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by Baylion

Lambie to England? (April Fool)

April 1, 2013 in Uncategorized

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The UK home unions have been targeting young Southern Hemisphere rugby players for a while now and their national teams are filling up with Saffer and Kiwi players. In the past they were quite happy with players qualifying through the residency route but their latest strategy is to target young players who qualify through their ancestry.

Recently New Zealanders Sean Maitland walked into the Scotland team due to his grand parents being Scottish and the home unions are said to be targeting a number of South African youngsters too.

Young Tuks lock Mike Williams, who holds a British passport, has been lured to an English club to continue his career.

Timo Swiel, who also holds a British passport and has declined selection to the 2013 Under 20 Springboks, South Africa’s designated second team, as it would affect his chances to be selected for England.

Handre Pollard, who qualifies for England through his grand parents, played for the U/20 Boks last year but as he was still under 18 he is exempt from the IRB regulation and can still qualify for England without going through a residency period.

Patrick Lambie also holds a British passport and with both English and Scottish grandparents could qualify for either England and Scotland. Moves are afoot to get IRB exemption for Lambie as he first played for South Africa when he was still a minor and the Bok management might not have explained his options to him on reaching majority and therefore prevented him from making an informed decision.

This is just a tip of the ice berg and one can expect this onslaught against SA rugby not only to continue but to escalate.

Edit: I hope you enjoyed my attempt at an April Fool’s joke. Till next year,

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RWC 2015 – A Walk In The Park

December 3, 2012 in Uncategorized

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Something will have to go seriously wrong with Springbok rugby for the Boks not to end top of the table in their Pool during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Unlike the “Pool of Death”, Pool A where Australia, England and Wales have to fight it out for two spots in the final 16, South Africa was drawn in an relatively “easy” pool with Samoa and Scotland in Pool B.

Pool A

Australia
England
Wales
Oceania 1 (Fiji?)
Play-off winner (Europe 3/ Africa 2/ Americas 3/ Oceania 2/ Asia2)

Pool B

South Africa
Samoa
Scotland
Asia 1 (Japan?)
Americas 2 (USA/Canada)

Pool C

New Zealand
Argentina
Tonga
Europe 1 (Georgia?)
Africa 1 (Kenya/Tunisia/Uganda/Madagascar?)

Pool D

France
Ireland
Italy
Americas 1 (Canada/USA)
Europe 2 (Spain?)

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ABF for Lambie?

November 22, 2012 in Uncategorized

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The Bok EOYT has primarily been used as a trial for Pat Lambie to show that he has what it takes to be a Bok #10. After failing quite spectacularly in the first two tests to play to Heyneke Meyer’s preferred kick and chase game plan he is now, according to news reports, given the opportunity to play his natural game against the English.

And the time has come for the youngster “to put up or shut up”.

For the first time in his senior career Pat Lambie has been playing under real pressure. Oh, I know he has played in tight matches and in pressure situations on the field, but he has had an easy run off the field throughout his career.

When he started playing senior rugby he was immediately ensconced as the Sharks’ blue eyed boy and was always assured of game time, hero worship and blind devotion. Even after poor performances he was above criticism amongst Sharks supporters and the media. Any criticism, however mild, was immediately met with a barrage of scorn, abuse and excuses. On Sharksworld, the Sharks fan site, any criticism of Lambie might very well lead to a ban from the forum.

For three years he has been above criticism but now suddenly, on this EOYT, the youngster was asked to prove himself and he has been given ample opportunity to do so as the other two flyhalves were relegated to holding tackle bags.

This year must have been a very difficult year for the youngster. This is probably the first time in his life that he is not the coach’s favourite. Where, under Peter de Villiers, he was always assured of sufficient game time, either off the bench or with the occasional start, under Heyneke Meyer he picked up more splinters off the bench than kicking tees off the park.

Until this EOYT that is.

During the first two tests he seemed uncertain and withdrawn, never really grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and stamping his authority on the game. He just cannot afford to do the same against England if he hopes to remain in contention for the Bok #10 spot and it will do no good afterwards for people to blame the game plan, Ruan Pienaar not passing or Jean de Villiers killing the ball.

It is all up to Pat Lambie. It is his time to shine or to go down in flames.

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The ideal traditional Bok team

November 20, 2012 in Uncategorized

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With so many people defending the so-called “traditional” Bok game plan of forward driven, bash it up rugby I think it’s time for Heyneke Meyer to select a team that should be able to do this to perfection.

