Adi lays Twickers’ ghost to rest
22 Nov 2008
Adi Jacobs is elated to have buried the painful memories of 2002 by starring in a 42-6 thumping of England on Saturday.
Jacobs was a part of Rudolf Straeuli’s mob that suffered the humiliating 53-3 pounding at the hands of the Poms six years ago. Times have changed and the scorelines have almost reversed, and the Sharks centre couldn’t help but smile when about asked how he felt.
“It was a long time ago but I was still a bit nervous ahead of this game,” he told keo.co.za. “The big difference now is we have a lot more experience than we had on that tour in 2002. It’s a great feeling to win here at last.”
Jacobs crashed over for a fantastic try in the 51st minute which was arguably the Boks’ best orchestrated move in 2008. Ruan Pienaar received the ball off the lineout and created space for JP Piietersen coming in on the angle. Pietersen flew through the gap and was subsequently tackled, but not before offloading to an unstoppable Jacobs.
“I know JP well from playing with him at the Sharks, and I know he is very good at keeping the ball alive. It was a planned move, but I just got myself into the right position to take the pass.
“I must admit that I was surprised to get as far away as I did from Paul Sackey who is very quick. Fortunately when he caught me I had the momentum to take me over. It’s always a great feeling to score a try for my country.”
Jacobs was vocal in commending his team-mates and the leadership of John Smit, and believes this Bok side stand a good chance against the British & Irish Lions next year. Jacobs is looking forward to facing an old foe in Brian O’Driscoll.
“I missed out on the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, but it’s also always been an ambition to play against the Lions,” Jacobs said. “I first played against O’Driscoll at U19 level and he was a handful back then. I just have to continue playing well and maybe I’ll get another opportunity to play against him next year.”
46 Comments
22 Nov 2008, 21:23 pm
dragons
22 Nov 2008, 21:33 pm
Congratulations SA. Despite all the dramas on and off the field you guys always manage to inflict pain where it hurts most, and that’s on the scoreboard. After dispatching the Welsh this the morning there will be nothing more satisfying then dealing a double whammy to the Poms next week. Cant wait.
22 Nov 2008, 21:47 pm
GO BOKKE!!!
22 Nov 2008, 21:53 pm
Adi you legend – great game
22 Nov 2008, 21:59 pm
When are we going to have the player ratings??
22 Nov 2008, 22:03 pm
Scattergun JC, I said it before, from your first effort, your posts stinks. After the the guys gave you some lip on your scattergun post you are back to copy and paste. Oh boy you are such a loser….
22 Nov 2008, 22:15 pm
Adi is pure class. Best 100 pounds Ive evr spent. Go BOKKE
22 Nov 2008, 22:55 pm
“I first played against O’Driscoll at U19 level and he was a handful back then”
I’ll bet he was. Ireland won the U19 World Cup that year, O’Driscoll played in the world cup a year later.
anyway congrats Adi, SA’s best player this year.
22 Nov 2008, 23:10 pm
Well done Adi.
Humble and dedicated.
A fanstatic role model.
23 Nov 2008, 00:01 am
Brilliant stuff from Adi for his try. And that swerve he has while running is awesome. He put the English wing/fullback on his *** hehe
23 Nov 2008, 00:49 am
#9 saffa_guy: Absolutely! My SA player for 2008
23 Nov 2008, 05:46 am
well done adi he has been a great player . surely he will start now for the sharks and not be a bench warmer
23 Nov 2008, 07:13 am
1.) Don’t sell yourself short Adi, you’re quicker than that sorry excuse of a wing, Sackey
2.) I don’t doubt you’ll show O’Driscoll that a lot changes over 6 years
23 Nov 2008, 07:15 am
in beast and burger we now have 2 possessed tackling machines…i laughed so hard when old sackey started limping after having the weight of the beast crunch his legs
23 Nov 2008, 08:39 am
Adi SA player of the year…what a beaut!!
23 Nov 2008, 08:48 am
#12 klippies101: klippies. Adi has started all time since Plum took over from Muir. Adi is my SA player of the year.
23 Nov 2008, 08:49 am
#15 grant10: hi grant10. I feel the same. Adi is my player of the year too.
23 Nov 2008, 08:51 am
#14 flanka: lol. Yes with Burger and Beast what tackling machines we have. But that tackle from Bakkies that saved that try right on our try line was the best tackle of the game with JPP there to finish it off.
23 Nov 2008, 09:03 am
#18 Puma: i agree…i have no idea how bakkies managed to get there on time to tackle a so called “olympic sprinter”…then from the corner of the screen JPP coming in at full speed to blitz him made everyone in the pub go nuts!
23 Nov 2008, 09:55 am
#15 grant10: It’s going to go to JDV, unfortunately.
