The Soweto test match ended-up as just another heart breaking experience for Springbok rugby fans.

The All Blacks seems to be in a different class altogether but I thought South Africa had an opportunity to clinch the test.

What was required was to keep the game tight with just bit more preciseness in terms of clinical execution on attack and defence.

The first New Zealand try came totally against the run of play and culminated from a knock on by Jean de Villiers (if I remember correctly). That try exposed our defensive weaknesses on the edges and gave the All Blacks the believe that they could win the match. That try was one of four turning points in the match the other three being the try in the first seconds of the second half; the injury to Johan Goossen and the missed penalty try for Kieran Read taking down a Springbok maul.  Continue reading →

There have been a number of really interesting articles over the last two days here on Sport24. The initial emphasis was on dissecting the Wallaby/SA clash and in particular the post-match statement by Jean de Villiers that the Springboks have not changed their game plan; that they are mainly executing better. Continue reading →

This test will be remembered as the Dean Greyling test as he was like a Rhino in a china shop; a demolisher on a rampage that cost us the match in my opinion (an opinion that Heynecke Meyer seems to share). It must be the single worst effort by a South African rugby player in a test match ever.

In the end it was another test that got away due to ill-discipline, poor kicking (tactical and place kicking) and poor passing. We threw away 17 points with kicks (5 penalties and a conversion) as well as a very plausible try scoring opportunity in the first 5 minutes of the game. That is another 7 points bringing the amount of points that we pissed away to 21. Jean de Villiers said it after the match; “You can’t expect to win against the All Blacks if you mess up so many point scoring opportunities”.    Continue reading →

My predominant feeling after the SA/Australia match was that I want to puke. It was one of those matches that the Aussies didn’t won we lost it.

They didn’t create the win we created the loss through bad mistakes, stupid decision making and by going into a defensive mindset.

There were a number of things in this match that left me wanting to puke afterwards but let me outline the 5 main ones:

1. No line speed on defence
2. Stopped playing and going on a defensive mindset after taking the lead in the first half
3. Losing the ball in contact mainly because we try and barge through defenders instead of attacking space
4. Horrible decision making at crucial times in the match
5. Bringing the playmakers on too late in the match. Continue reading →