Bring on the Aussies, enthuses De Villiers
2 Oct 2011
The Springboks will play Australia in the World Cup quarter-finals – and Peter de Villiers reckons it will be easier and more familiar than playing the Samoans.
It is the clash of the last eight with the Tri Nations champions against the defending World Champions.
Ireland, in emphatically beating Italy 36-6 in Dunedin, ensured a quarter-final against Wales in Wellington next Saturday with the Boks to play the Wallabies a day later in New Zealand’s capital.
Hosts the All Blacks will play Argentina in the late Sunday kick-off at Eden Park in Auckland and England clashes with France on Saturday at Eden Park.
The winner of the Boks match will play the All Blacks with the other semi-final an all Northern Hemisphere affair.
(Bok coach) De Villiers told the South African media website SuperSport he welcomed playing the Australians, added the Boks would have the advantage at scrum time and that he felt it would be easier playing the Aussies than it was against the unfamiliar Samoans.
De Villiers said he expected the Australians to try and match Samoans for physicality and didn’t believe either Australia or New Zealand could do that to the Boks. He also backed the improved Bok defence to counter Australia’s attacking threat.
Australia has won five of the last six Tests between the two countries, with two of the wins in South Africa. The Wallabies have also scored four-tries or more in four of the six matches.
De Villiers was unconcerned by this statistic and said that while the Aussies could also believe it to be easier because of the familiarity he felt the Boks were playing outstanding rugby at the World Cup and peaking at the right time.
The New Zealand media generally have backed the Boks to beat the Wallabies, but among former Australian players and within the media the feeling is the Australians will be too smart for the Boks and that David Pocock’s return will neutralise the Boks, as he has done successfully on most occasions in the last two seasons.
Former Australian World Cup-winning captain Nick Farr-Jones, in the Herald on Sunday, wrote the Boks looked like a champion at the end of the road and that the last 30 minutes showed the vulnerability of an aged giant. He commended the Boks’ fighting qualities and scrambling defence, but said too many key players were no longer the players who stood tallest in Paris in 2007.
Former All Blacks World Cup-winning prop Richard Loe, in the same paper, disagreed, saying the Boks would have too much muscle for the Tri Nations champions.
Quarter-finals (NZ kick-off times – 11 hours ahead of SA)
QF1: Ireland v Wales at Welllington Regional Stadium on Saturday, October 8, kick-off 6pm.
QF2: England v France at Eden Park on Saturday, October 8, kick-off 8.30pm.
QF3: South Africa v Australia at Wellington Regional Stadium on Sunday, October 9, kick-off 6pm.
QF4: New Zealand v Argentina at Eden Park on Sunday, October 9, kick-off 8.30pm.
511 Comments
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2 Oct 2011, 19:32 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-197: ah, welcome on board stormerboy, i will make space as if i was a good christian/muslim/jew.
i know you havent been anti-Smitty but i am loving th way he is slowly starting to silence the critics again.
if we win the wc then he will surely go down as the greatest bok of all time?
2 Oct 2011, 19:48 pm
not wanting to pick smit based on scenarios that did not happen is no more than fudging fact… should/coulda/woulda… you can’t prove a negative or a non-event… so no point going on about it… rather discuss things that did in fact happen… than things that did not happen… they can’t be used as fact if they never happened…
facts are that smit has played very well so far in this world cup and bismarck has added tremendous value from the bench… i have always maintained that neither bismarck nor hougie can or will be able to have that sort of impact for the full 80 minutes… it is simply impossible to keep going like that and maintain that intensity for 80 or more minutes… (unless your name is sckalk or juan…)
stormersboy is absolutely correct… john’s leadership was conspicuous by it’s absence on friday… it was left to schalk to rally the troops while vic stood by and watched…
thing is these guys have been together for nearly eight years… they know, understand and trust each other… and operate and play more effectively together as a unit… these guys have to start every game from now on… IMO… and BdP, FH and WA can come on and play their hearts out for the final 30-20 and we will stand a better chance of winning the world cup…
it has proven effective so far… don’t mess with it… the points on the scoreboard say it ain’t broke… so don’t try and fix it…
2 Oct 2011, 19:49 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-200: Thanks. yes, i’d seriously consider playing Ruan at 15 before Zane, but it’s important to have a full squad.
