Defending under-20 champions South Africa our out of the Junior World Championships after losing 18-17 to Wales in the first semi-final. With 2 minutes left on the clock, SA were leading 17-11. Wales then scored a clever try after looking like the less composed team in the closing stages. The architect was their flyhalf Sam Davies who then became even more of a hero when he slotted the difficult conversion to hand his team a 1-point lead which they held onto after a really stupid kickoff option by the Baby Boks, who needed to regain possession, had zero effect.
The game started with promise. SA looked sharp but their backline lacked any kind of penetration. Scrums however continued to be a disaster. Oddly enough the Baby Boks seemed to do worse on Welsh put-ins to the scrum than on their own. As the match wore on, the teams became more conscious of what was at stake and started to play a more conservative kicking for territory game in an effort to avoid making errors in their own half. SA’s tactical kicking game was fairly poor again and Pollard also did not enjoy a good time kicking off the tee either.
Wales will meet the winner tonight’s New Zealand versus England game in the final on 23 June.
Match breakdown:
|
MIN |
SCORE |
DETAILS |
|
2 |
0-0 |
Pollard spins a long spin pass out right which is almost intercepted by a Welsh player |
|
6 |
|
The BBs go through a series of one pass one off runner phases. Its all very neat due to go support play at the tackled ball which allows for good recycling and quickball. |
|
7 |
|
SA concedes their first scrumming penalty |
|
9 |
|
Ungerer sets up Senalta for a run down the touchline with a quick 22m drop and dodge before feeding |
|
11 |
|
Swanepoel gets freed up for a run down the righthand touchline but he uses poor technique under the circumstances and is easily forced into touch. |
|
11 |
|
SA loses an own lineout ball in the Welsh half |
|
14 |
|
Welsh defence again comes to their rescue as SA goes through contacts and offload well to delayed support runners. Like previous attacks it looks good but dies a sudden death without SA benefiting on the scoreboard from it. |
|
15 |
|
Another scrum penalty against SA. In this scrum the BBs got annihilated. |
|
16 |
|
Wales work a really good move off the front of their penalty lineout at the SA 22m. They cross the line but the Welshman Bennett loses the ball in the act of grounding. |
|
17 |
|
SA get a good hit for their own put-in 5m defensive scrum and the scrum looks strong |
|
19 |
|
The hot stepping Welsh fullback Jordan Williams sets off on a good run from inside his own 22m |
|
20 |
0-3 |
Dennis Visser makes an elementary side entry error at a maul after the Welsh win their own lineout. Davis the Welsh flyhalf strikes the penalty well. |
|
22 |
|
Wales use a no arms tackle in an attempt to stop an SA rolling maul from the lineout. Pollard misses the kick at goal from the penalty spot. |
|
28 |
|
Kolbe makes a textbook tackle on the Welsh leftwing who broke free after a poor tactical kick. |
|
30 |
0-6 |
Welsh scrum wins a penalty against Andrew Beerwinkel. Sam Davies makes it count with 3-points |
|
37 |
|
Irne Herbst takes good ball at the front of the lineout and Wales gets penalized but du Preez kicks for touch instead of Pollard going for posts |
|
38 |
7-6 |
Herbst scores the opening try from a well worked move in which he does not jump at the front a lineout, instead collecting a short throw-in and carrying over with ease. Pollard converts. |
|
Halftime |
|
|
|
44 |
7-6 |
Not releasing Pollard misses an penalty |
|
48 |
|
A quick tap and go by Ungerer followed by quick hands by du Preez presents a chance for Pollard to set Senatla free on the left but Pollard is not able to control his pass. |
|
|
|
There seems to be a lot more kicking for territory and less reluctance to attack with ball in hand. |
|
57 |
7-11 |
Wales score a good try. It starts from the ref getting a decision wrong to award a penalty against Kolbe for holding on, this after a hospital pass from Pollard. The Welsh attack well and use the space down the left-hand short side. A good flick inside by Williams eventually sets up the try but the replay shows the player drops the ball in the act of scoring. |
|
58 |
14-11 |
Ungerer takes another quick penalty and SA advances play well before going wide in the redzone. Pollard fires a perfect long pass to replacement Kwagga Smith who uses the gap well. He is ankle tapped but gets up straight away and dives over for the try. Pollard converts. |
