XV Reasons To Be Excited: #11 Lwazi
Sharks winger Lwazi Mvovo
We’ve gone off the beaten track to select you a team of South African rugby players designed to bring a smile to your face.
With the Springbok team looking battered and weary here are some of the players waiting in the wings, and cooling their heels out injured, to remind you how strong South African rugby continues to be.
Team thus far: Beast Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Werner Kruger, Danie Rossouw, Andries Bekker, Heinrich Brussow, Juan Smith, Duane Vermuelen, Fourie du Preez, Butch James
11. Lwazi Mvovo
The Sharks winger has got fans of pacy wingers hugely excited during the Currie Cup this season. He’s a hard running wide player with pace to burn and a nose for the tryline. Mvovo might be a bit raw to go straight into the Springboks at this stage, but he’s shown plenty of promise already and there are plenty tipping him for bigger things.
One to watch: Michael Killian
Another young talent who seems to grow with every outing. Killian impressed during the Super 14 and looks to have carried his form through to the Currie Cup.
Eddie Jones: Springboks Decline Is Temporary
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones observes a rugby match closely
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has warned against writing off the Springboks.
Meanwhile, Reds coach and former World Cup-winning Wallabies prop Ewen McKenzie says the extent of the Springboks’ ills won’t be known until after they face New Zealand in Johannesburg next Saturday. The Springboks lost their first three away Tri Nations tests – 32-12 and 31-17 to the All Blacks in New Zealand and 30-13 to Australia in Brisbane on 24 July.
Jones believes their decline is temporary and that they are more focused on the World Cup next year. Jones also says they are trying to use the playing style that’s been so successful for the Super 14 champion Bulls.
“They kicked more than any other team, offloaded less than any other team, but scored more tries,” he said of the Bulls. “Their lineout and kick-off was excellent. They kicked a lot and well. When they got ball in the opposition half they were able to keep the ball. That is how the Springboks want to play.”
MISSING FOURIE DU PREEZ
The crux of the Springboks’ woes, Jones says, is the absence of Bulls halfback Fourie du Preez for the rest of the season due to a shoulder operation. He is expected back next year.
“They are missing the one bloke who is the best player in the world – Fourie du Preez,” he said. “They have not only lost the bloke who kicks the ball best and who, with the ball, attacks the best, but that has put enormous pressure on their No 10 [Morné Steyn] who looked like he was going to be a player of 60 Tests but now looks like a player who will struggle to get to 40 because Fourie is not there. Once they get Fourie back they’ll be a much better team.”
The Springboks have recalled fullback Francois Steyn from France, winger JP Pietersen and breakaway Juan Smith for their 29-man squad.
OUTDATED GAME PLAN
McKenzie said: “They were dominating. Now they’ve fallen behind. It will be interesting to see what they do tactically. The next [few] weeks will be pretty important. There’s some desperate stuff happening over there. The All Blacks are in the box seat. If they get their bonus point to win the Tri Nations, they can relax and play without much care. That might be a daunting prospect.”
However, McKenzie believes the Springboks must change their game – and by Saturday’s Test. “They are playing a probably slightly outdated game plan,” McKenzie said. “It will be interesting to see if they play the same way… interesting to see who they pick at 10. Will they play Butch James and use the ball more or stick with [Morné] Steyn and play a fairly orthodox game?”
That Test should reveal how great the challenge will be for the Wallabies to win either – or both – Tests at Pretoria and Bloemfontein on the Highveld where they have not won since 1963. Not that McKenzie has ever shied away from taking on history.
“I don’t think it’s too big an ask,” he said of the Wallabies’ chances of winning there. “I am sure they are going over there to win two games to solidify that second position – in the world rankings or [Tri Nations].”
With thanks to stuff.co.nz
VIDEO: Plays Of the 2010 Super 14 Season
The Crusaders cheerleaders in action during the 2010 Super 14 season
Missing the Super 14 yet? This catchy compilation of the best plays of the last ever Super 14 should help.
This year’s Super 14 was indeed a special one, especially since it was the last one ever. Next year, the Super 15 kicks off, and here’s hoping it’ll produce exciting moments of this calibre.
Phenomenal players, big hits, cheerleaders, exciting passages of play, and of course, we the fans, made it one of the best Super Rugby seasons ever. Let’s relive some of the best moments with this lighthearted, Fox Sports-compiled video.
Aaaah… Sweet, sweet nostalgia.
Sportard – The Horror
Sportard
How sad; how tragic; how utterly depressing. The indomitable Boks vanquished by those eager men in black. What on earth went wrong?
Coming off the high of an all SA Super 14 final it seemed as if the 2010 Tri Nations must surely go the way of last year’s tournament. Not so.
Even before Bakkies ‘the man-punisher’ Botha tried to mate with the Kiwi scrumhalf – he likes scrumhalves does Bakkies. He’d mate with all of them if he could* – the Boks looked crappy. There was none of the confidence and coherence that we’ve grown so accustomed to.
Tugboat Smit was throwing the ball all over the place which made things difficult for Victor who, in turn, was clearly distracted by Bakkies’ obvious affection for Jimmy Cowan and couldn’t catch a venereal disease from a Kiwi sheep.
And the backs were as wretched as a pack of street kids in winter when the glue runs out. It was appalling and I’m only glad that it happened so early on in my hangover that I was still sufficiently anaesthetised to render the pain vague and dispersed.
So where does that leave us then? Well let’s just say that I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel just yet but I will take some good lessons from last week’s game.
