The Rugby Thread - Part Deux

Blix3m

Deep breath, hold... Hold... Aaand release

That was one hell of a test mach, sjoh sjohm

I went from surprise to full panic to seems all is lost... Only at 65 minutes did I start noticing the calm relentless certainty of our our sude, to the finish.

I really do genuinely feel for the arginetunes, tiday, the previous 3 losses against us on their home turf, and the nation as as whole in the last century....

Ja dit is maar Swaar ou Swaer.
 
It was a strange game.

Boks were terribly inaccurate for pretty much the entire game, barring their defense, which I thought was superb. Kept Tina scoreless for 71 minutes. That doesn't happen everyday. Their press defense was good and they scrambled well when required.

Our tactical kicking (and we did a lot of it), was unusually inaccurate with most of our contestables over hit or straight up. Apparently the wind was gusting in the stadium and it caught us out on numerous occasions. Tina must have marked close to half a dozen kicks.

Lineouts were good, Lood is a weapon and it was good to see him and Eben back. Both are critical for our RGR prospects! Eben put in a solid 80 minute shift. Happy for him! Single handedly, other than winning, the biggest positive to take from the fixture.

Siya limping off after 24 minutes is very worrying. Paul de Villiers is looking more and more likely to start the first test. Good for him, a shame for Siya.

Cobus and Sacha both looked like they were playing with concrete boots on, slow and sluggish. Sacha, for me, is looking more and more like a inside centre. Quite a selfish player, tries to do too much on his own, distribution skills not up there with the best, loves to take contact, good defensively. He'd be a fantastic 12. Don't get me wrong, at either 10 or 12 or 15, he is a match winner but how many times did Ethan Hooker or Edwill touch the ball from backline play? Barely ever, if at all.

Andre and Canan didn't fire at centre, Andre's concussion another major concern. He's integral to the balance of the squad, given his hybrid qualities. Canan, Fassi same whatsapp group, 2 very promising players, 2 players lacking confidence. I wouldn't write either of them off...

Cam Hannekom definitely player of the match. Took a massive step closer to becoming the Boks No. 2 8th man. Rassie loves Jasper. Jasper will be his No. 1 until he retires...

Anyway, Grobbies had a decent game too, Thomas and Boan hardly featured. Scrums not the weapon we were expecting cause there weren't many. Porthen and Jan-Hendrick injected some much needed energy in the last 20... Eskom was good for the 60 minutes he was on. Nothing flash, just a hard, honest shift... BJ another tough as teak loosie come lock. These multi positional players are really part and parcel of the modern game and essential when balancing the match day 23.

Tina were impressive, all things said and done. Went toe to toe up front and defended impeccably. Given they were missing the services of 6 or 7 of the their 1st choice players, that's a helluva good effort.

Anyway, Sharks on Tuesday and judging by the respective squads named, it is literally lambs to the slaughter. What we will hope for is the Sharks to at least match the physicality, bruise a few egos, test a few hamstrings, put some mileage/damage on a few AB test prospects.

PS the French, England, Ireland and Georgian U18 squads are in town.

SA 'A' beat Ireland 32-31 and SA beat France 59-7!! Yes, 59-7!! Unbelievable results!!
 
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Very poor Bok performance on Saturday. Granted, the whole team was changed and for a few players it was their first game of the season. The upsetting thing was all that fruitless/aimless kicking. Where the hell was Tony-ball ? It might be a blessing in disguise to scrap a tight win. Might need that against the AB's. Hope Siya and Andre's injuries are not too serious.
Sharks v ABs tonight but with so many injuries and unavailable players I think we might see a cricket score.
 
sand_man said:
It was a strange game.

Boks were terribly inaccurate for pretty much the entire game, barring their defense, which I thought was superb. Kept Tina scoreless for 71 minutes. That doesn't happen everyday. Their press defense was good and they scrambled well when required.

Our tactical kicking (and we did a lot of it), was unusually inaccurate with most of our contestables over hit or straight up. Apparently the wind was gusting in the stadium and it caught us out on numerous occasions. Tina must have marked close to half a dozen kicks.

Lineouts were good, Lood is a weapon and it was good to see him and Eben back. Both are critical for our RGR prospects! Eben put in a solid 80 minute shift. Happy for him! Single handedly, other than winning, the biggest positive to take from the fixture.

Siya limping off after 24 minutes is very worrying. Paul de Villiers is looking more and more likely to start the first test. Good for him, a shame for Siya.

Cobus and Sacha both looked like they were playing with concrete boots on, slow and sluggish. Sacha, for me, is looking more and more like a inside centre. Quite a selfish player, tries to do too much on his own, distribution skills not up there with the best, loves to take contact, good defensively. He'd be a fantastic 12. Don't get me wrong, at either 10 or 12 or 15, he is a match winner but how many times did Ethan Hooker or Edwill touch the ball from backline play? Barely ever, if at all.

Andre and Canan didn't fire at centre, Andre's concussion another major concern. He's integral to the balance of the squad, given his hybrid qualities. Canan, Fassi same whatsapp group, 2 very promising players, 2 players lacking confidence. I wouldn't write either of them off...

Cam Hannekom definitely player of the match. Took a massive step closer to becoming the Boks No. 2 8th man. Rassie loves Jasper. Jasper will be his No. 1 until he retires...

Anyway, Grobbies had a decent game too, Thomas and Boan hardly featured. Scrums not the weapon we were expecting cause there weren't many. Porthen and Jan-Hendrick injected some much needed energy in the last 20... Eskom was good for the 60 minutes he was on. Nothing flash, just a hard, honest shift... BJ another tough as teak loosie come lock. These multi positional players are really part and parcel of the modern game and essential when balancing the match day 23.

Tina were impressive, all things said and done. Went toe to toe up front and defended impeccably. Given they were missing the services of 6 or 7 of the their 1st choice players, that's a helluva good effort.

Anyway, Sharks on Tuesday and judging by the respective squads named, it is literally lambs to the slaughter. What we will hope for is the Sharks to at least match the physicality, bruise a few egos, test a few hamstrings, put some mileage/damage on a few AB test prospects.

PS the French, England, Ireland and Georgian U18 squads are in town.

SA 'A' beat Ireland 32-31 and SA beat France 59-7!! Yes, 59-7!! Unbelievable results!!
Click to expand...

Can't say I agree on the doom n gloom scope.

To me, the Boks played to a specific gameplan which was more about ticking boxes than result. Reinarch though, was certainly off his game and appears didn't adapt well to conditions.

As for Sacha, to me, it was all about stress testing that ankle after injury, explaining the scope of his play. Eben getting full 80s as well as stress testing the defensive structure ahead of ABs series.

Alot of questions got answered, the execution and whatnot I don't see much to be worried about, all things can be worked on before 1st test against ABs.

Overall, positive outcome, with the only real concerns being injuries to Siya and others during the game.

"In Rassie we trust" but I seriously do not understand the continued pushing of Fassi at 15 at this point tbh.
 
Relax everyone!

1786433206488.gif

That was a wtf are we doing here aka waste of time test match.

I’m sure Rassie is happy it’s over and now can focus on the real tour.

90 % of that team are non starters vs the AB and some returnees.

Faith ! Keep the faith.
 
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