(or the resumption of the Four Nations, to unbelievers)
And so it comes to pass, the northern interlopers have loped (and mostly staggered, bruised, battered, but peskily unbowed) back to the dark and dank recesses of their tiny lands (and France) to watch in awe as the might* of the sun-kissed lands** of the south gird themselves for battle! A rich feast awaits, and none richer than the WWE***-clutching Boks, previewed below.
*Clearly not Australia, bear with me
**Not New Zealand obviously
***William Webb-Ellis, for clarity. Sod all to do with the spray-tan, roid-boy, tights-wearing Prima donnas of that other sport. No, not NFL or League – the wrestling one.
The World Champs enter the usual twilight zone of post-World Cup glory in a slightly worrying position. About half of the squad won’t make the next edition, with others barely clinging on, whilst notable retirements include Duane ‘Thor’ Vermeulen and 38-year-old Deon Fourie, who played almost all 80 minutes of the Final after Shannon Frizzel’s leg drop on Bongi Mbonambi. Injuries have meant no Lood de Jager, Jean Kleyn or Franco Mostert in the second row, Steven Kitshoff from the front row, and Faf de Klerk and Canaan Moodie from the backs, giving both the starting pack and the bomb squad an unfamiliar look. As such, some interesting choices (and omissions) in what is both a settled squad, but at the same time a slightly unbalanced one. The next Bok World Cup squad will definitely be far less experienced than this one, so Rassie Erasmus and his brains trust (they’re mostly foreigners, you sniggering git) need to start bringing through the next generation. But first, there is the matter of a tour to Australia coming up, and back to back Tests against the All Blacks at home, so there won’t be wholesale changes – much as we saw against Ireland.
Front row is no problem, with Marx recovered and the Bulls Johan Grobbelaar now firmly in the mix as the third hooker. Marx should start given his current form, but the coaches prefer him as an impact player. I’d like him to start given his ability over the ball in the loose. Plenty of propping power to keep the Aussies honest (?) too. Ox Nche is in a class of his own at loosehead, whilst any of Malherbe, Koch or Thomas du Toit can start (thanks Bath!).
Second row is creaking slightly, with the injuries, meaning we’re a bit callow after Etzebeth and Snyman, with Moerat (not many people like him here) and Ruan Nortje from the Bulls (up and coming, but still raw) in the wings. Might result in a 5-3 bench split, with Snyman playing all 80 – or intriguingly, a 6-2 split with PS du Toit moving into lock to allow Dixon and van Staden to come off the bench.
The loose trio is where we lost the 2nd Test against Ireland – Kwagga Smith is simply not a number 8, never mind a starting one, and with Vermeulen (retired) and Wiese (suspended), out, nobody else has grabbed the jersey. Elrich Louw from the Bulls is an option after his heroics against Leinster in the URC semi, but he got bullied by Glasgow a week later; the Stormers Evan Roos, touted as the natural successor to Vermeulen a couple of years ago, hasn’t quite made the step up and isn’t even in the squad, whilst other options in South Africa are raw, and those in the UK (including the Du Preez boys and Juarno Augustus) aren’t on the radar. Some are suggesting PS du Toit switching to 8, with Ben-Jason Dixon – a fantastic prospect – taking over at 7. It’ll probably be Kwagga in Brisbane, but he just lacks the grunt you need from an 8. That said, he’s probably better suited to disrupting the Aussies’ continuity game as a fetcher and turnover specialist than Louw or others.
In the backs, Faf is injured, so it’s a toss-up between Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams for the starting berth, with the other probably on the bench and Lions 9 Morne van der Bergh carrying drinks. Both are far quicker to distribute than Faf, are good at breaking around the fringes, so more in line with Tony Brown’s attacking philosophy, but are less adept at the kicking game favoured by a Faf-Pollard axis. Pollard will almost certainly start, despite him having a lousy record in Australia (the Boks in general struggle there), with the possibility of the hugely exciting Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu coming off the bench. He’s used mainly at 12 at the Stormers but should be the starting 10 and can also play 15. Probably one of the brightest prospects in Bok rugby at the moment.
I think we’ll see de Allende and Kriel start again in the centres, which will be rock solid on defence, but less so on attack. Andre Esterhuizen got a four week ban for his head on head tackle against Portugal so is out for the majority of the 4N, but seems to be a bit of busted flush at 12 in any case. Not too many down here banging his drum (a few would like to bang his head, but that’s for another day). Sasha F-M can cover 12 (and possibly 13 at a push) so will likely be the bench option there. Lukanyo Am is knocking on the door for the 13 jersey again, after a very composed display against Portugal. He basically marshalled both centre berths on defence for 78 minutes, and looked very good ball in hand again – I really hope so as he was superb before getting injured last year.