|
61 |
|
Ungerer gets penalised for a high tackle when Wales are on attack following a penalty that Kwagga conceded for no daylight. Davies misses the kick at goal. |
|
|
|
SA sneak a penalty at a scrum. A Pollard long-range shot at goal hits the upright and sub hooker Willemse immediately impedes by tackling a player in the air from the rebound. |
|
70 |
|
Wales to some smart kicking into space to win a huge territorial gain. |
|
71 |
|
Wales undo this work with an accidental offside at the maul after the lineout after they detach and then reconnect. |
|
74 |
17-11 |
Wales start to panick a bit as the tension grows. They get caught behind the advantage-line and are penalised for holding on. Pollard lands the kick. |
|
76 |
|
Exciting play when an untidy looking grubber ahead by SA has the desired effect as it offers Senatla a chance to attack. The wing’s attempted kick ahead for a chase is then charged down. |
|
|
|
SA don’t not make a prop substitute during the game despite having 2 on the bench. They concede a penalty at the scrum. Wales punts long and Kolbe does brilliantly to keep the ball from going out inside the SA 22, but then he does not kick the ball out, instead trying to dodge tackles. The net result is a ruck outside the SA 22m from which du Preez cannot kick directly into touch. Wales brings the ball right back at SA. |
|
79 |
17-18 |
Walsh flyhalf Sam Davies spots the space behind the SA defence. He chips ahead into a box inside the SA 22m and the wing Evans scores a brilliant try. Davies gets the clutch conversion out of the corner over to give Wales the lead. |
|
80 |
|
Wales collects the kickoff and runs down the clock. |
|
Fulltime |
17-18 |
|
@Grasshopper:
@beet:
The provincial structures are all in place and most players in contention are already contracted.
It would be good to spread the net a bit wider but I think that would have to be done at a provincial level or the whole thing may become a bit cumbersome – perhaps if it tracks the Vodacom Cup schedule you would have 15 or so provinces competing and you could have some of the talented U19’s who cant make their U20 sides at say the Bulls loaned out to the Pumas (for eg) and at WP to Boland.
We dont have an u20 CC competition so I thought one would fill the gap until the U19 and U21 competition begin in July. The contracted U19/20’s dont play in the Varsity Cup Young Guns U20 comp and the better U21’s are competing for places in the Vodacom Cup or Varsity Cup sides so are occupied in this period.
@Grasshopper: They already have a varsity young guns competition for u20s.
But I think they need to incorporate the Maties and Tukkies Young guns teams into a provincial u20 compo involving the Bulls, Leopards, Lions, Sharks, WP, FS.
Border were coming along but I understand that the Killians have now upped and left the region for SWD, so perhaps SWD and EP could join down the line, although 5 games at one venue every weekend seems a bit much.
@meadows: you right, just checked most of the players are mostly 21 to 25. Maybe we need to play a four nations Under20 tourno or add an Under20 Varsity cup team level……it’s tough to take a loss like that when UK school sides tour here and we tour there and win by huge margins. The loss of our club strength is to blame and all these fancy pants academies do nothing about on the field preparation…..
@meadows: I totally agree. Having been saying it for years. Have an u20 compo during the first few months of the year. Think outside the box as well. Don’t restrict it to just the provincial teams and play all rounds at one venue. At least then the u20 coaches get to see the form players first hand instead of relying on feedback all the time.
@Grasshopper: The problem with using the Varsity Cup is that it has become almost a franchise C team competition made up of pros who arent getting game time for their SuperRugby or Vodacom Cup sides – a lot of guys just out of U21’s in that 21-24 year old group.
I’m not sure how many U20’s play for the Varsity Cup 1st teams but off the top of my head I can’t think of many.
There aren’t any in the Maties side and Pollard was the only U20 in the Tukkies side that I can see from the team sheets for the final. No U20’s in the UJ or Shimla’s sides either.
@meadows: Great idea! Or run the Varsity Cup just before the World Cup to gauge talent there. Sure many of the Tuks and Maties guys are better than the rabble we put out. In fact Tuks probably could have done better…..
