more than just 80 minutes
Springboks
sarugby.com
Boks need to show improvement
Monday, November 16
Submit
The midweek game between the Springboks and Saracens at Wembley on Tuesday night is taking on added importance as a nightmare start to the tour has the Boks' backs up against the wall.
A number of factors and reasons for the poor showing in Toulouse have been raised in the wake of the disappointing defeat. Whether you believe it is the gruelling season and resulting fatigue, the butchered anthem, the loss of De Villiers, Steyn and Spies and the performance of their replacements, the lack of a plan B, the refereeing of Wayne Barnes or a combination of all of the above it's plain to see that Dewald Potgieter's men need to restore some battered pride and turn the morale around in London tomorrow night.
The come up against a Saracens side in the midst of a remarkable rise that has seen them move out of mid-table obscurity to sit atop the Guinness Premiership.
The South African consortium SAIL - led by businessman Johann Rupert - invested in a 50 percent share of the club last year and this has seen around 13 South African born players and coaches head to London to represent the club nicknamed SAracens in the English media.
Brendan Venter's coaching has dramatically improved the North London side and, along with the influx of players and investment, has seen them make a meteoric rise this season.
"I saw the opening match this season at Twickenham and the Wembley game against Northampton," Francois Pienaar told the Independent (UK) about his former club. "Brendan Venter as coach has worked hard on getting the team to play for one another. They fight for every blade of grass, and they are winning close encounters – it's almost as if they refuse to lose."
It all sounds fairly ominous for the Boks after their abject performance against a second string Leicester team and the battering that the French game them on Friday night.
The side named for tomorrow night's game has a new look front row in Wian du Preez, Adriaan Strauss and CJ van der Linde. All three of them - along with reserve Heinke van der Merwe - are known for their strong scrummaging and this area shouldn't give the same problems as it did at Welford Road 10 days ago.
The lock pairing of Danie Rossouw and Andries Bekker both have plenty to prove after two off-colour performances on tour. With both Matfield and Botha candidates for a rest against Italy the form of the back-up lock pairing is a real concern - one that will need to be corrected quickly.
Loose forwards Dewald Potgieter, Jean Deysel and Ashley Johnson all have a chance to stake a claim for a Test match spot after Schalk Burger limped off in Toulouse (prognosis still unknown at this stage) and Ryan Kankowski's horror showing.
The centre pairing is another combination that catches the eye. A high impact performance from Juan de Jongh and Wynand Olivier could see them force their way into the selectors thoughts for both the Italy test and the following week against Ireland.
At flyhalf Ruan Pienaar needs to put his nightmare in Leicester behind him and show his credentials with a strong showing. His ability to get the line away could help bring the back three into the game and all three of the last line of defence need to get more involved on attack and make their presence felt.
The Springboks simply can't afford another stuttering display at Wembley tomorrow night. If the new captain can motivate his charges - and the wounded squad won't need to much motivation - to come out firing against the home team and lead them to a convincing win it could be the catalyst for them to go on and beat Italy and Ireland in convincing fashion.
Springboks: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Dewald Potgieter (capt), 6 Jean Deysel, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Reserves: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Riaan Viljoen.
Login / Register
user poll
Who will win the Varsity Cup?
Results Votes: 420  |
Designed and Implemented by DigIT Solutions
All content supplied by SARugby.com
Photographs supplied by Gallo Images/Getty Images.
All logos and trademarks are the property of their respective owner.
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest © 2005 Fat Pig Productions CC The logos and trademarks used on this site are the property of their respective owners We are not responsible for comments posted by our users, as they are the property of the poster Advertise with SARugby.com | Legal Notices |
 |
t play much this year but he was the best prop in the country last year. This team does look better than the last dirt trackers team, but I think this game has become HUGE, because if we loose that'll be 3 in a row, and there is no explaining your way out of that.
Come on boys, restore some pride.
For the back-row, Johnson and Deysel should play for the Boks against Italy, with Brussow. Potgieter will probably be chosen, because he seems to be favored by team management despite not showing good form the last few weeks.
Lastly, I think Viljoen deserves a chance at fullback with the run-on team, with Rose on the bench.
I was actually at the leicester game and the first try that leicester scored was the back three fault.
I could actually see Earl not wanting to tackle the guy and completely putting himself in the wrong position. He almost ran away from the guy and crabbed to the sideline hoping to force the guy out over the touch line.
This is actually a dam good side on paper.
Deysel in from the start is a huge improvement over that wishbone Raubenheimer and I actually have confidence in this front-row, CJ looked strong in the scrums against France although he probably should've been brought on for John instead & Strauss and Wian is solid, so I'm tipping them to win it.
The Boks have done more for South Africa this year than any other sporting code and they lose a couple of games and it is the end of the world for everyone.
