Coach Heyneke Meyer has named his team to take on England in the first of their three-Test series at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday. Kick-off is at 17:00.
The team contains three new caps in Eben Etzebeth, Marcel Coetzee and Juandre Kruger.
South Africa:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (Captain), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis (Vice Captain), 1 Beast Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Pat Lambie, 22 Wynand Olivier
30 @ fender:
Not sure Kitaartjie…
I know Heyneke Meyer wants winning Bokke rugby, between World Cups too, and that’s the first logical progression I would have gone for and stand for as well.
With that gradually under the belt and under control, we’re bound to see progression in the general game too. I know Heyneke won’t rest until perfection is achieved, that is the type of man he is.
30 @ fender:
Do you remember the type of game the 2007 Bulls played, on their way to Super Rugby glory?
If so, do you also remember that the Bulls were amongst the frontrunners in the try-scoring stakes as well?
To me that was beautiful, there was balance between forwards and backs and between conservatism and expansive play, and to me that was well on it’s way to a complete type of game…. and we all know Heyneke was the man at the helm then.
Will we see the Bokke eventually run the adventurous lines the Aussie backlines manufacture or the powerplay the New Zealand sides demand from their centres and back 3 manifest itself in the Springbok game? I somehow don’t think so, but rather the development and execution of our own style of backline guile after the forwards have earned the right for our backline to shine.
Depending what your vision is regading the game, will depend whether you see that as good enough.
32@ @ grootblousmile:
Sounds like something I can get behind. I suppose it’s all speculation now about what HM’s intentions are – as fans on a blog, that’s what we do, speculate! As the future unfolds the picture will become clearer.
33 @ The_Young_Turk:
Heyneke has us all to convince, from his biggest doubters to his biggest followers….
Having followed Heyneke’s progression through the years, having spoken to and experienced the man (compared to the experiences I’ve had of Tricky Dicky and Snor and some others), having seen and experienced how easy it is to buy into his philosophy and how easily he manages to get players and those around him believe in his vision…. I can’t help but be positive!
However, Heyneke like any other coach, needs constructive critisism as well, from time to time… he’s human and therefore embued with natural flaws, like all of YOU guys are, me excluded…. hehehe
The biggest positives for me thusfar has been how he has had the full buy-in from SARU and the SA Super Rugby Franchises…. something we have NEVER experienced before.
So, the start has been great…. now they need to kick on and do it!
@ grootblousmile:
I would just like to include myself in that tiny list of flawless people
I will trust and support HM for now and judge him on his results later but as you say, everyone is human and we can all do with a kick in the pants sometimes, except you of course oh Great One
35 @ The_Young_Turk:
My wife kicks me enough…
… and golf keeps me humble, not that I have had the luxury of a golf game in many moons….
Have a squash game on tonight at 18:00… time to kick BonzaiGBS and one advocate friend’s butts properly….
@ fender:
To do that you need the players to implement your game plan. JM, as astute a coach as he is made that mistake with Lions this year. He had a game plan worked out through the SR season last year, which clicked into place in the CC, and when more than half his CC final squad was injured, he stuck to the plan but did not have the personnel to implement. Look at the results. He then varied his gameplan slightly against the Sharks and look what happened. As everyone has said, baby steps. But we will probably see some progress by the end of the series.
Springbok Team: What the Past Coaches Think
by Sean Wilson on June 6th, 2012
The Springbok match 22 has been selected to face England in the first test in Durban on Saturday. Here’s a list of the 22, along with comments made by some past Springbok coaches.
15. ZANE KIRCHNER
-Jake White: “Lambie is very unlucky not to make the starting team. Big call from Heyneke.”
-Nick Mallett: “Bad selection. He tries to join the backline too much, he can’t kick with his left foot and he clearly doesn’t use Lambie’s shampoo enough.”
-Andre Markgraaf: “I hate him.”
-Peter de Villiers: “Most of us were expecting him to pick Lambie, but it seems Heyneke has pulled a bull out of a hat. But Heyneke must be careful, because pulling a bull out of a hat is not magic. That is why God made rabbits.”
