Springbok coach Allister Coetzee has made a few changes from the team that lost to Argentina to face the Wallabies this weekend.
Ruan Combrinck’s injury has openend the door for scrumhalf Francois Hougaard to get a run in the Bok jersey again, albeit slightly out of position. Another slightly out of position is Jesse Kriel, who is actually a fullback, playing in the centres. He is joined by Juan de Jongh as the midfield gets a complete reshuffle. Damian De Allende falls out of the match day squad completely while Lionel Mapoe covers the centres and wings from the bench.
A single change to the forwards comes in the form of Lourens Adriaanse getting a deserved start, replacing Vincent Koch, who falls out of the match day squad completely. The tighthead spot on the bench going to Trevor Nyakane.
Speaking of the bench, we see a 6 – 2 split in terms of forwards, with an entire front row, two locks and a flank. Franco Mostert is in line to make his impact off the bench while one feels Pieter Steph du Toit is lined up as a loose forward along with Jaco Kriel.
Coetzee has opted to make quite a few changes, hinting on the daring if you look at how consistent he has been in the past, but I am sure many will feel a few more changes were necessary.
South Africa: 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Lionel Mapoe
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Congrats Lourens! Thoroughly deserved.
Not entirely convinced about the midfield combination – especially on defence.
I really can’t understand picking players out of position for the boks? We’ve got enough good players in each position, now you weaken the whole team by playing a scrum half on wing, outside centre at inside, fullback at outside and possibly a lock at flank? This is stupid.
@Dragnipur (Comment 3) :
And don’t forget the geriatric we have at hooker…
this has to be the weakest Bok team in years,that backline is laughable,
The sooner Coetzee implodes and pisses off the better,
In all honesty though, I really cannot understand some of the selections:
I get dropping de Allende, he hasn’t been great, but to drop Mapoe based on the fact that his inside centre has been poor and he never got any ball, is a bit kak. What is even worse is that you are playing a fullback out of position instead of an actual 13.
There is supposedly some thinking going into de Jongh playing at 12, allowing him to take some pressure off Jantjies. It’s de Jongh’s first game back in how long? How is he going to be settled and calm and help Jantjies?
We are continuing with this trial of Goosen at fullback, when you have a perfectly decent fullback in Kriel rather playing at outside centre, and the actual outside centre playing at inside centre?
Add to all of this a scrumhalf on the wing, our backline is as badly constructed as the Wallabies, but out of choice, not due to a string of injuries….
Begging for a beating in this game..
My question to you all is why do you even bother with this coach and this drivel ?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) : For srue, the aussies are going to maul us badly.
@The hound (Comment 5) : yip, he needs to just lose it all, but do you really think they will fire the bloke? I am unsure of that.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) : Exactly
@benji (Comment 7) : Because just like HM, he should have been coach years ago, and SARU is repaying their debt now….
@benji (Comment 7) :
We don’t exactly have a say in who is coach, so as a rugby mad nation, all we can do is support, or in this case, moan and whinge until he someday gets his team right.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) : Well said,my other question is what is the infatuation with Jesse Kriel,when last in all honesty did he do anything to justify his selection.Can you remember one moment of brilliance in the Super tournament.I hope he proves me wrong,but I see another case of a player being thrown to the wolves.
Houghaard on the wing is another joke,this is Springbok rugby not 7′s or the Kings.
@The hound (Comment 12) :
Kriel is in this team based on a good BabyBoks tournament he had 3 years ago, its a joke. And to make it worse, the position he played so well in during his time there was at fullback, nothing close to playing at centre..
I suspected Hougaard was going to be involved purely based on the fact that Coetzee can then leave useless Earl off the bench (Paige), which is great. But now you are stuck with a scrumhalf / Sevens player having to play on the wing. When last exactly did he play on the wing? I am sure he was at scrumhalf for Worcester?
I honestly cannot wait to see what Coetzee dishes up for the best team in the world next week..
Really not seeing the logic behind a 6-2 bench? At least AC has recognised the centres werent working so changed that…so not entirely unhappy about that. I also prefer Hougaard on the wing to scrummy-think he should always play wing. And congrats to Lourens…very welll deserved
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 11) : The biggest problem with Coetzee is that he has surrounded himself with absolute amateurs.Stick is there on the combined credentials of,a semi decent 7′s career and one season in charge the weakest backline in Super rugby history.
