NZ second stringers to front Boks
17 Jul 2006
The All Blacks are poised to rest some of their stars against the Boks and only play them against the Wallabies in a fortnight.
The word from New Zealand is that the All Blacks will for the fifth successive test this season ring the changes to their side, with the best starting XV only likely to be reunited in Brisbane when the All Blacks play the Wallabies.
Wellington prop Neemia Tialata and Auckland wing Doug Howlett are tipped to return to the starting XV and Highlanders hooker Anton Oliver is another who may start with Keven Mealamu rested completely. Andrew Hore would play as back-up hooker.
Rueben Thorne is also said to be in the starting XV, which means a rejigged back row for the All Blacks.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry played nine of his front line players against Ireland in the two-test series win and the remainder six started against the Pumas in the 25-19 win in Buenos Aires.
He then picked his best available side for the 32-12 victory against the Wallabies.
Now the woeful performance of the Boks has given Henry some breathing space and he will again use this test to expose second-tier players (in his squad) to international rugby.
Most would argue that Thorne and Howlett would make any international team and it underlines the depth available to Henry when his back-up is New Zealand’s most successful test captain in Thorne (when it comes to winning percentages), the second highest try scorer and the second most capped hooker.
Ali Williams is also said to be in with a chance to start ahead of Jason Eaton, which means there could be four changes to the pack and at least two to the backs.
41 Comments
17 Jul 2006, 09:57 am
Telling nou net 50-0
17 Jul 2006, 09:58 am
This my take on our team
As of last year i was taken out on this site because i said Percy won’t make it to 2007 – I might be wrong – he might still make it to WC but he’ll still be “skytbang†on the high ball. Jake please let him go. He is a liability on fullback. (Play Fourie at 15 please – he is a monster and he wont let us down. Hy het alles.)
Paulse is ‘n hasbeen en die manier hoe hy gesmaail het vir die Aussies na die game maak my net meer gatvol.
Akona is nie toets gehalte nie…. Hy tackle ook soos sy agterent en is amper so stadig soos Os.
Habana mis tackles asof dit uit die mode gaan en hy speel net vir die TV. This guy is a world beater but something is wrong….. he needs to be spoken to very seriously and I think he’s better at centre.
Olivier is someone to work with but he seriously needs to word on his skills….he can’t walk and chew simultaneously.
Jaco has lost it….he needs to go back to CC to get his game back….if possible.
Januarie raak vir my almeer soos Bolla….malkop! Hy pass soos sy gat, en ruk en pluk aan almal. Hy is so vet soos ‘n landras sog en hy kan nie meer die basics doen nie.
Os se dae is verby – hy kan nie meer 80 min speel nie…..laat hom gaan asb.
JS kompeteer met Ricky oor wie is die vetste. Hy mis sy slotte op kritieke tye en sy algemene spel is pateties…. Ek is ook nie meer so seker hy is so ‘n goeie kaptein nie…. Ek dink hy doen net presies wat JW se gameplan is kan nie aanpas nie, ek dink egter hy kan wragtag goed wees maar iets is nie lekker nie.. (Gary Botha asked to stay in SA for the CC because he doesn’t get gametime – this is Jakes fault – John should be rested and should loose weight..he should work harder to be in the Bok team.) He also smiled way to much after the game.
Steady Eddie is nou wel nie die beste nie maar ten minste maak hy goed skoon by die losgemale. Sy skrumwerk is egter swak maar hy is iemand om mee te werk.
CJ is ‘n yster maar hy moet hom by die game hou…… hy ruk en pluk ook aan almal maar hy is ‘n man vir WC.
Matfield is amper ‘n bietjie soos Joe- ‘n showpony – maar as hy konsentreer op die game is hy een vd beste in die wereld – JW moet hom vasvat..
Pakslae sal altyd alles gee en hy is ‘n speler vd toekoms.
JS gee sy lewe as baldraer en hy mis daarem wragtag min tackles – hy is ‘n moet vir WC.
Joe is ‘n showpony – sy pratery voor ‘n game maak my nou gatvol – hy het alles wat ‘n speller nodig het maar JW moet meer dissipline op hom toepas.
Spies is ‘n speler vd toekoms. Hy het saterdag baie balle agter op die dekverdediging gaan vat want Percy is so uit posisie uit en dan het Spies geeeeeen supp gehad nie. Almal verwag hy moet deur die hele Ausies span hardloop van agter..
17 Jul 2006, 09:58 am
Shows what they think of us.
