Welsh eye Bok scalp
16 Sep 2008
Former Welsh wing Ieuan Evans believes the Springboks will be Wales’ easiest southern hemisphere opposition during the end-of-year tours.
Wales play the Boks on 8 November followed by Canada, Australia and New Zealand – all at the Millennium Stadium on successive weekends. Former Welsh captain Evans believes the world champions present the easiest opportunity for the Six Nations champs to cause an upset over the Tri-Nations teams.
“South Africa is the best chance of a win. Australia are probably the most innovative [of the three] and New Zealand are going to be a handful,” Evans told Scrum V.
He cited player burnout, which is not easing up as most of the Springboks have gone straight from the internationals into Absa Currie Cup action, as a reason to make the Welsh favourites. He also highlighted how the Bok players have struggled to understand Peter de Villiers’s game-plan as an added bonus for the hosts.
“South Africa are still unsure what sort of game they want to play. Also, a lot of their players are looking tired. Butch James has played two years of solid rugby.”
Not even a year after their World Cup triumph and the Boks already seem to have lost their aura of World Champions in the eyes of the northern hemisphere.
410 Comments
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16 Sep 2008, 15:52 pm
#350 JimT: in reality they lost Kelleher, McAlister, Jack and Hayman from their run-on 15. SA lost Du Randt and Fourie from their run-on side. The replacements for both teams did well though with Cowan and Thorn stepping up and Beast/Jacobs doing well.
16 Sep 2008, 16:15 pm
Evans is a rocket scientist eh?
Boks came stone cold last and have a numnuts as a coach… tell us something we don’t know!
16 Sep 2008, 16:22 pm
#352 bryce_in_oz:
53 – 8
16 Sep 2008, 16:25 pm
#162 rangerman: You sound like a a 2nd hand car salesman.
16 Sep 2008, 16:27 pm
#352 bryce_in_oz: I too am going to say this. 53-8
16 Sep 2008, 16:28 pm
#351 Big Hit:
McAlister was never a regular starter in the run-on 15, he doesn’t count.
16 Sep 2008, 16:30 pm
#349 Big Hit: Agree with you there Big Hit. Butch was great in that game. Outplayed Carter that day until he had to go off.
16 Sep 2008, 17:03 pm
#357 Puma: You mean the Bok pack outmuscled the ABs pack for 60 mins until they ran out of puff
16 Sep 2008, 17:06 pm
#352 bryce_in_oz: and to come second means that you are the first loser
16 Sep 2008, 17:14 pm
#358 stodders: I think we done well that day. We had 6 of our best players out. Also our Captain never played that day. Not bad I think. We still should have won. Its long gone now. But we won the world cup. Nice hey!!!!! better than to have won on that day anytime.
16 Sep 2008, 17:23 pm
#360 Puma: True. ABs had injuries too and were playing away from home. I don’t know why you say you should have won, considering the ABs finished much the stronger in that game. But like you say, the Boks won the games that mattered most in 2007 and walked away from France with the Webb Ellis Trophy.
16 Sep 2008, 17:25 pm
Let’s face it……any team that is organized with a “plan”, will have a great chance against the boks so long as DeVilliers persists with his absence of any sort of coherent plan and/or organization.
“Play what is in front of you”…….
soon Georgia will be queing up for a crack at us.
So, so sad…….from World Cup winners to “easiest scalp”…..in 12 months.
But that is what you get when you get hoodwinked and bamboozeled by an affirmative action candidate for a industry leading position.
Shame on us…we are getting exactly what we deserve.
Pray that DeVilliers learns or else the next 12 months could be the worst we have had ever before.
16 Sep 2008, 17:28 pm
#361 stodders:
…..that game was the Kiwis reward for resting their AB’s during the S14 that season. The South Africans reward was winning the S14….and of course, the big one!
16 Sep 2008, 17:30 pm
#362 St.Petersburgbok: Agree with you. If PdV does not learn quick then we are going the same way down as the soccer here. Right to the very bottom. Its a shame as we should have been right up there if we had a coach. Heard that Eddie Jones says he would love to coach the Boks. Which great coach would not want to coach such talented players. We should have had the best coach with the kind of talent we have here.
16 Sep 2008, 17:49 pm
#362 St.Petersburgbok: What makes you think that he doesn’t have a gameplan?
and don’t repeat “Play what is in front of you” because that’s what he’s adding to the team.
16 Sep 2008, 17:51 pm
#61 Big Hit: Peter Grant @ 10. JDV captain.
16 Sep 2008, 17:52 pm
#363 St.Petersburgbok: I agree with that.
16 Sep 2008, 17:54 pm
#364 Puma: We have a coach! It’s
PDV, and we are 2 on the IRB ranking..?
