Aplon in, Bismarck out
20 Sep 2011
The Springboks have made five changes to their starting line-up to face Namibia at the North Habour Stadium in Auckland on Thursday.
In the back division Bryan Habana and Gio Aplon replace JP Pietersen and Odwa Ndungane on the wings. The latter duo are dropped from the squad completely. Francois Hougaard gets a start at his preferred position of scrumhalf, with Fourie du Preez playing off the wood.
Among the heavies, Willem Alberts starts at openside flank in place of Heinrich Brussow, whose is named among the reserves alongside another specialist fetcher, Francois Louw. CJ van der Linde earns his first start at the tournament at tighthead prop in place of Jannie du Plessis, who’ll watch from the stands.
Chiliboy Ralepelle, omitted from the 22 for the first two Tests, will get game time off the bench, while Ruan Pienaar and Juan de Jongh’s versatility means the back division are well covered.
After the victory over Fiji in Wellington coach Peter de Villiers said that he valued continuity in selection, but on Tuesday explained that he needed to rotate with a view of having a full fit squad.
‘The biggest challenge for us it to manage the players. We’ve had two bruising encounters and we have to be sensible if we want to have 30 players fit throughout the tournament. We’re getting thin in some areas, injuries are our biggest concern at this point,’ he said.
Captain John Smit acknowledged the difficulty of preparing for a match just five days after their victory in Wellington, but stressed complacency wouldn’t be a factor.
‘There are challenges every weekend, but motivation isn’t one of those. It is important for us to be ruthless. There are still a lot of areas we want to improve and if we don’t have the proper focus we won’t get what we want out of this match,’ he said. ‘This is an opportunity to carry on the journey to where we want to be and improve our standards. Having played two games here and a couple before some guys have had enough game to move towards their best form. That needs to continue.
‘In a week like this with as short a turnaround you don’t get that much field time to prepare. So the challenge is achieving perfection in the base areas of our game, the set piece and so on.’
The Springboks are expected to beat Namibia comfortably and should negotiate Samoa’s challenge without too much problems, setting up a quarter-final against Australia. Asked whether he had cast his mind ahead to that epic tussle Smit said: ‘One thing about the World Cup is that at this stage there are so many permutations floating about. If you get wrapped up in what lies ahead you may lose sight of what you want to achieve at present. We have to think a week at a time and not worry about what lies ahead.’
De Villiers was bullish when probed on the issue of Habana’s form, arguing that the former IRB Player of the Year wouldn’t have breaking the South African try-scoring record (he is the joint-highest scorer) as a central focus.
‘I don’t think people understand the ethos of this team. If you can point out one player that puts his personal interests above those of the team’s I’ll send them home immediately. There are personal goals we achieve in life and if Bryan breaks the record it will be a wonderful achievement. But what if he scores and we lose? That ultimately is no good.’
Springboks – 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Willem Alberts, 5 Danie Rossouw, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), Gurthro Steenkamp.
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Francois Louw, 19 Heinrich Brüssow, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Juan de Jongh.
608 Comments
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20 Sep 2011, 09:40 am
In ’95 Kitch’s stroke of genius was bulking up the back row with Mark Andrews retreaded as an 8th man.
I wonder if Bismarck would not make more of an impact if he comes on as blind sider, replacing either Burger or Spies (with Burger moving to 8)?? Blind side requires strong cleaning, big fringe defense and the odd opportunity to steal at breakdown. Bissy could be devastating in that role, especially if he’s a bit looser and quicker to the ball than at hooker. It is certainly less risky than making a lock pack down in a more specialist role of 8th man.
I don’t know how I come up with these things, must be the brain vits I’m taking!
20 Sep 2011, 09:41 am
my 2 cents…
You get the Smit supporters or haters.
You get the Bissie supporters or haters.
all i know is… Bissie is the best 2 in Sa and maybe in the world. John was with Hershell Gibbs maybe the best i’ve seen regarding “ball sense”… hope you understand
…i was impressed with JS till we faced the BILions and lately he is a shadow of what he was. his impact is minimal if any…
about JSmith’s captaincy…. honestly, currently they can do without it… they have got a good captain in the team… just ask the players when you chat to them again… they will of course give him credit for what he has done for SA on the field cause has has done a lot, he is also a good guy. He was our WC captain… cudus to him! Respect!.This unfortunately counts for nothing when you have to run your arse off for 80 min and tackle like crazy to win a game in 2011!!…
We need Bissie sieriaaaaaasly…. we need to dominate with the pack, vs the AB’s & Aussies!! We need to dominate the collisions,the contact situations (rusks/mauls). John just haven’t got the legs anymore.. it’s just life…. time has caught up to him like it does to us as well… pity. Let’s not look at 1 game in isolation.
last night i watched the Wales game – good to see it after the Fiji game…
manne we need Bissie.
honestly… is there any other Test playing nation that takes the captain off, if he is the best (and play without his “immense leadership skills” in the make or brake last 20min of a game?)to bring on a impact player? huh? does any team, school, varsity club do this?
please do not think that JS always gets his locks in the lineout cause he doesn’t. Bissie ook nie… they both need to work on that. Again – let’s not look at 1 game (Fiji)in isolation.
no problem – just as i see it…
let’s hope we win the Bill…. but also watch the game with “open eyes” ….. please look AND see….. don’t look with “filters” on… cause some people look but don’t see….
