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Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Time: 19:00 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
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South Africa "A" v French Barbarians 1st Match (16/06/2017)
- Thread starter TRF_heineken
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Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban
Time: 19:00 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
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SA 'A' side named:
15. Lwazi Mvovo, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Juan de Jongh (captain), 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Makazole Mapimpi, 10. Lionel Cronje, 9. Jano Vermaak, 8. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7. Ruan Ackermann, 6. Uzair Cassiem, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Andries Ferreira, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Franco Marais, 1. Thomas du Toit
Substitutes: 16. Ramone Samuels, 17. Ox Nche, 18. Trevor Nyakane, 19. Jason Jenkins, 20. Andisa Ntsila, 21. Dewaldt Duvenage, 22. Fred Zeilinga, 23. Francois Venter
I personally think Ackermann should've picked Venter ahead of De Jongh at 13 but overall a very solid team and at wing and prop stronger than the Bok team IMO. I also have a lot of time for Notshe, Cronje and Vorster- don't think they should crack the test side but they are in form and have the ability to make the difference IMO.
Only thing I am worried about might be a lack of balance in the backrow with Cassiem and Notshe being good ball carriers and fast but I question whether they will be able to add value in the tight exchanges if the game goes that way.
15. Lwazi Mvovo, 14. Ruan Combrinck, 13. Juan de Jongh (captain), 12. Harold Vorster, 11. Makazole Mapimpi, 10. Lionel Cronje, 9. Jano Vermaak, 8. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7. Ruan Ackermann, 6. Uzair Cassiem, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Andries Ferreira, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Franco Marais, 1. Thomas du Toit
Substitutes: 16. Ramone Samuels, 17. Ox Nche, 18. Trevor Nyakane, 19. Jason Jenkins, 20. Andisa Ntsila, 21. Dewaldt Duvenage, 22. Fred Zeilinga, 23. Francois Venter
I personally think Ackermann should've picked Venter ahead of De Jongh at 13 but overall a very solid team and at wing and prop stronger than the Bok team IMO. I also have a lot of time for Notshe, Cronje and Vorster- don't think they should crack the test side but they are in form and have the ability to make the difference IMO.
Only thing I am worried about might be a lack of balance in the backrow with Cassiem and Notshe being good ball carriers and fast but I question whether they will be able to add value in the tight exchanges if the game goes that way.
Interesting team, the back-line's honestly not that much worse than the Bok back-line, you could make an argument that Combrink and Vorster are straight up better than their counterparts and the half-backs are very close as well.
The pack is where we suffer a bit but I think it works, the locks are just grubs who work hard and the flanks are ball carriers and ball runners - so hopefully despite their lack of all round skills it will balance out in the end, the props are also close to being better than their Bok counterparts and it's nice to see the youngsters get some exposure.
It's definitely not a perfect side and it's must more slap dash than the Bok side in terms of it doesn't have any existing combinations (Like the Lions half-backs, the Bulls Centre's, a Lions spine etc) so things could get messy.
Our hooker stocks are looking pretty bleak though if Marais and Samuels are the best we can do.
How strong do we expect the French side too be?
The pack is where we suffer a bit but I think it works, the locks are just grubs who work hard and the flanks are ball carriers and ball runners - so hopefully despite their lack of all round skills it will balance out in the end, the props are also close to being better than their Bok counterparts and it's nice to see the youngsters get some exposure.
It's definitely not a perfect side and it's must more slap dash than the Bok side in terms of it doesn't have any existing combinations (Like the Lions half-backs, the Bulls Centre's, a Lions spine etc) so things could get messy.
Our hooker stocks are looking pretty bleak though if Marais and Samuels are the best we can do.
How strong do we expect the French side too be?