2 Oct 2011, 19:53 pm
Guys please go easy on grant he has had a health scare.
2 Oct 2011, 19:53 pm
Smit silenced his critics and played well WHEN?
WHEN did Smit play well and silence his critics this WC?
Against Wales, Fiji, Namibia, Samoa… WHEN did Smitty play better than Bismark and silence his critics?
Some you dumb Smitty worshiping disciples are deluded BEYOND delusions.., come on F,ng WAKE UP..,
Smit was DIABOLICAL against Wales and leading his team to an ABSOLUTE CERTAIN LOSS. Till Bismark and Alberts came on… going BACKWARDS at one massive rate of knots..,
Against NAMIBIA and Fiji who Wales pumped worse than we did he played ‘well’ go F,ng figure, Bismark would have played a WHOLE LOT BETTER and then some.. And against Samoa the useless palooka didn’t even FEATURE, because his first contribution was a slow throw in and second one a skewed throw in and third was a deliberate tap down that earned him a YELLOW card .. So WHEN the hell did Smit play WELL and silence his critics… WHEN ?????????!
Start Smit vs Aussie and we asking for a pumping.. Smit, Spies and FdP in the starting team is a recipe for DISASTER… Exactly as it was vs Wales.. Asking for big trouble not starting Bismark and Alberts.. Don’t come crying when the damage is DONE..
2 Oct 2011, 19:54 pm
@ufo(ufo)-202:
maybe, but i think the Boks will be going home if smit, spies and matfield start in the same pack. i also will never agree that the best hooker in the world plays a cameo role no matter how good smit;s captaincy supposedly is, its def not that good.
2 Oct 2011, 19:55 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-201: Ja boet, I’ve been a long standing fan but have been saying that I’d start Bismark in the important games with John on the bench, but i’ve come to think it should be the other way round.
Victor is not a leader of men in the same way that John is. We know it, they know it, and most importantly, the players know it. And that is the most important
2 Oct 2011, 19:57 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-200: attempted palace coup?
2 Oct 2011, 20:00 pm
Guys on top of everything you have said about Smittie v Bizzie I have to add that the kind of reasoning that says that Smit is responsible for SA trailing Wales at one stage as well as the rather tight end to the Samoan game ignore the fact that there are 14 other players in the Bok team but above all else they give very little respect to the opponents we played against. Wales beat England before the WC and has made huge strides and Samoa beat all and sundry in the Pacific Cup as well as the Ozzies in Australia. There is no doubt that the Bok team is gelling as a unit and feeling rather comfortable with each other this would not have been the case if there were doubters amongst them as to JS presence in the team. It appears his fellow players respect him more than the public
2 Oct 2011, 20:01 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-204: ag so.
hope he recovers fully.
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-207: yip. and thats what i have been saying since gwante started his tirade.
plus he loses far less lineouts.
2 Oct 2011, 20:03 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-204: He’s had a what? Thought the dude was superfit? Wish him all the best though, hope everything’s ok.
2 Oct 2011, 20:03 pm
Now, is it time for us to just talk bollock$ ?
2 Oct 2011, 20:04 pm
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-209: Exactly. It’s a 80 minute game. And we finished better than them, so we won the game. Ebbs and flows.
The anti John brigade don;t seem to know this. And sadly, they don’t seem to tolerate any view contrary to their own.
2 Oct 2011, 20:04 pm
Do not worry, Lambie will save the day….
2 Oct 2011, 20:04 pm
Uuuuurrrrgh
Monday
2 Oct 2011, 20:05 pm
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-209: again, spot on bananaboy.
p.s. i got a lovely natal snoek of 4 kg’s and a spotted grunter of 2kgs with my speargun yesterday at tongaat.
life is good here in natal.
