Saracens took on the Springboks midweek team at Wembley tonight. Saracens won 24 / 23 after trailing 18 at half time.
Well, what do you say about a team that leads by 12 points at half time and eventually loses by a point?
Firstly, let me say, I predicted that the best TEAM who played as a TEAM would win and Saracens came through as a TEAM in the second half, a half they dominated solidly. The lack of combinations of players who are used to one another is often the cause of a team losing and it was no different on the night.
I’ll start by singling out Bokke performers in this game and mosey on to those who I felt did not perform:
- Bokke who performed well was Adriaan Strauss, Dewalt Potgieter, Juan de Jongh, Jongi Nokwe and Earl Rose.
- Bokke who were solid were Andries Bekker, Jean Deysel, Heini Adams & Wynand Olivier.
- Bokke who underperformed were Heinke van der Merwe, Wian du Preez, CJ van der Linde, Alistair Hargreaves, Danie Rossouw & Davon Raubenheimer.
- The rest, well they were neither here nor there.
The Bokke handled the first few minutes well when Saracens came at them hard and fared better and better as the first half continued, except in the scrums where their torid tour continued, unabated. Dewalt Potgieter led by example.
Ruan Pienaar did not have a good evening with the boot to the posts but he opened with a penalty and added one conversion from the second Bokke try by Nokwe. The first try however was scored by Juan de Jongh, who showed some good strenght to drive over the try line after the Bokke were camped on the Saracens line for a while. The second try of Nokwe came from a high kick which was well followed up but Saracens can feel aggrieved that the try was allowed because it certainly looked like Ashley Johnson had knocked the ball whilst contesting for the ball in the air.
Ruan Pienaar added a penalty before half time.
At half time Saracens only had 2 converted Derick Hougaard penalties for their trouble.
The half time score was Bokke 18 / Saracens 6
After half time a different Saracens team came out, they dominated every phase, they struck back twice in rapid succession with well worked tries by Bradley Barrit and a charge down try by Ernst Joubert… suddenly the score was 18 / 18.
Derick Hougaard who had a torrid evening with the boot missed a sitter of a penalty to try and put Saracens in the lead, which gave the Bokke the respite they needed to rally and score a good try by Jongi Nokwe, after a sublime long pass wide left by Wynand Olivier to Earl Rose, who cleverly ofloaded to his inside and a final pass going wide again into the hands of the speed merchant, Nokwe. Ruan missed the easy conversion.
With the Bokke leading 23 / 18 the “ghost of bad and multiple mindless substitutions” visited the Bokke coaching staff yet again… sending 4 substitutions on simultaneously… Maku, Raubenheimer, Bosman, Viljoen.
Maku and Raubenheimer were clearly less effective than Adriaan Strauss and Ashley Johnson. Bosman did not do much wrong but the rhytm was suddenly missing. Riaan Viljoen did nothing wrong and tried to ressurect the failing Bokke.
Saracens played a clever game though, they kept possession….. milked the penalties and Hougaard converted one, putting them only 2 points behind the Bokke.
Then Derick Hougaard finally struck gold with a drop goal after missing about 4 previous tedious drop goal attempts. Now Saracens were leading by a point with 4 minutes left on the clock.
In the final minutes Saracens kept possession of the ball and kept it in the forwards, running the clock down untl Derick Hougaard kicked the ball well into the stands to end the game.
Once again I heard moans from commetators about a Referee’s contributions and I shuddered! A good team wins, despite the Referee… and I hate silly excuses!
Well done Saracens!
The Bokke are now a pityful ZERO from THREE games on their tour.
Points:
Saracens: 3 Penalties & 1 Conversion & 1 Drop Goal Derick Hougaard, 1 Try Ernst Joubert, 1 Try Bradley Barrit
Springboks: 2 Penalties & 1 Conversion Ruan Pienaar, 1 Try Juan de Jongh, 2 Tries Jongi Nokwe
Teams:
Saracens:
15 Michael Horak, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Justin Melck, 6 Wikus van Heerden (captain), 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Richard Skuse, 2 Ethienne Reynecke, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Carlos Nieto, 18 George Kruis, 19 Andy Saull, 20 Kevin Barrett, 21 Alex Goode, 22 Rodd Penney
South Africa:
15 Earl Rose, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Heini Adams, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 6 Jean Deysel, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 François Hougaard, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Riaan Viljoen.
