Goosen’s time comes
26 Sep 2012
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has selected Johan Goosen at flyhalf for the Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies on Saturday.
Keo.co.za reported yesterday that Goosen would start but Meyer surprised by completely omitting Steyn from his 22, selecting the uncapped Elton Janjties as pivot cover.
Asked about his decision to leave Steyn out, Meyer said: ‘This was very difficult, but I looked at what the team needed first and then at the impact on the individual. At Loftus, where he has played well, it is a big call. But he accepted it graciously. I feel it is in his best interest that he doesn’t play. He’ll fight back.’
Meyer said he had contemplated including Steyn’s on the bench but was dissuaded from this course of action because of the potential to expose an already under pressure player. ‘It isn’t going to help him to bring him on with 20 minutes and he ends up having to kick the game-winning or game-losing goal. I either back him 100% or not. That’s the decision I had to take,’ Meyer said.
Meyer also dispelled the perception that Goosen’s natural attacking instinct would be reigned in to come in line with a game plan that is widely perceived as conservative. He explained that a sharp assessment of the state of the defensive line was key in determining what action to take.
‘There’s a misconception that Goosen must fit into a rigid structure. He has the freedom to play the situation as he sees it,’ he said. ‘But this is not Currie Cup rugby where you have space and time. I’ve said to him to go out and express himself, that’s why I picked him. He must determine when it is on to go wide or take the safer option.’
He added: ‘People have to be realistic though, you can’t expect a 20-year-old to win the game on his own.’
Elsewhere Frans Steyn (who’s struggling with an ankle injury) is bracketed with Jaco Taute in the midfield. The Lions youngster will make his debut in the No 13 jersey if Frans Steyn fails to recover, with skipper Jean de Villiers taking over at inside centre.
‘I want two experienced guys on either side of Johan. Jaco was very good at 13 in Super Rugby,’ Meyer said in explaining this move.
The medical staff were highly optimistic about Steyn’s availability on Tuesday evening but he rolled the same ankle in Wednesday’s training session. A call on his availability will be made after the captain’s practice on Friday afternoon.
In other changes Andries Bekker and Eben Etzebeth unseat Juandre Kruger and Flip van der Merwe in the second row. ‘There is great competition at lock now,’ Meyer said. ‘Flip played his best Test ever against the All Blacks and Juandre was very good as well.
‘It was a horses for courses change there. Australia are very good at lineout time and we want to exert pressure on them there. I feel that Eben, Andries and Duane is a good combination to achieve that, as well as a little more mobile which is crucial as Australia will play expansively. Also Andries is a little more experienced and in 50-50 calls like this I always go with the more experienced guy.
Probed on why Taute had leapfrogged Juan de Jongh in the pecking order, Meyer said: ‘Jaco would have been in the squad earlier had he not been injured. He is 106kg and runs the 100m in 10.7. So I looked at the way Australia defend and thought we could exploit that [better with Taute]. I can’t elaborate on that because we’re talking game plan then. It’s a tough call on Juan.’
Coenie Oosthuizen comes onto the bench after a neck injury in the only other change to the bench.
Springboks – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn/Jaco Taute, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermuelen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcel Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Jaco Taute/Juan de Jongh, 22 Pat Lambie.
By Ryan Vrede, in Johannesburg
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582 Comments
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26 Sep 2012, 15:01 pm
@Spiesisworthless1-243:
In his mind for the player to ‘express himself’ means: kicking very high up and unders
He is even encouraged to kick it with his left foot; so don’t get too excited too quickly
26 Sep 2012, 15:02 pm
@Spiesisworthless1-247: Dont forget the knock onn king , highlight number 8
26 Sep 2012, 15:04 pm
Just looking at the 3 male contributors here on Keo TV
They will actually make 3 good klopse
Keo looks like a guy that can do a lot of akkeltjies
26 Sep 2012, 15:04 pm
@JustShat-205: The Lions fans will. They have 2 players who will both game time on Saturday, and they are but a short trip over the Jukskei away.
Stormer and Sharks fans living in Jozi and Pta might also pitch up, as will the many Cheetah folk, who will be delighted to see Goosen there…..
26 Sep 2012, 15:05 pm
214 and 222 – Look at the try again – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JITX9dbAoPY
Let’s not look at the tackle in isolation which I agree was a difficult situation, but wtf was Kirchner doing in the corner when the play had moved into the middle of the filed. Had he been in position (middle of the field at the time) he could very well have cut Smith’s time down significantly (and not had to sprint across the field – which then is easy to side-step – and he could have forced smith into his tackle zone and controlled the situation and not the other way around. I know – easy in hindsight I know but Kirchner made a mistake before that tackle situation! Simple as that.
