Saffers doing nicely over the weekend

Impressive performances by a number of South Africans this past weekend.

Cheslin Kolbe scoring two tries for Toulouse, had six carries, beat his opposite number twice on the inside with that beautiful step of his and was solid in defense and under the high ball. He was also named man of the match.

Michael Rhodes made 15 tackles and three turnovers for Saracens and was named man of the match against Leinster, Vincent Koch wasn’t too shabby in the scrums against Cain Healy, also made 15 tackles and three turnovers.

Jacques Vermeulen also scored two tries for Exeter , made good meters and made 15 tackles whilst also beating a handful of defenders. Named man of the match.

Not to shabby, eh?

South Africa are on the verge of becoming on par with NZ in my opinion. They produce some top rugby players. Finding the right kind of style to nullify NZ's threats, and finding the right way to dominate games themselves, is the task they face.

Of course they already did this in Japan but doing it consistently is the next challenge.

Cain Healy isn't a Saffer.

mikey_dragon wrote:Cain Healy isn't a Saffer.

No, he was outplayed by one

rugby racing and beer wrote:South Africa are on the verge of becoming on par with NZ in my opinion. They produce some top rugby players. Finding the right kind of style to nullify NZ's threats, and finding the right way to dominate games themselves, is the task they face.

Of course they already did this in Japan but doing it consistently is the next challenge.

Going to be very challenging to be consistent. We face many factors. The success of last year was purely due to Rassie Erasmus having 20 weeks with his squad. That isn’t possible to replicate any other year.

I've noticed that most good teams here tend to have a Saffer at lock, SA certainly produce an abundance of them. I always though SA vs SA Exiles would be a good match-up. You can't select Le Roux and Willemse though, for obvious reasons .

Would certainly be one heck of a physical battle

Looking forward to Le Roux v Itoje in Paris next weekend. Other tasty match up include Koch v Ben Arrus, Chat v George, Rhodes v Lauret, Classens v Vinuploa. Come to think all bar one of those contests involves some kind of current/ former Saffer. Russell v Goode should also be interesting. Can't wait.

Old Man wrote:Would certainly be one heck of a physical battle

It certainly would. Either do that, or arrange a Baa-vas’s fixture where the SA coach picks Saffa’s now playing the NH . Would be a good opportunity to test someone like Jacques Du Plessis.

sensisball wrote:Looking forward to Le Roux v Itoje in Paris next weekend. Other tasty match up include Koch v Ben Arrus, Chat v George, Rhodes v Lauret, Classens v Vinuploa. Come to think all bar one of those contests involves some kind of current/ former Saffer. Russell v Goode should also be interesting. Can't wait.

Yep, those are some tasty treats

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:Would certainly be one heck of a physical battle

It certainly would. Either do that, or arrange a Baa-vas’s fixture where the SA coach picks Saffa’s now playing the NH . Would be a good opportunity to test someone like Jacques Du Plessis.

I won’t be surprised if the overseas team beat a local team.

If you pick the 23 best South Africans in Europe and Japan it will be one helluva team

Old Man wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:Would certainly be one heck of a physical battle

It certainly would. Either do that, or arrange a Baa-vas’s fixture where the SA coach picks Saffa’s now playing the NH . Would be a good opportunity to test someone like Jacques Du Plessis.

I won’t be surprised if the overseas team beat a local team.

If you pick the 23 best South Africans in Europe and Japan it will be one helluva team

Yep. You could field one from Europe without the help of japan I’m sure? Back 5 depth coming out of SA is unlike anything I’ve seen.

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:Would certainly be one heck of a physical battle

It certainly would. Either do that, or arrange a Baa-vas’s fixture where the SA coach picks Saffa’s now playing the NH . Would be a good opportunity to test someone like Jacques Du Plessis.

I won’t be surprised if the overseas team beat a local team.

If you pick the 23 best South Africans in Europe and Japan it will be one helluva team

Yep. You could field one from Europe without the help of japan I’m sure? Back 5 depth coming out of SA is unlike anything I’ve seen.

imagine how strong our Currie Cup would be if we could retain our best.

We would probably fill 8 top class teams

Saffer rugby, as is obvious from just a glance at the Premiership, is in very good health.

NZ will always be up there, but i have a sneaking feeling, especially post Covid, that players who compete in the Premiership and Top14 (sorry Pro14 is nowhere near the same level), will be part of the international teams who dominate.

if NZ and Aus keep their non-selection policies i think they are really going to find the going tougher.

The way rugby is going more and more like the NFL, where every hit has to be massive and aggressive, not just passive, suits the South Africans. If you look at Exeter, Leinster, Saracens etc. there's not much room for flair players in the packs. South African players have had the benefit of sorting the wheat from the chaff in a gruelling school/age grade system as well so you don't get too many talented but injury prone players making it to the top - they seem to be weeded out so only reliable pros make it through.

It's good for the European club game but if I were South African I'd be devastated at what's happened to the domestic scene in the last 10-15 years.

Old Man wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:Would certainly be one heck of a physical battle

It certainly would. Either do that, or arrange a Baa-vas’s fixture where the SA coach picks Saffa’s now playing the NH . Would be a good opportunity to test someone like Jacques Du Plessis.

I won’t be surprised if the overseas team beat a local team.

If you pick the 23 best South Africans in Europe and Japan it will be one helluva team

Yep. You could field one from Europe without the help of japan I’m sure? Back 5 depth coming out of SA is unlike anything I’ve seen.

imagine how strong our Currie Cup would be if we could retain our best.

We would probably fill 8 top class teams

You really miss the old Currie Cup eh. Now I know you’re old enough to have watched it during the golden age . I don’t doubt SA would fill 8 top class teams, I understand SA don’t have enough money for that right now?

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

Old Man wrote:Would certainly be one heck of a physical battle

It certainly would. Either do that, or arrange a Baa-vas’s fixture where the SA coach picks Saffa’s now playing the NH . Would be a good opportunity to test someone like Jacques Du Plessis.

I won’t be surprised if the overseas team beat a local team.

If you pick the 23 best South Africans in Europe and Japan it will be one helluva team

Yep. You could field one from Europe without the help of japan I’m sure? Back 5 depth coming out of SA is unlike anything I’ve seen.

imagine how strong our Currie Cup would be if we could retain our best.

We would probably fill 8 top class teams

You really miss the old Currie Cup eh. Now I know you’re old enough to have watched it during the golden age . I don’t doubt SA would fill 8 top class teams, I understand SA don’t have enough money for that right now?

Nope, not enough to pay the players enough to stay home.

But I think SARU is missing a trick there, if they sacrifice on the short term it will pay in the long term, you first have to build the tournament and hen the money will come, they don’t seem to think that way. New Zealand pundits etc don’t want SA anymore, hat much was said on the Breakdown this week, and SARU is going to fall into the trap of signing with Pro 16, then they will be in the exact same position as before, having to accommodate and compromise with four other countries.