@Archie: The fact that our U19 and U21 Currie Cup is only played in the second half of the year and that we do not play an U20 competition is a major drawback in our preparation.
The only basis for selecting a squad is therefore the prior years U19 comp which is over by October as IMO very little can be established about a players ability to compete at U20 WC from performance at a schoolboy U18 level – the step up is huge – and probably why so many of our “reputation” selections fail at the higher level.
Perhaps with the U20 Wc in mind we should stage an U20 Currie Cup in the first half of the year at the same time as the Vodacom Cup to enable the selectors to see the candidates competing against each other at an U20 level. If U19’s straight out of school are good enough to make their provincial U20 sides then their ability to compete can be tested against their peers. If they arent they shouldn’t be in the WC squad.
If some 20 year olds are picked to play Vodacom Cup or even Super Rugby then they should be prime candidates for the WC squad. I think that the standard at the U20 WC is similar to that at Vodacom Cup level.
@beet: It was like Morne Steyn on Saturday with our short arm free kicks,we have the ball in our hands,awarded to us by the ref,so we take it and give it one huge up and under and just pray we get it back,which we did not
just can’t figure that out
I think that the SA cricket team may have watched the match yesterday and when they went out to bat this morning, they tried to do so in the same way as this lot played rugby
@Archie: Archie I have to disagree with you on a few points. These boys have played provincial, SA schools most of them, and some on the senior level. When you get to a WORLD CUP, you must know how to scrum, tackle and kick tactically,…and can DAWIE enlighten us on what the gameplan was,… the kick,..pray for mistakes and charge option,… did not work,…you are not playing against Zimbabwe, Mosambique,and the DRC. the Northern Guys know their rugby,..where was the professionalism from the management side when you need it,…you disgrased junior SA rugby,..sies man!!
@Archie: As always some decent observation on the Jr’s!!
I also think the system is to blame and not always the players!!
@Archie: I agree Archie we need more game time in advance of the tournament! The NH guys have a definite advantage with the 6 Nations
@Archie: The thing is as outsiders we identify a weakness in our preparation structures quite easily. Why cant the people who get paid to do this job do likewise and correct it?
Ye they were rather pathetic
Ok my 2 cent. I have to agree with most of the bloggers on here we were shocking last night, basics not up to scratch! But there are a few things I dont agree with. Firstly we cant blame the quota system, it wasn’t Obie,senatla or Kolbe fault we lost! And Beerwinkel even though not my favorite prop forward doesnt scrum alone so if you say he is a quota player what about the tighthead, hooker and two locks! They were just as bad if not worse!
Personally I think the biggest problem is lack of game time for these boys, all the SH teams struggled while the NH guys looked more complete as teams, the main reason is they went through a grueling 6nations tournament and the coaches could see then who is not up to international standerd and made changes! What did Dawie have? A few games against varsity teams and 2 against Argentina, not a lot of oppertunity to see if someone is up to scratch or not!
What I would like to see is in March and April they play a under 20 rugby championship, this will give the coaches of the SH team oppertunity to see who is capable of playing at international level and who not! And the players will get better and more game time!(Varsity cup young guns not at the same level than internationals)
Although if you look at the Boks on Saturday they dished up the same crap as the baby boks not sure were we going with our rugby.
@sacssupporter: @beet: very good player is Jack Clifford. The team as a whole is very impressive, they look well coached. I expect to see Clifford in the senior national team 2 years from now. He’s very good
The baby boks looked more like the baby poeps really this was disappointing the forwards were poor and the backs did not look like there was any plan at all. And ye some might say that we only lost by 1 point but the Wales team is no great shakes themselves.
Pollard looks like one of those players that was a schoolboy star but will never get any were although playing him out of position all the time does not help his cause.
@Ludz: Here are the Queens boys in the Border Craven Week team:
U18A CRAVEN WEEK
Simon Bolze
Kyle Brown
Jerry Danquah
Kewan Gibb
Justin Hollis
Lilitha Jonas
Lona Ntsila
@Ploegskaar: Yes Luke was captain of the Academy side as well – good lad. Do you know who coached him in grade 1 and 2 ?
he then went to Durbanville Prep and Primary and after that to SACS.
