1st Test - Springbok team

Stealdo

15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Morné Steyn.

Stealdo

This is from Planet Rugby....nothing shocking really.

Brussow obviously earned his place at openside in the tour game, very experienced SA team. I'm not a fan of Frans Steyn at all so think that might be an area to attack, but there's strength everywhere.

thomond2006

Smit at tighthead. Brillant.

Evil_Clown

Looks like Burger didn't make it so, some good news at least

Four-Percent

I'm glad Morné Steyn isn't starting.

lobber

What a pack!!! Although accomodating Smit at prop seems odd!

Amabokke

Stealdo wrote: »

15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.

Replacements: 16 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Morné Steyn.

There you have it....world class team with lots of experience and capability to beat the Lions on Sat. Burger out but Brussouw already showed how he will deal with his opponents at the breakdown and at 22 he will be hungry for it.

Frans Steyn very good at high ball especially with those counter attack drop goals. Defensively also very good.

People say John Smit is a liability at prop, that might be true but scrum was never SA's big thing and we won't lose the ball because of it. Your area of attack is lineout and breakdown and we will be serious contenders in those areas.

chupacabra

Amabokke wrote: »

Frans Steyn very good at high ball especially with those counter attack drop goals. Defensively also very good..

Dont get me wrong, i love the spectacle that is a drop goal from inside ones own half. But as a springbok supporter you shouldn't be happy that he is essentially kicking away the ball 75% of the time. His accuracy really needs work.

Amabokke

chupacabra wrote: »

Dont get me wrong, i love the spectacle that is a drop goal from inside ones own half. But as a springbok supporter you shouldn't be happy that he is essentially kicking away the ball 75% of the time. His accuracy really needs work.

Ah, you are probably referring to the Baa baas game where he kicked every single ball?

When you play against a team with a quick rush defence as the Lions have displayed then sometimes tactical kicking, drop kicks and corner kicks are sometimes the way too go especially as we will be strong competition in the lineouts.

No, I wouldn't like it if he kicks every ball but I'm sure the coaches will tell him what to do and too make the right call at right time.

When he played fullback against Aus last year he did not kick the ball that much except for that drop goal.

Stev_o

Hurray for PdV how we love you! Please continue being a dreadful coach who has no idea who his best players are and keep playing people out of position!

Amabokke

Stev_o wrote: »

Hurray for PdV how we love you! Please continue being a dreadful coach who has no idea who his best players are and keep playing people out of position!

Can you explain?

Stev_o

Amabokke wrote: »

Can you explain?

No internationally recognised goal kicker for a start Piennar and Steyn kicker now and again and aren't anything special from the kicking tee, if Steyn eile was starting id be quivering. Smith is a great captain but seriously at TH that's putting Spies attacking game at risk. When was the last time Steyn played 15 for the Sharks?

thomond2006

Is it just me or does the SA head coach seem really unconvincing at every press conference? :D

anonymous_joe

Amabokke wrote: »

There you have it....world class team with lots of experience and capability to beat the Lions on Sat. Burger out but Brussouw already showed how he will deal with his opponents at the breakdown and at 22 he will be hungry for it.

Frans Steyn very good at high ball especially with those counter attack drop goals. Defensively also very good.

People say John Smit is a liability at prop, that might be true but scrum was never SA's big thing and we won't lose the ball because of it. Your area of attack is lineout and breakdown and we will be serious contenders in those areas.

I know you're a Bok fan but that's not a world class team. It's a good team with some world class players.

I'd surmise you and most Boks fans could pick better.

Should be one hell of a contest.

buck65

That's a super team.
This accomodating Smit at prop is nonsense really considering the Lions will be acomodating AW Jones at no 4.
Still I think the Lions will be more battled hardened and match sharp in the first test. If the Lions win this then we have a tour! if the Boks win it really is all over.
Lions by a score , Boks 2-1 in the series.

Amabokke

Between Steyn and Pienaar there is enough and then you have steyn on te bench.

Lions also only have (if it is Stephen Jones) to start with with a possible backup in Hook or ROG on bench or vice versa.

Don't know last time Steyn been playing 15 for Sharks but in my view that has always been his best position. I have confidence that he will step up.

Smit been playing TH for a year now and his ok. Scrums is not an area we've ever done well in and we are not going to change that now. We won the WC with a poor scrumming technique and it's still the same.

Spies won't be under pressure as he links more up with the backline and plays more in open spaces rather than from the back of a scrum. Fourie and Spies playing together at the Bulls, which will help too.

As for PDV, he says stupid things and speak like twat in front of the media but he had great success with the u/19 when they won the WC a few years ago. He was also in charge last year when the boks one in NZ for first time in a while, clean sweep of the Nov AI and hammered Aus in the 3N so hardly doubt that he is a big idiot or have poor selections.

I think it is the senior players and Smit together with assist-coaches that carry the team.

twinytwo

buck65 wrote: »

That's a super team.
This accomodating Smit at prop is nonsense really considering the Lions will be acomodating AW Jones at no 4.
Still I think the Lions will be more battled hardened and match sharp in the first test. If the Lions win this then we have a tour! if the Boks win it really is all over.
Lions by a score , Boks 2-1 in the series.

it should be a good game... but the lions should edge it.. assuming byrne/jones dont constantly kick the ball down habanas side,thus giving him a chance to counter attack... as good as bowe is i wouldnt fancy him in a one on one... The lions also have Drico who at the end of the day is still worth his weight in gold

Amabokke

anonymous_joe wrote: »

I know you're a Bok fan but that's not a world class team. It's a good team with some world class players.

I'd surmise you and most Boks fans could pick better.

