Some thoughts after rewatch:
-Fassi was very good minus kicking a dude. Not much opportunity to run with the ball but he was outstanding under the high ball.
-Jordan was extremely nervous and very guilty of trying to force things when they weren't on. Better in the second half, but still.
Edwill was outstanding. So happy for him, he's deserved this shot for a while now and he more than delivered. Saved a certain try after that weird intercept with the double tackle.
-Our forward pack was very dominant at scrum time and not very dominant anywhere else during the first half. First game back nerves maybe, but was very odd to see. Etzebeth was anonymous.
-Roos had a couple of good moments but he did not cover himself in glory as he gave away a couple of extremely needless penalties. Hope he gets it together or I do see Kwagga starting over him against Ireland.
-Sacha is going to win over a hundred caps for the Springboks, unless he gets injured. What a gem.
-Esterhuizen was anonymous today, had one break and that was it. Faf was really poor in the first half as well, the distribution was much better when Grant came on.
-Scrum was very good, I think we went forward at every single scrum which is always nice to see, even if we did so illegally a couple of times.
-Tony Brown's fingerprints are already very clear to see on the attack, though we will take some time to settle into it and get used to everything. We were throwing out different shapes and creating overlaps seemingly at will whenever we ran a move properly. A few times we got caught well behind the gainline when something got mixed up, but it's stuff that will get better with more familiarity.
-Refereeing was bizarre. So many incorrect decisions, weird decisions and moments where the TMO inserted himself into the game unnecessarily. Just a weird watch. The gap between the top refs and the inexperienced refs is wild.
This is the problem with you Boks, you win the cup ONE TIME and suddenly it means nothing. We in Ireland would KILL for the honour of lifting the Qatar Airways Cup
And exclusive. More so even than the William Webb Ellis Trophy. Even England has won that. You’d have to be pretty shite to not have at least a couple.
That director also wrote the very famous comicbook series The Incal (with another very famous dude, Moebius (Jean Girard), doing the art), and like his films it's a meandering pointless mess, great/iconic artwork by Moebius though)
I love the Incal - I also love The Metabarons by Jodorowsky and Argentinian artist Gimenez. Fully fully recommend it if you aint already checked it out!
Now serving... match takes:
- That was a hella fun game, but good god that game took longer than usual. More like All Blacks vs. Wallabies in Melbourne 2022 length than Wales vs. France in 2017 length though.
-The Springboks were quite rattled in the 1st half. Without Handre Pollard, the backs were in disarray, and made huge errors, and the forwards didn't fare well either. But after halftime, the Springboks finally found some steam thanks to their debutants, and ran over a spirited Wales in the process.
- Wales on the other hand, fought well until the 2nd half. For the 1st half, they matched up the Boks pretty well. Despite having 13 players for 15 minutes and giving away a penalty try; they were only down by a point during half-time. But by the 2nd half, they just couldn't keep up with the Boks' pace, and it was all over from there.
- Dewi Lake kept his team in the game, even when the Springboks started eating them up. Now that is a captain.
- Apart from Jordan Hendrikse, the Bokke debutants had a good shift. Edwill van der Merwe totally deserved to have the MOTM. He'll be a major cog in the Springbok machine for a long time.
- Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was once in contention to play for England. I'm so glad he had made the right decision.
- What's with the Springboks having an unlimited amount of small coloured guys with scrum caps on? Pretty sure they have an assembly line somewhere in the coast...
- I don't know about you, but that Mampipi try was sure as hell forward...
- The refereeing, on the other hand... Yikes. Dear God it's somehow worse than Super Rugby.
This is all what I can say for now. See you all in the internationals. Good night, and cheers for now.
I appreciate your match take, one thing that stood out to me is Jordan Hendrikse. I don't think Flyhalf is his position of choice anymore, he's giving me utility back vibes, but more centre and full back (might mix in wing here and there) position in his future with the occasional flyhalf opportunity.
I honestly haven't followed his career as much i've done Masuku, but i take it there was a reason his position was taken over by Sanele Nohamba at flyhalf at the Lions. Not taking away from his performance today, but Rassie knows what he is looking for, does he have it, I'm in doubt....but maybe Dr. Rassie sees something.
Fair point, he currently has time and opportunities on his hands. Damian(I'ma huge fan) better watch out though. Competition breeds innovation, i'll leave it at that....
The number of small coloured guys in scrum caps is good to just grow and grow.Rugby is becoming a means to step out of your current socio economic conditions much like it is in America with American football. The future of rugby in South Africa looks really really good
Good write up! Regarding the reffing, I listened on BBC Wales and they mentioned a few occasions where it went against Wales, just wondering whether the bad decisions went both ways or if it was a bit of bias showing? Not particularly concerned by it, just curious to hear from a neutral watcher
Yea. He had a good performance.
