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

Bit of a dodgy try for sa.

Yep, was offside though. That sucks.

Can't help but think of a particular lineout v ireland couple years ago though ... swing & roundabouts, get back up, take it back to the boks.

off side

Sa have 8 in the maul, wales 4.

I mean it must be so hard to be a rugby ref at this level, SO hard, but having said that, Rolland is a bit **** isn't he?

Wales lucky not to concede a penalty on the other side of the ground. They just haven't had the ball in a while.

Yes it will be interesting to see if GE thinks that offside for the Du Preez try was a serious blunder from Rolland that changed the course of the game.

i just think refs should, from an open play kick and chase try, automatically check the offside. takes 30 seconds.

ultra wrote:Offside no. 13....surely a reffing eff up GE?

Now now... Couldn't see from the TV angle he may have been played on side. Clearly Wales don't have a fortress to play in. Maybe the WRU should buy one.

I think the pitch deserves a red card. You just cant grip when scrummaging

Priestland kicking too much now. Play with the ball in hand. A lot of his chips have been nothing kicks

Quins: but then fans will moan about disrupting the floe of the game.

has to be yellow no?

Tipuric.....boom. Take the points surely?

This is painful to watch. Cmon Wales.

Wales so close, but just not finishing the moves. Bit like England against aus.

I can't see us getting near now, let alone win this.

rolland doesnt want to check the TMO offence? WTF?

I'm neutral (leaning towards NH per usual) but Rolland is p***ing even me off here. He feels out of depth. Am I the only one?

There's no way I would take off Phillips!

Can a TMO offer up a potential offence? I thought he had to be alerted to it by the ref. Why is he speaking English in that Allo Allo accent? Rollaind can speak French.

The Saint wrote:There's no way I would take off Phillips!

Not when you've only got Lloyd Williams to come on!

Kia so both the welsh and south Africans can understand them

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Can a TMO offer up a potential offence? I thought he had to be alerted to it by the ref. Why is he speaking English in that Allo Allo accent? Rollaind can speak French.

obviously they can

I don't think Rolland has effected the game result today, but can I just say, myself and some others raised the point of him not being up to it for almost a season now and it was a relief to hear he'd announced his retirement. Now it seems a few others (non-welsh) have raised some eye-brows. Maybe you should listen to people and not let national bias take over if they have a different opinion.

Wales need to do what guscutt said, play for territory. There playing in their own half and coughing the ball up.

Halfpenny has been ordinary today. Missed the tackle to concede the game breaking try. Looks slow and uncertain. Decent goal kicking but it's now been proven that's not enough.

Wales have 10 British and Irish Lions in their team, and they are struggling to put any decent performance together against SA.

majesticimperialman wrote:Wales have 10 British and Irish Lions in their team, and they are struggling to put any decent performance together against SA.

The 2 crucial ones were on the sideline within 30 minutes

  

How is Pienaar only coming on now? SA could've done with his kicking ability sooner.

Good save Scott Williams.

GloriousEmpire wrote:Halfpenny has been ordinary today. Missed the tackle to concede the game breaking try. Looks slow and uncertain. Decent goal kicking but it's now been proven that's not enough.

Good work mate, only 76 minutes in this time, and a subtle one too. Maybe you can make the whole game next time.   

That was a laboured pass from Hook....ah well, it was knocked on anyway.

majesticimperialman wrote:Wales have 10 British and Irish Lions in their team, and they are struggling to put any decent performance together against SA.

So what does that count for when the Lions can't win a series against SA? Pretty dull comment from you as usual.

Get someone who speaks English better then! Rolland seemed to have a problem hearing him and I find it strange that he didn't wait to hear what he had to say.

SA are pretty one dimensional aren't they? Crunch, pass, kick, chase......Wales kicking themselves tomorrow I think for this

for once i agree with brian moore about bad pass and decision welsh 22

Rolland's had a good game.

Ha ha that was like a rugby league scrum

Cari wrote:That was a laboured pass from Hook....ah well, it was knocked on anyway.

It wasn't just laboured it was useless. Didn't even draw a man.

Well.. I suppose well played SA... didn't have to do much tho'....

Shame......coulda won, please don't blame the ref........we'll be as bad as them then

Well played SA.

A confident team,. they didn't look great all game, but very clinical.

Wales played well, but brains like flapping chickens ready for slaughter.

15-24 at FT. A limp end to the game. De Preez MOTM.

1 win in 107 years ouch!

quinsforever wrote:for once i agree with brian moore about bad pass and decision welsh 22

Yeah, Hooks a frickin genius!

Once we were 8 points down we were never going to win - without JD2 and Cuthbert, and with North not involved enough were weren't going to create enough.

Arggg, wish we could play again with a full 23.

Convincing win for SA. Cue them slamming Wales coz a few of our Welsh journalists for apparently wrote off SA... Or something along those lines. Well done SA, taught us another lesson in rugby... Don't reckon we'll learn from it though, as usual.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Get someone who speaks English better then! Rolland seemed to have a problem hearing him and I find it strange that he didn't wait to hear what he had to say.

Perhaps he'd seen it and was aware what the TMO was offering.

I think Wales had a cracking game and deserve a lot of plaudits, they were very competitive. South Africa are the 2nd best team in world afterall!