Duane set for Perth debut
5 Sep 2012
Duane Vermeulen will start at No 8 when the Springboks tackle the Wallabies this Saturday.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer has brought two new loose forwards into the match 22 following last week’s poor showing against Argentina. Vermeulen will start at No 8 while Francois Louw will be utilised from the bench. Until recently, Vermeulen was playing for Western Province and Louw for English club Bath.
Vermeulen, who has been one of the most consistent performers in the past three seasons of Super Rugby, will finally get his chance at the highest level. The robust Stormer will add some grunt to a loose trio that suddenly looks very intimidating.
‘We’ve decided to put Duane straight into the starting team because he is a classic No 8, a position we’ve lacked in since Pierre Spies got injured and Ryan Kankowski moved to Japan,’ said Meyer.
‘I’ve always admired the way Duane plays rugby and he’s fitted in very well the past week. He would’ve been a Springbok years ago if it had not been for injuries and it’s great to finally see him selected.
‘And by including Francois on the bench, we have a specialist opensider, but also a versatile loose forward that brings a bit more balance to our back row mix.’
While Marcell Coetzee is not an out-and-out openside he will be expected to outplay Australia’s Michael Hooper at the breakdown. The Boks need to produce an improved collective showing in this area after last week’s shocker in Mendoza. Coetzee will need to step up in what should be a brutally physical first half, and Louw will be asked to play a different kind of game in the second when it is not as tight.
Other changes to the pack see Andries Bekker dropped completely and Juandre Kruger introduced as the starting No 5. Bekker played his worst game for the Boks last week, and Kruger should see this as an opportunity to make the position his own.
‘At lock we’ve decided to go for Juandré as he plays more to the ball. Juandré and Eben played well as a combination in the June Tests against England.’
As expected, Meyer has favoured Ruan Pienaar at No 9 and moved Francois Hougaard from scrumhalf to wing. The backline reshuffle sees Lwazi Mvovo moving to the bench.
It’s another change in selection that should become permanent if things go well in Perth. Meyer has said that it’s a ‘horse-for-courses’ pick, but if the Bok pack fires and Pienaar has a blinder, he must be considered as a long-term solution at No 9.
Of course, if Hougaard, playing on wing, gets the ball on the front foot and produces the rugby we know he can, it will serve as further evidence that he is better suited to a back-three role.
Johan Goosen is another new face in the 22, and will earn his first cap if he gets a run in the second half.
Goosen recently recovered from a serious shoulder injury, an injury that prevented him from making his debut in the Test series against England. He represents the future of South African rugby and through his Super Rugby offerings has shown that he’s ready to make the step up.
The pressure is on Morné Steyn, not only to improve on his inconsistent performances of 2012 and guide South Africa to victory, but also to keep Goosen at arm’s length.
Meyer has already admitted that Goosen is the kind of player he wants in that No 10 position. Apart from having all the necessary kicking skills to be a success under today’s modern laws, Goosen also boasts an impressive attacking game. It’s a complete skill set that could eventually allow the Boks to play a more balanced game.
‘In my mind he can become one of the great flyhalves in world rugby. I’ve been very impressed with his work ethic and attitude since he joined the squad on Thursday in Johannesburg and we will keep on managing him carefully over the next few weeks.’
Springboks – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (c), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandre Kruger, 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 Francois Louw, 20 Johan Goosen, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 Lwazi Mvovo.
694 Comments
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5 Sep 2012, 11:18 am
@John Galt-199: Mallet. Said it from the start. (Would have loved a Wayne Smith in the setup as well, or a Warren Gatland, Ewan McKenzie type – but that was never going to happen….)
Mallet.
5 Sep 2012, 11:19 am
If Australia win this weekend will you concede that Australia is a better rugby team, it’ll be 7 from 9 or something close to that over 3 seasons pretty conclusive if they win again.
5 Sep 2012, 11:20 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-4: Praat k@k! Pienaar baie beter as Hougie op 9, maar ek is bly Hougie is op d veld.
Habana behoort nie daar nie (en ek skreeu WP).
Zane and Morne are the weak links china!
@coma-3: IMO thank goodness you are not Bok coach. I am all for giving the new guys a chance, but that team would not win.
question: Who is yr Capt?
5 Sep 2012, 11:20 am
@Heavens Game-200: Anyone but his dad should be speaking out for him. It just doesn’t look right when your old man is singing your praises or giving interviews left, right and centre.
5 Sep 2012, 11:22 am
@xtremebull-127: Actually Etzebeth use to play centre, and Kruger played almost every position in the backline except for 9 till moving to 7 in high school. So mobility and skill definitely doesn’t fall short with this partnership.
5 Sep 2012, 11:22 am
@XhosaKid-197: moaning about him being dropped without knowing what he did wrong and goosen being fasttracked…but elton’s not concerned it’s his father doing an Enver Rose and being grootbek.
