Boks call up big guns
12 Aug 2008
Percy Montgomery and Fourie du Preez will start against the All Blacks on Saturday.
They replace Ricky Januarie and Conrad Jantjes in the starting line-up, with the other changes coming at lock, where Andries Bekker starts in place of the injured Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger in for Luke Watson at openside flank and Danie Rossouw and Frans Steyn coming onto the wood.
Montgomery will earn his 100th Test cap at Newlands in a back three that won the World Cup and one that started when they broke a 10-year losing streak at Dunedin earlier in the tournament.
“It’s a special moment for me, particularly because it’s at Newlands where I spent a big part of my career and against the All Blacks. You couldn’t have asked for a better script,” he told keo.co.za. Montgomery will share his special occasion with Juan Smith, who makes his 50th appearance for the Springboks.
Du Preez was somewhat of a surprise inclusion given how loyal coach Peter De Villiers has been to Ricky Januarie. However, there can be no question that Du Preez offers a more complete option, particularly from a tactical-kicking perspective.
De Villiers said it was a hard decision to drop Januarie but pointed towards fatigue as a decisive factor.
“We can’t live in the past. We have to move on,” De Villiers said in response to the question of whether Januarie’s performance against the All Blacks in Dunedin wasn’t enough to warrant a start.
“If you look at Ricky’s workload this year in the Super 14 and in the Test matches, you’ll realise that a lot has been asked of him. The legs were definitely starting to get a bit heavier and it was time to make the change.
“I’ve always promised players that I’ll be honest with them in all areas and while it was a hard call to make, I feel it was the right one given the type of game we want to play. It’s great to be in a position to say to two players who have done nothing wrong, ‘Look sorry but you’re not going to start’. It’s a blessing.”
Du Preez and Montgomery’s inclusion hints that their play may be characterised by territorial dominance gained through tactical kicking. De Villiers refused to confirm the game plan, saying: “I might as well invite the All Blacks to our training sessions if I told you that.
“Ricky and Conrad don’t have bad kicking games at all,” he asserted. “But Fourie is very good off the boot and Percy offers us a left-footed option which is valuable. We know how we want to play against New Zealand and those players offer us the strengths we need to play the game we want to.”
Asked whether their inclusion was partly designed to take some kicking pressure off Butch James, De Villiers said: “I aim to have 15 perfect players who are able to execute a wide range of skills. They will read the situation and play accordingly. But it’s always soothing to know you have two players who can do that job and that frees Butch to shift the ball.”
Captain Victor Matfield said he expected a physical contest. “We’ll give each other as good as we get. It won’t be a lot different to traditional Springbok/All Blacks Tests.”
In Dunedin the All Blacks dominated possession 58% to 42%, while they spent 66% of the game in South Africa’s territory. Despite this, the Springboks scored two tries to their one and crafted the better scoring opportunities. This also speaks volumes about the defensive work done by the visitors, who began to slip tackles late in the match (a total of 22 to New Zealand’s 6) but scrambled desperately in search of redemption. They made 205 tackles in total – massive by Test standards.
Asked if they expected to defend as much as that this weekend Matfield was non-committal.
“If you look at the stats from games over the last two years you’ll see that often the team that has less possession won the game. Maybe there’s a trend developing there,” he said.
“But decision making will be key. We put a premium on keeping possession but it’s important that we read the situation and make sharp decisions and execute accurately. Using the ball in the right manner is extremely important against the All Blacks.”
Springboks – 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Andries Bekker, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Frans Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes
By Ryan Vrede, in Cape Town
731 Comments
Pages: « 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9 10 11 12 13 … 15 » Show All
12 Aug 2008, 14:30 pm
good afternoon sharksgirl hun
eish our sharkies waking up again !!!
12 Aug 2008, 14:31 pm
#341 Sharksgirl:
Please no…
12 Aug 2008, 14:33 pm
#343 katman:
Egad.
Are they off their trolleys?
12 Aug 2008, 14:33 pm
#336 iori Yagami: Yasakani no Magatama
12 Aug 2008, 14:33 pm
Afternoon folks! Glad to see Beast in the run on side. Awesome team for Sat!
