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LuckyGent88

phog wrote: »

Cruden left at home for drink related issues and will miss next two games

Very silly stuff from him. Thought he was past having those issues. With all the competition for the fly half position, this will surely push him down the pecking order.
Opens a massive opportunity for beauden Barrett now this weekend.

Teferi

Apparently some other All Blacks were out with him and they managed to make the plane.

matthew8

Mohoje, Pollard and Hougaard start for the Boks. What a poor halfback combo. Pollard main contribution was some decent tactical kicking against NZ (nothing special mind you) and Hougaard's was very badly off target box kicks when chasing the game. Reinach the bench scrum half too, SA threadbare at the position (though he'd be 50:50 to sprint 70 metres for a try if he came on). Australia could win this, but I think the nice weather should suit SA.

Judgement Day

You would have to fancy the Springboks for this game - unbeaten at Newlands by the Aussies since 1992 and it's a revenge fixture.

matthew8

Fancy them but a decent opportunity for Aus. Gun to my head probably a 15 point SA victory but could just as easily be dead close, SA are so inconsistent.

skippymac6

matthew8 wrote: »

Fancy them but a decent opportunity for Aus. Gun to my head probably a 15 point SA victory but could just as easily be dead close, SA are so inconsistent.

Think SA will miss Louw badly. I don't think it will hurt them enough but I think Aussie should keep it within a score

.ak

Australia: 15 Israel Folau 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Sam Carter, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 James Horwill, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nic White, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Rob Horne.

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handrè Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Tebo Mohoje, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 JP Pietersen





New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Cory Jane.



No argies yet.

sydthebeat

.ak wrote: »

New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Joe Moody, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Cory Jane.

fekitoa is 12?? that will be interesting

.ak

He has the ability to play there. I don't think NZ play a good footballer there. Nonu has his moments as a footballer, but himself and SBW shine when they hit the line or offer dummy options. In that role Fekitoa can hit like a train with ball in hand. I imagine a few switches with pop passes flat on the line he'll get some front foot gains.

Yeah_Right

A very inexperienced pair at 10 and 12 for the kiwis. Glad its Argentina and not SA this week. Is Crotty on the tour? If yes then I wouldn't be surprised to see him back next week. Unless Fekitoa has a blinder.

Very happy that Whitelock and Kaino are back. We will need them in SA.

Sounds like Coles's missus is popping early because I believe he was meant to go to Argentina and then return. Could be a good thing if it means he is available for SA. I know very little about Harris. Hopefully he is the goods and steps up to be our 3rd hooker or even passes Mealamu (great servant that he was but seems to be showing his age these days).

Still not sold on Thrush being the 3rd lock but until the others get over their injuries he will have to do.

I want to see Perenara get some serious game time. I know Smith is arguably the best HB in world rugby at the moment but but we need our back-up HB to get some experience just in case Smith gets hurt. Otherwise we risk falling into the trap that Aussie has in the past with Gregan and Genia. They never let the reserve HB take the field and then if those guys got injured or when they retired, the Aussie struggled to found adequate replacements.

I know it looks like I'm writing off the Argies but I'm not meaning to disrespect them. They are a good side and are very tough at home. I'm just confident of an AB win and I am very excited about facing SA next week. I still think about that game last year!!

matthew8

Great try AAC. Potential game of the year here.

sydneybound

SA 5 - Aus 10 - 35 mins gone

matthew8

What's going to become of Meyer if the game finishes with this score? Aussies good value for their lead.

matthew8

I can hardly believe Lambie missed that. He's usually quite good as a kicker.

molloyjh

All SA now. They need to convert that to points though.

molloyjh

Right decision. They needed to come away with points and that Aussie defence was very good.

matthew8

Dropped it about 10 phases too late.

sydthebeat

Is it still 8 - 10?

matthew8

So cruel on Australia.

matthew8

Scoreline flatters Boks in the end but Australia ran out of gas.

matthew8

26-10 does not tell the story of this game at all. NZ will need the BP tonight to secure the comp then.

WTO

Well that was the afterburners going on there from SA. 4 try bonus victory!

sydneybound

Do they have any chance against NZ next week? They should do

molloyjh

Nige reckons he's getting too old for this!

matthew8

Reinach with the promised big run too. So, 4 points from NZ tonight and it's the same situation as the last game last year.

WTO

matthew8 wrote: »

Reinach with the promised big run too. So, 4 points from NZ tonight and it's the same situation as the last game last year.

Excellent. That was a great game last year wouldn't mind seeing a repeat. You'd have to think NZ should be too strong for Argentina but an upset would really make it interesting

matthew8

One thing we can take away from this match is rugby has 3 very strong teams right now who will be tough to beat in the world cup.

Judgement Day

Epic last 15 mins and I'm back on a winning streak - at last.

matthew8

New Zealand looking much better here.

Buer

Pumas having serious discipline problems early on. They're hammering into NZ but conceding penalties every 2 minutes.

Buer

Ben Smuth with the opening try. Simple try off first phase but everything done so swiftly and accurately. Lovely switch from Dagg to put him over.

matthew8

NZ actually look like they'll murder them.

matthew8

Where's the card ref?

Buer

Argentina conceded 5 penalties in opening 14 minutes. Ouch.

Better from them now. 13-3.

Buer

Will be interested to see how Lavinini goes at Racing. He's a monster of a man and only 21.

matthew8

Argentina can't cope with the class. NZ want the comp wrapped up tonight.

