Springboks v Wallabies, Newlands, September 28 2013

[Scrubber2050]

am really looking forward to Horwill imposing himself on the saffas. He would be very motivated, particularly with Mowen half waiting in the wings for captaincy.

Also the forwards in general need to be agressive - think fardy and Slipper have done so but we need the whole 8 to stick them. In particular Mowen and Simmons really needs to step the agression stakes. White will be at his abrasive best 9I hope)

This is a HUGE game for OZ and reckon they are ready to unleash

 

[RoffsChoice]

Surely there's no way Genia could or should be reclaiming his starting spot yet?

I want the lineup to be
Sio, Moore, Alexander, Simmons, Horwill, Fardy, Gill, Mowen, White, To'omua, Tomane, Lilo, Kuridrani, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Folau
Fainga'a, Robinson, Kepu, Timani, McCalman, Genia, Cooper, Betham

But that won't happen and I suspect McKenzie was going to reinstate Genia for this game anyway, no matter how well White did.

EDIT: Not a dig at McKenzie, just what I suspect ANY coach would be advised to do

 

[RoffsChoice]

Brisbok I wouldn't take any hooker in the world ahead of Battleship at his best.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

<snip>
Battleship at full throttle is a step above IMO.

Mr and Mrs du Plessis are to be commended for their vision when they named their little darling boy "Bismark".

The Non-Saffers of the World are just happy that there isn't a third brother called Oppenheimer Du Plessis.

 

[tranquility]

Blooding Nic White is the best thing Link has done so far. He is a superior selector, and just knows when to pull the trigger on players.

Nic, is such a good player - but needs game time to develop and adjust which is difficult to do in 10 minute bursts. Creating genuine competion in every position, is the cornerstone of his squad philosophy and why the Reds improved so radically with pretty much the same cellar-dweller squad as the years prior.

He also has such a different skillset to Will, which is what we should be most excited about. Same too, To'omua with Quade. This is not only a kick in the pants for Will, but it is a mental refresher that he needs. It gives him the freedom to know that he is not the be all and end all of our side, and allows him to watch a player in form who plays the game with a different style. Will will be working on improving his game in line with this, and regaining a hunger to be the best in the world.

I really hope Nic holds onto the jersey, until Will wrestles it back off him.

Wallabies to bounce back, and go very close this weekend.

 

[PaarlBok]

Mr and Mrs du Plessis are to be commended for their vision when they named their little darling boy "Bismark".

The Non-Saffers of the World are just happy that there isn't a third brother called Oppenheimer Du Plessis.

A few secrets about the Bokke
http://www.channel24.co.za/News/Local/Springboks-secrets-revealed-20110912-3

Cape Town – Victor Matfield dyes his beard and Bismarck du Plessis phones his mother every evening at 20:10.

Bakkies Botha: "Few people know that Victor Matfield dyes his beard. His age is catching up with him and now he has plenty of grey hairs in his beard. We tease him about it, but he just laughs it off."

Jean de Villiers: "Schalk Burger is a decent guitarist and wanted to play in a band while he was at school. Oh, and he walks around naked in the bedroom."

Schalk Burger: "Our parents are friends and our fathers went to school together. Jean and I also went to school together at Paarl Gymnasium. Even if we didn't play rugby together, we would probably still have been friends. And would you believe that Jean's mother was my mother's PT teacher?"

Jannie Du Plessis: "Bismarck is a real mama's boy. He talks to our mom, Jo-Helene, every night at 20:10. If he's at an event and unable to phone her, he'll sms her."

Bismarck Du Plessis: "Jannie is crazy about MasterChef Australia. It's almost the only thing on TV that he watches. Before each game we eat the same meal – spaghetti bolognaise – because we did it once and played well afterwards.

 

[PaarlBok]

We got lots of rain and snow lately, sunshine a bit of a luxury. Strange weather year.

 

[A mutterer]

I would like robinson to start so we have a chance of getting on the front foot given how comprehensively outplayed upfront we have been recently.

I agree that white did enough to keep his starting position, and would expect his kicking game to play some part in this decision.

 

[Scrubber2050]

I want the lineup to be
Sio, Moore, Alexander, Simmons, Horwill, Fardy, Gill, Mowen, White, To'omua, Tomane, Lilo, Kuridrani, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Folau
Fainga'a, Robinson, Kepu, Timani, McCalman, Genia, Cooper, Betham

But that won't happen and I suspect McKenzie was going to reinstate Genia for this game anyway, no matter how well White did.

EDIT: Not a dig at McKenzie, just what I suspect ANY coach would be advised to do

Are you serious.
Sio was poor and got dropped - hopefully he will be back and take his next chance with both hands. Hooper has played well - may not be the pilferer that Gill is but he has the runs on the board, Matt T no show ATM - QC (Quade Cooper) seems to have locked down a spot

Think I counted 9 Brumbies ?????

