Hooper’s hyped for Bok bashers
5 Sep 2012
Wallabies specialist opensider Michael Hooper expects to take a physical beating in Perth on Saturday.
But taking a beating doesn’t mean he will be losing.
Hooper, who replaces the injured David Pocock, believes the lack of a specialist fetcher in the Boks’ starting XV gives him the edge.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer has selected Bath-based Francois Louw among the substitutes and Louw, who plays a specialist openside role at Bath, is expected to get the last 40 minutes against the Wallabies and start against the All Blacks a week later.
‘I guess when you’re going for a turnover or putting your head in the breakdown, they come in flying,’ Hooper told the media. ‘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 seven. There’s opportunities there, but you’ve got to be prepared to be belted.’
Hooper produced an accomplished display in his run-on debut against the All Blacks in Auckland and while he isn’t as physically imposing as Pocock he is no less effective in forcing turnover ball.
Australia have won six of their last seven Tests against the Boks and in most of the victories the Australians have had the edge at the breakdown area.
South Africa’s continued refusal to acknowledge the value of a specialist opensider continues to baffle most opposition coaches and the lack of such a player was noticeable in the 14-14 draw against England in Port Elizabeth and the 16-16 draw against Argentina in Mendoza.
42 Comments
5 Sep 2012, 13:55 pm
Don’t worry Hooper. Won’t be much competing from this pack of dragons
5 Sep 2012, 13:59 pm
An important issue we don’t touch on regularly is that it is far more difficult to counterruck a ruck where a shorter opensider with a low center of gravity is present.
If Hooper cherry-picks his rucks on offense and defense optimally, we are going to see very little quality ball on attack, and have a tough time defending against quick ruck ball.
5 Sep 2012, 14:06 pm
@willievz-2: Excellent point. You see how articulate you are when you actually think about what you are saying.
5 Sep 2012, 14:15 pm
why oh why oh farken why do we refuse to learn….
5 Sep 2012, 14:34 pm
@keo-3:
pretty sure victor matfield dupreez smit,etc also played in all 7 loses if not more.
a flyhalf can only play as well as the ball he gets. And the bok ruck work has been shite for near on 2 years now.
except, now we have a shite lineout and scrum as well.
can’t keep blaming morne for that, how long before we hear the calls for spies to come back?
5 Sep 2012, 14:37 pm
I think Meyer has it right. It is going to be wet and windy. First 40 is going to be tight. Watch the Boks tackle the daylights out of the Aussies if they go wide. Aussies will have to be 110% on their game to get it right …. and I am afraid the Aussies are not quite there. Flo to come on in the second forty and the Boks will open it up…. a little bit more if they have a lead.
Going to be interesting. I don’t think all is well in Aussie camp. Heard rumours of players being unfit etc.
5 Sep 2012, 15:31 pm
Agree — smaller open sides like Brussow or Hooper get dug into the ruck so well it’s near impossible to clean them out. I’m leery of Hooper in this test….
5 Sep 2012, 16:14 pm
Agree 100%. We are going to k@k with Hooper in action. He’s so like Brussouw…
5 Sep 2012, 16:53 pm
@The Analyst-6: I love your optimism and I hope you are right, but I just cant see it… I think we need to be realistic and pray for a 3 point win and that Morne remembers how to kick.
“Boks tackle the daylights” – Boks tackled Argies and hardly made an impression on them.
“Boks will open it up” – Boks dont protect their ball, they dont get to the tackled player quick enough, and they often turn over the ball in contact (vs Arg). I cant see them “opening up” anything against Wallabies in their current form.
Lets pray that Vermulen makes the difference he has the potential to do, and Ruan enables the backline to get some ball. Little things like that, that will enable a victory.
I will be shouting for the Boks and always support them 100%, my point is just that we need to be realistic right now. The Boks are struggling
5 Sep 2012, 16:57 pm
He’ll probably cause havoc for the full 80 slowing our ball, spoiling and turning us over. Sadly, our loosies wont be doing the same, at least until Flouw comes on.
5 Sep 2012, 17:04 pm
I think we should start with Flouw, use Marcell off the bench if we must. Flouw plays a crucial role in a tight game, as well as a loose game.
5 Sep 2012, 18:02 pm
@Spiesisworthless1-10:
Nah, chommie. This loose trio is going to rip the Wallaby out of the pouch. A burnt Bok is an angry Bok. Kap it Flo!
5 Sep 2012, 18:06 pm
@RAI8-11:
You are right. Marcel as an impact player would rip them to schredz.
5 Sep 2012, 18:44 pm
lol – hooper is going to get a bit of a beating, but he wont mind that, i reckon the way HM has been drilling these wild horse bokkies the whole week, the question is has he broken them of any remaining spirit, especially when it doesnt go to plan?
too many mediocrities in Bok side to win test matches in oz, even in perth – shouldve taken some chances. could be a horrendous tour if they dont sneak it in perth.