14. JP Pietersen
-White: “Has been the classiest, most consistent right wing in the country for years.”
-Mallett: “Bad selection. He’s been playing at centre too much this year, he doesn’t communicate enough and sometimes he wears coloured boots that puts his teammates off”.
-Markgraaf: “I hate him.”
-De Villiers: “Hopefully he’ll get some ball that will enable him to attack, because attack is the best form of defence. Except tackling, of course. That’s much better defence.”
13. JEAN DE VILLIERS (Captain)
-White: “Was one of my most trusted senior players and he fully deserves to be captain.”
-Mallett: “Too much of a maverick to be captain and even though I haven’t seen him play outside centre for 10 years, I know he’s too slow for the position.”
-Markgraaf: “I like him.”
-De Villiers: “I’m happy for him. He has the same surname as me and people often ask if we are related. That makes Jean laugh. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I’m much shorter than he is.”
12. FRANCOIS STEYN
-White: “Heyneke’s just copying my World Cup selection.”
-Mallett: “Bad selection. What if he tries one of those huge drop kicks that hits the post, bounces back so far it lands in our 22 and puts us under pressure? Liability.”
-Markgraaf: “I like him.”
-De Villiers: “We had our differences when he wanted to stay in France. I told him that if God wanted us to live in France, why can you buy croissants at Checkers on a Sunday?”
11. BRYAN HABANA
-White: “I taught him everything he knows about wing play.”
-Mallett: “His peripheral vision is not up to scratch, he doesn’t cover his fullback on defence and he eats too many carbohydrates on match day.”
-Markgraaf: “I hate him. Wait…I like him. Wait…ag, I don’t know. They must bring back the Race Classification Council because some of these ohs are bladdy confusing.”
-De Villiers: “People have been critical of him in the past because they expect so much of him. I told him not to worry, because people also expected us to win the World Cup, and look how that turned out. It just goes to show that sometimes people are wrong.”
10. MORNE STEYN
-White: “He’s been playing well and has a history of kicking well under pressure.”
-Mallett: “His defence is shocking, his distribution’s appalling and I’ll bet that if you tell him his faults, he’ll cry just like Gaffie did.”
-Andre Markgraaf has been forcibly removed due to his inappropriate outbursts
-De Villiers: “People say that the way he plays isn’t pretty. But beauty is only skin deep. Ugly goes right down to the bone.”
9. FRANCOIS HOUGAARD
-White: “Can’t find any fault with his play.”
-Mallett: “I can. His box kicks aren’t effective enough. One day he’s going to drop the ball during one of his ’swallow dives’ over the tryline. Too many tattoos.”
-De Villiers: “Has had to bide his time, but good things come to those who wait, and if you wait long enough for delivery, the pizza will be free.”
8. PIERRE SPIES
-White: “Magnificent athlete.”
-Mallett: “His tackling is weak, his running with the ball is mindless and he gets homesick.”
-De Villiers: “I treated him like a bull in a china shop. He didn’t understand why we were talking about Bulls in China when he wants to talk about the Bulls playing in Japan. He has a lot to learn.”
7. WILLEM ALBERTS
-White: “Has all the attributes fill the void left by Juan Smith.”
-Mallett: “He’s too slow, he doesn’t link with the backs and the players don’t know whether to speak English or Afrikaans to him.”
-De Villiers: “He was disappointed that I kept picking Schalk Burger ahead of him. I told him that if he wanted to play in a Springbok team without Schalk in it, then he better buy a tutu and play in a ballerina outfit. Then he understood, and told me that he didn’t like the Bulls away strip either.”
6. MARCELL COETZEE
-White: “Sorry, I didn’t hear you. Who’s the other flank? I was too busy asking Heinrich to fetch me a beer.”
-Mallett: “Earlier I said he would be my pick, but it’s different now that he’s actually been picked. Bad selection.”
-De Villiers: “Heinrich is very unlucky. That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it doesn’t make the ball rounder. That’s why he’s been dropped.”
