nothing in his form this year has suggested he should be wearing the beloved colours. Being top of the missed tackled list as a flanker is never a good thing. He is heavy and slow and has shown no oomph this year. Had a good game against the Stormers though and that coupled with the fact that our loosies are mostly injured, saved his bacon. He will need to have a massive improvement in his game to reach the potential we know he has. Lucky Bok though

6. Marcell Coetzee – one of the new stars this season. He will have the massive boots of Heinrich Brussouw to fill. Has had a great season and along with Kolisi has shown the best potential out of the new crop of talent. However, he is an 8^th man, come open-sider playing blind-side. Should be interesting but he seems to be one of those players who will excel in any position he is picked in. Spies should take note. Marcell should be a legend in the making. Deserves his Bok call up.

5. Juandré Kruger – in my opinion he has been the best 5 lock in the country to date.  Under the tutelage of Matfield Kruger has blossomed. Bekker might be tall and that is a plus as a jumper but Kruger offers something extra. Bekker will have to fight bloody hard for his spot if he wants it. Deserves to wear the green-and-gold.

4. Eben Etzebeth – must say I was surprised when HM announced his team and I saw Etzebeth picked above Flip, given HM’s penchant for the light blue of Bull. Don’t get me wrong, I’d pick Etzebeth above Flip anytime of the week and twice on Sunday’s. He has the potential to become a great. Wonder if his slight niggle might affect him though.

3. Jannie du Plessis – I don’t know how Jannie always gets picked above WP Nel. Jannie in my opinion is the second best tighthead in the country with WP Nel being number one. Jannie isn’t the best scrummager, gives away penalties and offers nothing in the loose. I just hope Jannie comes to the party on Saturday, otherwise the frontrow is in for a torrid time!

2. Bismarck du Plessis – should have been a starting hooker 2 years ago already. We all know that when Bizzie is on song then there is no better hooker in the country, street corners and all! Now HM said he didn’t pick Brussouw because of the likelihood of penalties. If there is one guy in the team who can and probably will give away more penalties than Brussouw it is Bizzie, which makes HM’s argument on Brussouw moot! Bizzie offers that bit extra, that thing that sets him apart from the plebs, just like Brussouw.

1. Beast Mtwarira – thank you Zimbabwe for being such a crap place to live. You have given us the Beast, and boy are we happy about it! He is by far one of the best loosehead props in the world, if not the best. When he came back from injury it was notable how much the Sharks improved then. They got front-foot set piece ball again and Beast was the man to thank for that.

Reserves:

16. Adriaan Strauss – a great hooker who would walk into most international teams, just a pity he has to do battle with HMS Bismarck.

17. Coenie Oosthuizen – another kid with huge potential who likes bar fights. Probably why he gets penalised a lot, which makes HM’s argument on Brussouw even doubly moot. Coenie is a walking, talking penalty. If he can get that out of his system though he can prove to be a handful.

18. Flip van der Merwe – another person who kills HM’s argument on Brussouw. Flip does have the added advantage of being a yellow card seeker to though. Doesn’t deserve a Bok place as there are better locks than him around.

19. Keegan Daniel – has had so much promise for so long. Does tend to do things alone though but when he is on song he can be very destructive. Would have picked him above Spies for Saturday.

20. Ruan Pienaar – a lot of potential in this guy. Has had a stellar season in the north. He has a great rugby brain. I just hope he will be able to adjust to the faster pace of Bok rugby.

21. Patrick Lambie – the current darling of rugby. This kid is, in a word, amazing. He has a great head on those shoulders. He is cool, calm and collected and I would pick him above Morné any day and everyday.

22. Wynand Olivier – or as he is affectionately know, Meisiekind. He is probably the one who decided on the Bulls wearing pink this season. When I saw his name in the squad my reaction was, “What the Hell!” Here is one guy who is given chance after chance after chance and every time fails! Who knows, maybe the team needs a cheerleader.

The English team to face the Boks will be:

15. Mike Brown

14. Chris Ashton

13. Mani Tuilagi

12. Brad Barrit

11. Ben Foden

10. Owen Farrel

9. Ben Youngs

8. Ben Morgan

7. Chris Robshaw (Capt)

6. Tom Johnson

5. Geoff Parling

4. Mauritz Botha

3. Dan Cole

2. Dylan Hartley

1. Joe Marler

Substitutes:

16. Lee Mears

17. Paul Doran-Jones

18. Tom Palmer

19. Phil Dowson

20. Lee Dickson

21. Toby Flood

22. Jonathan Joseph

The forwards are a powerful bunch but a tad slow, I feel, and that is where the Boks will have the edge. In the centres they have one powerful runner and one great defender. Tuilagi, in my opinion, lacks in the defensive department whereas Barrit’s only weakness is his speed. Overall he is a great distributor and reader of the game. Owen Farrel seems to be a class act and Youngs is nippy. Youngs should be easily outclassed by Hougaard though, who has the X-factor as well as the strength and grunt missing in Youngs’ game. The back three look solid with Foden and Ashton noted for their attacking prowess. However, they might struggle in aerial combat against the Boks.

