Wales host South Africa at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, June 5, in a Test made strange by issues around the team calling itself the Springboks.
Paul Dobson – Rugby365
The South Africans were able to finalise their team – essentially a pick-up team – only on the Thursday before the match. It was always going to be a pick-up team for this strangely timed Test, a week after a harsh Super 14 Final which punished most of the country’s top players, but then to have Butch James withdrawn from the squad because of the insistence of England’s Premier Rugby that he rest.
A well rested player, he wanted to play but was withdrawn while other Premiership players, far more active, were allowed to play. It seemed that the prim Premiership was piously determined to teach the colonials a lesson, a demonstration of who really was the boss.
Injudicious though the fixture may be, it will, of course, still be a fun occasion as matches at Millennium Stadium always are. There will be signing and laughing, red will be obvious – it will be fun day at the rugby and Wales will be determined to double their number of victories over the Springboks.
It is a good chance to do so against a team that had three first-choice players in its starting line-up – Jaque Fourie, Victor Matfield and captain John Smit. But what a wonderful chance for three uncapped starters – electric Gio Aplon, Juan de Jongh who is sharp and evasive in a way the Welsh would like, and relentless François Louw, the grandson of mighty Jan Pickard who toured Wales as a Springbok in 1951-52.
Wales are without their most electric player – Shane Williams, scorer of remarkable tries, one of the world’s most exciting players. They are also without strong, skilful Gethin Jenkins, one of the top props in the world. They also picked Andy Powell, but he has been ruled out by injury. But they are a team that will easily work together.
Teamwork and organisation – structures, such a buzz word in the modern game – are important. It’s hard to see that the Springboks, chosen from four franchises with a short time to prepare, will have much of that. Their effort will depend more on individual ability than teamwork. In fact eight of the team were going hammer and togs against each other just last Saturday in the Super 14 Final – Aplon, Fourie, De Jongh, Januarie and Louw for the Stormers and Potgieter, Matfield and Rossouw for the Bulls. Andries Bekker was originally chosen but was injured in the Final and Matfield was flown over as a replacement.
Players to Watch:
For Wales: There is James Hook. He is such a good player and a man so keen for this match that he postponed an operation. He is opposite Jaque Fourie who has been in great form in the Super 14. You will want to watch Lee Byrne with the excitement he brings to the rapid, counterattack game.
For South African: The three new caps could just attract most interest, especially Gio Aplon from broken play. You would also be interested to see if Ricky Januarie, not the first-choice scrumhalf in his own province, can last as a starting player.
Head to Head: Their are interesting unit competitions – front rows, for example, where the Springboks have John Smit in his best position, loose forwards with noble Ryan Jones likely to stand out. Halfbacks where the settled combination of Stephen Jones and combative Mike Phillips meets Ruan Pienaar, more often a scrumhalf, and Ricky Januarie, more often on the bench. The South Africans would expect to do well in the battle for the loose ball and, if they are over their bruises, at lock where Victor Matfield and Danie Rossouw have skill and strength. There are often interesting battles at centre and that between strong Jamie Roberts and mercurial Juan de Jongh may just be decisive. De Jongh can tackle, small though he is, but he limped off early in the Super 14 Final and may not be as enthusiastic as he usually is.
Recent results:
2008: South Africa won 20-15, Cardiff
2008: South Africa won 37-21, Pretoria
2008: South Africa won 43-17, Bloemfontein
2007: South Africa won 34-12, Cardiff
2005: South Africa won 33-16, Cardiff
rugby365.com Prediction: Wales to win by 10 or more.
Teams:
Wales: 15 Lee Byrne, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 James Hook, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Ryan Jones (captain), 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Jonathan Thomas, 5 Deiniol Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 John Yapp, 18 Alun Wyn Jones, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Dan Biggar, 22 Andrew Bishop.
South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Odwa Ndungane, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 François Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 CJ van der Linde.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Meyer Bosman, 21 Zane Kirchner, 22 Bjorn Basson.
Date: Saturday, 5 June 2010
Kick-off: 14.30 (13.30 GMT; 15.30 SA time)
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Expected weather: Sunny intervals. High of 21°C, low of 11°C
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dave Pearson (England), Robin Goodliffe (England)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland
June 5th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Some absolute sublime ‘inside-outside’ passes and angles from the super-fast Wallaby backs atm… don’t think there is a more exciting backline with bench in world rugby… they just need Genia back from injury and a Kockott type 9… Burgess is crap…
June 5th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 1:06 pm:
So did they actually
manage to win a game?
Score?
June 5th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
42-3 atm…
Wobblies with many injuries at least selecting ‘properly’ in this experiment test… no Ralepelles and Ndunganes… and they are playing their ‘next best’ youngsters against the mid-week England teams…
Going to be interesting to see what happens with the England test though with so many Wobblie front-row injuries…
June 5th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 1:19 pm:
And the ‘next best’ are coached by the national coach to keep them all in ‘the mix’…
June 5th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 1:06 pm:
Some of the most talented backs in world rugby currently find themselves in Aus Rugby.