16 Sep 2008, 17:54 pm
#364 Puma: Count your lucky stars that Eddie jones didn’t get his hands on your team. A very good techincal analyst and assistant coach he may be, but a consistently poor head coach he also proved to be.
16 Sep 2008, 17:55 pm
2 = 2nd
16 Sep 2008, 17:57 pm
#369 stodders: True, very true..
16 Sep 2008, 17:59 pm
#364 Puma: hi Puma, Eddie Jones head coach and Jake Director of Rugby! HIER KOM N DING!
16 Sep 2008, 18:01 pm
#369 stodders: Eddies no fool, that poisoned chalice too much for most to handle i am afraid!
16 Sep 2008, 18:02 pm
Oh… and I forgot to mention, any one of our top 5 Currie Cup teams will beat the Welsh!
16 Sep 2008, 18:06 pm
#374 GeminiCT: i wouldnt be so sure, the eoyt is going to have either a 2nd string bok team or an exhausted one. We playing our boks into the ground!!
16 Sep 2008, 18:15 pm
#375 grant10: Dude… It was a joke! stop reading all the negative **** that gets spewed out on this site! It’s frying your brain!
16 Sep 2008, 18:32 pm
#374 GeminiCT: That’s just being silly and arrogant. Wales, at home, in front of a passionate support have a good chance of beating South Africa if South Africa have not prepared properly and are not mentally engaged.
Remember that South Africa will not have played together once since the 3N prior to the Wales match, and the Bok players will not have had any match action after the CC finishes in October. The Boks will be going in cold, as will Wales, but the Welsh players will have had the benefit of being at the beginning of their season and be playing consistent rugby.
I still take the Boks to win by 5, but it won’t be easy.
16 Sep 2008, 18:40 pm
#372 grant10: That would be great I think but it will never happen.
#375 grant10: Agree there.
16 Sep 2008, 18:44 pm
#376 stodders: Stodders we are still playing CC until October. All our Boks are in those teams even if we are not playing together we are still playing rugby so will be fit and ready mate. We have only ever in the history of Bok rugby in a 100 years lost to Walse ONCE. They will only have a chance to beat us if PdV takes a very young side and leaves the regular Boks at home. Wales do have a good coach though.
16 Sep 2008, 18:54 pm
#333 cab: A big hit might be exciting to watch and it may lift the team spirit and earn you some bravado, but whats the point, when at the same time you are fast tracking your demise? To biggles i beg to differ with you when you say JW is a better defender than Carter. Only difference is their technique, i dont see any disparity.
I have actually seen Carter make some try saving tackles and some that are embedded in my mind to back my statement are the ones on Marc Cueto at Twick in 06 i guess, one on Habana this year in NZ after receiving an inside ball, the bootlace tackle on Gitts in OZ[ inthe test they lost].His tackle on Spies after that charged drop attempt…… infact i could go on and on
But it seems you are measuring defence with the force you hit an opponent with, but no its stopping the offensive surgethat matters. I guess you would say Collins is a better defender than McCaw basing from your logic.
16 Sep 2008, 18:57 pm
#378 Puma: They have two good coaches – Gatland and Edwards.
South Africa lost to a Welsh side coached by a Kiwi in 1998. Maybe lightning will strike twice in 2008
16 Sep 2008, 19:01 pm
#377 stodders: Dude.. read post 376
16 Sep 2008, 19:02 pm
Is it just me or is this site up to ****?
16 Sep 2008, 19:41 pm
Are you trying to wind us up Grant? We thrashed Wales only a few months ago and that was when we’d only just started under PDV…?? Oz and NZ players will be just as tired.
Ah well, what ever helps Ieuan Evans sleep better at night….God loves a tryer.
16 Sep 2008, 19:46 pm
#379 rugby fan:
i dont think there’s any bravado whatsoever in a big hit, quite the opposite, its all about actions not words. Os personified and why he was hugely respected.
you are putting down a marker for the oppo and showing them through your actions what the day is going to be like, those thunderous tackles have a big effect in the big games, when it appears u are playing against men posessed its bound to have an effect.
also, wilkinson is far better than carter defensively and he is better mentally, but carter is more naturally talented and on current form is the best flyhalf easily imo.
