RSA v Samoa - 9 June 2007

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MielieSpoor

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So the Boks will play Samoa at the Ever so good (for the boks) Ellispark on Saturday.

The Boks will host a very strong and competitive Samoa side and will be fielding 9 changes on Saturday.

I think this will be the Boks' first real test of the season and I think the timing is perfect as it will be a week before the start of the tri-nations.

Referee Appointments:
South Africa vs Samoa in Johannesburg
Referee: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Touch judges: Hugh Watkins (Wales), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official: Ed Murray (Scotland)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

So what is your opinion?
 
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Does anyone know what happened to Habana??:confused:
will he recover in time for tri-nations?
cos that poses a threat for the quota system....:(
 
Petersen should slot in at left wing without too many problems... the only info on Habana's injury is that he will be out for a month, but that doesn't seem to have been confirmed.
I'm hoping the game isn't too scrappy, lots of new combinations in the team.
 
He will be out for about a month and will mis the home leg of the 3 nations. He will only be considered if there is chance of SA to win the 3 nations on the away leg.
 
It is going to be a cracking test match and a fantastic opportunity for the Springboks to test their depth as they field a vastly changed side.
The opposition will be as hard as nails as always.

Can't wait! :)
 
Habana needs a rest anyway...he is way more important for the world cup than to rush him through therapy only to get injured again..he can create something out of nothing..

I hope Jake keeps the continuity going, its fine and well to give a couple of new guys a run-in, but if it aint broke,why fix it? Rather play the best players according to the situation...

It's going to be tough upfront for sure! Maybe give Victor or Bakkies a rest and play AJ or Muller...Pedrie is always a good option (Smith took a hard knock) Gary played his heart out...reward him with a start.

In the back line we miss du Preez...Enrico looks sloppy on the ball, but shows signs of improvement...Pienaar has played two blinders coming from the bench, why not give him a start?

In the backline replace Olivier (looked out of place and shaky) with Murray(how else is he going to get experience?) Steyn/Pieterse on the wing I guess..I would keep the rest.

I would play positional rugby, keep them in their half and force them to run at us out of their own half, while putting pressure on them to make mistakes.

Sa to win by 20 points.
 
I agree about keeping the continuity but I guess has no choice but to rest a few players. Some of them have been playing every week for months. Against Samoa is the only chance to look at other backup combo's etc. I also agree about Olivier, he really had a bad day at the office! Will be good to see Murray at 13 but in the end, I can't wait to see De Villiers and Fourie in tandem again, they're definitely our best combo.
Pienaar should start at 9 while Du Preez is injured, not Enrico.
The only downside about the Samoa game is that they are notorious for their horror borderline tackles; hope we don't pick up serious injuries because of it.
 
I hope they give this guy a rest: John Smit

We don't need him giving the ball to other teams in the line outs anymore :mad: :mad: :mad:
The 2 games against England we lost to many line-outs when he just gave the ball to the other team :mad: :mad:

Plzzz play Gary Botha, he is much beter for our line outs...
 
Boss, I need to watch the game again but I get the feeling that there was a conscious effort not to use the 2 main lock as jumpers in the lineouts during the England series, especially during the first half of last weeks game.
They were throwing to the back a lot more than usual and we did loose some ball, or maybe it was the beer talking :D
 
The teams
Springboks - 15 Frans Steyn, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Wayne Julies, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Bob Skinstad, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Albert van den Berg, 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (2), 1 Os du Randt.
Subs: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Johann Muller, 19 Pedrie Wannenburg, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Percy Montgomery.

Samoa - 15-Gavin Williams; 14-Lome Fa’atau, 13-Anitelela Tuilagi, 12-Seilala Mapusua, 11-Alesana Tuilagi; 10-Loki Crichton, 9-Steven So’oalo; 8-Semo Sititi (c), 7-Justin Purdie, 6-Daniel Leo, 5-Filipo Levi, 4-Kane Thompson, 3-Census Johnston, 2-Mahonri Schwalger, 1-Justin Va’a.
Subs: 16-Muliufi Salanoa, 17-Donald Kerslake, 18-Iosefa Tekori, 19-Alfie Vaeluaga, 20-Junior Poluleuligaga, 21-Elvis Sevealii, 22-David Levi.
Click to expand...
A nice article
http://www.keo.co.za/2007/06/06/jake-juggles-for-samoa-clash/


13 replacements and that is still a cracking Bok side don't you think? Awesome :)
Julies and Murray, getting a crack at it, how crucial will they be in midfield against the hard running backs of Samoa? Lots of other players in the starting 15 out to prove a point to Jake and the public. Samoa will be solid opposition as always.
It should be a great game
 
Well so much for continuity!!! My only gripe is Ruan on the bench, I really feel he needs a start on performance alone...quota's anyone??? How can you start Murray (no offense I think he is a talented player) without having him on as a sub first? Surely he could have come on for olivier last saturday in the final 20min or so???

