Springboks vs Australia this weekend
Discussion
Lining up to be a very good game this weekend, both teams with a lot to prove and going through a feeling out period before the World Cup.
All the talk of the Bok's fielding a severily weakened side is nonsense IMO, the team looks very very strong:
South Africa: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Flip Van Der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ Van Der Linde, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Patrick Lambie
Hardly sounds second sting to me, with guys like Steyn, Pienaar, Roussow, and Smit giving experience and calm in key positions, surrounded by some very talented players looking for a World Cup spot.
I actually think this is one of the best sides they could field, Ashley Johnson is relentless, Flip van der Merwe is one of the best Locks available IMO and has been largely overlooked, CJ van der Linde and Deysel are great replacements, and Patrick Llambe is definitely one to watch for the future. Aplon is strong at full back, and will have a lot of work to do, but is a great ball carrier from anywhere on the field.
Australia have a great team too:
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Pekahou Cowan, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Anthony Fainga'a.
They have the Genia/Cooper pairing, Rocky Elsom, Ashley-Cooper, and Beale all very strong players, especially under pressure, and they're coming off a somewhat embarrising loss to Samoa, so they'll be fired up and wanting to show the world it was a fluke.
All in all a tough game ahead, some great young talent mixed with experienced heads, has the makings of a great start to the Tri nations, and a look at which players may be added to World Cup selections.
All the talk of the Bok's fielding a severily weakened side is nonsense IMO, the team looks very very strong:
South Africa: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Flip Van Der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ Van Der Linde, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Patrick Lambie
Hardly sounds second sting to me, with guys like Steyn, Pienaar, Roussow, and Smit giving experience and calm in key positions, surrounded by some very talented players looking for a World Cup spot.
I actually think this is one of the best sides they could field, Ashley Johnson is relentless, Flip van der Merwe is one of the best Locks available IMO and has been largely overlooked, CJ van der Linde and Deysel are great replacements, and Patrick Llambe is definitely one to watch for the future. Aplon is strong at full back, and will have a lot of work to do, but is a great ball carrier from anywhere on the field.
Australia have a great team too:
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Pekahou Cowan, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Anthony Fainga'a.
They have the Genia/Cooper pairing, Rocky Elsom, Ashley-Cooper, and Beale all very strong players, especially under pressure, and they're coming off a somewhat embarrising loss to Samoa, so they'll be fired up and wanting to show the world it was a fluke.
All in all a tough game ahead, some great young talent mixed with experienced heads, has the makings of a great start to the Tri nations, and a look at which players may be added to World Cup selections.
Well that was a disaster, so much for my belief in the Springboks, they played terribly!!
It was like watching 15 individuals who werent aware they were part of a team, so just ran around making up plays as they went, and not letting anyone else in on them.
Only glimmer of hope was the 2nd half they managed to put some flowing pieces together and play as something of a team, so maybe, just maybe, by the end of the Tri nations they'll be playing as a team properly, just in time to get split up and have the 21 other players brought in.
Australia looked very good, they ave some excellent payers that Ive not really come across before, but I still dont see either team giving NZ any trouble.
It was like watching 15 individuals who werent aware they were part of a team, so just ran around making up plays as they went, and not letting anyone else in on them.
Only glimmer of hope was the 2nd half they managed to put some flowing pieces together and play as something of a team, so maybe, just maybe, by the end of the Tri nations they'll be playing as a team properly, just in time to get split up and have the 21 other players brought in.
Australia looked very good, they ave some excellent payers that Ive not really come across before, but I still dont see either team giving NZ any trouble.
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