Vote For Your Favourite Springbok Player in 2013

Vote for Jean de Villiers here...

Vote for Eben Etzebeth here...

Vote for Francois Louw here...

Vote for Duane Vermeulen here...

Vote for Willie le Roux here...

Vote for Brian Hababa here...

Springboks 19 - 10 France: First Victory Since 1997 In France

When your 8 year old son and 11 year old daughter get excited about the Springboks playing a test at 10pm on a Saturday night, and they cannot keep their eyes off the screen for almost the full 80 minutes, then you just realise again how special it is to be able to watch a great game like rugby, especially when it is played by a team with such a rich history!

19 - 10

The Springboks came to France with no win in the last 16 years on French home-soil, but that did not seem to be on their mind last night, as they managed to go up 7-0 within the first two minutes of the game. JP Pietersen charged down an attempted clearance kick from a French player, which bounced kindly for him and all he had to do was fall on the ball in the in-goal area. 

Eben Etzebeth left the field after about 15 minutes with what seemed to be an ankle injury and veteran lock, Bakkies Botha replaced him. From here on to the end of the game the Springboks put up a display that included some of the biggest hits you will ever see, an extremely strong scrummage effort, and through their very solid defence, they created at least two scoring opportunities, which was rather controversially disallowed by the TMO.

The first scoring opportunity was disallowed because the TMO judged that Morne Steyn knocked on before Jean de Villiers scooped up the ball on the bounce and went straight through a gap to offload to Fourie on his outside, who ran over the line for what seemed like a well-deserved try. From certain angles, it certainly looked as if the ball went backwards, or at least to the side from Steyn's hand, but the TMO felt differently!

The second "try" was more controversial in my opinion, with Francois Louw clearly falling on the ball after  a French player kicked the ball into his own goal area, and as he tried to fall on it first, he clearly missed the ball and Louw appeared to get a controlled hand on the ball first. However, the TMO again made a decision against the Springboks. 

In my view the Bokke deserved this hard-fought victory and the French, although throwing numerous attacks at the men in Green and Gold, never truly looked as if they were going to win the encounter. They did score a "soft" try just before the half time whistle, but after that it never seemed as if they could cross the opposition's goal line again. 

Although the entire Springbok team played a hard, well-executed, and typical Springbok game of rugby, I do feel that the following players put in stand-out performances that are worth mentioning:

Bismarck du Plessis - He was excellent in all departments and his scrumming effort was exceptional to help put the French front row under enormous pressure. 

Bakkies Botha - The "old bones" in the team played his heart out for a full 60 minutes and made a huge difference in defence and at the rucks and mauls especially. 

Flip van der Merwe - Led the line-outs well and was present in all aspects of the game.

Duane Vermeulen - His becoming one of the great Springbok number 8's and put in another very solid performance, in defence and on attack. 

JP Pietersen - He was, with Willie le Roux, probably the stand-out backs on the night, scoring the only try for the Boks through the pressure he put on the French kicker, and he was good on defence and looked for work more as in the previous two tests as well.

Willie Le Roux - You just have to get him into your team, don't you? He probably could have scored if he held onto the ball instead of trying to offload to Habana. Was solid under the high ball and broke the line with his attacking runs on several occasions. 

Share your best (or worst) moments from this test encounter and tell us who was your stand-out players on the night? 

Springboks vs France: Boks Should Win Easily - According to Some

Ex-Sharks rugby player, Shaun Sowerby, who also played one game for the Springboks against Samoa, has been playing in France for the last 10 years (since 2004). He obviously knows French rugby and the "state" they are in right now, so if someone like he says that the Boks should win easily this coming Saturday at 22h00 local time, then people might want to listen.

We all know what any French team is capable of, therefore, I would not go as far as to agree with Sowerby and saying that the Springboks will win easily, but they are certainly favourites in my book. The French rugby players are more emotional than the average rugby player and in front of their home crowd, the Boks should be careful not to underestimate them. 

According to Sowerby, the French are re-building at the moment and they are still trying to determine what their best and strongest team are. With that, I will agree and when you look at there recent games, the way that they played, and the results, you may agree that the French will have to come up with one of those "special" performances, as only they can, on the day.

The Sports-Man predicts a 26-15 win to the Springboks...!

What is your prediction? Share your thoughts on the Springboks last test of 2013...

A Comparison: Ruan Pienaar vs All the Other SA Scrum-halves

vs the Rest...

With Fourie du Preez being released from the Springbok squad unexpectedly (As I am writing this article, I am not yet 100% sure why, but maybe somebody could shed some light on what happened?) and Ruan Pienaar being selected to start on Saturday night against the French, the debate regarding Pienaar as second choice no. 9 in the Bok team starts up once more!

Above, The Sports-Man has included the other possible Springbok no. 9 contenders, with Charl McLeod probably being too "old" to be in the running as the first choice scrum-half for the 2015 RWC. I want to start off by asking a few questions that come to mind when I see and hear how many fans criticize Ruan Pienaar:

1. Why does Heyneke Meyer keep him in the Bok team as his 'second best' scrum-half? 

2. Why do almost everybody in the Europe rugby leagues, or Heineken Cup, and especially in Ireland where he has just recently agreed to another three year extension with his Ulster club, rate Pienaar as one of the best? (He said no to the top French club, Toulon, who was feverishly after him for the coming season!)