5. JUANDRE KRUGER
-White: “I hope they’ve updated the line-out calls. ‘Een, twee, drie, Victor!’ isn’t going to work any more.”
-Mallett: “Doesn’t do enough in the tight loose, isn’t strong enough in the scrums and he doesn’t understand why South Africa has three capital cities.”
-De Villiers: “On debut, you must put your hand up and come to the party. The coach must tell him that even if the fans are expecting him to turn water into wine, he must relax because everyone’s drinking Powerade.”
4. EBEN ETZEBETH
-White: “Awesome physical power.”
-Mallett: “It’s wrong to have two locks on debut. His work at the line-outs is weak and he’s too young to remember when I was coach.”
-De Villiers: “He’s a huge lock, like the tower of Babel, which is why the coach must speak different languages to him. At first you speak English, and he’ll understand. Then you speak Afrikaans, and he’ll understand. Then you speak to him in Xhosa, and then he won’t understand. That’s when you say ‘That is why I am the coach.’.”
3. JANNIE DU PLESSIS
-White: “I only picked tighthead props with initials instead of first names.”
-Mallett: “His discipline is poor, he should get murdered at the scrums and there’s a risk he’ll undermine the team doctor.”
-De Villiers: “I used to tell him that even though he’s a doctor, laughter is the best medicine. Unless you have a headache, then laughter is just a moersa lotta kak.”
2. BISMARCK DU PLESSIS (VICE-CAPTAIN)
-White: “They should have brought back John Smit.”
-Mallett: “Him and his brother are a 5-penalty package. I would never have picked a hooker with such bad discipline. James Dalton was a saint.”
-De Villiers: “He would always get upset that I didn’t start him. I told him that there’s no difference between starting and being on the bench, except that starting feels better. It didn’t cheer him up.”
1. TENDAI ‘BEAST’ MTAWARIRA
-White: “On track to being the new Os.”
-Mallett: “He’s not lifting his jumpers at the kick-offs properly. He’s doing it just to show off his strength to the crowd. When the crowd shouts his name it makes me jealous…I mean, it makes the players jealous.”
-De Villiers: “He was always my first name on the teamsheet, because I started the team with ‘Number 1′.”
RESERVES:
16. ADRIAAN STRAUSS
17. COENIE OOSTHUIZEN
18. FLIP VAN DER MERWE
19. KEEGAN DANIEL
20. RUAN PIENAAR
21. PATRICK LAMBIE
22. WYNAND OLIVIER
-White: “Well, I hope he’s got the team right. If he hasn’t and we lose the series, I’d like to coach South Africa again. If he gets it wrong and they give England a hiding, I would like to coach England. We’ll see, because I’d also like to coach Australia, but my loyalty is with the Brumbies.”
-Mallett: “There’s not enough positions covered on the bench. Wait, I’m getting an sms from Andre Markgraaf… it says ‘I like the whole bench.’”
-De Villiers: “It’s not the team I expected. Fool me once, and shame on me, but if the little boy who cried wolf leads the horse to water, I shall not drink. For I am not a sheep. I am the walrus.”
#39 Brilliant snuff, Loosehead, hehehe!!!
39@ Loosehead:
Hey there Loosehead when I first started reading your post I thought here comes some insightful analysis from the old coaches… but by the time I read ‘Pieter de Villiers first comment’ realized they were having a laugh, very well written whoever comes up with this stuff is good!
On a different note still think that this is the time for the local journos to be supporting the Boks all the way and turning their pens on the tourists, but hey maybe I’m wrong and going for the old ‘honey trap’ approach is the one to be followed.
From Planet Rugby Forum:
Boks VS Poms head to head
15. Zane Kirchner vs Mike Brown
Zane returns to the starting line-up after a well earned break for being shit. But now, after some exciting new selections in the coaching department, has returned to form. Mike gets the nod at fullback after an impressive season of lack of choices in England’s wing department.