2 Oct 2011, 20:06 pm
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-209:
the thing is its a game of inches and if u got 1 or 2 in the pack not hitting the contact points, its going to take its toll and the other side is going to feel they are getting the upper hand and once they get the momentum thats the match decided, normally, even if other players are brought, the impression created is that they have the match of the other forwards as a whole.
2 Oct 2011, 20:06 pm
Anyway, since it’s school holidays i’m letting the boys stay up later than usual and we are about to watch “tangled” as a family,
Which is time much more valuable than debating the Smit question.
Have a great evening all.
2 Oct 2011, 20:06 pm
well… if you watched the game against samoa… you would have seen PdV say at half time that we just had to stick to the game plan as they had in the first half…
as we all saw… the guys slowly lost their cool and reverted to an aimless kick and chase panic in the hope that something would happen…
clearly a lack of leadership or inability by big vic to implement or stick with the plan… which saw schalk trying to pull the guys together…
secondly… for those saying smit played so badly against wales… the stats guys who know where to find these things… posted that smit made the most tackles against wales… even more than schalk… and smit didn’t play the whole game… so anyone saying smit was useless against wales is simply ignoring fact and running on pure negative emotion…
what’s crazy is… as i’ve said before… because you prefer one player you have to make out the other is the devil himself…
south africa is fortunate to have two great hookers at the moment… smit a better scrummage and line-out thrower… but not too shabby in the loose… BdP a better loose layer and not too shabby in the scrums and line-outs… (although he did lose us significant ground against samoa with wayward throws…)
use the one in the formative tighter stages of the game and the other in the looser latter stages… sounds like a perfect plan to me… and HAS been working very well…
i think the hate of either player is irrational…
#justsaying…
2 Oct 2011, 20:06 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-215:
Just stop that Monday stuff…. It is hours away….
Pour a scotch!
2 Oct 2011, 20:07 pm
Smit was LOSING HOPELESSLY Against Wales he was absolutely and definitely leading the Boks to a resounding and most definite LOSS had he remained on that field one moment longer..
Which f’ng games you people been watching.. Smit has LOST .. The last 5 times he played Aussie and everytime he played NZ since 2009.
WHEN did Smit play WELL and lead this team with convincing ability WHEN, vs Namibia and Fiji DOES NOT COUNT.
Play Smit ahead of Bismark and we go home.. How much you wanna bet ?????????!
We will be chasing the game if Smit starts vs Aussie like we were vs Wales .. NOT ahead like against Samoa.. Play Smit in 1/4s and its home time.. That’s the choice we have
2 Oct 2011, 20:07 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-216:
Have you ever ‘tickled’ a trout?
2 Oct 2011, 20:09 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-218:
Most things are more exciting than the ‘Smit’ debate!
2 Oct 2011, 20:10 pm
@Dawn(Dawn)-215: Im working on a Sunday night, listening to old school Alanis Morissette.
Its already Monday for me.
2 Oct 2011, 20:11 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-218: Lucky man. Enjoy.
2 Oct 2011, 20:12 pm
Animated movie! Tangled! More ugh!
2 Oct 2011, 20:12 pm
@carol(carol)-222: excuse me?
2 Oct 2011, 20:17 pm
Tickled a trout?
2 Oct 2011, 20:18 pm
smit, matfield and spies may tackle, but backs can tackle – you need to win the collision, you need to get go-forward, that is where the welsh were fking us up, they couldnt believe it themselves and by 55 min they knew they had the boks who were getting beaten upfront, it was all over, and should have been, they misses two sitters.
2 Oct 2011, 20:18 pm
Scots do many things but I’ve never known them to tickle trouts
2 Oct 2011, 20:19 pm
FdP is the culprit regarding kick chase which is the diabolical flaw which is EXACTLY same flaw we have shown under Smit the past 2 years.. Smit would have been on the field s Samoa from kick off we would have lost I got absolute zero doubt about it. Was Bismark, Brussow, Burger and Roussow that put us in the lead going into half time.. Smit came on and was summarily DISMISSED by the ref.. He contributed absolutely f’all.. Just like he did vs Wales.
