South Africa’s opening match in the 2009 Tri-Nations is in Bloemfontein against the mighty All Blacks.
Will the re-united centre pairing of Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie prove the difference, as so many pundits are predicting?
Or will the All Blacks extend their unbeaten run in Bloemfontein to three matches?
kick-off is at 17h00 SA time.
Teams
South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (captain), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Wynand Olivier
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Joe Rokocoko , 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Rodney So’oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Cory Jane
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
Springboks all the way! GO BOKKE!!!!!!!!!!
I might miss the game today. Eish!
@wpw (Comment 2) : what has your wife planned this week?
what time is the Griekwas and Lions games??
Its a Saturday, where is everyone, not even Supersport or SA Rugby has any score updates for the CC matches
i’m here. They’ve just aborted currie cup coverage altogether today
Hello chaps…nerves getting to me. Let’s hope our boys play sensibly.
ok Griekwas beat Boland 33-0
its our year for the Koppie, tata all blanks!
SOUTH AFRICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!
go Boks
stupid, Jean
Awwww come on JdV.
Stepping into chaser’s line. Donald takes it.
0-3
0 – 3
that was such a dive by roko – he should play soccer
Damn! The okes are psyched!
steyn levels up from 50m
@robdylan (Comment 12) : but really stupid by jdv
Hmmmm. Roland’s normally good but not sure about that penalty. Says Thorn isn’t rolling away.
Steyn up from halfway…
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OVER!!!
3-3
Frans steyn for president!
FS has a shite average – but most of his kicks are impossible.. I will take half of all impossible kicks!
best 13 in the world misses a sitter of a tackle
LOL Brussouw is a ferret!!
@robdylan (Comment 22) : mawhahah making that type of comment sets you up for being ragged
rod pinged for a high tackle
High tackle penalty.
Ruan up 35m out, 15 from the right touch line.
Off the left post…
pinie hits the post
Gotta feel for ruan…just doesn’t seem to be able to his kicking right.
another opportunity
Leonard offides (sorta accidental)
Ruan from in front.
OFF THE RIGHT POST!!!
here we go again
and another miss. The Morné Steyn fans are gonna love this
expect no kicks from Ruan to be over today
Donald at goal for offside but it’s short.
we need to get these kicks.. those were sitters
has the Lions and Leopards played yet, cant find the score anywhere
Come on Ruan man…
ABs get a team warning for slowing down the ball.
dirty blacks!
blacks given a team warning now
I am in love with allan rolland…never seen a ref give the ab’s what for.
6 -3
Ruan from the same place he missed the first and now he makes sure!
6-3
@Just a Fan (Comment 41) : richie to get a yellow.. make my day
@Just a Fan (Comment 41) : Easy boy!
NICE DRIVE BY BEAST!!
best number 13 in the world knocks on
best 13 in the world is a bit average…
@robdylan (Comment 47) : u sound like try time
Promising play ended with a knockon but ROlland calls advantage gone and Rocoocko puts it out on the full.
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 49) : certainly does.
boks are actually looking good
Meisiekind and another are sitting watching the game inside the AB goal area.
you can’t make a tackle from off your feet!
@beez (Comment 52) : Agreed.
biz lucky to get away with a dodgy tackle
@beez (Comment 52) : thats coz they are good
@robdylan (Comment 54) : Chuck Norris aka Jaque Fourie can…
Spies is incredible. Barging runs.
I’m smelling a penalty try soon.
@klempie (Comment 58) : dont insult mr Chuck
smit is not human!
@klempie (Comment 55) : nothing pretty just crash bash. but works for us.
J div what a legend!!!
ru in the corner!
@beez (Comment 62) : He’s having a blunder!
RUAN IN THE CORNER!!!! YOU GO BOY!!
You’ll never see a try like that from MS.
Go sharks..um I mean Boks..ruan for vice presidents!
Yeah!!!
@robdylan (Comment 61) : remember that Spartan(300) advert for the world cup 2007
11 3 as the kick is missed
Conversion missed.
Need to keep attacking now.. too often boks try defend a lead rather than build on it
what a name for a hooker.. hore.. brillaint
best 5 in the world should pass to his own teammates rather
@beez (Comment 72) : plus one
We’re the better team…let’s score another try…
Penalty offsides.
