A Super Saturday of rugby awaits us, and we start with ultimately the biggest game of the weekend as the All Blacks host the Springboks, a match that should excite every single rugby fan around the world. This one though, has me rather nervous.
New Zealand have made a few changes to their team that beat, with some effort, Argentina last weekend. This weekend though, expect them to fire on all cylinders as they face up to one of their biggest enemies in world rugby. Aaron Cruden continues in the 10 jersey while Dan Carter recovers from injury, and will bring an equally attacking game to the table. In Savea, Jane and Dagg, they have the best back three in world rugby, and the Boks will do well to keep them at bay.
Even though this is not the Springboks’ strongest team, missing key names such as Bismarck du Plessis and Schalk Burger, expect them to lift their game from what they produced against the Aussies last weekend, and show what they have. Morne Steyn is under immense pressure to perform, and the fact that another flyhalf that coach Heyneke Meyer actually likes is on the bench, could spell an early night for him. Look out for the front row battle!
New Zealand: 1. Tony Woodcock, 2. Andrew Hore, 3. Owen Franks, 4. Luke Romano, 5. Samuel Whitelock, 6. Liam Messam, 7. Richie McCaw, 8. Kieran Read, 9. Piri Weepu, 10. Aaron Cruden, 11. Julian Savea, 12. Ma’a Nonu, 13. Conrad Smith, 14. Cory Jane, 15. Israel Dagg.
Reserves: 16. Keven Mealamu, 17. Charlie Faumuina, 18. Brodie Retallick, 19. Victor Vito, 20. Aaron Smith, 21. Beauden Barrett, 22. Tamati
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Francois Hougaard ,10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandre; Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Dean Greyling, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Johan Goosen, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Pat Lambie.
Referee: G. Clancy (IRFU)
Assistant Ref 1:R. Poite (FFR)
Assistant Ref 2:J. Leckie (ARU)
TMO : V. Munro (NZRU)
Coached vs Managed team? Guess!
Nog so 30min voor begin… Are we gonna see a surprise today..
Funny thing… The 3 best players are on the bench.
All Blacks by 15+
I’m going with my head not my heart.
Is it me or do Nzl always get hippy looking people to sing the SA anthem?
Just a question…are those words or just noises in the Nzl anthem eeeahhhhooooahhhhh….etc
Soooo glad Mvovo kick out the entire team….
I’d make Bizmark Captain…and Adrian Strauss vice cap…so if Bizzy goes off Adrian comes on as Captain…
My expectations are so low that this might actually be fun.
@TRF_Ezequiel (Comment 3) :
I get Goosen and Lambie…who the third?
Marcell
Look I have not been De jongh fan this year cause he was the most boring SA midfielder this S15…but 3 times the player Mvovo is…
Smart move…
@durbsguy (Comment 11) :
Oh yeh…lol
Good defense, awesome tackle by Alberts
Good stuff by Alberts…
Thats a try butchered!!!
Un—-believable
Kirsh and Habana messed up a solid clear try…
Two very dumb scrum infringements
We physical so far…bashing the AB back in attack and defense…
Jannie’s IQ drops by 100 when he steps onto a rugby field…that first tap he was not even 2 steps back but moved forward towards the AB player taking the tap…
Is there anything funnier than watching Morne Steyn trying to step the defense
Chance to grab 3 here..
Great steal Habana…
He been good this year…
And the only player other than Strauss that was good last week…
Lame penalty at the ruck
Good defense by SA
Hougaardt really making a dif on wing…esp in def…now teams cannot just pass to the wing for a auto advantage line cross…
If memory serves…all kickers have poor stats at this stadium…
But since Morne is off…the dif stadium auto corrects and he gets it over
Eish…try NZ
2nd penalty won by Vermeulen…hope today he is gonna play like he been playing for Stormers…
Second PK for MS, missed
NZ 5-3 SA
24 min
Can someone please tell me why we have backs?
Habana seems to be the only who plays the ball as it lies…
I guess that’s the great defense or Hougaard the talking about…
Wow, our backline is just clueless. Its what happens when they never normally get the ball.
JdV is really useless…our worst backline starter..and been ave at best for some time…
Fransie going from 58m.
JUST drops under.
@klempie (Comment 32) : so they can watch the ball fly….
That was a great kick…just just under…
Great attempt Frans
@klempie (Comment 37) : Good attempt…
Boks finishing is pathetic – They’ve given up – What 15-18 points?
Geez, another penalty against the AB’s
Another Morne kick missed. Can HM really justify this anymore… its absurd.
@byron (Comment 42) : Dude are you on the right thread?
@byron (Comment 42) : Sharks?