5 Sep 2012, 19:02 pm
Tackle daylights / rip to shreds….
Maybe as a nation we are just fine with losing the match, as long as we beat them into oblivion.
Much like our coach when i started playing rugga aged 9 in Paarl – if you lose just make sure you fokop those souties.
Eish
5 Sep 2012, 19:24 pm
@hanneslom-15:
sensitive. have you forgiven him yet?
5 Sep 2012, 19:52 pm
Love it, Hooper is going to steal every ball, be at every ruck, oh the reality of it………………..now lets see one little thing, just how long it takes the ref to hard out cards for the Argies against the AB’s Im shooting for at least two yellows one either side of halftime and maybe a red, after all cant flood the breakdown and beat Rechee to the ball that’s just not cricket………….. I mean after all what Walsh judged to be legal against the Boks will be deemed foul against the AB’s you heard it hear first at the mast matey’s
5 Sep 2012, 19:56 pm
think higginbotham is a must – ozzie just get halfway parity and their backs eat us alive. have to wait for team to see, maybe they pick a pack that argie can beat and give Boks a chance.
5 Sep 2012, 20:01 pm
Higginbottom is on bench they starting with Samo, Gill and Hooper
Samo to counter Vermeulen and Alberts up front with Higgsybaby coming on later to lend some gas
some big gambles by HM.. if they don’t come off then he’s facing a firing squad on Sunday.. plus he jeopardizes some very promising rugby careers before getting off the ground.
5 Sep 2012, 20:03 pm
not good, bokkies might sneak it for all the wrong reasons, samo 2 seasons gone, great in his prime tho,
5 Sep 2012, 20:05 pm
i dont even want to watch this actually, cos a win might even be worse – maybe its also time to stop watching this ****, just comletely frustrating. why dont they just try some new picks, it cant get any worse…
5 Sep 2012, 20:07 pm
Nope its not Gill he’s going with Dennis at blind side with Gill AND Higgsybaby off bench so 5/2 bench.. gonna take Boks on up front and bring on both speed merchant loosies late.. we only got Vd Merwe and Louw when the game opens up later.. and Meyer got 3 fly halves in his 22 with a wing in reserve.. Lambie, Goosen and Mvovo …. where they got a scrummy and utility fly half / center on bench.
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Dominic Shipperley, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson
Subs: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Scott Higginbotham, 19 Liam Gill, 20 Nick Phipps, 21 Mike Harris
5 Sep 2012, 20:11 pm
The fun has kinda gone out of the exuberance of this game
I don’t want to see some players reputation and careers getting hurt at the expense of the coaches blind inadequacies.. so its like a double edge sword hanging off the guillotine
Meyer needs to get woken up from his abysmal slumber.. but then at same time he got players that have to buy into his philosophy because its their careers he’s actually playing dice with… and he only really is concerned with his own head.. not theirs.
5 Sep 2012, 20:14 pm
If they’d picked higginbottom, think oz mighta been in with a shout, but i dunno much about Dennis or Timani, Sharpe is old and Alexander is like Jannie, mediocre. However, Moore is hundred times better than either of our hookers. Robison and Beast both outstanding, so pretty much evens there but Beast prob going to be out on his feet and getting kakked on by Meyer when it should be the others 4 in the tight 5 that need to start contributing.
berrick barners and sjipperely so-so, but the others could rip us a new one.
tough game to call – Boks are going to come out like men possessed – they literally going to be prepared for war. But this Bok pack not that war-like , oz can weather that storm and use their brains if match goes on.
5 Sep 2012, 20:16 pm
@willievz-2: Good point there are other ways to clear out a ruck nowadays . Especially the way the Northern hemisphere plays but if you are slow you will get pinged .Going low and hard doesn’t always work so maybe to twist the player out of the way (legally of course then you still have the problem of a guy that needs to go for the ball.
Not this —-> http://youtu.be/XzxGBzqJzGc
But this is what I mean http://youtu.be/Yzge8Hs1TN8
5 Sep 2012, 20:24 pm
Its actually not a good ozzie team – higginbottam or beau robinson should be starting, pocock is out injured, where is horwell at and mitchell or nsw winger peter ***, mccabe should be in place of barnes – they actually picking as bad as we are, and its in perth – going to be very interesting.
5 Sep 2012, 20:37 pm
I think he’s only using Samo for short stint up front to rough Vermeulen and Alberts up and then he unleash Higginbottom maybe even at 40 minutes or earlier soon as Samo wears out.
Dennis quite a big bruiser unit and Shipperly got some gas and makes yards every time he gets the ball.
I’m not sold on Barnes who is just another Morne Steyn with slightly better field kicking game, and Cooper blows hot and cold..
Sharpe is not a huge threat puts in the effort but don’t have the fire of Simmonds and Horwill
Its a 50/50 game with both teams not fully functional.. Boks could sneak it but it could mask some pertinent weaknesses and if we win with Hougaard at wing and Pienaar at 9 then could be Hougaards scrum half career is finished..
on other hand if we lose with Vermeulen and Goosen thrown in half cooked their own careers could be jeopardized so I dunno if this game is a win – win or a lose – lose.
