Bismarck unleashed on Samoa
24 Sep 2011
Springboks coach Peter de Villiers confirmed that Bismarck du Plessis will start against Samoa.
Du Plessis has been in white hot form in recent months, but has had to be content with cameos in the final quarter given De Villiers’ loyalty to captain John Smit. He was omitted from the squad to play Namibia, but De Villiers has now revealed he will be in the run-on side for the Test against the islanders next Friday.
‘The one thing I can tell you today is that Bissie will start. John needs a rest. He’s like Duracell [batteries] at the moment, he just keeps on going. Not that he squeals, but I have to manage him too,’ De Villiers said.
The coach also revealed Bakkies Botha has suffered a recurrence of the Achilles tendon. ‘He’s a worry at the moment. I don’t think that Bakkies is where I want him to be,’ he said. ‘He’s such a valuable player in our side but a 90% fit Bakkies won’t be good enough. He’ll have to be 100 per cent. He’s in doubt for Samoa. We’ll be guided by the medical team and by Bakkies himself.’
The Springboks struggled in their opener against Wales but easily negotiated the challenge of Fiji and Namibia. Asked to assess where his team stood at this point in the tournament, De Villiers said: ‘It’s like going on a flight. You know where you want to be but everything up in the air causes you to go off your course. But the main thing is to land safely at the airport and we’re on our way to the airport.”
Samoa are favoured to beat Fiji in Auckland on Sunday but will hope that Fiji do them a favour when they play Wales next week, then beat the Springboks, in order to progress from the pool. De Villiers was lavish in his praise of the islanders: ‘Samoa is actually a revelation in world rugby. They’re in the minds of the people. They were a minnow but they’re not any more,’ he said. ‘Samoa is New Zealand’s second team. They’ve been coached like New Zealand, they act like New Zealand, they play like New Zealand.’
73 Comments
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24 Sep 2011, 06:05 am
Blue Dragons – here’s hoping for another upset, but so unlikely.
24 Sep 2011, 06:43 am
So we have Bismark starting, with Guthro and Jannie dup
Bakkie’s out . Is matfield ok? Is Muller ok? Danie needs a rest.
Skalk , brussow , and i am afraid Spies as loosies
Most likely Fdp and possibly Butch (head hunter to match head hunters )
Steyn at 12 with JF (cant see him been rested)
JPP and Habanna with maybe Aplon at 15
24 Sep 2011, 06:48 am
.not that he squeals..” Couldn’t he rather have said ‘complains’. Cringeworthy.
Finally the big man gets a start. Lets hope he can throw in straight this time.
24 Sep 2011, 06:51 am
This is a sign…
Good luck Bissy
24 Sep 2011, 06:58 am
So John Smit to come on as a super sub in the last 20 minutes and get all the credit from all the fans for making the difference and winning the game for the boks…!!??
24 Sep 2011, 06:59 am
Think they should start JdV as well. Then we can b reminded of what we are missing.
FS could also do with a rest.
24 Sep 2011, 07:02 am
@OCO(OCO)-6:
Yes true but i dont think his ribs have healed
24 Sep 2011, 07:03 am
@ufo(ufo)-5:
He takes credit even if he doesn’t play
24 Sep 2011, 07:10 am
Um, I’m not sure I like a metaphor depicting the Springboks being at the World Cup in New Zealand and being “on their way to the airport”!
24 Sep 2011, 07:26 am
This just in from the NZ press…..
Boks caught stealing the silver
Nine Springboks have sheepishly returned a silver fern sign they took as a prank – after they were confronted by a feisty Matamata bar manager.
Fresh from their 87-0 mauling of Namibia at North Harbour Stadium, the Boks, including skipper John Smit, met their match on the main street of Matamata after stealing the sign outside a bar.
TRAC Sports Bar Matamata owner Gail Bailey said she paid little attention when a group of unusually large men came into her establishment about 2pm yesterday.
“They came in for a drink but they ended up going to another bar in town. They wanted lunch and we’re more of a sports bar,” Mrs Bailey said.
But when a patron told her the men had made off with a New Zealand Community Trust sign on the footpath, Mrs Bailey chased them down the street.
“I took after them, told them I wanted my sign back and gave them a rev-up. I didn’t know who they were.