3. He has always been a highly-regarded all-round rugby talent, being able to play in various positions in the back-line, kick with both feet equally well, possess a solid pass, and he has always been able to read the game very well.

I would love to know the answers to the above questions from our die-hard Springbok fans out there? If there are fans that think that they know the "real" answers, then send them to us as soon as possible!

I know that Pianaar struggles on defence at times and his passing has been suspiciously slow of late, but surely these are issues that, if worked on by a quality coach like HM, should be sorted out in no time? What did Pienaar do to deserve this kind of harsh criticism and why do the fans from other rugby playing nations rate him higher than us South Africans?

Please give us your views on this issue and let us try to find some answers? The Sports-Man wishes to know what you think, so please leave your comments below...!

Scotland 0 - 28 South Africa: Springboks Keep Clean Sheet

It was a game I am very sure the Boks did not "fear" that much, but out of respect for Scotland, they would never admit it. If you did not watch the game, the score, 0 - 28, should tell you in no uncertainty what transpired on a wet Murrayfield in Edinburgh.

My weekend was turned upside-down somewhat with the Sunday test match, but a rugby test match still remains special, no matter when it is played and against who the Boks play. As the Scottish team appeared on screen for the first time, I could not help but frown, as most of the names were unfamiliar to me. Combine that with the changed jerseys of the Scots (they looked like 2nd team jerseys?), I got the distinct feeling that this was going to turn out to be a thrashing of some sorts.

Four tries to nothing and 28 unanswered points later, I knew my original feeling was right. Although the Scots put up a fight for most of the 80 minutes, the Springboks turned out to be too strong on defence and too strong on attack as well. Mainly because of the games predictability, I found myself losing interest during the second half. Or, maybe it was because I did not have my usual Sunday afternoon nap?

Three tries were scored during the first half, with Willem Alberts, JP Pietersen (in his 50th test), and Willie le Roux crossing the line. Patrick Lambie added three conversions for a 21-0 lead at the break. The fourth try was scored in the second half by replacement front-rower Coenie Oosthuizen, with Lambie again converting.

Francois Louw was carried off for what looked like a serious injury, but reports from the Bok camp are that he is doing just fine and that the injury was not as bad as they initially feared it was.

I salute the Bokke on a clinical performance, but next week against France they will certainly have to be as clinical in their execution, if not more so to beat the French on home soil.

The Sports-Man chooses Duane Vermeulen as his Man-of-the-Match for an awesome performance from the back of the Bok scrum - do you agree or which player would you select?

What are your views on yesterday's game and what is your prediction for next Saturday?

Bakkies Botha - Blue Bulls and Springbok Legend Starting for Boks vs Scotland

The Sports-Man has always enjoyed the type of rugby Bakkies Botha dished out for his previous Blue Bulls franchise, and especially when he ran onto the field for the Springboks. Now, after last wearing the Green and Gold of the Springboks during the 2011 World Cup loss against Australia (ouch!!), the 34 year old lock legend has been included at lock once more. This time he will be taking on the Scots at Murrayfield and he will be hoping to stake some sort of claim for inclusion in Heineke Meyer's final 2015 World Cup group.

Many feel that Bakkies is past his best and has little to offer, but the Sports-Man feels that he has a lot to offer still, especially with young, quality locks like Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzeneth still making their way into the international rugby arena. How can you say NO to so much experience? Bakkies is still able to provide a good 40+ minutes of grunt to any international rugby team. The youngsters can only learn from the lock legend and implement what he will hopefully put on display for all of us come this Sunday at 5 pm.

What are your personal views and thoughts about Bakkies Botha's inclusion in the run-on team for Sunday?


The official Teams for Sunday are as follow:

Scotland

15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 John Barclay, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson

Substitutes: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 John Beattie, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Patrick Lambie, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts/Siya Kolisi, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Adriaans Strauss, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp

Substitutes: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Tendai Mtawarira 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19  Eben Etzebeth, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Morné Steyn/AN Other, 23 JJ Engelbrecht



Past Springbok Test match records at Murrayfield:

• Most points – 26 (2t, 8c) by Percy Montgomery on 6 December 1997 against Scotland.
• Most tries – two, by six players, the last was by Adriaan Strauss on 17 November 2012 against Scotland.
• Most conversions – eight by Percy Montgomery on 6 December 1997 against Scotland.
• Most penalty goals – four by Morné Steyn on 20 November 2010 against Scotland.
• Most drop goals – three by Jaco van der Westhuyzen 27 November 2004 against Scotland.

BOK-EMBLEM MOVES AGAIN...RWC Jersey Revealed...!

I can hardly see our Beloved Springbok??

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby

The Springboks’ Rugby World Cup jersey has been unveiled, with the Bok emblem having moved to the left sleeve.

According to the Keo.co.za website, the IRB Rugby World Cup logo has to appear on the right-hand side of all teams’ jerseys at the tournament. 

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) had asked the IRB to make an exception for the Boks, but the world governing body refused to budge, meaning the Protea (the official emblem of all South African national sports teams) is on the left-hand side of the jersey and the Bok emblem on the left sleeve.

The logo of new sponsors, Absa, is not allowed to be on the Bok jersey for the World Cup.

GUESS WHO THIS FAMOUS RUGBY PLAYER IS?

The following Springbok Rugby player was as tough as nails and he still played rugby when 'Being Tough' meant that you were really as tough as they get - and he was born tough!

Who is he? Please leave us your answer as a comment...? We will announce the winners at the end of this week!