St James Park in Newcastle, home of the Magpies in the English Premier League (and also the second biggest stadium in the United Kingdom) plays host to the Springboks as they take on Scotland today.
Kick-off is at 17h45 SA time in what is effectively the Pool B decider.
Go BOKKE!
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Lamont.
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian De Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (captain), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Tweet
Do or die for the Boks.
Back to our dogshit up and under “game plan”. 🙄
Pollard already stuffing up his kicks, poor kicking out of hand
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 2) : we were both thinking the same thing
Pollard again shows his glory boy self
SA 7 – 0 Scotland
13 minutes.
Bismarck scored the try. Or Burger, not sure.
@sharks_lover (Comment 4) : And Willie kicking away great attacking ball again!
SA 10 – 0 Scotland
17 minutes.
My kingdom for a Dane Coles.
SA 13 – 0 Scotland
26 minutes.
SA 13 – 3 Scotland
31 minutes.
Jannie du Plessis yellow carded.
Jannies card is rubbish
Sorry to say, but this is just plain kak rugby by the Boks.
Scotland should feel pretty happy considering.
And everyone tells new that with Pollard we play running rugby. A load of Croc.
JPP try.
At last some thinking and JPP scores.
SA 20 – 3 Scotland
39 minutes.
@sharks_lover (Comment 17) : Plus Flo is a fetcher.
Half Time
South Africa 20 – 3 Scotland
@sharks_lover (Comment 14) : awful call
@robdylan (Comment 23) : Next card is probably going to be Lood for a high tackle.
@sharks_lover (Comment 17) : Geez guys take the blinkers off. What has Pollard done that is so bad? It’s not Pollard that selected himself!! FFS, sometimes i have to wonder. Yes it’s Schalk’s fault that, oh no wait, it’s HM’s fault for pairing him with Pienaar. Fact is Pollard was always going to be HM’s preferred FH. Stop dissing him, just because Lambie, hasn’t been selected!!
@KingCheetah (Comment 25) : Pollard fanboy. 🙄
Second half is under way.
Owens is having a nightmare.
SA 20 – 6 Scotland
45 minutes.
Stuart Hogg – fucking wanker!
Scotland with an intercept try from their own 22.
Pollard’s pass intercepted.
SA 20 – 13 Scotland
49 minutes.
@Ben (Comment 32) :
Pollard with a drop goal.
SA 23 – 13 Scotland
51 minutes.
Laidlaw yellow carded.
Our set moves are not exactly mind-boggling.
This is like watching the Sharks, except that we’re ahead.
Is it just me or are the Boks not in a good space psychologically?
They Seem to be distracted with questioning every decision and looking like they have “victim mentality” instead of getting on with the game, and believing that they’re by far the superior team regardless of a few calls which they may or may not feel are incorrect
Even Lood looks like he’s feeling sorry for himself today?
SA 23 – 16 Scotland
60 minutes.
Our basic structures also don’t look good… We look like a poorly coached team!!
Pollard – stop kicking the fucking ball away!
SA 26 – 16 Scotland
62 minutes.
@Ben (Comment 26) : Lol not at all, I am a Cheetahs fan onthou. I just find this constant negativity towards Pollard a tad petty. He hasn’t had a bad game at all. His defence has been outstanding, he has nailed his kicks, and has asked questions on attack.
I understand that Sharks fans would want Lambie in the 10 jersey, but he is not! And all this blinkered vitriol, won’t get him there either.
@CS (Comment 42) : Precisely! Hence my Sharks comparison. 😛
SA 29 – 16 Scotland
67 minutes.
Common sense by Owens
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 46) : I was told we were getting a break from Sharks rugby today 🙁
@KingCheetah (Comment 45) : It’s more a case of people not liking Pollard than people wanting Lambie to play. Pollard isn’t bad. But he is over-rated and his attitude stinks. Fair enough, he doesn’t select himself, but he is in control of his attitude and he is a d**s in my opinion. 😉
The TMO is seriously pissing me off 🙁
Alberts is on the field! 😯
Habana try.
The bench making some fire!
SA 34 – 16 Scotland
74 minutes.
Who is Lambie on for?