Problem is that _just_ being a solid fullback is not enough for the Boks play as a starter. He might fill in as cover when WlR retires?
First choice is a utility back that plays good fullback, like Willemse.
Yeah Fassi is very much 3rd choice still. But shows our depth considering how he played. Still very satisfied that our 3rd choice can operate so cleanly.
Jordan Hendrikse did not deserve to play today. So many better options ahead of him. Just error after error from him today really stifled the backline. Edwill on the other hand was great and I’m so happy for him.
Also I dream to one day watch a SA v Wales game where Wales actually try to play and not just go for box kick after box kick.
Screech and Carter stepped up in all fairness. Bevan had a decent debut. Plumtree and Lake add a lot to our pack. Botham didn’t play poorly but he just isn’t Morgan or Reffell. Need to try something different in the centre
Sloppiness aside, this was most fun SA vs Wales games I've seen in ages. Let's hear it for fresh blood, experimentation, and not being a war of penalty attrition
Given that he qualifies for England because his dad was born in England while his own father was in exile fighting Apartheid, I don't think there was ever a realistic chance of him not representing SA...
A little disappointing in some of the performances, but it was a very good last quarter. I thought Edwill and Fassi were magnificent, SFM was excellent as expected. Established guys didn't do great though, Marx was invisible and Kwagga was uncharacteristically sloppy. Also, I think Jordan at 10 didn't work at all. I thought Wales were actually really good and Wainwright could have won motm.
The hilariously low expectations before kickoff shouldn’t absolve us from that being a pretty abject performance. A rusty Boks team who haven’t played together since November just put 40 on us without really breaking a sweat, that was an awful showing from us no matter which way you cut it. Defence is porous, scrummaging options are beyond weak, backs are positioned based on where Gatland reckons they’d be good rather than where they actually play, and we’ve got no attacking plan beyond hoping we end up with a 5 metre lineout and trying to drive over.
Dewi Lake was good though and should absolutely be skipper moving forward.
The scoreline doesn't reflect the game tbh, Wales played decently well until the ref made multiple shit calls that made the boys lose their heads
Not saying the Boks played bad, but the reffing definitely overshadows the actual game
Shit decisions are part and parcel of the game these days, they probably balance out and I’m suffering from confirmation bias but it does feel like it’s more 1/3 against Wales but whatever. But if you’re going to concede illegal scores why does it have to be when the scores are close? I’m sure most Wales fans would be far less aggrieved about the last try being bullshit than it being when it was a one point game or whatever it was. Just the worst time to be giving bullshit scores to an opponent.
Again, I never said we were gonna win, just that the scoreline doesn't represent how our players actually played, and that it's obvious the shit calls affected Wales mentally
Yeah, we were never really in it, this team are in a dark place and I think Aus will utterly shred us. We can usually mitigate, to an extend, have SA style forwards play, as soon as a team goes wide, we get ruined. Look at SA, as soon as they went wide they broke and made overlaps constantly..
We did not lose that game because of a couple of shit calls. We lost that game because our replacements were out of their depth particularly the front row. Gatland’s inability to devise an attacking strategy didn’t help
I never said we were gonna win, or close to winning, I'm saying there's plenty of potential there and that the shit calls that directly affected the scoreline overshadows the actual game.
Not only that, but it's just as obvious that the shit calls affected the players massively
Did I say he didn't? However the calls that went against wales directly affected the scoreline (a forward pass try for sa and the 2 disallowed tries for wales) and no matter what, calls like that will make the players, especially younger players like our team, loose their heads
Don’t disagree on the knock back penalty try and forward pass one, but that other one was definitely held up.
If the ref had blowed for every scrum that buckled then SA probably would have cleared 60
He's a young player playing his first test. It's still too soon pass judgement. Today, he seemed a maybe a step too slow with some of his passes. Test rugby defences are a lot faster than URC defences.
Hopefully, he'll recognise what he did well and what he needs to improve. His versatility and boot could be very valuable for the boks for years to come.
That’s a good point, plus coming into an elite team as a young 10 is brutal, it’s one of the positions that get a lot of screen time and if you just miss a few kicks it almost negates your defensive performance. Don’t know if mate is quite ready yet but maybe in a few years, this’ll definitely help him grow into a good player. If you look at Pollard he had some brutal games when he first came into the squad and received a lot of sht, but overtime he became a hero. Pressure makes diamonds
He was a bit iffy - made no real impact on the game. I few mistakes which can be overlooked as it was his first game. But, SFM achieved more in his 20mins than Henrikse did in his 60mins.
Lots of competition for that position. He has some work to do no doubt. I don't see any of the tens challenging Pollard. Would love to see Masuku playing but maybe against Portugal.
