SARrugby.com

Underpinned by Bryce Lawrence's apology for an incompetent performance at the WC the Boks must beat the AB's and beat them real good,Lawrence's apology just adds that little bit of extra motivation.

"But you do get the sense that much of the edge comes about through the role that a certain New Zealander played in forcing the Bok exit from last year’s World Cup. That referee Bryce Lawrence has subsequently apologised for a performance that in terms of sheer incompetence defied belief has only strengthened the South African view that “we wuz robbed”."

Go Bokke!

Denny no use harping on about the past my friend cause the AB's really dont give a damn what happened to us as with every NZer at the 2011 RWC. If we keep bringing it up then it is simply us carrying the pain not the kiwis.

How do you think we felt in 2007 when Barnes had a complete shocker and literally handed the game to the French  - we didnt give a rats arse we won the cup and let the kiwis bleed with pain so lets not fall into the same trap! 

Denny and radtad

I have always siad that the WC 2011 would never have been won by SA,   They tried to do the impossible by playing a team that was composed of players who should mostly have retired by 200910.   The Bryce Lawrence myth was a handy way to explain away the deficiencies in the team.   We all know that Lawrence was grossly incompetent - but if we had a decent team, that incompetence would not have been a factor.

It is past history and is of no consequence now.   In any event it would not be the first time that incompetent refereeing in theory cost a side the WC - so lets forget about that one and concentrate on the game tomorrow.

The game tomorrow is pertinent.    I have a funny feeeling that the outcome may be substantially different from what we expect it to be.   We have a fairly elderly team on the one side with lots of experience on the one side (average age 30 - 707 test caps) against a youngish and in many cases inexpereienced team (average age 25 - 435 test caps).  The All Blavks especially have some brilliant players in the team - while the Springboks have some promising youngsters as well.

The question really is - will experience and individual brilliance be on the day better than youthful excuberance and  .entusiasm?   Difficult to answer that one.   What can happen is that the All Blacks could win by a fairly large margin - or even that the Springboks could win by a surprising margin.

The All Blacks performances this year have not been consistent - brilliant games followed by less brilliant ones and just when you think  that after a brilliant game they are going to burn the opposition in the next match - they struggle again.     Unlike in the past - when most of their points came from scoring and converting tries, this year (prior to the game against Argentina) they scored 7 tries in 5 test matches.  Not really all that convincing at all.   Take another example in their home game against the Wallabies they scored two tries and won by 22 points.   In the home game of the Springboks against the Wallabies there were a bigger loss by the Wallabies and the Springboks scored 5 tries.    Granted that it could be argued by tthe Wallabies had a major injury problem that affected their performance drastically - but that does not really explain the difference in full.

There are a variety of  unaswered questions that needs to be taken into account which can only be answered in the game today, namely -

*   will the brilliance of the All Blacks against Argentina be repeated today or will it again be a brilliant game followed by a comparatively weaker performance; and

*   will expereience trump yourgful excuberance?

If the answer is yes they will repeat the brilliance shown in the Argentina game - and yes experience will be the key issue here - the All Blacks may win by a very substantially large margin than expected.   On the other hand - if the All Blacks run out of steam because of "Ye olde bones - Ye olde bones"  and the youthfful team gets the upper hand,  they can get a much bigger hiding than anybody would imagine as reasonable.   Most people think it is going to be a game with a small winning margin either way  - but it may be an entirely different outcome game.

As a loyal Springbok supporter I against all logic predict a 10+ victory for the Boks - but that is not based on logic - but on a sentimental basis.  

However, the above is what makes the test today so interesting.   A bad loss by the Springboks may enhance even further the rebuilding programme of the Springboks team and may lead to a completely different scenario on the process.   A bad loss by the All Blacks could mean the end of the international careers of some of their older players - which could only be of benefit to the All Blacks in the longer term 

In any event - the game today can also  confirm some of my pet theories of the impact of age on performances and injuries.  Theory is defnitely not my strong point - I believe the proof of the pudding lies in the eating - so lets wait and see whether my theory on this score is really a factor.

We will know within the next 16 hours what has happened and I hope that it will be a pleasant surprise to the Springbok supporters.

 Denny that's the most ridiculous comment I've ever heard. The ref fault, almost sound like an ozzie. We can go on and on let's just get this game on and see. Funny how much crap is being spoken about a test of no real consequences just brownie points. Fact is this test will be a distant memory come next year and another tournament begins.

My advice to boks sure try and salvage somthing from this ...lets face it just shocking tournament for boks current standing are 21 points to AB -Spingboks 12 points not really a close contest. This talk of cementing future I'm afraid I can't buy it a lot of things change over a summer and another year. BOKs will always be a great side they have ups and downs like all teams just need to work on consistency for a whole season home and away. 

Well said Deny.

Mike your post must rate as one of the dumbest ever posted!!!!!! Its a bit like ou windpomp trying to exonerate BL. Given an impartial competent ref we would have beaten Oz by at least 20. So please no more absolute rubbish on the issue. The BOK SIDE DID MORE THAN ENOUGH TO WIN COMFORTABLY.

The abs only beat a mediocre Friench side coutesy of Craig Joubert.  They outplayed this overated abs side by a comfortable amrgin. Sorry they burgled the WC.

End of story

 All Blacks just proved a point that they won the World Cup threw skill determination and fitness and combined with naturally gifted individuals. To Beeno AB won every game in WC were France stumbled and still ended up in final did not deserve the WC. Championship is testament that All Blacks are World champs for a reason they are the best SA are still far from it. Been1 need to look at game realistically Bok didn't have the experience to handle test hardened AB who can adapt to most situations and if game plan not working change it. 

 Mike absolutely made sense Beeno although I wish i could say the same for your rabid preTest ramble. Talking up your Team is one thing but demeaning the other Team will only lead to tears!

"The Bryce Lawrence myth was a handy way to explain away the deficiencies in the team.  I have a funny feeeling that the outcome may be substantially different from what we expect it to be." very insightful man Mike is!

the best thing about this All Blacks win other then the obvious is that denny, redsman and requiscat are now absoloutely miserable as the All Blacks continue their winning ways, so boys how do u like them apples, i dont mind sticking this victory in ur faces, u sad ass clowns, LMAO.

thanks again All Blacks for continuing my good times while making sarugbys 3 stooges even sadder then they already were,,,,,,oh and BTW go the pumas, need to go to sleep now, but im still quite buzzed from the All Blacks win, 5mins of watching the wallabies play rugby will take care of that though, lolz,,,,,,, yaaaaaawwwwwnn, oh damn, just thinking about the wallabies mkaes me tired, :oP