New Zealand teams running the most, but SA Flyhalves get the most ball?
March 5, 2013 in Rugby, Super Rugby
Week 2 (or is it week 3? these Aussies always just have to confuse everything!) has come and gone and already some teams are being touted as this year’s champions, and others are being written off. It’s still early days, chaps, so let’s not jump to conclusions too soon, or make any rash decisions.
Lot’s of focus on the Stormers, which I can get because they have been South Africa’s premier team in the Super 15 and as they say, high trees and a certain south easter, does make for some spectacular viewing.
Last week I asked the readers to vote for their stand out performance of the week in the weekly race to the Bok number 10. As it stands, despite having a bit of an “off” day against the Chiefs, Johan Goosen is still in the lead on the votes with Lambie in second spot. Morne Steyn, whilst he will still be around during the Rugby Championship (he is only leaving after the Currie Cup) is backing up the rear. To me, Morne Steyn was again very accurate with the boot and actually ran a few times with the ball in hand, one of those runs leading to a try and one out of every 4 passes went to the wing. Lambie on the other hand was a bit stuck in an arm wrestle, and while he did miss a couple, he had a few nice runs and 1 in 3 passes went to the wing. Goosen was a bit unfortunate to run into a very strong Chiefs side. He missed several of his kicks (all but 1 in fact), but he remained the go-to guy for the Cheetahs, hoping he would create something for them each time he touches the ball. His defense was a bit shoddy and some of his passes were poor. All in all, considering zero missed tackles and surviving the onslaught of the Stormers, I pick Lambie as my pick of the weekend. Who was your top flyhalf this past weekend? Read the rest of this entry →
It was a tough year for the Springboks. Something that the results of 7 wins from 12 can confirm. The 7 wins include 3 wins over England, 1 win over Australia, 1 win over Argentina and a win against each of Ireland and Scotland.
Jean de Villiers may have stunned the whole country with what he said on Saturday night – that the Springboks had not changed their game-plan, but he was right.
I was happy that the Springboks finally managed to convert their efforts into points this weekend, and most of those thanks should go to Bryan Habana who put his hand up and took responsibility for making sure the Springboks score the tries they created. Full marks to him and those giving him a mere 9/10 should really get their heads out of their arses. 10/10 performance!
The Springbok E-zine brings us weekly “Hotseat” Questions and Answers and this week if was the turn of John McFarland, the Springboks defensive coach, to field questions from the public. I’ve picked a few answers from him which I think are interesting, confusing and indicative of the current mindset in the Bok Camp.
Forget about the Rugby Championship. By the Springboks not getting the full 10 points….or even just the 8 for that matter, against Argentina, and the All Blacks demolishing the Aussies, New Zealand has all but engraved their names on the inaugural Rugby Championship cup.
“Springboks are underdogs – Meyer”
Where’s the action?