For the benefit of the other bloggers: I mentioned this to Ploegskaar a while back. I’ve watched the last 2 matches of Western Province at the Academy Week in 2012. As we know, all the players need to start and play one full match. In the final match against the Bulls, WP’s front row looked like this: no 2, Arno v Wyk at loose head prop, the reserve hooker at 2 and the reserve prop at tight head: 2, 16 and 17. In a game against the Bulls ( a final nogal !!) the no 1 played the last 5 minutes and so did the no 3 ! The number 3 played in the second match but the no 1 must have played the first match (which I did not attend) only.
Why do you not pick your best props for a final ?? Should he / they have been there in the first place ? I might add that the no 1 took part in this year’s trials but did not make any side. As long as the wrong choices are made, how can we expect our sides to perform well enough ?
I’m not sure if anybody has mentioned this: WP won the U/19 competition last year, yet they had only one representative in the starting 15 last night. Is this a case like the WP GK team with Paul Roos being the top ranked school in the country but only one representative in the 22 ? Both these scenarios don’t make sense to me !! Or perhaps I’m misinformed or don’t see the bigger picture ? Can somebody please enlighten me !
@sacssupporter: Now that is a number 8 yes !!
The irony regarding Kwagga, is the fact that he only made it onto the bench because of an injury to the reserve lock !! Imagine if he hadn’t been on the bench!
What I don’t get is the basics: scrums – you need to dominate your opponent but we went backwards (mostly): Dawie used to be a prop for goodness sake !!
We hardly ever contested any lineouts during the tournament !! At one stage last night, Wales had a lineout feed on their 5m line. In that situation you have to contest on their ball. Nobody went up !! That is so basic that I get annoyed when my U/15s don’t do it during matches.
Handling: in the NZ / England game we saw how the ball was spread to the wings but we struggled throughout the match. It seems that we were content with kicking the ball back (to their brilliant fullback – didn’t the coaches see what was happening with possession being handed back to the Welsh ??) and depended on individual brilliance, that didn’t materialize on the night.
@sacssupporter: your comments about the few games the guys play – I can’t believe that they don’t realize that the boys need to get match fit. I’m sure the players want to get onto the field as well (in matches and not training alone)
@sacssupporter: Great player at school, really enjoyed his work rate and was very unlucky, along with quite a few of his u/18 WP Academy team mates last year, not to get the CW nod. Thought him and de Villiers from Boland were a good combo in that team, as was van Wyk and Sage as a center pairing. Have seen his current Academy mate Faffa Botha (also from that Academy team) walking around and watching a few games at Boland this year, when, like you said, these guys should have been playing themselves!
@sacssupporter: Yes I said to some mates on Whatsapp last night that he has a big future in rugby. His name is Jack Clifford. Worth remembering.
@Ludz: ditto on Dries
@Woltrui: Every game our Bokkies played before and in the WC seemed to be used as “trials” – we did not have a solid “starting 15” which tells me the coach did not have enough trial games leading up to the WC to get to his “starting 15”. A solid scum comes from the same guys practicing and playing together as a unit over many months & games – then they get to work as a unit. You can have one or two reserves who fit into the unit but do not have different props and lock combinations in every game!
After the junior tournament a lot of these young players will disapear. This is where my conservative thoughts kick in – what backup do these young men have in terms of an other career besides rugby. We all know and speculate that only about 5-8 of the 28 might take the next step but what about the rest.
Most of them do have 2 year contracts after school with the unions but the posibility of extending the contracts is not good (only a few will be lucky).
A lot of dreams will be scattered – the sad part is I know this is a vicious circle that repeats itself every year. The grade 12 players that received contracts think this is it I’ve made it – just to get a rude awakening 2 years later.
My point is – plan your career first and if rugby forms a part of it – good for you. Arno Botha is a good example – who knows in what condition will he return to rugby – it might be the beginning of the end for him in terms of injuries and then what…………….???????
