England lose another back
11 Jun 2012
England fullback Mike Brown has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests against the Springboks with a thumb injury.
Brown fractured his thumb in an attempt to stop Jean de Villiers from scoring a try on Saturday. He will take no further part in the series, which means England have lost two starting backline players in the space of two days.
Brad Barritt sustained an eye injury in the first Test and will miss the next game in Johannesburg. The South African-born player should be available for the final Test in Port Elizabeth.
Bath fullback Nick Abendanon will join the English touring party as a replacement for Brown.
26 Comments
11 Jun 2012, 07:51 am
Without Brown at the back, I believe the English will loose the kicking battle.
11 Jun 2012, 07:59 am
A shame for them he played well! You never know who may stand up, one’s loss is another gain..
11 Jun 2012, 08:04 am
Hard luck for the English, Mike Brown was one of their best players on Saturday.
11 Jun 2012, 08:07 am
thing fall apart…
11 Jun 2012, 08:07 am
things fall apart…
11 Jun 2012, 08:18 am
@houston, we have a problem…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-5:
OK, Chinua Achebe
11 Jun 2012, 08:36 am
One is unfortunate, two is just careless,
11 Jun 2012, 09:02 am
The problems begin for the English team. Simply put they are struggling with the Boks physicality. It is a complete reverse from 2004 when Jake White said the Boks couldn’t live with the English in terms of raw power.
If the Boks improve by 10% which bearing in mind is not a lot considering they have only played the one game the poms are in for a torrid time.
Once HM gets to grip with his team and has the confidence to bring the flair players in this team will only get better.
I thought Bismarck was gonna be on the injury list because at one point he went down in a heap but it would seem that he is indestructible but with Strauss around it wouldn’t have been much of a worry.
10/10 for the Boks so far with a massive improvement coming up. Can anybody ever remember HM getting so animated during a Bulls game. The man obviously lives and breathes Bok rugby and some of the more partisan fans should cut him some slack.
11 Jun 2012, 09:08 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-6: Did you also have to read that?
11 Jun 2012, 09:09 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-7:
What an inane comment,especially from someone who sat watching with no danger of injury.
11 Jun 2012, 09:12 am
@JEZ(DEE DAH)-8:
The implication that the raw power causes the injuries is rubbish. Anyone can get injured on a rugby field at any time-Burger,Carr,Bekker Bakkies Botha. It’s just luck.
11 Jun 2012, 09:13 am
@papashanga(papashanga)-10: Not True. You should have seen his living room the previous week after the Bulls lost. It looked like The Stag and Shag in Essex after the West Ham and Millwall supporters got together for their annual meet and greet.
No danger of injury indeed.
11 Jun 2012, 09:20 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-6:
11 Jun 2012, 09:26 am
@JEZ(DEE DAH)-8: Yet all we have had to hear is how the Stormer’s coaching box is like a mental asylum – all panic, chaos and wet panties. I believe it was that little blue man Taccy who took great pleasure in this? Yet his ‘yogi’ seemed to burst 3 vessels in the first quarter of the game on Saturday.
Nice to see actually – the man is human.
11 Jun 2012, 09:44 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-12:
hahaha.
that **** was mental.
poor papasak.
11 Jun 2012, 09:48 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-9:
Yes, indeed…actually pretty good.
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-12:
Now that is quite an image.
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-14:
I believe it was conclusively proven on Saturday that Heyneke is not a god.
He is merely a demi-god.
(Possibly fathered by Steve Hofmeyr, but the jury is still out on that one.)
11 Jun 2012, 09:51 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-15:
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-16: Ja we had to read it too.
11 Jun 2012, 09:51 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-16:
steve pulls out.
he is terrified of another paternity suit.
he has a cupboard full of them already.
11 Jun 2012, 09:58 am
@papashanga(papashanga)-11:
Of course injuries can be down to luck but at the end of the day if a team is subjected to a physicality that they don’t normally encounter it is more probable that they will pick up knocks.
There is also a psychological aspect to being physically bossed which was inferred in my comment.
The England team will most likely make all the right noises this week and try to gee each other up but if the Boks turn in a performance this weekend that is only slightly better than their 2nd half efforts the poms will have no answers.
A 3 test series is designed to separate the wheat from the chaff and the accumulative affect of being bashed around by the Boks will have a high attrition rate on the poms who are simply not used to the high intensity, physicality nor altitude that confronts them in the weeks to come.
With the exception of the heroes in a Boys Own magazine nobody can take a good hiding by a physically superior opponent without breaking down at some point.
If you were to flash images of Willem Alberts at the England halfbacks this week they will come over all queasy.
The softening up has begun by the third test a toothless granny will be able chew the poms up and spit them out.
11 Jun 2012, 10:01 am
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-17:
Yes, it’s probably the most widely-read book by an African author in the world…
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-18:
Steve pulls out now, he’s learnt his lesson.
But how old is Heyneke again?
11 Jun 2012, 10:05 am
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-18: Immaculate conception?
11 Jun 2012, 10:08 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-20:
Steve Hofmeyr is Evita Bezuidenhouts love child with Eugene Terreblanche. A sun bleached **** from an unholy union.
There is no link to HM.
11 Jun 2012, 10:15 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-20: more than jrr tolkiens work?
i think not.
11 Jun 2012, 10:18 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-23:
Valid point. I believe they mean “African” in the narrow sense…
11 Jun 2012, 10:49 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-24: well then fukkem.
thabo mbeki told us we were all africans.
the types who make narrow references are the quickest to trumpet any success as “africas” when it suits them.
11 Jun 2012, 12:12 pm
Mike Brown got injured because of bad technique he’s usually a very solid tackler he was too complacent he thought he had JDV
England will beef up the pack and add more pace in the backline
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