Boks to fight fire with an inferno
27 Sep 2011
The Springboks intend to outbully the confrontational Samoans in Friday’s Test at North Harbour Stadium.
After a disappointing campaign in the Pacific Nations Cup, Samoa stunned the rugby world when they beat the Wallabies 32-23 in Sydney. Many believed the historic win signalled the beginning of something special, and the massive Samoan contingent in the greater Auckland area moved to buy tickets to the Samoa vs South Africa World Cup pool clash on 30 September.
The North Harbour Stadium will be at full capacity this coming Friday. There is a big South Africa-fan base in that part of New Zealand, but it won’t compare to the number of spectators clad in the blue of Samoa.
Both sets of fans will be expecting a physical romp, and there’s good reason to believe that this Samoa side will be tougher to top than sides of previous years. While they’re as physical as their predecessors, they play with more structure and purpose.
The Boks have taken note of Samoa’s performances at the 2011 tournament. They weren’t quite good enough to beat Wales, although they were competitive for large parts of that match. They steamrolled Namibia and hammered Fiji. They’re unlikely to dominate the Boks upfront, but there’s no doubt that they will try to win the battle at the collisions.
It will be a bruising contest, and there may be casualties if neither side is willing to move away from an attritional approach. Samoa have already spoken about moving the ball around, but the Boks intend to take the islanders on at the coalface no matter the cost.
It’s a strategy that should bring them the desired rewards, but they will be hoping that it doesn’t lead to further injuries to key players a week out from a quarter-final against Australia.
Bok centre Jaque Fourie said that playing two intensely physical matches back-to-back shouldn’t be a problem for this South Africa team. Following last week’s win against Namibia, the Boks enjoyed a couple of days rest, and Fourie believes this has made all the difference. The Boks have used this time to recharge and prepare themselves for an all out war at the point of contact.
‘It’s going to be physical, I’m sure we’re going to be feeling the bruises afterwards,’ said Fourie. That’s why it was important that we had the break. Your body needs to be fresh, but your mind needs to be fresh as well.’
Several players have stood out for Samoa in this tournament. Scrumhalf Kahn Foutali’i, who also plays for the Crusaders in the Super 15, has been one of the more direct No 9s while the 120kg winger Alesana Tuilagi will be an attacking threat if he’s brought into the line. Centre Seilala Mapusua is another who will look to impose himself in the tackle.
Fourie played down the threat of these individuals. While he acknowledged their talents, he believes the collective is more dangerous than before because Samoa are now using their natural talent and inclination for contact to pursue a common goal.
‘They’re a very physical team, and as is the case with the Fijians, if you allow it to get loose, they will punish you. If your kicking game and first-phase is not up to standard, they will punish you.
‘All round they’ve got a good team, so we’re not going to focus on one or two players. They stay in their structures, so we have to look at how we are going to beat the team rather than the individuals. They’re dangerous in broken play, but they seem to be even more dangerous now that they’re structured.
‘I think they’ve modelled their game on how the All Blacks play.’
The Boks have the pack to boss the islanders proving they don’t go into the game with a complacent attitude. They will also need to take the fight to the islanders in midfield, and this is where men like Frans Steyn, Fourie and even Jean de Villiers will need to prove their worth.
‘They’re very direct and physical, there’s no funny business,’ said Fourie. ‘You know what to expect, they just come straight and hard, and there defence is good as well.
‘We need to be clinical in what we want to do; we need to be as direct and physical as we can be.’
In the build up to the Fiji and Namibia matches, the Boks promised to play direct, pragmatic rugby. What transpired against Fiji was a looser albeit profitable approach against a weak defence. The Boks were also too adventurous during the early stages against Namibia, and the loss of structure led to frustration and unnecessary errors.
As Fourie suggests, the clash against Samoa will require a lift in accuracy and intensity. The Boks should beat Samoa, but their success will be determined by their ability to maintain a high standard over the course of 80 minutes. A consistently physical effort will ensure they beat the Samoans by a comfortable margin and take some much needed momentum into the play-offs.
By Jon Cardinelli, in Taupo
537 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 [11] Show All
27 Sep 2011, 20:21 pm
You guys actually think Helen is female….. lol never !
27 Sep 2011, 20:27 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-500:
I must say, I do have a bit of a snigger when I think about all you hard Yarpies trying to sound harder than Hard Harry’s hard honeymoon di **** and then this simpering little gurly-boy who calls himself Helen starts bleating about his vaginal discharge. Hilarious!
