RWC: South Africa vs Fiji (17-09-2011, 18:00)

[SelimNiai]

Dissapointed with Fiji, I was hoping/expecting them to offer a lot more in this.

 

[Wally]

Dissapointed with Fiji, I was hoping/expecting them to offer a lot more in this.

So did my 20 bucks on the +20 line

 

[Jman227]

Does anyone else find it stupid that if the referee notices an infringement he calls advantage and then advantage over if the attacking team makes a good play; but if the assistant ref notices an infringement he puts his flag up and waits for a stoppage in play before calling the penalty, and the penalty is always given even if the advantage would have been over long ago.

 

[TNT88]

I know it's only Fiji, but Frans Steyn at 12 seems to be a good move.

 

[TNT88]

Does anyone else find it stupid that if the referee notices an infringement he calls advantage and then advantage over if the attacking team makes a good play; but if the assistant ref notices an infringement he puts his flag up and waits for a stoppage in play before calling the penalty, and the penalty is always given even if the advantage would have been over long ago.

There is no advantage for foul play. And when the linesman sticks his flag up, it is only ever for foul play. Therefore bringing it back is justified (if the on field ref sees foul play he should always pull it up instantly)

 

[SelimNiai]

Does anyone else find it stupid that if the referee notices an infringement he calls advantage and then advantage over if the attacking team makes a good play; but if the assistant ref notices an infringement he puts his flag up and waits for a stoppage in play before calling the penalty, and the penalty is always given even if the advantage would have been over long ago.

In that moment the infringement could have carried a harsher ruling, sinbins etc, and so it was something the lino had to raise and make the ref aware of it. Poite didnt see the late hit on Lambie but both the linos did

 

[Seaton]

Does anyone else find it stupid that if the referee notices an infringement he calls advantage and then advantage over if the attacking team makes a good play; but if the assistant ref notices an infringement he puts his flag up and waits for a stoppage in play before calling the penalty, and the penalty is always given even if the advantage would have been over long ago.

Aye, that and when a team has a scrum advantage, and the opposition commits a penalisable offence, the ref goes back for the scrum as opposed to awarding a penalty.

Combination of Fiji being poor, and the Boks good (Morne Steyn made a sidestep ) today. Decent game.

 

[Jer1cho]

I hope all you neutrals took note of our boring useless rubbish kicking rugby.

On a serious note, I hope Jean de Villiers never ever recovers. Francois Steyn was a god tonight. Our backline was transformed with him there.

We were very, very good tonight.

 

[BladeMode]

Springboks showing why they are world champions. Game on. Very happy with my team. Awesome display of intent.

 

[SelimNiai]

I hope all you neutrals took note of our boring useless rubbish kicking rugby.

On a serious note, I hope Jean de Villiers never ever recovers. Francois Steyn was a god tonight. Our backline was transformed with him there.

We were very, very good tonight.

Steyn was top notch tonight, think too much emphasis is placed on his kicking when at 15. Playing in the centre means he is forced to use his hands to help SA gain territory rather than by his foot like he did against us.

 

[Bossco]

I hope all you neutrals took note of our boring useless rubbish kicking rugby.

Which makes PDV's insistence that the Boks can only compete in the big games by reverting back to the pressure/kicking away possession all the more flawed...

We saw what the backs can do when they are allowed to play like that, like a completely different team and world class.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Fiji are a much better team than the scoreline suggests but weren't allowed to get momentum going; a number of tackle busts down the middle and a few instances of getting going but then they were stopped just as fast as they got going by a very resolute and organised defense.

Gald to see some attacking intent from the Bokke and hope they keep the confidence in their running and supporting game throughout the tournament BUT only once the platform has been laid; it got very messy at times but I suppose the game was beyond Fiji at that stage and SA got a fever and were impatient. Better than the attacking intent IMO was the focus was up for most of the game; how often have we seen this side rest on their laurels when ahead by 20 points.?. and the communication between players (except for a few embarrassing instances like Steyn passing to Lambie who didn't expect the ball and then effectively running him over LOL).

General handling improved a bit from last week and most of the kicks were on target and chased but there is still a LOT of work/space for improvement and we got turned over too many times at the breakdown. Again that 1st time tackling around the fringes let us down at times as well.

