Preview: Argentina vs Springboks
24 Aug 2012
RYAN VREDE analyses the key match-ups and picks the winner in Saturday’s Test.
Nothing that happened at Newlands was a surprise – not even the fact that the Springboks were patchy on attack and failed to bag the bonus-point. I don’t think that is going to be as decisive in the final analysis. That school of thought assumes that the Springboks will be close to New Zealand points-wise going into the final Test of the tournament in Soweto. This won’t be the case. The Blacks will already have bagged the title by then.
The Pumas will undoubtedly be buoyed by passionate home support and you can expect a reasonably strong challenge from their forwards. Their heavies would, however, have to make an exponential improvement in this facet of play to stand a chance of victory. That level of improvement is beyond them in a seven-day turnaround. One can also reasonably confidently assume the Springboks’ forwards would have made gains towards greater synergy.
Defence will be the root of their success, with their dominance there in general play ensuring consistently poor ball for a backline shorn of their most potent attacking weapon, Juan Martin Hernandez. Furthermore, the Springboks defied expectations that they would struggle at the set pieces and I don’t believe the Pumas will improve markedly in this regard. Halting the rolling maul will be a priority and much of this responsibility rests with Andries Bekker, whose reading of the defensive lineouts made the Pumas’ hookers resemble tanked-up darts players at times last week.
On attack, the inclusion of Jacques Potgieter at blindside flank will amplify the Springboks’ punch at the gainline, an area they dominated in Cape Town. This is important in light of what they lose in this regard with the absence of Bismarck du Plessis. The likes of Marcell Coetzee, Eben Etzebeth, Beast Mtawarira, Willem Alberts and Frans Steyn will be central to getting the Springboks the momentum they need in the collisions to ensure the back division has the space and time to execute the course of action they deem most appropriate. That said, the ball protection at the breakdown was inconsistent at Newlands and they must remedy this shortcoming.
The Springboks’ halfback pair played well in their opener and Francois Hougaard in particular must replicate his largely accurate tactical kicking for the Springboks’ game plan to work as envisioned. I think it will, and while this victory won’t be as comfortable as what they achieved last week in terms of the physical examination they face, the scoreline will reflect the Springboks’ superiority.
VREDE’S CALL: Springboks by 12
369 Comments
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24 Aug 2012, 15:27 pm
@blik-49:
When Marius Jonker DID see it and cancelled out a Crusaders try after Carter blatantly obstructed a Bulls defender after passing the ball, the moaners were raising a stink about Jonker’s supposed bias.
Nothing about Carter’s blatant cheating, which the Crusaders saw as just “normal” play.
24 Aug 2012, 15:27 pm
@blik-49: they defo choose to ignore it or give millions of final warnings. they like to “coach” the kiwis. example. if new zealand are offside he will tell them to get back onside or hands in the ruck he will repeatedly say hands off. for us we get nailed one shot. australia get it in the neck too but not as bad as us. if you play against new zealand you will always get screwed in the azz by the ref.
24 Aug 2012, 15:29 pm
@Tacitus-51: yep they do take it for granted that they should get away with it. lawrence dallaglio called them out on it in the final and the other gimmer just said that new zealand are smart to cheat. its a fukinn insult to hear that ****! when a bok cheats they are brain dead thugs but new zealand are smart and innovative? fk that ****.
24 Aug 2012, 15:34 pm
@Blitzbok-52: If your name is Richie then you can infringe as much as you like.
Trinations 2010, Bob Dwyer pointed out that over the last few tournaments, SA yet sin binned for every 6 penalities, Aus 7 and the ABs 43!!!
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/dwyers-view-all-blacks-2010/
24 Aug 2012, 15:36 pm
Speaking of attack…..did I read right that Johan Goosen will be turning out for the Cheetahs this weekend ? Hope it’s true. Fine player who could add some real spark to our backs. Is lambiekins out of favour now ? Only on da bench and doesn’t play unless Nicknaks is injured….?
24 Aug 2012, 15:40 pm
What time is the game guys? Sa time
24 Aug 2012, 15:41 pm
@blik-54: thanks for that not at all surprised though. makes me the hell in just reading the first paragraph. dwyer is a seriously enlightened geezer.
24 Aug 2012, 15:41 pm
@Tacitus-51: It wasn’t Jonker, it was Jaco Peyper.
24 Aug 2012, 15:42 pm
@blik-54: its like a sick joke. The stats aren’t eVEN comparable.
43 penalties per sin bin for the Blacks!!
U know they would be soo much more respected if they were just treated the same. Its ridiculous
24 Aug 2012, 15:43 pm
@Tacitus-28: Neither do I.