@Ben (Comment 56) : JPP
I’m glad Habana got a try… He’s been trying hard
@CS (Comment 57) : Thanks.
I feel Willie LeRoux has been extremely ineffectual today
@CS (Comment 60) : Agree. Flo as well.
JPP was looking for work today, but his discipline was a bit of a risk… I think that’s why they took him off… He was a yellow card risk with his silly discipline errors
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 61) : we can add Pienaar to that list now too 🙂
And Kriel’s biggest contribution has been keeping the forwards motivated with his high fives and butt pats 🙂
It’s probably fair to say the top 5 won’t be shitting themselves at the prospect of playing us.
FULL TIME
SOUTH AFRICA 34 – 16 SCOTLAND
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 65) : They definitely won’t be… although I think the list of people not scared of us goes a lot further than just the top 5 🙁
@CS (Comment 63) : Ja, with Pienaar the term “not enough time to be rated” doesn’t apply. He’s kak from the first second.
@CS (Comment 67) : Unfortunately true 🙁
Oh well… Could have been worse… At least we didn’t lose!
@Ben (Comment 50) : Fair enough, I just don’t see guys on here making a big hoo ha about Sharks players that stuff it up. JPP, did some daft things today too. I just sense a lot of the flack Pollard is getting, is because Sharks fans feel that Lambie is hard done by.
When is the eng vs aus tonight?
@KingCheetah (Comment 71) : Please check the url of the website that you’re on now. It should have ‘sharksworld’ somewhere in there. 😉
@Poisy (Comment 72) : Starts in half an hour.
@Ben (Comment 73) : Darnit! Imagine that. You are so right lol. Ok I will concede that a level of bias will prevail. But let’s pick on some other non Sharks.
@Ben (Comment 74) : are you doing commenting? Can’t watch game
@Poisy (Comment 76) : It’s almost two in the morning here, mate. Think I’ll turn in soon.
@KingCheetah (Comment 75) : pick on the ref than, every sharks fan 2nd fav past time
@Ben (Comment 77) :lol sorry was not aware you not in SA
@Poisy (Comment 78) : 😆 Copy that
@Ben (Comment 77) : You in Thailand or Indonesia?
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 81) : mr spirit I know you gonna do commenting
@Poisy (Comment 82) : It’s Aus 0 – 0 Eng
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 81) : Thailand
@CS (Comment 83) : dankie
@Poisy (Comment 85) : It’s still 0-0. Game kicks off in a few minutes. 😆
Romain Poite is the ref 🙁
England kick off…
Poite makes his mark early on… Scrum penalty for England before the ball is even in… He’s such a toss
Aus blow a clear chance for an early try
Australia should have scored there.
@KingCheetah (Comment 75) : must say I could get some negative comments but at the moment Pollard is performing better than Pat as I personally feel Pat is playing to deep were as Pollard is on the advantage line.
Penalty Aus on Englands 5m… They go for poles:
3-0
@Ben (Comment 86) : ignorance was bliss
@JD (Comment 92) : Pat was playing fullback… I should hope he was deep 😉
Roman Poite sounds like Mr Chow from The Hangover!!
Scrum penalty England in Aus 22… They’re awarded penalty and then the Poms still whinge at the ref!!
3-3
@CS (Comment 95) : and against Japan was he also playing fullback?!?!?! I know he played fullback today but when he’s playing flyhalf he’s to deep!!!!!!
The English are actually looking pretty good… But I get the feeling the Aussies are gonna have to play out of their skin to beat the Ref today… I mean England
@JD (Comment 98) : Dude… Please check the wink at the end of my comment…
Try Australia – Bernard Foley scores
Australia up 10-3 after 21 mins
Both teams are attacking well tonight… And both are defending well…
Makes the Boks look like Sharks players compared to this lot
Our only hope is to play a battered Wales in the quarters 🙁
Aussies win scrum penalty… I may have to take back what I said about Mr Chow… He may allow a fair game after all
England charge down Genia kick… Aussies scramble back to force a 22 drop out… That was close
Cheika has a fit and mouths “fuck sakes” on international television… How many millions are watching world wide 🙂
Gotta love these Aussies 🙂
Brilliant try Bernard Foley… His second!!
