Some relief for the battering the Springboks have been getting on this website! All these All Black supporters have been going on and on about the depth of the All Blacks but what happened to this so called depth last night against MUNSTER! Yes, Munster, this is a club team and not even a national team! The All Blacks had to wait for a last minute try so that they could win the game 18-16! Shocking!
And I will say this because I know All Black supporters will say ‘it was our B Team’ but Munster was also fielding their B Team! If the proper Munster with all its Irish internationals were playing, All Blacks would have been hammered.
Let us look at it this was; this was the All Blacks starting line-up – C Jane; H Gear, A Tuitavake, I Toeava, J Rokocoko; S Donald, P Weepu (capt); J Mackintosh, C Flynn, B Franks, R Filipo, J Eaton, A Thomson, S Waldrom, L Messam.
Replacements: H Elliott, J Afoa, B Thorn, K Read, A Mathewson, R Kahui, M Muliaina.
Pretty solid team if you ask me. I am sure once upon a time Ron said that the New Zealand B Team can beat the Boks! Well after last night I seriously doubt that.
I must say that I was impressed with the game for the entire 80 minutes. It was end to end stuff. The Haka by the four guys from Munster before the game was special. Dougie Howlett was a class player for the All Blacks in his day and you could just see the emotion flowing when he was doing that Haka. The crowd was amazing, very hostile atmosphere with nonstop chanting for 80 minutes and dead silence when the kicks were being taken.
I would be worried if I were the All Blacks when you play Ireland. If one of their clubs can do this to you….. I would be worried!
Loading ...
12 comments
Manny says:
Nov 19, 2008
Chaps….the All Blacks have already beaten Ireland..22-3….not Munster..but IRELAND. O’gara, O’ Driscoll and all.
Nuff said.
Ron says:
Nov 19, 2008
Okay, where do I start! It could be easy and I just take the Springbok line, “A win is a win” but no I will not! May I point out that Munster are the Heineken Cup holders. That means they are the best club in Europe. Yes they may have been missing a couple of their Irish players but they are still a formidable club team. It is never easy for a national team to beat a club. A club players together day in and day out so they have better understanding of each others game and their combinations click!
The All Blacks team that took to the field yesterday had so many new players and new combinations. Clearly they were not going to click first up so the fact that they managed to win just goes to show how great the All Blacks are.
Let me put it this way: If you take a great footballing team like Liverpool and ask them to play the Italy national team today, Liverpool would win, why? Because the Liverpool team plays together all the time and the Italy national team just pitch up and train together for 5 days before a game.
As for the proper All Blacks against Ireland, i have no worries at all!!!
Kamate kaora says:
Nov 19, 2008
ron ,manny……GOOD ON U LADS
Fraz says:
Nov 19, 2008
ha ha ha ha ha the list of excuses goes on and on when it comes to the mighty AB!!!
You guys are just too quick to cuss the boks and even quicker to roll out excuses for your team!!
Noone is doubting a couple new combinations and players but as stated in the article with the arrogance that surrounds an AB supporter you could apparently field 7 teams and still beat everyone!!! Clearly NOT!!
Also if we are true rugby supprters and actually look closely, do you honestly believe that if munster played in the Super 14 that they would finish in the top 6????
Honestly??
I have serious doubts…….
So lads as i said on the previous article…..eat some humble pie and and admit that these end of year tours aren’t all they are cracked up to be…..lets wait for some new big games next season and ooooooh i can’t wait!!!!
Fraz says:
Nov 19, 2008
P.S. i really hope these are the youngsters you’ll be sending to 2011…….. gonna be good to whooop u again on home soil!!!
Manny says:
Nov 19, 2008
Just to confirm as there seems to be confusion….. I am a Wallabies supporter..not an All Blacks supporter. But I firmly believe the AB’s are still the best team in the world.
Manny says:
Nov 19, 2008
As regards that Munster comment and top 6..I think right now the Saders, Tah’s and Sharks are the teams that we can safely say would beat Munster…but who would put money against the Crusaders beating the Boks??????
Ron says:
Nov 19, 2008
No No Fraz, 2011 will be the current All Black 1st XV with Richie and DC.
As for Munster not finishing in the top 6 in Super Rugby… I am not too sure about that. I think they would, lets put it this was: They would def beat the Cheetahs, Lions, Stormers, just edge past the Bulls and it will be a close game against the Sharks!!
Manny, I would bet my house on the Crusaders beating the Boks. That is a no brainer!