But personally I thought their game was a bit scrappy.
June 5th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Reply to Morné @ 2:43 pm: Same
I think that under a tad of pressure we could see them snap and do a stupid…
June 5th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Reply to DavidS @ 2:59 pm:
With Cooper at 10?
Better believe it!!!
I will go on record to say however that if Deans picks the correct combo’s these Aussies will be impossible to stop.
However, I get this gut-feel Deano is going to stick with carthorses that should have been dropped a year ago already.
June 5th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Come on, surprise us!
June 5th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Well done, Fatty – excellent pass!
Is Fannykirk playing?
I know Meerkat is.
June 5th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Score any one?
Commentary.
Stuck in the shop.
June 5th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Boks 34-31 after leading 34-19.
June 5th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Well, I suppose this proves
we don’t need any NH Boks.
Let them play with the dandys
in the Heineken, whatever.
Boks have 12 months to get
a decent scrum going.
June 5th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Reply to Boertjie @ 5:44 pm:
Apart from the first 3 scrums, I think our pack did damn well in this game specifically at the scrums.
June 5th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Morne – what did you think of Pienaar at 10?
June 5th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Reply to Morné @ 5:50 pm:
Hmm, ja, maybe not too bad,
especially considering that
Meerkat was asleep half the
time and useless the other
half.
Not a convincing scrum by the
Boks by any means. I was
expecting a PK every time,
and half the time I was right.
June 5th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Wales threatened to stage a dramatic late turnaround against South Africa but ultimately slipped to a 34-31 defeat in the one-off Test.
The world champions struggled in the early stages at the Millennium Stadium as the hosts surged into a comfortable lead through a try from James Hook.
But the Springboks eventually sparked into life and debutant Juan de Jongh seemed to have rounded out victory after adding to tries from Odwa Ndungane and Dewald Potgieter.
However, Tom Prydie and Alun-Wyn Jones both crossed the try-line in the final 10 minutes to set up a grandstand finish.
Wales went into the contest in search of just their second win in 104 years against the Springboks before heading off on a demanding tour of New Zealand.
Changes
Head coach Warren Gatland made three changes from the final Six Nations clash against Italy, with wing Leigh Halfpenny, prop Paul James and lock Deiniol Jones handed starts.
Record try-scorer Shane Williams missed out but Hook delayed shoulder surgery by a week in order to play.
Meanwhile, their opponents had only a handful of their established internationals on display and handed maiden starts to de Jongh, wing Gio Aplon and flanker Francois Louw.
It was Wales who started the brighter, with Stephen Jones slotting through a ninth-minute penalty before Hook doubled the lead with a drop-goal.
Stand-off Jones and opposite number Ruan Pienaar then exchanged penalties as the hosts maintained their six-point advantage.
South Africa fell further behind when John Smit’s ambitious pass fell into the arms of Hook, who sprinted 40 metres for the opening try.
Piennar’s second penalty cut the lead to 10 points before the Wales defence started to come under siege.
Tries
The Springboks crossed the try-line for the first time as they fired the ball out wide to Ndungane before the Sharks wing dived under a tackle from Prydie to score.
Pienaar missed a difficult conversion but slotted a penalty over five minutes later to reduce the gap to two points at the half-time interval.
Shortly after the restart, South Africa took the lead for the first time as Danie Rossouw’s brilliant one-handed pass to Potgieter sent him through an inviting gap.
Pienaar added the extras, and although Wales responded through a Jones penalty, it was South Africa that now held a two-point lead.
A period of Wales pressure followed but it came to nothing as the visitors regained possession and cleared before Francois Steyn booted over a long-range penalty.
And the contest seemed to have been killed off when De Jongh’s neat footwork sent him over on his debut and Pienaar added the conversion.
Wales did fight back though, with Bradley Davies being held up over the South Africa line before 18-year-old Prydie touched down.
Another Pienaar penalty looked to have put the result beyond doubt, but Jones then took Sam Warburton’s off-load over for a try to set up a nervous finish for the World Cup winners.
June 5th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Die Walliesers hoort hulle te skaam.
Dit was n raap skraap Bokspan met 3-4 dae se oefen plus moerse ontwrigting.
Heel week in die Walse pers moes ons hoor hoe hulle ons gaan cleaners toe vat.
Hoe ons ‘ripe for the picking’ is.
Die klomp leef in n droom wereld waar die Bokke vet en stadig is.
One het maklik gewen ten spyte van die score line.
Niks meer as n oefen/exhibition wedstryd nie.
June 5th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Ek is bly die klomp sissies is ons ons groep volgende jaar.
Maksimum punte.
June 5th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Wallis gaan lekker pak kry in NZ.
Hulle moet maar baie KY/Vaseline pak.
June 5th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Hehehe – was goed om die
Saffas, meestal mooi
meisies, in die skare te
sien.
Ek dink hulle was die ENIGSTE
mooi meisies in die stadion.