Daniel out, Potgieter in
22 Aug 2012
Willem Alberts will start at No 8 against Argentina in Mendoza with Jacques Potgieter at blindside flank.
Keegan Daniel was the Bok eighthman at Newlands but was substituted shortly after half-time and has been relegated to the bench. Adriaan Strauss, as expected, replaces the injured Bismarck du Plessis at hooker, while Tiaan Liebenberg has beaten Craig Burden to jersey No 16.
‘It was a difficult decision between Jacques and Keegan, but we have gone with horses for courses this time,’ said Bok coach Heyneke Meyer. ‘We’re expecting it will be very physical early in the game and it might open up later, which perfectly suits the strongpoints of both Jacques and Keegan.
‘The Pumas also mauled quite well in Cape Town and we were not happy with the defence of their mauls, so with the extra weight Jacques brings, we will have to ensure we stop their drives.’
Bryan Habana injured his left ankle against Argentina in Cape Town and passed a fitness test on Wednesday morning.
‘Having Bryan is obviously a big boost as we’ve lost a number of players with lots of experience after JP Pietersen, Pierre Spies and Bismarck du Plessis already had to withdraw from our squad,’ said Meyer.
South Africa – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 JJ Engelbrecht.
427 Comments
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23 Aug 2012, 13:35 pm
@Sasuke-399: The WP loose forwards this weekend are by far better than those playing for the Boks
23 Aug 2012, 13:40 pm
@garth-401: As a combination yes.
Sharks have a nice mix going on there with lots of depth also.
Cant wait till Elstadt comes back for WP. He must go to no.4 lock and Armand can be flank cover or start at 7.
I would have Elstadt specialise at lock now. He will be great back up to Bekker and Eben next year.
23 Aug 2012, 13:48 pm
@Sasuke-402: Yes, they need to build there lock stocks.
23 Aug 2012, 14:12 pm
@Skeppie-393: Agree, would be awesome with F Steyn at 12
23 Aug 2012, 14:15 pm
@Skeppie-398: Mouth watering prospect. If only Meyer would agree
23 Aug 2012, 14:28 pm
@Skeppie-398:
Won’t happened by the current selection policy, however, several injuries Basson’s type may force things as early as Sunday
FdP?
Pienaar, Lambie, Houg, FS, JdV, JPP and Ludik would be a better choice, remember; someone needs to do some tackles and high ball challanges at 15.
23 Aug 2012, 14:34 pm
@Hondo-406: I still reckon Taute over Ludik and although Pienaar would be my second choice I still reckon Fourie du Preez has a part to play in bok rugby…especially if we bring some new youngsters in
23 Aug 2012, 14:37 pm
@Skeppie-407: If only we could teach taute to pull his socks up when playing. It must be one the most irritating things to see on a rugby field.
23 Aug 2012, 14:40 pm
@TooMuchRugby-408: Oh hell yes! Same goes for Chadwick
23 Aug 2012, 14:58 pm
@TooMuchRugby-408: @Skeppie-409: you two fuddy duddies need to watch the sport for entertainment not for how kwaai the uniform looks…who remembers that being irritated by chris latham’s socks over his exploits on a rugby field…
james o’connor with his socks down is a talented player period.
23 Aug 2012, 15:00 pm
@Skeppie-409: Chadwick is a complete chop, would almost blame him for the loses the sharks suffered in the S15. Missed crucial tackles that led to losing some important early games for the Sharks. Beast was like miracle when he came back.
23 Aug 2012, 15:01 pm
Ok, maybe I should prove read, jykes.
23 Aug 2012, 17:14 pm
Gents, do yourself a favour and have a look at this article and comments…especially from form All Black assistant coach, Wayne Smith http://www.therugbysite.com/blog_posts/236-south-africa-and-argentina-haunted-by-fear-by-wayne-smith
Of particular note is in the comments section where he responds after other users discussed the merits of Morne Steyn standing deep or shallow.
“…I wanted to say it is hard to attack off 9 if the backs are not coming forward across the field. You can’t force defenders to make decisions if it is obvious who the ball carriers are. By bringing the whole attack line forward, you force defenders to mark up, come forward and you can generate an element of fatigue in the defence. It also avoids gang tackles on ball runners as there is more than one threat attacking the line.”
Why do we persist with this game plan when a former All Black assistant coach knows exactly what we are going to do…and is telling the whole world? Why are our Bok coaches so blind to this when most of us can see it and we also have a World Cup winning coach saying similar things. Its actually unacceptable…full stop! The Argies looked good defending because they knew what we were going to do.
