To win a game even against supposedly weak opposition, when playing badly proves that we can do it. It can’t get any worse, I hope, so the only way forward is to get better. The excuses of, young team, inexperience etc. are just excuses not reasons. If these guys shone in Super rugby they can do so against any one of  the three other teams. If the Bulls or Cheetahs had played on Saturday they would have done better.

S15 is on a par with 6 nations in my opinion and Italy and Scotland didn’t do all that well there but the Scots sure upped their game on Saturday..

I am tired of hearing the one side of the fans muttering about youth, inexperience, lack of time with the coach. poor defense, not combining properly, too much rugby, poor refereeing from NH refs, etc etc etc. While the other side of the fan base say, if you’re good enough you’re old enough and S15 is on a par with 6 Nations,  leave out players like Spies, Pienaar, de Villiers and bring in the young players so they can get the experience before Champions cup,etc etc etc. What do you want?

I want less excuses and more reasons but most of all I want remedies. I am a bad loser when it comes to rugby and I don’t want to lose any game immaterial of who the opposition is…… losing is unacceptable!

International rugby is not the place for experimentation and it should not be seen as secondary to the S15 by the franchise coaches. SARU have got to give the National team priority and enforce playing time and player management. Players must be managed at Super 15 and Currie cup level so that the players are at their peak for national duty and can be played without the excuses of too much rugby, jaded, needs a break or should be rested etc. In my opinion the teams should be structured so that top priority is Springbok, Super 15 franchise and then Currie Cup, Vodacom cup, Varsity cup.

International players must be identified by the National coach and must all be first choice players at their franchise. Ralapele, Vermaak, and many others sit or sat on benches while others played and players not even in the running for a Bok spot play week in and week out at other franchises. Talented players on benches while mediocre players play for the top teams is the wrong way to go. Another thing that must be emphasized is combinations in pivotal positions. Front row, locks, loosies, 9 and 10, back three and centers are dependent on combinations. Taking a look at the present Bok side there is not one combination from the same team. Front row NO, Locks NO, Loosies NO, 9 10 NO, Centers NO, Back three NO.
My question is WHY NOT?

1. Less than a week ahead of the first British and Irish Lions test against Australia, former Wallaby coach Bob Dwyer has labelled the visitors as cheats because of illegal scrummaging and other rule infringements.
2. Scotland coach Scott Johnson was scathing of the television match official and believed the yellow card allowed the Springboks back into the game. “That is nothing but embarrassing, 10 minutes for that, that is handbag stuff and it ruined a great game of footy,” Johnson said.

Where are the sanctions of R230 000 now, or is it only Stormers teams that get fined???????????

WELL SAID Mr GOLD

At this point in time, the scrum set piece is a problem the world over. The fact of the matter is that this facet of play has become a lottery. What I’m saying is neither controversial nor debatable – the scrum is a mess at the moment.

I believe that the root of the problem stems from the game’s administrators interfering with the engagement process and finding an issue where there wasn’t necessarily one. Owing to said interference, the set piece is no longer a fair contest, which is sad to see. I believe it’s time to stop pussyfooting around the issue and start calling it like it is.

via Calling for scrum simplicity – SuperSport – Rugby.

I agree 1000% with this article and I’m not even a Shark or Cheeytahs supporter…. but don’t mess with my Bokke.

I get MAL when players are experimented with at their expense. How much time do they need to see it doesn’t work? Coenie is brilliant at loosehead, why force him to change, when there are others that need the top level game time to gain experience. Herbst and Malherbe to name but two, not to mention Adriaanse. Why have him in the team if he is just going to watch from the stands.

Of course the player will do as the coach asks……. he wants to play, no matter where he is put. Dissent will result in him being dropped. What a choice.

How the hell does Wiehahn Herbst go from pushing incumbent Bok tighthead prop for a start in the Sharks Super Rugby side to tanning a chop with Heinrich Brussow while the Boks take to the field with two looseheads on the bench in a 23-man squad designed to accommodate a full front row on the bench so we avoid those despicable granny scrums?

via Stop the Coenie experiment! | Sport24.