17 Jul 2006, 10:02 am
We will still get klapped. At least the Lions have turned the corner…
17 Jul 2006, 10:02 am
Staal – regarding Spies. I agree with other comments that we cannot blame too much on this you oke, but when in your life have you ever seen a number 8 kicking every ball away that he receives? This oke now things he’s the next Naas Botha!
17 Jul 2006, 10:02 am
Where are we comming to in bok rugby. Now New Zealand plays us with their second team. Kooots
17 Jul 2006, 10:11 am
This is the ultimate insult but unfortunately spot on.
We were sooo bad. JW’s obsession with experience is going to cost him. Experience is fine if that player is still no 1 or 2 in his position.
But surely Monty, Breyten, Jaco, Enrico, Os, Smit, Eddie are not the best in their positions based on S14 and current form.
JW’s upped the Test tally of the above guys but where’s the back-up in case of injury and loss of form. And he had since 2004 to work on this.
Leave him as the coach so that he can be fired after the WC07
17 Jul 2006, 10:12 am
nick 5,
you’re correct maybe he shoul’nt have kicked them all but hell he had NO supp, we were under pressure in our own half.
This is the reason why i said before the game JW made a mistake to select him on the away leg.
17 Jul 2006, 10:20 am
Ali Williams was a regular starter for the AB’s last season.
Doug Howlet scored a hatrick in a TN game against us last season.
Thorne is one of their best former captains.
and they are second string players in Henry’s book!
17 Jul 2006, 10:23 am
Well, if you have a proper squad with lots`of strength in depth, the trick is to rotate players widely and rest players when you can.
Clearly Graham Henry has plotted and planned his path to RWC 2007, and the Boks are no longer a goal in their own right, but just a stepping-stone on a larger path.
Bok rugby has lost the right to be regarded as an end in itself. That happens when you don’t have any silverware and you get smoked by margins as wide as 49-0 by a team ranked below you.
17 Jul 2006, 10:29 am
Staal
Ek stem saam met jou oor Enrico plaas dat Mortlock hom gemoer het saterdag waar kan jy n ou so aan sy mond trek nee man hy het altyd n ou jammer jannie gesig so asof die wereld hom iets skuld!!As hulle gekleurde een moet kies kry vir Paul Delport hy is in elk geval baie beter as Bolla ook!
17 Jul 2006, 10:31 am
ABs now showing us the same respect as Ireland, Wales , Scotland etc, Yup Henry a worried man, Who to rest and who to play! Decisions, decisions
17 Jul 2006, 10:34 am
and this second stringers are able to put 50 up against us as well. they are all a bunch of showpony’s.
17 Jul 2006, 10:34 am
Well said Staal (2).
17 Jul 2006, 10:40 am
So, what else did we expect?
Big difference is: OzMob and NZ COACH their players. You will not find any prima donnas who will TELL the coach that their skills were ok 5 years ago when they played U21 !!!
The squad system of NZ (and the Sharks…?) is a good way of forcing the players to keep evolving and improving their skill levels.
Which is exactly what is NOT happening in SA. When something else (new dimension/skill levels/flair/etc.) is needed in the team, we bring in new players. Instead of COACHING the ones we have.
Basic skills is something that needs to be COACHED. Also, NOT at the top level! After U21 the players needs somme very specialiced coaching to cement some basic skills. Some lifeskills training at this level will also do a world of good – to improve some things such as on-field vision, decisionmaking, etc.
Instead, players are absorbed from U21 level straight into provincial teams and then forced to stick to one-dimensional gameplans or risk losing their contracts. You also cannot blame the provincial coaches: they in turn have to look after their own behinds, don’t they?
So who do we fire – the National coach or the whole system? Or do we boikot the games? Or do we just stick to booing the players?
Or, alternatively – lash out at each other on Keo’s blog!
ps.: GO PROOOOOOOVIIIIINCCEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
17 Jul 2006, 10:49 am
I hope Jake pick a bok team with less bulls..hit players this week!!
17 Jul 2006, 11:05 am
eloise 16,
hit them with what?…. handbags?
17 Jul 2006, 11:07 am
I have said it before, in a few years time we won’t even qualify for a world cup ,just like our national sport soccer.
17 Jul 2006, 11:08 am
The issue here is “Do we have a strategic direction for winning the World Cup?”. The AB’s and Wallabies, looking at current form, looks to have something on the table. Jake is not creating a squad that has the confidence to win it, and by squad, I mean a group of more than 30 players. There seems to be no clear strategic direction. Graham Henry can line up a “B” team, one year before the world cup, that can beat any side in the world.
