Bok heavies ruled out
17 Nov 2008
Bismarck du Plessis and Gurthro Steenkamp have failed to recover from their respective injuries and will miss Saturday’s Test at Twickenham.
The news was confirmed on Monday by Springbok coach Peter de Villiers. Du Plessis sustained a grade two hamstring tear early in Saturday’s game against Scotland while Steenkamp limped off with a sprained ankle in the second half. Both players will head back to South Africa prompting a reworking of South Africa’s front row dynamics.
Captain John Smit will revert to hooker and at this stage it looks like Jannie du Plessis is the prime candidate for the starting tighthead position. The Sharks No 3 is already in London and looks set to leapfrog Brian Mujati who is nursing a bruised shoulder. Chiliboy Ralepelle will cover Smit off the wood, and De Villiers is confident Mujati will be ready to wrestle the Poms, if not in a starting capacity, then as an impact player from the bench.
England produced a shaky showing against the Wallabies at Twickenham, but De Villiers is adamant the home pack will provide a challenge this Saturday.
“I thought England dominated the collisions against Australia and I was not surprised to see the Aussie scrum doing so well,” said the Bok coach. “England didn’t bind well at the scrum initially, but after that, they were good.
“On the game this week, every team becomes more motivated because they want to beat the No 1.”
Fourie du Preez was a late withdrawal from last week’s match in Edinburgh, but De Villiers confirmed he is responding to treatment and will be reassessed later in the week. Du Preez has been doing some light cycling to rehabilitate his injured quad, and the Boks are hopeful that their star scrumhalf will be fit to face England.
136 Comments
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17 Nov 2008, 15:23 pm
Damn
17 Nov 2008, 15:23 pm
Dragon Heavies!!!!!
17 Nov 2008, 15:23 pm
Grand Slam DRAGONS
17 Nov 2008, 15:24 pm
# pedspin: bliksem! havent had one in while..
17 Nov 2008, 15:29 pm
I really hope FdP can play this weekend
17 Nov 2008, 15:29 pm
This is not so bad. Jannie is decent back-up. But we all know the best back up would of been BJ starting with CJ on the bench to cover 1 and 3.
17 Nov 2008, 15:30 pm
Does this mean team announcement will be dalayed this week to give FdP and Mujati able time to recover.
17 Nov 2008, 15:30 pm
How is it that Jannie is already in London? Anyone know?
17 Nov 2008, 15:31 pm
when the boks have their backs to the wall is when they are at their best – i flippen hope!!!!!
17 Nov 2008, 15:31 pm
#6 iori Yagami: now thats a fact!
17 Nov 2008, 15:32 pm
I hope PDV springs some more surprises during the week….like Jaque Fourie to start on the left wing and Kankowski to start and Brussouw on the bench maybe.
17 Nov 2008, 15:32 pm
#8 Gregs: Uhm I think its called an Airplane.
17 Nov 2008, 15:33 pm
#10 grant10: Hey Grant10 how you doing buddy long time no chat. How you doing?
17 Nov 2008, 15:33 pm
Why do we have to have our backs to the wall before we can perform,if we do perform well this weekend ala the 3-nations game against Aus.
17 Nov 2008, 15:33 pm
#4 Slappes: Logged back on after lunch, red the article then realised no one had answered so responded. Will hold beack next time… sorry mate.
17 Nov 2008, 15:33 pm
#9 charo: True that.
17 Nov 2008, 15:34 pm
#12 iori Yagami: Very funny.
17 Nov 2008, 15:34 pm
#14 Gregs: Its just the South African mentality that we perform when we underdogs and when we under the most pressure.
17 Nov 2008, 15:39 pm
I am just hoping for smooth execution this weekend and accuracy in everytjing they do- kicking, passing, tackling, running, ball retention.
17 Nov 2008, 15:39 pm
#18 iori Yagami: Unacceptabe I say.
17 Nov 2008, 15:42 pm
#20 Gregs: Ja I agree but what can we do?
