Rugby Championship 2013

[Devill]

Yip. But as Albereth said, they would have been a little cautious since he hasn't played international rugby in a while. But hopefully he'll get more time on Saturday.

FdP is only available for the SA home games, thus he is not available for the weekend's game in Arg.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

FdP is only available for the SA home games, thus he is not available for the weekend's game in Arg.

Oh balls, forgot about that. Well, in the next domestic game then.

What do you think of Cobus Reinach?

 

[Devill]

Oh balls, forgot about that. Well, in the next domestic game then.

What do you think of Cobus Reinach?

I think he needs a bit of experience in the kicking game, and perhaps he needs to become slightly more spatially aware but I do think that he can become a major contender for the Bok no. 9 jersey. It is also to his advantage to play behind one of the better packs of forwards and inside the second choice flyhalf for the boks.

With him and Piet van Zyl I think we can look forward to the Bok no 9 jersey not losing quality in the next decade

 

[OrbitalDawn]

I think he needs a bit of experience in the kicking game, and perhaps he needs to become slightly more spatially aware but I do think that he can become a major contender for the Bok no. 9 jersey. It is also to his advantage to play behind one of the better packs of forwards and inside the second choice flyhalf for the boks.

With him and Piet van Zyl I think we can look forward to the Bok no 9 jersey not losing quality in the next decade

Yep, agreed on all points.

I think Australia has had it the best the last couple of years. Moving from Gregan to Genia has given them a lot of consistency. The ABs have never really had a no. 9 on that level, but they're making more consistent progress with Aaron Smith and Kerr-Barlow that we are.

 

[Devill]

Yep, agreed on all points.

I think Australia has had it the best the last couple of years. Moving from Gregan to Genia has given them a lot of consistency. The ABs have never really had a no. 9 on that level, but they're making more consistent progress with Aaron Smith and Kerr-Barlow that we are.

Yeah the aussies have also been lucky that Genia has not suffered a long injury stint or loss of form.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Much better showing from the Aussies so far, but wow, what class from Ben Smith, Luatua, Dagg etc.

 

[sand_man]

Much better showing from the Aussies so far, but wow, what class from Ben Smith, Luatua, Dagg etc.

Was a good game. Miles away from the rubbish I am currently watching.

 

[BobsLawnService]

My God, Steve Walsh is a rubbish ref. In one case a bok almost gets his eye gouged out and in the other Etsbeth gets cannibalized and Walsh just ignores it.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

I don't buy Etzebeth's plea of innocence, tbh. He's always been dirty.

Pretty terrible performance all round from the Boks.

 

[emptybruwer]

What a boring game

 

[sand_man]

That was a crap performance from the Boks.

I think the physicality Eben brings is exactly what this team lacks. We seen it when Scotland came at us, when the Samoans came at us in the World Cup and tonight the Argentineans. When there's a team that fronts up and niggles and harasses us we can't discipline them. By discipline I mean out muscle them.

 

[sand_man]

Nik Mallet bares a striking resemblance to Frankenstein.

 

[visrot]

Nik Mallet bares a striking resemblance to Frankenstein.

Naas Botha bares a striking resemblance to Leon Schuster

 

[visrot]

My question; why did Arg have SO much possession?

 

[OrbitalDawn]

My question; why did Arg have SO much possession?

Because we were weak at the breakdown and set pieces.

 

[sand_man]

My question; why did Arg have SO much possession?

Why not?

11 handling errors, a dozen aimless kicks, that's 23 turnovers of possession. I don't recall the Boks taking the ball through more than 5 phases at any stage tonight.

 

[visrot]

Because we were weak at the breakdown and set pieces.

Thank you. Now why were we weak at the breakdowns, loose malls etc? Pressure? If it was pressure, how the heck did we get ourselves in that position?

 

[sand_man]

Because we were weak at the breakdown and set pieces.

Incorrect, we dominated the set pieces, line outs and scrums (2 tight heads, a number of free kicks and penalty).

 

[sand_man]

We a one trick pony.

Breach the oppositions defense in 3 phases or less, failing which kick an up and under and hope for the best.

Last week the Argentinians weren't up for it and we were able to crack them by that 3rd phase, this week they came to play and we were found wanting.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Incorrect, we dominated the set pieces, line outs and scrums (2 tight heads, a number of free kicks and penalty).

Gurthro gave away a penalty in the first scrum he was in. We lost at least 2 line outs for no real reason. We were better than they were in the set pieces, but not good enough.

Thank you. Now why were we weak at the breakdowns, loose malls etc? Pressure? If it was pressure, how the heck did we get ourselves in that position?

Yes, there was a lot of pressure as a result of Argentina's forward being way more aggressive than ours. Did you see Juandre Kruger get put on his ass by the 2 locks? Our players had no real backup from support runners to secure the ball. Alberts breaks, Etzebeth and Kruger aren't there in time to clean out properly.

I think Argentina played a lot better than last week, but we also just didn't assert ourselves properly. It's an age old problem for SA. If the game isn't going our way we struggle to get back into it properly and get on top.

I don't know if you watched this morning's game between NZ and Aus, but the Wallabies had the momentum early on and looked very solid, but the All Blacks remained calm, and orchestrated their fight back very methodically. They backed themselves, trusted each player to do what they had to do and it paid off.