Boks hungry for clean sweep
19 Jun 2012
The Springboks will stick to their game plan in an attempt to win Saturday’s Test and record a 3-0 whitewash against England.
Coach Heyneke Meyer is set to make several changes for the the third and final Test, but those changes will be made more of necessity than anything else.
Centre Wynand Olivier will replace Frans Steyn, who is set to be married this Saturday and has thus been granted leave. Jacques Potgieter is likely to slot in for the injured Willem Alberts (knee), while Gio Aplon should replace the ailing Pat Lambie (ankle).
Olivier doesn’t have the same physical presence as Steyn in midfield and the uncapped Potgieter may also struggle to replicate Alberts’ efforts at blindside flank. Aplon is better known for his running ability than his kicking. And yet, all three of these new starters will need to play according to the Boks’ territory-based blue print.
Bok scrumhalf Francois Hougaard said on Tuesday that the team will stick to the pattern that proved successful in the first two Tests. The series has already been secured with those two victories, but there is still a desire to win as well as inflict some psychological damage on England.
‘It’s just as important as the first two Tests, we are not going to slow down now,’ Hougaard said. ‘I’m sure England will also be up for it, so we can’t afford to be complacent.
‘Our goal has always been to beat them 3-0 if you think that the goal is to win every game.’
While the Boks will be without several key players, the English are also smarting after last week’s battle at Ellis Park.
Captain Chris Robshaw and scrumhalf Ben Youngs have been ruled out with injuries, and the loss of these players will impact on England’s synergy.
Speaking of the Boks’ synergy and performances over the past two Tests, Hougaard admitted that while the South Africans had played well in patches, they were yet to produce a complete showing.
With a view to the Rugby Championship as well as the desire to beat England 3-0, the Boks must fire from start to finish at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this Saturday.
‘We had four days to prepare for that first Test,’ said Hougaard. ‘We were better in the second, although it wasn’t a complete performance. That is what we must do this Saturday, we must put two halves together, we must produce an 80-minute performance.
‘The focus is on quick ball and doing the basics well. England will look to play off our mistakes, so we have to keep those to a minimum.
‘They scored some soft tries against us in the last game, so we need to watch for the quick taps. I’m sure they will look to lift the tempo in the coming game.’
By Jon Cardinelli, in Port Elizabeth
320 Comments
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19 Jun 2012, 16:22 pm
@# 49 Amen to that!
19 Jun 2012, 16:23 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-49: I think its got a lot to do with balance, with Bekker out and Alberts/Coetzee in the same team we have good ball carriers but not many game breaking runners in the squad. Maybe HM wants that option.
19 Jun 2012, 16:24 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-45:
With the onset of the hybrid type 6′s like Kolisi, Stander, Coetsee et al, do you think the days are numbered for the likes of Stegman, Brussow (taking the current breakdown laws in consideration)?
19 Jun 2012, 16:24 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell(fantasticbarnsmell)-47:
obviously the grand question is how on earth has ratel fallen this low in his estimation this quickly?
will admin i am stumped by this too.
even more so when considering whether heyneke will ever pick stegmann in a bok team, of his own accord? seeing as stegmann’s injured at the moment and brussow’s not..?.
19 Jun 2012, 16:24 pm
Juan smith is finished in my humble opinion.
19 Jun 2012, 16:25 pm
@Pot Blou Gevaar(Pot Blou Gevaar)-53:
I didn’t think so. But Meyer thinks so. So now I think so too.
19 Jun 2012, 16:25 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-56:
Amen, brother. Preach the gospel.
19 Jun 2012, 16:27 pm
He won’t pick stegmann if what he says about non-selection of brussouw is true
19 Jun 2012, 16:27 pm
@Pot Blou Gevaar(Pot Blou Gevaar)-53: Pocock is still playing well!
19 Jun 2012, 16:27 pm
@# 55. Hate to say it but I agree with you. Full Achilles ruptures are hardly ever fully rehabilitated.
19 Jun 2012, 16:28 pm
@gizzard(gizzard)-48:
**** when considering the oz and nz play fetchers.
19 Jun 2012, 16:29 pm
Brussouw needs to be there to counter popodick and suarez mccaw
19 Jun 2012, 16:30 pm
@Pot Blou Gevaar(Pot Blou Gevaar)-53:
i cant see the bulls coach not picking a fit stegmann, and my thinking is that like the one minded borg, the bulls also think very alike in such regards.
so probably if ludeke would play stegmann then heyneke very likely would play stegmann too.
19 Jun 2012, 16:31 pm
@gizzard(gizzard)-28:
Everyone struggles when their pack doesn’t gain ascendancy. Just look at the 2nd NZ vs IRE Test. Perfect example.
19 Jun 2012, 16:31 pm
@Sasuke(Sasuke)-55: Phew I reckon he may never recover but if he does he would be one of the first names in my bok squad. I reckon he is the bext Bok forward of the past 10 years.