The Sharks confirmed the news via their official Twitter handle on Tuesday.

Venter’s role will be effective from the start of the Currie Cup, which starts on August 9.

This is the first appointment made by new Sharks CEO John Smit. Smit and Venter worked together at English club Saracens, where Venter was also Director of Rugby.

The future of current Sharks coach John Plumtree and commercial manager Rudolph Straeuli remains uncertain at this stage.

via Sharks appoint Brendan Venter | Sport24.

All this in the same week his Bok dream was dashed by injury.

C’mon Alister make a bid for him. The Stormers can do with a top 9 to partner Grant next year.

The age old saying of “one swallow does not a summer make” springs to mind when describing the game on Saturday between the Boks and Azzuri. Yes, we won, fairly handsomely too, but don’t let’s get carried away here. Another old saying is “you can only play as well as your opposition allows you to” should also be applied.

Italy allowed the Boks to throw the ball around in the first half but when Italy shut down the Boks space, and kept the ball, they actually scored a try. With the Boks so far ahead Italy were forced to take chances which opened up the  game for opportunists like Habana and Basson.

While all and sundry want to crown Willie le Roux as the newfound King of Bok rugby, I think it is unwise to get carried away. I like his playing style and am as excited as everyone to experience the new attack from the back and out wide approach, I caution myself not to get carried away by a win against the 12^th ranked team in the world

Yes, the team looked great, Willie, Arno, JJ, Vermaak and others shone, but, will they shine against NZ & OZ. I have my doubts, merely because these teams are much stronger on both attack and defence. They will not allow the backs to run the ball as easily, so the idea that Willie will be given license to run at them freely is a dream that could easily turn into a nightmare. He will have to curb his enthusiasm and learn to run when he can and kick cleverly when he can’t. On Saturday he ran just about everything back at Italy but didn’t succeed with much. Being with strange players that hadn’t played with him before made it more difficult by them not knowing what he was going to do next. They need time together to build that understanding and there is no better time than right now. At least when they play in the four nations championship they will have spent time together.

Now that the Bok style has changed Houghie might be a good choice at 9. If he is allowed to play his natural game and not emulate Fourie du Preez he could make a huge difference around the fringes providing the loose trio protect him better than they did for Vermaak.

Yes, the opposition is way down on the totem pole and yes the Bokke looked rejuvenated and enterprising on Saturday but they are far from the finished product. It is wonderful to see the guys playing running rugby, but don’t forget who the opposition is. They are not in the same class as NZ & OZ or England for that matter.

I will wait with baited breath to see how they fare against stiffer opposition this year. While I like all of the selected new players I think we should give them a chance to grow in the Bok environment and gain some much needed experience before we elevate them to sainthood only to smash them down when they don’t perform the miraculous in all future games.

I received this comment on a previous post, from someone called Me(I know this) and seeing that a lot of guys could have missed reading it, I am posting it here for further comment. It was in response to a comment by Gertbloues on my post where I called the S15 boring, that said we should change the format of the S15 back to every team playing each other once and getting rid of the duplicate Currie cup section of the competition and let SA have 16 teams etc…….

This is fair comment which opens the debate for discussion. Read what an “outsider”  thinks, then comment and debate the points he makes.

When will South Africans wake up and smell the coffee. You have to tolerate Australia’s problems as they are your bed partners. You have all banged on for years about Southern Hemisphere must stick together and now suddenly you talk about joining the Europe (Northern Hemisphere) cos it suddenly doesn’t suit you ? I thought Saffas were tough. Billy Ocean said when the going gets tough the tough get going… was he singing to South Africa ? When the going gets tough you all want to leave ? Toughen up man. Vasbyt.

You lot keep going on about the biggest stadiums and so on – it is irrelevant. SANZAR takes nothing from the gate money. It’s ALL about TV and even then SA’s figures aren’t that great. The ONLY thing SA has in their favour is the time zone as Europe can watch the rugby. SA Rugby is on the whole boring. Anyone who has watched a NZ derby and then a Aussie derby and then an SA derby without bok coloured glasses can see where the excitement is. SA Rugby is all about kicking and big forwards bashing into each other. That does NOT make good viewing internationally.