5 Sep 2012, 11:24 am
What is Tac going to say about this – his hero Heineken talking about shoulders!
“Obviously we change from week to week and you target your attack accordingly, but these are small tweaks. You attack the weak shoulders”
5 Sep 2012, 11:25 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-201: remember mallett and wayne coaching an exhibition side end of last year, that raised the hopes of the duo potentially taking over england…they both said they would be open to working with each other.
5 Sep 2012, 11:26 am
And@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-193: Ag, your anti-Meyer thang has never had anything to do with anything Rugby… It is all to do with your perception of his light blue tinge…
Nothing else…
And no amount of diversion, tiddlywinks or amateur quackery will demonstrate otherwise…
But nevermind… Its okay on Keo to have no clue what the hell you talking about with the true Beautiful Game… Just ask Vrede… or Keo himself. I am pretty goddamned sure that they never gooi’d an elliptical shaped ball in anger… ever.
So… as you were
5 Sep 2012, 11:27 am
@NZINCHINA-202: Australia have always been smarter than the Boks.
They are sneaky littlefuckers who usually beat us hands down in the department that counts most: rugby intelligence.
With their playing numbers, they should be languishing at about 6th on the rankings in a good year, yet they have constantly outwitted, outlasted and outsmart much favoured
opponents over the years.
They currently own us, paid up and debt free.
Beating them in Perth ONCE will not change this.
No way in hell anyone can deny Aussies superiority over us as it stands.
(Only the fanatical will deny it…)
5 Sep 2012, 11:28 am
Tranny Mallet didnt get the job, Smith turned it down.
5 Sep 2012, 11:28 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-201:
Mallet never made himself available for the position did he?
I mean out of the available options.
The way I see it, HM is trying his hardest to play rugby like the way the Boks did in Jburg against the Poms.
Except now without JP, Bissie and a few other massive names its proving to be a little more difficult to get his combinations right.
Mallet, Jake etc all had a period of inconsistent selections during the first season of their tenure. it comes with the territory after a large batch of class players retire.
And whilst my opionion is that M Steyn and a few others are not the answer, i do think that HM will cull these okes straight away if they dont perform.
You have to rememeber that M Steyn was not horrendous against the Poms and then had a MoM performance against the Argies in SA.
His shocker in Mendoza prob means he is on final warning though. I reckon one more poor performance and he’s outa there.
5 Sep 2012, 11:31 am
I wonder how the comments will differ if the boks beat the Aussies? Will they stay the same or be postponed until the boks eventually do lose a game?
The boks are going to thrash the Aussies, mark my words.
5 Sep 2012, 11:31 am
@jacoshark-74: Agree with you 100% – we cant just drop young guys in critical positions into major Tests as their first game.
Dan Carter was brought in at 12 (as I recall?) and got used to Tests and then moved to 10 – good example of how to do it.
Morne had years of experience – which helped him to step up and kick the penalty again B&I Lions
5 Sep 2012, 11:31 am
@Heavens Game-209: Ok, you have finished trying to expose others. Now back to what matters: Your utterly misguided faith in Meyer and your obvious lack of grip on reality as it stands for the Boks.
You predicted the DYNAMITE for this Bok coaching setup, gameplan and squad – not me.
Divert til it hurts, the truth is there for all to see.
I do believe your little “I will lay down in the Bok bed of roses” quote is relevant right here
5 Sep 2012, 11:31 am
210 this is true but it seems most around here are in denial, another loss in Perth will be devestating for the KEO faithful.
5 Sep 2012, 11:32 am
South Africa
Hooper: Boks face breakdown blues
Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:03
PrevNextYou’ve got a bit of a window to force a turnover, because they are bigger blokes
Australia’s new openside star, Michael Hooper, is convinced South Africa could be beaten with the same tactics that worked for the Wallabies at the World Cup last year.
Injured captain David Pocock was a real menace when the Aussies scored a 11-9 win in the World up quarterfinal, with a number of contentious rulings by now axed referee Bryce Lawrence allowing Pocock to reign supreme at the breakdown.
Hooper, who has now stepped into Pocock’s role in the Wallaby team, is convinced he can be just as affective when they face the Springboks in a Rugby Championship encounter in Perth on Saturday.
The Boks have again opted against using a specialist openside flank, with coach Heyneke Meyer naming three big ball carriers – Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts and Marcell Coetzee – in his starting XV.
Bath import Francois Louw, who is on the bench, is the specialist pilferer. He came on in the quarterfinal last year, when Heinrich Brüssow was injured in a cheap shot by Dan Vickerman.
However, Louw had no affect on the match, as Pocock continued to dominate amidst a series of puzzling rulings.
Hooper is bracing himself for a physical battering from the bigger-bodied Springboks.