26 Sep 2012, 15:06 pm
@katman-209: Tried the a similar post two Saturdays ago and got told to ‘farkoff’……….Transie gaan nou op jou neerdaal soos jagse posduif…..
26 Sep 2012, 15:06 pm
@transformation-241: it doesn’t make sense, his pretty solid is jdj, i’ll never forget his try against the tahs in the 2010 super semi, one of the best tries ever!
26 Sep 2012, 15:07 pm
@londonshark-224:
the ozzies are gonna fold these kids, and so are the kiwis.
our pack will put up a fight but fold in the end.
its gonna be something like the 40 (or plus) nz put on the boks with lambie at 10 last year and when it becomes to much for them to hold their nerve it would have been wise to have had morne on the bench to take some of the heat ffrom these kids.
what a way to get introduced to test rugby…
26 Sep 2012, 15:07 pm
@Transformation-241:
“The Lions youngster will make his debut in the No 13 jersey if Frans Steyn fails to recover, with skipper Jean de Villiers taking over at inside centre.”
Jean will move to inside centre to crash it up Transie. If he has a kak game, I don’t think one would be allowed to blame Goosen.
26 Sep 2012, 15:09 pm
@thegreatanubis-225: China, its less about bashing Morne than a desire to have a kicker in the team that can slot the penalties.
No one is expecting Goosen to win the game for us (well at least i hope not!).
Frans, Ruan, Lambie, Goosen whoever needs to kick it can kick it, but its a basic requirement of a rugby team to have a good kicker.
Morne’s situation is different in that he is not amazing at running, passing, tackling and doesnt get the backline going as much as other SA Flyhalves.
But if he is kicking 90-95% then he is worth having in the Test team.
But currently he is far from it, and is a liability. He needs 1. a break, 2. to rebulld confidence, 3. work on his kicking
The draw against Argies (arguably the forwards fault) was not a win because of his kicking
The Wallaby game was lost due to BAD kicking in play and missed -penalties
The ABs game was a golden chance THROWN AWAY due to missed kicks.
How long must we suffer with under-performing Bok teams? How long must they/we keep messing up these chances they/we have? (I use “we” because we are all emotionally involved and love the Boks, even if we are not all on the field).
Kirchner must go. We all know it. Its not anti-Bulls, its plain to see.
If Ruan continues with his cr@p kicking we will also all lobby for him to be replaced!
I have posted above that I would choose Juandre over Bekker right now – and Juandre is a Bull (and ek is WP).
I just want the Boks to start winning and live up to their potential! Not living on 2004, 2007 and 2009!
26 Sep 2012, 15:09 pm
So I checked when the next Boks public training session will be as I missed Monday’s
None, only Mondays.
I promise you I would asked very LOUD: SO ELTON WILL YOU GET GAME TIME ON SATURDAY?
26 Sep 2012, 15:09 pm
Well I never…didn’t expect Morne to miss out on slection altogether. HM, this a step in the right direction. Not to sound “suurgat” but why come to a different conclusion this week to what the team needs than 2 weeks ago? The writing’s been on the wall for quite some time now. I will not fall in the same trap as my fellow bloggers in predicting the result but anticipate better attacking play. That would do it for me…no matter the result. Let’s just start with asking a bit more tougher questions than usual and take it from there. No pressure on Goosen either. Not expecting him to win it all on his own. Just his natural game will do. Pity about Frans as a whole new look to the backline might end up in a disjointed affair in the 1st half. Let’s hope it’s disjointed because of the dropsies due to supporting runners arriving late or individual angles not read properly and they can put it right later in the game. Which all comes down to a constructive game of rugby. Anything but the same drivel of late. Just give the laaitie the ball. He’ll know what to do with it
26 Sep 2012, 15:10 pm
@Sheriff-251: “He has the freedom to play the situation as he sees it,’ he said. ‘But this is not Currie Cup rugby where you have space and time. I’ve said to him to go out and express himself, that’s why I picked him. He must determine when it is on to go wide or take the safer option.’ (And I hope this counts for Elton as well, because he SURELYASFOK has to get some decent game time on Saturday…..)
I’m holdingthefucker to this….his word
**notthatitscountedmuchbefore**
26 Sep 2012, 15:10 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-254: To be very honest I could’nt care if they come from the faking moon, they just need to produce the goods.