19 Jun 2012, 16:32 pm
@Pot Blou Gevaar(Pot Blou Gevaar)-53: You just coined a new term…..Hybrid 6′s
I think Burger was the original one.
19 Jun 2012, 16:41 pm
@Unplugged(Unplugged)-59:
Agreed
@toulon says(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-63:
Possibly, but Heyneke did have a fit Brussow to consider.
19 Jun 2012, 16:46 pm
I feel sorry for all the teams that must play against Brussow when the S15 starts again. Well rested and ready to prove Meyer wrong!
19 Jun 2012, 16:48 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-56:
Have to agree.
It does seems like the days of the specialist fetcher may be counted. Brussows build for example: excellent for playing to the ball, but does give a lot of confidence as gainline ball carrier, and robs you of another option at line-out time.
19 Jun 2012, 16:53 pm
@TooMuchRugby(TooMuchRugby)-66:
Burger was the original to many things IMO.
Jerry Colins once said that Schalk was about the toughest opponent to play against. That’s about as good as it gets among the hard-men of SH rugby
19 Jun 2012, 16:55 pm
nteresting, the Beast got slated a bit in previous posts and rugby365 had this to say about him in their team of the week:
1 Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa)
The Beast did a lot of hard work at the breakdown and scrummed strongly with a few ball carrier to boot in an excellent performance.
Bubbling under: Cian Healy (Ireland)
19 Jun 2012, 17:05 pm
Yes!!! Jacque Potgieter gets the chance I’ve been hoping for since I saw him at the beginning of the season. This boytjie has the devil in him to make himself a permanent fixture in the Bok side and have Alberts moved to where he belongs – to 8th Man instead of that useless ****, Spies. (And don’t come whining back to me that Spies had his best game for a long time time – yes as a pooftah in the 1st half of a game where if he couldn’t shine then, then nobody could – again, as usual, he got lost when the going got a little bit rougher.)
Really Marcel and Jacques make one of the hardest,roughest tackling duo I’ve had the had seeing – and thats’s 50 years.
Take your chance boys and prove me right (again).
19 Jun 2012, 18:34 pm
Just saw Jacques Potgieter profile he is also a wopping 115kg. Willem Alberts is a rediculous 119kg, no wonder no one can stop him, but pottie seems big enuff.
19 Jun 2012, 18:39 pm
@race of tan(race of tan)-73:
Against Australia, Should play Pottie, Alberts and Vermeulen and just smash them up the whole game?
19 Jun 2012, 18:57 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-74:
It will be suicide. Pocock will have the time of his life.
19 Jun 2012, 19:02 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-75:
Suppose you would play ratel, konkakski and kolisi?
19 Jun 2012, 19:11 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-75: do you think HM will do anything to counter Pocock and McCaw by introducing a fetcher for the 3N (or whatever it’s called now)… seems like suicide without, as you said.
19 Jun 2012, 19:24 pm
Under the new rules you only need a fetcher if you not controlling collision.. Control the collision and even the fly-half can fetch….
19 Jun 2012, 19:35 pm
Who’s Konkakski!!!!
19 Jun 2012, 19:35 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-75:
Indeed I bet he’s never felt like this before…
19 Jun 2012, 19:35 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-74:
@Robzim(Robzim)-75:
Don’t laugh, but that seems to be the way he is working towards. In the Rugby Championship, expect this sort of line-up.
8 Vermeulen
7 Alberts
6 Schalk
Benched loosie: Marcel Coetzee or Jacque Potgieter against NZ.
19 Jun 2012, 19:42 pm
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-81:
Heyneke believes in big loosies, it worked for him with the bulls and it will work for the boks.. especally with the new laws penalizing the fetchers. Is all about bashing them of the ball these days…
19 Jun 2012, 19:51 pm
I agree. HM will play big loosies. That’s why Brussouw was left out from the outset.
Its all about getting to the ruck as quick as possible and having the position of your shoulder lower than that of the opposing player and knocking them the fark away.
Jake the snake figured this out 8 years ago.
19 Jun 2012, 19:58 pm
@Stompie till I die!!!!(phil72)-82:
And he is more reliant on the hookers like Bissie and Strauss to do the fetching role.
19 Jun 2012, 20:06 pm
@fantasticbarnsmell(fantasticbarnsmell)-77:
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-81:
Heineke is on record to have said that it was a very tough call to drop Heinrich and that he believes the fetcher will be back in future. So imo it is a matter of horses for courses. England does not really have a specialised fetcher and the injury before the tour of their best loose forward (Croft) weakened their loose trio and Meyer probably reckoned he can get away without a specialised fetcher for this series.
It is naive to think that the Bokke will now all of a sudden bash Australia up and control the collisions (they lost 6 out of the last 8 games against the Aussies) so imo they will certainly need a fetcher to at least partially counter Pocock.
19 Jun 2012, 20:09 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-85:
And we have been playing fetchers in those matches… figures……
19 Jun 2012, 20:11 pm
Everything I have seen so far reminds me a bit of Mallet, with the exception of Morne at flyhalf because he had Monty kicking from FB.
