[2015 RWC] Pool B: South Africa vs. Samoa (26/09/2015)

[TRF_heineken]

Villa Park, Birmingham (26/09/2015, 16:45)
Pool B, Round 2
Referee: Wayne Barnes

Teams

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 JP Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jesse Kriel

Samoa: 15 Tim Nanai-Williams, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Paul Perez, 12 Ray Lee-Lo, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Mike Stanley, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Ofisa Treviranus (captain), 7 Jack Lam, 6 TJ Ioane, 5 Iosefa Tekori, 4 Teofilo Paulo, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Motu Matu'u, 1 Sakaria Taulafo

Substitutes: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Viliamu Afatia, 18 Census Johnston, 19 Faifili Levave, 20 Vavae Tuilagi, 21 Vavao Afemai, 22 Tusi Pisi, 23 George Pisi

 

[jomjom]

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[Kiwi_]

This is originally the game I picked South Africa to slip up in and lose. Now I don't think they will let this one go after the shock defeat to Japan. We should see their strongest side, Pollard starting, Willie Le Roux, Etzebeth etc, so I think Samoa have a big task ahead of them. What South Africa need to do though is ensure they have a decent lead towards the closing of the game, their final quarter mentality has lost them so many games, their bench just lacks the same quality as well.

One change they have to make IMO is JdV out and De Allende in.

South Africa by 8.

27 - 19.

 

[Sker]

Hoping for:

1. Nykane
2. Strauss
3. JdP / Malherbe
4. Etzebeth
5. Lood

6. Flouw
7. Kollisi
8. Vermeulen

9. FdP
10. Pollard
11. Mvovo
12. DDA
13. Kriel
14. Habana
15. Wille Le Roux

With that team I have hope that we might be able to redeem ourselves. Waiting for Wednesday in suspense..

 

[Mcfadden]

This is originally the game I picked South Africa to slip up in and lose. Now I don't think they will let this one go after the shock defeat to Japan. We should see their strongest side, Pollard starting, Willie Le Roux, Etzebeth etc, so I think Samoa have a big task ahead of them. What South Africa need to do though is ensure they have a decent lead towards the closing of the game, their final quarter mentality has lost them so many games, their bench just lacks the same quality as well.

One change they have to make IMO is JdV out and De Allende in.

South Africa by 8.

27 - 19.

Absolutely. It would be criminal not to make that change in my view. South Africa are on the back foot, they've given JDV an opportunity, and he has not capitalized on it (although it wasn't just him personally that lost against Japan - but it's a symptom of too many aged stars in that Boks team imo). De Allende was superb in Super Rugby. If he gets a start then I advise any northern hemisphere posters to keep an eye on him. Pretty hard to put away. When the Stormers came to Wellington and almost beat the Hurricanes, De Allende was very prominent from memory. Kriel and Le Roux are the other danger men for me. These should be the players who slice Samoa open - the USA managed to do it in the second half a few times.

Samoa's challenge will be hanging in there for the full 80, and keeping the discipline spot on. Any head high tackles or tip-tackles out of passion and excitement will surely result in an instant 3 points from Pollard (who for me has to start. Lambie is not in the same league). The more Tuilagi can touch the ball, the better. He's a little like Nadolo in the sense he will almost always gain meters and get over the advantage line. Nani Williams at the back has smaller stature but as we've seen for the Chiefs, and against the USA, he can be extremely agile. From broken play if the game opens up, Williams can be very dangerous. Samoa have the dangerous backs, so I would have thought they should keep the ball in hand, and unless they're stuck in their 22, don't kick it away. SA will be pretty strong at the set piece and I'd avoid getting into a scrum or lineout situation. Samoa operate well when they're playing running-attacking rugby - I wouldn't really associate them with a tactical placement kick / set piece team.

 

[SomeOke]

Hoping for:

1. Nykane
2. Strauss
3. JdP / Malherbe
4. Etzebeth
5. Lood

6. Flouw
7. Kollisi
8. Vermeulen

9. FdP
10. Pollard
11. Mvovo
12. DDA
13. Kriel
14. Habana
15. Wille Le Roux

With that team I have hope that we might be able to redeem ourselves. Waiting for Wednesday in suspense..