17 Nov 2008, 15:44 pm
#18 iori Yagami:
How is it that Mujati was ever choosen above Jannie. now it looks like Jannie may start. Sense should prevail here and the front row should be smit, chilli and beast with both mujati and jannie on the bench
17 Nov 2008, 15:45 pm
Can SOMEONE please tell me who the 10 DOSE is that voted the boks played good last weekend on the poll! WTF. Kort ‘n oordentlike PK om wakker te skrik.
17 Nov 2008, 15:47 pm
#21 iori Yagami: We should start dropping players when they don’t perform instead of sticking with players that are consistently not performing.I think that is the only way to keep players on their toes all the time.There are a few players that appear to be in a comfort zone and they know that they won’t be dropped because of past reputations.
17 Nov 2008, 15:48 pm
#11 iori Yagami: After Spies’ excellent match winning, sub 10s 100m, 5 ton benchpressing, performance!!! No way, he won the match for us!!!
And yes, i am being sarcastic!!!!
17 Nov 2008, 15:49 pm
#22 Zulushark: Uhm i think its because Mujati started every game in the S14 and Jannie only started a handful so Mujati was in a better nick than Jannie. Secondly Jannie is quite versatile and has been used on the loosehead side a few times so he is always considered as good stand by player. Whereas Mujati is a specialist tighthead.
17 Nov 2008, 15:49 pm
#25 coma:
On the bright side, spies did improve over the previous week, not much but some nevertheless
17 Nov 2008, 15:50 pm
To all the so called rugby Guru’s including Ryan: I maantain that Pieter should pick a fetcher and that our 6 and 7 are the same players, Spies has in fact done a lot more in the tight than any one cares to admit.
he should not be stuck in the mauls he should be running not Schalk.
Read the stats before you all get clever:
Meters Run Ruck/Mauls Turnovers effect.. Penalties
Spies 70 10 1 0
Juan 38 12 3 0
Schalk 63 6 0 2
Beast 7 1
Smit 6 1
Bakkies 2
Victor 6
I did not add the meters gained by the T5 players , thnis shows , that T5 was lazy , Schalk was lazy in fact he must be dropped
Play
8 Kanko\ 7 Spies 6 Brussouw
17 Nov 2008, 15:51 pm
#26 iori Yagami:
Did mujait ever play l/h for the lions ? I personally think he may be better suited to l/h. He is not quite the finished product for t/h in terms of build and leg strenght
17 Nov 2008, 15:51 pm
#25 coma: Kanko is gonna get is *** kicked. I’m TELLING you. TRUST ME. Esspecially against England, Pierre would be better choice.
17 Nov 2008, 15:52 pm
#24 Gregs: I agree 100%. But this is not the tiem to do it. This team needs to stay together until the Lions tour to give them enough gametiem together to be able to string combinations together. I think 2010 is going to be a shake up in Bok rugby with lots of form players pushing for contention. It should start in 2009 with the EOYT.
17 Nov 2008, 15:53 pm
#24 Gregs:
correct, this should have been the case awhile back and this team would have functioned properly, the single criticism one can lay at this coaches door is that he has been too afraid to rock this WC teams boat, they should have been rocked for all they are worth and a whole lot of better performances would have ensued from their armory.
17 Nov 2008, 15:54 pm
#29 Zulushark: No I dont think he played l/h for the lions. But he did play once or twice for the stormers l/h. Yes he is still young he can be converted to loosehead. But we have alot of l/h’s in the country. What we need is quality t/h. I agree Mujati is not there yet but in a few years time he will be good.
17 Nov 2008, 15:55 pm
#28 capebull: Loving your trio. Perhaps to many “I wanna be a centre”-forwards there, but okay.
Where you get those stats. PLEASE SHARE.
17 Nov 2008, 15:56 pm
#30 SexyTime: You might be right……but Kanko hasnt been given sufficient gametime in the bok jersey to prove his worth.
17 Nov 2008, 15:57 pm
#34 SexyTime:
What if we play speis on the wing instead on habana, put kanko at 8thman and…whatch the fun
17 Nov 2008, 15:57 pm
#28 capebull:
Schalk has been a hindrance to this team in more ways than is visible, if Schalk would have been dropped in the 3N and made way for real No.6 like Broussouw, we would have been away down the road already,
Spies is doing just fine, keep him focussed and positive and bolster him with support from Smith, or Deysel and Broussouw, keep Kanko for the last 15 mins when the oppo is all flaked out or for open running teams, not the heavy players currently in top flight 8′s.