17-3
Half time: 17-3
Based on the first 40… My prediction is an All Black vs Wallaby WC final
@JD (Comment 98) : Pollard is still learning the ropes, but I do feel he is copping unnecessary flack. Lambie is standing a bi deep, and as well as he played against Argentina, he was the victim of a poor showing in general by the team against Japan. Pollard is still young, and he is growing in confidence. We are lucky to have some class players in the 10 jersey at the moment.
@KingCheetah (Comment 110) : ja both Pat and Pollard are good. Must say I’m glad we did not see MS so far!!!
@Poisy (Comment 82) : Sorry I had to put the tablet on the charger. Luckily Mr CS is on the ball 😀
@KingCheetah (Comment 110) : Don’t particularly care who’s starting as both have their strengths. Would just like our flyhalves to be utilized as first receivers more often. Give them the opportunity to control the game.
@CS (Comment 109) : The Aussies are looking really dangerous.
@vanmartin (Comment 113) : Fourie du Preez is such a class act 9,would love to see Pat playing with him.Pollard is 150% better with him,shit even Morne’ looked good with him.
Hope Flo is watching what a fetcher’s supposed to do.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 112) : you are fired 😛
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 114) : With Pocock and Hooper hunting as a pack… England just can’t go through the phases
@CS (Comment 118) : Yip. Cheika knows what he’s doing.
Scrum penalty for Australia… They Just monstered the English scrum!
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 119) : I said it earlier during our game… And now it’s even more obvious… The Boks are really badly coached… and we are gonna go nowhere in world rugby unless we get ourselves an Aussie or Kiwi coaching team!!
20-3
England get kickable penalty and go for lineout
Foley saves a certain try… England had a 4 man overlap
In fact… Foley was held back on his attempted intercept… England very lucky not to get a yellow card IMO… Foley would’ve been away
@CS (Comment 121) : Fully agree.
England try
Wow… What a game… A real lesson in backline play tonight
20-10
@CS (Comment 128) :time left?
20 minutes left
England starting to look better.
What a tackle from Giteau
Penalty Aussies… Kick for touch and on attack again
England fight back and now have penalty in front of Aussies posts
Bad mistake replacing Genia with Phipps
Man Phipps is kak! Can’t believe Nic White’s sitting in Aus.
Barrit going off injured for England
20-13
15 mins left
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 136) : He could cost Aussies the game he’s so bad
In fact… If I was Cheika I’d take him off and put Giteau at 9
@CS (Comment 139) : Yes and those around him are also starting to make errors.
@CS (Comment 139) : Good thinking!
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 136) : Is he in Aus… Or is he boarding with Jake White already? I think that’s what cost him a place in this squad?
Farrell takes Gitaeu without the ball and Burgess high tackles Hooper all in the same frame
@CS (Comment 142) : Could well be the reason.
Yellow card Farrell… Surely game over England
Foley kicks his 23 points of the match:
23-13
8 mins left
Scrum australia… Clock keeps ticking
Aussies been on the edge of pushing early in the scrums all game… But the scrum is certainly no longer a weakness for them
And as I say that… Scrum Penalty Australia
Aussies have scrummed well.
26-13
4 mins left
England to be First Host Nation to drop out after the play offs…
In this context, maybe loosing to Japan not so bad after all 😉
Another scrum penalty to Australia
Every scrum now a penalty to Aus.
And there goes England out of the World cup!!!!!!
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 154) : England watch the Sharks “how to scrum” video?
2 mins left
@CS (Comment 152) : ja all of a sudden losing to Japan does not look all that bad anymore!!!!
Ah brilliant
Cheerio England old chaps! Thanks for coming.
What a try to australia… From nothing
Lmfao hahahaha time for the boks to laugh now
@JD (Comment 156) : 😆
With a backline of:
Genia
Foley
Giteau
Beale
Ashley-Cooper
Falau
And Hooper and Pocock getting them a constant supply of good ball…
The Aussies have an embarrassment of riches!!!
