I notice there is still no thread on this topic :???: Must be due to the 2 disappointing results against first the Wallabies and now the AB's. Boks could have and should have won both and that would have really put us on a winning road towards the RWC! We threw it away in Aus, but against the AB's we were done in. The entire momentum of the game changed once the ref ruled that the scrums should be uncontested. Keep in mind we had a second attacking scrum right under their poles with the AB's one forward short. Chances would have been really good for a 7-pointer right there which would have secured the game.
Read this analysis of that decision: http://www.sport24.co.za/Columnists/TankLanning/Boks-score-from-referee-blunder-20150728
Then read this article re the legality of the AB's winning try: http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyChampionship/Was-Richie-McCaws-try-legal-20150727
Ok, let us not be cry babies...the scoreboard tells a different story and that's that.
Some real positives to take out of these two games so far:
Lood de Jager with Eben Etsebeth...fantastic combination not only for RWC 2015 but also for the future.
The combination of Pollard, De Allende & Kriel...awesome!!!
Forget for a moment about the RWC and consider these talents above together with the likes of Willie le Roux at the back, the Stormers front row and a fit again Duane Vermeulen. That just about wraps up the core of the future Bok team!
Back to the RWC. What a dilemma Heineke Meyer has with his mid-field selection. Will he break the above centre pairing in order to make place for captain elect, Jean de Villiers? That (having too many good players) should surely be seen as a positive though and so too the fact that we came very close to winning both matches while nursing a long list of rehabilitations incl the likes of highly experienced campaigners such as Matfield & Coetzee (injured @ Brisbane), Alberts, Vermeulen, Du Preez & De Villiers and talented players such as Pieter-Steph du Toit & Coenie Oosthuizen. So lots to look forward to and I think we have the players to get us to another potential match up against the Kiwi's @ the RWC (in the semi's, if I am correct). That will be the BIGGIE!
Read this analysis of that decision: http://www.sport24.co.za/Columnists/TankLanning/Boks-score-from-referee-blunder-20150728
Then read this article re the legality of the AB's winning try: http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyChampionship/Was-Richie-McCaws-try-legal-20150727
Ok, let us not be cry babies...the scoreboard tells a different story and that's that.
Some real positives to take out of these two games so far:
Lood de Jager with Eben Etsebeth...fantastic combination not only for RWC 2015 but also for the future.
The combination of Pollard, De Allende & Kriel...awesome!!!
Forget for a moment about the RWC and consider these talents above together with the likes of Willie le Roux at the back, the Stormers front row and a fit again Duane Vermeulen. That just about wraps up the core of the future Bok team!
Back to the RWC. What a dilemma Heineke Meyer has with his mid-field selection. Will he break the above centre pairing in order to make place for captain elect, Jean de Villiers? That (having too many good players) should surely be seen as a positive though and so too the fact that we came very close to winning both matches while nursing a long list of rehabilitations incl the likes of highly experienced campaigners such as Matfield & Coetzee (injured @ Brisbane), Alberts, Vermeulen, Du Preez & De Villiers and talented players such as Pieter-Steph du Toit & Coenie Oosthuizen. So lots to look forward to and I think we have the players to get us to another potential match up against the Kiwi's @ the RWC (in the semi's, if I am correct). That will be the BIGGIE!
