Saracens 24 SA 23
17 Nov 2009
Keo.co.za brought you live commentary from the midweek clash at Wembley Stadium.
80 mins: Saracens work down the clock as they run the ball through the forwards to cap off a great comeback. Hougaard stands in the pocket and kicks the ball into the stands. The home team celebrates as the disappointment is clear on the South African players’ faces. South Africa lose their third successive European tour match. Saracens win 24-23!
75 mins: Hougaard’s persistence with kicking a drop goal pays off as he finally slots his fifth attempt and Saracens get a one-point lead with five minutes remaining. 24-23 to Saracens!
70 mins: South Africa make a host of changes at a crucial stage of the match. One wonders if this is a wise decision, considering Saracens are within reach.
69 mins: Saracens reduce the deficit to two points as Hougaard converts an easy penalty attempt. 23-21 to South Africa!
62 mins: South Africa try! The Springboks steal a Saracens lineout and gather possession. The ball is then passed out wide for the counter-attack, and Nokwe runs in at the corner for his second after good interplay between the back three. Pienaar misses the conversion but South Africa regain the lead. 23-18 to South Africa!
61 mins: Saracens win a penalty as they out-scrum the South African pack. However, Hougaard continues his average performance with the boot as he misses target. This could prove costly.
60 mins: The next quarter will be a big test for South Africa’s character as momentum is clearly with the Saracens.
59 mins: Hougaard kicks his third ambitious drop goal attempt, but the fans boo as the pivot fails to clear the cross-bar again.
54 mins: Saracens try! After a marginal call from the referee, the home side is awarded a scrum close to South Africa’s try line. Inside centre Brad Barritt gets the ball at first receiver and runs through the dismal South African defence for his side’s second try. Hougaard kicks the extras. The score is level, 18-all!
46 mins: Saracens try! Replacement No 9 Francois Hougaard’s kick from the scrum is charged down by Ernst Joubert. The No 8 then dives on the loose ball for the first points in the second stanza. 18-11 to South Africa!
42 mins: Hougaard takes an early drop goal attempt, but his kick goes wide.
Half-time: Saracens 6 South Africa 18
39 mins: Saracens are awarded a penalty on the stroke of half-time. Hougaard kicks the three points and the referee blows the whistle for the end of the first half. 18-6 to South Africa!
38 mins: South Africa try! After a good up and under from Earl Rose, Ashley Johnson contests well and Saracens fullback Michael Horak fails to claim possession. Jongi Nokwe then gathers the loose ball and touches down under the posts. Pienaar adds the extras to extend the lead to 15. 18-3 to South Africa!
33 mins: Although a solid performance thus far, South Africa are struggling to hold their own in the scrums.
29 mins: South Africa try! South Africa build good momentum into Saracens’ 22. The ball is passed through the hands and De Jongh shows good strength to break through three defenders for the opening try. 11-3 to South Africa!
18 mins: South Africa rule the lineouts as the home side struggle to win their own throw.
17 mins: Saracens are penalised and Pienaar gives South Africa the lead. 6-3 to South Africa!
15 mins: Some impressive and aggressive South African defence swings momentum to the visitors’ favour.
11 mins: Wian du Preez makes an early appearance off the bench as he replaces the injured Van der Linde.
10 mins: Heini Adams and CJ van der Linde are already receiving medical attention, and Juan de Jongh and Adriaan Strauss take big hits, this is proving to be an intensely physical encounter.
3 mins: After the restart, Neil de Kock kicks a poor clearance and his team-mates are adjudged to be offside. Ruan Pienaar slots the penalty and levels the score. Score is level 3-all!
1 min: Derick Hougaard kicks off and South Africa claim the ball cleanly. The visitors decide to run and Jean Deysel sets up the breakdown, but the flank is penalised for holding on. Hougaard gives Saracens the early lead. 3-0 to Saracens!
Saracens – 15 Michael Horak, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Justin Melck, 6 Wikus van Heerden (c), 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Richard Skuse, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Rhys Gill.
Subs: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Carlos Nieto, 18 George Kruis, 19 Andy Saull, 20 Kevin Barrett, 21 Alex Goode, 22 Rodd Penney.
South Africa – 15 Earl Rose, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Dewald Potgieter (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Alistair Hargreaves, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Subs: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Riaan Viljoen.
588 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 12 » Show All
17 Nov 2009, 22:40 pm
Waka…here is Hawaii …I can see everything through mediazone and kuduclub but nothing in North hemi it seems…oh I could watch NZ/Oz in Tokyo.
So are you saying i can watch 2nd half through Sky online somehow?
