Wales vs South Africa match buildup.

First topic message reminder :

OK boys, this weekend Wales and South Africa will both attempt to begin their Autumn Internationals with a win.

Both teams for different reasons.

Wales will want to build on their Six Nations form of the last two years, they will want to confirm to themselves that the British and Irish Lions tour was won because of their players, and they will want to progress from being Northern Hemisphere kings, to a team that has the ability to beat South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

In my view, and possibly in the view of their supporters the time is now, it has been a while since Wales has been so dominant in Europe, the only thing missing before they can call themselves world beaters is to take the next step.

How much of it is mental, how much of it is due to the fact that they struggle to put 80 minute performances together I cannot be certain of, but what I do know is they have the ability, sadly it seems Cuthbert and Roberts will not be part of what I deem as the most talented and dangerous backline in Europe. For two reasons I might add, it is the most settled back line in Europe, and also very experienced.

Since the World Cup in 2011, Wales have won 9 of their 10 Six Nations matches, undoubtedly a very good record, however their problem was the seven match losing streak in between the two Six Nations.

South Africa on the other hand, has a new coach, been there for near two full seasons and he has made a difference.

Still not yet consistent, the concern is always how will Meyer ensure that the springboks perform on a consistent basis. In the past 18 months under Heyneke Meyer the boks had their fair share of poor games.

Last year out of the twelve test matches played the springboks managed to win 7 tests, drew 2 and lost three.

Although the three tests they lost were against New Zealand (twice) and Australia, there were a number of other performances that were not up to par. England in the third test at home, Argentina in Mendoza and New Zealand at home, those were poor performances by South Africa.

Although they went through the Autumn internationals unbeaten the were less than convincing.

I suppose the positive out of the performances were even when they played poorly, they managed to be on the right side of the scoreboard most of the time.

Although South Africa has shown improvement this year, the consistency is still under question.

The one aspect of their game that has improved immeasurably is their positive approach to attacking play, looking at the number of tries scored this year in comparison to last year it makes for astounding reading, in 2012 during 12 matches South Africa managed only 23 tries, conceding 16. This year in 9 tests they have managed 39 tries, conceding 18 tries.

Only New Zealand have managed to score regular tries against SA, totalling 15 tries in the last two years, the rest of their opponents only managed 19 tries in 17 matches.

Wales during 2012 managed to score 20 tries in conceding 17 in their 13 matches. During 2013 in their seven tests to date, they managed 11 tries, conceding 7.

If South Africa continues with their positive approach  to attacking plays I believe Wales will be hard pressed, their defence will have to be up to par, there is no doubt Wales will have a positive approach to the game, so from that perspective it should be an entertaining match.

There are some questions over the selections Meyer will make, will he bring Jaque Fourie, JP Pietersen and Bakkies Botha in for the first tour match, which would add significantly to the experience of the team, or will he give debutant Pieter Steph du Toit his first cap?

Of course Willie le Roux and JJ Engelbrecht may yet be inexperienced, but in my view it would be unfair to summarily dismiss them in favour of the old hands.

Wales have a few selection issues as well, who will replace Cuthbert and Roberts, and the ultimate question, will Phillips’ disciplinary record affect his chances for selection?

I still wonder who is the best fly half in Wales.

Come what may, this match should be a tough encounter, will SA prove they have made the step up and show consistency, or will Wales make the next leap towards world domination?

Springbok team for Wales.

The Springbok team to face Wales in Cardiff is:

15. Pat Lambie 29 caps 55 points
14. JP Pietersen 48 caps 70 points
13. Jaque Fourie 69 caps 160 points
12. Jean de Villiers (captain) 93 caps 120 points
11. Bryan Habana 92 caps 265 points
10. Morné Steyn 51 caps 618 points
9. Fourie du Preez 65 caps 70 points
8. Duane Vermeulen 13 caps 5 points
7. Willem Alberts 27 caps 30 points
6. Francois Louw 25 caps 25 points
5. Flip van der Merwe 31 caps 5 points
4. Eben Etzebeth 20 caps 0 points
3. Frans Malberhe 0 caps 0 points
2. Bismarck du Plessis (v-captain) 54 caps 40 points
1. Tendai Mtawarira 50 caps 10 points
Replacements:
16. Adriaan Strauss 30 caps 25 points
17. Gurthrö Steenkamp 46 caps 30 points
18. Coenie Oosthuizen 11 caps 5 points
19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 0 caps 0 points
20. Siya Kolisi 8 caps 0 points
21. Ruan Pienaar 71 caps 130 points
22. JJ Engelbrecht 10 caps 20 points
23. Willie le Roux 9 caps 15 points

Wales team for South Africa
Wales

15 Leigh Halfpenny,
14 George North,
13 Jonathan Davies,
12 Scott Williams,
11 Eli Walker,
10 Rhys Priestland,
9 Mike Phillips,
8 Toby Faletau,
7 Sam Warburton (captain),
6 Dan Lydiate,
5 Alun Wyn Jones,
4 Bradley Davies,
3 Adam Jones,
2 Richard Hibbard,
1 Gethin Jenkins

Substitutes: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Liam Williams

Knew they'd get one from the maul at some point, just not this early. SA are so very clinical.

these SA forwards are monsters. wales need to play sensible territorial rugby and settle down. getting isolated too frequently.