(that advice is sommer included in the price 
)
ok sorry – i am running for cover!
20 Sep 2011, 09:42 am
rusks…. LMAO!
aaaaag sorry vir die spelfoute!
20 Sep 2011, 09:43 am
@wpstormerbok(wpstormerbok)-149:
Actually France’s experienced lock is at #5 – Pascale, good player.
It’s a late night kick-off and this will hamper NZ’s quick and sometimes risky passing even more in the sticky conditions.
France by 3!
20 Sep 2011, 09:45 am
@Staal(Staal)-152:
Staal, check out 151.
That solves your problem and keeps our captain on the filed for 80 mins and gives Bissy a bigger opportunity to do his damage!
20 Sep 2011, 09:47 am
@Staal(Staal)-152:
cudus?
20 Sep 2011, 09:49 am
@Gunther(gunther)-156: ag man –
20 Sep 2011, 09:50 am
@Gunther(gunther)-156:
Personally, I prefer Kudu’s to Kudos.
20 Sep 2011, 09:50 am
@Gunther(gunther)-156: wee jy hoe vinnig tik ek en daarsie tydtie….
20 Sep 2011, 09:50 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-158:
Better biltong, for one.
20 Sep 2011, 09:51 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-158: me as well!
20 Sep 2011, 09:51 am
Ja Bissie is the best in the world, indispensable I tell you, I mean that would be like an Aussie team without the greatest half backs of all time, Cooper and Genia it would be like a Bok team without Skinstad, like a lions team without Andre Pretorius, “ho ho average player John Smit”
20 Sep 2011, 09:52 am
@Staal(Staal)-157:
what does a cudu eat?
does it taste nice?
maybe barney has been making too many cudu poitjes.
although in my experience it’s the dumplings that do the damage.
20 Sep 2011, 09:52 am
@Helen(Helen)-155: this is not about keeping smit on the field, when he gets subbed he is usually BLOWING HARD with his mouth wide open. he does not have the juice to go 80min against the All Blacks in a do-or-die match, fark me he doesn’t have it to scrap against the bulls!
20 Sep 2011, 09:52 am
@Staal(Staal)-152:
We all have our opinions on the JS and Bismarck issue yes, but PDV has chosen a path which he sees will lead them to glory.
That means getting maximum impact from his bench, and a calm head to take the brutal exchanges in the opening of knock-out matches.
Also, the first half of knockouts are when teams look to find physical dominance and it would be hard to find a team throwing caution to the wind at this stage, which means it’s kept tight and John with his improving form will relish this.
We can differ with Div but the man has his own look on things, has calculated and devised it on the basis of what he has seen from 2008 – 2010 and this is what he and his team believes will win them the Cup, whether we like it or not.
If it fails they’ll have to live with it, but his team is backing him on this one and they are the only ones he needs to believe.
20 Sep 2011, 09:53 am
I mean rugby is not about the team about the individuals, I mean look at how awesome King Carlos was at a world cup and Messrs Genia and Cooper just lighting it up
20 Sep 2011, 09:53 am
I’d like to register a formal complaint with all coaches, this new scrumhalf approach at the breakdown is starting to irk me immensely. No. 9s are spending a lot of time organizing offensive formations of of forward and neglecting the ball, they’ve slown down the game, and are allowing opposing defenses to organize their alignments. Equally, this lethargic approach allows for more opportunity for counter rucks.
20 Sep 2011, 09:55 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-158:
indeed.
and afterwards you can make some fieldshoe with the skin.
show me one kudos that’s ever made a decent pair of field shoe.
@Staal(Staal)-159:
I like to take my tik nice and slow.
Hold it down and really get a buzz on.
20 Sep 2011, 09:55 am
Ja here we go again, lol dads army to the rescue, I wonder why it is that the Aussies choked against Ireland and the Boks won a game they should have lost. I mean experience is irrelevant after all hey
20 Sep 2011, 09:57 am
@Gunther(gunther)-168:
Must be a lightbulb moment for you!
20 Sep 2011, 09:57 am
I say every world cup team should be age limited to 25 and we should tell these geriatrics to bugger off.
20 Sep 2011, 10:01 am
@Helen(Helen)-151: The reason they played Mark at 8 in ’95 was that the laws didn’t allow for lifting/supporting in the lineout, the jumper had to be unassisted. At the time we had Reuben and Francois as flanks, both of which were not lineout jumpers and Steauli. It was felt that we needed a solid linout option at the back and it worked well, So our loose trio was Rueben,Francois and Andrews. Good balance really,.
In 2007 Jake picked Danie at 8 and that also worked,
So who knows?
20 Sep 2011, 10:02 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-167:
Some teams overdo it, but the good ones thrive off quick ball and will only slow it down once the situation calls for it.