I don’t really see our forwards dominating in the scrums as I feel Jannie is the weak link. However, we should beat them in the loose and these days it almost counts more than your set-piece plays. Morné will play a role with the boot… because that is the only role he can play… and he better be on song with his kicking. Jean might struggle defensively against Tuilagi but I doubt it and Frans should have the better of Barrit in all facets of the game. Our back two is solid because our weak link is Zane. He will probably have a shocker, but here’s hoping for a solid performance at least. My only hope is that HM doesn’t send Meisiekind on because when it comes to international rugby, it has always proved his better.

All in all though we should beat the English but not by much. Our prep time hasn’t been the greatest. But in the unlikely event that we lose, I wouldn’t be too surprised either.

The game plan to be deployed on the English is no secret. As Ricardo Loubscher (back line coach) has pointed out, they will target the 10 and 12 channel of the English team, hoping that superior strength and grunt gets them the gains they need. Softening the enemy seems to be the way that Heyneke wants to play and in that I have no problem. It has worked at the Bulls for a number of years now.

However this does present a problem and it is one that has reared its head at the Bulls too. Every now and again the Bulls don’t dominate the collisions, and as has been seen, they tend to then fall apart. Why is this? There is no plan B! The Bulls tend to become headless chickens at this stage and have no way to adapt. There general response to a situation like this is to keep on doing what they do, just with more aggression. And that tends to fail too.

Einstein once said the mark of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. However, this is rugby… and doing the same thing over tends to yield different results. The reason being is that the opposition is different every week. My point is more along the lines of just that one game. The game where when you do what you usually do and it doesn’t work, you still keep trying to do the same thing over and over and it still doesn’t work. That smacks a bit of the stupid.

We all know that under Heyneke we will be playing the smash car, kick and chase game that has worked for the Bulls. My question is this, what happens if it doesn’t work? Will the Boks, unlike the Bulls have a plan B? I think not. Heyneke seems intent on winning the collisions and seems to focus on nothing else. Win the collisions and you win the game. Win the collisions and you win the game. Win the collisions and you win the game. It pops up over and over, all over the media… it seems to be the mantra.

If we don’t win the collisions I don’t see much of a change in tactics… actually I see no change at all. We will bash away and bash away expecting different results and that to me seems a little insane. The All Blacks and the Aussies are clever players and seem to adapt much quicker and better than we do. They always seem to have a plan B, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will always pull off a win because of it, it just means that their chances of winning improve. Our direct approach is all we have and the only thing we bank on.

I hope it’s enough for the win but what happens if it isn’t?

Well the team to face England has been announced and it is as follows:

15. Zane Kirchner

14. JP Pietersen

13. Jean de Villiers

12. Francios Steyn

11. Bryan Habana

10. Morné Steyn

9. Francois Hougaard

8. Pierre Spies

7. Willem Alberts

6. Marcell Coetzee

5. Juandré Kruger

4. Eben Etzebeth

3. Jannie du Plessis

2. Bismarck du Plessis

1. Beast Mtwarira

Reserves:

16. Adriaan Strauss

17. Coenie Oosthuizen

18. Flip van der Merwe

19. Keegan Daniel

20. Ruan Pienaar

21. Patrick Lambie

22. Wynand Olivier

There is only one surprise in the make up of the starters and that is Etzebeth starting before Flip. Given Heyneke Meyer’s penchant for Bulls I would have thought that he would have started with Flip, seeing as how he has more international experience than Etzebeth. Don’t get me wrong, I welcome the call, mainly because I feel that Flip is a walking, talking penalty and an average lock at best. I also feel Coenie is a gamble because he also seems to collect penalties like some people collect stamps. However, between him and Werner Kruger I’d also pick Coenie. Mainly because he can scrum on both sides and is mobile, where as Kruger offers you… erm… nothing except being a tighthead. And as a backup for the back line I would have gone the Mvovo or Basson route, mainly because Meisiekind sucks on the international stage.

All in all though Meyer has picked the best team out of the mediocre squad he has called together but don’t expect anything other than smash car rugby. And don’t expect clever rugby either.

Good luck Boks!

A picture says a 1000 words