Wallabies vs Springboks 2
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@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
Sounds like a changed team for Saturday. I do like what he says about tries left out there. Springbok teams have always struggled to be ruthless and it will be interesting to see if they can improve. I expect much more from the wallabies for this next one.
Springboks: Duane Vermeulen makes bold claim ahead of second Test with Wallabies
Springboks assistant coach Duane Vermeulen expects a few personnel changes for their rematch against the Wallabies in Perth on Saturday.
PSDT playing lock ?
Crikey what the ABs would give for him at Etzebeth……
( I suppose it was a tad unfair that at they had Retallick and Whitelock for so long )
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First starts for Van den Berg and Nortje as Boks make 10 changes
Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) and Ruan Nortje (lock) will earn their first Test starts in a Springbok team that shows 10 changes to the starting line-up for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash with the Wallabies at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday.
Springbok team to face Australia in Perth:
15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 5 caps, 10 points (2t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 34 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 72 caps, 80 points (16t)
12 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 36 caps, 35 pts (7t)
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 43 caps, 150 points (30t)
10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 25 points (11c, 1p)
9 – Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 1 cap, O points8 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 0 points
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 80 caps, 45 points (9t)
6 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 21 caps, 0 pts
5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 points
4 – Salmaan Moerat (captain, DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 0 points
3 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 19 caps, 0 pts
2 – Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 points
1 – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 5 points (1t)Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 68 caps, 85 points (17t)
17 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 32 caps, 0 pts
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 53 caps, 0 points
19 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 123 caps, 30 points (6t)
20 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 44 caps, 40 pts (8t)
21 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 12 caps, 10 points (2t)
22 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 15 caps, 91 pts (1t, 28c, 10p)
23 – Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 72 caps, 732 points (7t, 98c, 162p, 5dg)Stats and facts:
Springbok record against Australia:
Played 94; Won 51; Lost 40; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 893, Points against: 1 660; Tries scored 223, Tries conceded 171; Highest score 61-22 (Pretoria, 1997); Biggest win 45 points (53-8, Johannesburg 2008). Win % 54.2%.
Miscellaneous:
Should Eben Etzebeth take the field it will mark his 124th Test, which will see him equal with Bryan Habana in second place and three caps short from equalling Victor Matfield’s Springbok Test record (127).
Should Kwagga Smith take the field, he will need only five more Test caps to join the club of Springboks with 50 Test caps.
Morne van den Berg, Ruan Nortje, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Johan Grobbelaar will earn only their second Test caps in the match.
Should the Springboks win, it will be the first time they have won four successive tests against the Wallabies in more than half a century (they won seven matches in a row against Australia between 1969 and 1971).
A win for the Springboks would be their third in succession against the Wallabies in Australia – the first time that feat would have been achieved since winning four in a row between 1971 (3) and the return from isolation in 1993 (1).
The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 332.
There are 196 caps in the backline, with 136 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 419 caps.
The average caps per player in the backline is 28, the forwards 17, while the players on the bench average 52. -
@Mr-Fish said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
The truth is that the biggest hindrance to the Springbok's attack has always been their mindset.
You look at the players they've had over the last two WC cycles - Am, Kolbe, Pollard etc - and they're all guys who can run the ball with the best. Yes, the Boks have had some good success in the WC but they would've been a much better team and done better overall had they embraced the talent they had on the team and better utilised it, rather than opting for the conservative kick-oriented strategies.
Players like Pollard have gone backwards due to the restrictions imposed on them - look at Tony Brown's comments from this week and he seems to think the same thing (at least with Pollard's regression). This Boks team has basically typically played just good enough to win matches, when they could've been doing so much more.
Or they could have played differently and not won back to back WCs
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@MiketheSnow the Stormers play running rugby and more then often end up on the losing side when it get to tight games. Still thats the way the Faithful want them to play and the reason for the attendances. Thats why they produce players like Willemse and SFM.
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@OomPB said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
@MiketheSnow the Stormers play running rugby and more then often end up on the losing side when it get to tight games. Still thats the way the Faithful want them to play and the reason for the attendances. Thats why they produce players like Willemse and SFM.
Agreed
But it’s not the only way
And winners are a combination of many skill sets and strategies
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@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
This might be a little too ambitious from rassie. He treating Australia like Portugal. If he pulls it off it will be awesome…
Seems a very solid backline and half a very solid forward pack, with a very solid bench. Doesn't seem that ambitious? Hopefully he's more ambitious against the ABs.
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@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
This might be a little too ambitious from rassie. He treating Australia like Portugal. If he pulls it off it will be awesome…
Joe Schmidt has already capped 10 new Wallabies in 4 tests this year. There may be one more for the weekend. The rebuild is on and so Rassie trying a few things is not so risky at this point.
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Or just a very different mindset
Instead of 'I wonder how player y will go if my favoured player x gets injured?' Rassie is not going to die wondering
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@Bones said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
This might be a little too ambitious from rassie. He treating Australia like Portugal. If he pulls it off it will be awesome…
Seems a very solid backline and half a very solid forward pack, with a very solid bench. Doesn't seem that ambitious? Hopefully he's more ambitious against the ABs.
7 players in the starting 15 with 5 caps or less
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@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
@Bones said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
This might be a little too ambitious from rassie. He treating Australia like Portugal. If he pulls it off it will be awesome…
Seems a very solid backline and half a very solid forward pack, with a very solid bench. Doesn't seem that ambitious? Hopefully he's more ambitious against the ABs.
7 players in the starting 15 with 5 caps or less
Pussy.
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@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
This might be a little too ambitious from rassie. He treating Australia like Portugal. If he pulls it off it will be awesome…
I think SA currently has the depth to do it. This appears to be their version of our 2004-07 squad.
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Its about player management and building depth.
Our URC squad players is now in reconditioning phase. The Springboks in the local teams will get their 8 weeks break after the November NH internationals. The others playing for NH clubs and in Japan need to be manage carefully.
The Springboks have a very experience pool of players and Rassie need to plan their replacements.
The youngsters he selected thus far (BJD, SFM, Louw, Moerat) has been excellent. The others like Fassie, Nortje, Wessels & Grobbies were in excellent URC form. The other changes like Mapimpi, Am, Escom plus the bench are world cup winners.
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@antipodean said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
@W32 said in Wallabies vs Springboks 2:
This might be a little too ambitious from rassie. He treating Australia like Portugal. If he pulls it off it will be awesome…
I think SA currently has the depth to do it. This appears to be their version of our 2004-07 squad.
Lots to lose though. If they’re trying to win the championship, this is risky. But in the bigger picture, great to be putting new players out there to see what they’re made of.
It’s definitely going to be entertaining!