Game over: 33-13
I think Lancaster just left the stadium early with the rest of the crowd 🙂
@CS (Comment 165) :dankie
@Poisy (Comment 167) : No problem… Do yourself a favour and watch the game tomorrow if you get a chance
Has John Smit got Lancaster on speed dial? 😉
@CS (Comment 168) :I will was just playing doctor to the gf she’s not feeling well
Seems an international coach may soon be out of a job Sharks 🙂
Haha poms got a good hiding, gotta love it!
Tough crowd… 😀
don’t understand this love for Australia… it’s a close thing but I think I’d take England over the convicts any day…
Looks like we will end up with Wales in the quarters – probably the team I’d have chosen to meet from the three…
@vanmartin (Comment 171) : think he might be banished from the Kingdom!!!!
@Orlok Tsubodai (Comment 174) : ja me to don’t like the convicts all that much!!! At least with Brad Pommies have a SA connection!!!!
@Poisy (Comment 170) : aha you playing doctor with the gf instead of watching rugby, you sly dog!!!!!
Just kidding hope she feels better soon!!!
@CS (Comment 169) : hell no!!!! Rather take du Preez!!!!! even with all Lancaster’s international pedigree!!!!!!
@JD (Comment 178) :thank you kind sir
I think the Bokke are really showing some good improvement game by game. Loosing to Japan can destroy a whole campaign. These guys in the team has all the skill and experiance we need to win the Cup. Why not just support our Country and BELIEVE. What happend to the love of thhe game!!!! Go BOKKE #proudlySA
Good results for sharks and boks. Good weekend.
What a perfect weekend…..
Proteas WIN with 7 wickets
Lions WIN by 30
Bokke WIN by 18
O what a wonderfull morning….. O what a wonderfull day….
LIFE IS TRULY GOOD AS A LION and BOKKE SUPPORTER.
Hope u guys have such a great day as I am gonna have…
So probably nz sa aus france in semi. I still say nz France final. But hopefully we van eliminate nz in semi to go on to face France or aus in final.
@CS (Comment 164) : Don’t forget Larkham as backline coach. He’s making a huge difference.
@Orlok Tsubodai (Comment 174) : I think it’s more a case of who do you like the least, which in my case is definitely England. Also, as per your comment 175 I’d rather we face Wales in the quarters.
While I like the result the boks got. I think our gameplan is going to be the reason we don’t get to finals.
Hopefully Matfield will watch rest of the WC from the stands now too…..debate settled…we dont need the Oupas …..the youth rock!!
So the ozzies certainly announced themselves as favourites for wc victory…..they were devastatingly impressive.
Is it just me or are things set up nicely for NZ as per usual? I just hope Meyer has more than just this one trick. Forwards in the backline single channel…I doubt this kind of game will beat France. On a good note JP seems to have woken up a little, though it must be said almost any wing could have finished those gifts…
@coolfusion (Comment 190) : I doubt this game plan will beat Wales.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 191) : Yup me too. As soon as they get wise and not let too many men get sucked into defense then delay the ball in ruck like the japs did. Then jus ensure you keep your loose trio available to attack our flyhalf slash flanker in the line.
@coolfusion (Comment 192) : And simply wait on the inevitable bad kicks down your throat to counter with.
@coolfusion (Comment 187) : Exactly my sentiments. I’m still not convinced our gameplan allows us enough variation when we’re matched or nullified physically. But maybe with guys like, du Preez, le Roux and de Allende in the mix it may make the difference.
Tonga is really giving Argentina a go! They have been on top and deserve their 5-0 lead after 17 minutes…
Now Argentina have penalty…nailed it and it is 5-3 after 18 minutes…
Wonderful try by Argentina!! Wow…
10-5 after 20 minutes…
Another brilliant try by Argentina as they cut loose…great running! Imhoff scores…
17-5 after 22 mintes…17 points in 4 minutes…
20-13 at halftime…good game!
@KingCheetah (Comment 110) :
I think our issue is the overwhelming support and praise Pollard seems to be getting everywhere else compared to Lambie.
I feel Pollard had a very quiet game. His kicking out of hand was poor, in general, with ball in hand actually, he was quite average. He made that one good break from second receiver and managed to make a real good pass to Jesse, but his running ability has never been in question. He also took a very good drop.
