The Springboks take on the British and Irish Lions in an eagerly anticipated 3 test series starting in Durban this Saturday 20th June. Since 1997, the Boks have been waiting for their chance to exact revenge on the Lions for a humiliating 2-1 series loss.
There are many things that make the ’97 series similar to this one. Both were taken at a time when the Boks were World Champions. Both Lions teams were coached by McGeechan, and both series have the Springboks as strong favourites.
This time around, I think things are quite different. At the moment South Africa has so many talented players to pick from, lots of experience, and heaps of game breakers. Last time around South Africa had a new coach, (Carel du Plessis) and a captain that was quite inexperienced at International level in Gary Teichmann. This time round the Boks, have a settled squad, settled coach, and have been focused on this series for a long time. The Lions, well they always produce a strong side being able to draw on 4 nations, but on paper they simply can’t match the class of the South Africans.
The first game sets the tone for the series, and as the Springboks found out last time; lose the first game and the pressure intensifies like something you’ve never experienced. The down side for the Boks, is the lack of game time for most of their players, but that also has it’s advantages in being well rested, and fresh. The large number of Bulls players should negate that, and the confidence they’ll bring will rub off on the rest of the squad.
The Lions under McGeechan, will once again rely on taking the Boks on physically up front. They’ll look for set-piece dominance and accurate goal kicking. In Stephen Jones and Ronan O’Gara they have sharper shooters than the Boks, but less try scoring ability out wide. There are still some dangerous backs, but they don’t have the class right through the backline, or the experience of using them against top class opposition.
The Lions have to go hard out to win the first game in Durban, as the series then moves to the highveld for the remaining 2 test matches. They struggle to win 1, let alone 2 at altitude, so they have to go up 1-0 in Durban to have any chance in the series. The element of surprise is their best hope.
I’m picking the Springboks to win 3-0. The Boks should be too strong up front. The scrum won’t dominate, but holding it’s own will be enough. The lineouts with Matfield and Botha will be much superior to the Lions and then around the field the Boks have faster and stronger ball carriers. Whilst Pienaar has his critics and many believe he’s underdone, I’m picking him to really shine this series. In my view he is a great flyhalf and has all the skills. He’s done a lot of work on his kicking, and that’ll really help the Boks.
The rest of the Springbok backline will be too good for the Lions, with Habana set to have a blinder of a series. He’s a man for the big occasion, and he’ll prove that once again. The one area that concerns me is fullback, but i’m sure Steyn will be solid if not spectacular. That’ll be enough.
I can’t wait for kickoff on Saturday, i’m sure there’s going to be a lot of niggle, physical stuff and plenty of fireworks. But at the end of it all, the Boks will emerge victorious by about 15 points…
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Grey College 26 – 21 B&I Lions
Good morning Sanjay
What a game. I watched it with my good friend Deon Vosloo, one a clock Sunday morning in Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
The Lions painted Durban red mate. Did you see how many supporters for the Lions were on the stadium? Man what a contest. My prediction was one point out. I said the BOKS will win by 6.
My man of the match is – Heinrich Brüssow. (Free State, Cheetah and Grey College boy) “Brüssow’s try was the result of a period of play that made the Boks look streets better than their opponents.”
The other Grey College boy Ruan Pienaar made no mistakes. He is brilliant mate. And there were the Beast – man this man is so excited to watch. Between Brüssow and Beast will be the Springbok stars in the 2011 world cup here in New Zealand.
Steyn on full back were average. O yes he is a Cheetah made boy too. What happened with Spies? He could have stayed at home!
It is a pity that the Boks only played for 47 minutes. When the star, Heinrich Brüssow and the general John Smit left the field everything turned to custard! Luckily John came back for the last 5 minutes and saved it for the Springboks.
I am rating the individual player’s performance for this game out of 10:
Frans Steyn – 6/10
JP Pietersen – 6/10
Adi Jacobs – 4/10
Jean de Villiers – 5/10
Bryan Habana – 5/10
Ruan Pienaar – 8/10
Fourie du Preez – 7/10
Pierre Spies – 3/10
Juan Smith – 7/10
Heinrich Brussow – 10/10
Victor Matfield – 7/10
Bakkies Botha – 7/10
John Smit (k), – 9/10
Bismarck du Plessis – 8/10
Beast Mtawarira – 9/10
Keep up the good work.
Deon Wessels
Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Hello Deon,
Thanks for your comment. What planet are you on? This is not about Bloemfontein!
Thanks also for your player ratings, I mostly agree with you! Brussow doesn’t deserve a 10 though just because he is from Grey College! He did well but didn’t dominate. He was part of a good collective effort.
Sanjay
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:36 am
My friend Sanjay
Something I find very hard to understand is why you can’t give credit to any Free State players. I know it is hard but sooner rather than later you will need to make peace with the fact that the Free State are the breeding machine for some of the best international rugby stars.
Keep up the good work
Deon
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 am
Hey Deon,
I do give credit to them. The problem is there aren’t many of them in the Boks!
Juan Smith is one of my favourite players, and Brussow played quite well. All I am saying is that Brussow got no turnovers, and wasn’t the threat at the breakdown he was supposed to be. He scored a good try, but almost anyone at the back of the maul should’ve got that.
What more can I say? The FS does produce some good players, however if they were so good why did FS come last in the Super 14? And why don’t they have more Boks?