The back three will almost certainly see Arendse and Kolbe on the wings, with le Roux at 15. Willie is approaching the end of his stellar career, but offers the Boks great attacking vision when he leads the attack and Pollard looks on bewildered. He has a natural reading of the game and space and is sorely missed when not available – as against Ireland.
The ‘Bomb Squad’? I’m going a 5-3 split, so I’d imagine Bongi/Marx, Koch, Steenkamp as the front row, with Moerat as lock cover, and Ben-Jason Dixon covering the loose trio. Back should be Williams (9), Sasha F-M and possibly Sharks speedster, Aphelele Fassi as 15 and wing cover.
The Squad
Props: Vincent Koch (Sharks), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Ox Nche (Sharks), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls)
Hookers: Malcolm Marx (Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls)
Locks: Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stormers), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), RG Snyman (Leinster)
Back Row: Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Verblitz), Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Blue Revs), Marco van Staden (Bulls)
Gods amongst Men: Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Sharks)
Pivots: Manie Libbok (Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers)
Centres: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Jesse Kriel (Eagles) Back 3: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks), Cheslin Kolbe (Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks)
Needless to say, the Quest of Sir Deebee7
Ovally Balls 
On an entirely different note, the hoary old chestnut of ‘massive Boks’ was raised again on the Graun (same article) as a reason why the Aussies got mashed two weeks in a row. So I looked on both countries’ official pages at their squads, and the sides that played last weekend:
The Wallaby starting backs were 1cm shorter than their Bok counterparts, but 2kg heavier on average; the staring forwards the same average height, but 3kg heavier on average than the Boks, whilst the reserves (all of them), were 4cm taller and 1kg heavier on average compared to the Boks. The old myth of ‘massive Boks’ hasn’t been true for years – the Wallabies in particular are generally heavier, and their backs bigger than ours.
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Reckon its probably a good idea for staring forwards to be of similar height…
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the hoary old chestnut of ‘massive Boks’
I can imagine how irritating it must be to keep reading this “trope” again and again. Irish media can tend to trot this out too – and I remember packs in recent tests were pretty well matched in terms of weight.
Porter, Sheehan/Kelleher/Furlong is not a small front row, Ryan/McCarthy/Beirne – while not super duper big isn’t lightweight either. (Beirne is deceiving for some reason – seen him in real life and he’s huge). van der Flier and O’Mahony aren’t heavyweights but then again nor are/were Kwagga or Deon Fourie
I wonder what they’ll say when Ahern 6′ 9″ and Edogbo (about 125kg) roll out to play (we hope)
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Long time no see etc. I’ve been busier than a bee lately.
Speaking of Bees,
BB, Liam McConnell, he of the Scotland U20s captaincy, has been awarded his first senior contract with Edinburgh. I thought it might interest you as he’s a Selkirk laddie. He’s going to be a serious player, I’m told that last season he was bruising a few shoulder and egos of international players in training with Edinburgh, he’s a serious prospect.
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Good to hear, Ticht. Reckon a fair few Edinburgh egos could do with being bruised a bit more, might wake the team up a bit.
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Gee – no comment since last Tuesday – must be a record for “dead air” (unless this page isn’t refreshing properly)
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it was the shock of a Selkirk laddie roughing up a few Edinburgh posh boys that did it, Trisk.
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There’s no bloody rugby on for weeks yet!
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The Rugby Championship continues on Saturday, Thaum.
More importantly, the Scottish Premiership and League 1 starts then too. The Mighty Selkirk are playing Marr (that’s Troon), while in League 1, Gala are playing Highland.
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Sorry, I’ll amend that to ‘no bloody rugby I can watch with the current subscriptions’.,
Although I think Top14 starts next week, which I can see.
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Small matter of Boks vs All Blacks on Saturday. Down here in the colonies it’s a fairly important match. Shitting myself, actually. Can’t get used to the idea of the Boks being favourites against the Antipodean Bastards – fills me with dread every time our fans and scribes talk up the team. Current favourite theme is how much depth we have across the park, despite only being able to have 15 on the park like everyone else (except England, of course when they play 16 every now and then). And down to probably re-retreading PS du Toit to lock with de Jager and Kleyn still out, possibly Snyman and Moerat as well.
That said, the ABs are coming here with a few vulnerabilities of their own – the excellent young prop, Ethan de Groot, is out as is lock Patrick Tuipoluto, leaving them a little underdone in the tight five, whilst Razor Robertson slashed Leon McDonald from his coaching staff due to ‘different rugby philosophies’ a couple of days before they headed out here.
Form this year so far favours the Boks, at home, but a wounded Kiwi is a dangerous animal etc etc.
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Speaking of leaving coaches, Felix Jones’s departure from the England set up was being discussed on a site here last week, and it was apparently him who was the driver behind the 7-1 bench split the Boks used a couple of times. I believe it comes out in the documentary about the 2023 World Cup.