He still takes the ball into contact way to often (sometimes not even by choise, but just because he’s not quick enough on the pass). That intercept pass, also, is something that imo, is an abselute no, no for a 10. That blots out the good he did and worse, the good the team did.
He did have a solid defensive game. As well as a solid game overall. He just wasnt the saviour people make him out to be. And no one seems willing to give him fair critique. On Super Sport the panel said, the kicking was very poor and after showing about 5 kicks Pollard made, they said Fourie should take more of the kicking responsibility.
Btw, who else do you want me to critisize. Im willing to critisise anyone. 🙂
@Letgo (Comment 202) :
Wllie.
He has to be on the field, even tough he is blowing hot and cold, he’s our only attacking threat (even with oh great and powerful pollard on the field).
@Letgo (Comment 202) :
Jpp
I think hes showing signs of getting back to the old JP and even while his performance wasnt flawless, the idea of a JP in top form, at long last, excites me.
@Letgo (Comment 202) :
Jesse
More and more I feel like it was a mistake taking an untested center and untested international player to the World Cup. Jesse looks confused and out of place most of the time. If only HM gave Mapoe a run. Even though Im not convinced by Jans form right now. Id prefer to see him there, or even for some sort of shuffle in the midfield.
Damian
Didn’t have his best game, to be honest. It was still solid. He ran strongly and most impressively was the best guys contesting in the rucks.
His and Pollards inside pass, became predictable halfway through the first pass.
Habana.
I think he’s struggling to find his mojo, but at least for a change I knew he was on the field. He’s looking for work.
Handre.
Basically a 2nd inside center and 4th loosie. Carries the ball strongly, spots the gap, when it’s there to take. Has a good accurate pass. Has a strong kick, but not very accurate. Decision making and game management, still not up to scratch.
Fourie
Actually did not have the best game and I thought he was slow, at times. Im concerned that to much pressure is being put on him to act as a sort of a pivot, game manager. He is known as a decision making scrummy, but looking up and your flyhalf is always hidden behind whoever, cannot be good for even his game.
This can also be blamed on the Schalk at 10 tactic. Dont get this.
Daune
Still very quiet, but we need him. He needs game time. And needs to be put into the game more… Still the Schalk as first receiver issue.
Schalk.
I actually thought he was quite good this past two games, especially against Samoa, he really redeemed himself – he had to, since he almost singlehandedly threw away that game with his antics and high error rate.
However, I still feel like Pollard or Lambie would do better with 90 percent of the balls Schalk takes. Were gonna struggle against for example Australia, if Schalk keeps playing away from the contact and just waiting for the ball to come to him. We need out loosies to play to the ball and give our backs quick ball.
Flouw.
Quiet. Anonymous.
Wheres the flouw HM brought into the team from England and we all wanted to be mad, but couldnt because he was so massive on the ground.
We need Marcell or Brussouw, or even bring in Willem who at least bring a presence carrying and defending.
Lood
Massive.
Eben.
Getting there.
Jannie.
We missed him when he was gone. It still doesnt mean we shouldnt start Malherbe now that we dont know why we missed Jannie in the first place. The scrums are stronger when Jannie goes of and thats his calling card.
Bissie.
I want him to work on his ground work again. We miss that attribute, especially with Flouw gone missing. Bissie was solid though, as was Tellytubby.
Tendai.
I call in Tendai now, because his Beast worthy moments are like a red moon these days, but he works hard around the field in defense and at the breakdown and he is getting back to his best in the scrum.
@Letgo (Comment 204) : ja must say JPP in top form is awesome!!!! If he’s on top form I’ll have him in my team all day long!!!!!
Trevor is a good solid replacement.
Malherbe should start.
I didnt see PSTD. Would like to see him start at 5 against US to see where he is.
Willem, also needs a full game. He could still make a big impact at this RWC.
Ruan
Lambie. Feel like hes not being given credit for his game management. He is still a guy that has only been given 8 min or so with only the two starts and that still shows in his game. If HM wanted Lambie at his best he would have had more games under his belt this year. Im all for starting Pollard though if HM sees the value in giving Lambie 30 or at least 20 minutes to finish of the more tense moments of a match where tactical kicking and game management/ decision making is important (even more so that earlier in the game).
