SA Test Results (2010-2015)

[delport500]

2010 - P14 W8 L6 (57%)
2011 - P9 W5 L4 (55%)
2012 - P12 W7 D2 L3 (58%)
2013 - P11 W9 L2 (81%)
2014 - P14 W10 L4 (71%)
2015 - P12 W7 L5 (58%)
2016 - ?

Very interesting.

 

[Ludders93]

12 Matches right. 3 vs Ireland, 6 in Rugby Championship and 3 tests in October/November.

I fully expect South Africa to sweep Ireland. Ireland peaked a couple of years ago, and have injuries for the tour. They have a poor away record as it is, and in South Africa I can't see them winning a test even against a new look South Africa.

The Rugby Championship will be interesting this year. Los Jaguares are looking disappointing in Super Rugby, and I can't see Argentina having a successful rugby championship this year. They'll fancy they can beat SA and Australia at home, but I wouldn't be surprised if they end the tournament having lost all 6.

Since New Zealand are clear favourites a pretty safe guess is South Africa end up with 4 wins. Beat Argentina home and away. Lose in New Zealand. Beat Australia at home. Then win 1 and lose 1 of Australia away and NZ at home, just not sure which!

Similar logic for the autumn internationals. The boks will beat Italy, and they have a great record at Twickenham. But the most likely outcome they end up winning 2 out of the 3 tests and losing in Cardiff or at Twickenham.

A long way to go, we shall see, but I'll go for 9 out of 12 and I doubt I'll be far off.

 

[delport500]

I expect only 2x wins for SA against Ireland. It's gonna be a new squad for SA and everything won't go exactly according to plan right from the start.

In the Rugby Championship I think SA will come away with 3 wins max. It's gonna be 1 against Australia (In SA)and both against Argentina.
The 2 tests between Australia and NZ should be good ones, although I still think NZ should win both.

All the upcoming tests in June should be awesome to watch. I'm giving England a very good chance in Aus. NZ to be dominant against Wales and SA against Ireland to be fairly evenly balanced.

 

[Ludders93]

I take your point about a new side, start of a new year, it's true Ireland could maybe nick a win in Cape Town in the first game or in Durban. But they're a really poor side.
They peaked over a year ago now, that defeat to Argentina was pretty destructive. And even 6 nations teams have caught up with their game plan of kick and defend.
They have injuries too, I could see them giving up a heavy score in J-Berg in the 2nd test and SA winning 3-0.

I think SA will finish above Australia this year in the rugby championship. Australia built really well for the world cup, sorting out their scrum, winning the rugby championship and getting Giteau and Mitchell in.
I still think their tight 5 is quite limited, and the boost they got from Cheika coming in could start to wear off.
I'm going to go for a bold call which is NZ get 6 wins, SA 4, Australia 2 and Argentina 0
I actually think England will win in Australia 2-1 too.

 

[smartcooky]

We lose McCaw, Carter, C Smith, Mealamu and Nonu in 2015; that is nearly 600 test caps of experience, and people still think we are favourites to win the RC in 2016?

That is breathtaking!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I have no idea what to expect from us ITO play style and selection but Toetie is a slightly conservative coach and loves systems. I do think he is a very capable selector though and he has taken the Stormers top of the SR log more than once with a limited squad particularly in the halves. Lambie and De Klerk will be incomparably better to the halves he has had to work with in the Cape. A lot of the players know him well and he isn't too dissimilar a coach from Meyer so I don't expect a 'culture shock' or revolutionary game changes. I think what we'll see is incremental changes on top of what the newer players bring individually.

This isn't a totally different side either. The tight five is pretty settled. The Du Plessis brothers are out but Strauss and Malherbe aren't new to the setup and neither is Pieter-Steph. We'll probably see both Louw and Vermeulen start and I'd expect Coetzee to bring in the others part-part. I expect Jaco Kriel to be on the bench as a replacement for Louw. De Klerk is new to the side but between Vermeulen and Lambie that should be fine and I am very excited about his inclusion and probable start. He has been our best scrum half for a while now and really should've been there last year at teh RWC. I don't fully expect him to have free reign in test rugby but we know what he offers.
In the centers we either have test experience or form. A pity we don't have both but we've been in much worse shape in the past IMO. JPP is in a bit of rare form even if not his youthful best and Le Roux seems more settled and Combrinck has been the form SA winger for 3 seasons now. We are in better shape than we were last year IMO. No reason to expect worse results.

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We lose McCaw, Carter, C Smith, Mealamu and Nonu in 2015; that is nearly 600 test caps of experience, and people still think we are favourites to win the RC in 2016?

That is breathtaking!

Its not news surely? Its down to good planning ITO continuity, retention and development of upcoming players in SR and having blooded those players' replacements.