[2014 TRC] Australia v South Africa in Perth (06/09/2014)

[Jaguares]

1 James Slipper
2 James Hanson
3 Sekope Kepu
4 Sam Carter
5 Rob Simmons
6 Scott Fardy
7 Michael Hooper (c)
8 Wycliff Palu
9 Nick Phipps
10 Bernard Foley
11 Rob Horne
12 Matt Toomua
13 Tevita Kuridrani
14 Adam Ashley-Cooper
15 Israel Folau

Reserves:

16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 James Horwill, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Matt Hodgson, 22 Nic White, 23 Kurtley Beale

1 Tendai Mtawarira
2 Adriaan Strauss
3 Jannie du Plessis
4 Eben Etzebeth
5 Victor Matfield
6 Francois Louw
7 Marcell Coetzee
8 Duane Vermeulen
9 Ruan Pienaar
10 Morné Steyn
11 Bryan Habana
12 Jean de Villiers (c)
13 Jan Serfontein
14 Cornal Hendricks
15 Willie le Roux

Reserves:

16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Damian de Allende

Stadium: Patersons Stadium
Capacity: 43,500
City: Perth
Country: Australia
Referee: George Clancy

 

[sharkfan]

First and foremost, congrats to Argentina, they are a team on the up. Even though they lost, it is clear that a victory is not far off. I reckon if they can keep on playing the way they did, they might just squeeze past Australia in their home fixture. That said, we are now playing Australia and i feel a bit nervous, because they will have fresh memories of Brisbane last year in their minds, so revenge might be on the cards.

Their forwards are not that physical as the Argies but their backline is very good. If we can win the forward battle, we might be in for a chance. Pollard and Steyn will have to up their kicking game.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Yep, no clue what to expect here. We barely scrape past Argentina home and away, Aus ties with NZ one week then roll over and take it as if they like it the next. We wipe the floor with them last year but their SR teams perform well this year and we must remember this is a 2nd year for them under a new coach so one would assume they'd have a better idea of what is expected of them... just very difficult to pick as there are any number of conflicting 'indicators'.

Suppose, I'll just wait patiently and hope for a good game of rugby on the weekend. Certainly we can expect an intense affair as both teams will be wanting a good result.

Man, I am enjoying the rugby even if I had a mixed bag of results ITO the teams I am following (WP playing some beautiful rugby of late, Bokke scrappy but passionate while our u18's suffered our first loss in 4 years and Racing Metro losing on the weekend where I expected a solid win- in ignorance it has to be said)

 

[Guilty]

Well I also have no idea what to make of this match. Going into the Auckland test match, I was feeling quite confident with regards to the impending game against South Africa but the magnitude of the loss against the All Blacks changes everything. How many teams can have 51 points put on them while getting nothing short of embarrassed and then turn around two weeks later and put together a complete performance? Not too many I would bet and as much as I would love to see the Wallabies do it, this team is not one known for mental fortitude so I have my doubts. Having said that, when people write the Wallabies off - they consistently turn around and hammer the opposition almost out of nowhere (unless they are playing the All Blacks it seems). So I guess what I am saying is that I can envision everything from a solid Wallabies victory to an ugly loss.

Now, one thing is certain and that is that the team going up against South Africa is surely going to be a very different lineup to the failed experiment McKenzie put together a fortnight ago. I would be very surprised if he did not revert back to the promising back-line that played on the Spring Tour and the French Tests and am expecting him to shake up the forward pack to reward some of the impact players who have performed well against New Zealand.

The match day 23 I think we will see looks as follows:

1. James Slipper
2. James Hanson (or TPN if fit)
3. Sekope Kepu
4. Rob Simmons
5. Will Skelton
6. Scott Higginbotham
7. Michael Hooper (c)
8. Wycliff Palu
9. Nick Phipps
10. Bernard Foley
11. Rob Horne (or Joe Tomane if fit)
12. Matt Toomua
13. Tevita Kuridrani
14. AAC
15. Israel Folau

Reserves:
Forwards - Robinson, Alexander, Carter, McCalman & whoever our 6th string hooker is
Backs - White & Beale

Look for McKenzie to beef up the forwards against a very large Springboks pack and go with a lineup that the lads can associate with their 7 game win streak. If the Wallabies can regroup and go into the game forgetting Eden Park, then I think they will win. If not then it will be an ugly loss which could very will kick start a poor 2014 after such a promising beginning.