Jan, has been unconvincing this whole year. He seems, at least to be a pretty safe option at 13. He will make his tackles and keep his error rate low.
Thats my attempt at giving an unbiased review of the players on a sharks site.
@JD (Comment 217) :
JP looks fit, fats and strong, not to mention motivated. When last could we say that about him. Loved seeing him at his best, with those long strides that seems much slower than he actually is.
Hope hes ok after having to leave the field.
Look, we’re improving and that in itself is pleasing. But improvement is relative when you lose to Argentina and Japan for the first time in history.
Also, going “back to basics” will not work 4 times out of 5 against any other top 5 team such as NZ, Ireland, Aus or even Wales… it’s simply too predictable and easy to overcome. Don’t get hopes up just yet.
@Letgo (Comment 218) : As much as I agree that Lambie should get more game time as a sub, the primary goal right now was to get into the QF’s. Secondly Pollard and FdP should have as much game time together as possible going into the knockouts. There is no place for sentiment. HM has placed his money on Pollard, and now he must back him to the hilt.
I am all for giving Lambie 30 odd minutes vs the USA
@KingCheetah (Comment 222) : If this is the case don’t you think he should have put this place this before the tournament, in the Championship or the one off test against the Argies.
What is his Plan B,Fourie and Lambie who haven’t played together in years or back to Pienaar and Pollard.
@KingCheetah (Comment 222) : I hate to agree as I think Lambie is better. But Pollard ‘ s instability needed fixing now while we could afford it. Knockouts he must be ready if Lambie can’t play. Not that this is HM strategy but it would be mine. I must say the current gameplan effectively nullifies any great gains these two could have brought to the game. That is a greater cause for concern at the moment.
@coolfusion (Comment 224) : Also I don’t think Pollard is up to standard yet. So HM should make the call who is going to be his starting flyhalf for the second half of the comp now. If Pollard still doesn’t shape he should be demoted.
@The hound (Comment 223) : Plan B? You’re having a laugh! When last did a Bok coach have a Plan B?
Great result from the Boks against a Scottish side that has been playing well over the last month or so. Scots didnt play that poorly on Sat but couldnt handle the Boks traditional strengths. Yes we all want to play like NZ but thats why England got knocked out according to Graham Henry- trying to play like the All Blacks without their skill level. I still think the Boks shift the ball wide too quickly as soon as we get an inch over the advantage line. A few more pick and drives after a guy like De Allende or Lood has got front foot ball with draw a lot of penalties from the opposition. It will also suck their defenses in even more allowing us space out wide eventually. Teams have caught on quick that refs are nailing guys at the breakdown so not many are committing numbers here but rather double tackle and fan out. Im glad England is out as it was quite worrying to see how their scrums were reffed when there loosehead would drive in on the angle every scrum without sanction.
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 226) :Agree but I still think he will revert to his Plan A Fourie and Morne Steyn before long,probably for the U.S.A game
@SheldonK (Comment 227) : Scotland went into that game on Saturday determined to just get through with as few a injuries possible,they are happy with a second place pool spot and were not forced to play knockout rugby yet.We on the other hand went in with the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads,and put everything on the table.We have shown everything that we have got,and really it was not that impressive.
When is Rudy Paige going to be unleashed on the world cup?
@The hound (Comment 229) : Couldn’t agree more. One-dimensional is far too complicated an expression to describe our gameplay.
@The hound (Comment 229) : We will be so much more dangerous if Schalk can just stay out of the godamn backline and let the flyhalf dictate play.
@The hound (Comment 229) : Perhaps but thats very brave of Scotland if that was their intention. They have to negotiate a physical Samoa out for redemption after and embarrassing performance vs Japan. Then finishing 2nd means they will probably play Australia in QF which at the moment i think most teams would want to avoid. Yes the Bok game plan is limited…but it always has been for years and years. We rely on the physical attributes of our players to dominate. If we dont then we struggle. Boks would be very foolish to try play a running game as we dont have the players for that in this country.
@The hound (Comment 223) : It is a catch 22. I do see merit in your point, but we can’t change the past. That said after the loss vs. the Argies, HM did drop Pollard to the bench.
HM has to play the cards he has dealt himself.
