AussieBoer

The former hooker born in Tasmania, might not have the wisdom of Chinese proverb, however, is one of the best rugby analysist money can buy. After all, his mother was a Japanese not Chinese, so maybe that is where he got his work ethic from and continuesly being a student of the game.

Eddie reckons that the Poms won’t win the World Cup in NZ. Yes, not that the majority rugby fans & gurus will disagree with. He reckons the Poms don’t have a good enough halfback combination. Is this the start of the first ‘shots’ fired at the old enemy?

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyWorldCup2011/England-wont-win-RWC-Jones-20110729

He reckons the All Blacks should win it if they don’t over complicate things for themselves. I agree.

He reckons the Aussies have exciting youngsters. Couldn’t disagree.

He says that the Springboks won’t be happy where they at currently, after 4 years of planning – fairdinkum.

The problem I see, that Eddie might not recognise or maybe just want to keep quiet about is:

England might not be the best team, however, will have a very good pack of forwards. They still could bring in Sir Johnny and that could change things. I believe that the Poms has the psycological advantage over the Wallabies in World Cups. Except for losing the 1991 final against the magical Wallabies, they have beaten the Wallabies in 1995, 2003 and 2007!

Vote on poll who do you think will win the ‘holy grail’.

Vote on poll who will win the Trinations 2011.

I was speaking to some Kiwis and Aussies and they ask me with how points the All Blacks will smash the Boks tomorrow? Do the Boks have any chance tomorrow. Yes, but a very slim one.

My advice to Snor and the only way that the Boks could cause a major upset tomorrow would be as follows: let the Boks run onto the field with French jerseys on.

Put your Balls on the Guillotine. My pick in bold:

Balle op die Guilotine: Myne in bold.

All Blacks vs Springbokke

Pumas vs Griekwas

Sharks vs Cheetahs

Lions vs Leopards

WP vs Bulls

Bloggers’ picks:

Jonrae: ALL BLACKS (20+) PUMAS SHARKS LIONS WP

JvR:All Blacks, die Pumas, Sharks, Lions en WP

BlousteBlou: Bokke, Pumas, Cheetahs, Lions, Bulls

Anneleen: Springbokke Pumas Sharks Lions WP

Dit is al die pad All Blacks en die WP hierdie naweek. Die gelapte Springbok span gaan seer kry as hul binne 10 minute alreeds uit die wedstryd is. Die All Blacks is die wereld se beste swaargewig en is genadeloos. Hul weet hoe om ‘n uitklophou te plant. Boonop sal Dan Carter en Richie McCaw nie’rus’ nie of ‘n besering opmaak nie, maar die Springbokke die nodige respek toon.

Kan die Bokke wen? Enige iets is moontlik. Daar was mos al ‘n man op die maan?

Sal ek geld op die Bokke sit? Beslis nie!

All Blacks: Mils Muliaina (95), Cory Jane (22), Conrad Smith (46), Ma’a Nonu (57), Zac Guildford (5), Daniel Carter (80), Jimmy Cowan (45), Adam Thomson (18), Richie McCaw (k, 95), Jerome Kaino (38), Ali Williams (62), Sam Whitelock (14), Ben Franks (8), Andrew Hore (51), Wyatt Crockett (4).
PLAASVERVANG­ERS: Corey Flynn (13), John Afoa (31), Jarrad Hoeata (1), Liam Messam (7), Piri Weepu (45), Colin Slade (2), Sonny Bill Williams (4)

Springbokke:  Patrick Lambie (5), Bjorn Basson (5), Adi Jacobs (33), Juan de Jongh (7), Lwazi Mvovo (4), Morne Steyn (26), Ruan Pienaar (48), Danie Rossouw (55), Jean Deysel (2), Deon Stegman (6), Alistair Hargreaves (3), Gerhard Mosterd (0), Werner Kruger (1), John Smit (103), Dean Greyling (1)

PLAASVERVANGERS: Chiliboy Ralepelle (19), CJ vd Linde (70), Ashley Johnson (1), Ryan Kankowski (18), Charl McLeod (0), Wynand Olivier (33), Odwa Ndugane (7).

Balle op die Guilotine: Myne in bold.

All Blacks vs Springbokke

Pumas vs Griekwas

Sharks vs Cheetahs

Lions vs Leopards

WP vs Bulls

Bloggers’ picks:

Jonrae: ALL BLACKS (20+) PUMAS SHARKS LIONS WP

JvR:All Blacks, die Pumas, Sharks, Lions en WP

BlousteBlou: Bokke, Pumas, Cheetahs, Lions, Bulls

Anneleen: Springbokke Pumas Sharks Lions WP

The Wallabies are training for the last week or so, on the Gold Coast, preparing for the test vs the All Blacks in Auckland. I attended a Breakfast with the Wallabies.