Can you honestly see the A.B ‘s letting a man with these abysmal credentials take charge other backline.
@The hound (Comment 12) : The selections has been a huge issue since HM took over 5 years ago. The sad part is that AC is just continuing with the same type of selection policy.
If this was the team announced against Ireland a few months ago, I would say: ‘Hey, let’s give it a go, let them gel and let the combos build, maybe he has a plan’
But no, we throw away a centre combination that has only been together 5 games so that a new combination can settle in the middle of a Rugby Championship, after 2 of the ‘easier’ games are already behid you. I am all for change and dropping a player if he is not bringing 100% or is simply out of form, but I am more in favour of allowing a player to regain his form than to stick a player into a position that is not his natural selection and hoping he delivers a miracle. That is wishful thinking and no way to go into a massive Rugby Championship game, hoping for miracles instead of putting out a team with a plan..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 17) : Expect the Boks to hover around the 5/6/7 mark on the IRB rankings by the end of the year.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 17) : Agree to make this many changes at this stage screams panic.
He should have stuck with his initial team,made a few changes and let them take a beating,they are used to it.
The calls Allister should have made:
Drop Beast – You cannot select a prop simply to go and break records – you have Kitshoff there, you want to include him from France, so play the bloody guy.
Drop Louw – Have the balls to hand Jaco Kriel a start, especially against the likes of Hooper and Pocock. But no, give Louw yet another game to prove that he is not tired and slow. Mark my words, we are going to get nailed at the breakdowns.
A coach has the audacity to play 4 of his 7 backline players out of position, but cannot make the calls all of South Africa want to see.
AC had to find a spot for Juan de Jongh, he is our future Bok captain…..thats not a scoop, just a hunch.
This is our schedule for the rest of the year, and I don’t see us winning more than two, maybe three games if we lucky
September 2016
10 Australia v South Africa Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 12:05
17 New Zealand v South Africa AMI Stadium, Addington, Christchurch 09:35
October 2016
1 South Africa v Australia Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 17:05
8 South Africa v New Zealand Growthpoint KINGS Park, Durban 17:05
November 2016
5 Barbarians v South Africa Wembley Stadium,London 17:00
12 England v South Africa Twickenham 16:30
19 Italy v South Africa Stadio Artemio Franchi 16:00
26 Wales v South Africa Principality Stadium 19:30
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 21) : Oh the nausea you just gave me for the rest of the day….
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 21) : I am glad that came from you and not Grant,I would have seriously considered opening a vein.
@Uli Boelie (Comment 22) :
We might sneak a win against Aus at Loftus, but that is a 50/50 call.
The Barbarians don’t count as a game..
And we might sneak a late win over the Italians, and that will be it for us..
Anyone know who we have for June next year?
@Uli Boelie (Comment 22) : So we can expect a win against Italy on 19th Nov
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 25) : The Barbarian game I am even very unsure of, traditionally we have always struggled against them.
@The hound (Comment 26) : I think even that is a 50/50 call…. I wont bet on it.
@Uli Boelie (Comment 18) :
Hovering around 5/6 would make the next few months a success, I doubt we will remain that high.
If we should have England or Wales tour here in June next year, we could very well be 7 or 8 by the time the World Cup draws are made..
@Uli Boelie (Comment 27) :
Whatever Barbarian team is selected will most likely be more settled than the Bok team at the time, and would give us a good run.
My view of it not counting is for World Ranking points, so even if we win, it won’t count for shit..
@Uli Boelie (Comment 27) :
A win against the Barbarians would give undue confidence to face Eddie Jones’ men the following week..
I’m rather not going to comment on this team!!! Let’s see how the game goes!!!
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 29) : SARU will probably invite Uruguay ,Spain or Romania so that AC can get a few wins under his belt.
The Aussie team selected is the greatest either….so if the Boks get a win then what? Stick with the same?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 30) : That Barbarian team will probably include Bismarck and Frans Steyn
@SheldonK (Comment 34) : ‘IF” my granny had balls she’d be my grandpa.
