June International Tests: South Africa vs. France (3rd Test) (24/06/2017)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Emirates Airlines Park
Time: 17:05 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
​

Teams

South Africa: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Raymond Rhule, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcom Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jaco Kriel, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Dillyn Leyds

France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Nans Ducuing, 13 Damian Penaud, 12 Gael Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (captain), 1 Jefferson Poirot

Substitutes: 16 Clement Maynadier, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Vincent Rattez

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

The second test was arguably even more of a convincing victory. I'm not sure what France can do to keep this closer as their team selection was reasonable, particularly in the second test.

Still very surprised by the margin of victory both times, France are stingy in defence normally.

Ross Cronje out injured I read. That might reduce Jantjies' ability and give France a chance to keep the scoreline down. A disappointingly one sided series for the neutral.

 

[SomeOke]

Bok supporters can't have nice things, I expect we'll lose this one haha. Not that I have any evidence to present.

Hougard will come in for Cronje which should be fine, he's been good off the bench and deserves another chance after the Wales debacle.

I see Mapoe is in the SA A team so that also means Kriel will be back in the starting line-up, Mapoe is a better distributor and probably more of a complete player but Kriel has the higher ceiling for me so I'm not too upset about that.

Other than that Jean-luc du Preez will no doubt come into the starting line up (and Jaco Kriel comes in at 20), and we could see one or two other changes (perhaps Kitsoff and Leyds to get a full run)?

Guess we'll see soon.

edit: Not too soon, stingy Thursday afternoon announcement...

 

[Big_Grumper]

I've really enjoyed watching the two games thus far, though I've been disappointed by the French. They're notoriously bad travellers and this might account for it but they were very poor in the second test.

As an aside where Emirates Airlines Park? I really struggle to pinpoint the location of SA grounds because of the sponsorship deals that sees them renamed every few years.

 

[SomeOke]

It's Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Our best venue statistically.

 

[Big_Grumper]

It's Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Our best venue statistically.

Gotcha. Are Newlands and Loftus Versfeld still known that way?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I've really enjoyed watching the two games thus far, though I've been disappointed by the French. They're notoriously bad travellers and this might account for it but they were very poor in the second test.

As an aside where Emirates Airlines Park? I really struggle to pinpoint the location of SA grounds because of the sponsorship deals that sees them renamed every few years.

Interestingly enough France have a very decent record in SA. Bar the All Blacks they are the team that has the highest win % over us in our own borders.

This is historically speaking of course.

 

[Big_Grumper]

Both teams have looked fairly even for the opening 20 minutes (of the first two games) but after that the Springboks have 'gotten into gear' and cruised away. I can't see the third test being any different.

Has the SA team been announced and will they blood some younger players now the series is won?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Bok supporters can't have nice things, I expect we'll lose this one haha. Not that I have any evidence to present.

Hougard will come in for Cronje which should be fine, he's been good off the bench and deserves another chance after the Wales debacle.

I see Mapoe is in the SA A team so that also means Kriel will be back in the starting line-up, Mapoe is a better distributor and probably more of a complete player but Kriel has the higher ceiling for me so I'm not too upset about that.

Other than that Jean-luc du Preez will no doubt come into the starting line up (and Jaco Kriel comes in at 20), and we could see one or two other changes (perhaps Kitsoff and Leyds to get a full run)?

Guess we'll see soon.

edit: Not too soon, stingy Thursday afternoon announcement...

I see both Jaco Kriel and Combrinck are not included for the SA 'A' side so both might get into the test side to keep the 'Lion' flavor flavor despite us losing Mapoe to the 'A's and Ross Cronje to injury.

In Jo'Burg that might count for something. How crazy would've have been to have Mapoe and Cronje were available AND RjvR weren't injured LOL. Though Serfontein seems to be in some form and I can't really fault Jesse Kriel even if he wouldn't be my 1st choice; I prefer Mapoe or rather Serfontein moving to 13 actually.

Will be interesting to see how Hougaard goes starting and who will come in on the bench. Hoping its De Klerk personally.

Du Preez IMO should be starting blindside in any case (if we are keeping Kolisi at openside and honestly after last week who cares if he isn't considered an out-and-out fetcher!). Kriel to add 14 points coming off the bench as the perfect impact sub.

Wondering if we'll see Combrinck get a look in. Rhule and Skosan certainly havn't been poor but Combrinck will probably add more value if the 3rd test keeps to the pattern of the two before. Another boot, more power, better positioning (assuming) and better presence in contact should see us go better on the right winger's side.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Both teams have looked fairly even for the opening 20 minutes (of the first two games) but after that the Springboks have 'gotten into gear' and cruised away. I can't see the third test being any different.

Has the SA team been announced and will they blood some younger players now the series is won?

In Jo'Burg we could even see the score being more inflated if anything. This is the home ground of 50% of our players and traditionally our best hunting ground. Might we see a deflated France or would they be even more motivated for the 3rd? Ourselves I think won't lie down even with 2 games won as we are still hurting from a horror 2016.

I doubt we will see any experimentation from AC. If anything we might see Combrinck coming back into the team at 14 and Hougaard will add more experience at 9. Remember this is still a very 'new-look' and inexperienced Bok side. I mean, Mostert, JL du Preez, Marx are all test rookies in the forwards while Kitshoff, Malherbe, Kolisi, PSdT and Whiteley aren't exactly veterans themselves nevermind the backline where I think everyone combined don't have as many caps as Hougaard on his own. Not even close.