Breakfast with the Wallabies- part 1

Players attending: James Horwill, Anthony and Saia Fiaanga, Mark Gerrard and David Poccock.

Q&A:

Who is the worst room mate amongst the Wallabies?

Horwill: As Reds captain, I luckily have a room to myself with the Reds. Any Fiaanga; if you get one you get the other. Also Quade; if you get Quade you also get Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor as they will be hanging out in the room together.

Poccock: Mat Dunning – snores and always sit in his undies watching TV.

Anthony: Digby Ioane. I sometimes wake up at 1:00 am to find Digby doing stretches, push ups or sit ups. The I have to join him as he can’t sleep before 2:00 am. He will then wake up at 6:30 am and complain how tired he is.

Saia: Anthony and I are never room mates. We shared a bunk bed as youngsters and are living together now. That’s enough.

Who did you look up to when you grew up?

Anthony: Stephen Larkham 

Saia: George Smith 

Poccock: Ghandi

Horwill: my dad

When I asked a group of the Wallabies if they thought the ‘injured’ Springboks are at a secret camp with Rassie Erasmus preparing, they responded.“For sure! They won’t just be standing around. They would be silly if they didn’t!”

I spoke to Poccock about his younger days in Zimbabwe. He still keeps in contact with Beast Mtwarira and Tonderai Chavhanga.

I asked a Wallaby, not going to mention his name, if he thought Pieter de Villiers is in charge of the Springboks coaching?

He replied: I’ve spoken to some Springboks and it was clear that when the Springboks did well (2009), Victor Matfield and John Smit were coaching the forwards and Fourie du Preez was in charge of the backs. (No surprise there for me, as I’ve been trying to tell people who wants to blame Snor for Boks’ humiliations, that he is not in charge!)

To follow: Breakfast with Wallabies – Part 2 – Interview with Robbie Deans – next week for Bledisloe Cup build up.

PS: interesting to see the Poll on ‘Who will win the Trinations’ is very close, so is the one for the ‘Best no.3 in SA’!

Last year I started an All Time Rugby XV. Hopefully I’ll finish it this year. Lets rewind and get the ball rolling again.

Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha; mention those names and teams are nervous. Bakkies is the ‘enforcer’ and Matfield the more skilled and clever lock. Matfield must be regarded as the most impressive mastermind in unraveling the opponents’ line-out calls and movements. The Springboks and Blue Bulls (Bulls) were blessed to have them the last decade. Many would regard them as the best lock combo ever.

The locks play with numbers 4 (in front in line-out) and 5 (normally jumps at 4^th in the line-out). Number 4 (ala Bakkies and Martin Johnson) is in many cases the more aggressive and plays slightly tighter game than the number 5 (ala Matfield and John Eales).

Frik du Preez and Colin Meads are regarded by many as the two best locks ever. Admittedly great players, but, when it comes to modern rugby they would have to be more suited as blindside flankers as SIZE do MATTER when it comes to locks today. Frik was only 1.88m and 96kg, while Colin Meads were 1.92 m and 102kg! Meads, still gets my vote.

Talking about Meads, the freakish 2.08m Andries Bekker, is seen by some kiwis as the new Meads! I must admit that I think he could become the greatest lock of all time, but is not there yet! The Wallabies supporters will quickly point out the incredible athlete and almost perfect rugby legend, called John Eales. His nickname was ‘nobody’; as the saying goes….noboby is perfect!

My Top 5 ‘all time’ locks:

1: Victor Matfield

2: Colin Meads

3: Martin Johnson

4: Frik du Preez

5: John Eales

For the sake of finishing this series of blogs I will take the two locks with the most votes as the bloggers picks!

Fact: The Springboks, again, have been humiliated by the Wallabies. Australia, where rugby union is nothing compared to what it is in the Republic. Australia has better quality depth than South Africa?

How would the Springboks of 1971 feel about these big humiliations? Yes, Hannes Marais’ triumphant Boks who won all 13 games on their ‘down under’ tour that year. Youngsters on that tour; Dawie Snyman and Morne du Plessis, learnt from legends of that era, like Frik du Plessis, Piet Visagie, Jan Ellis, Syd Nomis and Piet Greyling about the pride of the Springbok. Learnt about the honour to represent your country. Learnt the importance of test rugby; never to disrespect the nature when playing your old enemies.

For decades SAFFAS longed for proper test rugby. “Please let us back into the international arena”, where the outcries. For what? For disrespecting the two best rated rugby countries by not picking the best?

South Africa and Springbok supporters eagerly ‘inform’ the rest of the world about the depth of SA rugby. What bullshit. Yes, they have more players, but, just like England, not a lot of them have the skills or talent for rugby at the highest level.