@The hound (Comment 33) : most likely
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Scott Sio
Substitutes (from): 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rory Arnold, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Sean McMahon, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Tevita Kuridrani, 24 Drew Mitchell
@The hound (Comment 36) : What i was trying to get at is..would a win not be worse than a loss in this situation?
@SheldonK (Comment 39) : What I was trying to say its like balls on my granny perish the thought.But hey you raise a huge point.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 38) :
Not a bad backline considering their injuries, I would have put Foley at 10 and Quade at inside centre, with Folau at 13, but that’s just me..
Not sure of Mumm on the flank, but we will have to see how they go. Fardy was good in my mind, not sure why he isn’t in the squad at all?
Adam Ashley-Cooper back in France, that didn’t take long?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 38) : On a positive note, that is also a shit Aussie team, the worst side I have seen named by them in long, long time. Believe it or not, I am expecting a win here, the Aussies are kak and if we do not beat them, after what happened last week, I will change my tune completely. We talking a lot about the backs, but the forwards also need to wake, where is the Etzebeth aggression gone, what is up with Lood, he is playing shit rugby, they not getting stuck in at all. Our best hooker, by a country mile, Malcolm Marx, is not even on the bench. I just want to see aggression this weekend and the forwards must take it to these okes.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 41) : not a bad side on paper, like you said we going to get screwed at the breakdown, Hooper and Pocock, then they still have Mcmahon on the bench
I think this will be a hammering for the boks sad to say, but at this rate we would surely end at the bottom of the log
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 41) : Yes he had to go back due to contractual issues, Cheika however knew about this from the start, he would only be available for the NZ tests.
@Uli Boelie (Comment 44) :
Oh okay, thamks for clearing that..
I think we’ll beat the ozzies. Dont mind Jesse at 13 but would prefer someone who is bigger and more of a tackling machine at 12. *cough* Andre *cough* or Frans.
Suspect the wallabies going to have a horrible time at scrum time.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 6) : Even better, AC went for the trifecta of swopsies:
12 at 15 (Goosen),
13 at 12 (JdJ),
15 at 13 (Kriel)
….he’s making the same error HM did, experimenting at test level, the way he used to do at franchise level.
…has not taken the step-up from the turkey-league to the eagle-league.
@Uli Boelie (Comment 23) : @The hound (Comment 24) :
Hasnt Goosen played more at 15 overseas than anywhere else? I dont think he has been that bad there for the Boks…would prefer Kriel at 15 and Goosen at 10 but can live with this. I would have played DeJongh and Mapoe as a combo. Very tough on Koch but perhaps its a result of him moving to Saracens.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 47) : Goosen was at 13 I believe, but your point is well taken.
We are on the road to ruining the Boks. When your coach has to defend the appointment of the assistant coach and say he’ll train him on the job then you know you’ve got BIG trouble.
We can all complain on here as much as we want, but the best way to talk is with our feet. Stop watching the games on TV and stop going to the test matches. Then SARU will sit up and take notice when SuperSport are kicking their backsides.
@SheldonK (Comment 49) : I don’t get Trevor being on the bench to cover tighthead when he’s only played loosehead all year, and he’s just coming back from an injury.
@SheldonK (Comment 49) :
The big question is, should Goosen not be fullback, will we be happy with Willie back in the team?
If not Willie, then who? Kriel? Will he ever get that chance? Or do we turn back the years and give ol Crusty the Clown a look in?
@StevieS (Comment 51) : Nyakane for Koch doesnt make sense to me. Neither does two locks and a flank on the bench and only 2 backs.
One of the worst teams ever named. Reminds of the Jorrie Muller days. Hope the aussies destroy us. Rebuilding my ass. Get a proper coach. Jake White fixed boks in one year. Eddie Jones fixed england in 6 months. Cheika fixed Waratahs in one season. Mckenzie turned rubble Reds into Champs in a year. Dick Muir fixed sharks in a season and a half. Dozens of examples. Losers always whine about rebuilding.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 52) : To be honest im pretty happy to keep giving Goosen a go. He does look to get involved and be a bit enterprising. In terms of Kriel…bit undecided- actually thought he did well on the wing when he came on so would have left him there replacing combrinck. Dejongh and Mapoe at centre. A bench then of Hougaard,Steyn and DeAllende.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 52) : I would be happier with Kriel at 15 or Andries Coetzee, from the Lions.