If not for Bismark Alberts Hougaard vs Wales AND Samoa Smit and Pdv would already be halfway home
2 Oct 2011, 20:19 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-216: Hell you make me homesick, there is nothing like the Natal Coast, it will always be home. @cab(cab)-217: Cab everything you say is true however if you look at the stats you will note that Smittie is outperforming all the other tight 5 players except for JDP. Even Danie is slipping more trackles yet he gets the ackolades because of his running with ball in hand. I’m sorry Cab but JS has not only being hitting the rucks but also helping to create tries whilst all the while getting back to full fitness.
Just a question what is your perception of the work a hooker should be doing on the field and tell me if you think Bizzie fits that bill. He is a freak but i dont believe he is actually a hooker , rather a hybrid of a hooker/prop/flanker. Wouldn’t you rather have a specialist hooker on the field. By the way the game against Samoa didn’t prove that Bizzie HAS to start, there was nothing there that was exceptional or said that JS would have been worse, in fact I think JS would have handled Nigel Owens a lot better. However thats just my opinion and not fact
2 Oct 2011, 20:21 pm
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-211: Jaaaa man… the ol’ Doc told him to ‘buk’ for the finger probe. Grant was taking strain & when it was going on unusually long – he opened his eyes & noticed that both the Doc’s hands were on his shoulders!!
2 Oct 2011, 20:23 pm
That’s not remotely funny
2 Oct 2011, 20:24 pm
heaven help us
2 Oct 2011, 20:24 pm
@rangerman(rangerman)-216: Good shooting Range… can relate to that. My old stomping grounds. Did you ever know an oke – Tosh Bell?
2 Oct 2011, 20:24 pm
i’d actually rather have smit over both matfield and spies, but not at the expense of bismarck who should be the first name down on the teamsheet. there are currently only three players that are giving SA go-forward, they are Bismarck, Alberts and Beast/Gurthro. Look at the irish pack today, you got rory best, cian healy, obrien, heaslop and ferris – u think we gonna take them on with smit, matfield and spies in the same pack – no chance – the balance is all wrong. Bok rugby at its best, is about a dominant high-intensity committed pack that cleans out the oppo on the collisions and at the breakdown – kickchase is designed for the ruck inspectors since it is less intense and relies more on playing in the right part of the park than on the pack doing what it is capable of doing winning possessions and retaining it – this is even more important when one considers how much more dangerous the ozzie and kiwi backlines are – and astruse fk what will they do when they get lazy, kickchase, you saw it in the 2nd half v samoa when they started to coast after an utterly brilliant 1st half.
2 Oct 2011, 20:27 pm
@SpringbokSarah(SpringbokSarah)-235: You dont think we can take the Aussies?
2 Oct 2011, 20:30 pm
Said it before… I might be wrong but I think the Ozzies have shot their bolt… overcooked for this tournament. They’ve played a lot of hard rugby leading up to this.
2 Oct 2011, 20:30 pm
@ashampoopaloo(joel1yahoo)-231: Skop yet the Boks have had the least amount of points scored against them. They are playing to their strengths and if you watch carefully they are targetting the 3rd or 4th phase with arriving players to force a turnover. They dont seem to be too concerned about slipping tackles as long as the attacking player goes to ground eventually as the ball cannot be played then. They are very effective in stopping attackers at the “tackle line” instead of the “gain line” as the first port of call so to speak after that they attacking the ball on the ground by isolating the attacking player i.e. cut off his support and force him to take contact and go to ground.
2 Oct 2011, 20:30 pm
you gotta be BLIND .. Smit was the chief culprit along with Spies and FdP LOSING the game vs Wales.. If he would have stayed another 5 minutes it was OVER..
BISMARK ALBERTS AND HOUGAARD saved the game vs Wales.. If Smit stayed on another minute or 2 and Bismark and Alberts NOT introduced it was an absolute and definite LOSS staring us in the face..
The ones NOT seeing the simple reality are those that cannot see that by starting Smit we are going in carrying a PASSENGER and not playing our strongest team.. Those stats guys gotta be absolutely f’ng delusional because under Smit vs Wales we were ABSOLUTELY heading for a DEFINITE LOSS !!
