How good are the Boks?
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@booboo said in How good are the Boks?:
Let's pose this question again.
Any change in your opinion after this week?
Yeah, not the greatest bok team ever. But the big caveat is that rassie is really changing a lot every game, and the Tonyball plan hasn't really panned out. I actually prefer what Rassie is doing (experimenting with players, giving newbies a chance) rather than playing the strongest team every game ala the AB's. Its a jump start on the future.
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how great is this Boks team? There is a spiky pineapple riding on the answer.
Should have chosen a durian. -
@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
how great is this Boks team? There is a spiky pineapple riding on the answer.
Should have chosen a durian.I'm beginning to regret that moment of lunacy.
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@W32 said in How good are the Boks?:
@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
how great is this Boks team? There is a spiky pineapple riding on the answer.
Should have chosen a durian.I'm beginning to regret that moment of lunacy.
here's hoping for you the Boks have practised a reliable rearguard action. Or perhaps they can't be arsed.
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@W32 said in How good are the Boks?:
@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
how great is this Boks team? There is a spiky pineapple riding on the answer.
Should have chosen a durian.I'm beginning to regret that moment of lunacy.
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@W32 said in How good are the Boks?:
@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
how great is this Boks team? There is a spiky pineapple riding on the answer.
Should have chosen a durian.I'm beginning to regret that moment of lunacy.
you and your a posterior -ay ay ay! - logic...
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@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
how great is this Boks team? There is
aspiky pineapple riding riding on the answer.
Should have chosen adurianjackfruit.Fixed
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@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
@W32 said in How good are the Boks?:
@nostrildamus said in How good are the Boks?:
how great is this Boks team? There is a spiky pineapple riding on the answer.
Should have chosen a durian.I'm beginning to regret that moment of lunacy.
you and your a posterior -ay ay ay! - logic...
Too soon to back up now @W32 - have some faith. You’ll be more than Doleful enough after the game if the boks stick it up their/your ring.
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Pretty good. We may never really know as Rassie keeps playing around with his squad and the fact that they have a seemingly endless season may be the source of their injury list.
In 18-24 months, they will start to retire some players so we will see if they are good enough to absorb those losses of personnel.
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@DaGrubster said in How good are the Boks?:
Pretty good. We may never really know as Rassie keeps playing around with his squad and the fact that they have a seemingly endless season may be the source of their injury list.
In 18-24 months, they will start to retire some players so we will see if they are good enough to absorb those losses of personnel.
He is working hard to build depth for the future, and for the most part they keep winning
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@canefan said in How good are the Boks?:
@DaGrubster said in How good are the Boks?:
Pretty good. We may never really know as Rassie keeps playing around with his squad and the fact that they have a seemingly endless season may be the source of their injury list.
In 18-24 months, they will start to retire some players so we will see if they are good enough to absorb those losses of personnel.
He is working hard to build depth for the future, and for the most part they keep winning
Yeah, he’s spending his capital wisely. Now when he’s got lots of it and the old dogs are around to transfer knowledge and put the team in with a shout of winning most games.
One reason I reckon Rassie is such a good coach for the boks they’re his team in every important sense. He’s their second biggest, most astute fan behind your correspondent. He ‘s not that far removed from being a vital player for the boks and he had a huge role in the development of lots of his players, many from before they were pros/stars. Most of all, he’s shaped this team in his own image for six years.
He knows exactly what the klippies and coke Jarpies in the stands expect and will tolerate. Because it’s exactly what he feels. He also has an innate appreciation of what his team wants and needs, what selections his boys will welcome or grudgingly accept and which will lead to pockets of players grumbling in hallways.
That’s why he’s backing Manie. It tells his team that if they’re in the squad he trusts them even if they have a bad day at the office. Even if there is a wunderkid sitting on the sidelines. Because who knows when you need your fourth string flyhalf to drop his pole, pull on an ill fitting jumper and slug a wobbly old kick to ice a(nother) RWC?
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@Smuts said in How good are the Boks?:
@canefan said in How good are the Boks?:
@DaGrubster said in How good are the Boks?:
Pretty good. We may never really know as Rassie keeps playing around with his squad and the fact that they have a seemingly endless season may be the source of their injury list.