12 Aug 2008, 14:33 pm
#344 klippies101:
Jy’s kuk snaaks!
12 Aug 2008, 14:34 pm
sucks brad barrit will be leaving the sharks
12 Aug 2008, 14:34 pm
#342 NY_Agent: he thinks playing for the springboks is his birthright and unfortunatly so does Pdv
12 Aug 2008, 14:35 pm
#341 Sharksgirl:
Girlfriend, i’m confused?
12 Aug 2008, 14:35 pm
whos going to fill that centre gap now
12 Aug 2008, 14:36 pm
adi and murray full time centres for the sharks could be lekker
12 Aug 2008, 14:36 pm
#360 klippies101:
Yo klippies what did you have for lunch?
12 Aug 2008, 14:36 pm
Told you Percy would start! Conrad watch and learn!
GO BOKKE!
12 Aug 2008, 14:36 pm
well lets jsut support watson when he plays foir the boks cause if he plays well and we win nothing lost
12 Aug 2008, 14:37 pm
chips i wanted some chilli mussels and ice cold coke
12 Aug 2008, 14:37 pm
mmm nandos would be good
12 Aug 2008, 14:38 pm
#337 klippies101:
Gold is forward coach and Muir backline.
Waugh IS the hunchback of Notre Dame.
12 Aug 2008, 14:38 pm
Players that will have the most pressure on them:
- FdP: Selected ahead of Januarie based on 20 minutes of (admittedly brilliant) play against an Arg team that was already beaten.
- Bekker: Big shoes to fill
- Spies: Is he up to the physical side of things against the AB’s or is he just a show pony?
- Butch: Looked better against Arg, but his form against the top teams this year has been far from his best.
12 Aug 2008, 14:38 pm
So we’r going into this match without a true fetcher and a no8? Hard times ahead for the Bokke
12 Aug 2008, 14:38 pm
#365 klippies101:
No chilli mussels at the shop?
12 Aug 2008, 14:39 pm
#367 David: Quasimodo? Now that name rings a bell.
12 Aug 2008, 14:39 pm
#368 siener: We all know Spies is a show pony. He’s proven that over and over again.
12 Aug 2008, 14:40 pm
Oh pleeeeeeez change the Watson subject ….. more tiring than conversations bout the weather
12 Aug 2008, 14:40 pm
great bok team. let’s just hope the game plan is suited to this type of occassion i.e test match rugby. none of this helter skelter bollocks from our own tryline. lets play the game in their half and dominate physically. the scoreboard will take care of itself. especially with the awesome backline we have combined with our potent lineout.
great that percy and fdp are in the mix from the get go.
go bokke!
12 Aug 2008, 14:41 pm
#371 sondebok:
Oooh!
12 Aug 2008, 14:41 pm
#350 Pompa: Agreed I was impressed with Bekker on Saturday as well put in some good tackles and looks like he is settling down in the squad now.
12 Aug 2008, 14:44 pm
Much better team, alot more settled backline with the 9/10 combination from the world cup as well as the 11/14/15 combination and the 8/9 combination from the S14 when the bulls won.
I am a little more concerned with the forwards though, if we get mauled up front like the Ausies did a few weeks ago, it wont matter how settled or experienced our backline is. Schalk and Bissie are going to have to compete like rabid dogs against Richie and Rodney if we are to get any decent ball.
Joe should have been there instead of Watson and BJ in front of CJ who should have taken Mujatis place on the bench.
Otherwise no real complaints, much better side.
12 Aug 2008, 14:44 pm
ja they had chilli mussels i just didnt think of it till it was to late
12 Aug 2008, 14:45 pm
i heard ross the other stormers lock is going overseas also is this true
12 Aug 2008, 14:45 pm
We should be tighter against the AB’s until we become more accustomed to the running game we are aiming to play. On saturday though we looked alot like an AB team running a NH team into submission
12 Aug 2008, 14:46 pm
i think mose tuialie is better than rodney but he has never made the abs
12 Aug 2008, 14:47 pm
Probably the best team we can field at the moment. But i agree on Guthro for Mujati
12 Aug 2008, 14:47 pm
#377 Biggles: I meant the 11/14/15 combination is the same as from the world cup in case any of you were confused by my poor sentence structure.
