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Great win for the boys. They really needed this. There were some terrific individual performances - both locks were really good. Samisoni was good. Ardie was his usual self. And David Havili lent great impact. Reiko Ioane is not a centre, but he's our best 11 currently. Jordie Barrett's...

1) I agree on Arendse. Sometimes, the greatest danger is posed not by the malicious, but by the blind exuberance. BB could easily have broken his neck. Of course Arendse didn't mean to take BB out, but neither did he at any point consider any level of safety. 2) On Vermeulen coming back, good...

On personnel - i'm not sure that is really going to be the difference for the ABs. The players play within a structure. It's very hard for even the best players to defend properly in non-rush defence. It's hard for the players to attack well when it is just one out ball runners. That said, and...

One last comment on foster. before the Irish series, there was some pressure. Then, he talked about how he was the only coach to had to deal with Covid. It’s the most ridiculous excuse, because every country had to deal with Covid. Some of the Irish players also came down with Covid during this...

Unpopular opinion but the ABs have major issues beyond simple mistakes. These issues are all interrelated: - Our forwards are relatively poor ball-carriers. We keep neglecting the weights for fitness and finesse. It's not a dichotomy. Every team has monsters, except us. - We have no strategy on...

Ok get the props off pls. They have both been shite today. And Akira

Not sure how many AB fans are watching live. It's a pretty worrying time to be an AB fan, but i guess we've been spoilt over the years. We look second best, but it feels good to be: - only one score down. We are a bit lucky the score is only 10-3. - the Boks have expanded a fair bit. They are...

As the match draws closer, there will be a lot of posts on specific personnel. Of course, the players make a difference. But the the structure and strategy of the team matters more. Bok great Victor Matfield, a smart rugby player, talks about the AB defence below, something which was echoed by...

After the losses in the 2nd and 3rd games, these have been what Foster has said. It's the same, general, broad, vague, directionless, answers, which indicates that "for some reason", he doesn't really know what's going on. In 8 years with the Chiefs, Ian Foster won 52 games, lost 46, and drew...

Congrats to Ireland. I spent 6 months at University College Dublin, the club that featured the likes of Brian O'Driscoll, Sean O'Brien, and in this current team Ringrose and Van Der Flier. I appreciated my time very much in Ireland, and can only imagine how happy Irish fans are. For the ABs, I...

In the first test, Ireland rattled NZ in the first 15-20 mins. But the real killer was Sevu Reece's try. It was an intercept, a spontaneous act, and went under the sticks. This was a sucker punch - for all that dominance, we are down 9 points. Conversely, for the ABs - with that lead buffer...

Ian Foster has now coached the ABs for 23 games. Out of these 23, 5 are walkovers - USA, Tonga, Italy, and Fiji x 2. Taking those away, Foster has coached 18 first-class games for the ABs. Out of those 18, he has won 11 (8 of which come against Australia and Argentina). Foster was coach of the...

I agree that some of the players weren't great. But 1) the players play within a system and strategy. If we look at the AB attack, there is no strategy. Players generally figure shit out themselves. It's always one-out runners off 10, though this year there is a slight variation of going wider...

Been a bad week down with a mysterious illness. Glad that there's a good weekend of rugby ahead, starting with a historic Irish win. It hurts that my team lost, but congrats to the Irish, well-deserved. Rugby, like all sports, has its narratives driven by results. Last week, we were slightly...

very interesting game. The 2 teams were not 23 points apart, but ultimately, the result is everything in rugby. A lot to take away and yet it's also only the first game. What I like from the ABs were: - George Bower might really be our best international standard loosehead. He offered...

So that was a weird first half. Both teams actually like to play in the same exact way. Very quick ball from the forwards. The scummie distribures quickly. You beat the opposition on speed of attack. From a deliberate, planning and coaching perspective, the Irish look to be the better team. They...

Sevu Reece's try might be a turning point. Reece, has since 2019, has scored a number of long-distance tries of opposition mistakes. These sorta of tries are a a major source of our points, but also a real back-breaker - they hurt more because the opposition is hot on attack and look threatening.

Good try. FInally, someone who didn't just run straight. The old warrior Sam Whitelock, with a bit of deception. The new warhorse, Leicester running with purpose and power. A bit lucky on the final pass - not sure if Jordie is really the guy the pass was meant for. But the damage was done before...

The ABs are shite on defence. Dane Coles - finally says it. LINE SPEED boys. But the attack is pretty bad too. There is literally no deception. It's just one up runners. Is there no game plan?

Again the dual sides of BB. He doesn't quite have the ability to organise an attack against a rush defence - look at how dangerous sexton looks on the ball with runners from all angles. But that intercept saved a try. And the recovery from the long kick was committed and excellent. Brodie...