Frans taking it cos Ruan is injured.
14 3. Steyn penalty
@klempie (Comment 77) : Ruan is still on the field trying to run off whatever the problem is.
Can I just take this moment to say that we are ALL OVER THEM!!!!
Best 13 in the world off his feet. Too far for poles.
best 13 in the world penalised for going off his feet
@robdylan (Comment 82) : Slow coach.
jdv is a champ
Leonard does a Matfield and passes to JdV.
bakkies just held that poor ab up like a plush toy
bis having a huge game on defence
We are turning the ball over AT WILL!!
Penalty. Ruan stepping up.
RP is really kicking like an idiot
Pienaar…eish boy 9 points!
@klempie (Comment 88) : The trend continues…
@blackshark (Comment 90) : 11
good half!! wish we got the kicks
Let’s kill this game already!!!
Klemps 92- Oh yeah 11…
only blemish on an otherwise flawless half was Ruan’s 4 missed kicks. And some ordinary play from b13iw
i’m worried about the infamous all blacks last 20. We need about 20 more points
@robdylan (Comment 97) : To be honest bro, while I agree they have that rep, I just don’t see them doing it unless WE switch off. They’re nowhere right now. I’m actually pretty surprised.
Whoohooo…bit of flesh in the changing rooms. Don’t worry klempie – ek is a meisie.:)
@Just a Fan (Comment 99) : LOL! Is daar ‘n rede jy moes dit vir my blykbaar maak?
steyn coming out at flyhalf
Ruan is off wih a foot injury but he’s walking around on it so can’t be serious. Liefling fans get their wish. Hope for his sake he don’t lose…
and the new man has a shot
17-3
Over….
Forgive me for not getting too excited about it.
17-3
Sucks how they pointed the camera at RP…in our own country…uncalled for… good kick morne…
another miss by you know who
scrums are a bit crap
@klempie (Comment 98) : Yep, remember the first Lions test…..
Lieflinf misses a crucial tackle and it results in a try by Conrad.
pienaar has painted himself ingels by joining the Sharks. The faithful will never forgive that
Fuck…Smith just dissected the Bok defence…
@klempie (Comment 102) : prophetic comment.. smith just bumped of morne
we need to switch it back on
we’re within 5 minutes of losing this test. Watch
17 13 now
Donald makes it 17 – 13
@robdylan (Comment 115) : negative nellie
@robdylan (Comment 114) : We need Ruan for that. MS can kick but he’s a flyhalf’s arse.
Habs chasing well…
Oh I forgot. We have Mechanic to look forward to.
Must say, Rolland’s verbals are somewhat confusing.
boks looking clueless without pienaar
Penalty for going over the top.
MS puts it over.
20-13
20-13
More decent ball for the backs please…
Tip and run my Bis from the kickoff but it bbounces out.
@blackshark (Comment 126) : I’ll send a memo to BBRU.
best 13 knocks a high ball
jf been a bit below average
pardon me……. How many tries has been scored thus far by each team
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 131) : 1 each
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 131) : 1 each.
Oh no. The “metres gained” graphic is back.
@beez (Comment 132) : @klempie (Comment 133) : thank u
spies’s control at the back of the scrum is shocking
Penalty hands in the ruck.
Donald over.
17-16….hummm
@klempie (Comment 136) :
20-16
JS off for blood. Other Dup on.
@klempie (Comment 136) : 20-16
bring kanko on to score a run away try
crap.. no jdiv. he has been our best player
JdV can hardly stand up.
de villiers injured
THE BEST NUM?BER 13 IN THE WOOOOOOOORLD!!!!
Mossie!
best 13 scores….
so the best 13 scored
Worlds best 13 indeed!!!!
MS misses conversion.
Morne just misses…
if he was a bit better he would have tried to make the kick easaier
Pie-eater on…
typical. Only good thing he does all day is score the match winning try
Donald makes it 25-19 with 5 mins to go…
Penalty for not rolling away.
Donals does the business.
25-19.
The Panic Mechanic is on. I think Snor’s stuffed that up considering the tight scoreline.
@robdylan (Comment 153) : Now you’v gone and done it.
Anyone notice the possession stakes have swung heavily against us in the second half..
some total belters in the crowd!!!
where’s kanko?