“I guess when you’re going for a turnover or putting your head in the breakdown, they come in flying,” Hooper told a media scrum on Wednesday.
“But in saying that, you’ve got a bit of an opportunity, a bit of a window to force a turnover, because they are bigger blokes.
“They probably will be a step or two [slower] than if they were playing a traditional No.7.
“There’s opportunities there, but you’ve got to be prepared to be belted.”
Hooper said South Africa would present a different challenge to the All Blacks, who beat Australia 27-19 and 22-0 in the first two rounds of the competition.
“They’re a bigger pack, which brings a different style of how they’re going to attack it using more force than skill and things like that,” he said.
“I think as I said earlier it is a different challenge in that they’re going to use force rather than having that real on the ball player like a Heinrich Brüssow or something like that.”
Hooper said he would use his experience from Super Rugby contests against South African teams.
“The contact is a massive thing in South African games,” Hooper said.
“Each year over there we played the Bulls and the Lions in very physical games.
“In saying that though, there’s areas we can work to avoid those big contacts and get some pay out of it
5 Sep 2012, 11:33 am
Ok Bokke
no John Smit to turn down kickable shots at goal
no P Divvy to do whatever it was he did
and most importantly no corrupt Kiwi ref to cheat you out of your destiny
Time to show the world you’re better than Australia isn’t it?
5 Sep 2012, 11:34 am
This is a GREAT team and very close to the one I would choose (with my admittedly limited knowledge of Test rugby).
Bekker will be back – he must recover 100% and get some form back.
Vermulen to make the 8 jersey his own
Pienaar to make 9 his own
Hougie will be awesome on the wing, but he should replace Habana, and Mvovo should stay.
Lambie or another to take over #15
BOKKE!
5 Sep 2012, 11:34 am
@XhosaKid-204: If E TV comes knocking on the door of Jantjies senior to ask his opinion… What must he say? Farkall…?
Naah, its obvious Elton is in the cast off category… like Brussouw, and Daniel…
Hellsteeth, I can even understand why the latter two are not in favour… But Elton Jantjies…? I cant fathom one bit.
5 Sep 2012, 11:35 am
@grant10-217: What site is that from Grant?
5 Sep 2012, 11:35 am
@gonzo-218: “isnt it”
you a cape crusader isnt it?
5 Sep 2012, 11:36 am
@John Galt-212: Was how we played against England in Joburg a reflection of an English side coming from a RWC, 6Nations, domestic competitions or a very good Bok team.
5 Sep 2012, 11:36 am
The players coaching themselves it seems!
Haai-neke is basically just selecting the team!
Wake up from the dream!
49-0, Ozzies are keen!
5 Sep 2012, 11:37 am
@rangerman-222: nah bro, a Blues fan
5 Sep 2012, 11:38 am
Hooper is licking his lips….
I simply cannot believe we fall into the same trap year after year after year….
first we had G Smith , Waugh and Mc Caw giving us carrots at the breakdown when we foolishly ignored L Watson and went with the Spies, J Smith and Schalk behemoths…..
Then we catch a wake up and Brussow canes kiwis and B Lions 6 love…..
roll on 2012 and we back to the dark ages …and a young laatie like Hooper calling the odds ….
sometimes I honestly believe we as Boks get what we deserve for our complete stupidity and re tardedness
5 Sep 2012, 11:39 am
Gonzo they’ll need to beat Aus at least 3 or 4 straight for that to happen.
5 Sep 2012, 11:39 am
@bokfan1-221: rugby 365
5 Sep 2012, 11:41 am
@gonzo-225: A South African who is a Blues fan?
Or a Kiwi?
5 Sep 2012, 11:41 am
@grant10-217: It wasn’t Pocock’s genius but Mark Lawrence’s incompetence that won the game for Australia.
5 Sep 2012, 11:41 am
@grant10-228: Interesting… lets believe/hope that the Boks have a plan to counter that.
5 Sep 2012, 11:42 am
@XhosaKid-230: Do you mean the QF of RWC11?
5 Sep 2012, 11:43 am
@grant10-226: G.Smith was owned 3 out of 3 times by the late Solly Tyibilika.
5 Sep 2012, 11:47 am
@John Galt-212: Out of the available options (those that actively put their names in the hat), none of them. I would have head hunted the best man for the job, whatever it took, whatever it cost, wherever he may have been in the world. Everyone has a price – even those who say, “Not for sale”.
Heyneke should have been made Director of rugby or something of the sort, where he could do all of the backroom support stuff he really IS good at. Building this, building that, setting this up, setting that up etc.
International coaching is for the brave, not the stubborn and rigid.
Yes, injuries have floored the man somewhat, and I’m betting most take that into account. What has p#ssed me off, is not the hand he has been dealt, but the hypocritical nature of his term thus far.
Says this – does that. Does that – says this. What he is doing to players, is cruel and unusual, regardless of how ‘good’ his intentions are.
