Tri Nations: All Blacks - Springboks @ Westpac Stadium (30-07-2011, 07:35 GMT)

[TRF_Olyy]

You'd have to put a fair bit on though
For example, with bet365 I'd have to put £20 on the All Blacks winning to take home £1 profit
The same wager on the Boks would net me £160 :lol:

 

[Dizzy]

I really feel for the Springboks but more so for their fans. You never want to see your team humiliated ever, no matter whether you're resting your best squad for the World Cup or not, as a solid All Black supporter I would never want the All Blacks to take to a match as lightly as SA is doing this weekend. I really feel for the South African public this weekend.

On the game, I'm predicting the AB's to slot in a record margin win over the South Africans.

 

[Dizzy]

Springbok Side named:

Springboks: Patrick Lambie, Bjorn Basson, Adi Jacobs, Juan de Jongh, Lwazi Mvovo, Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Danie Rossouw, Jean Deysel, Deon Stegmann, Alistair Hargreaves, Gerhard Mostert, Werner Kruger, John Smit (captain), Dean Greyling. Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, Ryan Kankowski, Ashley Johnson, Charl McLeod, Wynand Olivier, Odwa Ndungane

 

[Larksea]

fair enough, but I see "physicality in close" as one of thompsons relative weaknesses and that's the key role of a #8 at scrum time and it's the only area I have concern over with him playing in that position. His strengths being workrate, his line speed on defence and his speed and height on attack wide of the ruck.

If I were a fowards coach playing NZ with thompson at #8 I'd paint a big target on him at scrum time. But I guess now is the time to experiment.

 

[Siva Tau]

anything equal or less on the scoreboard than the Wallabies did vs the boks will be seen as failure

 

[TRF_Olyy]

To be fair that's not an awful Boks side
I don't know a lot about that tight 5 (bar Smit) though

 

[smartcooky]

fair enough, but I see "physicality in close" as one of thompsons relative weaknesses and that's the key role of a #8 at scrum time and it's the only area I have concern over with him playing in that position. His strengths being workrate, his line speed on defence and his speed and height on attack wide of the ruck.

If I were a fowards coach playing NZ with thompson at #8 I'd paint a big target on him at scrum time. But I guess now is the time to experiment.

I think you can expect to see Thomson and McCaw rotating the 7 & 8 positions. I picking that McCaw will go to 8 when the scrum is more central, with Thomson going to 8 when there is a short-blindside

anything equal or less on the scoreboard than the Wallabies did vs the boks will be seen as failure

Some fans might see it that way (I don't) but Ted will know that going into a game thinking you need to score X amount of points, or win by a certain margin is treading a dangerous path, and he won't allow them to do that.

The Wallabies won by 39-20 (19 points). I'd be happier if the All Blacks won 19-0; the "0" would speak more loudly than the Wallabies "39"

 

[Darwin]

Springbok Side named:

Springboks: Patrick Lambie, Bjorn Basson, Adi Jacobs, Juan de Jongh, Lwazi Mvovo, Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Danie Rossouw, Jean Deysel, Deon Stegmann, Alistair Hargreaves, Gerhard Mostert, Werner Kruger, John Smit (captain), Dean Greyling. Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, CJ van der Linde, Ryan Kankowski, Ashley Johnson, Charl McLeod, Wynand Olivier, Odwa Ndungane

Looks like a better side than last week to me. Though the Boks do lose Aplon's deceptive attacking ability, Lambie was impressive when he came on last week - if I was the South African coach I'd be switching Lambie and Morne Steyn around at times, as Lambie would certainly be more beneficial than Steyn in attacking situations. Olivier was poor last week, and though I don't particularly rate Jacobs it is hard to believe he will be as bad as Olivier. Deysel is an upgrade on Johnson too - like Johnson he enjoys having the ball in his hand, but unlike Johnson he actually broke the advantage line last week almost every time he got the ball (and is a much better tackler than Johnson). The only slight downgrade in my opinion is Mostert for the injured van der Merwe, though I've always thought Mostert is a solid player whenever I've seen him play. I still think Rossouw is better suited to lock, and I think they would have been better off starting Kankowski at 8 and moving Rossouw to lock.

To me it looks like the All Blacks should have the edge in nearly every department. They should have the dominant scrum, though the AB's don't really have a typically 'tighthead' lock so probably won't have as much scrum power as usual. The All Blacks' certainly have plenty of lineout ability too, with Whitelock, Williams, and Thomson all very good at lineout time, a both McCaw and Kaino very handy as well. Of course much will depend on how Hore throws - he will certainly want to improve on his throwing from last week. I actually expect the AB's will attempt to target the Boks at lineout time, and it will be interesting to see how the Boks respond. The AB's should have big advantage in the loose too, even though McCaw still like he is not yet back too his best.

I'm hoping Carter starts to show his running game a bit more this match, as he has been quiet all year. Hopefully their is a lot more direct running from the AB's midfield this week, as they were running sideways last week. If Nonu gets the ball running at full speed he could cause Steyn, de Jongh, and Jacobs a lot of trouble (as could SBW when he comes on). There are some interesting matchups on the wings too, with both sets of wings having a lot to prove.