27 Sep 2011, 20:28 pm
That should read “hard honeymoon dick”.
27 Sep 2011, 20:29 pm
@Kitchener(Kitchener)-502: You dont know Yarpie women, eh?
27 Sep 2011, 20:37 pm
Bitchener, when last did you useless pommies beat the springboks? How did you feel when we beat you in the 200z final? Oh boy the boks gave you lads a good rodgering
27 Sep 2011, 20:46 pm
For all those South African All Blacks supporters out there – Beeld reports that the New-Zealand High Commissioner in South Africa today gave a public apology after the New Zealand Police arrested the SABC rugby correspondent and also Pretoria News reporter, Mr Vata Ngobeni in Taupo yesterday because he”fitted the profile of a drug dealer”! Ngobeni was the only black patron at a Taupo bar and was taken to the police station and stripped searched, before allowed to leave!
Now if that isnt racist, dont know what is!
27 Sep 2011, 20:50 pm
Visiting team supporters blogged commenst on stuff.co.nz that drunken New Zealand supporters are harassing them at world cup matches. Some are even threatened on their way back to hotels.
Great country that New Zealand…
27 Sep 2011, 20:55 pm
@Kitchener(Kitchener)-502:
oh I say old bean, you still going off about the heatherns in the colonies? Should one not look in ones own backyard where one will see that the mainland has been taken over by the colonies and that the main dish is now a vindaloo?
Old chap, the days of the pims and safaries are long gone what what. Time to realise who the real landlords are old bean, and it sure ain’t you old bean what what. I would say that you should now run along as there has been enough buggery for one day what what?
27 Sep 2011, 21:01 pm
@whatever(whatever)-508: Not only that, but the natives are restless too. Appropriating trainers and flatscreens en masse with no sign of compensation. That’s how Zimbabwe started too.
27 Sep 2011, 21:07 pm
bcoet
threatened? yep, but if it was in SA they’d all be dead by now wouldn’t they?
27 Sep 2011, 21:10 pm
Julias and De Lille have started a new party:
The Dilemna Party
27 Sep 2011, 21:10 pm
Aaaargghh the peanut gallery is out again…
27 Sep 2011, 21:12 pm
Poops, I’m going to ask helen to make you a very special bunnychow that you can eat and enjoy
27 Sep 2011, 21:22 pm
Statement from NZRU… “Steve Tew, chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Union, claimed also that the whole future of the coveted competition could be under serious threat.
Tew revealed that competing at the World Cup has cost his union more than 13 million New Zealand dollars (£6.6 million), a loss it could ill afford at a time when player costs were rising and the world economy was stagnating.
Incoming tours are halted in World Cup year and competing nations are not allowed to have any association with their sponsors for the duration of the tournament.
The International Rugby Board will complete a review of how the World Cup is run by next May. However, Tew is adamant that unless significant changes are made, the All Blacks will consider sitting out the 2015 event.”
I ask you!!? – F’kin D!!CK-HEADS..
Some comments…
“New Zealand virtually begged for the right to host this tournament at home so it’s a bit rich now to complain that they’ll be making a loss!”
“Everyone likes to have their bargaining chips but if one side makes such a ridiculous threat thne they really ought to be given the chance to carry it out.”
They should have given it to us… proper facilities & central location. Not f’in d!!ckeyedup sheep shearing sheds…
27 Sep 2011, 21:26 pm
Also from the NZRU… ““The IRB did put an extra £1?million on the table for the major unions six months ago, which helped and which was appreciated, but frankly the prospects of us going to England in 2015 under the current model are very slim. We cannot continue to sign on for an event that costs us so much money.”
27 Sep 2011, 21:31 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-515: Are they fishing for a collection drive?
27 Sep 2011, 21:35 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-516: Maybe they should take their Chippendale act on the road… bit like the the Full Monty.
27 Sep 2011, 21:37 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-510: nope! remember the FIFA world cup? No? Well maybe the cricket world cup?still nothing? The 1995 rugby world cup?… We know how to stage tournaments!
27 Sep 2011, 21:41 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-517: If they can persuade Sannieboel to donate the purse from his next fight to the cause, they’ll get there and back with change to spare.
27 Sep 2011, 21:42 pm
Yes pops they’d all be dead.