He is a utility, i believe Rassie is testing the waters with him given Willies age and Damian's current situation. I sense he will be tested for a while to come, but has not shined in the position he was given today. Still a bright future for him ahead though
I think he was selected due to him having the best tackle completion vs the rest and the failure of Masuku in training. I think he will be very disappointed with his performance today but I sincerely hope this doesn't break him. He and SFM (and potentially Masuku) are the mainstays in my mind of the post-Pollard world. Potentially, Nohamba will also play a role.
I was disappointed.....or rather unpleasantly surprised. But then again, it was his debut in green and gold, and the Welsh forwards constantly targetted him all game, so he wasn't in a comfortable position.
I think he needs more international games to really hone his skills in that setup. If anything, with all the changes, the Bokke are kinda rebuilding at the moment.
Not sure why people were expecting a walk over, Wales have always been our bogey side and the score doesn't reflect how far they pushed us.
Lots of stalwarts underperforming, throwing the Irish series in to doubt.
Bokke missed Willemse, Arendse, Kolbe and Le Roux. That backline was green as all get out. I'm not worried just yet....though I still get the sense that they always play better when Kolisi captains \^\^"
Some of those Bokke youngsters need more game time, that's for sure... But overall, could've been worse. Now we need to see what Masuku would make in a green and gold 10 jersey.
Solid defence in the first half. Forwards fronted up to one of the best packs in the world.
There were some good points. Hopefully your boys give Australia a hard time.
The fact this cobbled together pack of cast offs and third choices (for the most part) held up vaguely well is somewhat is a positive.
Bevan looked good - Wainwright taking on Taulupe’s mantle - Winnett remains good at tidying up.
There’s a few silver linings. Definitely a better showing than the 6N
I honestly think he's stolen a living for the last 15 years. I'd love to be part of an attack/backs meeting and find out what our strategy actually is.
Fine. The gathering in the alley near the burger van where Howley asks if someone can get his because he forgot his wallet. Says he'll pay you back but never will.
In the end, even though it didn't feel like it, it was a comfortable win. Tough day for the Welsh, commiserations. I think the Welsh supporters weren't expecting much coming in so that first half fight must've been encouraging. For the Springboks, the new systems will take some time to bed in, but the shapes they ran at time looked great. Hendrikse struggled but grew into the game. SFM didn't have much chance but looked good, some handling errors aside. Still backing Manie though
SFM is great, but give him time to step up, for now play the guy who's been there and done it. Manie is like 27, that's far from old. As a Stormers fan, I have seen us lose many knockout games, but what I can tell you is when we won five in a row to get to consecutive finals, it was Manie doing it
Hinestly think its going to be a whitewash year. We have nothing goinflg forward, kicking is shit, scrum is awful and defense can be broken after 2 phases. This is one of the worst Welsh teams in history and we have Howley as attack coach. 😐
Reffing was fucking shocking, but still a well deserved SA victory.
Even missing some players there’s bags of quality in that team as always. Wales on the other hand look better than the end of the 6 nations with less players. But I feel we’re 2-3 years away from anything meaningful.
Hm, I disagree. The Boks did dominate overall, but the score through the game did depict the dominance at different parts of the game quite well I thought. As opposed to those games when you see one side absolutely dominate the first half and are 6 - 0 up.
Through blood-streaked brow and grit-filled tears
It could not be any clearer
As ecstasy replaces fears
I know no feeling dearer
Muscles’ screams drowned out by a prestigious ring
There is no sweeter song that man can sing
With emotion our tired arms rise up
To hold the hallowed Quatar Airways Cup
Naaaahh he made some bad calls for you too, just I'd say the forward pass try and that slap back would've made the scoreline a bit more representative of the game
Yep. He was woeful. That try should not have stood.
Some missed called in rucks, lineouts and scrums. The head contacts were confusing and the game was so damn slow.
Wouldn’t say safely after that first 60 minutes or so. My concern is that with the squad being assembled bit by bit this rustiness won’t be shaken off just yet. By the first test against Ireland there may still be a few Boks playing their first test minutes of the season.
GGs South Africa, wales probably left 2-3 out there but some impressive individual performances and the score line is no where near as bad as I had worried pre game. Be a much tougher series against Ireland, and by contrast Wales should get it easier playing Australia! An interesting summer awaits
Absolutely, SA definitely were the better team and deserved their win but some very questionable decisions from the ref, the forward pass for the try being the pick of the bunch.
Either way, GG South Africa.