@sacssupporter: Dries Swanepoel is very over rated,cost us a try in both games he started in,he just refuses to pass, WTF
Last night’s performance was disgusting. Robert du Preez and Pollard’s kicking as whole left a lot to be desired. The locks were once again non existent, we showed no creativity, no urgency on attack. We insisted on kicking the ball to Jordan Williams who ran it back to Wales, I’m not even gonna mention the kick and hope rubbish against a Welsh backline that clearly has a height advantage over us. Braindead
The selection at this level is poor and God help us all if those were well and the best available to South Africa. I said this would be the true test of Dawie’s aptitude as a coach. He failed as I expected. I believe many of these boys were probably selected based on schoolboy reputation, nothing else. I don’t see any future for all the tight forwards except maybe Mike Willemse. Another overrated player being that Dries Swanepoel. We sadly don’t have a future star at scrumhalf in SA, not even 1 from the 2008 JWC is capable of coming close to Fourie du Preez or Joost van der Westhuizen.
@beet: How great is the England number 8! reminds me of Bob Skinstad in his heyday!
All Blacks 7 played extremely well as well!
Our “Kwagga” at 6 also played his heart out!
@Ploegskaar: Correct!
@Scrum Doctor: Last year and the year before Pollard kicked 90% plus – someone told me Hougard (Bulls kicking coach) has messed with his kicking action…..why must someone fix something that’s not broken? Maybe to substantiate his fat salary?
We missed the Grey stars Goosen, Serfontein & Swanepoel….
@sacssupporter: Would that be young Luke?
@sacssupporter: That was a very good semi between England and New Zealand. The pace was crazy at times.
What happened to our back three’s flair – virtually every time they got the ball they kicked it away – that tells me the coaches game plan was “lose the flair that won you the previous three games and resort to old fashioned “Bokke” rugby with an useless tight five and slow loose forwards”.
Good luck Sharks if that is how Brendon Venter assists Dawie Theron….
The England/All Blacks game was supurb – what a great game of rugby for the full 80 minutes – they played their hearts out.
Look and learn SA coaches – that is the way rugby should be played!
@RuggaZ: I agree 100% with you. I say it every year – in matric the boys play 24+ games a season – then they go to Varsity/Club rugby and play U20 league – well here in the WP the U20 league plays about 10 games tops.
It is almost the end of June and how many games has our provincial U19 or U21 teams played – as far as I know their first game is on the 13th July! By that date schools 1stxv’s have played upwards of 17 games already!
I know a boy in the WP academy – he has had about 4 games for Maties this year so far – he is in the WP U19 squad – to play U19 Currie Cup in July and all they have done is had six months of “pre season” training and played 4 or 5 league games…
How many matches had our Baby boks played before this tournament – two trial games against Varsity cup teams and two or three games against Argentina?
Compare that to the Northern hemisphere sides – they play 6 nations, most play for their clubs league teams – they are at the end of their seasons – we have played a handful!
our no 8 is so muscle bound that he cant move or bend,kwagga must have covered 3 times the ground he did,hooker the same, Mike was alot more mobile and skillful in the loose
@Muzi: Agree with you on Kolbe. Can’t help thinking he would have a much better future in the 7’s format.
@ Meadows- Kolbe’s decision was preceded by a penalty at scrum time when we were going backwards at the rate of knots. This was the 3rd or 4th such penalty during the game.(What is the point of having props who cannot scrum and yet do not have the mobility to offer anything else around the field.) So in the last one and half minutes to close out a semi final for a WC ,we conceded an unnecessary scrum penalty, tried to run when we should have kicked, failed to find touch, missed 5 tackles against the counter attack, and failed from a positional perspective in the dying act of the game. I think it is more than a bit disappointing. Also Stoney who has been a great servant of our local rugby, is extremely ponderous and when one of the Welsh backs skated past him, the commentator was forced to say that it was because it was against a No 8. Much easier to say hooker.
Eventhough he got out played that little Scarlets full-back Jordan Williams….Cheslin Kolbe has potential but he needs to eat more pap and vleis or else he will get thrown like a rag doll in senior rugby.
At times he got himself exposed by trying to run the ball from our his own 22 metre area under pressure.
…..he got outplayed by that little Scarlets full-back Jordan Williams
@woltrui if someone can show ungerer to pass yes. du preez is tall and there was a lot of times that he caugt the ball way above his head. if the fly recieve the ball like that the whole backline loses 1 sec and then there’s no space left. if you can give him percy’s pass he would be good.