27 Sep 2011, 21:43 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-496: Agreed there, it is a bit rough… next thing she’ll be talking about seafood…
27 Sep 2011, 21:56 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-521:
Heard the one about the old geezer travelling through the States on Route 66 and pulls into a filling station. And is a bit peckish. He goes into the diner and sees:
Cheese sandwiches $2
Ham sandwiches $2.50
Hand jobs $10
So he says to the pretty young thing behind the counter:
“Are you the one that does the hand jobs?’
To which she replies; “Yes”
“Well, in that case, go wash your hands and make me a cheese sandwich”
That’s keo’s Helen.
27 Sep 2011, 22:04 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-514: You kiwis think its just us Saffas that have a perverse attitude towards you… its a large majority of the rugby world…
UFO posted a very good piece on another thread – very relevant… in case any of you missed it; & those who didn’t do yourself a favour & read it again!
All I want to say is be careful that you don’t disappear so far up your own @rses that the rest of the rugby world loses complete sight of you. At the moment your that far gone that you don’t seem to know whether you should f@rt or speak!
“238.ufo: 26 Sep 2011, 10:43 am
A little advice that is desperately needed… Well… what can we say…? The All Blacks have this World Cup all sewn up. Who are we mere mortals to even contemplate denying them their god-given right to fulfill their pre-ordained destiny of claiming their rightful prize, title and honour. They are entitled to it. Anyone who denies that just demonstrates their own moral corruption. They are the best team ever to play rugby. In fact they are the ONLY team ever to play rugby. Every other rugby team merely aspires to the greatness of the All Black rugby team. They have neither the skills, honour, history, vision or greatness possessed by the New Zealand All Blacks. Not only are the All Blacks superior in they unique way of playing the game of rugby, but they are morally superior too, being god’s chosen ones on the rugby field. They are bigger, strongly, faster, more determined, more intelligent and more capable. They should have won it every time the world cup is held because they have clearly been the most superior, infallible, dynamic team ever in history, in the universe (which was created solely for the purpose of givng the All Blacks a place to exist). They are only denied their entitlement by the conspiracy of the rest of the world who appoint dishonest referees or poison them beforehand to temporarily cheat them our of their destiny because no other team is capable of beating them fairly and the proof of conspiracy is borne out by the fact that we have cheated the All Blacks out of every world cup since the first one which showed us the only way they can be beaten is by cheating. Who are we to even challenge them? It is absolute arrogance to walk the same hallowed turf as them, let alone play against them, let alone think they can be beaten. In their humility they humour us by letting them us play against them when in fact they are merely playing with us. Their fans are the most knowledgeable, sporting, fair, humble, level-headed, always, righteous group of people to ever support a team. Anyone who does not support the All Blacks is morally bankrupt and if you dare support another team you prove you are the spawn of the devil, because the All Blacks exist by divine appointment and to not bow down before them and prostrate yourself supine at their feet reveals a lack of character and a childish naiveté. Anyone who has the temerity to support another team is dishonest and evil… and stupid. There is no simply point in competing… We merely reveal our amoral hearts and feeble minds by even thinking we deserve to play on the same field with the gods of rugby… Let them have and keep the Webb Ellis Trophy… in fact let them give it it’s rightful name… the All Black Trophy. Let New Zealand keep the money from the un-played games… they surely deserve it for putting on the best sporting event in history. We all need to go and play snakes and ladders as it more appropriately illustrates the amoral core of those who do not worship at the feet of the Almighty All Blacks…”
27 Sep 2011, 22:07 pm
@I am a stormer(I am a stormer)-522: Eeeeuuuwww… VuilUil !
27 Sep 2011, 22:10 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-514: charlie, you’ve just put a BIG bullseye on your back, Panty is going to chew you to pieces old bean
27 Sep 2011, 22:16 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-525:
And BP thinks that the Boks are fully deserving winners of the 2007 WC.
27 Sep 2011, 22:21 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-525: The gloves came off long ago boet… I’ve been here from the start… kept to myself… enjoyed the banter… but then it just got too much… we’ve been through so much sh!!t as a nation… & then these blinkered, @rse-wipe kiwi birds stumbled in with their holier than thou attitudes… I can dish it out too.
