I am really looking forward to this one. Kirchner out is good. I know it sounds horrible to say this, but both Lambie and Aplon add more at 15 than him. We need a more versatile player. Ideal would be if Lambie moved to 10 with Aplon at 15, Morne on the bench. Sorry Heineken, but apart from his try, he didn't add anything useful to our backline last weekend. Yes, he distributed the ball, but that is what he is supposed to do! Let's not compliment him for doing the basics right, please. Well, part of the basics because missing 3 out of 7 from the kicking tee is just unacceptable in a Test match. And it's not something that just happened and is an incident, he has been poor all season. Things need to change. We won the first Test with the Bulls-style, now we had a week to prepare for the second Test. I hope HM will show some balls and improve on our gameplay.
That being said, there is no proper replacement for Spies in the squad. Daniel is a good open-side flanker but not Test-level, easy as that. Kankowski is off-form after breaking his hand and his inclusion doesn't make sense (even though I am the biggest Kanko fan in the world probably). It would have been better if Josh Strauss was called up. We need some strength combined with vision, not just brute force like Spies has. Vermeulen would be the ideal man but he's out injured. Spies didn't carry the ball alot, but he hit a ton of rucks and he was acting more like a lock than a loose forward. Having Coetzee and Alberts as runners makes the need for a rucking loosie imminent and I sincerely feel that it was a good idea of Heyneke Meyer to put Spies at the back of the scrum while we have 2 flankers who carry the ball. My biggest question is: Is Jacques Potgieter fit? If so, I would love to see Coetzee at the back of the scrum and Potgieter moving to openside.
On the other hand, I've been very, very impressed by our front-row. Especially Beast has stepped up after he broke his arm in January. Man, he is a true beast now. Bismarck looks more controlled and made less stupid mistakes than he did coming off the bench in the Bok jersey these last couple of years. I guess not having to prove himself anymore has something to do with that. He now has more than 40 minutes to show his skill in stead of making up for Smit's mistakes. Jannie is still a bit of a loose cannon, but the alternatives are just not up for it. Who should we put there? Maybe Cilliers, but he is not in the squad.
Second row was phenomenal. No Test rugby yet between Juandre Kruger and Eben Etzebeth, but it didn't show in their performance. Etzebeth was strong in every aspect and Hein's photo shows his commitment. I hope they can build on this. For me, the biggest worry is scrum-half. I remember in 2010 everybody blaming Ruan pienaar for not recycling the ball quick enough and Hougaard being the kid that sparked the backline with his quick play at the rucks. Now it's the other way round. Hougaard is taking forever to recycle the ball, which gives England the chance to get back to their line of defense while Pienaar showed he has grown in Europe, feeling more confident and passing the ball short and long at will... And quick too! I feel Hougaard can shine on the wing and give us that extra edge we need. JP Pietersen looks insecure and his time spend in the center-position didn't do his wing-capabilities any good. he did have the assisting pass to JdV for the second try, but besides that, he was invisible. Habana however, showed some skill, after being invisible for 3 years. He scored his last try against Italy in 2010 before breaking the record more than a year later, at the World Cup. Now, he is more a man leading up to the tries rather than flying coast-to-coast on the counter attack.
My preferred line-up for Saturday would be this:
1. Tendai Mtawarira
2. Bismarck du Plessis
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Juandre Kruger
6. Marcell Coetzee
7. Willem Alberts
8. Pierre Spies
9. Ruan Pienaar
10.Patrick Lambie
11.Bryan Habana
12.Francois Steyn
13.Jean de Villiers
14.Francois Hougaard
15.Gio Aplon
16.Adriaan Strauss
17.Werner Kruger
18.Flip van der Merwe
19.Jacques Potgieter
20.Morne Steyn
21.JP Pietersen
22.Bjorn Basson