@Amalekite: Cope very good player,watched him many times last year,but at the Sharks if you have a contract you will always play ,no matter how good the next oke is.I think the Sharks should shorten their contract period down to one year and then after the currie cup u19 season then renew for 2 years after having a full year at the academy to check the oke out,now they arrive at the academy with a school boy reputation and signed for 3 years and it does not always work out.
I have to say that England’s rugby looks very good at this stage, JNR level and SNR level. They have massive strong forwards as well as back line players in both teams. Dis anyone see their national team play Argentina over the weekend?? This new look England team looks impressive, massive and strong back line players as well as solid forwards.They are doing something right there at the moment, aiming for world cup 2015 in England I suppose.
Has anybody seen Brendan Cope (ex DHS flyhalf) play? I think that he is also U20. I have never seen him but I have been told that he is a great talent that is being overlooked in the sharks setup for unknown reasons. Can any of the bloggers confirm this? Maybe Horsey or Beet?
I don’t like to criticise the individual players after all they did not pick themselves but there is something seriously wrong with national structures and skills development if this is the best team we can put into the field with all of the supposed resources we have at our disposal.
This game reminded me of the Ireland game last year – mindless kicking poorly executed and the inability to adjust. In short the Heynecke Meyer approach to rugby.
We continue to delude ourselves that our skills level are Ok or even good when they are not.
We are obsessed with size from a junior level and ignore skill which is why we have big props and locks that can’t scrum or secure lineout ball and backs that can’t pass or whose tactical kicking is poor. Perhaps the NZ approach of playing in weight categories as juniors produces better skills development?
We also have too many players who simply don’t execute or understand the fundamentals of their positions properly. Scrumhalves, primarily, need a good pass. Without this you can have all the other attributes in the world but you will still not be a good scrumhalf. A player like Sarel Pretorius is a case in point – lots of skills and “X factor” (good enough to play Super rugby) but his fundamental skills and execution as a scrumhalf are lacking.
The only two forwards who looked as though they should be at this level were du Plessis and Kwagga Smit. Pollard is a poor 12 and perhaps has potential at 10 but needs to work hard on his defence. Du Preez showed none of the game management needed of a top level flyhalf. He kicked aimlessly and poorly. Neither Swanepoel nor Geduld impressed and the back three showed some good attacking flair but were defensively weak and Kolbe’s crazy decision to try and run out of his 22 when the game needed to be closed out was poor and compounded by du Preez’s kick and subsequent poor defense.
All in all very disappointing
@Playa: Playa I cant but help to agree with you. The poor performances is the responsibility of the coaching staff. There is players in the team that in my opinion do have the talent to play professional rugby. Senatla, Kolbe and Geduld already quality 7’s players. The centre’s got great potential. Pollard is a class act. The same quality as Derrick Hougaard. Ungerer in my opinion is a star in the making. Both the flanks, Du Plessis and Smit is good.
How come isn’t there cohesion in the scrums? How is it possible that we can’t scrum after all the camps and the tour to Argentina? All the teams had a basic game plan. Northern hemisphere had a strong forward based game plan. All Blacks based their game around quick ball and quality loosies and backline. Did we have a game plan? The teams Mr Theron coached normally had strong mauling capabilities. Our lineouts weren’t bad. Where were the maul? It seams that against the French the coaches wanted Pollard to play close to the gain line. He didn’t get players close in to help when attacking the gain line. In my opinion coaching shortcomings which made players look bad.
Just for interest sake I would love to now what the budget from Saru is per year to get the 0/20 to that competition. Mr Theron ‘s yearly salary, the costs around the camps, the tours etc. I am sure the if you take the costs into consideration we must insist on better dividents. Not necessary to win each tournament, but at least play some good rugby
@Grasshopper: You really determined to pick my old brain cells so early? Not really apart from players who I have followed- Neethling Fouche, Meyer (is he not from GW?) Allan Dell, Kirsten (Freddie?) But it just shows me that some franchises/academies should be avoided at all costs by young players. Their rugby is being destroyed
This is what happens when your number 10 cannot kick – all he had to do was make touch and instead he kicks the ball down the throat of one of the better counter attacking full backs in the tournament ! I fear however that the majority of the damage was done earlier with our seemingly total inability to kick goals – how can SA go into this with only a couple of hit and hope kickers ? Too many players playing on reputation ( as well as dads ). Tight forwards were generally not up to par I am afraid
@BOG: agreed, maybe 1 or 2 players in the 22 will make the Boks one day. Just out of interest could you make up a team of who was not picked?