And what is going on at England? Seems Eddie Jones was the paragon of stability in his coaching staff – that’s Jones and Aled Walters definitely gone, and perhaps Kevin Sinfield too?
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I think we’ve found peak English-ness
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Bok update – Etzebeth apparently has a ‘niggle’ as well which may keep him out of the Ellis Park Test. Reckon if I wear my old boots with the loooooong studs, I may just about be in the reckoning for a call up into the second row.
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Bok team to face New Zealand on Saturday:
Springbok team to face New Zealand in Johannesburg:
15 — Aphelele Fassi
14 — Cheslin Kolbe
13 — Jesse Kriel
12 — Damian de Allende
11 — Kurt-Lee Arendse
10 — Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
9 — Cobus Reinach
8 — Jasper Wiese
7 — Ben-Jason Dixon
6 — Siya Kolisi
5 — Ruan Nortje
4 — Pieter-Steph du Toit
3 — Frans Malherbe
2 — Bongi Mbonambi
1 — Ox Nche
Replacements:
16 — Malcolm Marx
17 — Gerhard Steenekamp
18 — Vincent Koch
19 — Marco van Staden
20 — Elrigh Louw
21 — Kwagga Smith
22 — Grant Williams
23 — Handré Pollard
A couple of surprises. Fassi ahead of Willie le Roux at 15, although Fassi was excellent against Australia in the wet, the rest of the backline largely expected (although some thought Pollard would be brought back against the ABs for his kicking, but Sacha-FM is pretty good there too). Forwards is where the issues are: Ruan Nortje has two caps as a lock, and PS du Toit has to move back there, with Etzebeth, de Jager, Kleyn, Mostert and Moerat all injured. Jasper Wiese back in the side straight from his ban, which will give a lot more grunt than Kwagga or Elrich Louw, whilst Dixon has been excellent this year and is being earmarked as a long-term replacement for PSDT. The replacements are where it goes a bit runny – this is no ‘bomb squad’ outside of the replacement front row. van Staden and Louw have yet to replicate their club form at Test level, although Kwagga will give it everything as ever. Williams is a great prospect at 9 (or the wing – serious wheels), not sure why Pollard, other than he can cover 10 and 12.
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with Etzebeth, de Jager, Kleyn, Mostert and Moerat all injured
This sounds like Munster levels of injury to 2nd rows – last season we had Beirne (who only gets injured with Ireland) and Coombes as the locks – with Ahern, Edogbo, Snyman, Kleyn all injured at the one time last season
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Serves you right for having so many excellent locks!
Intriguingly, it looks like Etzebeth may play after all. That’s huge – if he does, it’s gold for us. We’ll have a far more rugged pack with him in.
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Rwanda hosting an event to promote rugby in Africa:
https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/19589/sports/other-sports/rwanda-hosts-continental-conference-on-growth-of-rugby
Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Senegal should all be able to produce decent sides, with enough support (as should the DR-Congo, with a bit more support). The players in Central and West Africa have the physical attributes to play rugby – remember the Senegalese side that kicked defending football World Cup champs France to pieces in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup. They also have large enough populations to be able to develop good sides. When I was in Kinshasa a few years ago, I met with a couple of Belgian guys who were trying to start a rugby club there and were hugely enthusiastic about the quality of local players. Not sure what happened, as it was about a year before Covid, so could have gone all runny. Hope not.
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Deebs – have Kenya developed on from their 7z? They seemed to be quite big on the Sevens Circuit a few years ago, but sure about their status now.
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Kenya were getting really good, but it was more a ‘golden generation’ thing, I think. Also was at a time when the 7s circuit wasn’t as competitive as it is now and I don’t think they have the funding to compete with the wealthier nations. Same as their cricket side, which famously qualified for the SF of the Cricket World Cup in SA in 2003.
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ETZEBETH CLEARED TO PLAY!
Off the bench, but suddenly, the replacements look a whole lot better:
6 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handre Pollard
The front row is no step down from the starting one, and Marx is a beast in the loose and with ball in hand, Etzebeth will come on for PS du Toit at 4 lock, with du Toit likely shifting back to 7, in place of Dixon (or moving to 5 in place of Nortje – Dixon is a 80 minute player as well), and then Kwagga and Louw to replace Siya and Wiese. I like that a lot more. Not quite Boks by 30 yet, but I’m more confident of a win, of any kind.
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It would be great to see west and central Africa develop – I’d have doubt as to how far they can – if only from looking at football.