Only the advent of Bismark, Alberts AND Hougaard saved the Day.. Smit was LOSING that game with absolutely NO DOUBT!!
2 Oct 2011, 20:32 pm
I believe that alberts would be better suited starting this game with spies coming off the wood.
I’d like to see alberts taking crash ball all game long and running straight at cooper.
and dupreez needs to do more of the tactical kicking and not steyn.
personally, if our pack can replicate the physicality from the samoa game, I think we will have too much for the ozzies. Get our big strike runners charging straight at the 10/12 channel.
2 Oct 2011, 20:32 pm
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-232:
you make good points, i;ve never subscribed to the nonsense that smit is rubbish, he is very useful and integral part of the team – however, he is presently keeping the best hooker in the world out of the Bok team, a real worldclass weapon which Smit is not, but perhaps most important of all, its not the tackling we are missing, but the physicality, the mongrel – you’ve got to have it. Oz is the one pack we might get away with it, but i doubt it, they’ve beaten smit’s pack both in oz and Sa (one of the first time’s they;ve done it, our balance is wrong – the pack is getting too old and less physically offensive).
The Boks are at their best when they play like marauding barbarians, not tackling curtailing anklebiters. You give teams like oz or nz parity upfront, and theylll put 30 on us, it wont even be close. Ireland beat them, by beating them upfront, its the way we’ve also always done it, but u pick smit, matfield and spies in the same pack (down in australasia nogal) and dont be suprised when u get exactly the same result as the last 2 years vs oz.
2 Oct 2011, 20:36 pm
The debate about Bismark is similar to the one regarding Mealamu. They’re similar players and both have suffered as starters due to the strategy of starting with stronger scrummagers. Smit has also suffered by trying to turn him into a tighthead, but I have a gut feel that coaches are correct in starting with him.
If there are any weaknesses, it’s Spies as the starting 8. He adds nothing in aggression, workrate or brainsand with FdP struggling in confidence, the 8,9,10 axis, which is dependent on his direction, is our most vulnerable area.
2 Oct 2011, 20:41 pm
@jocuba(jocuba)-236: tosh bell?
no. sorry man.
i have bugged for years but only recently taken up spearfishing (10 months).
it is addictive and very environmentally friendly.
2 Oct 2011, 20:42 pm
@cab(cab)-243: Remember Cab everyone is judging Smittie on the basis of the last 2 seasons but take away the playing load and the injuries and disruption to his carreer in that time and get him back to what he was doing when the B&I Lions toured for example and you will see what I mean. He will help destroy the Ozzies with Bizzie coming on later. My only concern is Brussouw vs Pocock and I would have Frans Louw on the bench for that cover and play Danie at 8 instead of Spies with Bakkies and Matfield at lock.
2 Oct 2011, 20:44 pm
The forwards issue is not a big problem… we’re just looking for perfection with all these arguments. They ca hold their own with the best; & the best are worried.
Its the backline that is the problem… how do we utilise Jaque Fourie optimally? The boy is deadly… he never saw any attacking action against Samoa.
The point is… is JDV still the man for 12. I tend to think I’d have him on the bench for Oz; & if we get through to semi’s – bring him on for the kiwis.
The danger man is Nonu – someone has got to contain him.
2 Oct 2011, 20:44 pm
Pouring a scotch ………..
2 Oct 2011, 20:46 pm
Bok strategy should be simple; beat Pocock to the breakdowns and target Cooper’s channel. Their form is poor at the moment – they peaked 3 months ago
2 Oct 2011, 20:46 pm
@bananaboy(bananaboy)-246:
2 years is a long time when you get past 30 at that level. Bismarck is in another league, we are actually doing ourselves a massive disservice here by picking on sentimental grounds when there is a player of the likes of Bismarck around – you can’t win a RWC if you dont pick your real weapons to play for as long as possible. We only really have 4 worldclass weapons these days and none of them are being picked to start.
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