I said that 80% of these players will not make it into S15. I can adjust that upwards to 95%. Once again, we saw the difference between flash and skill with the former not being sustainable and showing only occasionally. Im sure that those players who were overlooked for reasons other than rugby, now see it as a blessing in disguise. We also need a coach who, from the outset, will resist political interference in the selection of the team. I really expected more from Dawie Theron.
Those boys were nowhere in that game.They must have had at most 10 minutes of decen rugby the whole game.They looked like a koshuis team that was put together the night before.The coaching staff definitely needs to change.
Ek het gehoor jy moet nogal fiks wees om op die vlak en in die toernooi te speel!!
Kwagga het vir my fiks gelyk.
We shouldn’t even come close to losing at this level. We need a huge re-shuffling of our age grade rugby.
It’s all about the structures.. Look at England, they have numerous training camps, their u16s, u17s, u18s and u19s play international fixtures annually (it might be overkill, but it has won them this JWC).
As the Southern Hemisphere, we need to look at introducing tournaments for our youth to compete in, even as curtain raisers for the big ones. New Zealand hardly have youth fixtures, but with good coaching they still manage to compete.
We need to implement an attacking philosophy of rugby, and I hope Rassie Erasmus has a plan for fixing this mess.
@BuffelsCM: cudnt agree more
@phat55: Except for his 10 minutes in the sin bin against England (?). If Herbst is the best 4 lock in SA U/20……….no surely there has to be somebody better !
@BuffelsCM: if du Plessis furthers his career he will be moved to lock anyway I suppose(my opinion).
what the hell does the idiot theron see in Herbst??!! he mustv been on the park for all 80mins for all our games! how can a guy with such a frame be so useless? other lock just as weak!
I hope Beerwinkel has something else lined up besides rugby coz he going nowhere slowly(besides kak fast backwards lol)
Obi try’s hard but is not a good footballer
Pollard better catch a wake-up real soon
@bhkgpa: Stem saam Pollard beter op 10. Maar duidelik moes daar plek gemaak word vir eks Springbok se seun. Beerwinkel staan rond en wag vir roomys. Het ons slotte gehad vanaand. Nee,dit die rede dat Du plessis goed gelyk het.Hy moet definitief na slot toe skuif. Kwagga net te klein . Steenkamp????????? Nee wragtig is dit al wat ons in SA het.Theron moet ook besef dat sewes rugby is baie anders as 15 man.geen x faktor in hierdie span.
It’s no secret that Theron is an undercover bulls supporter…..
Jacques du Plessis is like Arno Botha both of them have lost some speed….too much gym work.
We were K@K ,…an embaresment for SA Rugby to say the least,…it just proves the theory that some players can not step up to the plate in International level….offer Dawie a job at the Bulls since he knows the players so well. Sies man!!!!!!!
@phat55: Yes it was Dries Swanepoel – poor option not to look for the support on the inside!
I agree about the tight five! Beerwinkel got hammered in the scrums!
Why did we not contest their lineout ball ?
Maybe Jacques Du Plessis should move to lock. He is a strong ball carrier but IMO he has gained too much muscle over the last few seasons and lost some pace……or am I making a mistake ?
We definitely did not deserve to beat Wales (although we could have if Pollard kicked his goals).
I really can’t believe that there are not better tight forwards in SA !
@bhkgpa:
It all started with Meyer who kept on waxing lyrical about Pollard as an inside centre then all all of a sudden he’s a crash ball player at 12 for the baby boks and Tukkies….talk about ruining Handre’s career….he will bounce back from this set back.
@Grasshopper: so true
@MyKroon: weet net nie of all lacks vir Engeland gaan wen nie
Geez why Am I not surprised yet again people are ranting and raving about Pollard
….he should never have been moved to inside centre by the Bulls/Tukkies that’s where the gemors started in the varsity cup he’s a flyhalf. 