I think we need to start looking at JdV involvement in the dull backline…I mean look at the Stormers…with him and De Jongh and a on fire Habana and Aplon the scored no tries in the S15…
They taken through to the Bokke…Hmmmmmm makes me wonder?!!?
Ref is playing roullette with the scrum penalties.
How do we trail this game?
Have we dragged the ABs down to our level or what?
Pienaar and Hougaardt have made some nice small breaks with some interplay around the rucks…
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 35) : @Franshark (Comment 39) :
If Meyer was a software developer.
if(gameState == ruck && Random.Next() < Int32.MaxValue / 2)
{
Srumhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
else
{
Srumhalf.PassTo(Flyhalf);
Flyhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
@KILLER SHARK (Comment 49) : Our faultless kicker cant kick?
Cool, another chance to miss a penalty kick!!
MS misses another!
Yup… missed.
What’s that…a total of 5 missed kicks for Bokke and 1 for AB…
If Meyer was a software developer.
if(gameState == ruck && Random.Next() < Int32.MaxValue / 2)
{
wait();
Srumhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
else
{
wait();
Srumhalf.PassTo(Flyhalf);
wait();
Flyhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
@klempie (Comment 52) :
@klempie (Comment 52) : HMs sms to Morne this morning.. “Cum to my room. C: [enter]“
So the Bokke have a 17% kicking accurancy and the AB missed only attempt and have a 0% kick accuracy…
NZ 5-3 SA
Ok time to sub Morne Steyn … The sooner the better
I think Jannie DP could have delivered a better kicking display at posts today!!!!
If only we had a flyhalf that could kick
@byron (Comment 63) :
He can’t even scrum properly…so I doubt it…
If only we had a number 13 who could pass
@byron (Comment 58) : Touché.
C# .Net version…
if(gameState == ruck && Random.Next() < Int32.MaxValue / 2)
{
Application.DoEvents(); // give opposition time to form defensive structures
Srumhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
else
{
Application.DoEvents();
Srumhalf.PassTo(Flyhalf);
Application.DoEvents();
Flyhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
It´s a blessing in disguise that HM is persisting with this kicking game, because this lot are clueless with ball in hand.
I feel sorry for the likes of Vermeulen and Flouw, who have seen all the bonus possession that they have won being squandered by 9 – 15.
Luckily, like Pablo, I´m not expecting much so the HT score is actually bloody awesome for this limited bunch of pretenders.
@MysticShark (Comment 64) :
Look I aint a Morne fan at all…but if momery serves…last time Carter played at this stadium he had a 1 out of 6 kicking accuracy…
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 66) :
2nd that
I’m impressed by the way we compete on the ground….
@klempie (Comment 67) : Actually, it’s more like this.
if(gameState == ruck && Random.Next() < Int32.MaxValue / 2)
{
Thread.Sleep(5000); // give opposition time to form defensive structures
Srumhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
else
{
Thread.Sleep(5000);
Srumhalf.PassTo(Flyhalf);
Thread.Sleep(2000);
Flyhalf.UpAndUnder();
}
@rhineshark (Comment 68) : Indeed, so far I am pleasantly surprised. Would have been nice if the Morne Stain made some kicks.
Another chance butchered… HM should stop the theatrics on the sideline. He is not Kim Kardasian for crying out loud.
SANZAR rugby is in real trouble.
SA seriously flattered as the AB’s are making so many unforced errors…
Heyneke se ma se Earl!
Justin Marshall confused about Bok adoption of kicking gameplan after a couple of minutes’ ball-in-hand yields dividends.
HABS!!!
Just plain awesome from Habana…
He just been on fire..
Excellent try Habana. Individual brilliance shines through.
But asshat misses the kick again.
Great play by Habana… Awesome sort pass…
Why the Beast…take off Jannie please!!!
MS miss the conversion..
NZ 5-8 SA
50min
I like how the Kiwi commentators at least make an attempt to pronounce names right. You don’t get that from the Aussies.
Way to give the lead right back… again. Greyling on.. oh boy
@Franshark (Comment 85) : ? you mean SA 8 NZ 5…
Now we have 2 braindead penalty leacking props on the field…
Not the smartest replacement move ever…
Sorry, I mean NZ 8 SA 8
Heyneke replaces Beast with Greyling and he immediately gives away a penalty.
You can’t make this stuff up!
Meyer’s players biting his arse!!
OH no! Bekker is on.
NZ 8-8 SA
53min
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 88) : what?
Again I say… If these AB’s get it right….
As I said.. Hougaard vs Jane in the air is a mismatch
Anybody still think the Beast isnt the best prop in SA?
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 97) : Height?
Goosen warming up!!
Did I see Goose-man warming up?
OMG…why the fuck kick it??