 

[RoffsChoice]

Front row combination, lock combination, 9-10-12 combination, 12-13 combination.
But hey, I'm just being biased, so how about:
Sio, Moore, Alexander, Fardy, Carter, Kimlin, Smith, Mowen, White, To'omua, Tomane, Lealiifano, Kuridrani, Speight, Mogg
Siliva, Palmer, Murphy, Power, Fainga'a, Prior, Coleman, Rathbone


OR maybe I'd like a genuine LHP and doubt Robinson's fitness? Maybe I am seeing more from Alexander than Kepu and want a good combination? Maybe I'd like to see Timani instead of Simmons but, as before, combinations are good right? Maybe I think Hooper is ineffective against big packs and that we get from Fardy what we do from Hooper, and what is lost is gained back from Gill? Maybe I don't like Mowen at 8 but understand that we have no god damn 8 right now? Maybe White has earnt the spot? Maybe To'omua is on par with Cooper and combinations are important? Maybe I recognise that we have no Rob Horne and should have an experienced winger this weekend so went with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) there and the only other 13 at 13?

So maybe I'm not being a biased little shit and maybe I, like you, have an opinion as to what would work for the team and want to see the Australian team succeed.

Edit: No offense meant to anyone, but point still stands.

 

[No4918]

Balance is more important than combinations.

My big gripe is your prop selection. Slipper has been the best prop so far yet you dropped him and kept the two THs that have struggled. Sio has failed to impress with his limited chance, from what i did see he is behind Slipper and Robinson (for now).

 

[RoffsChoice]

I would take Slipper over Kepu, granted, but still prefer to keep the combination going. I suspect that we would at least win our ball cleanly with that forward pack as it is, if Mowen didn't stop pushing just to pick up the ball.

I'm not saying stick with the combo over all else, just that from all I've seen it is working and will only get better together.

 

[Blue]

Mr and Mrs du Plessis are to be commended for their vision when they named their little darling boy "Bismark".

The Non-Saffers of the World are just happy that there isn't a third brother called Oppenheimer Du Plessis.

Imagine there was an "Attila" or even worse a "Genghis"

 

[Brumbieman]

The only way we should be playing this game is like this:

White and To'omua starting, with instructions to dpo their utmost to pin the Boks in their 22.

Mowen captain, and Horwill told to go out and do his best impersonation of James Horwill circa 2008 and be as aggressive as he possibly can. Douglas in the other 2nd row jersey being told he's playing for his Wallaby career, and he and Horwill are in a competition for who can do the most damage. Let Mowen captain the squad and keep a cool head and not piss off the ref.

The ball doesn't go past Lealiifano unless we've made a break and are going forward at a rate of knots. This game should be treated as the 2nd charge of Beersheba, with similarly high stakes.

I don't care how ugly this game is, we have Nic White and Matt To'omua, with Folau, Tomane and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) all available, and all are excellent under the high ball.

White
To'omua
Tomane
Lealiifano
Kuridrani
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
Folau

...gives us excellent security under the high ball, while White and To'omua can do their best to maintain field position and keep us out of Steyn's range. The rest of the side should be doing nothing but tackling like their careers depend on it, and smashing the breakdown with even more ferocity.

 

[Scotty]

I can't believe you picked Folau in your team. Ridiculous.

At least AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) used to play for the brumbies.

 

[whatty]

We got lots of rain and snow lately, sunshine a bit of a luxury. Strange weather year.

I believe there was snow on Table Mountain recently??

 

[PaarlBok]

I believe there was snow on Table Mountain recently??

Yep, we appreciate sunshine lately and can see where the freezes are left open.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-AK (Andrew Kellaway)-prn2/1271169_748584798500795_1219676335_o.jpg

 

[gel]

I can't believe you picked Folau in your team. Ridiculous.

At least AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) used to play for the brumbies.

Mogg is having surgery.

 

[Brumbieman]

I can't believe you picked Folau in your team. Ridiculous.

At least AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) used to play for the brumbies.

It's the backline, not the whole team.


Got a better one? That doesn' involve throwing Peter "two left feet for hands" Betham or Chris "glass-strings and has half a season of SUPER rugby experience" onto the wing and hoping that the Boks don't decide to just kick it at them and watch them collapse under pressure in front of 65 00 drunk Afrikaaners?

I'd keep Cooper if he was as imposing in defence as To'omua is. Reality is, that he isn't even if he's getting better. Playing Kuridrani at outside centre is far less of a risk than a rookie on the wing as he can only really be targetted by running at him, something Kuridrani would love them to do.

 

[tranquility]

I'd keep Cooper if he was as imposing in defence as To'omua is. Reality is, that he isn't even if he's getting better. Playing Kuridrani at outside centre is far less of a risk than a rookie on the wing as he can only really be targetted by running at him, something Kuridrani would love them to do.

Does Kuridrani have hands though ?