Tank Lanning
Not so sharp on the rugby front from the Boks, but they were up against the best side in the world, and they are on top of their game. To be honest, the Boks are just not in the All Black’s league at the moment, and they were beaten by a better side. Sure we can pick holes in the side and the tactics employed, and I will no doubt form part of that once I have watched the game again on TV, but the bottom line is that the All Blacks are a class side who beat every other side in the world quite regularly!
I enjoyed a really special outing to the FNB stadium courtesy of Bok sponsors Energade. No media accreditation this time round. Instead a classic day that saw us go in taxis from Montecasion to enjoy a proper spread with the masses at Chef Pozi, before moving onto the stadium in said taxis, At the base of the post a few pics from the day …
Up front though, a look at all the weekend’s results and logs …
Rugby Championship results:
Argentina 19 – 25 Australia report
South Africa 16 – 32 New Zealand
Rugby Championship log:
New Zealand Pld:6 W:6 Pts:26
Australia Pld:6 W:3 Pts:12
South Africa Pld:6 W:2 Pts:12
Argentina Pld:6 W:0 Pts:4
New Zealand have won the inaugural Rugby Championship
Currie Cup results:
Free State 30 – 37 The Sharks
Griquas 37 – 21 Golden Lions
Blue Bulls 26 – 13 WP
Currie Cup Log:
Sharks Pld:9 W:6 Pts:30
Golden Lions Pld:9 W:6 Pts:28
WP Pld:9 W:4 Pts:20
Griquas Pld:9 W:4 Pts:20
Free State Pld:9 W:3 Pts:18
Blue Bulls Pld:9 W:4 Pts:18
Currie Cup 1st div semi final results:
EP 50 – 27 Leopards
Pumas 37 – 30 Griffons
1st division final:
Sat 13 Oct 2012, 14:30 Eastern Province vs Pumas (PE)
U21 results:
WP 39 – 33 Free State
SWD 61 – 13 Pumas
Lions 67 – 15 Border
Blue Bulls 61 – 17 Sharks
EP 67 – 5 Griquas
U21 log (A division):
P W Pts
Blue Bulls 11 9 46
Sharks 11 8 37
WP 11 7 36
Lions 12 4 27
Free State 11 4 27
Leopards 11 4 26
Border 11 2 9
Aviva Premiership results:
Gloucester 16 – 10 Bath
Exeter 42 – 28 Harlequins
London Irish 39 – 17 Northampton
Sale 8 – 20 Leicester
Top14 results:
Biarritz 9 – 36 Toulon
Bayonne 37 – 16 Agen
Bordeaux-Begles 32 – 34 Toulouse
Racing Metro Paris 12 – 16 Montpellier
Grenoble 28 – 23 Perpignan
Mont de Marsan 28 – 30 Stade Francais
Superbru:
Well done to Paul Welsch who took the yellow cap with 2 correct calls (with margin points) in the Front Row Grunt Rugby Championship Superbru pool. It’s Allan Dyer (Bat) who edges yours truly to top the final leader board though, and takes home the 6 month 1 for the Road membership. Well done Allan!
In the Currie Cup FRG Superbru pool it’s Jimfromsa who continues to dominate the leaderboard – and the race for the R 2300.00 in Reebok vouchers, while Morne Pretorius and Ricky Hinde share the yellow cap this week with three correct calls with margin points! My 2 out of 3 in the Currie Cup sees me lurking in 264th place out of 339!
A few pics from our tript to Soweto with Energade …
Top display of excellent basic rugby by the AB’s – a DVD of that game should be sent to all coaches in SA. As Naas Botha said after the game, “Our skill levels are just going further and further down”. Listening to Mitchell&Mallett reminded me of Tim Lane’s comment referring to a training camp held at Plettenberg Bay (Harry Viljoen was the Bok coach) -“Never in my life had I come across a more dumb bunch of rugby players as that squad.” Mitchell hi-lited a cancer that is so prevalent in SA Rugby when he said, “The Springboks have to learn to hold onto the ball and go in lower” – if one watches any level of SA rugby it stands out.
IMO, Oosthuizen (at1 or 3), Jantjies, Taute, Kirchner just don’t have it at that high level.
I disagree with Neil, Jantjies and Taute have had 1 and 2 games respectivley and you say they do not make it at that level, and Jaanties has 35 minutes to proof himeself in the highest stage, that is a bit unfair. Kirchner, I agree with, but I feel the best fullback was on the bench the whole series, Lambie. Meyer has not had a clue about selections the whole season, and until he realises that he needs to pick the best player in each position / combination, this team will never gel. Meyer was overrated at the time with Bulls, which had a team of players that were greats, if it was not for Habana and that final try in 2007 S14 he would not be the Springbok coach today!
Mark, thats the great thing about this website is that opinions are expressed without getting personal as on other website – well done in keeping it that way. My opinion is based not on so many minutes to prove themselves, but what they have shown at CC and Super rugby. Jantjies has one asset and that is his goal kicking – his line and field kicking is poor, his decision making majority of the time leaves a lot to be desired and his ability to take control is not there. In work in rugby and believe me one of the biggest criticisms of him is his inability to dictate with ball in hand- you just had to listen to Mallett throughout the Super season when the Lions played. Taute is so one dimensional – bang crash wallop – if you have a look at his tries so many are on the back of poor tackling. Anyway, I will buy you a beer if they prove me wrong – IMO of course 🙂
Nice comments guys … Agree that Taute and Jantjies deserve more time, but they certainlu looked like boys against men on Saturday. Coenie is no tighthead at provinciallevel, why espect him to do that at international level. Was a niaive selection. I said before hand that CJ would have been more prudent. Kirchner OK, but no international game breaker. Crazy the lack of game time for Lambie. CRAZY. Have been baging the lack of skills drum for a long time now. Needs to change. And we need central contracting so the national coach calls the shots … Jury still definitely out on Meyer …
I would be a bit worried about central contracting with Meyer as coach though – he has not exactly excelled at identifying the right players. Still believe Hougaard should be at scrumhalf, but he must be given time there. He must go back to the Bulls and play scrumhalf full time. If you want to sub him he must be subbed off the field and not moved to wing. Would love to see Jordaan and Rhule being introduced to the squad as they are 2 players that look like they have real flair which is lacking in SA rugby right now.