Rugby Championship

Oh my what a surprise. The great HM selects his team on a Wednesday before the test which gives the ABs ample time to address their tactics against the SA players chosen. You cant make it up anymore with this coach.

chicken n chips wrote: Oh my what a surprise. The great HM selects his team on a Wednesday before the test which gives the ABs ample time to address their tactics against the SA players chosen. You cant make it up anymore with this coach.

@cnc...even if HM was allowed to name his team at the coin toss, NO opposition would be surprised by his tactics...the opposition know they are going to get the ball with all the kicking we do and SA will have to make a few hundred tackles in the first 60 minutes and be knackered in the last quarter to run us ragged...

TNaicker wrote:

chicken n chips wrote: Oh my what a surprise. The great HM selects his team on a Wednesday before the test which gives the ABs ample time to address their tactics against the SA players chosen. You cant make it up anymore with this coach.

@cnc...even if HM was allowed to name his team at the coin toss, NO opposition would be surprised by his tactics...the opposition know they are going to get the ball with all the kicking we do and SA will have to make a few hundred tackles in the first 60 minutes and be knackered in the last quarter to run us ragged...

so true tnaicker. I am not giving other teams the credit that they deserve. The ABs should just be relaxing at their hotel and having late nights because come Saturday the worlds best coach, HM, will be making his usual subs around the 50th minute in order to try and prove a point. One thing regarding the WC I that the SA players will be home before the knock out stages. At least they will have a longer break from the game than anticipated by HM who in his deluded mind still believes that SA will win the WC.

He is likely the only coach in the world that wants to win matches without the ball...all our players have grown up on hard fast fields and yet we play a territorial game like it is the middle of winter in the Northern Hemisphere..let our players run...in the words of Bruce Springsteen...we were "Born to Run" !!!

I play soccer but love watching rugby...I even taught my daughter the SA anthem (including the Xhosa and Afrikaans portions !!) when she was 3 so that she could sing it with me before each match of the 2011 World Cup...and then we get subjected to HM...even P Diddy (de Villers) allowed the players to run...and we must institute a policy whereby anybody who has reached the age of 30 must make themselves unavailable for SA selection...go or stay at one of the foreign clubs and earn your retirement !!

I may just start drinking again if we continue at this rate...

It's a little early to be taking bets,as lots can happen between now and Saturday,but the return of Ben Smith this week is a positive for the AB.

Dagg has been off his game this year,and Smith is at the top of his.

We'll have to wait and see exactly what the team looks like,but the AB's looked sublime at times last week,and the Pumas only really got back into the game once the 4 try bonus had already been sealed.

The AB scrum was strong last week against the traditionally good Pumas scrum.

The AB's have a poor WC record relative to their position on the betting boards,but conversely their Rugby Championship/Tri-nations record is awesome,and this team looks way too strong for the Boks from my perspective.

The first half might be tight as it often is,but the AB strength is always the last 20 mins,and their bench appears far stronger than what the Boks have to offer.

AB's look a BIG bet at 7/10 to me.

In the Arg/Aus game it looks like the hcp is going to be in the 5,5 region.These two teams have had some close encounters in recent years,and Aus lost in Arg last year.

I don't have the same confidence here as on the other game,but +5,5 looks the bet to me in a game where an Argentinian victory outright would not be a surprising result.

HM brought his Blou Bull philosophy to the SA team and has not evolved. Yes the Bulls won with his style but that sort of rugby is a thing of the past. He does not want to change, and he comes across as somebody who wont listen to advice or constructive criticism. That will ultimately be his downfall and when he is an old man he will still be in denial of the fact that he has cost the Boks with his amateurish running of the team. (early selections, wrong subs and the wrong time) If he can put as much effort into his thinking as he does of the singing of the National Anthem then half of his problems will be gone.

I will always support the boks but in reality how the bookmakers can put up -2.5 New Zealand is incredible, should beat us easier than that

The All Blacks side to play South Africa in the Investec Rugby Championship Test at Emirates Airline (formerly Ellis) Park, Johannesburg, on Saturday 25 July has been named, with lock James Broadhurst and first five-eighths Lima Sopoaga to make their Test debuts.
The team is:

1. Tony Woodcock (112)
2. Dane Coles (27)
3. Owen Franks (69)
4. Brodie Retallick (38)
5. James Broadhurst
6. Liam Messam (41)
7. Richie McCaw - captain (139)
8. Kieran Read (74)
9. Aaron Smith (38)
10. Lima Sopoaga
11. Charles Piutau (16)
12. Ma'a Nonu (95)
13. Conrad Smith (85)
14. Ben Smith (38)
15. Israel Dagg (48)

Reserves:
16. Codie Taylor (1)
17. Wyatt Crockett (38)
18. Ben Franks (41)
19. Samuel Whitelock (63)
20. Victor Vito (26)
21. TJ Perenara (12)
22. Beauden Barrett (28)
23. Malakai Fekitoa (

Sopoaga comes in for Daniel Carter at first five-eighths and Broadhurst takes over from Luke Romano. In other changes in the starting XV, Dane Coles comes in at hooker with Liam Messam at blindside flanker. In the backs, Aaron Smith returns to the starting halfback position, while the world-record midfield combo of Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith is back. As well, with a desire to continue to give Israel Dagg more game time, Ben Smith is named on the right wing.

On the bench, Ben Franks comes in as reserve prop alongside Wyatt Crockett, Codie Taylor retains the reserve hooker jersey, Sam Whitelock is reserve lock, with Victor Vito covering the loose forwards. TJ Perenara is reserve halfback, with Beauden Barrett and Malakai Fekitoa the other back reserves.

Broadhurst and Sopoaga will be surrounded by a hugely experienced All Blacks side, with the starting forward pack boasting exactly 500 Test caps experience, with a further 320 caps in the starting backline and 217 on the bench.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen said: "This is a massive Test for us and one the whole group is looking forward to. It doesn't get much bigger or better than playing South Africa at Ellis Park. Both teams have a massive amount of respect for each other, both on and off the paddock.

"We know that we will have to step up again this week from our performance against Argentina. Though we were happier with our game last weekend, there is a genuine desire to take it up a level. The Springboks will be desperate after their loss last week and we will have to better that desperation with our own urgency, intensity and accuracy in the execution of our game and skillsets."

I forgot that Naholo is out with a broken leg,so Ben Smith comes in on the wing in his place.

Not crazy about the fact that Dagg is the fullback,but then continuity in selection is an AB strength.

New Zealand to win by 1-12 points

Have gone 29-19 in favour of All Black's