“I just gave them a serve about pinching stuff. I said it wasn’t very good visiting our town and pinching things.”
The chastened players told Mrs Bailey they had always intended to put the sign back. “I told them, ‘Don’t bulls*** me’.”
The Springboks’ media manager, Andrew Colquhoun, said a group of nine players opted to drive from Auckland to Taupo. “They’re taking a bit of a leisurely day down to see a bit of New Zealand after two weeks of hotels and airports.”
Last night, he didn’t have full details of the incident as the players were yet to arrive at the team’s hotel.
“I did have a text from John [Smit], who said it was just a bit of fun with a lady in the bar and that nothing was stolen.”
Mrs Bailey was shocked to find out who the men were and thought the sign was taken because it had a silver fern on it. “So maybe they’re a bit worried about us.”
Still, yesterday would go down in the bar’s folklore. “It is a laugh,” Mrs Bailey said. “And everyone in the bar is having the biggest laugh about it because here’s me running after these big tall guys.”
24 Sep 2011, 07:27 am
Not very edifying…..however boys will be boys
24 Sep 2011, 07:29 am
@Siyavuna(Siyavuna)-11:
It was naughty of them and they got caught. No damage done. No cars dented or fistfights with locals.
24 Sep 2011, 07:30 am
“Samoa are favoured to beat Fiji in Auckland on Sunday”
Vrede, they play Samoa, not Fiji. Don’t let Keohane find out you’ve been in his stash
24 Sep 2011, 07:33 am
South African Law – it is only stealing if you get caught…..
24 Sep 2011, 07:34 am
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-13:
hendrik…
fiji play samoa tomorrow…
don’t let keo know you’ve been in his stash…
24 Sep 2011, 07:34 am
I think John needs to be rested for at least the next 3 games
24 Sep 2011, 07:34 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-12: Fo sho……if this is the worse loutish behaviour out of our boys I’m quite OK with it
24 Sep 2011, 07:35 am
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-16: Agreed!!!
24 Sep 2011, 07:36 am
@hendrikp(hendrikp)-13:
and we play samoa on friday…
24 Sep 2011, 07:38 am
@Siyavuna(Siyavuna)-17:
In most countries that is a crime, in SA it is a prank….
24 Sep 2011, 07:40 am
@Siyavuna(Siyavuna)-17:
John was going to hand it to Richie when we beat them in the Semis
24 Sep 2011, 07:41 am
@Getafix(phil72)-20: Souvenier Hunting…..
24 Sep 2011, 07:42 am
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-21: I like it!!
24 Sep 2011, 07:43 am
It’s a crime anywhere but at some stage in just about all our lives we’re taken a sign from somewhere. It’s a boy thing and naughty yes, but enough to put into print…seems a little trivial. Most incidents like this are laughed off but clearly the old crone that hyped this up needs the publicity and business for her sleep establishment.
24 Sep 2011, 07:46 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-24:
Plus its not worth anything its a freeking sign of fern
24 Sep 2011, 07:56 am
THEFT is theft, regardless..
nice to see SA’s condoning it… making light of it as a prank is indicative of SA society and its acceptance of “crime”
imagine walking into your hosts house and stealing while their back is turned… disgraceful!!
24 Sep 2011, 08:06 am
Divvy said he was praying for a sign.
24 Sep 2011, 08:07 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-26:
Dont you have a sense of humor?
24 Sep 2011, 08:14 am
Article from Stuff.co.nz
The “madmen” are attempting to take over the rugby asylum that is New Zealand and nobody seems to see what they are doing.
Marc Lievremont and Pieter de Villiers are taking the concept of the impact substitute to new levels while the sane majority scream at them for picking the wrong teams.
The impact bench theory is being taken to greater heights by South Africa. It is hidden behind the meanderings of their coach. But listen closely to de Villiers and he is far removed from the fool his critics claim him to be. Sure, some of his pronouncements sound crazy at first hearing but wasn’t the Fool just about the only sane man in King Lear?
The case for his lunacy is broadly based on his preposterous defence of John Smit as first choice hooker over the world’s best No. 2, the battling Bismarck du Plessis. I include myself among the vast number of dupes here. Every time the Natal hooker makes his belated entrance to the fray he is a snorting bull, full of anger and righteous indignation. He has always been a magnificent specimen, but since the utter injustice of him being omitted from the kick-off he has become transformed into something almost unstoppable.
