Here it is – rugby time again!
The Bok XV, aka the Dirt Trackers, have arrived in the midlands and will take on an understrength Leicester team, kicking off at 19h45 local time.
Will the lack of established combination, coupled with unfamiliar weather conditions, curtail the Boks’ momentum? Or will a Leicester team missing a slurry of first-choice players fail to live with South Africa’s second best?
Teams
Leicester Tigers: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Lucas Amorosino, 13 Andy Forsyth, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Aaron Mauger (captain), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Brett Deacon, 7 Ben Pienaar, 6 Geoff Parling, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Calum Green, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Tom Armes, 19 Dan Hemingway, 20 James Grindal, 21 Greig Tonks, 22 Lote Tuqiri.
South Africa: 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, 6 Davon Raubenheimer, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle (captain), 1 Gürthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 François Hougaard, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Riaan Viljoen.
Date: Friday, November 6
Venue: Welford Road, Leicester
Kick-off: 19.45 (19.45 GMT, 21.45 SA time)
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Robin Goodliffe
TMO: Andrew Turner, Graeme Hughes
ooooo REKKKIIIII????
@robdylan (Comment 1) : i’m here.
i’s actually exciting to see so many newbies – hopefully they will play out of theirs skins. ad cannot wait for deysel diesel to be on.
@rekinek (Comment 3) : me neither. Diesel and Hargo… can’t wait to see them get on.
I’m kak-scared about what Ru is going to dish up, though.
@robdylan (Comment 4) : unfortunately i’m with u on the last one. I don’t think that SAXV will be too exciting for him plus back at FH.
and it looks like he will do the kicking as well- that’s gonna be nerve wrecking
Boks by plenty. Backline to cause havoc. Ruan to land 75% of his goal kicks.
Friday evening, braai and rugby,
Have a good one people.
Ciao
Wish i could watch the match…
and you can’t becase?
@McLovin (Comment 6) :
let’s be adventerous – 77%
@Salmonoid (Comment 7) : friday rugby is
@wpw (Comment
: PVR 
it’s rainy day – there
Boks in white.
Ben Kay withdrawn.
Anthems
Is that Andy Marinos on the field?
Time to ‘relax’ on the couch.
missed
ok, let’s relax and watch. cheerio for now
8-3 to the Boks after 12mins TRY scored by Nokwe…
Chilli out injured…Maku on
How much does chilli get paid per minute?
How much does chilli get paid per minute? The worlds least lethal chilli
Amorosino dances past Boks and scores under the poles…converted… Leicester 10 – Bokke 8 30mins
Bok scrum just got murdered…PK given…slotted. LEI 13-BOKS 8 32mins
Bok scrum in shambles…
Meisiekind is the skipper now…
Young slots another PK… LEI 16- BOKS 8
The crowd is amazingly sporting!
Boks with a chance to make up some ground… Ruan’s PK is over. Missed the infringement. Half time LEI 16 – BOKS 11
@blackshark (Comment 29) : it was a mauger obstruction
Gürthro Steenkamp –
Jannie dup unable to stay on his feet at ruck time.
And Pearl Rose playing well.
@McLovin (Comment 32) : i blame the english pubs for that
Fight!Fight!Fight!
Same stuff as the first half…scrum goin backwards. Youngs makes no mistake and restores the 8pt lead. 19-11
Can any front row players tell me WTF is happening to our scrums? our tight 5 besides maku are all recognised first choice S14 players?
good play johnson
Why is it that stuart dick always seems biased against the boks?
bit of a beast that lad
Stuart is bein a D!ck…now…nx!
@Rahul (Comment 39) : Duuude! What’s up with that. Hougaard on for Adams…
deysel is issuing the orders
Deysel makin his presence in this match now. Tuqiri on.
SCRUM?!?1?!?!?!?!
@beez (Comment 43) : Awesome stuff but the “uncontested scrums” are costing us!
Youngs makes no mistake. 22-11 SMH…
@blackshark (Comment 46) : Seriously though what is happening??
Hargreaves on for Pakslae. 60mins up
@blackshark (Comment 42) : may as well put him at prop… Then we can have uncontested scrums!
Great defense!
Bosman on for Meisiekind…
LEI off feet … Ruan scores! 22-14 65mins up
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse performance from a referee! This is a non-entity game, I realise, but it doesn’t mean you can’t actually officiate and watch the game. We’re playing crap, but come on Stu!
Now we can scrum!
@MerckZ (Comment 54) : Someone should’ve seen yellow by now…
Apart from the kak ref, lei do look hungrier for the win!
It’s raining turnovers…damn!
What annoys me most is that their coaching staff and supporters seem to think this is an achievement. Credit to them for the silence during the kicks though.
Ruan converts an easx PK…22-17 with 3 mins to go…
Last throw of the dice…
Now they play? Too late… They could have won well if they played 80 minutes like that!
Oh well the last few minutes were promising but it all ends at 22-17…
That was a disgrace.
stu was leicester’s man of the match
@McLovin (Comment 64) : From he Boks.
But well done Leicester. Hope the pubs are well stocked.
Emotions running high on Voldy.
What have we learnt today?
Goodthrow not worth a damn as a prop.
Ag…we’ll take it out on the Froggies. Ruan didn’t adapt well…
@McLovin (Comment 67) : Heheh
Pienaar is a scrummie. Pick him there please.
Go well folks.
If the Boks win the tests, all will be forgiven and forgotten.
Fortunately this team will have a chance at redemption against Sarries.
Ruan was poor…
Adams was poor…
Maku was less than average…
Earl played well…I know he plays well in games that don’t matter but he still played well…congrads Earl…
Firstly, well done Tigers. Secondly, what the hell is this about Beast not really being elligable to play for SA, something about not having a SA passport
It makes me want to say something that is against the rules 
@JarsonX (Insomniac) (Comment 75) : As far as I’m aware you don’t need a passport to represent a country. You only need to have served out your three years residency. So if he is legally a citizen in SA he can play for the Boks. Passport or no passport.
@McLovin (Comment 77) : He has a residents permit AND a work permit BUT he is not an SA citizen BUT the rules say he can play for the Boks…and that is why he has played for them….now if he is found to be “ineligable”….where does that leave him??? He will he or will he not be able to play for Zim??? He has already played for SA???
confusing to say the least
@Me2 aka Mama Shark (Comment 78) : it’s a south african law that requires an explanation to the Minister of Sport every time a non-national is selected for a representative team. South African law will trump IRB regulations every time. SARU should, of course, have known about this and followed the correct procedure before Beast’s first test… I believe it’s all been sorted out now, though, so fortunately no harm done