Adv England
14. JP Pietersen vs Ben Foden
JP will be playing out of position, as he’s been wearing the number 13 jumper for the Sharks this season, but he’s such a quality player that he can slot in anywhere in the backline. Great decision by the Bok coaching staff. Ben will be playing out of position, as he’s usually wearing the number 15 jumper and it’s a high risk strategy to play a player out of position. Poor decision by the England coaching staff.
Adv Boks
13. Jean de Villiers vs Manu Tuilagi
Jean will be playing out of position…blah blah… great player… blah blah… great decision… blah. Manu is the most exciting England backline player to come through the England rugby system since the 2004 tsunami devastated so many small islands in the Pacific.
Even
12. Frans Steyn vs Brad Barritt
Frans is playing out of position… possibly… nobody really knows. He’s got a big fucking boot though. Brad is new to the England set-up and might find it difficult to adapt to South African conditions. He should hopefully get advice from some of the senior players in the team like Dan Cole and… wikipaedia.
Adv Boks
11. Bryan Habana vs Chris Ashton
Bryan has returned to form. Unfortunately it’s his 2011 form. Chris is under strict instruction to stop doing the swan dive when he scores his tries. This instruction came from the Bok camp and there was actually no mention of swans.
Adv England
10. Morne Steyn vs Owen Farrell
Morne is the complete flyhalf. He can kick, not just penalties, but also huge up-and-unders. He won’t have to worry about tackling anybody because Spies will be covering his channel. Owen looks like a right twat when he looks at the posts before he kicks penalties and conversions. There I said it. Somebody had to.
Adv England
9. Francois Hougaard vs Ben Youngs
Francois has made the step from being a replacement wing to being the person to piss Ruan Pienaar off for shits and giggles. A job done brilliantly by FdP for many seasons. Ben’s form has been so up and down that he’s been given the nickname “You used to be quite good. What’s happened?”
Adv Boks
8. Pierre Spies vs Ben Morgan
I can’t believe I’m doing another fucking head to head with this big lump in the team. Nevertheless, he’s good at running over small backline players if given tons of space, which is handy if he’s given tons of space and matched up against small backline players. Pierre on the other hand is an outstanding rugby player. He’s been given a reputation as a flat-track bully, but has turned that stigma around with his form this season.
Adv England
7. Willem Alberts vs Chris Robshaw
Willem hasn’t been in top form this season, but gets the nod ahead of Schalk Burger because the new coach is building for the future and possibly some other reason. He’s also fatter than all the other Bok loose forwards which is a key part of the new coach’s plan. Chris has been outstanding for Harlequins this season.
Even
6. Marcell Coetzee vs Tom Johnson
Deighbut… Deibews… Daybughs… FUCK OFF!
Even
5. Juandre Kruger vs Geoff Parling
Victor continues to show great form in the line-out and around the park. Geoff doesn’t have a chance against one rugby’s all time greats.
Adv Boks
4. Eben Etzebeth vs Mouritz Botha
Bakkies has been in great form this season and if cleared from the disciplinary hearing, will continue with a dominant display with Victor that we’re all so used to. Mouritz? What kind of a stupid name is that? These English are weird!
Adv Boks
3. Jannie du Plessis vs Joe Marler
Jannie continues to be the most dominant tighthead in the country. Seriously? I’m not suggesting anything, but does he have a coloured uncle or something like that? Joe has had a great season with the Quins and is entertaining to watch.
Adv England
2. Bismarck du Plessis vs Dylan Hartley
John continues to be a great captain… wait… what? Bismarck? Who the fuck is this guy? Never heard of him. Probably crap. If you look up “mediocre hooker” in the Oxford dictionary, you wouldn’t find a picture of Dylan, because “mediocre hooker” is two words.
Adv Boks
1. Beast Mtawarira vs Dan Cole
Remember the 1st Lions test? Do you? Has it ever been mentioned since then? Ha ha ha! Beast! YEAH! I wonder if he’s done anything else since then? Probably not. If this was that test and we have the same ref, Dan is going to be in heaps of trouble.
Adv England
Boks – 6
England – 6
Even – 3
loosehead @ 43
its gonna be a draw?
bloody hell!! this guy is good!!
#42
good one anyway loosehead!!
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