I bet you that if the Wallabies had to pick a second team, they would not be disgraced as what happened to the Boks in Shitney. Let’s pick a Wallaby ‘B-team’ (not considering any players who started on Saturday)

15: Mark Gerrard

14:Drew Mitchell 13: Anthony Fiaanga 12: Berrick Barnes 11: Peter Hynes

10: Matt Giteau 9: Luke Burgess

6: Beau Robinson 8: Wycliff Palu 7: Scott Higginbotham

5: Dan Vickerman 4: Nathan Sharpe

3: Ben Robinson 2: Tatafu Polota-Nau 1: James Slipper

Reserves from:

Nick Phipps/Josh Valentine, Cameron Sheppard, Rod Davies, Salesi Ma’afu, Stephen Hoilles, Mark Chisham, Huia Edmonds, Christian Lealiifano, Ben Dailey, Radike Samo, Rob Horne, Ryan Cross, Lachlan Turner

The above Wallaby team would put up a better performance against the best Bok XV.They will also easily beat the Springbok team that played on Saturday.

The differences between Graham Henry, Robbie Deans vs Pieter de Villiers are heaps. The biggest diffirence is that the latter is not in charge of coaching or game plan. John Shit and the Bulls’ mafia runs the show. Secondly; Deans and Henry doesn’t cling onto players just because they have ‘all the experience’. No Joe Rococoko, Stirling Mortlock or Phil Waugh etc all gone. Deans and Henry realises when those ‘experienced’ is pass their sell-by date. They realise that young superstars don’t grow on trees, thus use them when one comes around. Patrick Lambie would have played for the All Blacks or Wallabies and at this stage would have had a lot more test starting caps behind his name. He is SA’s James O’Connor and Quade Cooper!

PS: Vote on new poll – Who is SA’s best tighthead.

Another Bull, Werner Kruger, that was carried by legends like Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Fourie du Preez’ s success with the Bulls, was as expected, to be found wanting at test level.

The humiliating fact is that he was found wanting vs the Wallabies scrum!

Tighthead prop is still the Springboks biggest, amongst various weak links. Jannie du Plessis is the best of all SA’s average tighheads. After Saturday’s test Jannie and BJ Botha must be the anchors for the ‘holy grail’.

The time, however, is now ripe to pick Brock Harris for the home tests. Brock might have struggled vs the Crusaders a few weeks ago, however, he has never had the luxury to have Bismarck, Guthro/Beast, Bakkies and Victor in the tight five with him.

Brock’s techinique is solid, he carries well and his defense is good. He is one of the most involved props in the tight-loose.

VOTE ON POLL WHO IS SA’S BEST NO.3

As John Smit ‘n perd was, sou ‘n goeie Veearts hom lankal uitgesit het. OK, dit is verkeerd om die Bokkaptein met ‘n perd te vergelyk. Hy is eerder ‘n ou vet nikswerd vark wat net na die slagplae gelei moet word! Het hy geen selftrots nie? Beteken Bokrugby dan niks vir hom nie? O, ek vergeet dit gaan alles vir Johnno omtrent Johnno. Hy wil die eerste kaptein ooit word om die William Webb Ellis twee maal te kan lig!

John Smit kos die Bokke se eerste 2 driee. Eers verloor hy die bal in kontak en met die tweede klop hul hom soos gewoonlik op verdediging. Sy ingooi werk was nie 100%, sy skrumwerk altyd onder druk en dan was hy altyd ‘n paar sekondes laat by die spel. Goeie fok, kan Snor dit nie sien nie?

Die meeste Blou Bulle in die span was net so vrot. Wynand ‘straight runner’ Olivier, hoort nie daar nie. Hy is verspot maklik deur Quade Cooper soos ‘n pop laat lyk. Werner Kruger, die kragman, asseblief; twee keer gestraf vir die skrum laat val. As jy deur CJ vd Linde vervang word moet jy weet jy maak dit nie. Curriebeker vlak!

Flip vd Merwe, net nog ‘n dom onnosel Bul. Met die heel eerste tackle le hy net op die man. Selfs 0.10 spelers weet jy moet wegrol. Deon Stegman behalwe vir ‘n paar tackles en EEN turnover strafskop, was nerens nie. Was ook self gestraf. Morne Steyn se doppie is geklink. Butch James en Patrick Lambie moet die losskakels vir die ‘holy grail’ wees. Lambie is die beste agterspeler in SA, en hoe hy nie eers vir die Bok-B-span kan begin nie, is absurd! Die Bokke het onmiddelik meer spring gehad toe die jongman opgestuur was. Danie Rossouw is te stadig vir ‘n losvoorspeler. Soos gewoonlik het hy ook balle in kontak verloor en ook duikslae verbrou. Niks nuuts nie.

Werner Kruger (2), Wynand Olivier, Flip vd Merwe en Deon Stegman het almal strafskoppe afgestaan!

