[RWC2023] South Africa vs Ireland (23/09/2023)

[Leonormous Boozer]

https://x.com/CianTracey1/status/1704458605649408421?s=20

Unperturbed.

This is going to be so much fun. Wish Jacko was fit to bench though, prefer him to Baird in this one.

 

[Smurfy]

https://x.com/CianTracey1/status/1704458605649408421?s=20

Unperturbed.

This is going to be so much fun. Wish Jacko was fit to bench though, prefer him to Baird in this one.

I wonder if they'll go for McCarthy's power ahead of Henderson On the bench. I thought Henderson was good against Tonga after a run of poor performance, but I quite like the idea of McCarthy for this game. For me that's the only place up for grabs now Conan is out.

 

[ShropshireAllBlack]

Faz is clearly planning to play his own game with a 5:3 split on the bench. I think Rassie announces the team early in the week in the hope of trying to force his opponent into selecting a team to counter the SA selection.
With regard to showing Ireland too much respect, I think that Jacques & Rassie don't believe that they can beat this Irish team with a conventional bench. It's a relatively low risk, high reward strategy. Unless Ireland tonk SA (very unlikely), at worst they take a losing bonus point and can still progress from the pool. They'll plan to meet Ireland at the final and have learned something from the pool game.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I wonder if they'll go for McCarthy's power ahead of Henderson On the bench. I thought Henderson was good against Tonga after a run of poor performance, but I quite like the idea of McCarthy for this game. For me that's the only place up for grabs now Conan is out.

Neither. Faz going to counter the 7:1 with a 4:4 and have Baird cover both lock and back row.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I suppose I could stick around to watch this insignificant cripple fight between 2 minnows after the glorious England take on the giants of Chili.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I suppose I could stick around to watch this insignificant cripple fight between 2 minnows after the glorious England take on the giants of Chili.

Would you stop. You'll upset the new Scottish guy.

 

[ncurd]

I trust our coaches 100%. They turned us into a World Class team, won us a WC, and we essentially sit with 2 full strength teams at this tournament, who are peaking at the right time. All the haters can hate. We invented the bomb squad, and now it's a nuke squad. Deal with it. If it bites us, we think we are good enough to deal with that too. Bring it.

Must of this is nonsense. And the kinda that riles up neutral fans to not liking your team.

However invented the bomb squad? You more or less legally have to have a replacement front row on the bench. They've been coming off and switching at 50-60 mins for decades. All SA managed to do was have a generation of players where there wasn't a noticeable drop in quality and gave it a cool nickname. C'mon have some awareness!


As an aside I can't this working well. The front row is one thing but you don't have take off locks/flankers that are having a blinding game. The risk is too high the other guy performs poorly. Equally if your backs are ******** the bed it five you zero option to change that up.

So what's the reward you might get some fresher legs in more forward positions if you need them. Which isn't common and they rarely make impact.

Let's put it this 6:2 rarely looks like a work genuis. Doubling down won't as well. Medium risk, low reward in my mind.

 

[Smurfy]

Neither. Faz going to counter the 7:1 with a 4:4 and have Baird cover both lock and back row.

I'd go 3:5 and really confuse them.

 

[saulan]

I can understand, and don't have an issue with, their 7:1 split as it plays to their strengths. What I cant understand though is Kriel for Moodie. If you believe that you can overwhelm the Irish forwards why weaken your attack by selecting a superior defender ahead of a superior attacker? I'm quite pleased that Ireland will be facing an excellent direct runner rather than a mercurial and creative distributor like Moodie.

I think Moodie did a great job against New Zealand, but against Romania he showed he definitely has some room to develop in terms of decision making, and generally Kriel is one of our better defenders. Given the gameplan seems to be strangle Ireland, it's makes sense that the play is to bring in the player that is going to be better at that than the flair type player.

Really what we need to do well in this game is the same disruption in the backline of rushing up that we did to Scotland, while pummeling the rucks to slow down the ball. But then also be aware on getting good coverage in the chip over the top. Ireland were decent at countering us with this last year and we need to get on top of it. Scotland had opportunities to chip over the rush defense two weeks ago, but always looked to play it, which got them in trouble. I think the Irish has more versatility to counter us here.