@klempie (Comment 99) : SH vs ex FB… not a fair fight
Blik…… Shi…. Ffffffff!!!
Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!
Can somebody shoot this freaken……
Dumb dumb dumb from Morne when we on attack??!!?
Yes Yes Yes…Goosen on…
Happy days!!! Goosen on
Oh boy…
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 103) : Fair point.
Did you see that Bekker tackle.. Still wondering where the guy is…
This is the worst I’ve seen the ABs in a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time….and we still can’t beat them.
@Franshark (Comment 110) : Kirchner made a nice little sidestep there too…
Alberts.. The best SA player on the park and getting replaced… HM wake up!!!
I can’t handel thsi….
Did anyone see that backline there?? Just keep the fucking ball from now on!!
Suddenly we’re not kicking ball away…
Tippies Blou Bul…
Greyling is an idiot…
Nice one Dean…
Dumb cleaning out.. the ABs were all over the ball but dumb, and now the game is lost. Greylings cameo ends as we all thought it would.
Well….the upshot is that this will force them to hold onto the ball now.
Meyer’s Bulle!!!!
Greyling is the most useless player I’ve ever seen bulls trash
Greyling is about to see 4 weeks on the sideline. Incredibly stupid.
What the hell is going on with kicking in this stadium? Bizarre. Maybe there’s some sort of aircon convection effect.
Goosen to kick a loooong PK
Pleaaaaaseee by over…
Goosen….from StupidAmountOf metres
@klempie (Comment 126) : Short…and probably left.
Awesome stuff, just short…
And gets another chance…
Come-on… Over now…
Lambie where are u heyneke ur a rel biased prick
Goosen just just missing and now going for a real tough one…over 40 from touch
Goosen hits one from 49m.
Yes yes yes Goosen for 10…
Finally… a kick goes true. Morne you are the weakest link. F%&k off.
ABs 15 – 11 Boks
Wow!!!!
PK slotted…
NZ 15 – 11 Bokke
NZ 15-11 SA
70min
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 134) : Perfect contempt.
Mauls have been good all game.
Are our forwards terminally retarded???
Game over. Draw is the best we can hope for now.
3 points back to the ABs… JdV forgetting he is defensively an outside center.
One thing is for sure, these Abs are not invinceable.
Holding On Mr Ref!!!!
Liewe blik….
Neeeeeeeeeeee
Kobus Wiese’s commentary is hilarious at times… He’s clearly not a HM fan! Wonders what Lambie must do in 5min every week?
Game over boys.. pity.
Dean dean dean dean dean!!!!
Another penalty, does it really matter. Greyling is an ass but maybe saved a try.
Except we will lose the BP here
Greyling – I’m calling it 0/10
Greyling – I’m calling it 0/10
NZ 21-11 SA
FULL TIME
Yup, 10 point margin seriously flatters the ABs.
M Steyn 2/10
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 154) : Cold comfort.
Where did Morne get the 2 from? I’d give him 0/10 too…
In some respects I was pleasantly surprised. If the kicking had been better we could have won. Backline started to click towards the end, surprise surprise when Goosen came on. Flouw had a good game as did Alberts. Would be nice if Strauss realised he could pass as well as run. But the ABs are no better than us. We can take them in SA.
JdV needs to take responsibility for the backline wou’s…
Dean Greyling is as thick as clotted cream.
@byron (Comment 155) : What for running onto the field? He got 1 kick, kicked far too deep and didnt make a tackle. Come on, points for putting on the right rugby jersey before running on isnt sending out the right message.
Will Dean Greyling now be compared to one Jorrie Muller?
I’m totally loosing it, even after I expected it…
Did I hear correctly that JdV just said that it was great that we managed to be this competetive against the AB´s? WTF???? We are the BOKS FFS!!! The score was 21-11! Where´s the pride???
And this against an AB side that looked completely out of sorts.
Dean has now taken over the “dumb-phuk”-award from Jannes Labuschagne… For the worst act in Springbok history!!!!
Dean Greyling take a bow…..now leave
And Lambie once again short changed….
At least Goosen came on with 20mins. to show his goods, hopefully Mor-nay will be asked to carry Greyling’s suitcases on their way out of the Springbok team and history books.
Will Meyer see what happened when Goosen came on (positive) and when Greyling came on (negative)?
If Morne Steyn plays against the Wallabies in the next match, I won’t watch. I will just skip it and prepare for the Sharks that day.
@blesbeer (Comment 165) :
He Kicked OK out of hand in the first half
https://www.facebook.com/DropMorneSteyn
Would it be possible for someone to record the after game analysis of Nick Mallet and put it on Youtube for those of us who don´t have acces to SS?
I recorded it! Will do so tomorrow afternoon