Seems like we got a lucky call for once a 50/50 or was it a 0/100 ?
17 Nov 2009, 22:41 pm
SKOPSKIET,
I am not sure I would play Morne at the back. I am not a fan of moving a player to accommodate another.
I disagree with Smit to 3, Heinkie to 3, Pienaar to 10, Jacobs to 12, Steyn to 15, Rossouw to 7, Fourie to 15 etc etc
Smit is still the best hooker in SA.
Pienaar is still 2nd best 9 in SA.
Steyn is still best 10 available in SA.
Adi is and always has been an outside centre.
Rossouw is a lock. Plays here for S14 & Currie Cup.
We should stick to what the players know and are comfortable with, and the positions in which they prove their worth!
17 Nov 2009, 22:41 pm
Ratel MSIUR Simply can’t stomach the truth. This is the best bok performance we seen so far. And guess why because for once in a very long time the backs are motoring and carrying the ball instead of being stifled by a ou doos game plan of kick the f.ng thing into the air. Adams is the spark and Pienaar makes some space for backs to find attack space. De Jongh is the tough little nugget hitting the adv line. This back line ten times better than the palooka’s in the A team.
Between Nokwe, Rose, Adams, Pienaar, De Jongh and WO, they showing those overrated doose how to play rugby at last.
17 Nov 2009, 22:41 pm
cj was off in the 10 min…& wian du preez came on…the little boks are playing some creative rugby you can’t ask for more than that! These guys haven’t played together for too long, the combos still need to gel!
17 Nov 2009, 22:42 pm
howzit. see that paddy o’brien has come out and agreed that stu dickenson reffed the scrums incorrectly for the italy vs Abs game. huge admission. hopefully this puts dickenson out of major test reffing for several years.
17 Nov 2009, 22:42 pm
#145 Pirlet BEL:
I admit that Burger has been off the boil lately, but to say that Deysel is better than him in ALL ASPECTS is stretching it more than a little bit.
You have to take the quality of the opposition into account. Justin Melkck for example will struggle to make the Boland first XV.
17 Nov 2009, 22:43 pm
How can this country not produce a world class tighthead? Impossible. There is no way that the depth of our tighheads are so kak that we have to make them.
17 Nov 2009, 22:43 pm
#152 Don’t call our national heroes doose you arse
17 Nov 2009, 22:45 pm
#154 Tomsta:
holy ****, i think thats the first time i;ve ever seen the refs do that, i think old paddy is the head ref too, any chance there;s a bit of nz bias shining thru or is it only gert bezuidenhout who is biased?
17 Nov 2009, 22:46 pm
Some dude called stuart just won 250 000 pounds by hitting the cross bar… francois pienaar jasked him before what would he do with 250k he said take the cheerleaders out!!! He just got swamped by 15 chicks!!!!
17 Nov 2009, 22:46 pm
#139 radiohead:
Hi Lynne, how you going?
Skop
Ruan is still not doing that much as flyhalf. Hasn’t got a 10s instincts.
17 Nov 2009, 22:46 pm
#156 Wolf:
yip, we way behind, time to get a foreign NH scrum expert in, they’ve definitely stolen a leap on us.
17 Nov 2009, 22:47 pm
Pienaar must play 10 not 9 and M. Steyn is too pedestrian to get the back line going same with Fdp slow as a damn ox driver behind the scrum. Look at the difference between this back line to the one that got drilled by France. There is momentum and space happening because of the speed of service by Adams and the vision and front foot ball by Pienaar and Rose and De Jongh. The finding space all a sudden instead of getting drilled on the ball. Pienaar must play 10 not 9- M. Steyn can go to 15 so we have a place kicker on the park. They can switch on defence and attack plays if necessary but so far Rose has proved all his detractors 100% wrong also.
17 Nov 2009, 22:48 pm
#160 David:
thats what i’m a bit worried about pienaar, but its also cos they not been playing him at 10 regularly so difficult to judge – he can be exceptional with ball in hand on solo mission tho.
17 Nov 2009, 22:48 pm
Robzim, Burger hasn’t made a turnover for over 2 years with the boks , he has no clue how to stay on his feet. At rucks he just throws himself sideways and doesn’t clean out much, and with ball in hand, he either gets smashed or fluffs try scoring opportunities by not passing the ball.
Think what you like, but Burger has been off the boil for quite a long time now, he’s not good enough anymore, he’s even missing tackles, and the boks can’t afford having a passenger in the backrow (considering they already have the ULTIMATE passenger in Kankowski lol)
17 Nov 2009, 22:50 pm
Bekker replaced by Danie.