23 Nov 2008, 09:55 am
#20 goyougoodthingPDV:
you know it
23 Nov 2008, 10:00 am
#21 Big Hit: Hrumpf. Bias I tell you. Blaady WP and their bias!!!!
LOL
23 Nov 2008, 11:53 am
He’s played well this year, but I think the Adi-experiment is about over. If yesterday’s game showed us anything, it’s that Jaque Fourie and Frans Steyn both need to be on the park for 80 mins. Fourie is the best 13 in the world at the moment.
23 Nov 2008, 12:36 pm
#23 Twig: argh whatever man…as long as adi keeps playing as he is he ain’t going nowhere. Nowhere in the world is a player dropped for being consistently the best player in his team for 12 months…if anyone’s gonna ahve to make way for fourie it’s jdv or connie. Adi has had a hand in almost every structured backline bok move this year, and he has the kind of speed and lines that make him play almost like an all black. No adi ain’t going nowhere, and for now JF will be our impact player, something which has worked spectacularly the last few games. It’s healthy competition which is making all the players in the team hungry to play
23 Nov 2008, 13:19 pm
#24 flanka: I have no doubt that Adi is going nowhere. There’s not a chance in hell that PdV will ever drop him. All I’m saying is that Jaque Fourie is an exceptional talent, and outclasses Adi in every aspect of the game. As you say, it’s a healthy situation, and the sad reality is that someone is always going to have to miss out. In my opinion that person should be Adi. JdV is holding his place, but I feel that Steyn (after perhaps another season at 12 for the Sharks) may eclipse him in the near future.
As far as putting Fourie at 15 goes, that’s just ludicrous. You don’t take the world’s best 13 and play him at 15 (able as he may be) to accomodate a lesser player.
23 Nov 2008, 13:22 pm
Sorry, one more thing. I think you’re confusing “working spectacularly” with “pulling it out of the fire”. An impact player drives the final nail in and puts the game out of reach for the opposition. What Fourie did was simply to save our asses by bringing a superior class onto the field.
23 Nov 2008, 13:36 pm
#25 Twig: I would like to see Frans selected at fullback for a couple of games. With that huge boot he can turn the opposition. He cal also slot a drop from behind the half way line. Attack and deffence is very solid. I think he will be great at fullback. Jantjis not making the cut at the moment.
23 Nov 2008, 14:07 pm
#26 Twig: don’t get me wrong…i was a JF fan long b4 adi was on the bok scene but im just saying for the sake of momentum there’s no point in trying to fix a midfield partnership that ain’t broke!
23 Nov 2008, 14:13 pm
and for a long time bloggers have gone about how JF has “more class” than Adi etc…but quite frankly right now adi is playing as the best 13 in THE WORLD…right now he has no peer at outside centre so I’m going to have to put a stop to the claims that “adi is not as classy as JF”. Unfortunately for jacobs he has been in a sharks environment where it was thought he was nothing but an impact player but now he is showing us all he’s learnt from 6 years in the Bok wilderness. Can’t put a price on experience when it comes to centres. JF on the other hand has been lucky in that he plays for the LIONS where he is pretty much the centre of his teams attack hence was always afforded the opportunity to demonstrate his skills. I feel if Adi had been at a franchise that started him from day 1 we would have seen his potential a long time back..not just his spectacular runs off the sharks bench, 1 of which created one of the alltime great sharks tries (Ndungane in the corner against crusaders in the 80th minute)
23 Nov 2008, 14:13 pm
#27 bok_bal: Agreed. Jantjes has never really stepped up to the plate…Steyn has the all-round game to make him one of the greatest fullbacks of all time. Opposition would have no choice but to keep the ball in hand, and would certainly facilitate a more open running game for the Boks, simply by virtue of pinning the the other team in their own 22. I’m flabbergasted that any coach could leave a player like Steyn out of their starting 15.
23 Nov 2008, 14:15 pm
#26 Twig: Mate you clearly played prop or lock at school. No one in SA has the silky skills of Adi. No one. And although I admit Fourie is world class and tough to keep out the side, theres no way it can be at Adi’s expense. When last did you see SA score the type of tries we’ve scored with Adi on the park. I really struggle to remember. Adi’s only apparent weakness has been his defence but this year hes shown it to be a strength.
Although I enjoy Connie, I think Fourie should consider a move back to fullback rather
23 Nov 2008, 14:18 pm
#29 flanka: Lest we forget, Jaque Fourie has a world-cup winners medal from playing 13, and ANY player who can stand out in an atrociously-poor Lions outfit, year after year, is demonstrating far more skill than a player who we only ever see running against tired opponents. Again, I’m not trying to take anything away from Adi, but pound for pound JF offers more to the Boks by providing an outstanding offense, bursting through gaps, but also gives us serious grunt in the midfield defense that Adi just can’t muster.
