South Africa squad for England tests

[dewaldt hermann]

dewaldt hermann says he thinks the bokke is the best playing team in the world

 

[Peat]

Considering that SA were second best to a not particularly adept England pack at the breakdown, I think dispensing with Brussow would be a little premature...

 

[Darwin]

Considering that SA were second best to a not particularly adept England pack at the breakdown, I think dispensing with Brussow would be a little premature...

Yeah, they turned an area that should have been a major strength into a weakness..... In saying that they still won the game comfortably, so it didn't cost them (in that game at least), and they did benefit from the extra ball runners in their loose trio...

 

[Peat]

Yeah, they turned an area that should have been a major strength into a weakness..... In saying that they still won the game comfortably, so it didn't cost them (in that game at least), and they did benefit from the extra ball runners in their loose trio...

Yeah, it worked, because our pack wilted and our backline was shat. The trio of runners might well have had something to do with that, but I don't think it was a match to take away massive validation from.

In saying this, I'll stand by the principle it takes more than an openside to clear a breakdown. More than the Brussow call needs looking at. But slotting in Brussow instead of Spies would be an excellent call imo.

 

[User1245]

Yeah, it worked, because our pack wilted and our backline was shat. The trio of runners might well have had something to do with that, but I don't think it was a match to take away massive validation from.

In saying this, I'll stand by the principle it takes more than an openside to clear a breakdown. More than the Brussow call needs looking at. But slotting in Brussow instead of Spies would be an excellent call imo.

Totally agree with that. Spies is a show pony with one good trick.
Brussow is one of the few players in SA that plays 'too the ball', while most of our loose forwards are meat heads (good ones though).
In 1st Test against England, once again our attacking ball retention was shat. Our players just don't seem to be mindful of where the ball is. If Brussow comes in the starting 15 and just did that the whole game he would be offering more value than Spies.