Date: Tuesday, November 17
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London
Kick-off: 19.45 (19.45 GMT; 21.45 SA time)
Expected weather conditions: Scattered clouds with a high of 13°C dropping to 11°C and a southwester of 21 km/h freshening.
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Rob Debney (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Brian Abrahams (England)
Our friend and fellow blogger sent these photo’s directly from Wembley. Thanks Carol.
[cincopa 10518988]
Jan jan jan die bielie van die bosveld.
Go BOKKKKKKE !!!!!!!!
Naand manne , ek is nogal nuuskierig oor hoe Dereck gaan speel. Hy was darem n lekker goeie werksesel by die Bulle. Hulle maak nou met Wynand soos wat Jake met Hougaart gemaak het, speel hom altyd in n onbeproefte situasie, in n “no win situation”
3#
Miskien dink jy anders na vanaand oor Meisiekind en de Jongh as ‘n kombinasie. De Jongh verbaas my. Hy mag dalk net Meisiekind goed laat lyk.
Isigidi 😆
Werk smileys nie?
Sit em kyk nou weer die Frogs rugga van Sat.
Ek wonder hoeveel km het Zane gehardloop Saterdag. Hy bly uit posisie en het hom op gehol van bakboord na stuurboord.
Eintlik was die paddas in beheer van daardie wedstryd behalwe vir die laaste sê 10min!
Boerboel hierdie was daai een uit 5 games gewees wat die paddas ons sal wen.
Bokke steeds baie beter. Bad day at the office imo.
Naand buurman. Ek chat met een van ons oud bok kapteine vandag en hy reken die ouens is pap.
Moerse lang en harde seisoen vir hulle gewees.
Isigidi, presies hoekom ek so rustig is oor die uitslag, bad day at the office.
Good luck to our Bok Dirt Trackers.
Just pleased win this one. Especially that you are playing against mostly your own brothers.
Going to be a huge battle out there tonight.
Some players may want to prove a point in the Sarries team.
Back when the game starts. Why do they play so late over there? Crazy. Especially a mid-week game.
mistake again. pleased = please
Goooooooooooooooo Bokke!!
GBS you were SPOT ON boet. Deysel is playing openside and Potties blindside. The otherside had it wrong (now where is the smiley that rolls the eyes) hahahaha.
Nou ja, amper tyd vir die game om te begin.
Heard they wont sing the anthem. Why did we sing the anthem when we played the Tigers then? Is it because both sides would sing the same anthem?…………..LOL.
Evening Snoek. Almost time. Cant wait. Feels like we going to see a CC final here…hahaha.
Carol hope you took your camera with and taking some pics for us.
Howzit Puma
What did you pick on Superbru? Haven’t been there to check.
Gou my biltong en koffie regkry vir die wedstryd. Wat ‘n kombinasie !
19 – Dirt Trackers by 5.
Now they better do it. LOL.
BDB – Me too got the coffee but now biltong.
Hallo bdb
Geen TV vir my vanaand, julle sal my op hoogte van sake moet hou.
22: naand, telling is 0-0. 😉
hahahahaha. I just said that in my post. They not going to sing the anthem probably because so many saffas in the Sarries team and would probably have to sing it twice. Well maybe they were joking but it could be…hehehe.
Good luck Boks Dirt Trackers.
Ek sien Deysel is op 6 en Dewald 7. Dit behoort interesant te wees.
19 – Who have you got on SuperBru to win? I think I saw but cant remember.
23 – Goed, ons verloor darem nog nie.
Hellooooooooooooo Friends
😆
25 – Snoek, Yes agree there it will be interesting seeing Deysel play at openside. Then he does fetch a lot for the Sharks.
Hellooooooooooooooooo GBS. Just saw our smiley faces now they gone? Just use the normal ones if the other is taking up too much time.
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