Back line 100% agree, pack though:
- Front row didn't exactly dominate on Saturday and Bismarck was quiet but I'm not sure we have replacement props who are any better, happy with Strauss starting but I personally wouldn't drop BdP yet.
- I actually thought Matfield played OK on Saturday but there is no question that Lood and Etzebeth are the bigger game breakers, tough call maybe we can afford to have Lood conducting the line-outs against Samoa.
- Back three, I actually thought Schalla played alright as well (at least he played with a bit of fire), but I would revert back to our standard mix of Flouw, Alberts and Vermulen, we missed Alberts in my opinion and this particular combination has never failed us.

I can't really even put my finger where we went wrong on Saturday, if forced I would have to say that we were tactically nullified. Our big ball carriers didn't make enough meters due to the Japanese chopping them down with low tackles, and our untalented back line couldn't do anything with their fast line speed. I was disappointed with Lambie as he is probably our only fly half with anything close to the cheeky kicking game that is good against a fast line, but we didn't see any of it this weekend.

In short our tactics were essentially - Pin them with kicks and dominate them physically, and when that didn't work we had no plan B.

 

[Mcfadden]

Lood and Etzebeth have to start for me. Etzebeth is just too good, and Lood has proven himself as an excellent attacking lock. Got to back the younger guys. I know Victor is the man at line outs and rolling mauls, but you got to back yourselves to do a little more than that. To me, they'd give you guys an injection of energy. Which is actually what the All Blacks need in their starting 15 in my personal opinion.

 

[SomeOke]

Lood and Etzebeth have to start for me. Etzebeth is just too good, and Lood has proven himself as an excellent attacking lock. Got to back the younger guys. I know Victor is the man at line outs and rolling mauls, but you got to back yourselves to do a little more than that. To me, they'd give you guys an injection of energy. Which is actually what the All Blacks need in their starting 15 in my personal opinion.

Makes sense. Matfield was our go to man when the territorial game was of utmost importance and line-outs were vital to our game plan, these days I'm not even sure we have the tools to run that old style of play so maybe Vic is outdated. Still he wasn't exactly a crash test dummy in the field, he tackled hard and put in the work, I won't exactly be gutted if he starts. Additionally if we are going to drop JdV, we need a captain.

 

[Sker]

Fdp can be our captain, with Vermeulen or Flouw running VC.

You're right SomeOke, I forgot about Alberts. So I think we can go back to our old faithful backrow.

 

[MojoPin]

Gotta back SA to come back with a vengeance, surely? But then I never thought in a million years that the XV fielded against Japan would lose. Should be a fascinating match with both teams out to make a big statement! Awesome for the neutral, that's for sure.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Here's what I think our team should look like:

1. Beast
2. Bismarck
3. Malherbe
4. Etzebeth
5. De Jager
6. Flouw
7. Alberts (if fit, otherwise Burger)
8. Vermeulen

9. Du Preez
10. Pollard
11. Habana
12. De Allende
13. De Villiers
14. Mvovo
15. Le Roux

16. Strauss
17. Nyakane
18. Oosthuizen
19. PSDT
20. Kolisi
21. Paige
22. Lambie
23. Kriel

 

[Sker]

Here's what I think our team should look like:

1. Beast
2. Bismarck
3. Malherbe
4. Etzebeth
5. De Jager
6. Flouw
7. Alberts (if fit, otherwise Burger)
8. Vermeulen

9. Du Preez
10. Pollard
11. Habana
12. De Allende
13. De Villiers
14. Mvovo
15. Le Roux

16. Strauss
17. Nyakane
18. Oosthuizen
19. PSDT
20. Kolisi
21. Paige
22. Lambie
23. Kriel

You would still play JdV? He got a gap on Saturday and it really looked like he hasn't recovered from his injuries. Adriaan Strauss was faster than him. Beast was a bit absent as well. Nyakane is a 'fris fokkertjie' might be just what we need.

 

[TRF_heineken]

You would still play JdV? He got a gap on Saturday and it really looked like he hasn't recovered from his injuries. Adriaan Strauss was faster than him. Beast was a bit absent as well. Nyakane is a 'fris fokkertjie' might be just what we need.

Dude, If it was up to me, then Lambie and Coenie would have been sent home after Saturday.

But Kriel was our problem in the backline, not JDV. Everytime Japan scored from the backline move, Kriel went for the inside man. He was constantly creating overlaps, maybe because he hasn't played beside JDV before. And Lambie was terrible in getting our backs some ball, or putting us on the front foot. We scored all our tries through our forwards!