Bokspan se vertoing uit 10:

Gio Aplon (8)

Bjorn Basson (4)

Juan de Jongh (4)

Wynand Olivier (2)

Lwazi Mvovo (5)

Morne Steyn (3)

Ruan Pienaar (6)

Danie Rossouw (5)

Ashley Johnson (6)

Deon Stegman (3)

Flip vd Merwe (4)

Alistair Hargreaves (3)

Werner Kruger (2)

John Smit (1)

Dean Greyling (6)

PS: Ryan Kankowski en Adi Jacobs was ook eish, maar om manne op te stuur nadat jy alreeds 39-6 agter is, en verwag hul moet die wedtryd verander….yeah right.

PS2: Ja, die All Blacks mag dalk elke vier jaar ‘choke’, maar goeie fok as dit SAFFAS gelukkig maak om elke vier jaar te wen en dan die skande van die ’top dogs’ wil wees, laat my kop in skaamte. Dit is ‘n verleentheid. Dit is tyd dat die Springbokspan vs England, Frankryk, Wallis, Ierland, Nieu-Seeland en Australie ten alle tye uit die beste spelers moet bestaan. Hou op om egte Bokondersteuners soos gatte te laat voel! Kies ‘n afrigter wat altyd dit sal respekteer en nie toets laat afwater nie!

PS3: Dit sou nou die ideale geleentheid gewees het om eerder Rynardt Elstad (ongelukkig beseer?) NZ toe gestuur het as Gehard Mosterd wat maar so-so was vanjaar en ook alreeds besluit het om sy rugby oorsee te gaan speel. Elstadt mag dalk ‘n rapsie kort wees, maar het nie ‘n banghaar op sy kop nie. Gee die jonges ‘n kans! Oops, vergeet ek Ian McIntosh sal mos eers al die Bulslotte en dan al die Shark papslange soos Hargreaves, Sykes en Mosterd kans gee. ‘Fire’ die hele spul!

The Shit(ney) weather will help the Boks limited and conservative gameplan. It is cold and has been raining the last few days in the NSW Capitol. These wet weather conditions, if it continues today and tomorrow will help the slow big pack of the Boks. Wet fields are the equaliser. The silky feet of the Wallabies backline will be nullified, or we hope.

The big test will then be to see how the scrums go in these conditions. The Springboks with debutants Dean Greyling and Werner Kruger, as props, will be tested; however, Sekope Kepu (loosehead) and Ben Alexander (tighthead) are not playing in the prefered positions. The both played most of their Supperrugby on the other side.

In wet conditions counterrucking and tactical kicking is even more vital. Morne Steyn, as tactical kicker and sharp shooter, could be the diffirence tomorrow. Will be interesting to see if Quade Super Cooper will be at fullback (like the Reds did) on defense. Although I still think the Wallabies will win (definetly if it was dry conditions), I believe the Boks will have a realistic chance in the wet.

The Wallabies will be too strong for the Springbok B-Team. It is great to hear that the Springboks in Shitney are all focussed and wants to win. Isn’t that what they get paid for anyhow?

Will Genia, David Poccock, Quade Super Cooper, Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor is just too good to lose against this Springbok team. The Wallabies will not see this game with a Samoa-walkabout attitude like last weekend. Reputations are on the line.

So put your repitation on the line….put your Balls on the Guillotine!

My Picks in bold:

Wallabies  Springbokke

All Blacs  vs Fiji

Leopards  vs WP

Pumas vs Sharks

Griekwas vs Leeus

Bulle  vs Cheetahs

Springboks:

Gio Aplon (13 toetse), Lwazi Mvovo (2), Juan de Jongh (6), Wynand Olivier (32), Bjorn Basson (4), Morné Steyn (25), Ruan Pienaar (47), Ashley Johnson (0), Danie Rossouw (54)), Deon Stegmann (4), Johann Muller (23), Flip van der Merwe (10), Werner Kruger (0), John Smit (k,102), Dean Greyling (0)

Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle (18), CJ van der Linde (69), Alistair Hargreaves (2), Jean Deysel (1), Charl McLeod (0), Adrian Jacobs (32), Patrick Lambie (4)

Wallabies:

Kurtley Beale (15 toetse), James O’Connor (27), Adam Ashley-Cooper (52), Pat McCabe (2), Digby Ioane (12), Quade Cooper (24), Will Genia (23), Sekope Kepu (4), Stephen Moore (56), Ben Alexander (25), Rob Simmons (6), James­ Horwill (25), Rocky Elsom (65), David Pocock (30), Ben McCalman (10)

Reserves: Saia Fainga’a (11), Pek Cowan (5), Nathan Sharpe (94), Matt Hodgson (11), Scott Higginbotham (2), Nick Phipps (1), Anthony Fainga’a (4)