@coolfusion (Comment 224) : Most pundits have been saying that Pollard is the man to take the boks forward. I have no favourite here. I think both have strengths and weaknesses. HM made his preference, and now we must back him. We know that if something happens, we can rely on Lambie too.
@SheldonK (Comment 227) : We need to appreciate that Scotland’s play maker flyhalf was injured, and the coach gave quite a few second string players a rest. But a decent win none the less, although the current game plan will come short against teams that can match our physicality. I am not asking that we try and play like the All Blacks (as you said England came short trying to emulate them without the necessary skills), but a bit more guile on attack would not be a bad thing at all.
@Bokhoring (Comment 236) : Look we can only play against the opposition put in front of us and that wasnt a bad scottish side- i think we would have preferred fin russel to play as i dont think he would have coped as well with our big runners in his channel. Yes of course we can tweak our game plan to be more unpredictable but Meyer bowed to public pressure and tried for the last year to play more running rugby when he should have been tweaking our traditional gameplan to make it more effective and illusive.
@Letgo (Comment 214) : The scrums were good with Jannie on this week…which I reckon confirms my suspicion that the scrums become stronger not when Jannie goes off but when Matfield go off!
@Letgo (Comment 220) : I hope JP looks “fast” and not “fats”…
@Spirit of Rugby (Comment 231) : Can we do anything else though?
@KingRiaan (Comment 232) : Abso-blooming-lutely!
@KingCheetah (Comment 235) : Agreed…that is the way it is. I reckon it is good to have them as our two options…and I am very glad HM has not fallen back on MS…
@Bokhoring (Comment 236) : That said the game we played in the first 60 minutes vs the AB’s and Aus in the RC was totally unexpected, and they had no answer. We can play like that. HM has shown that we can play a fast paced game based on power up front.
@pastorshark (Comment 239) : the way he caught their wing during the game it’s definitely fast!!!! At first I thought it must be a flank or fly half but nope it was the wing!!!! Did not stop the try but did his best and showed some serious speed!!!!
@JD (Comment 244) : Yeah, just commenting on letgo’s wrongs spelling => “fats”…
@pastorshark (Comment 245) : yes I figured as much just impressed with the speed the “old man” shower during the game!!! Seems to be “hungry” again like in his younger days!!!!!
@JD (Comment 246) : In this RWC JP has looked better than he has in aaaages! Good stuff…
@pastorshark (Comment 238) : 100%. Any prop with matfield and louw scrumming behind them is in for a tough time.
@KingCheetah (Comment 243) : But since then HM have retreated into the laager, and we are now back to predictaBull. Which works well if you can bully the opposition forwards into submission, but from the quarters that will just not happen.
We have been playing in the easiest pool – Scotland (last in 6N this year), Samoa (a shadow of the team it was), Japan and US (not even in the top 10).
@SheldonK (Comment 248) : Definitely…watch all our games this season and it is very obvious. No matter which tighthead we played…our scrum struggled when Matfield was packing down behind him…
@pastorshark (Comment 250) : Agreed but we are also a bit naiive in our setup. If matfield is going to play them let him scrum behind the loosehead not tighthead and have someone like Alberts or Burger as the flank behind him. With Matfield (who is a weak scrummager) and Louw (who barely binds on the scrum) behind Jannie..no wonder the oke is looking tired and ebat up.
@SheldonK (Comment 251) : Fair comment…
@KingCheetah (Comment 243) : Since then HM has retreated back into the lager, and we are back to predictaBull. Which works well if your forwards can pound the opposition into submission.
However that will not work in the knockout stages.
Remember that we have drawn the easiest pool (Scotland – last in 6N 2015), Samoa (a shadow of the team it used to be), Japan and US (not in the top 10). From now on we will play the sides that can at least live with our power game, and do know how to make use of scoring opportunities.
@pastorshark (Comment 250) : @SheldonK (Comment 251) : ja sometimes we forget scrumming is a team sport!!!!!!!! In the old days the big flank used to always scrum behind the tight head to support him but now it chances depending on where on the field they scrum and that will have an impact on the tight heads performance!!
Good win for Fiji…47-15 against Uruguay…
And Romania came from 0-15 down to beat Canada 17-15…