You wouldn’t want to deliver quick ball when your carrier has been caught behind the adv line, you’d want your forwards to clean up, hit the fringes and once you cross the adv line only then speed ball becomes a priority, no?
20 Sep 2011, 10:02 am
I mean we dropped Pienaar before a Lions tour, Teichman before a world cup and look how well that worked out, I mean wow Ritchie has been average to useless this year but I still rate him as Test caliber player and Henry has stuck by him, I wonder why?
20 Sep 2011, 10:03 am
@Gunther(gunther)-163: no – it’s the beer that goes with it!
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-167: put my name on there as well please!
@francois93(francois93)-171: you talking about the coaches or the refs?
20 Sep 2011, 10:04 am
I have a feeling Bismark will may start against Samoa, they are a tuff side and we need to meet fire with fire.
20 Sep 2011, 10:04 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-167: and the biggest merchant of that last week was that doos ruan pienaar?
20 Sep 2011, 10:04 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-45: Hahahahahaha.
20 Sep 2011, 10:05 am
Oh kudos to the Aussies, Saffas taught them well drop your captain before the world cup, worked out real well!
20 Sep 2011, 10:07 am
@francois93(francois93)-169: the guys who won us the game against Wales weren’t the “old heads”, bismarck, francois hougaard, guthro steenkamp, willem alberts.
20 Sep 2011, 10:08 am
1984757″>Transformation(Transformation)-180: Yep three guys won the test all by themselves wow must be some incredible rugby players
20 Sep 2011, 10:09 am
@francois93(francois93)-181: your “old heads” were seeing their moer
20 Sep 2011, 10:09 am
sorry I note there was a fourth, sheesh all those tackles, four guys wow
20 Sep 2011, 10:10 am
@francois93(francois93)-181: Without those three guys, the result would have been a win for Wales. Even Pdv admitted that the bench swung the game for them.
20 Sep 2011, 10:12 am
@francois93(francois93)-183: get a grip, our captain was NOT on the field when we narrowly beat wales, so what influence did he have?
the decision to kick for touch was made between fourie du preez & schalk, the coaching staff thought muller was the captain, muller though schalk was the captain and fourie was just running the show himself
20 Sep 2011, 10:13 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-182: Wow they are incredible, had nothing to to with the collective or so I am told, I mean I have heard that Cooper and Genia dont need the rest of the team, like Ronaldo doesnt need a team that why they win all the big tournaments
20 Sep 2011, 10:15 am
Wpstormerbok: I’ve a lot of time for you mate you are always astute but on this point, unfortunately, it drives me nuts!!!! There are times where the scrummy is spending so much time organizing he turns his back on the breakdown point and the ball eventually is in play, this becomes a 50/50 ball ownership situation. I blame every backline coach locally and globally, it irritates me, I’m vexed.
20 Sep 2011, 10:15 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-185:
in situations like that where there is a leadership vacuum the person with baldest person usually takes charge.
FDP was a shoe in.
20 Sep 2011, 10:17 am
@Gunther(gunther)-188:
20 Sep 2011, 10:17 am
@Gunther(gunther)-188: I recon if got rid of Schalk’s comb-over he’d run a close second.
20 Sep 2011, 10:18 am
@francois93(francois93)-186: yep I think I sense some humble pie about to be served, I truly hope that the Boks win the world cup, if Jon starts or if Bismarck starts doesn’t matter to me. I rate them both for different reasons but Du Plessis is not ready for the pressure yet but hey that’s me time will tell.
20 Sep 2011, 10:18 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-187: I’ve seen what you’re talking about, and when that ball possession is lost, the first guy to lift his arms in outrage, and cry to the ref is FOURIE DU PREEZ.
20 Sep 2011, 10:19 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-190:
20 Sep 2011, 10:19 am
ahem
person with baldest person…
nice.
I may have held that last drag down for too long.
20 Sep 2011, 10:19 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-190: Poor Mossie with his mop of hair is never going to get his chance then.
20 Sep 2011, 10:20 am
Staal and transie I have you both etched in on the petition. I need more petitioners, please all and sundry feel free to put forward your John Hancock!
20 Sep 2011, 10:22 am
@francois93(francois93)-174: Pienaar was dropped in ’96 by Andre Markgraff. The Lions tour was ’97 under Carl. Pienaar retired from international rugby after being dropped. He moved overseas at the end of ’96.
20 Sep 2011, 10:22 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-196: I’m in.
20 Sep 2011, 10:24 am
@mpundulu(mpundulu)-196: What petition? If there’s cake, I’m in!
20 Sep 2011, 10:24 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-185: I mean Genia is The best in the world, won lots of trophy’s would knock Marshall out cold, leave Joost for dead, out think DuPreez and definitley teach Ireland a lesson, I mean didn’t we hear rich praise for the Irish when they beat us and how baaaaad the Boks were and how stupid Fourie et al were, I dont hear no Quade and Genia bashing Transie, methinks double standards doth apply.
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