Springboks to make history

by Paki's Corner | 27 June 2009 (00:50)
The Springboks are set to make history this weekend if they beat the British & Irish Lions in Pretoria! It has been a long 12 years since the famous 1997 ‘Living with the Lions’ DVD.

Currently South Africa has won the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the 2009 IRB World Sevens Series, the Bulls are the 2009 Super 14 champions, and the massive battle with the touring British & Irish Lions could end tomorrow.

The Lions played extremely well at times last week, and showed that they could easily have won the match. On the other side coach Peter de Villiers will hopefully use his substitutes more wisely, but I expect another close encounter. My prediction was that the Springboks will win by 6 points last week (they won by 5), so lets hope this weekend they win by 11 points.

The scrum has been analyzed and I don’t see many penalties being given with corrections being made by the Lions front row. South Africa should still however have the momentum in the scrums and line-outs, and if Schalk Burger doesn’t infringe often, the battle at the breakdown will belong to the home side. It’s he backline that concerns me, with holes being exploited around Springbok centers Jean de Villiers and Adi Jacobs. I can see a few tries created by the attacking force of Lions Brian O’Driscoll and hard running Jamie Roberts.

I will be up early tomorrow to watch the second test at 8am on RugbyZone at a friend’s house here in Texas. We have rallied about 5 South Africans, 2 Americans and a stray Australian pretending to be a Kiwi.

In the other international matches, Australia should beat France in an entertaining match, and New Zealand will have time to improve some aspects of their game against Italy.

What a game of rugby awaits us!
Dallen


Recent Blogs



Comments

by Greg Stewart July 4, 2009 06:05 GMT
Does anyone else feel sorry for Dick Muir, hitching his wagon to a falling (plumeting) star (PDV)???
Report this comment
by Sam Glazer July 4, 2009 12:29 GMT
Dick Muir should not be in the caching team either, at this stage of his career. His methods bombed badly at the Sharks. What is it with SA that we make illogical appointments?
Report this comment
by Greg Stewart July 5, 2009 06:21 GMT
This was not a dificult result to foresee.....PDV !!! If you select 2 wingers who are inept at defense, you MUST have a good covering open side flaner. But to make it worse, PDV selected a full back who is frequently out of position, and an 8th man not know for cover defense. Result: Lions wingers strolling in for tries, with Boks wingers pretending to miss vital tackles, and no full-back or flankers in sight. Solution: In the absence of Schalk, use Potgieter on the open side flank, move Juan Smith into lock (as he plays too tight in big matches anyway), and never select Kankowski (who struggles to make an impact in Super 14, let alone tests). I suspect PDV selected this squad to be able to use it, as the Boks were in for a hiding anyway. The silver linning from the tour.....PDV will never coach another South African team again !!!
Report this comment
by Paki's Corner July 10, 2009 02:48 GMT
PDV is lucky he has such a talented Springbok team, as he would have been long gone along with his wise quotes...
Report this comment