Should be one hell of a contest.

Like?

Dumbledore

No Ryan Kankowsi? Seems to me that he would be a better impact player than Danie Russouw.

anonymous_joe

Amabokke wrote: »

Like?

A full back would be nice. Specialist props. Kankowski can tackle, that might be nice in your back row.

Morne Steyn would start for me ahead of Ruan Pienaar.

Dumbledore

twinytwo wrote: »

it should be a good game... but the lions should edge it.. assuming byrne/jones dont constantly kick the ball down habanas side,thus giving him a chance to counter attack... as good as bowe is i wouldnt fancy him in a one on one... The lions also have Drico who at the end of the day is still worth his weight in gold

You really think the Lions will win? I am going to put money on SA by ten or more. I just have not seen the Lions perform well against any team bar one, a weak team at that. Also this test team has not played together yet, so I think in fact the first test is the ones the Lions are most likely to lose in, despite the altitude of the other two venues.

GiftofGab

twinytwo wrote: »

it should be a good game... but the lions should edge it.. assuming byrne/jones dont constantly kick the ball down habanas side,thus giving him a chance to counter attack... as good as bowe is i wouldnt fancy him in a one on one... The lions also have Drico who at the end of the day is still worth his weight in gold

Habana is not good under the high ball. A good kick and chase while putting him under pressure can force him into a mistake. Same with JP Pietersen.

GiftofGab

anonymous_joe wrote: »

A full back would be nice. Specialist props. Kankowski can tackle, that might be nice in your back row.

Morne Steyn would start for me ahead of Ruan Pienaar.

Morne Steyn is clearly the inform fly half. I think the fly half, full back and first centre are the potentially the weaknesses in the team. All great players just maybe lacking game time recently. They have been injuried the second half of the season

Amabokke

anonymous_joe wrote: »

A full back would be nice. Specialist props. Kankowski can tackle, that might be nice in your back row.

Morne Steyn would start for me ahead of Ruan Pienaar.

Frans Steyn is a proven fullback and he will deliver. Obvious choice would've been Zane but when you only have a certain number of players then he'll miss out as Frans has been with this team since 07.

Again, regarding the scrums...this is not really an issue are for the boks. Yes, we don't have the best front row or scrum but we still win our own ball as the lineouts and breakdown are far more important than the scrum.

Even if we had a much better front row I can't see how that would improve our game plan.

John is playing TH because Bismark is good enough to be in the bok team and since he is a specialist hooker John was moved there as that is where he played (i believe) in his school days.

Beast picks himself, might not be the strongest but he has good ball carrying capabilities, something the management want. No point in CJ being an animal at scrum time but just farting around the field during play.

Kankowski is not better than Spies, Brussouw, Burger or Smith. All of these guys can tackle and Rossouw is there because he is a strong ball carrier and good line jumper and is versatile in the scrum.

Morne Steyn was brilliant during the S14 but because of 4 drop goals in the final people want to see him start his test birth against a strong Lions squad which with their rush defence won't give him any space. It is too soon for him. Pienaar has been tried and tested and is generally an attacking player who can beat the rush defence.

GiftofGab

Amabokke wrote: »

Frans Steyn is a proven fullback and he will deliver. Obvious choice would've been Zane but when you only have a certain number of players then he'll miss out as Frans has been with this team since 07.

Again, regarding the scrums...this is not really an issue are for the boks. Yes, we don't have the best front row or scrum but we still win our own ball as the lineouts and breakdown are far more important than the scrum.

Even if we had a much better front row I can't see how that would improve our game plan.

John is playing TH because Bismark is good enough to be in the bok team and since he is a specialist hooker John was moved there as that is where he played (i believe) in his school days.

Beast picks himself, might not be the strongest but he has good ball carrying capabilities, something the management want. No point in CJ being an animal at scrum time but just farting around the field during play.

Kankowski is not better than Spies, Brussouw, Burger or Smith. All of these guys can tackle and Rossouw is there because he is a strong ball carrier and good line jumper and is versatile in the scrum.

Morne Steyn was brilliant during the S14 but because of 4 drop goals in the final people want to see him start his test birth against a strong Lions squad which with their rush defence won't give him any space. It is too soon for him. Pienaar has been tried and tested and is generally an attacking player who can beat the rush defence.

Good post. I have to say, even thou Spies is a fantastic player, he can be a bit one dimensional. He has power and pace but he is not that good at the break down and at the tackle.

It's a risk playing morne styen at fly half but personally I would have taken that risk. Shane Williams is tried and tested through his whole career but now shouldn't even get a sniff of the test team. I believe in playing the in form players. Pienaar is lacking match practice. He would have been better coming off the bench if Morne Steyn doesnt deliever.

twinytwo

Dumbledore wrote: »

You really think the Lions will win? I am going to put money on SA by ten or more. I just have not seen the Lions perform well against any team bar one, a weak team at that. Also this test team has not played together yet, so I think in fact the first test is the ones the Lions are most likely to lose in, despite the altitude of the other two venues.

yes i do think they will win,otherwise what is the point in watching the tests??.. while it is true they could have done better in the warm up games the whole attitude towars the tests wil be different plus they will have their A team playing. Yes that have not played together as a unit but the Centres have played together the back row has played together as have the SR's and the FH/SH plus the fact that most of the Boks havent played in like 6 weeks.. And yes the boks are good but that lions 15 will be far from a push over

jank

The scrum will be interesting. If ref'd properly then there are a few points to be had if the Boks collapse the scrum.
Saying that though it looks a good side. The tactical kicking will be crucial.

Cuchulain

When is the Lions team being announced?.....edit : nevermind, just seen other thread.