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impressed with the Bok backline, there seems to be no improvement since the WC noticed by the inability to score a bonus point try. Meyer had a golden opportunity to give Jantjies a run in the last 15 minutes which makes me wonder if it's purely a lack of faith on Meyer's behalf, if that is the case then why pick Jantjies in the first place. Jordaan has more ability than Bulle badged Engelbrecht who at this point has failed to impress. It was good to see  Habana, JDV and Morne leading from the front and Pienaar when he came on added some snap to our attack as winessed by the the sharp interplay between himself, Hougaard and Habana. I'll say it again, as a winger Hougaard brings a dynamic, it was plain to see he is stifled playing scrummie. Funny, a few months ago I was ridiculed for suggesting the above, now I see there are quite a saying more or less the same.

Go the Mighty Proteas!..I'll be joining you cricket lovers downstairs shortly.

Denny

Status: Bok regular
Posts: 769 I'm not overly....
August 20, 2012, 10:27:11

impressed with the Bok backline, there seems to be no improvement since the WC noticed by the inability to score a bonus point try. Meyer had a golden opportunity to give Jantjies a run in the last 15 minutes which makes me wonder if it's purely a lack of faith on Meyer's behalf, if that is the case then why pick Jantjies in the first place.

sasuke completely agrees why pick janties in the first place, LMFAO, :D

Denny

I am afraid that there is still a major problem in the backline.  I am going to get myself into hot water here - but I believe Morne Steyn was always the easy one to blame.   Looking at the game on Saturday - there are two other problems in this case.   Before I deal with those two - I believe that the easy way out was always to blame Morne Steyn - and there was indeed reasons for that.  His game improved on Saturday and he really had an acceptable game. 

The one problem is the slow service by the scrummie - that situation improved somewhat when Pienaar replaced Hougaard.   The second issue is Francois Steyn.  he played an atrocious game on Saturday and died with the ball.   It does not look like he is fit - he looked podgy and slow.   I do believe that he should come down at least 5 kgs and start running exercises to increase his speed.   Unless he does that I am going to propose a new nickname for him - FATSO Steyn,

No use to talk about Jantjies - he has some skills - but his defence is non-existent.  

the backline was utter rubbish. morne played better but once again they lacked rythem and cohesion. steyn looked worst for wares. maybe he enjoys his wife's cooking way to much but his speed of the mark and passing was nowhere.

there was a lot of kicking aswell. i am just worried that as soon as our forwards will be matched we wont have any other attack weapon to score points from. i know there are a lot of pundits on this site that say we played well ext ext but to me the game needed to be won fair enough but the quality was not of such a nature that i felt we can take it all..

its going to be hard work but the backs really need some better cohesion and speed. very very lacklustre. seems like the grass of newlands is cursed

Yeah there is alot to improve, Frans Steyn is not looking comfortable at the moment at centre i dont know if weight could be the problem or not, we'll see how he goes this week. Pienaar is definitely the best scrum half we have, i saw a major difference once he replaced hougaard at 9, i did mention on this site before during the england test 'hougaard is a better wing than scrum half' some of you might disagree but you can clearly see now.

I also believe that Jano Vermaark is much better than hougaard at scrum half. We can be pleased that we won, but versing NZ and AUS is a completely different perspective. Don't get too exciting about this win, its Argentina we have a long way to go.

JJ failed to impress, I take it you have missed the last month of the S15 or are you as ignorant as ever when it comes to matters rugby - talk about a load of crap

haha who are you replying to Saffex?

Saffex

If you refer to my posts elsewhere where I did mention Engelnrecht negtively - then you are barking up the wrog tree - I did it to needle you.   Englbrecht during the last month of the Super 15 did play reasonable rugby - I would not call it anything else - he really was average - nothing more.   He made a few breaks that led to nothing so I would no rave about his performances on that level.   He produced aboiut 10% of what Jordaan produced in the semi-final and the final so lets leave it at that.

On Saturday he came on and I watched him carefully.   He got no balls to play with because Kirchner came into the backline and crashballed.   He got one short pass from Pienaar trying to put him away at an angle run - but it let to nothing of substance.   For the rest he made up numbers on the team sheet.

Runour has it that Habana and Bekker may not be able to play on Saturday.   If that be the case - Meyer may decide to play Hougaard on the wing and play Pienaar at scrummie.   The other alternative will be to keep Hougaard as scrummie and play Engelbrecht on the wing.   I actually hope foe the second alternative - so that we can see whether Engelbrecht can perform on international level.  If he can - it will answer many questions about his suitability for selection on international level.  Many players perform well on Super 15 level and flop at international level - so a real acid test would help in this case.

The other issue is obviously what would happen if Bekker is not available.   I think that Flip van der Merwe - one of the most over rated playes in the squad - would then be in the starting line up,  with Kruger on the  bench.   Hope this does not happen - since we would suffer badly in such an event. 

Saffex

If you refer to my posts elsewhere where I did mention Engelnrecht negtively - then you are barking up the wrog tree - I did it to needle you.   Englbrecht during the last month of the Super 15 did play reasonable rugby - I would not call it anything else - he really was average - nothing more.   He made a few breaks that led to nothing so I would no rave about his performances on that level.   He produced aboiut 10% of what Jordaan produced in the semi-final and the final so lets leave it at that.

On Saturday he came on and I watched him carefully.   He got no balls to play with because Kirchner came into the backline and crashballed.   He got one short pass from Pienaar trying to put him away at an angle run - but it let to nothing of substance.   For the rest he made up numbers on the team sheet.

Runour has it that Habana and Bekker may not be able to play on Saturday.   If that be the case - Meyer may decide to play Hougaard on the wing and play Pienaar at scrummie.   The other alternative will be to keep Hougaard as scrummie and play Engelbrecht on the wing.   I actually hope foe the second alternative - so that we can see whether Engelbrecht can perform on international level.  If he can - it will answer many questions about his suitability for selection on international level.  Many players perform well on Super 15 level and flop at international level - so a real acid test would help in this case.

The other issue is obviously what would happen if Bekker is not available.   I think that Flip van der Merwe - one of the most over rated playes in the squad - would then be in the starting line up,  with Kruger on the  bench.   Hope this does not happen - since we would suffer badly in such an event.