Argentina v South Africa

Nelspruit is going to go titsup tonight.

Good night. God bless.

Fassie ain't that good...

Still 25 minutes left.

Ben’s lining up his article about how the boks also can’t score in the last 20.

Idiot.

Oxford you beauty!

Cheslin highlights reel so far looks like a YouTube video

Manie’s my man of the match.

Manie Libbok earning respect today. Hopefully shutting his critics up.

An absolute masterful game at 10 today. What a passing game.

Bring on the bombsquad. Roll the credits.

It’s coming together nicely today.

Argies forwards are being blown away today. Hard for them to come back unless their forwards get back into it.

O God,

Ease our suffering in this, our moment of great expectancy,

For we are but humble Springbok supporters,

Gathered in hope, in faith, and in sheer nervousness,

As our boys in green and gold take the field against the mighty Los Pumas.

Yea, admit this good and decent Bok team into thine arms,

In the flock of champions in thine heavenly Rugby World Cup Champions area up there.

And Moab, he laidest down in the land of the Canaanites,

So too may we lay down Los Pumas with righteous tackles and unstoppable tries.

And yea, though the Hindus speak of Karma, I implore you,

Give the Boks a break, O Lord,

Let every bounce of the ball be kind,

Let every ref’s call be just,

And let every kick sail true between the posts.

Baruch Ata, Hallelujah!

I have a feeling both teams are going to throw the kitchen sink at it. The medics are going to be busy.

But I honestly think the boks need to focus on old game plan to control the tempo. Bombard them with big carries up the middle. Make them defend. Starve them of the ball. Apply the pressure. With a fast blitz on defence. Switch to Tonyball on the front foot. On the counter. Off mistakes. Pile on the pressure. Kick to the corners. Milk the penalties and build the scoreboard pressure.

And finish with a flourish and the bomb squad once you’ve squeezed the life out of the Argies.

Playing Tonyball and a varying speed of blitz defence isn’t working yet. It’s too busy. Build an innings, test match style. Keep them out the game. Score lots of tries at the end.

Whatever the game plan that unfolds - boks to win it.

By 1 Point!

I can’t say that I watched the whole game against Argentina. That time slot had me drifting in and out of consciousness.

But throughout the second half in particular I felt like the Boks were keeping the Argentinian attack in the game by trading blows, inviting width and space. The game was played at frenetic pace.

I feel like the Boks need to work on controlling the tempo of the game. Switching between keeping it tight, an arm wrestle, using our traditional strengths and knowing when to up the tempo and strike. It seems as if we’re trying to do too much on attack and defence. Our missed tackles is a big concern. Argentina punished us. And we looked ragged as a result.

Don’t forget the basics entirely! It’s what we’ve traditionally been the best at.