23 Nov 2008, 14:23 pm
#31 Bok fan: Why exactly must I have played in the tight 5?
23 Nov 2008, 14:28 pm
Sorry got a bit carried away when you said “Jaque Fourie is an exceptional talent, and outclasses Adi in every aspect of the game” Not true. His skills are no match for Adi and Fourie has never created tries like adi does.
23 Nov 2008, 14:31 pm
#32 Twig: lets agree to disagree…more often than not i’ve seen big hits from jacobs. This myth of his “weak” defence doesn’t get to me…words like “grunt” are subjective mate. Fact is I would not dream ofr removing one of the most naturally gifted 13′s we’ve had for a while….adi brings a flair to our attack which complements some of our more robotic backline players. As I said before I rate JF but there’s no way in hell I’d bench adi just coz of JF’S “grunt” as u put it. One can’t coach a talent for spotting the gap, it’s a natural gift and I say this from experience working with a number of 1st grade players. Adi has this talent….to spot gaps and cut through a defence at will (as habana was indicating after scoring his try with his scissors fingers gesture). JF is a great finisher but not int he same creative mould as adi…again, my opinion
23 Nov 2008, 14:32 pm
#35 flanka: Well said
23 Nov 2008, 14:34 pm
Funny thing is Adi and Fourie would probably make the perfect centre pairing
23 Nov 2008, 14:39 pm
#37 Bok fan: ive thought about that….it’s great to have such depth. I was reading a UK article that went on about how u know ur playing a quality team when you have players like Frans Steyn, Ryan Kankowski, Andries Bekker and Jacques Fourie sitting on the bench. For what it’s worth I feel that JF is the best finisher in the bok squad 2nd only to habs.
23 Nov 2008, 14:41 pm
JF has hunger to make sure he crosses the white line much like Mortlock..pumps his legs with great strength…that try he score typified the kind of player he is. As soon as he started handing off armitage more than 30 metres away from the line I knew it was a try.
23 Nov 2008, 15:02 pm
#35 flanka: When I say that JF has “grunt”, I’m not saying that Adi is defensively frail, but JF tends to punch holes in the defense when running with the ball, and at the same time puts the opposition midfield on the backfoot, as they tend to give running at his channel a second thought after they’ve been hit once or twice. For sure, let’s agree to disagree…I’m just putting my opinion forward that I feel JF completes the backline more than Jacobs. Having said that, I’m certainly not going to lose any sleep over the thought of Adi starting at 13.
23 Nov 2008, 15:19 pm
#40 Twig:
fair enough
23 Nov 2008, 19:03 pm
#40 Twig:
I must agree with you, JF imposes himself on the game! He lets everyone on the field know that he’s there and he’s on the field to play. Dont get me wrong about Adi though. At the beginning of the season I was shocked he was there, but he has shut me up as the season has gone on. His handling is top class as well as his distribution. But Fourie fits into SA style rugby better than him I think, and edges Adi in defence, which the boks showed yesterday is what our rugby is and should be built on. But Adi at the moment isn’t letting us down.
Personally though, if the chips are down and you on the back foot I’ll choose Fourie.
23 Nov 2008, 23:26 pm
JF is a great player but as fragile
as a mossie.
Thanks for a sterling effort Adi.
Nice one.
24 Nov 2008, 07:54 am
I thought the try Adi scorred off the excellent offload made by JDV against aussies was briliant. The try of saturday was just as good. I’m so glad to see the spirit in the Bok team. Check Adi’s try out & see how he’s tram mates Mauled him to celebrate & Gave SACKEY the sodd-off. This springbok team better reflects our diverse ppl in SA. Not thru quota’s but thru great rugby choices made by PDV. Cause clearly everyone that thought Adi was a quota choice early in the season can see now that he’s got excellent all round skills. Doesn’t have the all out pace of Jaque Fourie but he makes up for it by he’s antiscipation & speed at hitting the gaps. With timing like that he’d have scored allot of great 4′s and 6′s for SA cricket.
Congrats on a great win. Go bokke
24 Nov 2008, 08:53 am
#44 Dudesky: Fourie’s all out pace ? He surely choked to the tryline
IMO, Adi just prove that he is in a different class then Fourie, to actually try and compare the two is a bit harsh, remember Adi can slot in @ 10,11,12,13, 14 & 15 quite easily where Fourie’s only can play 11,13,14 & 15…
24 Nov 2008, 10:52 am
#14 flanka: i would love to see the tackle count of Beast and Burger, but hell as a team the defence was gigantic, The catch phrase as the game was ‘the more we tackle the, more the points go up’ beautiful
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