 

[TRF_heineken]

We have have a running fly-half!! Who would've thunk??

Great game by Danie!
The Benchmarck was again awesome when he came on!!

actually nobody played badly... missed a few tackles in the first half especially, but amazing to see Fiji not scoring a single try... by the way who was that Giant that came on in the second half for Fiji?? Brussouw looked like a midget next to him!!

 

[Muzzy]

We have have a running fly-half!! Who would've thunk??

Great game by Danie!
The Benchmarck was again awesome when he came on!!

actually nobody played badly... missed a few tackles in the first half especially, but amazing to see Fiji not scoring a single try... by the way who was that Giant that came on in the second half for Fiji?? Brussouw looked like a midget next to him!!

that must have been Sisa Koyamaibole, hopefully he'll be starting at number 8 from now on and not Matadigo

SA lifted the tempo hugely from last week, Fiji started out ok at the beginning and the game looked close at the start, but too many penalty's, poor tackling and poor catching, Fiji were terrible under the high ball and could have done with the likes of Koyamaibole and Talei to start to deal with the physical SA forwards, i really hope these guys will be starting next week coz they'll need them against Samoa, coz Samoa's forwards should be much the same. Burger and Russow were awesome, I was disappointed with Fiji's blindside flanker Waqaniburotu, i really rated this guy before but he's been missing a lot of tackles lately, he missed 5 against Namibia and i know he missed a few against SA tonight, but then idk how much he had to make. Talei came on for him and looked much better especially in tackles. Maybe Waqaniburotu can still start at lock though. The lock Nakarawa looked great against Namibia and during the whole PNC, he played well tonight too but didn't look physical enough, Leweravu looked much more physical.
Nalaga played brilliantly for Fiji, his work rate was huge, often having to play among the forwards for parts of the game, i can't wait to see him for the western force. Luveniyali's kicks were surprisingly decent, but then Nicky Little came on and did look a lot more composed and brought more structure to the back line, I would have rated Bai as a better first five than Luveniyali, but he also plays really well at 12, so maybe Fiji will have to bring Little back at 10. Lovobalavu was good again and made some great tackles, but i want to see how Vulivuli does at centre, he's more bigger and physical than Lovobalavu but its a tough call to know which will be better, i think he should at least be on the bench though. Many of the Fijian players looked very indecisive, except for the more experienced players and you could tell them apart from the inexperienced easily which isn't good. Matadigo was pretty shocking at times and as Marshall said was often out of position. Fiji had their moments in the game, there were moments where they built a great attack but South Africa did well to just shut them down, or Fiji would make an error at the last moment. Pieterson was brilliant for SA, often shutting down Fiji's attack by rushing up, sometimes offside so Fiji wouldn't be able to pass the ball out wide, classic SA tactic

All i can say is i hope Fiji will learn a lot from this game, i hope Samoa beat Wales tomorrow and i know Fiji can come back from this game and hopefully beat Samoa next week. Fiji showed they could come back from a heavy loss in the 07 world cup when they lost 55 - 12 against Australia, so hopefully history repeats itself and they come back a different team

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Just got home from the pub and it was truly awesome!!! 6 tries from 6 different players and to be honest... The most impressive part was after the final hooter went... We were in no rush to kick the ball out and end the match. I think I saw South Africa attacking 3 times over after the 80 minutes were up.

Rossouw and Spies are my Men of the Match. Those 2 were truly phenomenal. Also I noticed John Smit had a black eye even before the match started. Trouble at home?

We needed this win so badly, not just the 5 points but the way we did... Only giving away 3 points.

+
Attacking display
Offloading from the forwards
Running rugby

-
The number of turn-overs conceded
The number of knock-ons


All in all, a wonderful match to watch, almost getting to 50 points...