5 Sep 2012, 20:53 pm
yeah exactly, plus if they win strauss and jannie and coetzee cemented – i dont think they going to win tho, and its a shame cos they going to be motivated to high heaven for this one, and then whats left? nz? godgerd waar is die perd…
5 Sep 2012, 21:22 pm
What I do like is that Goosen is a specialized flyhalf. We need to handle him with extreme caution, at least he wont be stuffed around like Frans Steyn was as well as Ruan Pienaar, they were constantly shuffled around in the backline, instead of moulding them into specialized players in their respective positions. The trip up north did Frans and Ruan the world of good, they got out of the SA spotlight and critisism from the media, and focused on getting their game back on track.
5 Sep 2012, 21:32 pm
This a half baked team
Beast in front row
Etzebeth, second row
Louw, Alberts, Vermeulen – back row
F. Steyn, centers
Cilliers, Goosen – bench
Those about the only top caliber players we have at this level
Strauss, JPP
Pienaar, M. Steyn
Hougaard – out of position, Habana
Kirchner
Vd Merwe, Lambie, Mvovo
all reasonably mediocre at top tier test level.
Less than 50% top caliber players to bring back the bacon.. well that’s quite a tall order for anyone aiming for the stars.
5 Sep 2012, 21:44 pm
2 wordclass sa hookers not selected – Deon Fourie and Schalk Britz wouldve brought some much needed impetus. strauss and liebenberg are not Boks.
2 worldclass no 4s, bakkies and elstadt not selected.
1 beast replacement and a moerse addition
If HM wanted to go conservative he shouldve pulled Gurthro and Bakkes back into the squad for 1 year – definitely not FdP or Matfield.
Throw in Heinrich Brussow and Juan de Jong, trying a new 10 in Goosen and a new 3 in Cilliers – and this could be a moerse good Bok side, which might even end up surprising everyone immediately.
5 Sep 2012, 21:48 pm
1. Beast Gurthro
2. Bismarck Fourie Brits Rallapelle (in that order)
3. Cilliers Coenie Jannie
4. Elstadt Bakkies
5. Etsebeth Kruger
6. Brussow Louw
7. Alberts Kolisi
8. Vermeulen Coetzee
9. Hougaard Potgieter
10. Goosen Lambie Morne
11. Jdv Habana
12. Frans Serfontein
13. JdJ
14. JP Rhule
15. Viljoen Aplon
He;s got next generation and some veterans, power and skill.
5 Sep 2012, 22:07 pm
@ cab coetzee is no nr8, and jdv is not a wing.
5 Sep 2012, 22:10 pm
@cab-32:
You have my vote
5 Sep 2012, 22:17 pm
@cab which potgieter do you want at no9? And personally, I’d bring Big Joe to cover at no8, but if you want a youngster to cover for Duane, why not Arno Botha? He’s played more no8 than Coetzee.. the rest of the team is good though in my opinion…
5 Sep 2012, 22:24 pm
Not Potgieter its Pretorius at 9.. I reckon that’s who he’s thinking about..
Yip
Hougaard – Pretorius are the 2 best No.9′s currently in SA with Van Zyl of Cheetahs 3rd choice.
And Coetsee best position is 8.. he’s not a 7 or a 6.. but could be a very good 8 given the game time.
5 Sep 2012, 22:28 pm
Pretorius is brilliant! I’d agree on that! But personally I’d much rather see Arno Botha as a backup 8 than Coetzee. Both fantastic though.
5 Sep 2012, 22:34 pm
@KeurboomPark-16: forgive him for what plonker?
5 Sep 2012, 22:49 pm
I think if you think about the next generation then we do talk about something like
15-lambie or taute
14-pietersen or basson
13-engelbrecht or jordaan
12-steyn or de jong
11-rhule or mvovo
10-goosen or lambie
9-hougaard or van zyl
8-stander or botha
7-coetzee or kolisi
6-brussow or kolisi
5-kruger or etzebeth
4-etzebeth or elstadt
3-cilliers or coenie
2-chilly or strauss
1-coenie or kitshoff
Names I’ll put in to make the 30 full is the likes of peter steph-du toit
Paul willemse
Derrick minnie
Frans malherbe
Scarra ntubeni
Nick groom
Handre pollard
Jan serfontein
Clayton blommetjies
Jp du plessis
That’s our core of the future
5 Sep 2012, 22:51 pm
Add elton jantjies please… Can not forget the best flyhalf in country now!!!
5 Sep 2012, 23:04 pm
Ra8 – Coetzee not my 1st choice but I think he make a good player off bench or 8.
Talking about pretorius tge ovs scrummie who went to waratahs and they subbed him – fools
6 Sep 2012, 02:20 am
@xtremebull-39:
Claton Blommetjies? Sounds like a porn star.
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