Wales v. South Africa in DC

[Jer1cho]

Bok Team for the Wales game:

15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Travis Ismaeiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Warrick Gelant

Says a lot about what the 'real' Bok team is going to look like. Still looking forward to the game. Hope Akker and Gelant get decent runs from the bench.
So from the players not going, this could be the Bok team for England:

15. Willie le Roux
14. Sibusiso Nkosi
13. Lukhanyo Am
12. Frans Steyn
11. Aphiwe Dyantyi
10. Handré Pollard

9. Faf de Klerk

8. Duane Vermeulen
7. Jean-Luc du Preez
6. Siya Kolisi
5. Franco Mostert
4. RG Snyman
3. Trevor Nyakane
2. Bismarck du Plessis
1. Tendai Mtawarira

 

[unrated]

Says a lot about what the 'real' Bok team is going to look like. Still looking forward to the game. Hope Akker and Gelant get decent runs from the bench.
So from the players not going, this could be the Bok team for England:

15. Willie le Roux
14. Sibusiso Nkosi
13. Lukhanyo Am
12. Frans Steyn
11. Aphiwe Dyantyi
10. Handré Pollard

9. Faf de Klerk

8. Duane Vermeulen
7. Jean-Luc du Preez
6. Siya Kolisi
5. Franco Mostert
4. RG Snyman
3. Trevor Nyakane
2. Bismarck du Plessis
1. Tendai Mtawarira

That's the most likely starting team. While both teams looks strong i feel that the team to face England will be stronger with a combination of players from the Wales and England squads.
So while i'm happy that AM has been picked it might still be a better idea to start Kriel alongside Frans Steyn, Kriel is not only on form just like AM but he also has the experience.

Maybe Gelant over le Roux to start vs England. i DO like le Roux but maybe a start of the bench would be a better idea compared to gelants form and the fact that he is coming from Europe.

Then lastly we need to play our newly appointed vice captain in the first meaningful test of 2018. PSDT has to start against England.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well Rassie has hinted that guys starting against Wales could start against England too. Which I hope is the case with a guy like PSDT, who is IMHO a way better choice for "Mr. Stormer" instead of Kolisi.

 

[mdaclarke]

Is this an official test match? Will the players be cap tied to the Boks after the match? If so there are a lot of new players who will be otherwise be of interest to the Scots and Irish. (Andre Esterhuizen, Kwagga Smith to think of 2)

 

[dullonien]

Is this an official test match? Will the players be cap tied to the Boks after the match? If so there are a lot of new players who will be otherwise be of interest to the Scots and Irish. (Andre Esterhuizen, Kwagga Smith to think of 2)

Yup. There's no friendlies in international rugby (baabaas aside).

 

[SomeOke]

If so there are a lot of new players who will be otherwise be of interest to the Scots and Irish. (Andre Esterhuizen, Kwagga Smith to think of 2)

They can get their grubby Celtic paws off!

 

[User1245]

Bok Team for the Wales game:

15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Travis Ismaeiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Warrick Gelant

7 debutants in the starting 15 and 6 uncapped players on the bench... Some exciting players in the mix but I don't feel good about this. I don't know many of the Welsh players but I don't think we'll beat Wales. Just a gut feeling.

 

[mdaclarke]

I think it looks like quite a strong Boks team. Shows the Boks have good strength in depth

 

[Shaggy]

They can get their grubby Celtic paws off!

Wouldn't Kwagga be non selectable for other countries anyway, due to him being capped for South Africa in sevens?

Either way, good to see him getting his opportunity in test rugby

 

[MikeTheNative]

Wales Team:
Hallam Amos; Tom Prydie, George North, Owen Watkin, Steff Evans; Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Elliot Dee, Dillon Lewis; Cory Hill, Bradley Davies; Seb Davies, Ellis Jenkins (capt), Ross Moriarty.

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Wyn Jones, Rhodri Jones, Adam Beard, Aaron Wainwright, Aled Davies, Rhys Patchell/Gareth Davies, Hadleigh Parkes.