The highveld will mean anything from 60 meters out the aussies better watch their step or Goosen will nail them!! Good luck to the young man. I he survives this, imagine what he will be worth in experience come 2015!
26 Sep 2012, 15:10 pm
@Katman-239:
The only way we’ll have Chilli on the bench is if Strauss is injured…
26 Sep 2012, 15:11 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-258:
But Morne has been ‘folded’ all year. So again, I’m not understanding you.
You have JDV, Frans, Habana, Beast, Jannie, Alberts etc, all who are experienced Boks.
So to say Morne would help the ‘kids’ is crazy. He’s no leader, and I doubt his kicking average of 60% would give any ‘kids’ any confidence.
26 Sep 2012, 15:11 pm
@stormer in a teacup-228:
i’ll be here to remind you of your ideas on saturday.
@nama1-231:
this is as much about these youngsters as it is about morne.
when the ozzies break their confidence then what?
of course i hope they have dream debuts but my gut feeling is this will blow up on them and us and then what should meyer do?
26 Sep 2012, 15:14 pm
@bokfan1-260:
“If Ruan continues with his cr@p kicking we will also all lobby for him to be replaced”
And lobby we will – no player is safe from people power.
26 Sep 2012, 15:15 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-258: Agh for f.ucks sake!! Go cry me a river!!
Your coach decided to drop Stain, that is it, plain and simple. He has being k@k the whole season. Only the Loftus faithful was still pushing to give another change. Rather get behind the team and support the youngsters, and pleeeease stop your whining!!!
26 Sep 2012, 15:15 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-267: Nonsense. The young players have old heads Like JDV, Bekker, Duane, Habs etc to steady them, Morne is not and has never been an on-field leader. His absence will have no effect on either Elton or Goosen
26 Sep 2012, 15:15 pm
@londonshark-266:
this may sound funny, but morne has mental strength.
also he is old enough and has been through worse at the right age, these laaities are gonna find out the hard and ugly way that life is not roses.
26 Sep 2012, 15:15 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-263:
If Meyer does not give him game time on Saturday I will do a ‘SKOPPIE-ON-JAKE-WHITE’ on him
26 Sep 2012, 15:17 pm
Yeah. Finally the Goose gets his opportunity to shine.
But surely JDJ has to be Fransie’s backup.
In any team their always has to be a pecking order and JDJ was next in line.
He has played next to JDV all season so as a combo it makes sense.
Don’t think this farken oke will ever come right.
HM just log onto Keo and find out what the popular opinion is and select your team based on bloggers advice.
26 Sep 2012, 15:18 pm
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-256: ha ha, ‘n jagse posduif…
26 Sep 2012, 15:18 pm
Heyneke’s the type to bang a virgin with no foreplay or lubricant
26 Sep 2012, 15:19 pm
@nama1-244: At least he’ll have a better record than 50% with his wrong leg.
26 Sep 2012, 15:19 pm
@bofh-269:
@Atreides-270:
maybe we should save our talking for after the game.
i hope they win, but boy oh boy do i have reservations.
the kak thing about this is that saying ‘i told you so after the match’ is a set back for all of us.
26 Sep 2012, 15:19 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-271:
Im convinced you are a Keo employee. Hired only to post on this blog to drum up a few extra hits like mine now.
There’s no way you can be this farking thick in real life.
26 Sep 2012, 15:20 pm
@Maljan-255: A bit harsh! Play went left before that ruck and with the complicated defense stucture employed nowadays, you dont require your 15 to patrol the centre of the field anymore. It’s about trusting any fellow teammate to make the tackle which Greyling didn’t. In short, I think Kirchner was exactly where the structure needed him but for the miss tackle by ‘you-know-who’
26 Sep 2012, 15:20 pm
@Doughnut-248:
His debut game vs England on the EOYT where he scored a try. Played very well.
Look, he is still fairly young (26) and there is still room for improvement on some aspects of his game. But to write him off just like that after a few mistakes, is wrong imo. Also remember that HM dropped him unceremoniously after the Argies test where he was one of the better back line players. We don’t know what kind of influence that had on him psychologically.
He now has 8 tests to be precise….only 4 as a starter. You really going to write him off after so few chances playing in a team that does not really use its back line?
26 Sep 2012, 15:20 pm
I virtually put R50 in this guy’s hat; you can do the same or better it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgZvhT9Nj8&feature=related
26 Sep 2012, 15:21 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-267: I’m more confident about this game than I have been about any other in the last three matches. All of these guys have played against all their opponents already, with one or two possible exceptions. Our forwards will provide a lot of ball and the backs are better equipped to use it well than any other time in recent history. Be confident. These boys are up for it. And with Beale out of position at flyhalf our chances just got better.