23 Aug 2012, 17:24 pm
@Smallzm-413: you think Graham Henry didn’t tell the Argies to gang-tackle one of runners and stiffle our ball?
but this is not rocket science, the argies defence was solid and resolute against the all blacks too (even though they were mostly infringing)
in the 65th minute of last year’s quarter final the score was All Blacks 18 – Argies 10 (all the all blacks points coming from Piri Weepu’s boot), point is, let’s not under estimate the Pumas but yeah our attack is predictable.
23 Aug 2012, 17:25 pm
@Transformation-414: one-off.
23 Aug 2012, 17:26 pm
@Smallzm-413: be careful though, you will be shat on for posting Techno’s comments
23 Aug 2012, 17:46 pm
@Transformation-414: Did not mean to diss the Argies but lets face it, a little variation in attack could have gone a long way to securing that bonus point!
And you right, its not rocket science…which is a really bad statement on our current tactics from the coaches.
Its really weird the way the Boks try and attack (run over opposition) because I cannot understand why they seemingly do not enjoy outwitting defenders as a team. Whats the thrill for our professional coaches and players when they step out onto that pitch these days? The attackers standing around the 9 for the Boks are not arranged to create doubt in defenders. They are battering rams with other forwards pushing them into the contact often. What the coaches are doing with Alberts and Coetzee is gonna make them have frequent injuries and also a bit dom through habit. There has to be a better way and I think the coaches have not thought through playing the spaces next to number 9 at all aside from running in at pace and ramming.
23 Aug 2012, 17:47 pm
@Transformation-416: Who’s Techno?
23 Aug 2012, 18:33 pm
@Smallzm-418: justin marshall calls wayne smith “techno” as his mond works like a computer gobbling up stats, reinterpreting them & forming patterns out of them.
23 Aug 2012, 18:35 pm
@Transformation-419: mind…
23 Aug 2012, 20:04 pm
All time irritating socks down player Chris Latham.
23 Aug 2012, 20:05 pm
@Smallzm-417:
Remember how Gregan used to pick out forwards running different lines in the opponents 25?
23 Aug 2012, 20:09 pm
@gunther-421: But what a player.
Only started playing when 18.
23 Aug 2012, 20:19 pm
Agreed Willie.
The socks down thing with him irritated our boys no end.
Skinner in particular hated it!
24 Aug 2012, 07:38 am
@David-422: Exactly! Either Hougaard is really terrible at finding runners or everybody is playing how they have been told to.
The dissapointing part is that running lines are not something that cannot be learnt or devised before the game. Its a timing issue of a couple of runners being able to arrive at slightly different times on the gainline ready for the pass. Creating doubt every we get good ball at 9. Whats happening now is the opposition (and I mean almost every other rugby playing nation) know exactly where our ball is going and our good ball is being negated by fierce defenders who have no fear of SA physicality any more. So good ball then becomes bad ball when our runners are picked and iced. The Stormers defence also pick runners and make opposition ball bad (gang tackling) but they came undone when the Sharks loosies started offloading in the tackle, getting more ball to players like JPP at crucial times (who can create doubt in any defender) and using the kick chase method effectively when the time was right. These variations kept the Stormers guessing and their defence could not keep up in the semi final. We need these game variations in the Bok team like yesterday.
24 Aug 2012, 07:47 am
@Smallzm-425:
Ruan is much better at player selection than Hougaard, which is quite noticable when he comes on. Gregan had a number of options of forwards running different angles, something I noticed Eddie Jones appeared to bring to the Boks at the RWC, which has since disappeared.
24 Aug 2012, 10:34 am
@David-426: I agree with you on Ruan and I would also started with him on Sat.
What I don’t get though is why our coaches don’t get this facet of play where defenders are kept guessing. Most teams playing SA in Superrugby and tests are adopting a specific tackling style against our runners. Either they literally lie on the deck and our runner (in trying to flatten the defender) just trips over them (ie. Potgieters ridiculous kamikaze style) or they aim higher to dislodge the ball from runners with body positions too upright (also prevents the offload). After the Bulls loss against the Saders Dan Carter mentioned this as a tactic. With the opposition freely giving their tactics out to us, we still don’t adapt? I thought an supposedly astute coach like Heyneke could work on these things but I have seen nothing yet which suggests he has evolved this facet of play. Seems he just wants guys to hit the gainline harder, win more collisions…well guess what…we not winning as many collisions as we used to as opposition have figured out exactly where to apply their defensive hit!
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