Overall I'm picking the AB's to win it quite convincingly, by 20-25 points.

 

[Shaggy]

I really feel for the Springboks but more so for their fans. You never want to see your team humiliated ever, no matter whether you're resting your best squad for the World Cup or not, as a solid All Black supporter I would never want the All Blacks to take to a match as lightly as SA is doing this weekend. I really feel for the South African public this weekend.

On the game, I'm predicting the AB's to slot in a record margin win over the South Africans.

Hey Dizzy ... long time no read mate

... To be honest, I don't think anyone will care if they lose, or how much they lose by, if the Boks win the RWC

 

[Seaton]

Having Jacobs there as opposed to Olivier certainly makes the team a lot more appealing to the eye

 

[Dizzy]

Hey Dizzy ... long time no read mate

... To be honest, I don't think anyone will care if they lose, or how much they lose by, if the Boks win the RWC

Hey bro, same goes for you.
I agree with you there but that is a bit down the timeline. Within this week[or the past two weeks] Bok fans will not be feeling too well about their progress, being a very passionate rugby nation and all.
I just throw myself in their shoes and I really feel for them, they must think PDV is the worst Bok coach in the history of their squad.

 

[nickdnz]

The problem for South Africa, is that if they don't win the RWC, they're going to look pretty silly considering they've sacrificed a Tri Nations to prepare.

 

[TNT88]

At least with Lambie on the pitch they will look more threatening in attack this week. Still can't see the ABs being challenged, it should be over by 50 or 60 minutes.

 

[Dizzy]

or the first half

 

[TRF_heineken]

they must think PDV is the worst Bok coach in the history of their squad.

We do!!

we think he's a clown that sucked one helium balloon too much while smoking marijuana with Ricky Januarie (his love child).

the fact that we won some major games the last couple of years under his helm is still mind-boggling to me, but i give the credit to the older players that basically coach themselves, which isn't the case on this tour.

after the world cup we will definetely have a new coach. but for now we're stuck with PDV.

back to the squad, to me this team looks way better than last week's team. a bit more power up front with Deysel in the place of Johnson, and Adi Jacobs and Lambie in for Aplon and Olivier isn't a bad change at all.

more kicking power at the back, more creativity in the middle, and with Juan de Jongh switching to inside centre will also be a huge improvement.

if hore throws in like he did all season for the 'canes, then the boks will have the upper hand there...

But i think the All Blacks will be too strong for my team on the weekend.

i just hope it will be a good game to watch...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Hey bro, same goes for you.
I agree with you there but that is a bit down the timeline. Within this week[or the past two weeks] Bok fans will not be feeling too well about their progress, being a very passionate rugby nation and all.
I just throw myself in their shoes and I really feel for them, they must think PDV is the worst Bok coach in the history of their squad.

We do!!

we think he's a clown that sucked one helium balloon too much while smoking marijuana with Ricky Januarie (his love child).

the fact that we won some major games the last couple of years under his helm is still mind-boggling to me, but i give the credit to the older players that basically coach themselves, which isn't the case on this tour.

after the world cup we will definetely have a new coach. but for now we're stuck with PDV.

back to the squad, to me this team looks way better than last week's team. a bit more power up front with Deysel in the place of Johnson, and Adi Jacobs and Lambie in for Aplon and Olivier isn't a bad change at all.

more kicking power at the back, more creativity in the middle, and with Juan de Jongh switching to inside centre will also be a huge improvement.

if hore throws in like he did all season for the 'canes, then the boks will have the upper hand there...

But i think the All Blacks will be too strong for my team on the weekend.

i just hope it will be a good game to watch...

I feel the same as Heinekin; PdV is an idiot. The fact tat we won a couple of big games under him does not change the fact; it's more a case of we had a few good ones dispite him.

As for the line-up for the weekend it looks a bit better in places (though still ad-hoc in the extreme);
De Jongh and Jacobs are edfinately a more creative outfit than Olivier and De Jongh and add Lambie and we'll look a bit bit better on attack except for our 8/9/10 axis which is about as dynamic as Table Mountain. Steyn needs someone like FdP or within that squad McLeod (even if he does make a mistake or two). I'd have liked to see Lambie at 10 but I guess PdV is set with James and Steyn at 10 and is looking to Lambie as a fullback to compete with Frans Steyn and Aplon this RWC.

 

[dan-the-man]

Is Ranger injured? I most certainly hope so. Also, Todd should be there instead of Messam. I'm not such a fan of him

 

[dan the man nz]

i got the odds at 1.12 to 1 which is the best ive seen. but yes the amount i put down was more than four figures (please dont lose guys)

the big thing for me last week was defence. if south africa ups there game new zealand could get frustrated and become sloppy (i predict). mind you nonu vs de jongh haha bring it on.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

AB's -19 paying 1/1. I think that's rather tempting... I'd say there are more then 50% chances of the ABs winning by more than 19.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

vBookie All Black-Springboks

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