The South Africans themselves have cause for concern. They have been less than impressive against the Pumas and must consider themselves very lucky to have escaped Argentina with a win (again). The Springboks game plan is going to be simple, win the battle in the forwards and control the game. If they let the Wallabies forward pack get go forward momentum, our back line will slaughter them - even with some of our best weapons missing. Scrum time is going to be interesting, I'm really not sure what happened to the South African scrum over in Argentina but I am expecting them to bounce back hard. Bismark is my favorite player in the game and I have never seem him play as badly as he did last week. He will be on fire as I am expecting the whole Springbok tight five to be looking for Wallaby blood.

So what do I think is going to happen? I really have no idea but I will be watching very anxiously. A lot of my good mates are South African born so AUS v RSA is always good value. I’m not sure who is going to be more nervous though!

 

[Big Ewis]

given the current balance of power considering the latest int'l results, I'd imagine the general consensus for this goes something like the Wallabies winning by around 4-8.
Wallabies are still in this (in theory) - the latest images of Mccaw scoring 2 tries in a rampant AB effort and lifting the Bledisloe Cup lead us to thinking they're dead and buried, but then we're reminded they only lost 1 game so far. They've a tie and a loss...

What can be said about the matchup ? Boks won't have issues in the scrum, and will probably have an advantage there in stead. That unlocks a big channel that was completely shut in the Pumas series.
I do hope they stop playing Beale at the 10 and put Foley there, I mean they weren't planning on proceeding in the whole tournament with Beale at 10 were they, have to stop that eventually. Foley's young but just won a SR ***le, so it's not like he's in adorable puppy-mode either. He a man now - A MAYNN.

Not much to be said about this matchup that isn't already classic about it. It's mass vs flair. Wallabies can run them off the park, or the Boks can over-power them for 80min, and everything in-between. A major difference this year for the Wallabies is they've added more consistency and girth up front.

 

[Icemn]

the boks to take this one... just because they top of the log... wow lol

seriously... Aus by 20

 

[TheSaffycen]

I think that South Africa are gonna win this and win comfortably. Australia's biggest weakness is still the pack and South Africa will have the advantage there. I would start Coetzee-Louw-Vermuelen as they physically can dominate the Oz backrow and still be in the game unlike Juan Smith. I will go for South Africa by 10

 

[TRF_heineken]

I think that South Africa are gonna win this and win comfortably. Australia's biggest weakness is still the pack and South Africa will have the advantage there. I would start Coetzee-Louw-Vermuelen as they physically can dominate the Oz backrow and still be in the game unlike Juan Smith. I will go for South Africa by 10

I'm a bit torn on the loosies combination to be quite honest. Now that Alberts is fit again, I'm tempted to give the bone collector his spot back, but there is no denying the impact that Coetzee has made when he has come on for the Boks.

I would also start Victor Matfield in place of Lood De Jager, Lood was great with his debut test, but has been nowhere the last 2 tests, and our lineouts has been rather poor. Victor will help us in making the lineouts an attacking platform against the Wallabies. I expect with the Aussies lighter pack that we will use the driving maul a lot more than we did against Argentina...

 

[TheSaffycen]

I didn't know Alberts is back. Then yes give him his spot back and have him running at Hooper all game, if you can try and keep Hooper from getting over the ball. You will win, Australia dont have a great team still, players like Horne/McCabe/Toomua aren't stand out player and wouldn't get into most Aussie teams.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I think that South Africa are gonna win this and win comfortably. Australia's biggest weakness is still the pack and South Africa will have the advantage there. I would start Coetzee-Louw-Vermuelen as they physically can dominate the Oz backrow and still be in the game unlike Juan Smith. I will go for South Africa by 10

I'm a bit torn on the loosies combination to be quite honest. Now that Alberts is fit again, I'm tempted to give the bone collector his spot back, but there is no denying the impact that Coetzee has made when he has come on for the Boks.

I would also start Victor Matfield in place of Lood De Jager, Lood was great with his debut test, but has been nowhere the last 2 tests, and our lineouts has been rather poor. Victor will help us in making the lineouts an attacking platform against the Wallabies. I expect with the Aussies lighter pack that we will use the driving maul a lot more than we did against Argentina...

