Firstly extremely happy about the win! So much for staying in tonight
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It has to be said that Aus were very unlucky, I can't imagine how difficult it is to reshuffle a backline that much in one match, not to mention playing with 14 men for 10 minutes after the yellow, and then again right at the end after Polota-naus' injury. I still think they're a quality side.
Moving on to the Boks:
The good:
- Francois Louw had a fantantic game, along with Duane and Willem I feel our loose trio is looking really really good, Willem to make metres and Duane and Louw both amazing on the ground, slowing down Aussie ball, stealing on occasion and making sure we receive clean service.
- Our line-outs were great, Eben got two steals and in general just looked really solid, Bekker has been critisized a little but I think he's shown why he is a world class player, both as a line-out general and good in the loose.
- JDV looked much better in his prefered position, makes such a huge difference having a proper outside and inside, having two bashing insides was stifling our backline's creativity.
- Youngsters were sporadic but much improved, Goosen wasn't flawless, but he makes such a huge difference already, having a running threat at fly-half really gives the defence something to worry about which naturally forces them to narrow slightly giving us more space out wide, his distribution was also excellent. His kicking was poor but I've seen enough of his kicking to put it down to nerves. A few iffy decisions but that will come with time. Definitely the future. Taute was solid, but along with Hougard were the least prominent backs.
- HABANA!
The Bad:
- Goal kicking.
- Poor decision making at times.
- Scrums need a little work.
I'm really just nit-picking with the bad but I do definitely think there is room for improvement.
As for Lambie, I know a few posters are going to hate me for this but I haven't seen enough from him at this level to really justify dropping Zane, Kirchner always seems at least solid in a bok jersey.
In either case I'm super stoked, haven't been in such a good mood for weeks!