Robbie rates Boks
26 Sep 2007
Crusaders coach Robbie Deans believes the Boks are the only team that can stop the All Blacks winning the World Cup.
Deans, writing in the French Rugby Hebdo paper, praised John Smit and Jake White and said the Boks and All Blacks were the only two realistic contenders.
“There are about eight or 10 contenders who are trying to convince themselves they can win the World Cup. But there are only two who know they really can win it: New Zealand and South Africa.”
Deans sees White’s Springboks as the squad most likely to crash the All Blacks World Cup party.
“I am sure they (New Zealand) have the potential to play at a higher degree of intensity no matter who their adversaries are, except perhaps for South Africa,” wrote Deans. “There are three reasons the Boks can win this World Cup. The first is historic. And it is not only because the core of the squad is from the Under-21 side, coached by a certain Jake White, that became [Under-21] world champions in 2002 by dominating the final against a New Zealand team that included five players who are here in France, including Daniel Carter.”
Carter actually did not play and the Boks beat NZ in a semi-final 19-18. Nevertheless, Deans continued.
“These Boks have since notched up some considerable success, like the Tri Nations victory in 2004 or that of the South African sides in this year’s Super 14.
“White has at his disposal a mature squad that prides itself on considerable confidence, which is based as much on their performances as the depth of their bench, which has been markedly superior to whatever his predecessors had.”
Deans also believes the Springboks will head into the quarter-finals realising that for a number of them, this could represent a fairytale end to their careers. “Victory could be the culmination of some of their careers, for players like John Smit or Victor Matfield … not to mention [coach] White,” Deans wrote.
He added that while the Springboks have maintained their physical prowess, White has introduced a broader mindset to the squad.
“South African teams always fall back on their physical prowess and a mentality that is unfailing, but White has added certain mental flexibility,” he said.
Deans also pointed to the pride South African players have in wearing the Springboks jersey and the leadership of Smit as being pivotal, as well as Smit’s calmness under pressure.
“Smit is not only a respected captain. He is also a man who can keep his emotions buried deep inside when faced with the pressure moments,” he said.
278 Comments
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26 Sep 2007, 11:38 am
148,
unfortunately i tick all those boxes. hmmm…laager. time to call it a day.
26 Sep 2007, 11:45 am
Mako you have got it 100% spot on. Well said.
Win or lose the WC what you have said is correct.
26 Sep 2007, 11:49 am
Aus are gonna be in for a big surprise if they think England are going to turn out the same performance as they did against the Boks.
26 Sep 2007, 11:53 am
153 – True. England have a whole smorgasbord of kak performances to choose from.
26 Sep 2007, 11:57 am
154: Classic.
26 Sep 2007, 12:00 pm
My 5 cents. The balls could have a big influence in the final – since they are apparently so bad. The pressure will be immense on the kicker. Other 5 cents – NZ should go with Evans. If it’s a SA-NZ final, Carter will be too busy looking out for Butch!
26 Sep 2007, 12:00 pm
Vindicated…
You r just pissing everyone off!
Stop making excuses now for not making the Final! You know it’s gonna be SA vs NZ.
NZ 32 Convicts 12 in semis!
26 Sep 2007, 12:01 pm
154.
Just as long as they dont pull out the 53-3 classic we will be ok
26 Sep 2007, 12:02 pm
Tinus
Did you commit a score prediction for SA v Tonga before the game ?
26 Sep 2007, 12:04 pm
NZ wont make the semi’s. unfortunate. frogs will kick the asses. a pity, would have loved to see MR Mortlock killing them off again.
26 Sep 2007, 12:12 pm
#160
Hey long drop that’s a long shot. I reckon that if there is any game that NZ will be watching out for it will be that one. I reckon no way – not with the current french team – they are just not good enough. Just my 5 cents again – no dig.
26 Sep 2007, 12:12 pm
Reckon Deans has it spot on…except the pecking Aussies….that’s where a decent bench comes in,,, whatever happened to Piss…Pretyy…Prettytorius??? Bet it was the cool hair-gel that knocked out the Chiropractor. Ran into a hedgehog, n’stead of a flyhalf.
Damn, he’s been average so far. Depth of squad is gonna be the winner.