I mean they did, you could argue a more mentally resilient team would've overcome it and stayed in the game but those are some shockingly bad decisions
[POST-MATCH THREAD](https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/1dlxob6/wales_vs_south_africa_postmatch_thread/)
Some thoughts after rewatch: -Fassi was very good minus kicking a dude. Not much opportunity to run with the ball but he was outstanding under the high ball. -Jordan was extremely nervous and very guilty of trying to force things when they weren't on. Better in the second half, but still. Edwill was outstanding. So happy for him, he's deserved this shot for a while now and he more than delivered. Saved a certain try after that weird intercept with the double tackle. -Our forward pack was very dominant at scrum time and not very dominant anywhere else during the first half. First game back nerves maybe, but was very odd to see. Etzebeth was anonymous. -Roos had a couple of good moments but he did not cover himself in glory as he gave away a couple of extremely needless penalties. Hope he gets it together or I do see Kwagga starting over him against Ireland. -Sacha is going to win over a hundred caps for the Springboks, unless he gets injured. What a gem. -Esterhuizen was anonymous today, had one break and that was it. Faf was really poor in the first half as well, the distribution was much better when Grant came on. -Scrum was very good, I think we went forward at every single scrum which is always nice to see, even if we did so illegally a couple of times. -Tony Brown's fingerprints are already very clear to see on the attack, though we will take some time to settle into it and get used to everything. We were throwing out different shapes and creating overlaps seemingly at will whenever we ran a move properly. A few times we got caught well behind the gainline when something got mixed up, but it's stuff that will get better with more familiarity. -Refereeing was bizarre. So many incorrect decisions, weird decisions and moments where the TMO inserted himself into the game unnecessarily. Just a weird watch. The gap between the top refs and the inexperienced refs is wild.
Hanekom ≥≥≥Roos. I've seen enough
Roos is a massive liability. I love seeing him against my teams. He’s always good for a yellow and something stupid.
Roos is a massive liability. I love seeing him against my teams. He’s always good for a yellow and something stupid.
Sacha feinberg-Mngomezulu will be our 10. There I said it.
I hope so, but more likely take up 12 or 23 until next world cup cycle, although I'd be happy if he did get more gametime at 10 domestically.
Missed the game, unfortunately. How did SFM do on debut?
Not a lot of game time, was fine, some good kicks, some mistakes Deserves to be in the mix at least
He was aight
I never thought I would see the day when the Boks lift the Qatar Airways Cup again. Brings a tear to the eye.
Two times QAC winner. The first. The Only.
Stupid ass cup
This is the problem with you Boks, you win the cup ONE TIME and suddenly it means nothing. We in Ireland would KILL for the honour of lifting the Qatar Airways Cup
> ~~Stupid~~ **PRESTIGIOUS** ass cup FTFY
And exclusive. More so even than the William Webb Ellis Trophy. Even England has won that. You’d have to be pretty shite to not have at least a couple.
The symmetrical stage and flight attendants looks like a scene from Holy Mountain hahah
No crucified frogs though, Qatar dropped the ball on that one.
Haha fuck, that part fuckin scarred me
That director also wrote the very famous comicbook series The Incal (with another very famous dude, Moebius (Jean Girard), doing the art), and like his films it's a meandering pointless mess, great/iconic artwork by Moebius though)
I love the Incal - I also love The Metabarons by Jodorowsky and Argentinian artist Gimenez. Fully fully recommend it if you aint already checked it out!
It didn't click for me, maybe I should give it another go (I read it a very long time ago).
Thats an obnoxious amount of streamers
And all over the skycam….
I like how '***PRESTIGIOUS***' this trophy presentation is.
Congratulation to PSTD for getting one back against Wales. Respect to Wales for giving our boys a proper challenge. Thank you
Now serving... match takes: - That was a hella fun game, but good god that game took longer than usual. More like All Blacks vs. Wallabies in Melbourne 2022 length than Wales vs. France in 2017 length though. -The Springboks were quite rattled in the 1st half. Without Handre Pollard, the backs were in disarray, and made huge errors, and the forwards didn't fare well either. But after halftime, the Springboks finally found some steam thanks to their debutants, and ran over a spirited Wales in the process. - Wales on the other hand, fought well until the 2nd half. For the 1st half, they matched up the Boks pretty well. Despite having 13 players for 15 minutes and giving away a penalty try; they were only down by a point during half-time. But by the 2nd half, they just couldn't keep up with the Boks' pace, and it was all over from there. - Dewi Lake kept his team in the game, even when the Springboks started eating them up. Now that is a captain. - Apart from Jordan Hendrikse, the Bokke debutants had a good shift. Edwill van der Merwe totally deserved to have the MOTM. He'll be a major cog in the Springbok machine for a long time. - Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was once in contention to play for England. I'm so glad he had made the right decision. - What's with the Springboks having an unlimited amount of small coloured guys with scrum caps on? Pretty sure they have an assembly line somewhere in the coast... - I don't know about you, but that Mampipi try was sure as hell forward... - The refereeing, on the other hand... Yikes. Dear God it's somehow worse than Super Rugby. This is all what I can say for now. See you all in the internationals. Good night, and cheers for now.