12 Aug 2008, 14:48 pm
#382 grunt:
Mujati can prop 1 and 3, which probably makes him a better option.
12 Aug 2008, 14:49 pm
#283 hater: Thats why the AB are the WC and not the springboks
12 Aug 2008, 14:49 pm
are the boks going to keep these new skin tight jerseys for ever i like the old school jerseys like the old lion lager ones
12 Aug 2008, 14:49 pm
#379 klippies101:
Yup.
12 Aug 2008, 14:50 pm
i wonder if the abs r going to keep the bledisloe cup i dont know if they can beat the aussies in brisbane then they play in hong kong right ?
12 Aug 2008, 14:50 pm
#386 klippies101: Not sure about those old jerseys. The guys looked like they were playing in tents. Suppose you have to keep up with technology so these tight ones will continue
12 Aug 2008, 14:51 pm
should be a good game no home crowd advantage i heard the boks will play the aussies in dubai next year
12 Aug 2008, 14:51 pm
#377 Biggles:
why does joe have to be ther instead of watson ,why can’t he be there instead of spies
12 Aug 2008, 14:52 pm
#384 David: You mean Mujati is “roumoured” to prop 1 & 3…….
Oh, for the love of money, I would have liked to see Heinke v’d Merwe and / or BJ Botha as the Bokke props….
12 Aug 2008, 14:52 pm
ja thats right corndog those jerseys were really baggy but alot of bok legends wore those jerseys i like the jerseys from the frik du preezdays
12 Aug 2008, 14:54 pm
#391 st.a.t.w: Agree I would have prefered Joe in the starting line up Spies has to play with one of those big colored beach balls, he can’t catch a thing this year. Joe seems like less of a liability
12 Aug 2008, 14:55 pm
it seems to me that a coach will always leave some special player according to the blogs here.(where is BJ, Joe, Kanko; include them where is X, Y, Z)…….here is a story many of ungreatful bunch may relate to….
Once there was a child born blind, he always believed that evry1 was cheating him of sumthing coz he was blind….if they gave him a glass of coke, he wud say im sure ever1 has their own litre. Give a piece of chicken he woud moan abt every1 one eating a full chicken….one day his mum gave him a full chicken, he moaned and said if he got a full chicken evry1 arnd the table must be eating half a sheep……goes to show the lengths PDV went to satisfy the needy Saffa fans, but they will always see the player he left out…..not the 14 players that he got in……..sad…..
12 Aug 2008, 14:56 pm
#380 Corndog: Yes thats what I say too. Must keep it tight against the Ab’s until we can play better at the attacking game. It will come with time but for now just keep it tight. That way we will have a much better chance at winning the game come Saturday.
12 Aug 2008, 14:56 pm
#391 st.a.t.w:
Because anyone is an improvement on Watson.
12 Aug 2008, 14:56 pm
Well well well…I see even Tacitus is happy with this team!
This is a very very strong side! Habana’s had a rest and Pieterson is beginning to find form again. I think at some point Steyn will come on for Adi too which will be the perfect impact once Nonu starts slacking off at the 60 minute mark.
Hopefully CJ and Beast will come through for us in the scrummaging dept, we looked good last week. Would really like to see them start blooding Heinke Van Der Merwe in the less important games. I reckon Bekker will stand up to the challenge and might get subbed for Danie later in the game which is fine as PDV seems to LOVE using his subs.
My only concern is whether Spies plays a tight enough game at ruck time to counter the All Black breakdown dominance (and our weakness). He needs to start getting stuck into that facet of play if ever wants to become a truly great and well rounded player.
I reckon we’ll take em!
12 Aug 2008, 14:57 pm
#391 st.a.t.w: That could also be an option, this is going to be Spies’ biggest test to date i feel.
If he shows that he cant handle the physicality, then he must go. He was pretty good on saturday though, albeit against what was basically an Argentinian club sde.
12 Aug 2008, 14:58 pm
#395 NY_Agent: why not hit him with a stick?
or chuck little pebbles at him?
Pages: « 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9 10 11 12 13 … 15 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.