Goosen is more suited to 10, 12 or 13. Should rather have swapped him and Kriel.
@SheldonK (Comment 55) : I agree about Mapoe needing another chance. He can’t just go from being so good for the Lions to being so bad for the Boks.
He was getting terrible / no ball from de Allende!
@SheldonK (Comment 53) : Very risky and unnecessary move. I agree with you, doesn’t make sense at all.
Louw needs to go for Kriel, Goosen to 10 for Elton, Jesse to fullback. Kitshoff for Beast, PSDT for Lood, or play PSDT at flank if that’s the plan and start with Franco instead of Lood.
Centres we need van Rensburg there desperately. Then I’d have Mapoe outside him.
We also need to bring in a new wing to blood for the next RWC. Habana will surely be too old by then?
@ChrisS (Comment 57) : Look i would have paired him with DeJongh. But AC at least identified that the centres werent working and Mapoe has made mistakes so guess he decided on a full change. I dont mind our centres. There are other areas that bug me more to be honest
@StevieS (Comment 58) : Look i firstly think trying to pick a side now that will play in 4yrs time is silly as anything can happen in 4yrs. I think you pick the best for the current time and then also try bring through a few young guys that could be there in a couple years and you slowly build on that. No Bok side will ever be perfect but i think AC could have made a few tweaks and got a better combo. So Koch taking Nyakane’s bench spot, Kitshoff and Beast swapping. Start Eben and PSDT and play Mostert and Lood off the bench. Louw out totally with Kriel starting. Leave Kriel at wing where he ended well last game. Play DeJongh and Mapoe in the centres. It wouldnt be perfect but as a i said just a few slight tweaks and it would be a lot better
@StevieS (Comment 58) : What is your beef with Lood? He was by far our best lock last year, and despite not yet being at that level yet, he has been rated as better than Eben if the after match ratings are used.
Think Steph will be used as a 7!
@KingCheetah (Comment 61) : No beef, I’m a big fan of his, but he has been off form and doesn’t deserve to start.
Eben is a 4 lock and Lood is a 5, so I was comparing PSDT and Lood. I’d be happy for Lood to take Eben’s place as he has not played well either.
As for PSDT as a 7, they need to clarify that instead of shifting him around.
Don’t worry, I’m not picking on the Cheetahs lol
@StevieS (Comment 62) : I would have benched Ethebeth for this game and started Mostert with Lood the reason being the Aussies are going to go for him and he has a serious short fuse and no self control.
He will be carded ,and you can bet the Aussies have warned Nigel Owens to monitor Mohoje’s tackling,he has been getting away with murder lately.
@StevieS (Comment 62) : Lood is technically a Bulls player, as far as I am concerned. Haven’t seen too much of PSDT at 5 at test level (starting) to judge. Difference in starting and providing impetus off the bench.
@The hound (Comment 63) :
good point re: Eben, hadn’t thought of that.
Mohoje will hopefully come right, but Nigel will be watching him closely.
@KingCheetah (Comment 64) : I agree with Steve about Lood. Like de Allende he hasn’t looked the same player this year. I have also not been impressed with Eben.
I’d have liked to see PSDT and Franco start the game with Eben on the bench. Louw should be dropped for Kriel.
@KingCheetah (Comment 61) : @StevieS (Comment 62) : @ChrisS (Comment 66) : there’s a couple of players that’s way of form that’s in this Bok side. Not saying they’re bad players just they’re not even close to the form that originally made them Bokke!!!
Congrats to Lourens. Further, I have nothing positive to say about this team. Again, I’m looking way more forward to the Sharks playing this weekend than the Boks.
@ChrisS (Comment 66) : True, just wonder how much of it has to do with the team as a whole not settled on a game plane, and being the team not being a cohesive unit at the moment.
@KingCheetah (Comment 69) : This is pretty much how I see it. I’m not worried about the selections. I have my own personal biased preferences of course. They need some time to gel, and for ACs gameplan to become part of their muscle memory.
I am with Quinton on this one! As for picking smaller wings …after the Aussies showed their hand by deploying tall ball chasers…dont know….I really can’t see it.
@ChrisS (Comment 66) : Agreed. Also would think about Goosen at 10.