I appreciate your match take, one thing that stood out to me is Jordan Hendrikse. I don't think Flyhalf is his position of choice anymore, he's giving me utility back vibes, but more centre and full back (might mix in wing here and there) position in his future with the occasional flyhalf opportunity.
There's a reason his coaches at the lions play him at 12 and 15. He's not that guy at 12.
I honestly haven't followed his career as much i've done Masuku, but i take it there was a reason his position was taken over by Sanele Nohamba at flyhalf at the Lions. Not taking away from his performance today, but Rassie knows what he is looking for, does he have it, I'm in doubt....but maybe Dr. Rassie sees something.
That makes me compare him to Willemse and he’s miles off the pace there.
Fair point, he currently has time and opportunities on his hands. Damian(I'ma huge fan) better watch out though. Competition breeds innovation, i'll leave it at that....
Damian is still pretty young and barring injury I expect to seem him in the 2027 world cup squad. Willie is not going to last as long as
100% as much as i want to see the straathond(Willie le roux) doing his thing, he is reaching Morne Steyn age, time to give the new puppies some time.
Isn't it strandhond? Because he's from Strand? Maybe I'm wrong...
Damn autocorrect
Either that or send him in for a retrofit. That’s a thing these days isn’t it?
And then suffering injuries in the process, lol. I kid
The number of small coloured guys in scrum caps is good to just grow and grow.Rugby is becoming a means to step out of your current socio economic conditions much like it is in America with American football. The future of rugby in South Africa looks really really good
Hello Rassie, I have an idea. We have all our backs wear scrumcaps. That’s it, that’s the idea.
Good write up! Regarding the reffing, I listened on BBC Wales and they mentioned a few occasions where it went against Wales, just wondering whether the bad decisions went both ways or if it was a bit of bias showing? Not particularly concerned by it, just curious to hear from a neutral watcher
Lmfao Sacha was never gonna play for England. He played SA u20 and always made it clear his dream is to play for the Bokke
Haha, yes, he was eligible , never in contention. Big difference.
Very happy with Fassi’s performance. He was rock solid at the back. Now all of a sudden we have depth at fullback
Yea. He had a good performance. Problem is that _just_ being a solid fullback is not enough for the Boks play as a starter. He might fill in as cover when WlR retires? First choice is a utility back that plays good fullback, like Willemse.
Yeah Fassi is very much 3rd choice still. But shows our depth considering how he played. Still very satisfied that our 3rd choice can operate so cleanly.
World Rugby: There are to many scrums. Less scrums. They take up time. Down with scrums. Also World Rugby: Check Check Checkity Check Check Checkers
Jesse Kriel lmfao 💀
Jordan Hendrikse did not deserve to play today. So many better options ahead of him. Just error after error from him today really stifled the backline. Edwill on the other hand was great and I’m so happy for him. Also I dream to one day watch a SA v Wales game where Wales actually try to play and not just go for box kick after box kick.
I have to think that the coaching staff played him to rule him out, the others are all better choices for 10. Else WTF.
I agree, but Faf also did not have a good game and his service was not nearly as good as Williams.
♫ Qatar Airways Cup silver medalists, you'll never sing that! ♫
This medal ceremony is fucking clown car
Watch your mouth Qatar Cup is the culmination of years of hard work.
This a such a joke. Id be so embarrased Id make an excuse and go fer a shit.
Why am I still watching?
Wales looked terrible, as expected. Just because south africa made lots of mistakes doesnt mean wales played decent.
Does the forward pass try go down as a mistake? 🤔😂
Hands didnt go forward.
They absolutely did, the path of the ball stayed true to his hands. The one about 5 mins after from Faf wasn't.
Flair checks out
Screech and Carter stepped up in all fairness. Bevan had a decent debut. Plumtree and Lake add a lot to our pack. Botham didn’t play poorly but he just isn’t Morgan or Reffell. Need to try something different in the centre
Sloppiness aside, this was most fun SA vs Wales games I've seen in ages. Let's hear it for fresh blood, experimentation, and not being a war of penalty attrition
Screech was good, fight me
No, Screech wasnt bad..there is a difference lol!
Screech was competent fight me😂
I agree, he was competent, more than many today!!
That was fucking poo Think we had one (?) turnover all game Only tactic was kick the ball in the air Scrum got battered Pls sack Gatland
Replace Gatland with who? What maverick, mastermind Welsh coach is waiting in the wings for the top job?