26 Sep 2012, 15:21 pm
@Jeraldjay-273: We definitely have the players to develop a fearsome backline, no question….if you get JPP back you could have Habs & JPP on wing, get back J Fourie, JDJ/Paul Jordaan at centre, Goosen or Elton at 10 and Hougaard at 9 playing their natural games….with Taute/Lambie at FB…..if these guys are coached well there isn’t a defence on earth they couldn’t tear to pieces
26 Sep 2012, 15:21 pm
@mxhosa-265: Ralepele is twice the player Strauss is. He and Du Plessis are streaks ahead of the rest of the hookers in SA.
26 Sep 2012, 15:22 pm
@John Galt-278:
there is no need for insults, john.
i am free to my opinions as much as you.
26 Sep 2012, 15:22 pm
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-264: I honestly believe we have 2 very gifted young 10′s in both Goosen and Jantjies. Both so young, that IF they get enough decent game time (and build up some good international experience) they could lead us to infinity and beyond for years to come. Usually we sit with the “who is backup for Morne” question.
Now for ONCE, we have 2 fellows I believe could play roles on the ‘big stage’, with youngsters like Pollard and the sort all coming through as well (And Lambie as an alternative, although I believe he might need to find an alternative position).
No, our 10 stocks are looking good – it’s just NB that every player gets a little game time. If Goosen turns out to be as injury prone as what some seem to fear – no FEAR, as Elton, who is a playmaker of note (en behoort nou wragtig sy kans ook te kry!!!!) is there.
Funny….10 no longer worries me
We be having them.
26 Sep 2012, 15:24 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-277: You should stop wringing your hands like a blue-rinse tannie. Steyn cost us the AB game and was largely responsible for Aus too. Let him take a break and find some form. The young guys will do fine.
26 Sep 2012, 15:24 pm
@UptheGuts-279: In fairness, Greyling arrived late at that ruck but I don’t recall why? Maybe he made a tackle earlier and that gap should’ve been stopped by someone else?
26 Sep 2012, 15:24 pm
@stormer in a teacup-282:
i fear you are in for a rude awakening, we shall see then.
i honestly wish them well but have a bad feeling about this.
and dont tell me its all been for the best at the end of it.
26 Sep 2012, 15:26 pm
@Atreides-283:
With the young talent at our disposal we should walk the RWC 2015.
26 Sep 2012, 15:27 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-289: Would you rather a rerun of the last game?
26 Sep 2012, 15:28 pm
@Maljan-255:
A ruck forms in the middle of the field in your 22. That suggest to me that you have all your forwards attending the ruck with the defensive players around the ruck taking up positions to stop any sniping break by an opposition player through the middle or around the fringes.
You FB take a up position somewhere in the back line (between O/C and wing) to help defend in case the attacking team bring in their FB or the other wing in order to create an overlap. So, Kirchner was at the right place imo.
The players at the ruck did not do their defensive duties properly.
26 Sep 2012, 15:28 pm
@UptheGuts-288: Nope he just came lumbering in like a pregnant sow and completely missed his man
26 Sep 2012, 15:28 pm
Just wait untill this ****** team starts to fire.
Not long now….
They know its coming.
Boks forever.
26 Sep 2012, 15:28 pm
@stormer in a teacup-282: I actualy would prefer Barnes at 10 than Beale. He kicks as much Steyn. Beale might run it more
26 Sep 2012, 15:28 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-285:
Ja daai ou lyk om aftebreek.
But I must admit your obsession with Morne is a bit over the top.
26 Sep 2012, 15:29 pm
@Jeraldjay-290: Some of the other sides have great youngsters as well.
26 Sep 2012, 15:30 pm
@Atreides-270: Funny how you talk about old heads will steady the young ones and you mentoin all the WP names…..they sure did a good job in the S15………
Bekker cannot steady his own bloody head let alone his team mates.
Goosen shoud be just fine next JdV and if Pienaar stops his kak the youngster will nail this big time.
@viewer-275: Wow that was insightfull.
26 Sep 2012, 15:32 pm
@UptheGuts-295: Beale is a great individual player and runner, but not a good director of play.
26 Sep 2012, 15:32 pm
@stormer in a teacup-297:
True but we have a lot of players in their early twenties that should be experience and streetwise by then.
Argies I feel will also throw a spanner in the works.
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