M. Steyn going for it and SCORES! WOW!
MS seals the game.
28-19
pienaar needs to learn how to kick…. hate having to be grateful to a bulls flyhalf
blacks in from the side all the time!
BOKKE!!!
chilli must be effing glad to get on!
even if only for 3 mins he gets braggin rights to having beaten the all blacks
Robbo 164
@beez (Comment 163) : Ruan can kick man. Don’t you remember his kick from touch in injury time to win against the Saders? He’s just out of confidence. The possession stakes alone in the 2nd half tonight CONFIRM he’s a better flyer by a country mile.
good win. We are a FAR better team with Pienaar at ten, though
FT 28-19
I’ll have it.
@klempie (Comment 169) : yeah but he is kicking like crap at the moment, and morne has rescued us twice. RP is better ball in hand – but he has to nail the kicks or we have to select another kicker in the line up
Can’t wait for VICTOR’s tweets…
Panic mechanic nearly messed up there at the end. Welldone bokke!
@klempie (Comment 169) : we agree! What a strange feeling
Well done Bokke!
I’m a very happy man.
@beez (Comment 172) : i wouldn’t say he rescued us exactly. Just kicked some regulation kicks. Frans would have kicked those, if necessary
The All Blacks seemed very keen to slow the game down.
Doubt they’s be doing the same next week.
good win. Let’s savour it and see what they find to blame the coach with this week
@robdylan (Comment 175) : I feel dirty.
@beez (Comment 172) : Frans can kick em til Ruan finds his feet against.
No bonus point for the All Blacks either.
griquas beat boland 80-7
Joel: “Richie do you rue having giving that last penalty away and a BP?”
Richie: “No Joel. We’re REALLY stoked that we’ve been able to put ourselves under more pressure on the log. We thrive on pressure.”
Idiot.
The Ferret gets MoM.
Brussouw MOM.
We’re bak to number one in the rankings too.
@McLovin (Comment 187) : Nice!
We are now on 90.30 points.
NZ on 90.10
@robdylan (Comment 183) : supersport 33-0, superbru 73-7 and still no Lions and Leopards result
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 190) : good call
brüssow was the difference. He was immense today
@robdylan (Comment 191) : good call, sumwhere something has gone haywire
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 190) : @JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 193) : ok SA Rugby says 80-7 with a breakdown, guess thats it then, Griekwas in the semi final? I’d say definitely!
Lions 40-19 Leopards
Fulltime
@Robbo, has no-one died or lost a lifeline in the last 2 rounds??
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 196) : some poor fool backed the Bulls this week
default picks cost some players dearly! 8 now dead, including poor oubaas
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 194) : looks like it. Glad we play them at home in the first round
Robbo
I got to watch the 2nd half and have to say that i disagree with your assessment of Morne Steyn. The guy played pretty well and saved our arses again.
I hope Div gives Ruan another chance but if he doesnt improve his kicking then Morne must start.
@robdylan (Comment 197) : How can you call yourself a fool, Mr glass half empty?
@wpw (Comment 200) : dude, Steyn was kak, missed the head on tackle that led to the AB try. Ruan didn’t miss a single tackle.
@wpw (Comment 200) : what exactly did he do to save our asses? If anyone did that, I’d say it was Brüssow, with help from Bismarck and Spies
anyway, Ruan and Jean both looked to have serious injuries
@Baldrick (Comment 202) :
He did…he missed 3 in the first 20/30 minutes…bumped clean off…but close where he was covered…
What game were you watching?
Spies was a monster again today…
Those loose forwards (all 3 of them) took a turn at being bumped off like a lil school girl…although I must say Richie did put in 2 good tackles on him…
The once all 3 struggled to get him down…
And then he goes and outsprints Conrad Smith as if he was the forward and Spies a wing…
Steyn did make 1 defensive mistake…which was very costly as they scored their only try from it…but he did everything else VERY well…
Very well directed up and unders (we pinned the AB a lot more)…great gaol kicking and punting…
He also passed well and had a good line break…
And I believe if Morne starts and gets given a chance he will only get better in all facets…
Frans was good today…
JdV had one of his better games…def step up from the LIONS tour…
It just seemed as if SA had more speed in every position over the AB’s…plus physical to boot…
@klempie (Comment 138) :
You realise there are two JS on the field!??!