The Boks’ one dimensional ball crashing approach reminds me of the Little Red Riding Hood joke

LRRH: “My, what big teeth you have, Granny”
Wolfie/Grandma: “The better to EAT you with!”
LRRH: “Eat, eat, eat. Doesn’t anyone want to RUCK anymore?”

Possible team:

15 Zane Kirchner
14 Pierre Spies
13 Marcell Coetzee
12 Brok Harris
11 Andries Bekker
10 Morne Steyn
9 Ruan Pienaar
8 Duane Vermeulen
7 Willem Alberts
6 Francois Louw
5 Eben Etzebeth
4 Flip van der Merwe
3 Jannie du Plessis
2 Bismarck du Plessis
1 Beast Mtawarira

16 Adriaan Strauss
17 Coenie Oosthuizen
18 Pat Cilliers
19 Rynhardt Elstadt
20 Siya Kolisi
21 Ryan Kankowski
22 Josh Strauss
23 Wynand Olivier

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Another Lion to carry tackle bags?

November 20, 2012 in Uncategorized

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Lions loosehead prop has been called up to the Bok squad as CJ van der Linde heads home with an injury (again). The belated call up for JC means that he probably only join his Lions team mates in carrying tackle bags.

In other Lions news:

The Blue Bulls has released Lionel Cronje from his contract and he will join the Lions for 2013 although, should they need to, the Bulls can call him up during Super Rugby.

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Playing England

November 20, 2012 in Uncategorized

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It will be interesting to see what changes Heyneke Meyer makes for the England game. With the possibility of losing Eben Etzebeth (cited) and JP Pietersen (injury) as well as a number of players not covering themselves with glory against the Scots the opportunity for change is there but I doubt that Meyer will make any large scale changes.

JP Pietersen’s injury will force HM to keep playing Hougaard on the wing even though he might have been tempted to give him a go at scrumhalf to try and get the 9/10 dynamic working. This might give Mvovo a chance with Hougaard moving to 14.

Pat Lambie’s inability to play a Morne Steyn style game better than Mornetjie could see Steyn taking over at flyhalf.

Should Etzebeth cop a ban we will probably see Flip van der Merwe starting at lock, not the most disciplined or smartest players on the park and although his yellow card was more of a team card it was still a stupid penalty to give away.

As the #3 tighthead prop at the Lions it was difficult to understand why HM selected CJ before Pat Cilliers in the first place but after Saturday’s performance CJ is surely set to lose his spot on the bench.

Possible team for Saturday:

15 Zane Kirchner
14 Francois Hougaard (JP Pietersen)
13 Juan de Jongh
12 Jean de Villiers
11 Lwazi Mvovo (Francois Hougaard)
10 Morne Steyn
9 Ruan Pienaar
8 Duane Vermeulen
7 Willem Alberts
6 Francois Louw
5 Juandre Kruger
4 Flip van der Merwe (Eben Etzebeth)
3 Jannie du Plessis
2 Adriaan Strauss
1 Guthro Steenkamp

16 Schalk Brits
17 Heinke van der Merwe
18 Pat Cilliers
19 Franco van der Merwe (Flip van der Merwe)
20 Marcell Coetzee
21 Pat Lambie
22 Jaco Taute
23 Lionel Mapoe (Lwazi Mvovo)

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We need a general!

November 19, 2012 in Uncategorized

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We need a general who can read the game and dictate the play on the field and that to me was the most disappointing about Saturday’s game against Scotland – nobody took control and organised our game, which regressed the longer the game went on.

Some time ago I wrote about the Fourie du Preez/Morne Steyn combo and FdP’s impact on the Bok performances. Morne Steyn: Great or not so great?

Bok Winning Percentages:

With FdP and Morne both playing: 68.42%
With only Morne playing: 50.00%

Every team needs a general to dictate play on the field and I’m not talking about just calling plays. He needs to be able to read the game and determine changes and adjustments to maximise the team’s on-field effectiveness. And this is where we are lacking at the moment and this is what was disappointing about especially Lambie’s performance on Saturday.

It is not enough to say that he played to instruction, one expects so much more of him, one expects him to control the game and not to just play by rote. If we wanted that Morne Steyn is good enough.

In the past certain players were acknowledged as the generals in their teams and we need someone to step up into that role again.

Key players of the past:

Naas Botha 67.85%
Joost van der Westhuizen 67.97%
Fourie du Preez 70.16%

We need a general!

