Preview: Springboks vs All Blacks
20 Aug 2010
RYAN VREDE predicts that the All Blacks will spoil John Smit’s party.
There is a discernible mood of optimism in the Springbok camp and a deep-rooted belief that they will deliver their 100-Test captain a result befitting the magnitude of the occasion. However, while there will be improvement, it won’t be significant enough to break their three-match losing streak.
The game will be won or lost at the tackle point. The Springboks were dominated in this facet of play in New Zealand, and this aided the Blacks’ ability to play the high-tempo, ball-in-hand style they’ve employed so successfully. Many of the Springboks, senior men among them, routinely fell off one-on-one tackles, and their defensive impotency is reflected by the fact that they conceded four tries per Test in Auckland and Wellington respectively.
The Boks’ three week lay-off would have rejuvenated body and mind, and this should be reflected in an improvement on defence. But the Blacks are burning white-hot, and in the likes of Kieran Reid, Jerome Kaino and Keven Mealamu, among others, they have ball carriers on top of their games.
Furthermore, the omission of openside flank Francois Louw could prove to be a telling selection error. Schalk Burger, a fine player he is, isn’t nearly as proficient at contesting at ruck time. Coach Peter de Villiers says it won’t be an issue, but his confidence is unfounded. Richie McCaw has been excellent in that role for the Blacks, and unless the Springboks breach the gain line regularly, he’ll torture them on the deck once more.
But who in the heavies will lay the attacking platform needed for a gifted backline to prosper? Their ballistic missile Pierre Spies posed the threat of a pop gun on tour, easily nullified as a result of consistently being asked to break down a set defensive line. Will it be Juan Smith, who hasn’t played Test rugby since September 2009? Smit, who we’re told is in prime condition, even though he obviously isn’t? The fatigued Victor Matfield? The rookie Flip van der Merwe? Burger cannot fight a lone battle. Who then?
The Springboks, at present, cannot match the Blacks’ strike power in the forwards. Consequently it could a miserable evening for the back division.
Tactically the Blacks won’t veer from the game plan that has brought them success. How the Springboks play remain to be seen. Their training session on Monday suggests they’ll ask their halfback pair of Francois Hougaard and Morne Steyn to lead their charge with a barrage of kicks. Steyn’s aptitude in that regard is well known, but Hougaard’s remains to be seen.
If accurate execution of those kicks is combined with a committed chase, the Springboks could be in business. Get it wrong and an already arduous defensive task will be compounded by trying repel potent broken field runners.
I suspect it’ll be a hybrid of the pragmatic and enterprising. The majority of the 90 000 crowd will hope they get the blend just right.
There’ll be parity at the set phases, while the Blacks’ bench pose more of a threat. It will be relatively close, but there’ll be a rare win on the Highveld for the tourists. Soweto will stand to salute Smit, but the centurion will be a beaten man at the final whistle.
All Blacks by 10
Springboks – 15 Gio Aplon, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Francois Louw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Butch James, 22 Wynand Olivier.
All Blacks – 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Subs: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Sam Whitelock, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Aaron Cruden, 22 Israel Dagg.
Follow SA Rugby magazine on Twitter
392 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] Show All
20 Aug 2010, 16:21 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-347:
But the same could be said about Netball for South Africa… (I cant believe I am talking about Netball – is it a sport)
Jeepers you are sure throwing some random stats, i will use the same excuse you use and say that World Cup we just got back from isolation. Any case we beat New Zealand most times in the other World Cups.
Well the Proteas have won many ODI series against the Aussies
20 Aug 2010, 16:23 pm
@Inevitable(Inevitable)-350:
Yes I agree 100% New Zealand did cry after 95 and 2007. Spot on
20 Aug 2010, 16:24 pm
@heboric(heboric)-351: Proteas are the biggest chokers in Cricket.
20 Aug 2010, 16:26 pm
Yeah I don’t think SA should refer to cricket as one of our good sports, we sucked against England at home in the last test series …
And I’m still having to live with that here …
At least in rugby we don’t seem to look worse then England … having said that they beat Australia … lol
20 Aug 2010, 16:29 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-353:
Ah yes the fickle South African supporter who whines and cries all the time. Well at least you spealt the word correctly well done.