I don't know that our pack is currently as good as we should be. A lot of disruptions ITO drop in form, injury and players coming back from injury.

Etzebeth hasn't played any rugby this year and has looked rusty, Malherbe back from injury only to get injured again off the bench coming back, Alberts only back now and that after being underwhelming in SR (though it has to be said being played out of position), BdP has been on and off for form this year it has to be said and I'm not even going to mention Beast, Steenkamp and Jannie. A ton of injuries in the 2nd row means a back from injury combo of Etzbeth and Matfield is probably our best bet... so, yeah, a lot depends on selectoins and/or if some of those guys can come good in the space of 2 weeks. Big if's so I don't want to bank overly much on us dominating Aus in the forwards as we did last year. I mean, I can't even put out my usual prefered 1-8 list because who is in the running for a berth is anyones guess at this stage.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well the team is expected to arrive in Perth later today with only 2 additions to the squad that played against the Argies.

here's the squad:

Forwards:
Willem Alberts, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Brits, Marcell Coetzee, Lodewyk de Jager, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Francois Louw, Victor Matfield, Teboho Mohoje, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Adriaan Strauss, Marcel van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen

Backs:
Damian de Allende, Jean de Villiers (captain), Bryan Habana, Cornal Hendricks, Francois Hougaard, Patrick Lambie, Willie le Roux, Lwazi Mvovo, Ruan Pienaar, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Jan Serfontein, Morne Steyn

It makes me cringe a bit that no specialist tighthead prop has been called up in place of Malherbe. But then again, there is still a bit of time before the team are to be announced.

 

[RoosTah]

This really is a tough one to call... Will the Wallabies responded positively or will they still be in a state of shock? The Springboks are similarly hard to pick; are the Argentinians that much better this year, or are the Springboks just a little off the pace. Either way it'll be an intriguing encounter.

 

[Lachie]

Stevey Larkham in for Bernard Foley, I don't have too much faith in that man.

And Skelton's starting. Good.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Well the team is expected to arrive in Perth later today with only 2 additions to the squad that played against the Argies.

here's the squad:

Forwards:
Willem Alberts, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Brits, Marcell Coetzee, Lodewyk de Jager, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Francois Louw, Victor Matfield, Teboho Mohoje, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Adriaan Strauss, Marcel van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen

Backs:
Damian de Allende, Jean de Villiers (captain), Bryan Habana, Cornal Hendricks, Francois Hougaard, Patrick Lambie, Willie le Roux, Lwazi Mvovo, Ruan Pienaar, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Jan Serfontein, Morne Steyn

It makes me cringe a bit that no specialist tighthead prop has been called up in place of Malherbe. But then again, there is still a bit of time before the team are to be announced.

Juan Smith dropped like a sack of rotten potatoes. Sad but fair enough, he had his sentimental return game and couldn't match the pace like the other loosies did (and who kept us in the game). Marcel Coetzee brought a lot of energy with him off the bench and I'd like to see him rewarded with a start again seeing as Alberts will probably be rusty after injury lay-off so I'd play him off the bench in case of injury. Also think Coetzee's speed to the rucks will be necessary here to combat Hooper; we've lost games against Aus purely because of being outstripped to and at the ruck numerous times in the P Divvy era, lets not repeat our mistakes.

Botha went flying into contact and was a step up from De Jager who struggled with the pace Argentina played at and I expect Aus to at least be wanting to play at the same pace if not upping the tempo even more and we've struggled in the set pieces so I'd have Etzebeth, Botha and Matfield as the locks.

Front row... very difficult too call here but I still maintain our struggles at the scrum is ass much JdP and Steenkamp being passed it as it is the integrity and power of the Argentine Bajada scrum. Lets just give those guys a rest! I'd like to see Beast, Strauss and Van der Merwe starting with Nyakane, BdP and JdP on the bench (unless we call in prop reinforcements which we really should with Malherbe out)! I say rewarding Strauss is motivation for both our frontline hookers.