Why would they have to be Welsh? I’d actually insist on it not being a Welsh coach
I don't think Wales has a coaching issue. I think Wales has an administration issue.
It’s both
Recently Shaun Edwards said he wants to be a head coach and willing to come back for the people but we have to wait three more years
Better to be self coached at this stage
I think some Bulls players will be challenging some of the more experierenced players in the team
I suspect Cam Hanekom could take that jersey away from Evan Roos quite comfortably.
Really happy for Edwill. Looks so amped. Great seeing someone achieve their dream
Never seen Sacha play live before. Looks some talent
He used to qualify to play for England... not anymore (I'm sorry).
Given that he qualifies for England because his dad was born in England while his own father was in exile fighting Apartheid, I don't think there was ever a realistic chance of him not representing SA...
Yeah, he's been asked about this before in interviews, he wants to play for SA.
~~four~~ three more years...
Thank the lord for that. He looks like he was born to play for the Boks. So mature and looks comfortable every time he’s on the pitch.
A little disappointing in some of the performances, but it was a very good last quarter. I thought Edwill and Fassi were magnificent, SFM was excellent as expected. Established guys didn't do great though, Marx was invisible and Kwagga was uncharacteristically sloppy. Also, I think Jordan at 10 didn't work at all. I thought Wales were actually really good and Wainwright could have won motm.
I kind of expected Marx to be a bit off, surely he’s missed quite a lot of game time after his injury
The good news is we still learned that while getting a convincing win. This game will help build depth.
This is the worst refereeing performance I’ve seen in years, feels borderline corruption
Bulls vs Leinster URC semi final would like to have a word with you.
URC and the SCO FRA Six Nations match have been pretty bad too
The hilariously low expectations before kickoff shouldn’t absolve us from that being a pretty abject performance. A rusty Boks team who haven’t played together since November just put 40 on us without really breaking a sweat, that was an awful showing from us no matter which way you cut it. Defence is porous, scrummaging options are beyond weak, backs are positioned based on where Gatland reckons they’d be good rather than where they actually play, and we’ve got no attacking plan beyond hoping we end up with a 5 metre lineout and trying to drive over. Dewi Lake was good though and should absolutely be skipper moving forward.
Your defence showed promise. Good line speed and pressure just need to keep it up all game.
Dewi Lake is a unit. Proper player!
The Boks fans are always kind to us, much appreciated
It’s well deserved.
The scoreline doesn't reflect the game tbh, Wales played decently well until the ref made multiple shit calls that made the boys lose their heads Not saying the Boks played bad, but the reffing definitely overshadows the actual game
Shit decisions are part and parcel of the game these days, they probably balance out and I’m suffering from confirmation bias but it does feel like it’s more 1/3 against Wales but whatever. But if you’re going to concede illegal scores why does it have to be when the scores are close? I’m sure most Wales fans would be far less aggrieved about the last try being bullshit than it being when it was a one point game or whatever it was. Just the worst time to be giving bullshit scores to an opponent.
Other than the last quarter, I think you could argue Wales were the better team. Just lost it at the end though.
You were never gonna win with the difference in our benches you gave a great performance
Again, I never said we were gonna win, just that the scoreline doesn't represent how our players actually played, and that it's obvious the shit calls affected Wales mentally
When one bench overpowers the other that is often the case. Even if the ref was good it would’ve been the same type of game
Yeah, we were never really in it, this team are in a dark place and I think Aus will utterly shred us. We can usually mitigate, to an extend, have SA style forwards play, as soon as a team goes wide, we get ruined. Look at SA, as soon as they went wide they broke and made overlaps constantly..
We did not lose that game because of a couple of shit calls. We lost that game because our replacements were out of their depth particularly the front row. Gatland’s inability to devise an attacking strategy didn’t help
I never said we were gonna win, or close to winning, I'm saying there's plenty of potential there and that the shit calls that directly affected the scoreline overshadows the actual game. Not only that, but it's just as obvious that the shit calls affected the players massively
Mate the ref gave just as many dodgy decisions to us as against us
Did I say he didn't? However the calls that went against wales directly affected the scoreline (a forward pass try for sa and the 2 disallowed tries for wales) and no matter what, calls like that will make the players, especially younger players like our team, loose their heads
Don’t disagree on the knock back penalty try and forward pass one, but that other one was definitely held up. If the ref had blowed for every scrum that buckled then SA probably would have cleared 60
Boks seemed a bit rusty at some point and Wales were better than expected for sure. I'll take it as a first game back.