- front rowers who can scrum
- Locks who don’t stand back for anything
- Big loose forwards and no fetcher per say
- Big hitting runners
- A 13 who can act as the playmaker to the wingers
etc etc
19 Jun 2012, 20:14 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-85:
I know Heyneke had a long chat with Brussow at the Cheetahs one on one and yes the fetchers will have a role to play at the breakdown. But the penalty count went against Heinrich. Even Heyneke admitted that he doesn’t know which way the ref will blow ot even understand the refs decision himself at times.. And Heinrich knows that you have to play the ref as much as you play the ball. Which doesn’t explain why Pocock and McCaw get away with it more often than not.
19 Jun 2012, 20:17 pm
@Robzim(Robzim)-85: this is the same impression I got from his explanation for dropping Brussow… by that logic then, we should see Brussow called up for the Championship i suppose.
additionally i agree in that i believe the approach used for this series will most likely not work against Aus and NZ.
19 Jun 2012, 20:19 pm
@Michael(mikeybrass)-87:
Let’s face it, we not going to beat the AB’s and Aussies with pretty rugby.
19 Jun 2012, 20:28 pm
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-88:
Richie is nearly bigger than the game (and i do not mean it is a disrespectful way because he is one of the all time greats) and Pocock is getting there so maybe they are getting away with more than the mere mortals.Pocock was really impressive in “managing” the referee during the game against Wales on Saturday- these days players do not only have to be technically excellent, it alsio helps to be charismatic it seems.
19 Jun 2012, 20:43 pm
@Tacitus(Deucalion)-6:
Dont always agree with Tacitus but in this case I do.
The guys on Keo are not journalists they are bloggers.
But even so, most of the rugby writers writing for the papers suffer from provincialism or chronically trying to appease their readers.
Gavin Rich is a Durban boy who moved to Cape Town. He is occasionally balanced but when he writes for the Argus he crosses over entirely.
Ashfak ******** has given up all pretence of being balanced.
The Beeld writers might as well don Bulls jerseys.
Mike Greenaway in Durban is hardly objective.
Perhaps these writers/bloggers should add an AA disclaimer at the beginning of an article. Something like ‘My name is Jon, I support the Stormers and therefore I sometimes get a little rabid and blind”
19 Jun 2012, 20:56 pm
I always felt that Brussouw added a new dimension to Bok rugby because he made us realise that brawn will only get you that far but if you had a player that was technically astute and could create that vital turnover against the run of play he would win games single handedly.
19 Jun 2012, 21:09 pm
Aus have split their bench 5 / 2. Interesting. If Barnes struggles with place kicking, they will be in a tight spot, with Beale fresh from a lay-off. The two backs reserves are a specialist 9 & centre
19 Jun 2012, 21:38 pm
Potgieter 115kgs?
Fk he doesn’t look like an alberts – that’s for sure. Thing about alberts tho is he is just plain tough – even if he gets a big hit put on him he’ll just take it up even harder next time – if tge English pick the right side and bash boks back in tackle they can win the 3rd one. Bismark and beast are crucial but I suspects it’s missing an alberts and/or an elstadt – if poms pick big no 8 croft and Easter and lawes reckon they take the 3rd.
Olivier is not a bad centre but de jong should have been picked – ESP with transformation – de Jong is in any case a sharper centre and a helluva good defender
19 Jun 2012, 21:53 pm
@cab(cab)-95:
I watched the Boks training last week before the test at Ellis. And the way that Potgieter was clattering into the tackle bags had the defenders falling all over the place. If he’s picked at 7 on Saturday, the Poms will wonder what’s hit them. The guy looks pumped and is wanting that first Bok cap.
19 Jun 2012, 21:57 pm
@I am a Bok(I am a stormer)-96:
We played Alberts in the previous games just to give them a false sense of security….. They are in trouble now!
19 Jun 2012, 21:58 pm
IAAB
hope you right I feel meyer has bloubulle blinkers on – they are no longer the tean from whom the kanonne should be selected.
19 Jun 2012, 22:00 pm
@cab(cab)-95:
careful the buzz word going around here is ‘bigger is better’ its almost an entrenched new age Bok Bok philosophy.. carried on from the almanac of the JW bash em tough rodeo show..
Only they didn’t factor in that bigger ain’t always tougher.. it may LOOK to be tougher.. but when it faces stern opposition its soon enough proven to be much papper than the little packs of dynamite that actually ARE the real tough nuts.
19 Jun 2012, 22:06 pm
Ou doos – there is something to be said in bigger is better in rugby – but not always – the bigger player actually has to be as good.
Potgieter if 115kg is not – alberts heavy hitter type – de Jong is extremely powerful and very sharp – one of best inside centered of modern game was timmie horan squat powerful bursty acelleration and moerse quick feet – same as de Jong. De jong has served his dues – I find it difficult to criticise a coach that is winnning but this is a weakened England team albeit one with a v good team spirit and never say die attitude.
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