Given that there’s nothing that I can do to affect the Boks’ performance other than offer up gentle encouragement and sage advice I tender this – humbly and with great affection – and hope they take it to heart.
First: to Captain Smit – throw the ball on target. I’m almost certain that you’ve been trying to do this but trying isn’t good enough. You need to concentrate. I want to see the same look in your eyes that one sees in a bergie’s eyes when he’s eating chicken scraps or shitting on the promenade.
Secondly: to Victor – don’t be distracted by the shenanigans of your ex roommate. He’ll be back soon enough and you can get on with whatever it is that two very large men with inordinate affection for each other do ‘on tour’. For now, though, focus on seeing the ball like the Force is with you (in fact the way that Tugboat’s been throwing, you might want to rent Star Wars for some pointers and then play with your scrum-cap on backwards).
Thirdly: not to make too fine a point of it but I think it would be a good idea to have a game-plan that doesn’t involve losing too many set pieces. Otherwise it’s a bit like placing a Perspex partition between a room full of hungry morons and a hamburger. In fact I noticed quite a lot of Springbok drool on the All Black strip last Saturday which brings me to my final point.
Fourthly: to all of you highly paid show-ponies – Tackle for pucks-sake. When you’ve given away more ball than Sex-change Sally the least you can do is tackle. It makes all the difference.
Well that’s enough from me. All that now remains to be done is to see to it that I start drinking brandy early enough this evening to ensure that by the time I arrive at the Fireman’s Arms at 8am tomorrow I’m suitably girded against the guaranteed cold and the possibility of defeat.
The trick is to have just enough residual alcohol in your system to cause that first draught to reactivate the previous nights drunk in such a way that the effect of a whole evenings worth of drinking is achieved in as little time as it takes to have just the one.
I shall set about this task immediately and by tomorrow I shall establish a personal first by calling Goodfellas to drive me to a pub and not just from it.
* Witness Bakkies ‘I-like-‘em-little’ Botha’s transparent attempts at covering his tracks after trying to solicit sex from little Welsh scrumhalf, Mike Phillips, during the Lions tour by complimenting him on his ‘beautiful eyes’:
By Mike Stephen
Are The Springboks Vulnerable?
The Springboks during their match against Wales.
South Africa and New Zealand will most likely meet in Auckland at the semi-final stage of next year’s Rugby World Cup.
That makes this coming weekend’s game at Eden Park particularly significant.
South Africa enter the Tri-Nations as marginal favourites having been comfortably better than their Sanzar partners last year.
However, there was a suspicion that the Springboks were a little bit of a one-trick pony with their kick-and-chase game plan built on the masterful execution of scrum-half Fourie du Preez’s tactical kicking and fly-half Morné Steyn’s goalkicking.
That is probably a little harsh.
The reality is that the experience of the likes of John Smit, Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Juan Smith, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana makes them smart and adaptable.
The South African lineout is also peerless and this is where they hold their biggest trump card against the All Blacks.
However, they are in for an interesting test without Du Preez pulling the strings in their No.9 jersey this year.
Coach Peter de Villiers has controversially opted for Ricky Januarie during the first part of the international campaign. Januarie could not command a starting place at the Stormers.
The Springboks also suddenly find themselves sans the x-factor of Frans Steyn. Rumours are rife that all is not well between player and coach and there has already been a meeting to resolve the issue.
Steyn played against Wales and kicked a long-range penalty that proved the difference between a win and a draw for a South African side put together at indecent haste the week following the Super 14 Final.
His three long-range penalties were also decisive in last year’s 32-29 win at Hamilton that wrapped up the Tri-Nations for the Boks in New Zealand’s back yard.
So why then is he not in the mix?
Concerns
De Villiers expressed the concern last month that Boks plying their trade overseas were off the pace, the argument being that the pace of rugby in the Northern Hemisphere is slower than in the Southern Hemisphere.
He added that Steyn had some difficult calls to make as he was losing the edge playing overseas.
However, he picked Steyn at fullback after he had played most of his rugby at inside centre for Racing Metro. And when it came to a pressure situation, Steyn still managed a crucial three-pointer.
Perhaps De Villiers was wrong to have his focus on the occasional mistake in general play.
Certainly I believe that the Springboks again have the beating of the All Blacks and Wallabies this year. The things that concern me are the omission of Steyn and selection of Januarie when Ruan Pienaar was clearly South Africa’s form scrum-half in the Super 14.
South Africa are not picking their best side because De Villiers has an unshakeable faith in Januarie and issues surrounding Steyn appear to be unresolved.
The other side to the Januarie argument is that it was him who scored that brilliant try in 2008 that got South Africa their first Test win in Dunedin.
De Villiers may therefore be looking to tap into that game-breaking ability and Januarie’s combative personality.
A few of last year’s Bok stars are injured. Apart from Du Preez, the list includes openside flank Heinrich Brüssow, hooker Bismarck du Plessis and wing JP Pietersen. Apart from Du Preez, none of those will worry Bok supporters too much. Francois Louw looks a great find on the flank, while Du Plessis’ injury has allowed Smit to captain the side from hooker again and Pietersen’s place will be filled by either promising newcomer Gio Aplon or the experienced Jean de Villiers.
However, the Bok backline is a bit of an awkward mix with Januarie and without Steyn. Don’t forget too that Jean de Villiers’s stint at Munster will probably mean that Wynand Olivier gets the inside centre spot ahead of him. Olivier is a great Super 14 player, but has yet to convince that he’s the real deal at the highest level.
So yes, South Africa should be considered the favourites, but they are also entering the competition looking a little vulnerable.
Courtesy of ESPNScrum
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