20 Aug 2010, 16:32 pm
@danuk(danuk)-354:
Ah yes that, I actually cant believe they are crowing over that. The Proteas drew in Australia way back in 1994, but everybody only remembers 2009 because we actually WON the series
20 Aug 2010, 16:32 pm
@heboric(heboric)-352: @heboric(heboric)-352:
Yes, they cried for 2 years. You lot have been wailing for 11 very long years. No wonder you guys are sore losers.
20 Aug 2010, 16:34 pm
OUR D!CKS ARE BIGGER THAN YOURS!
20 Aug 2010, 16:34 pm
@Inevitable(Inevitable)-357:
Once again I agree New Zealand are sore losers.
20 Aug 2010, 16:34 pm
@heboric(heboric)-355: I’m actually not fickle at all, we choke. For a team over the years with as much talent as the SA Cricket team has had, not to win a World Cup or anything is fairly awful.
From Pollock’s decision in Durban, Donald’s ability to run himself out and Smith’s general craptastic captaincy we have never been able to do it.
Thank the heavens Smith is not going to be 20/20 Captain, the guy has zero tactical nouse.
20 Aug 2010, 16:36 pm
@heboric(heboric)-356: well, given that they invented most of these sports, but don’t play any very well, they’ll take whatever success they can get …
I just bring up the football world cup though, lol, at least we don’t believe we are a potential great team there …
20 Aug 2010, 16:37 pm
my spelling sucks today …
20 Aug 2010, 16:47 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-360:
Well if you solely base the Proteas on random ICC tournaments then dont bother supporting them. Ignoring their other performances is ridiculous. South African teams dont need supporters with that kind of attitude.
@danuk(danuk)-361:
Lol, but surely you can mention Rugby, the English havent been doing to well against the Boks for awhile
20 Aug 2010, 16:51 pm
@heboric(heboric)-363: Thanks for your concern, I am sure Biff is horrified that I think they are chokers, heard he can’t sleep at night.
20 Aug 2010, 16:57 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-364: Yep, although the makers of the Oxford dictionairy is not sleeping at night after seeing how the meaning of words are being bastardized on sports forums…
20 Aug 2010, 17:05 pm
@heboric(heboric)-365: If there are many makers, then the word is ‘are’ not sleeping, not is, that would infer singular.
20 Aug 2010, 20:47 pm
@JL1(JL1)-311:
Of course. You’re right. As usual.
Since when do you care what the system say? I thought you can make up your own mind!
Maybe I was wrong. That’s why you voted for the Nats all those years because the system said you have to, isn’t it?
@Panzer Chief(cane)-322:
His thinking is that if the Boks win, PdV can’t take any credit for it. there are too many “quota” players in the team for his liking.
@Inevitable(Inevitable)-331:
Did you really expect him to say something different? Of course he was going to praise his adopted country.
Even Tackles does it.
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-339:
And the man who wrote lord of the rings was born where……..oh yes, in Bloemfontein nogal.
@danuk(danuk)-354:
Why don’t you just tell them we won the series against them. Also ask them, when last did they beat Aus in Aus. That would silence them, don’t you think? :lol;
How are they currently doing against Pakistan btw?
20 Aug 2010, 22:14 pm
@nama1(nama1)-367: The man who wrote LOTR left Bloem at the age of 2, about the same age as Andrew Mehrtens when he returned to NZ. Tolkien was English;Mehrtens Kiwi.
20 Aug 2010, 22:21 pm
@heboric(heboric)-351: In SA netball is the team sport with the highest number of active participants. It’s simply the biggest female team sport that there is.
20 Aug 2010, 22:39 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-366: And there aren’t three Is in dictionary(#365) or an A in “spelt”(#355). We won’t even go near the poor concord or the inadequate punctuation.
All in all, heboric is a poor advertisement for yarpie education. No wonder the ABs out-think them so easily!
20 Aug 2010, 22:42 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-368:
My question was, I repeat, “And the man who wrote lord of the rings was born where……..oh yes, in Bloemfontein nogal.”
All you needed to do was confirm or deny.
Here’s another question: Tackler was born where… oh yes, in Cape Town, South Africa.
Now answer that the same way you did at P368.
20 Aug 2010, 23:57 pm
@nama1(nama1)-371: Being born somewhere doesn’t mean it plays any part in how you perform later in life or with whom you self-identify.