17 Jul 2006, 11:10 am
Players let Jake down folks
17 Jul 2006, 11:24 am
From other articles I have read that the Wallabies are lining up an “A” squad to play in the near future. What are we up to? We cannot line up 22 front line players for a Tri Nations game.
17 Jul 2006, 11:26 am
staal
dalk moet jy ook maar weer die game gaan kyk; nadat os van die veld af is, het die bokke se skrum begin swaarkry. hy is nog steeds ons beste opsie in die voorry.
17 Jul 2006, 11:26 am
En ek is nie negatief nie. Dis net hierdie F*&^G engelsman oorkant my wat my al gass gee vandat ons op die trein geklim het vanoggend!
17 Jul 2006, 11:27 am
Why risk injuries to their 2nd string. They should field their U21′s it should provide a good platform for the youngsters for next years super 14.
17 Jul 2006, 11:28 am
Grr, ons het punte op die bord!! Whooo Hooo!!
17 Jul 2006, 11:42 am
We don’t even have an A squad.
**** Muir is doing a great job with the Sharks, even if he losses afew games.
17 Jul 2006, 11:45 am
If the AB’s get any injuries to the B team, there’s always the Junior AB’s and the NZ Maori team to fall back on…
And even the NZ Maori team was good enough to beat the British Lions.
It’s called good rugby management. You need that in a nation with a smaller population than that of Johannesburg.
17 Jul 2006, 11:57 am
Tackler, ek stem saam. Ek dink ons grootste probleem is dat ons dink, met al hierdie sogenaamde “diepte”, ons nie nodig het om good rugby management toe te pas nie. En wat doen die Presidents Council presies? Is hulle nie verantwoordelik vir die strategiese bestuur van SA Rugby nie? Hulle sit op hulle gatte en as die kak die fan strike, dan moet die coach gefire word. Wanneer gaan hulle verantwoordelik gehou word?
17 Jul 2006, 12:16 pm
How hard could it be to have the Boks, SA “A”, the Junior Boks and SA “Development” team (Gazelles?) and to schedule international fixtures for all four teams? And for a Director of Rugby to organise and co-ordinate all four team’s selections, fixtures, coaching, travel arrangements etc?
Only trouble is that you would need to have the BEST man for the job, and not necessarily someone who is an affirmative-action appointment hired for show, or someone who is well enough “in” with the ANC Youth League etc.
17 Jul 2006, 12:26 pm
Hell, I am surprised they aren’t sending out the Auckland North U14B team to play us…
17 Jul 2006, 13:59 pm
as much as i would like to see the ABs lose it won’t happen
17 Jul 2006, 18:08 pm
This Loss really HUUUURRRTTTS
Nobody has respect for the boks anymore. If you remember even before these last two losses SCOTLAND were quite upbeat about their chances of beating us AT HOME. It was all pretty obvious from awhile ago guys.
The misplaced loyalties were not being repaid and reality should now prevail. New plans:
1. Pick Form(in Jakes own words) I pick from the Super 14. Didn’t see that happen. Pick the best form in the Super 14.
2. Drop Quotas. Pick genuine ability. There are some!! We all know who they are. Keeping quotas in the wings as a back up has just been proven to be fatal. When the injuries happened the bench warmers were nowhere.
3. Drop Blue eyed boys. They must go back to the CC and Super 14 etc
4. Seriously consider the abilities of the present coaches. Track record is looking bad right now.
5. Another sore point that raises it’s head is payment to the underachievers. Pay according to results.
17 Jul 2006, 19:23 pm
look guys, the reality is this; we don’t actually have the talent in the country to compete at this level, end of story. people like barritt, spies, chiliboy etc. might be good in relation to the rest of the **** we have but let’s all be honest here, they would not even be on the bench for france or new zealand.
18 Jul 2006, 04:58 am
EIGHT changes to the AB side to play the Boks.
18 Jul 2006, 22:55 pm
Just testing:
italics?
bold
18 Jul 2006, 22:55 pm
Wahoo!
18 Jul 2006, 22:56 pm
how about this?
18 Jul 2006, 22:56 pm
**b>do they mix?
18 Jul 2006, 22:57 pm
this is bigger?
18 Jul 2006, 22:58 pm
and this?
18 Jul 2006, 23:00 pm
heheh Chiefs…..been reading up ?
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