Out in the backs I'd go for keeping the backline as we had it at the end;

9)Hougaard, 10)Steyn, 11)Habana, 12)JdV(c), 13)De Allende, 14)Hendricks, 15)Le Roux, 20)Reinach, 21)Pollard, 22)Mvovo

Drop Pienaar totally and close that book; we just ccan't get going with the **** service he offers. The saddest thig is the try he scored in the 1st and the one he set up in the 2nd being arguments (flawed) to keep him starting ala Kirchner (just doing enough to keep the right but hard decision at bay) despite him not providing the fundimental crisp, ready service.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Juan Smith dropped like a sack of rotten potatoes. Sad but fair enough, he had his sentimental return game and couldn't match the pace like the other loosies did (and who kept us in the game). Marcel Coetzee brought a lot of energy with him off the bench and I'd like to see him rewarded with a start again seeing as Alberts will probably be rusty after injury lay-off so I'd play him off the bench in case of injury. Also think Coetzee's speed to the rucks will be necessary here to combat Hooper; we've lost games against Aus purely because of being outstripped to and at the ruck numerous times in the P Divvy era, lets not repeat our mistakes.

Botha went flying into contact and was a step up from De Jager who struggled with the pace Argentina played at and I expect Aus to at least be wanting to play at the same pace if not upping the tempo even more and we've struggled in the set pieces so I'd have Etzebeth, Botha and Matfield as the locks.

Front row... very difficult too call here but I still maintain our struggles at the scrum is ass much JdP and Steenkamp being passed it as it is the integrity and power of the Argentine Bajada scrum. Lets just give those guys a rest! I'd like to see Beast, Strauss and Van der Merwe starting with Nyakane, BdP and JdP on the bench (unless we call in prop reinforcements which we really should with Malherbe out)! I say rewarding Strauss is motivation for both our frontline hookers.

Out in the backs I'd go for keeping the backline as we had it at the end;

9)Hougaard, 10)Steyn, 11)Habana, 12)JdV(c), 13)De Allende, 14)Hendricks, 15)Le Roux, 20)Reinach, 21)Pollard, 22)Mvovo

Drop Pienaar totally and close that book; we just ccan't get going with the **** service he offers. The saddest thig is the try he scored in the 1st and the one he set up in the 2nd being arguments (flawed) to keep him starting ala Kirchner (just doing enough to keep the right but hard decision at bay) despite him not providing the fundimental crisp, ready service.

Yup, But I doubt we will see those changes. Bismarck is a vice-captain and I don't think he will be easily dropped to the bench by HM. I would like Nyakane and Marcell van Der Merwe to start the game at prop, Both of them are good at scrummaging, but are also valuable in general play, especially Marcel in arriving at the rucks and poaching balls.

As for the Backline, I would be tempted to put De Allende on the bench, move JDV to 13 and bring in Serfontein. Out of the 3 of them, Jan has been the most consistent and has made some great runs. And yes, Start Hougaard and drop Pienaar, purely for the pace of the game and getting the ball to the backs.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Why isn't Heinrich Brüssow being considered ? I assume that he is injured or that people don't mention his name purely because Heyneke Meyer doesn't rate the guy, which is ridiculous as a back row of Louw/Alberts-Brussow-Vermuelen is so good at stealing ball and carrying that it's just plain stupid not too use it.
The pack I would play including guys who weren't selected 1.Beast 2.Bismarck 3.Van Der Merwe(had too steal Stormers idea as i didn't really know a south african tighthead) 4.Botha 5.Etzebeth 6.Alberts 7.Brussow 8.Vermuelen 16.Brits 17.Steenkamp 18.Mujati 19.De Jager 20.Labuschagné
In the backs I only really would bring in Hougaard, keep Pollard and see what he does with him. Also is Frans Steyn now available ? As i would put him at 12 and move De Villiers across one.

 

[squirrel]

SA are in trouble if Matfield is in the team, I think you have to pick a team that's capable of beating the ABs and I can't see that happening with a 38 y/o starting.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Yup, But I doubt we will see those changes. Bismarck is a vice-captain and I don't think he will be easily dropped to the bench by HM. I would like Nyakane and Marcell van Der Merwe to start the game at prop, Both of them are good at scrummaging, but are also valuable in general play, especially Marcel in arriving at the rucks and poaching balls.

As for the Backline, I would be tempted to put De Allende on the bench, move JDV to 13 and bring in Serfontein. Out of the 3 of them, Jan has been the most consistent and has made some great runs. And yes, Start Hougaard and drop Pienaar, purely for the pace of the game and getting the ball to the backs.