Buer

That's a shame when Argentina were looking like they were making a game of it. The no look pass from Smith to Dagg was beautiful.

Kanrith

Ah... Argentina didn't deserve that.

Judgement Day

It's early yet but it looks like the ABs are hardly breaking into a sweat - a run in the park.

WTO

NZ as always looking sharp but with the limited ball the Argentinian halves are also looking good. Joubert managing the game well so it flows. The Pumas need to score first after the break. Sanchez would be a great medical joker for Munster.

sydthebeat

Those kiwi back line moves are lush, fekitoa having a monster game so far.

Buer

The Kiwi Mick McGrath gets his 27th try in 27 caps. He's only 24. Howlett's record must be at the back of his mind.

sydthebeat

All blacks rugby championship winners.

Bit of a madcap game.

Judgement Day

Great result and it means no pressure next week when the ABs face a much improved Springboks.

sydthebeat

Judgement Day wrote: »

Great result and it means no pressure next week when the ABs face a much improved Springboks.

Interesting to see how hard they fight for their record.

LuckyGent88

Just back from the canterbury itm cup match. Dan carter only played the first half but after the game he appeared to be limping badly. His comeback might be cut short again

sydneybound

The Puma's line up for Saturday

http://www.planetrugby.co.uk/story/0,25883,16024_9497432,00.html

Not sure why they dropped Manuel Montero, thought he's beenn very good so far.

Yeah_Right

Very excited about the AB v SA game this weekend. If it is even half as good as last year's fixture then it will be a cracker. A few changes to the line-ups from last week.

All Black :
15: Israel Dagg; 14: Ben Smith; 13: Conrad Smith; 12: Malakai Fekitoa; 11: Julian Savea; 10: Beauden Barrett; 9: Aaron Smith; 8: Kieran Read; 7: Richie McCaw; 6: Jerome Kaino; 5: Sam Whitelock; 4: Jeremy Thrush; 3: Owen Franks; 2: Keven Mealamu; 1: Joe Moody.
Reserves: 16: Dane Coles, 17: Charlie Faumuina, 18: Ben Franks, 19: Steven Luatua, 20: Liam Messam, 21: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22: Colin Slade, 23: Ryan Crotty.

South Africa :
15: Willie le Roux, 14: Cornal Hendricks, 13: Jan Serfontein, 12: Jean de Villiers (captain), 11: Bryan Habana, 10: Handre Pollard, 9: Francois Hougaard; 8: Duane Vermeulen/Schalk Burger, 7: Teboho Mohoje, 6: Marcell Coetzee, 5: Victor Matfield, 4: Eben Etzebeth, 3: Jannie du Plessis, 2: Bismarck du Plessis, 1: Tendai Mtawarira. Reserves: 16: Adriaan Strauss, 17: Trevor Nyakane, 18: Marcel van der Merwe, 19: Bakkies Botha, 20: Schalk Burger/Warren Whiteley, 21: Cobus Reinach, 22: Pat Lambie, 23: JP Pietersen.

After last week's effort Fekitoa and Mealamu hold on to their starting spots. And deservedly so. The young fella looked like he was finally finding his feet at test level and tore into everything. A couple more performances like that this year and Maa and SBW will have trouble removing him. The old man must have discovered the fountain of youth over in Beunos Aires as that was the best performance by him in a long time. It was a real throw back to 2005-9. Speaking of throwing, his lineout throwing was good :eek:

Crockett and Retallick both miss out due to injuries. Its a shame to lose Retallick as he has been in some great form and I was really looking forward to watching the battle between Etzebeth/Matfield vs. Retallick/Whitelock. Hopefully Thrush can do a solid job as he did in Wellington. He might even win me over.

Huge step up for Joe Moody. After 20 odd games for Canterbury, a similar amount for the Crusaders and a few bench appearances for the ABs; he gets his first start in a test. Against the Boks. In Jo'burg. F**k me!!!! The selectors must really rate him.

The bench has a few interesting selections. Coles is back from being a daddy and onto the bench in place Harris. Good option to come on for the last 30 to up the pace. Luatua is the lock cover on the bench which means I will be fervently praying to all that is holy and unholy that neither of the starters gets injured early. Sam Cane misses out to Messam which I guess is due to the expectation of a rather physical battle up front.

TKB replaces TJP as the halfback cover which is a surprise. I don't think there is much between the 2. And every Irishman's favourite, Ryan Crotty, also returns to the bench. Beardless.

The Boks have made one change. Bismarck comes in for Strauss at hooker. Brilliant player. Love watching him play....... except when its against a team I support. Mohoje keeps his (token:rolleyes:) place after a strong game against the Convicts. Its wait and see for Vermeulen. If he's out, then thats a big loss for SA. Obviously Burger is no slouch but Vermeulen has been in outstanding form all season.

I don't rate Hougaard that highly. I think its a big step down to him from Fourie Du Preez and Ruan Pienaar. The rest of the SA backline has a good look about it. This young 10 looks more likely to unleash it's talents than the kicking machine that is Morne Steyne. JDV is........ well JDV. Serforntein could have a long career ahead of him, while the back 3 looks lethal. They need to let Willie free though. He strikes me as player that can be over coached and if the game plan is too strict, you lose his best asset which is his instincts. His combinations with Habana and Hendricks just screams out for a counter-attack every time the ball is kicked to them.

Can't wait for this game!!!

sydthebeat

Owen franks at 3

faumuina is good, but not THAT good

Judgement Day

Can't get excited about this game since the Championship is already over but at least it's on at a civilised hour.