Back in 1990, we all thought an African team ( most likely Nigeria or Cameroon) would threaten to reach World cup final stages – but over 30 years on – Morocco reached last 4 in 2022 and that’s probably as close as any African team since Cameroon in 1990
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Darkness Side for Saturday:
15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Reserves: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Samipeni Finau, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Mark Tele’a
Plenty of Kiwis moaning about the inclusion of Same Cane and TJ Perenara, feeling they’re yesterday’s men and shouldn’t get the nod just based on ‘experience’. Some think Blackadder is far from a cunning selection too, but I don’t think the ABs back row is too shabby, to be honest. What will be interesting is to see if their tight five can match the Boks at the set piece (probably a decent shout given our disruptions there), and whether Perenara and D-Mac can get the ball out to their lethal back three ahead of the rush defence – I’m not sure they’ll be kicking too much cross field stuff with the likes of Kolbe and Arendse lurking around.
The bench looks a bit light in the forwards, considering what’s coming their way, but the back three they’ve got could score 30 points in as many minutes with a bit of wind in their sails, so it’s going to be hugely interesting. I reckon if the Boks are ahead or just about going into the last 30, they should win it, but the last few years have seen most matches ending in a couple of points win one way or the other. Hope it’s a belter!
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Trisk, you’re spot about the development stalling. And that’s in football, which is (relatively speaking) well financed in most of the region. It’s really about resources to get the sport going in Africa, and it’s badly lacking.
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Right, I’m off for the day. Heading home to hide behind the couch. Tomorrow could be epic. It could be a blowout either way. Lots of Bok supporters think we’ll hammer them. Lots also think we’ll lose, either because our loose trio doesn’t have a proper fetcher, or because we’re favourites and don’t wear that crown with ease. Kiwis I’ve seen online are caught between thinkin their side is mediocre and the 2nd Test against Argentina was down to the Pumas not pitching up, and believing they’ve got enough to squeeze out a result – but none too confident, in reality. Have fun everyone!
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Tomorrow probably will be epic. Mainly ‘cos it’s Daughter 2’s wedding. As usual, being Father Of The Bride, my main tasks will be:
Walk Daughter 2 down the aisle and try not to trip up
Sob quietly during service (being old, I’ll blub at anything)
Don’t embarrass myself during Father Of The Bride speech
Don;t get too drunk and fall over during the ceilidh.
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Good luck, BB! Positively Herculean tasks, especially the last one.
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Best of luck to you BB (and the happy couple, I suppose 🤷).
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Have a great day BB! Best wishes to the happy couple.
I’m imagining you doing the “Dashing White Sergeant” ….
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Congrats BB! I’m sure you’ll be the star of the day (other than the beautiful couple, obvs). Have a blast!
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BB, I can’t ” like” your comment ( my browser?), but I certainly do. Have a great day!
And either sneak outside or tape the game ABs vs Boks is always huge.
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Good stream anyone?
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I’m watching here: https://www.vipbox.lc/rugby/south-africa-vs-new-zealand-1-live
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Managed task one OK.
Failed miserably in task two.
Tasks 3 and 4 to go.
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Seems like reports of the All Blacks demise were exaggerated. 4th try on 52mins (2nd for Clarke) and they have a 17-27 lead over SA.
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Tries from Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams, in the space of 5mins, put SA into the lead. 31-27 with 5 mins to play.
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I hate Andrew Brace as a ref so much. He completely ruins my ability to enjoy a rugby match, because he’s soooo inconsistent in his decisions. He just pinged a NZ player for side entry and I’ve seen several other instances of the same actions (by both teams) just waved on during this match.
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SA win, playing out the last few seconds by taking contact at a stand-still, before the hooter goes and Mngomezulu runs the ball into touch.
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BB, well done on number 1, hope well on the way to number 4. Congrats all round.
Well done Boks, cant help feeling ABs thru that one away, silly errors in importnt parts of the field The number 20 should be fired into the sun, Brace clearly told him twice to get out and he didnt , daft. Also, not sure why they took Caleb Clarke off, he looked really on song, kick chase etc superb.
Couldnt get that stream to work, Refit, but got there anyway eventually for the second half.
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Stage 3 done, with much sobbing. I’ve become such a soppy old git….
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BB – you expect us to believe that such a thing as a soppy Scot exists?
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Ah, and congrats to Deebee!
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Stage 4 completed successfully!
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Congrats BB! Sounds like it was a great day, you soppy git!
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Boks got out of jail yesterday, trying to force it and conceding two tries to turnovers. Happy with the result, but they’ll need to be much more clinical next week. Kiwis unpicked our defence too easily and the burgled intercept by Barrett almost did us in. He read it all too easily. Sacha FM was excellent in parts, but also a little wayward with his kicking out of hand.
Too hungover to write much else.
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@deebee – oddly enough I thought SA were the better team and NZ fed off mistakes.
( At one point I thought of a game our U16s won earlier this year – 7-0 up at ht, in the 2nd half they scored tries from 2 chargedowns and an intercept)
NZ are still deadly in broken play but I was thinking as I watched that Ireland would probably beat them. Keep it tight and grind them down
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New post shocker coming up.
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Get it while it’s hot.
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