If BdP can come good then great. I agree totally on Nyakane and MvdM; surely they are at least on par in the scrum but we know for a fact that these guys bring a lot in open play at least. Worth giving them a chance IMO even if there are others I'd have prefered but who aren't even in the sqaud.

Why isn't Heinrich Brüssow being considered ? I assume that he is injured or that people don't mention his name purely because Heyneke Meyer doesn't rate the guy, which is ridiculous as a back row of Louw/Alberts-Brussow-Vermuelen is so good at stealing ball and carrying that it's just plain stupid not too use it.
The pack I would play including guys who weren't selected 1.Beast 2.Bismarck 3.Van Der Merwe(had too steal Stormers idea as i didn't really know a south african tighthead) 4.Botha 5.Etzebeth 6.Alberts 7.Brussow 8.Vermuelen 16.Brits 17.Steenkamp 18.Mujati 19.De Jager 20.Labuschagné
In the backs I only really would bring in Hougaard, keep Pollard and see what he does with him. Also is Frans Steyn now available ? As i would put him at 12 and move De Villiers across one.

Not a bad pack. Brussow I believe is playing in Japan ATM. Not rated by HM but is his dynamic self despite still in the habit of not giving enough 'day light'- I mean, I believe he does it, just so quick that refs go at him. I think fans just simply don't mention him because like Mujati at TH it seems that is simply not going to happen so little point in mentioning it. I like the idea of bringing in Mujati but can't see it happening TBH; just too much baggage there between him and SARU. Alberts is only just now back from injury and wasn't in super form before injury while Louw and Coetzee has been two of the few Bokke performing consistently so I wouldn't drop them. Frans Steyn is in the Brussow/Mujati boat sadly.

SA are in trouble if Matfield is in the team, I think you have to pick a team that's capable of beating the ABs and I can't see that happening with a 38 y/o starting.

A 38 year old that has been playing some good rugby, not the type that made him a legend true enough but the reality is we are facing something of an injury crisis; Franco van der Merwe, PSdT, Flip van der Merwe all injured and Etzebeth barely back from super long injury lay-off. Those 4 are the guys we put our faith in post PdV and they are unavaiable to something has got to give somewhere. De Jager has been a mixed bag. Lewies next in line but we might as well get in Matfield TBH. I mean, don't tell me NZ wouldn't be looking at Ali Williams as an option if all of Whitelock, Retallic, Bird and Romano were injury concerns..

 

[TRF_heineken]

Why isn't Heinrich Brüssow being considered ? I assume that he is injured or that people don't mention his name purely because Heyneke Meyer doesn't rate the guy, which is ridiculous as a back row of Louw/Alberts-Brussow-Vermuelen is so good at stealing ball and carrying that it's just plain stupid not too use it.
The pack I would play including guys who weren't selected 1.Beast 2.Bismarck 3.Van Der Merwe(had too steal Stormers idea as i didn't really know a south african tighthead) 4.Botha 5.Etzebeth 6.Alberts 7.Brussow 8.Vermuelen 16.Brits 17.Steenkamp 18.Mujati 19.De Jager 20.Labuschagné
In the backs I only really would bring in Hougaard, keep Pollard and see what he does with him. Also is Frans Steyn now available ? As i would put him at 12 and move De Villiers across one.

This has been mentioned numerous times. HM feels Brussouw is too small and that he gets too many penalties against him.

Brussouw is also currently playing in Japan at the moment, and his contract prevents him from playing certain times during the year.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Perth has been the burial ground for many an Aussie team that faces the Saffers.
This game will not be any different.
The Saffers will eat up the set piece like a hungry hippo and shut down Aussies runners like Folau when Aussie are living off scraps.
Saffers by 9.

Brussouw is an awesome sniffer in the McCaw mould. I can't believe the Saffers have turned their back on him. Too often the big pigs they choose in the loose trio lose out on the floor against quicker 7's or even old 7's like McCaw.
It's one achilles heel in the springbok line up that has not been remedied.
They don't play a sniffer and it costs them turn overs , or achieving turnovers.
Maybe being in the top two in the world the coach thinks it doesn't matter... The Springboks are an awesome team, especially at home, but they don't like playing a sniffer so poor old Heinrich has been left out in the cold. He would walk in to any squad in the world.