27 Sep 2011, 22:24 pm
@bcoet(bcoet)-506: Here’s what happened: a patron at “The Shed Bar” phones the cops at 2am and says, “I was offered Ecstasy by a black guy in the toilets of The Shed” a few minutes ago. Cops — who happen to be Maori, by the way — head there and find a bag in the loo with pills in it. The only black guy in the pub is Ngobeni. He’s asked if this bag belongs to him. He denies it. Cops take him to the station to search his person in private. Find nothing. Apologise and let him go.
It’s known as policing.
A strange concept to yarpies, no doubt.
Suggest what YOU would have done if you’d taken that call at the cop-shop.
27 Sep 2011, 22:30 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-528: So either you’re suggesting that Ngobeni was lying, and that he used this World Cup gig as a ruse to go and flog pills in a one horse town’s bar toilet.
Or you’re saying that if a cop in this one horse town is told that a black man tried to sell someone pills, the nearest black guy will do just nicely.
27 Sep 2011, 22:32 pm
South African rugby journalist Vata Ngobeni was detained during the early hours of Monday morning when Taupo police removed him from a local pub suspecting he was a drug dealer.
Ngobeni, an employee of Pretoria News and rugby analyst for the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC), was the only black person in the pub at the time, said a Sapa journalist travelling with him.
Ngobeni was taken to a police station and searched. He had to remove items of clothing.
“I have never been so embarrassed in my life,” said Ngobeni who was released shortly after he was searched.
“I have never experienced this kind of treatment in all my travels around the world, so to be singled out as a common criminal in front of so many people is something I will never forget.”
When police approached him, Ngobeni tried to explain that he was a journalist on tour covering the Springboks — in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup – for television, radio and his newspaper.
An officer responded by saying that Ngobeni fitted the profile of a drug dealer. They had to conduct a search at a local police station.
Police officers on the scene said they were following what they called standard procedure.
Taupo residents who witnessed the scene expressed sympathy for Ngobeni.
“…There are some idiots in the pig factory (police station) in this town,” said an elderly man.
Another commented “you will find that the police pick up all the … old cars with black drivers.”
Ngobeni later received an apology from police, but said:
“I won’t be visiting Taupo again, that is for sure.”
Ngobeni said he had never before seen the inside of a police station — never mind being asked to get into a police vehicle in front of a crowd of people.
Source : Sapa
27 Sep 2011, 22:35 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-528: yip…seems New Zealand still has a looong way to go…so no use in trying to answer your question
27 Sep 2011, 22:42 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-529: from 1 Lions supporter to another, will one day privately tell you how the NZ/AUS refereeing fraternity are abusing SANZAR ( and how Jurie Roux and Wattie are reigning them in!) I am involved with the SA refereeing structures.
28 Sep 2011, 04:40 am
The stunning truth and accuracy and shock of post 427 bring them out like rats of an unknowingly opened cage. I can just picture the scene as they climb and trample over each other to get at the supposed morsels in an almighty free for all.
White rats and black rats all in glorious disunity and disarray and thus achieving nothing.
28 Sep 2011, 08:07 am
@bcoet(bcoet)-532: Do tell!!!! But just brace yourself for the self-righteous shitstorm which is sure to follow from some kiwi bloggers!
@poppa69(poppa69)-510: Lol yea didn’t you know it’s full-blown civil ar over here? We are barricaded in our houses with 3 months supply of canned food and bottled water, and the driveway’s blocked off with razor wire and chopped up furniture. This morning I headed out on foot and luckily found a dead dog I could scavenge some meat off, but I had to fight off a few other survivors first LOL!
Ignorant ***…..you know NOTHING about this place, living here, the massive disparities…. I am one of the fortunates who enjoy a fantastic lifestyle in a beautiful country….the poor ones, the ones who struggle in grinding poverty and are the victims of 97% of crime won’t be found on a blog, so not sure who you’re trying to impresss with your ‘insider’ knowledge and pathetic barbs about dangerous crime
28 Sep 2011, 16:26 pm
My folks moved back to NZ in 94 fearing the release of Mandela would increase the crime rate dramatically and SA would be un safe to live ….. They moved back to Te Puke ( North island) and guess what – within the 1st month back the house was robbed and everything stolen – ironic !!!!!
28 Sep 2011, 21:46 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-523: Geez, that hysterical bloke needs a serious counselling.
29 Sep 2011, 23:15 pm
Pity it was not samo the only black guy in That pub
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 [11] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.