Fraz says:
Nov 19, 2008
You guys are great at diverting attention!!! All i said and all you got out of it was that munster wouldn’t finish in the top 6 ha ha ha diverting the attention away from the topic at hand!!
Unfortunately we will probably never see the saders play the boks, but if we could i believe i would be living in your house Ron!!! As the proud owner!!!
but to prove my point…. top 6 that WOULD beat munster… crusaders, tahs, sharks, hurricanes, Force and possibly the bulls, can’t right off last years champs for a few poor games at the start of last season!!!
Guru says:
Nov 19, 2008
Fraz, I see these chaps are on your case, let me step in right here.
Gents, at the moment many of you are going on about the boks being a mediocre side due to their narrow wins against Wales and Scotland, yet you all know the following facts :-
Ruan Pienar is playing in his 3rd test on Sat,
Fourie Du Preez has been injured,
Bismarck du Plessis is also injured,
Beast is injured,
John Smit is only playing in his 3rd test at tighthead,
The boks have no cover at prop,hooker and flyhalf,
PDV stated clearly before the tour that he is experimenting and that he is trying out different combinations with a view to restructure the team come lions tours and more importantly 2011.
Yet after all of these clear facts, you still nail the boks, call them useless and unashamedly suggest that the boks are not in the same league as ABs and AUS??? Are you all forgetting the 50 point drubbing of AUS in August? Are you all forgetting that the AB’s lost IN EDEN PARK to the boks this year? How dare you suggest we are not in the same league?
However, when the AB’s scrape past “weaker” opposition your excuse is that you have untried combinations…..my question is…..so why do you not look at the untried combinations in the bok setup? Truth is, if this was an important tournament like the WC or even Tri Nations, PDV would not have left out Butch, Percy or even tampered around with the tried and tested combinations. But he understands that the end of year tour is meant for such exercises.
If we are to use Ron and Kamate’s argument of untried combinations then please allow me to state that while the current bok side has exceptional individuals, in terms of tried combinations you cannot call it a 1st team coz the whole front row combo is untried, Mujati is honestly not in the top 5 props in SA and the 9/10 combo is untried.
So if you were to use the excuse of untried combinations then you surely cannot expect the current bok team to be the same. It is an experimental side with new combinations. My point is that you should apply the same rules to all teams and evaluate their performances using the same standards. The AB’s scrapped past Munster due to them not having their 1st team on the field. The boks scrapped past Wales and Scotland due to them not having their 1st team on the field! Besides, the two teams are at different stages, the boks have a new coach with new ideas, trying to merge the old and the new while the AB’s have had Henry for 4 years now.
Ron says:
Nov 20, 2008
OOOO Guru you make my blood boil
I will quote you: “The boks have no cover at prop,hooker and flyhalf” – whose fault is that????? If you dont have the depth and cover and you are to blame.
Secondly: “Are you all forgetting that the AB’s lost IN EDEN PARK to the boks this year?” – That was purely the lucky bounce of the ball we made up for it at Newlands.
Thirdly: “when the AB’s scrape past “weaker” opposition your excuse is that you have untried combinations”. I am not sure if that game against Munster was considered a test i.e. it went towards caps, thus it was not the AB’s proper playing but our reserves.
Fourthly: “Truth is, if this was an important tournament like the WC or even Tri Nations, PDV would not have left out Butch, Percy or even tampered around with the tried and tested combinations. But he understands that the end of year tour is meant for such exercises.” If PDV were using this tour as an experiment was is he not blooding Kanko, Jonji, Earl Rose!!! As for Butch, his days as a Bok are over, Percy has hung up the white boots so its late for him, so PDV has his best squad at his disposal.
Guru says:
Nov 20, 2008
LOL….sorry for making your blood boil sir, but I have to further disagree with you right here.
Your first point is correct, yes we do not have as much depth as the AB’s and therefore in certain positions we may need more time to groom someone. And that’s exactly what the boks are doing,using the year-end tour for rebuilding and grooming players in certain key positions.
Your second point regarding the boks beating the AB’s, I mentioned that to just remind you that the boks are in the same league as both NZ and AUS. You chaps had insinuated that the boks are not in the same league so if you concede that you lost at home to the boks and you came to SA and won, then surely you cannot suggest such.
In summary, yes the boks are struggling for form and cohesion, but never fool yourselves and start thinking that the boks will be a walk in the park. Furthermore, hinting that the AB’s will whitewash the boks, as Kamate suggested, will just leave yourselves open to serious embarassment when the so called “blind boks” come out victorious against the haka screaching men in black.