16 Sep 2008, 20:36 pm
cab : the mental bit i can take on any given sunday, infact jonny is one guy as a coach, if you have never met him or heard of him and on your first encounter with him, just by looking at him you are assured…. yo sho def got a player… same goes to Glenn McGrath.
were i tend to disagree is the defensive part. just because you come in with a big hit does not necessarily translate you into a better defender. like i pointed out earlier, its stopping that offensive surge or defending the gain line that matters the most. of which dan and jonny do it every now and again hence my summation, there is no disparity between the two despite what other commentators would like us to believe that there is a deep gulf between the two.
it would be a fine line if ever there is, which i doubt in my opinion. cant wait for the autumn tests tho
16 Sep 2008, 21:24 pm
#4 Richie_7: ag richie, suig bird.#48 Big Hit: BH, Earl lives up to your nick.His wife and hotel security guards.
But you’re right. I rate him too.
16 Sep 2008, 21:44 pm
We may see some surprise selections in the end of the year tour.If Pdv picks the right kind of players the Welsh will have to wait another year or two.
If our coach sticks to his expansive game,Welsh could spring a surprise.
Watching four NZ sides play today on Supersport I’ll never complain
about our refs again.Boy those Kiwi boys can play but their refs must
be the worst around.
16 Sep 2008, 22:15 pm
Wales has not done anything great in rugby since the 1970′s. Winning the Six Nations in a weak year counts for nothing. There are no hiding places in the Tri-Nations as can be seen from this year. Maybe the Pikees of world rugby should keep quiet
16 Sep 2008, 23:40 pm
Ieuan Evans should put his brain into gear before his mouth, methinks.
“South Africa are still unsure what sort of game they want to play. Also, a lot of their players are looking tired. Butch James has played two years of solid rugby.” is going to turn around and bite him on the arse. I have my doubts whether Butch will be playing a part
17 Sep 2008, 02:20 am
#21 iori Yagami: you wish. The boks will never have the same aura as the AB’s, maybe in the republic of SA, but even that seems to be eroding now.
#387 brentie: Our refs were pretty good in those games SA v Aus, or have you got a very short memory?
#278 Big Hit: Why do you hate us so much BH, did a kiwi kid steal your lunch money one day, or do you accept that we are a far better country at playing rugby than your lot will ever be, despite your massive population and financial advantages?
17 Sep 2008, 05:52 am
Must agree with KiakahaNZ – You South Africans really dfind it hard to accept that after losing four out of six tests in the Tri-nations, you were last! Forget the excuses…. Outside of SA, you are not rated the top nation/. Inside SA you rate yourself first, second and third!
17 Sep 2008, 07:47 am
390
KiakahaNZ
Not at all but the ones I saw were just plain ****.
17 Sep 2008, 07:50 am
391
Kiwikev
Repeat your comments only after you manage to win your second
World Cup.21 years is a long time don’t you think so?
17 Sep 2008, 08:09 am
Wales will have to do a lot of the same talking, not in the same league as Boks. I will admit they did look good in a very average 6 Nations, but looked very average against a Bok side in June without 10 World Cup players.
17 Sep 2008, 08:19 am
#392 Kiwikev: Kiwikev, now there’s a name that goes so well with your comment you must surely be the brightest bulb on the marquee !!
17 Sep 2008, 13:27 pm
#392 Kiwikev: #391 KiaKahaNZ:
You Kiwi boys keep talking about the aura of the Boks, it doesn’t exist etc. but you keep talking about it – Irony. We dont talk too much about the ABs in these parts.
No doubt the Boks did finish last in the 3N. But I do think you are only as good as your last World Cup. I think it has been shown on enough occasions that when the Boks do put it together (sadly not often enough due to our OWN doing) we are unmatchable. Can’t honestly say that about the ABs – they head into every tournament as favourites – favourites in 6 world cups, with 1 win. I dunno Kiwi boys, that doesn’t seem right! When I think of Brazil in football, Aus in cricket, Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher – The AB’s just don’t fit in as the best in their code…
17 Sep 2008, 14:57 pm
Pienaar should succeed James. He is a modern fly-half. He can kick, tackle and run. he will rival the likes of Giteau and co with his intelligent running and speed. I would go Ruan Pienaar, plu she is a game breaker. At scrum-half there is no hope. Also at FB he looks fragile.
I might start a Facebook group called “Ruan for 10..”
18 Sep 2008, 05:07 am
#397 foot-in-touch: except to say, oh no we lost to them again …
of course the “aura of the boks” doesnt exist, as your charmed WC victory was proven beyond reasonable doubt against (in Keo’s words) an average AB side and a rebuilding Aussie…
18 Sep 2008, 05:13 am
#397 foot-in-touch: only as good as your last world cup hahahaha keep believing that… because the way SA rugby is going, it may just be an extremely long time before you win another… and although us kiwis have had to wait a while, eventually we will get another one, then the floodgates will open and we will end up having more of those then anyone else … so continue living off of last years glory, thats what your team did, and where did it get them, last against supposed weaker opposition… man , some of you SA bloggers just have no idea at all…
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