24 Aug 2012, 15:45 pm
good to see the level of crying here, like SA te4ams never cheat or infringe..
laughable…
24 Aug 2012, 15:47 pm
@papaown-59: ABs used to be my second favourite team. But the last few years I have changed, all we want is a level playing field. I guess they got their WC, lets hope now with Paddy gone it can even out.
24 Aug 2012, 15:47 pm
@poppa69-61: All teams do, but some more than others
24 Aug 2012, 15:48 pm
yeah…. like when the Bulls gave the Stormers an easy home game to ensure two Saffa sides in the final..
cheats!!
24 Aug 2012, 15:49 pm
@poppa69-61: difference is the boks and wobblies actually get blown up for infringements, whilst the ABs blow the ref.
On another note, PTA must be full of ugly okes, the women are turning to dogs now??
24 Aug 2012, 15:49 pm
@Tacitus-51: So the All Blacks cheat… what of it? Jannie and Bismarck frequently uses illegal intimidation against players at ruck time and on the ground, it’s just as bad, one does anything one can get away with, ask even Cameron van den Burgh… much has been made of his cheating in Aus, hell he even owned up, saying he did it because otherwise his opponents have an unfair advantage, so if we get caught cheating, maybe the Bok thinktank is not as effective at the All Black one?
24 Aug 2012, 15:49 pm
@poppa69-61: We do infringe! Don’t let any other Saffa tell you otherwise.
But Australia and the Boks just get punished for it more frequently.
Yellow card for every
6 SA penalties
7 Aussie penalties
43 NZ penalties
24 Aug 2012, 15:52 pm
@thesaint-66: We are not blaming the ABs, we are blaming the officials for not being consistent. (6 vs 7 vs 43)
24 Aug 2012, 15:52 pm
@willievz-67: Difference being, the All Blacks does not advertise their infringements, the Springboks seems to wait until every camera is clearly focused, and the referee is standing still, and then just then, they have an attack of brainfart…
24 Aug 2012, 15:53 pm
The one thing that i have to agree with coach HM on, is the lack of mental strength and concentration at times. Those frustrated rants visible when the tv cameras focus on the coaching box i think are mainly put down to this. He’s had to give the boks a tongue lashing at times during the half break. A Bok coach, having to encourage greater levels of physical intensity from his forwards sounds crazy, the Boks always bring it, the worlds playground bully of rugby. You’d expect that the boks would have been keeping score, regarding the amount of turn-overs conceded last week, but we allowed that little physical compo to be lost by at about 4. So bokke, if u can hear me, please demonstrate the meaning of P03S Klap this weekend.
24 Aug 2012, 15:54 pm
The blondes are having fun in Pretoria. Pretoria – A Pretoria woman accused of having *** with two dogs was instructed to undergo a mental examination when she appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, a report said on Friday.
The Pretoria News reported that the woman was released on R1 000 bail on Thursday.
The 31-year-old petite blonde faces four counts of bestiality and one of animal cruelty. She was arrested on Wednesday after an anonymous person dropped off a DVD recording of the woman’s activities at an animal protection organisation.
The newspaper report said the homemade video footage depicts her having *** with a Staffordshire Terrier and a Labrador.
On Thursday, the woman appeared in court holding a small Bible, reported Pretoria News.
She told the court that she was unemployed and wanted to apply for Legal Aid representation.
The matter was postponed to October 10.
24 Aug 2012, 15:54 pm
@blik-68: Its a myth, show me the math, did you know 78% of all stats on Keo are made up on the spot? Much like this one I just used…
24 Aug 2012, 15:54 pm
@blik-62:
I think the accent has something to do with it.
The Aussie accent is kind of brash, in your face. The SA accent is generally crude, gutteral and not very ingratiating to a foreign ref.
The Kiwi accent comes across as a friendly, yokel-lik, non-threatening, slightly bemused questioning tone that I think is very effective in influencing a ref’s decision making.
Almost every Kiwi comment comes across as a reflective question:
How did you feel you guys played today Richie?
Richie: It was a hard game, wasn’t it?
You seemed to enjoy the weather out there on the pitch?
Richie: it was a bit blustery, wasn’t it?
The ref seemed a bit strict today, didn’t he?
Richie: Well, you have to play to the whistle, don’t you?
Same thing on the field of play.
Richie would saunter up to the ref and ask in his super reasonable, somewhat taken aback that no card has been issued to the Boks despite it being only a second infringement-tone:
“It’s a card next time, isn’t it?”
And the brainwashed ref just nods along stupidly with Sir Richie..