Talk of SA fielding six teams is a joke. You can’t even do it NOW! Look how many Lions players are playing for other SA teams. SA does NOT have the depth for six teams – probably not even five given the Lions performances. Make the five teams work before anything else.

You made your bed now lie in it. Aus is your partner – live with it. The format is for five teams each. Make each one of them competitive and then talk about a sixth one.

You have got to be frikken kidding me, I mean really!

In one breath Meyer says he can’t pick the squad he wants and only has a few days with them, then when they do practise he plays half the backline out of position.

Please tell me I read wrong with Lambie 15, Habana 13, Mvovo 12 and Engelbrecht at 11. WHAT THE HELL?

Where are Flouw and Brussow,……. Frans Steyn is injured but Zane to come back straight from a long injury is ridiculous.

Where are Aplon, le Roux etc. They’ve played S15 but Kirchner comes straight back. de Nille has a hell of a boot but is he accurate enough with his up and unders?

“The fullback position really worries me. I hope that Zane (Kirchner) will be ready, and there’s also Gio Aplon, Willie le Roux and Pat Lambie who can play there. I’m also looking outside the group; a player like Hennie Daniller has impressed me.”

Several players including captain Jean de Villiers sat out training on Monday. The others were Coenie Oosthuizen, Le Roux, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Elton Jantjies, Demetri Catrakilis, Juan de Jongh, Flip van der Merwe and Kirchner.

Due to the injury toll, the backline formation which trained was: 15. Lambie, 14. Bjorn Basson, 13. Bryan Habana, 12. Lwazi Mvovo, 11. JJ Engelbrecht, 10. Morné Steyn and 9. Jano Vermaak, while 1. Beast Mtawarira, 2. Adriaan Strauss, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 4. Juandré Kruger, 5. Eben Etzebeth, 6. Willem Alberts, 7. Arno Botha and Marcell Coetzee and 8. Pierre Spies made up the forwards.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Springboks/Heyneke-a-worried-man-20130528

So far this year I have been watching fewer and fewer games of S15 rugby.
Three years ago I watched every single game and enjoyed most of them. Last year I watched mostly only the games where SA teams were involved, then this year I got even more selective and often changed channels when the game was boring.

In essence the S15 format is k*k and the glorified “Currie cup” sections of the competition are not doing our players any favours. The quantity of local games is causing injuries to players due to the intensity with which they are played. Local derbies should be kept to a minimum and left for the Currie Cup competition.

I wish that the powers that be would revert to every team playing the other 14 at least once each with no semi finals or final. The leader of the log at the end of the competition are the winners.
I would like to see a change in the format so that team A plays team B at home one year and away the next year. They could make SA teams play all five NZ teams away one year with OZ playing all five here and NZ playing all five in OZ then rotating the teams the next year.

If they play two on a Friday and three on a Saturday they could play the five weeks away then come home to play the five OZ/NZ games before playing the local derbies once only, or play the local derbies when the other two conferences are playing each other. This would reduce the number of games to fourteen thus reducing the injury count. Flying back and forth to OZ and or NZ will be once there and once back. for all three conferences. Sure, the stay overseas will be for five weeks but only one flight should compensate for this.

In its currrent format, and due to the defense orientated style of play, the competition is becoming boring in the extreme. I never thought that I would ever prefer watching the Heineken cup, but this year it provided the better spectacle in the games I watched.

The Stormers are still and always will be my favourite team but lets be fair, the Cheetahs have played the most entertaining rugby this year in the SA conference and have done for the past couple of years.

I love the game and for me it is sad to see the rules being continually changed (for the worse, I might add) and the coaches adopting and implementing defensive strategies that do not suit the game as it should be played.

Rugby has and always will be about scoring tries, this is what makes the game so entertaining not this boring defense and kicking game that we watch today. It’s just not rugby!