@Hmmm (Comment 212) : but who in their right mind would bring on Jannie as a replacement for Juan Smith?
@robdylan (Comment 197) : @robdylan (Comment 198) : Ouch!! I feel sorry for you guys…. NOT!!
@robdylan (Comment 213) : First Rob agrees with me and now he’s defending me! I think Rob has developed a lil crush on me…
the Rapport says mr JMH has arrived in Durban yesterday
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 216) : Awesome!
@klempie (Comment 217) : hope its true, there is a photo of a guy at an airport, but im not sure if its him or Durbans airport
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 218) : ok, after a bit of investigative genious i found the article was written by Christo Buchner, Juan will start practicing with the Sharks on Monday. He will most likely make his debut against the Cheetahs.
even the Rapport quotes ”the worlds best 13”
I wonder if twb13 will start next week. Adi might be available for selection. Then what??
good win this, seemed like the all blacks were slightly off-form, next weekend will be a tougher game
@wpw (Comment 221) :
Well he did not do his best to keep him in the country for dressing up…
And even if he picks Adi (cozz he does back his players even when they have been poor throughout the S14 to date)…he is not the coach or selector of the World Team…LoL
@robdylan (Comment 213) :
Depends how many we had off the field???? There could be people on here that were not able to watch!???!
@wpw (Comment 221) : @Hmmm (Comment 223) :
I mean PdV still says Ruan is the first choice and would have stayed on had he not been injured…
@Hmmm (Comment 225) : That’s great news. Means MS doesn’t have a look in if he’s okay to play.
@klempie (Comment 226) :
Yip
@klempie (Comment 169) :
We all remember that kick. It’s the only difficult one he landed in 3 seasons.
All the other place kickers lands them regularly, so we don’t remember.
But more important, a real place kicker lands the kicks from right in front too.
the worst thing about this game was having to listen to joel stransky. at least the aussies are biased to their own team. joel finds ways for the opposition to beat the boks. what a prick.
great performance boks, although spies and juan need to review their games. both aren’t up to par. i preferred spies when he had less bulk and more speed. juan is like botes at the moment, they have both had to carry their provinces for so long they have burnt out. a little r&r is needed to get these guys back to form.
one crit i have of smit, he should have seen that ruan had lost faith in his boot, he should have given the ball to frans earlier. and told ruan to focus rather on his footwork and distribution that was excellent on saturday.
@try time (superrugby’s kryptonite is SANZAR) (Comment 229) :
Dude, what are you on drugs or something??
Both Spies and Juan had very impressive games!!
@wpw (Comment 230) : disagree. any fat man can catch a ball and run into players. neither of them are helping the backline out. ruan (the poor defender everyone claims he is) has to make tackles that are juan’s and spies’ to make. how many times did juan pass ball on saturday. he had players outside him that could of made something with the ball, yet he rather went to ground. i would rather see baywatch than juan on the field at the moment. baywatch can mix it up a little. even deysel is a better choice. we can’t have spies and juan together. one or the other.
@try time (superrugby’s kryptonite is SANZAR) (Comment 231) : juan would rather take the tackle than make it. if he passes the ball he would have to keep running and assist the player he passed to. so instead of doing extra work, it is easier for him to hold onto the ball take the tackle end up at the bottom of a ruck, then he will only need to do work in two or more phases time. compared to deysel and baywatch that pop up at almost every ruck. it isn’t hard to look good while doing nothing. skinstad was the master at this.
@try time (superrugby’s kryptonite is SANZAR) (Comment 231) :
He did make the pass to twb13 for the winning score!!
@wpw (Comment 233) :
he realised that it was a try and he wouldn’t be needed to follow up. see it is easy to look good without doing much.
Bru, you want our forwards to offload in the tackle right??
We tried that approach last year and it didn’t work, especially in the Tri Nations.
Look how much success that game plan brought the All Blacks this past weekend!!
@try time (superrugby’s kryptonite is SANZAR) (Comment 234) :
Ja, whatever!!
@wpw (Comment 235) : no i want him to offload before the tackle, when he has drawn in the defender. he missed at least 3 crucial passes to the backline that could have put the boks in a far better position. a great player knows when to pass. a good player will take the easy option of going to ground.