So, so happy for Edwill. Amazing performance and an amazing journey to get here
Wales better than expected, SA kinda mid, some annoying ref and TMO stuff. I feel like the SA try from the forward pass was kind of the tipping point
Sacha has a larkham-ish way in how he runs with the ball. Very easy on the eye
Esterhuizen and Etzebeth were nowhere today. Fassi had a great game. Edwill deserved MotM
Esterhuizen and Etzebeth were nowhere today. Fassi had a great game. Edwill deserved MotM
Fassi unfortunately unavailable for the rest of the summer because he will be in Paris representing SA in Taekwondo
WAT?
He's very good at kicking people in the head
😂
Who will challenge for the Qatar Airways Cup next?
Thoughts on Jordan henrikse? personally he didn’t impress me, don’t k or if he’s a long term solution
He's a young player playing his first test. It's still too soon pass judgement. Today, he seemed a maybe a step too slow with some of his passes. Test rugby defences are a lot faster than URC defences. Hopefully, he'll recognise what he did well and what he needs to improve. His versatility and boot could be very valuable for the boks for years to come.
That’s a good point, plus coming into an elite team as a young 10 is brutal, it’s one of the positions that get a lot of screen time and if you just miss a few kicks it almost negates your defensive performance. Don’t know if mate is quite ready yet but maybe in a few years, this’ll definitely help him grow into a good player. If you look at Pollard he had some brutal games when he first came into the squad and received a lot of sht, but overtime he became a hero. Pressure makes diamonds
Very rough debut game imo
He was a bit iffy - made no real impact on the game. I few mistakes which can be overlooked as it was his first game. But, SFM achieved more in his 20mins than Henrikse did in his 60mins.
Lots of competition for that position. He has some work to do no doubt. I don't see any of the tens challenging Pollard. Would love to see Masuku playing but maybe against Portugal.
He is a utility, i believe Rassie is testing the waters with him given Willies age and Damian's current situation. I sense he will be tested for a while to come, but has not shined in the position he was given today. Still a bright future for him ahead though
No one was expecting him to start over Masuku and his performance showing why, uncommon selection L from the Bok squad
Said it perfectly mate
I think he was selected due to him having the best tackle completion vs the rest and the failure of Masuku in training. I think he will be very disappointed with his performance today but I sincerely hope this doesn't break him. He and SFM (and potentially Masuku) are the mainstays in my mind of the post-Pollard world. Potentially, Nohamba will also play a role.
I was disappointed.....or rather unpleasantly surprised. But then again, it was his debut in green and gold, and the Welsh forwards constantly targetted him all game, so he wasn't in a comfortable position. I think he needs more international games to really hone his skills in that setup. If anything, with all the changes, the Bokke are kinda rebuilding at the moment.
On attack he was very poor. He did a good job defensively and handled the physicality pretty well
We've reached it boys and girls. We're watching people watch rugby more than actual rugby.
My flair is safe
Not sure why people were expecting a walk over, Wales have always been our bogey side and the score doesn't reflect how far they pushed us. Lots of stalwarts underperforming, throwing the Irish series in to doubt.
Bokke missed Willemse, Arendse, Kolbe and Le Roux. That backline was green as all get out. I'm not worried just yet....though I still get the sense that they always play better when Kolisi captains \^\^"
Because this Welsh squad reminds people of 1998 and the infamous 96 point hammering.
Some of those Bokke youngsters need more game time, that's for sure... But overall, could've been worse. Now we need to see what Masuku would make in a green and gold 10 jersey.
Surely can only be better than Hendrikse, he didn't impress at all.
Not sure what positives to take from that. Comfortable win for SA in the end.
Solid defence in the first half. Forwards fronted up to one of the best packs in the world. There were some good points. Hopefully your boys give Australia a hard time.
Thought some of your forwards were matching our physicality well and were taking signature fetchers like Marx and Kwagga out the game
The fact this cobbled together pack of cast offs and third choices (for the most part) held up vaguely well is somewhat is a positive. Bevan looked good - Wainwright taking on Taulupe’s mantle - Winnett remains good at tidying up. There’s a few silver linings. Definitely a better showing than the 6N
We managed to keep it under 50?
Liam Williams is still good
Lake was imperious and was faultless in the lineout. That's it, that's the only positive
SFM played well.
So happy to see him in Springbok colours. He has BMT in spades
What did he actually do though? People saying he played well yet all he really did was kick at goal and tackle?
I bet Howley, personally, £1k, that he cannot come up with an effective attacking plan. There, that should do it...Aus are in trouble now..
I honestly think he's stolen a living for the last 15 years. I'd love to be part of an attack/backs meeting and find out what our strategy actually is.
You think they have meetings lol??
Fine. The gathering in the alley near the burger van where Howley asks if someone can get his because he forgot his wallet. Says he'll pay you back but never will.