24 Aug 2012, 15:54 pm
@willievz-67: @blik-68: not our fault SA and Aus players are dumb enough to commit the same offence just after being warned not too
24 Aug 2012, 15:57 pm
so Tac, why werent the Bulls penalised once this season for extending the ruck with the silly human conga line when not one player was ever bound properly? wasnt this also obstruction?
isnt this cheating?
24 Aug 2012, 15:58 pm
@Tacitus-73: Which is probably why Fourie du Preez made a living off of waving his arms at the ref, had no grasp of the language…
24 Aug 2012, 15:59 pm
@poppa69-75: Don’t know if it’s cheating, some refs do, some don’t, it looks bloody ridiculous though… Tuks first started doing it in the Varsity Cup…
24 Aug 2012, 16:00 pm
@poppa69-75:
Nothing wrong with that move from a legal perspective. The fact that it is totally ineffectual and a waste of time is a different matter.
But there’s nothing penalizable there.
24 Aug 2012, 16:01 pm
@thesaint-77: it sure was funny that with all that extra space Hougard seemed to get his kicks blocked more…
24 Aug 2012, 16:01 pm
Lets not get ahead of ourselves, All Blacks win and are the most successful team playing because they are best more consistently than any other, but it just happens in 4 year sprints
24 Aug 2012, 16:02 pm
@thesaint-72: http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/dwyers-view-all-blacks-2010/
24 Aug 2012, 16:03 pm
@poppa69-79: I am not a fan of Hougaard at No. 9, it seems as if he thinks the ball onto his boot at times, can a man be so sluggish about a kick?
24 Aug 2012, 16:04 pm
@Tacitus-73: Skitterend!!
24 Aug 2012, 16:04 pm
@Tacitus-78: you mean the Bulls players were all bound correctly?
ok then…
24 Aug 2012, 16:05 pm
@poppa69-79: True, all that and he seemed to kick worse or get charged down.
24 Aug 2012, 16:06 pm
@poppa69-74: Rather that you lot don’t get warned once for committing the same and worse offenses, dimbulb.
24 Aug 2012, 16:08 pm
I still say Hougaard should be moulded in a Garth Wright or Joost-type scrummy. He is not suited to a FdP-type role.
Actually it would not surprise me to see Hougaard running more with the ball whenever it is Goosen gets introduced into the Bok team in the future.
24 Aug 2012, 16:08 pm
@thesaint-77: It not only looks ridicilous, it serves no purpose. Another genius move thought up by the Pretoria brains trust.
Funny thinh though, even the brilliant HM adopted it for the Springboks in the first test against England.
24 Aug 2012, 16:08 pm
@poppa69-84:
Players only need to bind if they enter the ruck, and have to do that from behind the last man’s feet.
The players forming the human centipede do not enter the ruck.
24 Aug 2012, 16:09 pm
@mikeybrass-87: Or they will instruct the “experienced” Hougaard to take pressure off the young Goosen.
Hougaard is not the long-term solution at 9.
24 Aug 2012, 16:12 pm
@Tacitus-73: mccaw gets in refs faces chum he likes to throw his weight around and remember gregans domineering attitude for so many years? i cant think of any saffer captain like any of those two! your theory is a fallacy.
24 Aug 2012, 16:12 pm
@blik-81: OK, more slowly…show me the figures…not the opinion or figures that are supposed to exist, show me the actual figures…
24 Aug 2012, 16:12 pm
@mikeybrass-86: dont we, Im sure Ive heard Ritchie warned just this last weekend in fact… and not once did he repeat the same offence immediately after being warned..
dont blame us for the fact your players are too dof to understand this simple concept, but then if you are any example its no surprise really… being the meathead you are…
24 Aug 2012, 16:13 pm
@Tacitus-73: An absolute Keo Classic!!!
24 Aug 2012, 16:13 pm
@BokkeYouBeauties-80: they are a bunch of kak holez. no more no less. an average bunch of overrated arseholez from a country youd rather forget existed.
24 Aug 2012, 16:14 pm
@Tacitus-73: HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA you are ablaze today
24 Aug 2012, 16:14 pm
@willievz-89: so therefore a defending player cant be penalised for playing to the ball, because its not in the ruck is it and he doesnt have to come through the gate?
24 Aug 2012, 16:14 pm
@willievz-89: By that logic then, it means the ball is out as soon as it leaves the ruck, seeing as the players never enter the ruck (your words), how can the ball then not be in play?
24 Aug 2012, 16:15 pm
@poppa69-75:
you mean just like the 7 minutes plus love train thingy the blacks pulled in the rwc final 2011?
huh is that what you mean?
24 Aug 2012, 16:15 pm
@poppa69-97: SNAP!
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