To be honest, I thought Francois Louw was our poorest player on the field. And that worries me the most as he's our only fetcher. If Alberts is out injured for the rest of the tournament, then I'd send Brussouw ASAP!

 

[Moose]

Dude, If it was up to me, then Lambie and Coenie would have been sent home after Saturday.

But Kriel was our problem in the backline, not JDV. Everytime Japan scored from the backline move, Kriel went for the inside man. He was constantly creating overlaps, maybe because he hasn't played beside JDV before. And Lambie was terrible in getting our backs some ball, or putting us on the front foot. We scored all our tries through our forwards!

To be honest, I thought Francois Louw was our poorest player on the field. And that worries me the most as he's our only fetcher. If Alberts is out injured for the rest of the tournament, then I'd send Brussouw ASAP!

IMO, if you look at the GIF of that brilliant Japan try - it was JDV that got fooled and slipped to the outside player covered by Kriel.

http://i.imgur.com/bHd01pG.gif

Are they actually allowed to replace an injured player that was injured before the tournament even started?

 

[Sotavalta]

Okay I think I have recovered enough after Saturday to be able to comment...

First off everyone really underestimated Japan, I remember everyone saying I am crazy to say we are only going to win with 18 points and not 40. But back to the actually topic of the thread, I think South Africa is going to win this match, but I don't expect it to be a pretty match. I say SA will win this with 5 points. Hoping I don't underestimate Samoa or maybe even overestimate SA...

 

[TRF_heineken]

Okay I think I have recovered enough after Saturday to be able to comment...

First off everyone really underestimated Japan, I remember everyone saying I am crazy to say we are only going to win with 18 points and not 40. But back to the actually topic of the thread, I think South Africa is going to win this match, but I don't expect it to be a pretty match. I say SA will win this with 5 points. Hoping I don't underestimate Samoa or maybe even overestimate SA...

I don't know what to expect really. My guess is that it could go 2 ways. It could become very negative like the 2011 WC match (which I hope doesn't happen) or it could be a match like the 2007 WC. A lot of physicality from both teams and some good tries being scored.

After the Pearl Harbour version 2.0 of Saturday, I think our guys are hurting, are angry at themselves and are going to play like men possessed because a lot of supporters have lost interest and faith in them.

 

[ABs2011]

It's not very important at all but who was it that coped the fend from Mafi before the game winning try was scored? Was it Kriel? Just out of interest more than anything.

 

[TRF_heineken]

It's not very important at all but who was it that coped the fend from Mafi before the game winning try was scored? Was it Kriel? Just out of interest more than anything.

Yup.

Here's some motivation for my fellow countrymen:

 

[tompaton7]

I would pick this team if I was Meyer:

1. Tendai Mtawarira, 2. Adriaan Strauss, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 5. Lood de Jager, 6. Francois Louw, 7. Schalk Burger (captain), 8. Duane Vermeulen, 9. Fourie du Preez, 10. Handre Pollard, 11. Bryan Habana, 12. Damian de Allende, 13. Jesse Kriel, 14. JP Pietersen, 15. Willie le Roux,
BENCH: 16. Bismarck du Plessis, 17. Trevor Nyakane, 18. Francois Malherbe, 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20. Willem Alberts, 21. Ruan Pienaar, 22. Patrick Lambie, 23. Jean de Villiers

Bismarck was awful, 5 penalties conceded, played like a liability. Matfield looks past it and I know it puts them without a lineout caller but Vermeulen or Burger can take on that role. That right there is the best balanced back row they can pick from the squad players - although Heinrich Brussow has been way better than Louw this year and if it wasn't for quota Kolisi making the squad he'd be utilised. De Allende has to play, it's not an option anymore, him and Kriel are the best balance pairing. De Villiers can offer his leadership off the bench and at the death. Mvovo has never really impressed me for the Boks, although Pietersen hasn't been good for a long time now. Ideally Kriel moves to the 15 and le Roux to 14 with JdV at 13 but I doubt that will happen. I didn't think du Toit played too badly at flanker to be honest, he got through some good work and offers versatility off the bench. Overall 8 changes including one positional.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

There is a massive difference between not supporting and criticizing.

Sure there is positive and negative (ITO intent) criticism and I'll admit I was guity of the latter just after the weekend but there is a culture of not taking sincere criticism on board in SA that holds us back and I'm not just talking about rugby.