Oz lose two stars they’re done. AB’s lose two and it’s nothing.
Boks?
Prettytorius?
26 Sep 2007, 12:17 pm
Vindicated…
I predicted 5 points for the BOKS!
Did u predict 36/0 against England?
Face it bro, Ausies going nowhere slowly!
26 Sep 2007, 12:18 pm
this reminds me so much of what people said in 1999 about the frogs. they not good enough to win the holy grail but in 1 game against the AB’s anything can happen.
26 Sep 2007, 12:19 pm
vindicated
The fact that you don’t seem to believe that Australia will get the chance to beat SA in the final and prove your point, shows that you’re only interested in competing for 2nd place. The Boks, on the other hand, believe that they can beat the ABs.
26 Sep 2007, 12:21 pm
Anyone can win one game. The team to beat is the AB’s. England can’t. Aussies? SA? Mars XV?
26 Sep 2007, 12:26 pm
# 135 – What a stupid comment about a country with imports in their national rugby squad!
26 Sep 2007, 12:29 pm
By the way, why didn’t Jake use Zuma as a prop?
Bet he weighs more than Os, he can steamroller entire departments, he can delay the game for months…and I reckon even Carl Heyman backs off when the opposing prop tunes: bring me my machine gun…
26 Sep 2007, 12:47 pm
Gosh…so much for intellectual rugby stimulation…off to the local for a few…gonna wear my Bok jersey and my attitude and see if I get smacked. Boks for 2007. AB’s 2011……..
26 Sep 2007, 12:52 pm
165.
Thats why I say the semi-final is Aussies final
get past NZ (best team in the world) and the final will a bit of an after-event – still be good to compete though
26 Sep 2007, 13:05 pm
haha, it must hurt to know your soon-to-be coach thinks we’re better than they are.
personally i hope the all-blacks and aussies smash the daylights out each other and are both soft come final time. as vindicated says, if he’s happy with semi-final victory over nz then i think we can all say we’ll be happy to win the whole dam thing
26 Sep 2007, 13:11 pm
CAN YOU inagine aus losing to eng and ab losing to france, …..
26 Sep 2007, 13:13 pm
especially against a soft aussie side that always loses pressure games to us.
26 Sep 2007, 13:23 pm
Badeesh
When you can finish higher than the Aussies on the Tri-Nations log
When you are ranked higher than us on the IRB rankings
When you can raise the standard of your own coaches to the level required for this level of rugby
When you have won as many World Cups as the Aussies
And when you are able to beat the All Blacks at home in a World Cup year
then you can have a pop at the Aussies
Until then dont be so disrespectful – you’re giving the other 5% of the SA population a bad name
26 Sep 2007, 13:25 pm
Oh, my sack:
Clint Eastwood is looking to direct “The Human Factor,†a quickly brewing drama about how the 1995 Rugby World Cup helped heal post-apartheid race relations in South Africa reports Variety.
Morgan Freeman had already signed on to play Nelson Mandela in “The Human Factor,†Matt Damon is in preliminary talks to play the captain of the Springboks, and Warner Bros. Pictures is in talks to finance and distribute.
Anthony Peckham (â€Don’t Say A Wordâ€) adapted John Carlin’s book set right after the fall of apartheid, and after Mandela was released from a long imprisonment and became South African president.
Mandela recognized the significance when South Africa was selected host of the 1995 Rugby World Cup after the team had been barred from even competing since the 1980s because of apartheid. Freeman, Mace Neufeld nad Lori McCreary are producing.
MATT DAMON PLAYING FRANCOIS PIENAAR?!?!?!?!
26 Sep 2007, 13:25 pm
Oh yeah
and when you think you have a side ready to reverse 49 – 0 then can and chat
you are a small person with a big mouth
26 Sep 2007, 13:27 pm
With a clever coach like Robbie Australia will be a force to be reconed with in 2011!
26 Sep 2007, 13:27 pm
172: Its a tough call, but I’m not sure I’d prefer boks meeting a revived and fired up French team in a final in Paris (specially if they just took AB’s out!), rather than facing the AB’s.
26 Sep 2007, 13:47 pm
Geezlike,
Vindicated is turning into another Walla and Tackler wannabe.