A few positives but a lot of questions about this team for me, I don't think this team can win the game.
Positives are Tomos Williams and Dillon Lewis getting their first proper chances and Dee, Watkins and Jenkins, Seb Davies get more game time to try full fill their potentials. However other than 9/10 (and 9 is untested at this level) I don't think there is any part of the team I'm particularly happy with.
Front Row, I'm happy with Lewis and Dee getting starts for the future but I really worry about scrum time especially since Nicky Smith has in the past struggled at international level. 2nd row is fine I suppose, not too bad for a 2nd string side but they aren't excatly world beaters. Back Row, Moriaty and Jenkins 7,8, that's a good combo and hope it works well however Seb Davies is the most naturally gifted 2nd row since Alun Wyn Jones's debut 10 years ago, yet Gatland seems to what to play him anywhere but in the row, despite Wales having loads of back row options and not much depth there. 9/10 are on form and deserve there chance, those two I would have picked. Centres, glad that Watkins is getting some game time and he does look like Wales's starting centre for the future. As for North, I'm not opposed to trying him at centre however I don't think trying him alongside a Rookie with a few caps is the best way to go about it. For me pairing him with Parkes (I know he has only a few caps) would have been the more sensible option. Back 3, Evans and Amos are there on merit and both deserve the start. Prydie get's there by being last mean standing due to injuries and Adams not being allowed to tour. He's not a bad player but you would hope that Wales could produce a more exciting player. Main worry about this back 3 I have is the lack of pace, SA always has thay in spades on the wing so I think that's something they will target.
As for the bench I don't think them coming on will change the game (for the better anyway) but there's a few young guys who deserve their chance, hoping Wainwright gets some good game time. Patchell carrying a knock so there's a chance that Parkes could be 10 cover and having 2 9s on the bench, I have no idea why they didn't bring Jarroyd Evans as 3rd choice 10. I'm still unsure about Aled Davies at this level but biggest question mark of all is Rohdri Jones covering tight head. I feel sorry for him to be honest, your never going to turn down playing for your country but even he himself admitted that it just doesn't work.

 

[Thingimubob]

Had a quick scout of the betting odds and SA appear be heavy favourites over Wales - SA 1/3 v Wales 5/2

Not quite sure it's that heavily towards SA considering the amount of players making their debuts for the Boks. Bit of an unknown as both teams aren't hugely experienced, so my guess is that it's fairly even going in at this stage. That said we're notoriously shite in the first game of our June Tours so wouldn't shock me if we're rubbish and get hammered...

Fairly happy with the Welsh team anyway - huge fan of Tomos Williams who has been on great form the past two seasons for the Blues, happy to see him finally capped! Watkin in my mind will be our regular starting 12 sooner rather than later, so excited to see what he can do with North outside him. Seb Davies isn't really a 6, so would feel better if he was starting at lock, but I think he's rangy and hard working enough to put a good shift in at 6 and to allow Ellis Jenkins to do his thing at the breakdown.

The scrum is a bit of a worry as it isn't Smith's strong suit, Lewis is still quite inexperienced at this level and the bench options aren't going to shore things up if things go badly.

One thing that has majorly annoyed me is that they've left out Jarrod Evans who has been the form Welsh 10 at regional level. If Patch has to pull out and then Anscombe goes down early then that will definitely come back to bite the selectors...

 

[SomeOke]

Had a quick scout of the betting odds and SA appear be heavy favourites over Wales - SA 1/3 v Wales 5/2
Not quite sure it's that heavily towards SA considering the amount of players making their debuts for the Boks. Bit of an unknown as both teams aren't hugely experienced, so my guess is that it's fairly even going in at this stage. That said we're notoriously shite in the first game of our June Tours so wouldn't shock me if we're rubbish and get hammered...

Yep, I wouldn't be surprised if we get hammered for the same reason:

15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Travis Ismaeiel, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Robert du Preez, 23 Warrick Gelant

Bolded names are debutants or have 3 caps or less, yikes.

That said it's a team with a lot of talent / future hopefuls.

Everyone on the team has been on good form this year with the possible exception of Ivan van Zyl (hasn't played much) and Travis Ismaiel (looked great at the beginning of the season but hasn't quite looked the same since injury).

Jantjies / Esterhuizen / Kriel could easily be the first team Bok 10 / 12 /13 though, in a slightly different universe.
Oupa is underrated in my opinion, and Dan is a hard worker and solid player. Kwagga is a special guy who can win games by himself on the day, PTSD and Louw are world class.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Who's watching?

Gonna guess the crowd is miniscule.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

No interest in the pre-amble so I'm gonna get my ass kicked on UFC3 online until 21:59

Apparently weather forecast is torrential rain/thunder and lightning, which won't help walk up crowd size

 

[TommiG88]

Watching, but not expecting a classic

Edit: Small crowd.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Oh my God this is a ******* shambles hahahahaa

 

[Aristodemus]

Electric atmosphere!

 

[ratsapprentice]

Oh my God this is a ******* shambles hahahahaa

The slapdash tactics used to promote the game in the US are ******* mindblowing.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

The slapdash tactics used to promote the game in the US are ******* mindblowing.

At least there's No one there to see it

 

[TRF_Olyy]

This is so shoddy,
The cameras are terrible, the ref mic isn't working or isn't there, who knows

Even the logos are too big from the graphics so are cut off