 

[andy8]

Well played Bokke....showed them big Pac Islanders all about defence and structure.
Francois Steyn......good game
Morne Steyn.....good game
Danie Rossouw....awesome
Pierre Spies......powerfull
Jaque Fourie.....good game
Heinrich Brussouw....great game
Ag they just about all had a good game

 

[Thingimubob]

that must have been Sisa Koyamaibole, hopefully he'll be starting at number 8 from now on and not Matadigo

SA lifted the tempo hugely from last week, Fiji started out ok at the beginning and the game looked close at the start, but too many penalty's, poor tackling and poor catching, Fiji were terrible under the high ball and could have done with the likes of Koyamaibole and Talei to start to deal with the physical SA forwards, i really hope these guys will be starting next week coz they'll need them against Samoa, coz Samoa's forwards should be much the same. Burger and Russow were awesome, I was disappointed with Fiji's blindside flanker Waqaniburotu, i really rated this guy before but he's been missing a lot of tackles lately, he missed 5 against Namibia and i know he missed a few against SA tonight, but then idk how much he had to make. Talei came on for him and looked much better especially in tackles. Maybe Waqaniburotu can still start at lock though. The lock Nakarawa looked great against Namibia and during the whole PNC, he played well tonight too but didn't look physical enough, Leweravu looked much more physical.
Nalaga played brilliantly for Fiji, his work rate was huge, often having to play among the forwards for parts of the game, i can't wait to see him for the western force. Luveniyali's kicks were surprisingly decent, but then Nicky Little came on and did look a lot more composed and brought more structure to the back line, I would have rated Bai as a better first five than Luveniyali, but he also plays really well at 12, so maybe Fiji will have to bring Little back at 10. Lovobalavu was good again and made some great tackles, but i want to see how Vulivuli does at centre, he's more bigger and physical than Lovobalavu but its a tough call to know which will be better, i think he should at least be on the bench though. Many of the Fijian players looked very indecisive, except for the more experienced players and you could tell them apart from the inexperienced easily which isn't good. Matadigo was pretty shocking at times and as Marshall said was often out of position. Fiji had their moments in the game, there were moments where they built a great attack but South Africa did well to just shut them down, or Fiji would make an error at the last moment. Pieterson was brilliant for SA, often shutting down Fiji's attack by rushing up, sometimes offside so Fiji wouldn't be able to pass the ball out wide, classic SA tactic

All i can say is i hope Fiji will learn a lot from this game, i hope Samoa beat Wales tomorrow and i know Fiji can come back from this game and hopefully beat Samoa next week. Fiji showed they could come back from a heavy loss in the 07 world cup when they lost 55 - 12 against Australia, so hopefully history repeats itself and they come back a different team

I think that Fiji actually named a 2nd team in that game in 07, because they had the Welsh up next and they were targeting that one as the one they could win. Wasn't this team pretty much full strength? Personally I wasn't that impressed with Fiji, they came as SA hammer on tongs for parts of the games, but SA never really and truly looked that worried in defence and seemed pretty much comfortable in holding them out. That said though, Nalaga really should've scored that, cracking tackle by JP Petersen

 

[Bokbe4k]

Great win, still a few things to be sorted out but Im not going to complain to much now, what really impressed me is that they kept Fiji from scoring a try. I must give Smit credit, he was probably the most improved player on the park today and as good as B du Plessis is, and we all know he is better than Smit in the all-round game, he isnt nearly as accurate as Smit in the lineout throws and the lineouts is probably our strongest attacking weapon and this where Smit excels. Anyway, congrats Boks I am sure the other teams have taken notice and unless Italy can pull off a miracle win against Ireland we will be playing the wannabes in the quarters which suits me fine.

 

[peks89]

why the hell did domoni throw our best forwards later on in the match?...boks looked like they were toying around with fiji the whole match..smashing

 

[Muzzy]

I think that Fiji actually named a 2nd team in that game in 07, because they had the Welsh up next and they were targeting that one as the one they could win. Wasn't this team pretty much full strength? Personally I wasn't that impressed with Fiji, they came as SA hammer on tongs for parts of the games, but SA never really and truly looked that worried in defence and seemed pretty much comfortable in holding them out. That said though, Nalaga really should've scored that, cracking tackle by JP Petersen

damn, yeah you're right i was just trying to find a positive spin on it. Nalaga did well though he would have scored that try if the pass wasn't forward and would have scored the other one if he didn't drop it, and he nearly made that try from nothing having to hold pieterson off the whole way. Fiji had good moments but just ****ed it up at the last moment.