 

[saulan]

I'd go 3:5 and really confuse them.

4 of the 5 being scrumhalves, right?

 

[Smurfy]

I think Moodie did a great job against New Zealand, but against Romania he showed he definitely has some room to develop in terms of decision making, and generally Kriel is one of our better defenders. Given the gameplan seems to be strangle Ireland, it's makes sense that the play is to bring in the player that is going to be better at that than the flair type player.

Really what we need to do well in this game is the same disruption in the backline of rushing up that we did to Scotland, while pummeling the rucks to slow down the ball. But then also be aware on getting good coverage in the chip over the top. Ireland were decent at countering us with this last year and we need to get on top of it. Scotland had opportunities to chip over the rush defense two weeks ago, but always looked to play it, which got them in trouble. I think the Irish has more versatility to counter us here.

The counter argument to that is Ireland have the top ranked defence in international rugby this year in terms of tries conceded, and as we saw in November, even when they are seriously under the cosh they don't give up scores easily. It is hugely presumptuous to believe that simply because your coaches plan to strangle Ireland that we will comply (not a criticism of your observations incidentally), and it is always handy to have a plan B against a side like Ireland, or France/NZ etc.

 

[saulan]

The counter argument to that is Ireland have the top ranked defence in international rugby this year in terms of tries conceded, and as we saw in November, even when they are seriously under the cosh they don't give up scores easily. It is hugely presumptuous to believe that simply because your coaches plan to strangle Ireland that we will comply (not a criticism of your observations incidentally), and it is always handy to have a plan B against a side like Ireland, or France/NZ etc.

I mean, I don't think there is much in it in terms of the differences in defenses here. Apart from a terrible ten minutes in New Zealand at the start of the game, our defense has been our top weapon, and against the same opposition (Romania and Scotland) SA have conceded less points/tries. But I don't think it's all relevant. This is a case of two teams that are very strong defensively playing against each other.

I would say that we have gotten a lot more effective in our system as the year has progressed, and it was telling against both New Zealand and Scotland. Not making any presumptions on my end that Ireland will comply btw, they obviously will not want to. I think it's all going to be a case of who can enforce their gameplan on the day onto the opposition. There is a chance again that there is some runaway points from Ireland and then we can't get back in it.

I don't think this will be a high scoring game in general. Think it will be similar to last year's 19-16 or to our World Cup semi-final with Wales last time.

 

[unrated]

I mean, you have to live in South Africa so...

 

[Jer1cho]

Must of this is nonsense. And the kinda that riles up neutral fans to not liking your team.

However invented the bomb squad? You more or less legally have to have a replacement front row on the bench. They've been coming off and switching at 50-60 mins for decades. All SA managed to do was have a generation of players where there wasn't a noticeable drop in quality and gave it a cool nickname. C'mon have some awareness!


As an aside I can't this working well. The front row is one thing but you don't have take off locks/flankers that are having a blinding game. The risk is too high the other guy performs poorly. Equally if your backs are ******** the bed it five you zero option to change that up.

So what's the reward you might get some fresher legs in more forward positions if you need them. Which isn't common and they rarely make impact.

Let's put it this 6:2 rarely looks like a work genuis. Doubling down won't as well. Medium risk, low reward in my mind.

Whatever helps you cope boet.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

after all this build this game will end up being a dud

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

after all this build this game will end up being a dud

Last November was a monumental battle but it was far from an entertaining game of rugby.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I'm expecting it to be entertaining. Definitely not in a flinging the ball around, scoring end-to-end tries kind of way but in a watching the 2 best defences in the world beat the **** out of each other kind of way.

 

[General Melchett]

after all this build this game will end up being a dud

I doubt we'll see much free flow attacking rugby. It could quite easily come down to a scrum penalty and then kick at goal to win the game.

This one is a classic case of styles make fights and that is where the intrigue lies. I trust both teams to execute their coaches' tactics in the main and so let's see which style wins the day.

 

[O’Doyle Rules]

Any news on the probable Irish team?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Any news on the probable Irish team?

Thornley:

IRELAND v South Africa (possible): Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, David Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, Iain Henderson, Joe McCarthy, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Robbie Henshaw.