Nice to see Pedrie back on the bench though...good to see him back in the picture..

Hope this strategy doesn't backfire though...and don't get me started on Watson. Oh how I wish he gets nailed hard for using political ties to squeeze is sorry ass in the Bok team..

I personally think he's not big enough, or good enough on the ground, or even that good of a ball carrier..watch how many turnovers Samoa will get, should be interesting!!

What can I say more...good luck and go Boks
 
Now here is an interesting statistic

The backs chosen to face Samoa have played in a total of only 50 test matches, with scrumhalf Ricky Januarie and wing Ashwin Willemse contributing 17 and 13 of those respectively.
Click to expand...

:eek: That is intense! Can't wait to see how we fair.
 
James, there are so many people out to make a name it is insanely interesting.

If you go back a year or 2, only the All Blacks could realistically field 2 full world class sides if they had to. On paper that Bok side oozes talent and class and Jake and his team should take a bow.

I think Jake has taken a lot of flak but he has kept some of these players very close to the main team and most of them are hardened super14 players.
A pretty darn good mix of new talent together with a good group of very experienced players. It has the makings of a really great team.
I dont want to be overly confident but I reckon they can really dominate if they gel as a team together.
 
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incaseofire said:
...and don't get me started on Watson. Oh how I wish he gets nailed hard for using political ties to squeeze is sorry ass in the Bok team..
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? Watson didn't use his political ties; he obviously didn't select himself. The government and the SARU management used Watson's family history as an excuse to select him to prove a political point.

I personally would not have picked Watson as part of the Springbok group because I believe the Burger/Rossouw/Smith or Burger/Spies/Smith combos are better. But I do support the Springbok rugby team and that means everybody in the team. At the same time I completely disagree with how Watson was selected. I won't be surprised if he plays well though; he did have a good S14 and was player of the series last year too. So it's not like he's a hopeless case, he just doesn't fit into White's plans, which I respect.

I actually feel sorry for both coach Jake White and Watson because White never selected him and Watson didn't select himself, so now you have this strange situation where both have to work together at training camps which probably must have been uncomfortable at first... and it was all because of government backhand tactics. I get stomach cramps everytime government interferes in sport!

With 13 changes that's still a very good side and it's the only chance for White to test a few combo's before the tougher games against Aus & NZ come up. All the best to the Boks tomorrow.
 
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Globetrotter said:
What are you talking about? Watson didn't use his political ties; he obviously didn't select himself. The government and the SARU management used Watson's family history as an excuse to select him to prove a political point.
Click to expand...

Watson used the media to his full advantage in the wake of the intervention by the presidency.
I will go further and say the whole thing was planned well in advance, motivated by the Stofile's and Yeye with Watson's by in. He is sitting firmly on one side of the fence, not on it.
 
So the test happened and the Boks won as was suspected.

I have always said it - maybe not on this forum but I have - Luke Watson is overated. He had absolutely no impact on the game! He was useless to say the least. He made an endless amount of mistakes and I think he should hand his jersey back!

There are only a few players worth mentioning in that test. The most obvious is man of the match Derick Hougaard. He played a super game! He created opportunities and has transformed a crap game from the boks to something exiting to look at.

Didn't think I'll ever say this, but I think Bob Schmob played well. He was everywhere and did everything that was expected from him - keep it up!

Onther one I never thought on congradulating for a good performance! I hate this bloke and wish they can just get rid of him, but he played a good game today and was awarded with a try...John Smit. Maybe he just looked good because apart from Derick, he was the second best player on the field.

Old Frans Steyn made the usual heep of blunders, but he did about two things good and got a try...He still has got a lot to learn but maybe he will make it to the top oneday.

I think Danie Ressouw also needs mentioning. He did what was expected but also gave a performance slightly below par, but still he looked good.

Jacques Fourie made an immidiate diffirance alongside Derick when he came up. With him, Ruan Pienaar joined in and the three of them created some very good play.

Still I think Derick was bounds and leeps ahead of the rest of the team and he deffinatly is in a class of his own!!!

Well done guys...you did this country proud in showing us that there is backup!! I think todays team can win an All Black side if they played together long enough!

There was an immediate connection between the player of this team, something that was lacking the two previous weeks. I think this should ring alarm bells for Jake!!

Now its time for the Big one down under in Cape Town again the Aussies. Now I can say - I really look forward to that game as we have seen this weekend to what we are capable of...

Rugby Greetings,
 
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