 

[Big_Grumper]

I was really impressed by the hooker last week vs. France. Can't remember his name but he was very mobile, great in the loose and carried well into contact. Is he a newbie too? He looked young.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I was really impressed by the hooker last week vs. France. Can't remember his name but he was very mobile, great in the loose and carried well into contact. Is he a newbie too? He looked young.

Malcolm Marx. Quite young (22) and though the first test wasn't his debut he is quite new to the setup having only played in two tests before this season.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

What I am expecting (but not necessarily hoping for);

(age and caps in brackets)
1 Mtawarira (31/89)
2 Marx (22/4)
3 Malherbe (26/17)
4 Etzebeth (25/56)
5 Mostert (26/9)
6 Kolisi (26/18)
7 Du Preez (21/3)
8 Whiteley (29/17)
9 Hougaard (29/41) (cn't believe hougaard only has 41 caps LOL- I assumed it'd be nearer to 60)
10 Jantjies (26/13)
11 Skosan (25/2)
12 Serfontein (24/28)
13 Jesse Kriel (23/18)
14 Rhule (24/2)
15 Coetzee (27/2)

16 Mbonambi (26/7)
17 Kitshoff (25/12)
18 Oosthuizen (28/25)
19 Du Toit (24/22)
20 Jaco Kriel (27/7)
21 Paige ? (he is in the squad though he rally shouldn't be IMO...) (27/7)
22 Steyn ? (still no-one else brought up) (30/55)
23 Combrinck () (since both Mapoe and Venter are with the SA 'A' side and I don't think AC will start Combrinck from other than the bench even if at least this test only)

 

[Big_Grumper]

Who was the flanker that came on last week (tall, blonde hair) after the starting flanker got injured? He played well and deserves a starting berth based on that performance.

 

[SomeOke]

Who was the flanker that came on last week (tall, blonde hair) after the starting flanker got injured? He played well and deserves a starting berth based on that performance.

Jean-luc Du Preez, very much a rising star in SA rugby and one of the stand-out performers of the Super Rugby season. He actually has a twin brother who plays 8 for the Sharks as well, but Dan du Preez is slightly less talented I'd say.
Very exciting player with hopefully a long career ahead of him, still needs to perform consistently for a few seasons before I go all out fan-girl. We've had players before who've had one good season and then kind of fizzled out.

The team is young with a lot of potential but I'll need at least one year of decent performances before I shake off the pessimism of last year.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

A good analysis of South Africa.

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/analysis-kolisi-jantjies-key-to-bok-revival/

Glad to read someone saying Jantjies can actually defend, something I've been saying since I saw him.

 

[Big_Grumper]

That's an interesting article. The future certainly look looks promising.

 

[SomeOke]

Elton Jantjies is very much in the mold of Quade Cooper in that he's a confidence player that can bust one week and blunder the next.

That said he's definitely capable of stringing multiple good performances together if he plays in a team that understands him and his confidence is high. I have my doubts about him in the long term, but if he can continue to produce performances like he did in the past two weeks I'll be happy. Unfortunately SA is in a situation at the moment where all of our possible fly-halves have huge question marks over their heads. Lambie and Pollard have both struggled to get a consistent injury free run (and neither player has been fantastically consistent) and the other guys are either too inexperienced to be considered (Rob du Preez, Bosch) or slightly baffling that they are in contention due to being journeyman for so long (Lionel Cronje, Fred Zeilinger).

The jersey is definitely his to lose at this point however, he's now played well in two tests, running a back line that has a heavy Lions influence and utilizes a more Lions-like set-up. He's the man for the job if he can keep his confidence, but he has let me down before.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I think Elton's level is a fair bit below last year, but he's a reasonable 10 if he isn't being asked to focus on territorial kicking. He is not gods gift but I'd take him over any French 10 for example.

I think he was very average in matches where he wasn't paired with Faf last year. If he can have a similar quality game without his clubmate Cronje it'd be a big development for him.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Gotcha. Are Newlands and Loftus Versfeld still known that way?

It depends on the stadium sponsor... Newlands is actually now called DHL Newlands, Loftus Versfeld hasn't changed. Kings Park in Durban is now called Growthpoint Kings Park.

I'm interested to see what AC does for this weekend. We already won the series, so maybe it's time to make some calculated risks. Maybe try a new combination and see what happens.

I'd like to see Kitshoff and Coenie Oosthuizen start with Beast and Malherbe on the bench, just to swap around. At lock, I'd like to see PSDT line-up with Etzebeth, and in the loose trio, give Jaco Kriel a chance. Keep Du Preez on the bench.

Hougie should surely start at scrumhalf, with Paige on the bench, seeing that no replacement was called up.

Elton seems to get his confidence back, so I'll keep him at 10 (By the way, did you guys see that Handre Pollard is on the bench for the SA "A" team)

With Mapoe and Venter playing for the A team, Serfontein and Kriel will probably start, with Steyn on the bench. Ruan Combrink has been released to play for the Lions, so I can't see much change in the back 3, maybe Leyds will get a start in place of Rhule?