Springboks

[Bones]

@Smuts said in Springboks:

You’re right! Mr. Smith needed the best AB team of all time to bag his winners’ medal…

To be fair, Willie did it with the best team(s) in the history of world rugby ever ever.

[Smuts]

Hadn’t thought of it like that @Bones but I’m prepared to be convinced. Go on.

[OomPB]

@Smuts Had a lucky draw.

[Bones]

@Smuts said in Springboks:

Hadn’t thought of it like that @Bones but I’m prepared to be convinced. Go on.

You're welcome

[nostrildamus]

@Smuts said in Springboks:

That makes no sense.
And he's no Ben Smith from accounts.

You’re right. Unfair to compare Willie to Smith with his solitary RWC trophy

If by that logic Sam Whitelock is twice the player Victor Matfield could ever be, I'd almost let you have that one.

[OomPB]

Jul 14

Erasmus names uncapped front row as Kolisi returns against Georgia

Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe, and Neethling Fouche will all make their Springbok debuts against Georgia in Nelspruit on Saturday as double Rugby World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi returns from injury to take over the captaincy for first time this season in an exciting squad named by...

[OomPB]

Jul 22

Erasmus names squad for Australia leg of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus selected a strong 37-man squad for the first two Tests in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship against Australia, featuring 24 Rugby World Cup-winners and five players who made their Test debuts during their successful Castle Lager Incoming Series.

[pakman]

No Faf. Ox seems only established LH. Strong otherwise?

[sparky]

@OomPB Strong squad and one player more than I was expecting.

[pakman]

37 is the new 36?

[sparky]

[pakman]

No surprise.

[booboo]

Shocked! Shocked I am!

[nzzp]

It's like the Onion on mass shootings in USA.
'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

Shocked, say the Saffers, as the only team with repetitive positive drug test. I mean, the team looks like normal athletes amiright?

[sparky]

@pakman My surprise is that a certain other Springbok forward wasn't caught first.

[stodders]

@sparky want to narrow that one down?

[Steven Harris]

Guns and Needles: The Murky World of Sports Doping

This is good listen and the book Guns & Needles well worth the read

[sparky]

The Old Foe have arrived in Auckland.

Aug 26

Boks arrive in Auckland in high spirits

The Springboks arrived in Auckland close to midnight local time on Wednesday in high spirits and excited about the challenge of facing their arch-rivals, the All Blacks, in back-to-back Test matches in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship in the next three weeks.

[W32]

The bok transition into different players and tactics seems to be going well. Pleased that rassie had the guts to make big changes after the loss at Eden park. The mindset seems to be more of moving forward from what worked in the past, to what will work for the next World Cup. The two Argie games will be a potential banana skin for a team on a high, so that will be telling as well.

[stodders]

@W32 said in Springboks:

The bok transition into different players and tactics seems to be going well. Pleased that rassie had the guts to make big changes after the loss at Eden park. The mindset seems to be more of moving forward from what worked in the past, to what will work for the next World Cup. The two Argie games will be a potential banana skin for a team on a high, so that will be telling as well.

The Bok defence will be seriously tested by what is probably the best backline in the competition. The Argentinian scrum and lineout isn’t a match on their loose forwards and backline though. So if Boks gain ascendancy at the set piece and neutralise the Pumas back row, they will go a long way to winning.

I think the second test at Twickenham is the biggest potential banana skin. The bright lights of the city can be distracting