@wakker akker: stem pak voorspelers nie op standaard. Ek dink egter du Plessis en Kwagga Smith het heel goed vertoon vandag, weet egter nie hoekom Pollard nie vandag ook 10 was nie. Hy het wel skoppie gemis maar ek reken hy is beter 10 as du Preez
@Ploegskaar: that was brilliant, I’m still laughing…
guys didnt deserve the win.lack of a tight five finally caught up with the baby boks.there is no way that is the best props and locks at this level! they extremely poor!
I reckon either NZ or Eng will whip the welsh in the final.
oh and in the 1st half,our centre being greedy and not passing to the man on his inside to fall over the line for the try but instead took the contact n was easily pushed into touch…..pathetic!
Fair dividends for an ordinary coach, and some mostly ordinary players interspersed with some exceptionally useless ones. Methinks some overblown schoolboy reputations and the talent spotting abilities of their cheerleaders have taken an all-mighty, but long overdue fuck punch tonight. Good riddance to both. At least there is solace in the fact that there were better players available, with an even better crop to harvest, should we choose, in the near future. Time for some introspection, where the shoe fits.
now let this entire JWC be a lesson to those who pick players on reputation…
@my kroon – have to agree on the pollard issue, jan made him look good last year as he did dries whilst at grey and craven week. Ungerer needs to be taught that there are players with him on the pitch with the same colours as his and dupreez has no imagination and feel for the game, gets the ball standing still which allows defence to dominate crisis corridor – kicks stupidly into the best 15 at the tournament’s hands to launch counter attack, our scrums are just plain shit – coaches have to take some blame too, I mean they sit with all the aids ito 3 way radios etc…just wonder if they see what all of us see.
against england the backs did have flair but flair help nothing if you stuck in reverse
@pongola: New Zealand have that flair though. SA backs had nothing in terms of getting line breaks. Best chances came from quick taps.
@Westers: Serfontein and Pietersen could have made a difference, but this proves you have to win your 1st phase….
think england is gonna take new zealand. northern hemisphere much beter at scrums.
@Grasshopper: I think you overrate our backs. Obi and Senatla”s positional play on defence was poor. Kolbe got exposed tonight. Very poor decision to run out of his 22 at the end when he should have kicked. It seemed like he didn’t trust his boot.
think the only player that gonna go further in 15 man game is du plessis but at lock.
geduld senatla kolbe sevens. pollard if he improves his kicking maybe. ungerer didn’t give du preez one good pass in the whole game. percy passed excelent but to smal to go any further. steenkamp to slow for even hooker.
@McCulleys Workshop: I am no scrumming expert but what I saw tonight when we got a close up of the scrum going backwards was that there was absolutely no support from the locks. Surely without that, any front row will go backwards?
Agreed, forwards 4 out of 10, backs 7 out of 10. Pro’s Du Plessis, Kolbe, Obi and Senatla. The rest will not progress to Bok level unfortunately. Dawie to go, bring on snor! Haha!
A couple of suspect calls, penalties against Kwagga, Kolby and a non try, but worse than that we don’t have props, and we need to re-think 10 and 12. I thought 12 was over-rates last year when playing at Flyhalf, just had a brilliant side around him, and I think the same applies now. 10 a journeyman, was at school, still is now, not going to change the game.
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I stick by my comments during the France game. “No trophy this year I am afraid. Time now for a new coach at this level”.
If that is the best U20 side we have to offer what chance do the Boks have in future?
I don’t believe this can be the best we have to offer. Only solution – change the coach. We won last year despite him, not because of him.
@Grasshopper: A couple of suspect calls, penalties against Kwagga, Kolby and a non try, but worse than that we don’t have props, and we need to re-think 10 and 12. I thought 12 was over-rates last year when playing at Flyhalf, just had a brilliant side around him, and I think the same applies now. 10 a journeyman, was at school, still is now, not going to change the game.
Skopwerk pale toe kos ons. Pollard se kop te groot. Vaste vyf pateties. Jammer bokkies. Nie verdien om vandag te wen nie. Verdien ook nie om die kampion te wees nie. Kiwis sou ons met 30 punte vermorsel
Swak verdedeging. Vleuls nie op standaard. Gedult hoort glad nie daar nie. Los voorspelers begin n probleem word in SA rugby. Du Plessis te groot en lomp vir los. Theron duidelik nie geweet wat hy doen nie.