17 Nov 2009, 22:50 pm
#159 armchair coach:
Lucky b@st@rd!
17 Nov 2009, 22:50 pm
SKOPSKIET,
Are you suggesting that the Boks drop FDP from no9? The same FDP who was nominated by a team of ex internationals for IRB player of the year in 2009?
The same no9 who was instrumental in winning the RWC, LIONS, TRI NATIONS, S14, CURRIE CUP?
Yup, I guess they are all wrong. Are you Rudolf Strauli?
17 Nov 2009, 22:50 pm
#161 cab: Agreed Cab…the silence on our scrumming problems from the powers that be scares me a bit.
This needs to be fixed quickly…ecspecially with the way the rest of the world is trying to take away the kicking game…and thus the lineouts which we rely so heavily on. There must be a bunch of Argentina scrum experts we could lob a call into for help.
17 Nov 2009, 22:51 pm
Skop, if you moderated your opinions slightly people might take you seriously. Adams passes 100 times better than FDP??? Thats a stupid statement. Vriendelike advies.
17 Nov 2009, 22:51 pm
#163 skopskiet: And the fact that our pack was reversing had no impact on the game? Look at Adams and Ruan last week genius.
17 Nov 2009, 22:52 pm
Regarding our scrumming problems, at least we have Gary Gold to fix them.
Remember how powerful the Stormers scrum was in 2006 & 2007 when he was Boss?
17 Nov 2009, 22:54 pm
Great work Franscios Hougard
17 Nov 2009, 22:54 pm
oooooo
Try Joubert…
17 Nov 2009, 22:54 pm
Why is Adams off
17 Nov 2009, 22:55 pm
jeeps this vaunted front row is struggling…
17 Nov 2009, 22:55 pm
174 – Must be rotation policy or injury, he was playing well but looked sore after the big tackle
17 Nov 2009, 22:56 pm
I’m good, thanks David. Long time.
17 Nov 2009, 22:56 pm
I do not understand how our front row was hailed as vaunted in the first place.
17 Nov 2009, 22:56 pm
francois hougaard fcuks up with his first touch of the ball!!! Try sarries!
17 Nov 2009, 22:56 pm
#176 BULLET:
played really well
17 Nov 2009, 22:56 pm
#175 gunther:
yip, everyone knew the newcomers were going to struggle, but we had a few genius’ suggesting they would have faired better against france.
17 Nov 2009, 22:57 pm
see what a kicking scrum half does he gives away charged down tries Hougaard kicking the ball into the oppo fly half giving away a try. Kicking scrum halves are not the answer. Hougaard don’t try become another Fdp.
17 Nov 2009, 22:57 pm
Deysel is having a big game!
17 Nov 2009, 22:57 pm
#179 Transformation:
charge down was more due to the **** scrum
17 Nov 2009, 22:57 pm
Think Adams injured
17 Nov 2009, 22:57 pm
Joubert should have been in the Bok mix, if it wasn’t for injuries.
17 Nov 2009, 22:57 pm
Dude there are players out of position everywhere… WHY???
17 Nov 2009, 22:57 pm
another F up Hougaard
17 Nov 2009, 22:58 pm
#178 BULLET: yeah…other than the first test against the Lions and the one scrum against NZ in the last test in NZ…I really can’t remember us dominating scrum time.
Need to get it fixed…and quickly.
17 Nov 2009, 22:58 pm
#172 BULLET:
damn good, this oke will really get it moving, if half of ou doos’ hyoperbole is true.
still gotta watch saracens B pack dont do a number on ours.
17 Nov 2009, 22:59 pm
#181 cab:
yep its one thing to dominate the urrie cup but for some people the gras is always greener…
17 Nov 2009, 22:59 pm
hougaard kicking?
wtf is he doing, run like the greyhound you are and pass the bladdy thing.
17 Nov 2009, 22:59 pm
#182 cab: Like Grant10.
#184 BULLET: Yeah, yeah!
17 Nov 2009, 23:00 pm
Hougaard kicking everything SA will lose if they continue this
17 Nov 2009, 23:01 pm
193 – It was sarcasm!
17 Nov 2009, 23:02 pm
Barrit beats WO easily
17 Nov 2009, 23:02 pm
wtf is hougaard kicking with all that pace in teh backline including his? play the bladdy offload game, esp if setpiecne and tight a distaster.
17 Nov 2009, 23:02 pm
earl the man try saving tackle
17 Nov 2009, 23:02 pm
Sarries really taking the game to the Boks! Were in for a great last 30 minutes
Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 12 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.