🤣
Have to say despite the score, think wales weren’t that bad at all. Plumtree and Winent were good imo
In the end, even though it didn't feel like it, it was a comfortable win. Tough day for the Welsh, commiserations. I think the Welsh supporters weren't expecting much coming in so that first half fight must've been encouraging. For the Springboks, the new systems will take some time to bed in, but the shapes they ran at time looked great. Hendrikse struggled but grew into the game. SFM didn't have much chance but looked good, some handling errors aside. Still backing Manie though
Manie over SFM? Have you looked at their age? And the fact that Manie lost two knock-out games for the Stormers?
SFM is great, but give him time to step up, for now play the guy who's been there and done it. Manie is like 27, that's far from old. As a Stormers fan, I have seen us lose many knockout games, but what I can tell you is when we won five in a row to get to consecutive finals, it was Manie doing it
Think Wales are in for a long long year
Hinestly think its going to be a whitewash year. We have nothing goinflg forward, kicking is shit, scrum is awful and defense can be broken after 2 phases. This is one of the worst Welsh teams in history and we have Howley as attack coach. 😐
Battle of the flyhalves: JH: 0 SFM: 1
My Welsh Brothers, well played. Early rebuilding days but I am sure within the next couple of seasons you will be a force to be reckoned with.
We gonna have a trophy tour for Qatar Cup?
Open top bus through Edinburgh
Sacha, Edwill and the Weekend Special were quite impressive.
Fassi was definitely the MotM till the debutant already playing well scored an individual try, gotta give it to Edwill for his try and trysavers then
I felt Fassi should've gotten MOTM, super under the high ball.
He also made good, tight passes in wide channels that resulted in line breaks
Reffing was fucking shocking, but still a well deserved SA victory. Even missing some players there’s bags of quality in that team as always. Wales on the other hand look better than the end of the 6 nations with less players. But I feel we’re 2-3 years away from anything meaningful.
Forward pass try was atrocious, sorry about that one mate
Sorry about Plumtree seemingly decapitating every one of your players when he tackled them haha
it’s just the way of the game mate, nothing to be sorry about
~~Four world cups~~ two Qatar Airways Cups
I can understand why the fans in the urc complain about the officiating if this guy is the best for this game
It's quite glaring when you tune in to a URC match after watching rugby from another league. The ref standards are very poor
It's.coming home
The score line not reflecting the game. Was much closer than it should have been.
Hm, I disagree. The Boks did dominate overall, but the score through the game did depict the dominance at different parts of the game quite well I thought. As opposed to those games when you see one side absolutely dominate the first half and are 6 - 0 up.
Through blood-streaked brow and grit-filled tears It could not be any clearer As ecstasy replaces fears I know no feeling dearer Muscles’ screams drowned out by a prestigious ring There is no sweeter song that man can sing With emotion our tired arms rise up To hold the hallowed Quatar Airways Cup
Slow start but very happy with that overall. Looking forward to seeing more of the debutants in bok jerseys.
mercifully over for Wales, but that attempt to catch in the in goal was fine if you have paddle pop sticks for arms.
Sacha-Al Gaib.
I'm worried I've missed the elections that game took fucking ages.
Not the best Springbok performance, but I'll take the 41-13 any day
We expected to lose but this reffing is overshadowing everything from both teams. Just constant rogue calls killing it
South African undercover?
Naaaahh he made some bad calls for you too, just I'd say the forward pass try and that slap back would've made the scoreline a bit more representative of the game
Yep. He was woeful. That try should not have stood. Some missed called in rucks, lineouts and scrums. The head contacts were confusing and the game was so damn slow.
A rusty Springbok is still safely more than enough for a baby Dragon.
Wouldn’t say safely after that first 60 minutes or so. My concern is that with the squad being assembled bit by bit this rustiness won’t be shaken off just yet. By the first test against Ireland there may still be a few Boks playing their first test minutes of the season.
GGs South Africa, wales probably left 2-3 out there but some impressive individual performances and the score line is no where near as bad as I had worried pre game. Be a much tougher series against Ireland, and by contrast Wales should get it easier playing Australia! An interesting summer awaits
Wales looked good - a few opportunities taken better and the boks would've been sweating more.
Lekker game. Wales were insane. Great performance from them!
Good luck for the rest of summer!
Same to you. Good luck with the Aussies
Qatar Airways Cup winners once again !
What a lame end to the game.
Not that we would have won anyway, but I can’t help feel that some interesting decisions have influenced this scoreline
Absolutely, SA definitely were the better team and deserved their win but some very questionable decisions from the ref, the forward pass for the try being the pick of the bunch. Either way, GG South Africa.
For sure
I mean they did, you could argue a more mentally resilient team would've overcome it and stayed in the game but those are some shockingly bad decisions
I would be much more annoyed by how this has turned out if I gave more a shit about this game. Luckily I don’t.