5 Sep 2012, 11:48 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-215: Misguided faith…?
In a coach with a pretty decent track record right up to Super Rugby… Including being assistant to Mallet?
After a series against England where two halves were played that demonstrated Bok Rugby at its very best?
That is not faith based… That is evidence based… and it was not misguided by any means whatsoever… and in contrast, certainly not guided by such “robust” thumbelina factors like: Meyer comes from “snor city”, or Meyer is a WP “hater”, or Meyer is a verkrampte “Blou Bul”….
But when talking about Keeping the Faith, I still hope and have a belief (diminishing, yes) but based on evidence that Meyer will come right and take the Boks on an upward trajectory…
However, I am worried about some illogical decisions he is making (like bringing two players into the squad, not completely with merit, and too soon after injury as a seeming sop to the wailing masses), which show that the syndrome of Bok Coach “madness” may be taking hold sooner than everyone thought.
5 Sep 2012, 11:48 am
@bokfan1-229: A kiwi – i was hoping my accent came through more in the last post
@NZINCHINA-227: I don’t understand it, the boks regularly beat NZ but the Aussies seem to have a mental hold over them like they did over the ABs in our dark, dark bledisloe-less period. I’m sure the boks are a better team but have always lost the game before they run out on the field. I feel their pain – i still have nightmares about the late 90s
5 Sep 2012, 11:49 am
@grant10-217: ask yourself WHY pocock wasn’t so effective in the semis against the ABs considering they were playing McCaw who effectively is a hybrid.?
5 Sep 2012, 11:51 am
@gonzo-236:
Are you a Muppet or a Man?
5 Sep 2012, 11:52 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-210: This is truth. We saffas just don’t like admitting the aussies are better than us at anything, but they’ve owned us for some time now.
5 Sep 2012, 11:52 am
Or a Muppet of a man!
5 Sep 2012, 11:52 am
@grant10-226: I reckon you overrate Hooper too much…
Aussies there for the taking this weekend… But fark me, if the Boks lose then its Shitstreet…
5 Sep 2012, 11:52 am
@Heavens Game-209: Maybe like your perception of Vermeulen or JDV?
5 Sep 2012, 11:54 am
@Atreides-239: it ebbs and flows mate…before their win durban 2008 we’d OWNED them too, and we had a pretty decent record against them on the highveld…
5 Sep 2012, 11:55 am
@grant10-226: I’m a bit more worried about M Steyn lying deep in the pocket as usual and Ruan having to try protect him…which will mean we get no backline movement going…especially if the forwards don’t get dominance early…..then it’s gonna be punty punt punt up-and-under box-kick all night again….
5 Sep 2012, 11:55 am
@gonzo-218: Listen mate. The Kiwi ref played a supporting role in the Boks demise in that QF, and ONLY a supporting role.
The Boks failed to adapt to anything that went down that day. 20000000000000000000 Test caps were on that field, and yet they lost the plot at crucial times. Regardless of Bryce (and he was utterlyfuckinguseless), our super experienced team SHOULD have won that game on their own steam.
Little errors, indecision, wrong decisions, ill discipline when it mattered cost us far more than Bryce did.
My opinion is not a popular one, but that has always been my take on it.
Bryce suckeddonkeydick that day, but the Boks LOST the game.
5 Sep 2012, 11:55 am
@Transformation-243: Yea it does, I just long for the day where we get on top again!
5 Sep 2012, 11:58 am
@Heavens Game-241:
60% chance of shitesville then.
5 Sep 2012, 11:58 am
John Galt – This whole thing of dropping M Steyn completely, i don’t agree with.
What i do agree with and it hasn’t happened yet is pulling MSteyn off for the last 20 and giving Lambie/Goosen game time. You don’t just drop M Steyn and then throw in Lambie or Goosen, like Mallet did with Gaffie, as it could backfire enormously!!!
I just hope HM starts to do that on Saturday, start giving lambie or Goosen a run at 10, he has already done it with Hougie and RP.
5 Sep 2012, 11:58 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-245: The boks couldn’t manufacture tries if their lives depended on it in the lead up to that game…..we had so much territory and possession, we should have closed that game out. Bryce contributed somewhat, but the Boks should have had it in them to finish them off, and didn’t
As poor as Bryce was, the boks were poorer
5 Sep 2012, 11:58 am
@gonzo-236: It did – but just wanted to check
A very good comment on the mystifying issue the Boks seem to have with Wallabies recently.
When I think back to 2004 – 2009ish we hardly ever lost to Wallabies, and wins were quite comfortable too (like the one I saw at Loftus in 2006).
Some of the recent Wallaby victories have been very close (eg. Beale’s last-second penalty in SA) but still… a loss is a loss and no good.
That Wallabies team of the 90s was legendary so I wouldnt feel too bad about it
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