In 18-24 months, they will start to retire some players so we will see if they are good enough to absorb those losses of personnel.
He is working hard to build depth for the future, and for the most part they keep winning
That’s why he’s backing Manie. It tells his team that if they’re in the squad he trusts them even if they have a bad day at the office. Even if there is a wunderkid sitting on the sidelines. Because who knows when you need your fourth string flyhalf to drop his pole, pull on an ill fitting jumper and slug a wobbly old kick to ice a(nother) RWC?
It's a really good decision. Starkly contrasts with the way we've been guilty of destroying players' confidence fairly regularly.
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The boks are the best
maybe two main reasons
they go deep in the forwards . . . they can put a better forward pack (all 14 of them that is) on the field than any one else
second reason . . . they've tuned their style of play to the rugby rule book beautifully
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@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
I ask because there are a lot of Bok posters on X saying they think the Boks would have walloped the ABs in both games if passes had stuck. Is this the true Bok fan view, or just the view of the few?
SOME - not to be confused with "all", "most", or "a high percentage" - of the Boks fans on Twitter are utter cockheads, and not to be engaged with.
I posted up a still of Libbok taking a restart ahead of the halfway line from the last game against Argentina, which IMHO is a pretty easy fix for the ref to have a word without making a big deal out of it (ironically, the ref was BOK).
Some said "look it's not a big deal" and we had a bit of a back and forth about pedantry in the Iaws.
The rest blared out "have a cry" or "go catch a kangaroo or something" etc. The more who replied to it, the more they leaned into the dickhead category.
There are a lot of them who are drunk on the current levels of success and think their shit doesn't stink. How quickly they've forgotten the Peter de Villiers years. Three losses in a row to Australia before the last 4 wins in a row. A winning percentage in the 2010s of only 60%.
Sing when you're winning, but don't be a doos about it, eh?
Those particular fans will go back to whining about refs when the wheel turns.
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On the Boks themselves: hate watching them smash six shades of shit out of us, but in the neutral games it is great to watch their power and accuracy. They've definitely taken the personnel they have and built a good game plan for what works.
Are they better than the John Smit RWC winning era? Hmmm.... They're definitely less boring, but that was a product of the Law interpretations at the time. I think the opposition the Boks had back then was definitely better, which means they had to out perform some pretty fkn good teams.
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@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
Good question.
IMHO England 2003. That was their absolute peak of Uncompromising Bastard, combined with accuracy in all things.
(And yes bc the pricks beat us in the RWC final).
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@NTA said in How good are the Boks?:
@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
I ask because there are a lot of Bok posters on X saying they think the Boks would have walloped the ABs in both games if passes had stuck. Is this the true Bok fan view, or just the view of the few?
SOME - not to be confused with "all", "most", or "a high percentage" - of the Boks fans on Twitter are utter cockheads, and not to be engaged with.
I posted up a still of Libbok taking a restart ahead of the halfway line from the last game against Argentina, which IMHO is a pretty easy fix for the ref to have a word without making a big deal out of it (ironically, the ref was BOK).
Some said "look it's not a big deal" and we had a bit of a back and forth about pedantry in the Iaws.
The rest blared out "have a cry" or "go catch a kangaroo or something" etc. The more who replied to it, the more they leaned into the dickhead category.
There are a lot of them who are drunk on the current levels of success and think their shit doesn't stink. How quickly they've forgotten the Peter de Villiers years. Three losses in a row to Australia before the last 4 wins in a row. A winning percentage in the 2010s of only 60%.
Sing when you're winning, but don't be a doos about it, eh?
Those particular fans will go back to whining about refs when the wheel turns.
There are fluffy rabbits 🐇 supporting every country. Without exception.
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@stodders said in How good are the Boks?:
A hypothetical league containing Boks 2024, ABs 2015, Eng 2003, Oz 1999, NZ 1996, Boks 2009 (my opinion on the best international teams of the pro era)
Who wins? Ref is Nigel Owens. For me, the best ref of the last 30 years.
NZ 2015.
Easy.