[2015 RWC] Pool B: South Africa vs. Scotland (03/10/2015)

[g6mcg]

Let's hope Wales go all out against the Aussies in an attempt to avoid getting SA. Have a feeling the Aussies will have beaten England, Wales then Scotland before marching into the semis.

We've beaten Australia twice since we last beat the Welsh!

 

[Saint4805]

We've beaten Australia twice since we last beat the Welsh!

That was years ago and means nothing. Different teams, different management, different circumstances. Wales are seriously depleted and we'd stand a much better chance against them, trust me.

 

[g6mcg]

That was years ago and means nothing. Different teams, different management, different circumstances. Wales are seriously depleted and we'd stand a much better chance against them, trust me.

Yeah, I wasn't being serious. Don't think we have much chance of beating either of them though.

 

[SomeOke]

A few notes on the game:

- Our loose trio looked the best it has all tournament with Vermulen and Flouw both putting in improved performances, hopefully they are getting back to their best. We'll need them to beat teams like Australia and Wales to avoid losing the breakdown.
- de Jager and Etzebeth are immense, they offer so much physicality on both attack an defense it will be hard to justify including Matfield. I like Victor, I think he's done well since he came out of retirement and has surprised us all but he is no longer a world beater. If our line-outs can function without him it's hard to include him just for his experience and leadership when Lood has basically been the form lock of the tournament thus far.
- Our wings are just about the only "experienced" players in the team who have stepped up and been counted. I was skeptical of JP and Habana before the tournament, thinking we were going to miss the flair of some younger players out wide but they both now look like nailed on starters. Possibly even vital to our game plan with their solid defense and strength when chasing kicks.
- Pollard looks more assured, nice to see him nailing all his place kicks, I still have a few issues with him and I think he can sometimes be a bit greedy in the oppositions 22 but he is our best option at the moment. Luckily du Preez and le Roux also take a bit of the responsibility off him at times by stepping up as decision makers.
- Kriel needs to do a bit more but I still feel he deserves a game or two more before we hit the Serfontein trigger.
- Lastly the biggest negative for me is that we are still unchanged tactically. We didn't really change our game-plan from the Japan game, it just worked this time. If we ever get matched up physically we may run out of things to do.

In short I'm mostly positive about the game but still a little apprehensive going forward.

 

[WaterboySA]

We won. Still not happy with our scrums, if we don't improve(maybe too late) it's gonna be hard in the next week or two. How about the TMO almost crying for the ref to give JP a yellow? Best ref performance thus far in the WC. Nigel for the final!

 

[austingtir]

A few notes on the game:

- Our loose trio looked the best it has all tournament with Vermulen and Flouw both putting in improved performances, hopefully they are getting back to their best. We'll need them to beat teams like Australia and Wales to avoid losing the breakdown.
- de Jager and Etzebeth are immense, they offer so much physicality on both attack an defense it will be hard to justify including Matfield. I like Victor, I think he's done well since he came out of retirement and has surprised us all but he is no longer a world beater. If our line-outs can function without him it's hard to include him just for his experience and leadership when Lood has basically been the form lock of the tournament thus far.
- Our wings are just about the only "experienced" players in the team who have stepped up and been counted. I was skeptical of JP and Habana before the tournament, thinking we were going to miss the flair of some younger players out wide but they both now look like nailed on starters. Possibly even vital to our game plan with their solid defense and strength when chasing kicks.
- Pollard looks more assured, nice to see him nailing all his place kicks, I still have a few issues with him and I think he can sometimes be a bit greedy in the oppositions 22 but he is our best option at the moment. Luckily du Preez and le Roux also take a bit of the responsibility off him at times by stepping up as decision makers.
- Kriel needs to do a bit more but I still feel he deserves a game or two more before we hit the Serfontein trigger.
- Lastly the biggest negative for me is that we are still unchanged tactically. We didn't really change our game-plan from the Japan game, it just worked this time. If we ever get matched up physically we may run out of things to do.

In short I'm mostly positive about the game but still a little apprehensive going forward.

Havent seen this game but everytime iv seen De Jager play he looked hugely impressive.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well I'm happy.

I think Jannie basically dug his own grave in that match with those stupid tackles, but Malherbe didn't impress me when he came on as much as I wanted.

I thought the inclusion of Bismarck paid off, he was brutal in the first half, and did the grunt work very well. Lood and Etzebeth were on fire again!
Our loose forwards are becoming better and better as the tournament progresses. And these talks about fitness, I don't agree with what you guys said. I think some teams are peaking way too early (Australia & France), and by the time the knockouts start, they will not be as impressive as they were in the pool stages. NZ and SA are struggling in some aspects in these pool stages, but that's because they are focused on getting to the knockout's and then play at their best. The training that SA did before the tournament was exactly for that purpose, to condition them for 7 games, not 2 or 3 or 4.

Fourie Du Preez now has a 100% win record as Springbok captain, and the General was pretty good, and he will just get better and better. There were periods when it seemed like he had so much time to make decisions, and that is a good sign.

Pollard is getting better and better. a Drop Goal and a penalty from the half way line. That is signs of a fly half having confidence in his play, and he was just awesome in defence. His only mistake, was that pass which got intercepted and lead to a try.

Slowly but surely, we are getting there...

Also, I loved this:
[video]https://youtu.be/_K0ts859I4w[/video]