Conservatism has a history of overtaking risk-taking as this competition reaches the tense latter stages. Indeed, the England 2003 World Cup team’s strategy was “to be in touch with 20 minutes to go”. Martin Johnson still espouses it.
Given that the majority of the teams think this way, the idea of staying in touch before unleashing the Big Guns sounds eminently sane. The Springboks unload “The Beast”, Danie Roussow (if Victor Matfield regains fitness), Willem Alberts and Francois Hougaard from their bench as the second half tries the fitness of the combatants. It did the trick against Wales and helped blow Fiji away while the manner in which they turned up the heat against Namibia in the last 15 minutes might be more pertinent than many think.
24 Sep 2011, 08:17 am
10 bucks says they made Brussouw “fetch” it.
24 Sep 2011, 08:20 am
@Jeraldjay(Jeraldjay)-29: Interesting article.
24 Sep 2011, 08:23 am
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-28: dont expect a positive answer lol
24 Sep 2011, 08:26 am
@President_of_the_Sharks_rugby_experts(sharks_lover)-32:
cant he see the funny side of this
Hey the lady and her bar are going to benefit by this in a big way
She should thank them
24 Sep 2011, 08:31 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-31: The Boks have revolutionised the role of the impact player.
The player run system and the role PDV actually plays have been debated numerous times on this blog.
But their is no way the players themselves could have conjured up the Boks impact player strategy.
24 Sep 2011, 08:38 am
@Jeraldjay(Jeraldjay)-34:
When did this revolution take place?
24 Sep 2011, 08:42 am
……….mmmm. At the start of this World Cup.
24 Sep 2011, 08:43 am
Fair enough, lucky this revoulton took place otherwise the Welsh would have turned you over.
24 Sep 2011, 08:46 am
World champions, played 3 won 3.
24 Sep 2011, 08:50 am
@cab(cab)-38:
And 2 world cups
24 Sep 2011, 08:50 am
I was supporting Ireland in that Wallaby game but they really diluted the momentum of the tournament.
The final will be an anticlimax whatever happens in the quarters or semi’s.
24 Sep 2011, 08:50 am
@cab(cab)-38:
Yip well played you squeaked past the Welsh, we’ll see how good you are come 1/4 final time, the Aussies have rolled you 5 out of the last 6 tests but yes you are still the world champions.
24 Sep 2011, 08:52 am
@CoachPete(CoachPete)-39:
thats right Pete and marching toward NZ steadily but surely.
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-41:
The ozzie have rolled our B side as have you lot, our A side will make shortwork of you both.
24 Sep 2011, 08:54 am
If it was Richie in SA bar snatching a stuffed springbok head, he would be hit over the hit with a tonfa by the owner, arrested by the local police, forced to sponsor the whole department with McDonalds, and then probably will be interrogated by the scorpions for 24 hours….
24 Sep 2011, 08:55 am
@Jeraldjay(Jeraldjay)-34: You can have the best players in the world on the bench but if the team is not playing well together then that bench is like pi.ssing against the wind. The most significant thing that has happened to the Boks over the past to month is Rassie and Nienaber. We can see definite Stormer structures, especially on defence, coming through (not ideal because Stormers aren’t the be all and end all
). But with Stormers structure, Bulls power and Shark/Vrystaat attacking nous starting to come through its looking good. The bench has now developed into a real weapon.
24 Sep 2011, 08:55 am
Allez Le Bleus
24 Sep 2011, 08:56 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-44:
I cant disagree with that
24 Sep 2011, 08:58 am
@cab(cab)-42:
I saw your A side play the Welsh, too be honest nothing there to trouble the big teams on the back of that performance but you looked the goods against Fiji and Namibia.
24 Sep 2011, 08:59 am
The big teams…
Vive La France!
Only the brave.
24 Sep 2011, 09:01 am
Affirmative shopping!
How could this woman not know who she was dealing with? Don’t she watch rugby?
24 Sep 2011, 09:04 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-44: Great point about the combination of the regions strengths.
I’ve been watching Bok rugby for a while and we have never combined all our strengths like this before. B
But the key to our success is seeing the Free State attacking game coming through.
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