WPtilIdie, I saw that to….. bit of a shocker really. I can picture that guy from the Green Mile as Chessie and Bruce Willis as Os. Whose gonna play Kobus Wiese? No one will be willing to pull their shorts up that high!
26 Sep 2007, 13:47 pm
Vindicated…
Move on in life you little irritating convicted pesant with your 49 IQ!!!!
26 Sep 2007, 13:54 pm
Tinus, Just ignore these feeble attempts at gaining our attention.
You get these kind of guys sometimes….Wallabie, Tackler, I remember a guy name Funaki, just stirring up trouble trying to get a rise out of anyone. Thankfully the guy was banned later on.
26 Sep 2007, 13:57 pm
Hellooooooo Skimmie,
Praat die diere alweer ‘n hoop bollie hier?
26 Sep 2007, 13:58 pm
haha, that’s so incredibly rich vindicated. why don’t you show us a little respect?
our coaches win record vs australia is in the black, you haven’t beaten us at home this century, whereas we have beaten you in your own backyard. we have beaten the all blacks far more than you have in recent history. our most recent tri-nations victory is at least still in memory, when did aus last win that?
respect is mutual punk. i have a healthy respect for your rugby team. they are the shiz. the springboks are the shiz too. it’s you i have no respect for.
26 Sep 2007, 13:59 pm
Vini, come back and chat when the Aussies stop losing to club sides and manage to win one test in SA.
26 Sep 2007, 14:00 pm
Vini believes he knows more about rugby than Robbie. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
26 Sep 2007, 14:00 pm
GBS
Welcome back – hows life on the fringes of society
26 Sep 2007, 14:01 pm
Jy is reg Skim, these ignorant Ausies are just looking for attention, no one at the WC rate them.
26 Sep 2007, 14:05 pm
Vin is pretending to be an Aussie!
26 Sep 2007, 14:05 pm
that’s not true, i rate the aussies. jc has done wonders for them and in berrick barnes they have a ridiculous talent in the making …
i’ll stand here n say that the aussies are a serious outfit full of class and cunning.
but the boks are seriously dam good too. we have a great draw, fantastic momentum and really top notch mix of experience and youth. combined with a hunger and belief that we witness when they take the field and you have world-beaters in the making.
26 Sep 2007, 14:06 pm
GBS middag boet.
Wat skinder jy, Kwagga & Cuzzie van my?
Julle was seker lekker de moer in met die kalwers se game ?
26 Sep 2007, 14:08 pm
Vindicated, sweep your own door before you address others. You seem good at making lists. Why don’t you go shopping rather and let the men talk about the rugby
26 Sep 2007, 14:08 pm
if you honestly believe that in a world cup game where australia, new zealand and south africa are playing each other, and the result is cut and dried in anyones favour, i immediately dismiss your opinion as ridiculous.
26 Sep 2007, 14:09 pm
Vins boyfriend would not allow him to do the shopping list!
26 Sep 2007, 14:11 pm
is “vein addicted” on a trip again?
26 Sep 2007, 14:12 pm
if anything the only thing lists of stats prove is that on your day you win … period.
26 Sep 2007, 14:18 pm
AB…
Vin must be an Ausie! No normal human can think of so much ****!
26 Sep 2007, 14:24 pm
Vindicated,
Never address a post at me again…….. I choose who I associate with and you don’t nearly make the grade.
I’m not interested to converse with you, now or ever………. get it?
26 Sep 2007, 14:25 pm
trupi, my geleerde vrind en kollega !
Neewat ons het maar net geskinder en gesê jy is ook een van ons kerk se mense……..
26 Sep 2007, 14:26 pm
Quick point – does anybody think that Skinstad is not as good as he’s alleged to be? Aside from his try he is an exceptionally lazy runner, doesn’t take workload in the rucks and mauls unless forced too and his missed tackles could have cost us badly!
Having seen it at the ground and recorded, my opionion is re-enforced!
26 Sep 2007, 14:27 pm
Hello Abel Kraamsaal…… ek het vergeet om jou te vra, wanneer vlieg jy weer terug van Slaapstad af beskawing toe?
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