2nd test - Boks vs. the B&I Lions

The 2nd test match between the British & Irish Lions and the Springboks was an intriguing face-off.

The loss of Burger in the first 30 seconds of the match gave the Lions something to get back "go forward" and they never really looked like giving it up until some late second half substitutions changed things around.

Some observations on the game:

Uncontested scrums:
From the 45th minute of the test match there were uncontested scrums and yet we still stuck to three genuine front-rankers while the Lions enjoyed far more mobility

Jaque Fourie:
Fourie was again expected to come off the bench and make an impact. While I appreciate what Adi Jacobs brings to the side, I don't understand why Peter Devilliers is so hesitant to pair Jean Devilliers with Fourie considering the size and strength of the B&I centres?!

Spies better off the bench:
If you're looking for a way to incorporate the foraging ability of Brussouw as well as Burger and Juan Smith then why not move Burger to 8 and let Spies come off the bench as the impact player for the last 20 minutes or so? Sure he could inflict a lot of pain if used in this manner?

Headache at flyhalf?:
Ruan Pienaar had a competent performance at flyhalf last week but this time around he just didn't click. The side looked far more structured when Steyn came on. (I'm not a Steyn fan but he did the job today).

Dunno

Hhhhmmm

The Lions finally got a Super 14 win on the table when they beat the Brumbies at home last night.... It has taken me 24 hours to recover from the shock before blogging on the subject.

I guess it is always good when an SA side beats an Australian side but geez they made it hard work for themselves.

There are a couple of guys I feel genuinely sorry for in SA rugby - Cobus "Baywatch" Grobbelaar, Louis Ludik, Heinke VD Merwe and Jaques Fourie.

Baywatch and Ludik are guys who simply try their hearts out game after game and they deserve to be on the winning side from time to time.

When it comes to Fourie - you almost wish he could be playing for a class side - between him, Adi Jacobs and Jean Devilliers, he is probably one of the best "pure" centres in South African rugby and yet he keeps turning out for the Lions every year.

Sorry to say but I think Andre Pretorius is finished.... His performance yesterday was weak and his kicking out of hand was directionless. The side has been banking on a Pretorius recovery for the last two seasons and finally he is fit and starting again and he's not delivering....

Dunno we'll watch the next few weeks and see how this Lions side plays out... So long as they don't interfere with the Stormers rebound to make the Semis.... ;-)

Ricky Januarie

With the 'end' of the 2008 rugby season, a lot of rugby pundits have looked back and pointed out that Adrian Jacobs has been the star 'find' of the season and a testament to the coachs' faith in the player.

Somebody who I don't think has received enough credit is Ricky Januarie.

If I look back on 2008, the only try I can remember is his chip and chase effort which sealed the first ever Bok win in the "House of Pain" in New Zealand.

Over the weekend, he was good against the English.

Ricky plays an interesting role in the Springbok side in that he has to play second fiddle to Fourie Du Preez. But to have a backup scrummie of his quality is great.

He is a nuggety player who loves to get stuck in and I reckon he gave Ricki Flutey something of a hard time over the weekend whenever the English scrumhalf tried to get some momentum.

His 'bombers' onto the hapless Paul Sackey were brilliant as well.

Ricky Januarie - Definately the underrated player of the season for me...

Earl Rose

I’ve been reading a lot of commentary about Earl Rose in recent weeks. Specifically about how he has the ability to combine the sublime with the ridiculous and how his ball skills have made him a shoe-in for the end of season Springbok touring side.

At present, Rose is currently the top points-scorer and he has been part of a Lions squad that seems to have rejuvenated itself since the start of the season. The question is – how much has Rose contributed to this revolution and how much has he cost the Lions this season… and ultimately is he good enough to be the Springbok flyhalf?

Upfront I’m going to make it clear – I didn’t like Rose when he was at Western Province / Stormers and I personally believe that Rose cost the Lions in the Super 14. Do I think he cost the Lions yesterday against the Sharks in the Currie Cup? ABSOLUTELY…

That try for the Sharks where Rose aimlessly kicked it into the charging Sharks backline should be enough to confirm why he should not be selected to play for the Springbok side.

Of course mistakes happen and players make the wrong choices – but with Rose they seem to happen too often in the big games. The choices to run from behind his own goal line or attempts to try and outmuscle some of the worlds’ best flankers or kick into some of the worlds best backline players are mistakes he makes on a regular basis – composure is everything for a flyhalf.

One also has to look at the way Rose plays when considering whether he would be suitable for a Springbok place. I know that Pieter Devilliers is a bit of a fan of his, but ‘Div’ also needs to consider whether or not Rose will actually get a backline firing or not.

Whoever ends up being the Bok flyhalf will be fortunate to have two of Jacques Fourie, Jean Devilliers, AD Jacobs and Frans Steyn outside them – muscular, game breaking centres…

They don’t need a flyhalf who is going to try and be a picture of creative flair. This is why Butch James and Peter Grant fit so well into this system. Both are solid defenders and can take the contact and both (in theory) try and do the basics right.

At the end of the day, as a coach, you have to use what you have. If you don’t have a Dan Carter in your backline to get it firing but you have some super creative centres – then this is where your backline play can come from. There is no point trying to make a player fit a game plan that isn’t there.

Experimenting is great but rather experiment with what you have rather than move away from the game plan that plays to your strengths.