21 Aug 2010, 00:29 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-372: Still on about your wife beater island?
21 Aug 2010, 00:33 am
@nama1(nama1)-367: Seems you are much older than me,I never had the chance to vote NP
21 Aug 2010, 01:54 am
Muttonbird we sleep with one eye on the gun, are you going to try spring another midnight comment.
Muttonbird my trigger finger is itchy.
I am not religious but please any god out there, hear my pleas dont let the Boks kick the ball away!!
21 Aug 2010, 02:08 am
Sorry, great man tho he once was, Smiths had his day. You cant go into a match as big as this with a passenger and no fetcher against the ABs and still hope to win.
Actually, I think there’s a couple of passengers in the Boks at the mo, Spies is brilliant at S14 level, but always seems to go MIA at this level.
All Blacks by 12
21 Aug 2010, 02:25 am
@Black Magic(Black Magic)-376:
Sorry, Smit, not Smith
21 Aug 2010, 02:39 am
@JL1(JL1)-373: No, that’s Percy’s habit. And Joost. I’m discussing the little nation that could. And did. And will do it again.
21 Aug 2010, 04:19 am
@Black Magic(Black Magic)-376: it’s not going in without a fetcher that’s going to affect SA, it’s going in without Francois Steyn, Bismarck Du Plessis, Jacque Fourie, Bakkies Botha, Beast Mtawrira, Fourie Du Preez amongst others that’s going to affect them. NZ might well win tomorrow but it would be unwise for them to get too far ahead of themselves, both Australia and SA have a well of talent to return.
21 Aug 2010, 05:14 am
@JL1(JL1)-373:
No i think he is on about your racist country.
21 Aug 2010, 05:19 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-379:
Still on about the missing players.
BH,NZ were missing alot of players in 2009. We are missing a couple now,not as mant as Boks i must say. I dont think we will get ahead of ourselves. Of all the players you mentioned only 2 would make a difference in the Bok team and thats Steyn and FDP,the rest wouldnt matter any bit. If you ask me Bakkies and Bismarck are walking penlties,Beast has been found out on alot of occasions
21 Aug 2010, 05:28 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-380: leave Jannie “the morgue boy” alone…
its hard to think straight with your nose buried deep in the formeldehyde
21 Aug 2010, 05:43 am
Cane please note it’s the old blokes still stuck in the past on all sides of the race fence
I thought after your last race generalization you might pull your head in but alas we as humans tend to default to our natural predujuices
21 Aug 2010, 06:20 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-383:
Hi Kevin
Dont really like to play the racist card but some people are deserved of it.
JL1 is one of those guys that pretend everything is all good in his own backyard and attempts to belittle another country. We all know every country has there problems and to think NZ is the only country that has a certain crime is well lets say,hes ****** blind
21 Aug 2010, 06:22 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-381: @KevinRack(KevinRack)-383:
before it was an internal prejudice
now it seems the rest of the world is prejudice? henceforth the whole conspiracy saga…
maybe its just your praaawns ahkcents, perhaps we misinterpret what the meaning is, like all the journalists have for the last 3 years that theyve had the clown show on the tele..
doot doot doodle oodle oot doot do do
21 Aug 2010, 10:13 am
@JL1(JL1)-374:
Of course. How can I forget.
You guys were either too young or you actually never voted for those guys.
The fcukers must have written the textbook on election fraud. The same one that oom Bob is using now.
21 Aug 2010, 10:20 am
@nama1(nama1)-386: Well I was definitely not old enough, live it
21 Aug 2010, 10:22 am
@JL1(JL1)-387: Live with it
21 Aug 2010, 10:48 am
@KevinRack(KevinRack)-375: Bit busy today. I really don’t want to be known as a troll or anything.
21 Aug 2010, 12:30 pm
@heboric(heboric)-355: Spelt or spelled, not spealt.
21 Aug 2010, 14:51 pm
Springboks- 28
All Blacks- 25
1st try-scorer-Jean de Villiers
MOTM- Pierre Spies/Francois Hougaard
21 Aug 2010, 15:46 pm
Tackler, You are indeed a miserable piece of work. I’m coming over to Christchurch and Wellington for two weeks from 30th of August.
Please give me you contact number so that we can catch up. i’ll make a real effort.
After all, it’s not every day that one gets to see a real arsehole.
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.