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HM: Jantjies is 3rd choice behind anyone else

November 14, 2012 in Uncategorized

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After Elton Jantjies accidentally got more that 5 minutes on the field against the All Blacks when Johan Goosen went off injured Heneke Meyer is making sure that this won’t happen again by once again excluding the youngster from the match 23.

During the winter tests and Rugby Championships Jantjies was third in line behind Morne Steyn and Johan Goosen and now that Goosen is injured he is third behind Lambie and Steyn.

I wonder who will leapfrog him into the top two should either Steyn or Lambie get injured?

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Bok #10 – The jury is still out

November 12, 2012 in Uncategorized

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Saturday’s match against Ireland brought very few answers to the question of who is to be the Bok flyhalf as Pat Lambie failed to establish himself as the frontrunner in the contest for the #10 berth. Like Elton Jantjies against the All Blacks a month ago he was no more than “solid”, with a poor first half and an average second half, and solid is just not good enough.

Nothing is his display on the day would have convinced Heyneke Meyer that he is a better option than Morne Steyn or Johan Goosen so it will be interesting to see whether the Bok coach will give him another chance against Scotland or whether he will, in fairness, give Elton Jantjies the opportunity to start and play 80 minutes.

It is frustrating for supporters of both Lambie and Jantjies that these two talented youngsters have yet to show the skills we all know they are capable of.

JP Pietersen’s Tackle:

A fraction early and probably didn’t deserve a yellow card.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irJqFRI1_eo

About the game:

The Irish clearly caught the Boks off-sides in the first half as they manned up and beat the Boks at their own physical game. The Bok forwards were guilty of not protecting the ball in the collisions and too many players were without support when the went into tackles resulting in turnover ball for the Irish.

Of the forwards only Adriaan Strauss and Eben Etzebeth seemed to be game for the contest and Adriaan stepped up as the on-field leader trying to get his charges going, both in his game and through his very vocal “team talks”. Willem Alberts, Juandre Kruger and CJ van der Linde had very little impact on the game and they should be replaced in the starting line-up for the game against Scotland.

While the second half was better for the Boks the backline remained fairly anonymous as the Boks kept the ball mostly amongst the forwards and the only stand-out backline player, for the wrong reasons, was Francois Hougaard. Surely it is time for him to be dropped, if only to the bench.

Credit must go to Irish for not only catching the Boks off guard with their physical approach but also for their solid defence that gave the Bok backline very few opportunities to get anything going.

My team for Scotland:

15 Jaco Taute
14 JP Pietersen
13 Juan de Jongh
12 Jean de Villiers (as we have no other #12 on tour)
11 Lwazi Mvovo
10 Elton Jantjies
9 Ruan Pienaar
8 Duane Vermeulen
7 Marcell Coetzee
6 Francois Louw
5 Franco van der Merwe
4 Eben Etzebeth
3 Jannie du Plessis
2 Adriaan Strauss
1 Heinke van dr Merwe (I won’t risk Beast and unfortunately JC Janse van Rensburg isn’t on tour)

16 Schalk Brits
17 Pat Cilliers
18 Guthro Steenkamp/CJ van der Linde
19 Flip van der Merwe
20 Willem Alberts/Arno Botha
21 Francois Hougaard
22 Pat Lambie
23 Lionel Mapoe

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Ireland, Bent and Broken

November 5, 2012 in Uncategorized

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Ireland’s injuries are piling up before their test against the Springboks with the latest being Ireland flank Stephen Ferris. In the meantime, Kiwi Michael Bent has joined the squad straight from New Zealand, quite an achievement for someone who has never been in Ireland, let alone played rugby there.

Not that Bent is someone the Boks need to be too concerned with having  hardly played any serious rugby as a senior (or as a junior for that matter). Bent, a utility prop, has a few caps for the Highlanders, 11 according to Wikipedia although a number were in pre-season games.

But it is rediculous that the Irish can pull in someone who has no history of rugby in Ireland and who isn’t even a resident in the country just because his grandmother was Irish. Maybe I could make the French team because my forefathers were French Hugenots who fled the country for religious and political reasons?

Anyway, Ferris joins a growing Irish injury list that includes captain Brian O’Driscoll, fullback Rob Kearney, flanker Sean O’Brien and hooker Rory Best.

With their new “All Black” kit the Irish becomes yet another country that hopes the All Black’s mojo will rub off on them if they also dress in black. :)