These guys have won everything they are now tired, as always the end of the year tour means nothing. It is a time to see new young players and try a few new things.
I like most was p1ssed of on Friday but look at the big picture, we are going to have to go threw some changes before the next world cup, no one out there is going to like all the changes that happen from now until then.
Get behind these guys even more so the younger guys because they are going to make mistakes there is a lot of pressure on them but it will even be tougher if everyone is baying for there blood. Take a guy like Kanko and Wynand these guys are good players but every time they get threw to the boks starting line up everyone is telling them this is there chance if they don’t do it now they never will, I mean kanko never drops a ball and then 5 times in one game because everyone is like this is his one and only chance.
Get behind these guys new and old
PDV should've just selected a few more on form players who were left at hom, e.g. Mapoe, Pietersen, Stegmann, W Blaauw, Vermeulen, Swanepoel, Lions 8th man (sorry I can't remember his name) etc. and then he should've let them give it their best shot. Even if they would've lost then so what, at least those guys would've gotten valuable experience & our top guys would've been fully rested for next season & ready to go.
Unfortunately, now the whole country has gone off it & are suddenly bashing the very same guys who, only a few months ago, beat the All Blacks 3 games in a row & won the Tri-Nations after beating the B & I Lions. These guys are obviously fatigued or maybe not as focused and honestly, can we really blame them?! Most of them are from the Bulls who've won three major trophies this year & the Sharks who've had a tough season as well.
Everyone bashing the boks should just breathe and take this for what it is...the boks didn't suddenly become bad, they're just experiencing a bit of a slump after a tremendous year, which is only natural!
Go Bokke, we still love & support you!
At the moment we have 15 excellent test players, however a few key injuries and we're in trouble. There are a number of very able replacements available, but they're not getting game time. And when they do get a rare start, they find it difficult to integrate into the team.
You're saying that if we want Johnson instead of Kanko we're not supporting the boks? If we want Wian in instead of Beast we're not supporting the boks?
I don't get your point.
Firstly stop being such a shark hater this is about the Boks..
My point is if it was left up to some people we would be changing the team every year. Kanko hasn’t just had one good game he is a good play, the Beast has had some amazing games for the boks but has played in most of the games this year. Its like saying Wynand is a cr@p player because he has never had a good games for the Boks, if he could some how take his form from club level he would be great and I feel with a lot of these players they need to be given more of a chance. Jake white showed us how that can work if you stick with the players you know have the ability, show faith in them and most, most will come threw.
Support these guys and lets have faith, look how much we have done this year already
In other games in which he'd subbed Spies so far this year he's had little to NO impact whatsoever and even in Super 14/Currie Cup games he's had the tendency to lose the ball quite a lot in tight/physical games. Spies is just plain better than Kanko and the fact that Kanko can make a few breaks isn't enough anymore.
I also thought that he was going to become the next Bobby Skinstad, but the clear difference between the two is that Bobby was bigger and didn't give up anything in terms of physicality, whilst Kanko is just coming accross as weak, I mean he got bullied man!!!
Ashley Johnson had a phenomenal Currie Cup & had a blinder in a tough game against Leicester, so he fully deserves a shot against Italy & actually for that matter even against Ireland.
Give the guys a chance this is the first tour were he has been give a full go, last game for him was bad and he dropped a lot of balls but he was everywhere and that is what is expected of him.
A player's first season is normally one of his best... until everyone works him out. Johnson's time will come.
1.wicus blaauw
2.adriaan strauss
3.cj van der linde
4.steven sykes
5.andries bekker
6.deon stegmann
7.jean deysel
8.willem alberts
9.francois houghaard
10.j l potgieter
11.gerhard van den heever
12.riaan swanepoel
13.juan de jongh
14.lionel mapoe
15.joe pietersen
the 22 that is starting is fine apart from the back three, ruan not being a 10, and rossouw not a second row!!!
don't think the side is bad at all, guys just need to step up.
From the moment of selections, there has been a negative vibe
about the tour - let them play and bite your tounges for a while
Strong front-row; balanced back-row with stegmann actually being a far better fetcher than Potgieter (I would start Johnson though & bring Alberts of the bench); a really promising combination in Hougaard & J.L. Potgieter, who's currently the second best flyhalf in the country based on form; and a back-line full of creativity and unpredictability.
A bench I would like to see for that team is:
16. Tiaan Liebenberg
17. WP Nel
18. Anton van Zyl (also good enough to be in starting line-up)
19. Francois Louw
20. Sarel Potgieter
21. Monty Dumond
22. Tondi Chavanga
The problem with our team though is that it is too white, politicians would die! If you start Johnson instead of Alberts then it would look somewhat better, but still not good enough. The only reason for this extended group isn't to better our depth, but instead to appease the almighty politicians in our country.