17 Nov 2008, 15:57 pm
#28 capebull: Yes that is a good trio for the future.
17 Nov 2008, 15:59 pm
#37 umkonto: Brussouw needs to be given gametime so that Schalk can wake up and smell the coffee!
17 Nov 2008, 16:00 pm
point is Kanko will not do any better than Spies playing with that loosies , Juan and Schalk are the same no fetcher: People like Ryan creates perceptions without any backing;
http://www.rugbystats.com.au
17 Nov 2008, 16:00 pm
The front row needs to be Beast, Smit and Jannie.
This is a no brainer.
I am conviced he will select Beast, Smit at hooker, and he will have the dilemma of sticking to his original selection of Mujati at tight head or admitting that Jannie is a better tight head than Mujati.
He will maybe get around it by saying Mujati is injured.
17 Nov 2008, 16:02 pm
#36 Zulushark: AMEN. Drop Habana to go play Vodacom Cup. Spies almost LAPS Habana on the 400m. I’ve seen it @ practice. REALLY. What is MAGIC-MAN, Shane Williams, gonna say when Spies is running @ him from a FULL pace backline move. That my friend is NO place I wanna be.
17 Nov 2008, 16:03 pm
#40 capebull: ty
17 Nov 2008, 16:04 pm
Jaque Fourie needs to start this weekend with Habana sitting bench or Nokwe sitting bench and Habana sitting in the stands.
17 Nov 2008, 16:05 pm
Bulls have fetcher 6, and a hard 7 , with Spies free at 8
Sharkies have the same , therefor Kanko can trive as well…
No other team plays with a number 7 and 6 that does not play to the ball but off the ball…
Its crazy that you number 8 has to hit 10 rucks/mauls and T5 average is 5.25
Bulls and sharkies did well cause their T5 actually did their jobs , Gold from Povince does not know the first thing about T5
17 Nov 2008, 16:07 pm
#28
Spot on my china
You might be the first unbiased Provaance dude
Schalk nowhere. Drop him now. He need’s a wakker klap.
Spies is a loose foward not a tight forward that he is having to play.
Promise me you don’t think Cool hand should be the fetcher.Back 3
Spies/Kanko (both will battle though in the mud); Smith and Brussow
deysel makes schalk look like a girls blouse.
Let’s leave pdv , first win in NZ in how long?? Give the guy a break. A win is a win , forget wales , scotland , move on . We lost to these team under Straueli. Lets not forget how kak we once were. Do you think Tiger or Ernie get slated for triple bogeying the 18th to win by 1 ??
17 Nov 2008, 16:07 pm
Brussow must play 6. REST Schalk. That will make the beast angry and TheSchalk will return in SUPER 14 and play the BEST, bone-crunching, 50 tackles a game rugby.
Habana same thing. What do we have to lose.
I’d LOVE Brussow digging out balls in my Springbok team.
17 Nov 2008, 16:11 pm
What about Spies at wing against the Poms, Good under the high ball which they will use against . Can’t do much worse than Habana. Oke is like a prancing pony with his blinkers on
17 Nov 2008, 16:15 pm
Schalk is still one of the best rugby players in the world.
He and the rest of our loosies are suffering from poor coaching.
Schalk is not a fetcher.
Brusouw is a fetcher.
Schalk is best used in the role the Sharks gave to Deysel.
That is to run hard and straight over the advantage line, and to tackle well.
We have the loose forward mix wrong and the game description for each loosie is wrong.
It should be:
Brusouw to fetch.
Schalk to do as above.
Juan at 8 to run straight and hard and provide the link and contuinity.
This is very clear to most informed observers.
17 Nov 2008, 16:17 pm
Rugby is simple get the T5 to play under a blanket, let 7 run hard and release 8 , and 6 must be like an ostrich always with his head in the sand.
My best 6 ‘s are Baywatch, Brussouw
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