Just terrible predictable play from Wales, going in one's and two's all the time. We aren't going to get a single win this autumn playing like this.

What the bloody hell was that by Beck

SA have gone on from where they left off in the RC. They wont take the pressure off. The 80 minute effort is one of their key learnings from Ellis. This could be a blowout. Physically theyve got Wales on the back foot already.

saffer 3 turning him in too. bad technique

Saint I wouldn't be too disheartened mate, the Saffas are a great side and are battle hardened. This is the first game for Wales, so was always going to be tough, I would still expect wins from the rest of the games

saffers lying all over the ball carrier or not rolling away. going to be yellows in this match i think

Not looking to good for Wales at the moment. How much will those injuries tell for the rest of the Ais.?

Poor communication there, hook could see Faletau but Toby had no clue!

Even the injuries are going SA's way- including Steyn! Lambie will provide more attacking options

that wasnt forward

Well, Hook again shows why he is left in the wilderness.
Also, our players need to realise that they don't need to have 5 of them flying into the ruck while SA are sending in 1. It's just handing SA another advantage they seemingly don't need.

Taylorman wrote:Even the injuries are going SA's way- including Steyn! Lambie will provide more attacking options

 

For a 120kg lump, Alberts isn't a bad lineout jumper

This on TV anywhere?

Come on Wales, give it some welly!!!!

God there's some battered bodies out there though.  

Bbc2 nathan

nathan wrote:This on TV anywhere?

BBC 2 Wales, or red button if you're watching from NI. It may be online through the BBC.

Well at least we finally got a bit of a sting in our tail. But fact of the matter is we've never recovered from a points deficit against SA.

So....all our best players are going off injured

Noooo Hairbear off! That's bad news for our scrum.

Enjoying this match. Nice to see Wales not rolling over.

C'mon, lets keep a NH clean sweep going lads!!!

This is brutal for injuries

Just when you think injuries can't get worse, Andrews the mightiest TH in the world comes on for Adam Jones.

 

ADAM JONES going off. Now that will be a big blow for Wales. Not even half time yet.

Wales going to be running out of players soon!

Who went off for Wales? JD2, scrum master and ... Cuthbert??

The players are getting in a worse state than the pitch!

Ah cool thanks guys, got it on the iplayer. What's the game been like so far?

The commentators have me confused. But that's probably because they're speaking Welsh.

That was a much better passage of play from Wales and will give them confidence.

I'm sorry but the pitch is truly awful. I feel sorry for the paying public.

Ineffable wrote:Who went off for Wales? JD2, scrum master and ... Cuthbert??

Liam Williams.

1/2p was off his feet

Its Brian Moore on the iplayer?

Rolland  

Cari wrote:

Ineffable wrote:Who went off for Wales? JD2, scrum master and ... Cuthbert??

Liam Williams.

I've been distracted for the first 30 but now watching properly. Is Cuthbert not playing or just haven't seen him yet?

Those are some high profile injuries, feel for you. Although Wales' first XV are all good calibre so losing anyone is a blow. Seems to be a big step down from first XV to the bench, no?

Surely Lee will get his deserved call-up with Jarvis already cropped and Jones probably to miss the Arg game? We'll need to go into that game with a new game plan though.

Great kick from Halfpenny and Wales get reward for a good passage of play. Important to stay in touch because SA capable of scoring tries and finishing strong: a double threat.

Ineffable wrote:

Cari wrote:

Ineffable wrote:Who went off for Wales? JD2, scrum master and ... Cuthbert??

Liam Williams.

I've been distracted for the first 30 but now watching properly. Is Cuthbert not playing or just haven't seen him yet?

Those are some high profile injuries, feel for you. Although Wales' first XV are all good calibre so losing anyone is a blow. Seems to be a big step down from first XV to the bench, no?

Nope. Cuthbert missed out due to injury I believe.

Does flag against green mean there's a penalty for us orrr?

flag agains green..finally a yellow...

really? That might give us a chance, it 'might' .....

 

prob somthg off the ball

LOL, Hibbard has his face pushed in the dirt there. Personally I'd let it go.

Hope you got her number Ineffable. If somebody distracts me during a rugby game with my nation playing, she has to be spectacular!

Ah. That went down well

Calm down calm down - it's a lot of nothing!

red! gotta be red!

Very disappointing the boks...just when theyre starting to tick the boxes some clown ruins all the good work.