The kick off for arguably the biggest game of the World Cup so far, although the Cockerel and Kiwi supporters may disagree, is less than a few hours away. About time to express long held concerns regarding some of the selection choices by the Springbok brain trust. No, fear not am not going to jump on the 7-1 substitutes split hysteria bandwagon. That has been covered by so many outlets with various differing views.
From the outset the selection of only 2 specialist hookers for the World Cup squad was an odd one to me as there are various different skills required rom a hooker that can take years to hone. Ability to scrum and in particular strong scrumaging, accurate line out throwing, mobility around the field in attack and defence, not to mention the ability to act as a fourth loose forward at times slowing down or stealing opposition possession at the breakdown.
It was thus even more alarming when the news filtered through of the loss of Malcolm Marx due to injury picked up in training according to the reports. For me when he is at his best he is surely in line to be considered one of the best, if not the best, hookers in the world. While the loss may not have been felt against Romania I feel that his unavailability could be a big hindrance to the Boks progressing deep into the tournament, even more so considering who replaced him in the squad – Handre Pollard.
The loss of Marx means quite a disruption to the plans for the big games regarding the front row as it seemed like they had settled into 2 definite units for the front row – the taller one which included Marx and the shorter one which includes Mbonambi. This disruption could leave the packs a little less powered as looking at the physics of it I think, all other things being equal, the shorter front rowers can get under the opposition at scrum time and get the upper hand. Also think that having the front rowers of a relatively similar height is conducive to better scrummaging from them.
While it seemed to be an ‘open secret’ that at some point Handre Pollard would make his way to France as an injury replacement am perplexed they brought Pollard in for Marx. I get the argument that they are possibly a bit concerned about Manie Libbok’s kicking for points accuracy but the rest of his game is very good and there are others in the team who can take over the kicking. It doesn’t always have to be the Number 10 that does the kicking – as wee Greig Laidlaw showed for all those years for Scotland.
Pollard has been out injured for a number of months and as far as I can gather played a good cameo off the bench in the second half for Leicester last Friday night. However, don’t think the opposition was that strong, and he also ended up with a yellow card late on so didn’t even finish the game. Not sure what the yellow card was for as this aspect has not seem to have been reported too widely by the South African media. Given this situation it would be quite an achievement in the Boks go far in this World Cup.
Have to caveat all above by mentioning that I have never coached a rugby team and it is a long time since I played the game and even then it was not at a high level. Guess us supporters need to trust that the coaching staff know what they are doing and hope that in the end this move pans out less of being a gamble but more a genius one.
Would be delighted to be proven wrong and hope the Springboks take the William Web Ellis trophy back to sunny South Africa at the conclusion of the tournament in France.
Talking of very good hookers; Ireland have two whose quality is right up there with Malcom Marx. Ronan Kelleher wears the starting jersey and then they have the incredibly talented Dan Sheehan to turn to on the bench. If these two are firing on all cylinders then the Boks hooker decisions could be exposed tonight.
Hopefully the referee will be strong tonight as it will be hard enough as it is for the Boks to win. Even harder if he is soft on Ireland’s love of playing gridiron – tackling and obstructing players well away from rucks, as well as their fascination with the choke tackle.
As far as tonight’s game goes from what I have seen thus far of the World Cup both France and Ireland have looked strong contenders. I know Ireland haven’t faced the top teams yet but they can only play what is in front of them and think they are also looking a very talented and well-coached squad. Am hoping for a Springboks win tonight for the Boks sake as well as for Scotland as think that would leave destiny in reaching quarter finals in Scotland’s hands. Could be wrong but feel if Ireland beat the Boks then even if Scotland beat them in their final group match it may not be enough to get out of the group.
GO BOKS!!!!
Halftime: SA 3/7 Ireland
Boks making too many mistakes during period of dominance in territory and possession. Ireland just hung in there and then turned things around to score their try.
Ireland very good at going through phase after phase then scoring. They are also mixing up their attack well – using the width of the field to get round the close in blitz defence then some good carries straight through the middle by Aki.
Ireland line out was a mess losing 4 on their own throw but they seem to have sorted that out as the game went on. They are also getting some high (above the shoulders) tackles in under the radar.
Hi Bullscot
You know what I’m going to say….. “Percy wouldn’t have missed those kicks”!!!
Could be vital in a game like this…
Bit tight…
5.5 minutes left and The Boks need some more points here…!! Eeekkkk
The Paddy’s beat the Boks!!!
Rats!
Final score SA 8/13 Ire
Blue Bird wrote:
Hi Blue Bird sorry was too tense in game to comment. Percy certainly was a good kicker. Surprised they went for the ones by Faf instead of kicking to touch.
Very disappointed by that Boks display maybe feel better tomorrow. In the end Ireland played well for long enough and held on for rest of game and let Boks mistakes beat the Boks
I have just read Bullyjocks opening Article, albeit, after the Match Result.
And what a great read it was.
Ireland and The Boks, will both have learned a lot from this Match, and even the loss today does nothing to harm SA’s chances of reaching the Final or even being Champs.
And Hi to Bluey too.
Blue Bird, on the previous thread, you asked what brought me back.
I received some kind of notification, I think from facebook>
cane wrote:
Hello cane thanks been a long time coming so gor it out before the game but in the hope my fears were unfounded…
Seen a lot of harsh stuff and jokes about the missed kicks yesterday but realistically 5 points were missed by the kicking and the losing margin was 5 points. The BOKS inability to score tries during the period of such dominance in Ireland 22 to me us what was a bigger reason for the loss as well as the coaches decisions
Anyway attention moves on to Scotland Tonga game. GO SCOTLAND!
Scotland mission to get through to quarter final is straightforward-3 bonus point wins including keeping Ireland from any bonus points in the last game.
Hope the first leg of the mission is successful today
Scotland 24/10 Tonga second half just starting
Tonga in the bin will come back on now. Think it’s the right decision as thought Jamie Ritchie ducked into the tackle and got shoulder to head. Worryingly Ritchie has not returned from the head injury assessment
Wales doing well against Australia although they have been doing a lot of tackling.
Halftime Wales 16/6 Australia
Wales! Crikey….. So far
cane wrote:
You heeded a call….Excellent
Well done Wales utterly dominant.
Wales 40/6 Australia.
Bullscot wrote:
Enjoying the RWC so far?
Great result for Wales! 🙂
GO NAMIBIA! Looking for first World Cup win
Uruguay 12/23 Namibia 43rd minute Tiaan Swanepoel has just kicked penalty for Namibia
Uruguay 26/23 Namibia 57th min. 2 converted tries by Uruguay in quick time with Namibia down to 14 men
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