Russell confident Scotland are 'building nicely' towards World Cup

They just didn’t have the nuts to bench Beauden . But he’s always been a superb super sub . Coming on when the opposition is tired , no one would be able to compete with him .

Of the 3 played in NZ, the ABs only lost once. Of the games played in SA, SBs are 5-2, and on neutral ground its 3-2 to the Boks.

Seems pretty even to me, considering this is the greatest Boks team ever (I still think 2007 was better).

If Rassie wins, this will be the best Boks team ever, but the ABs aren't scared of a team who barely scrape wins against a reforming ABs team, and lost to an undercooked Irish side twice last year.

I predict a 7+ point win, leading by 13+ at halftime.

A leader like South Africa's can be responsible for so much momentum for a country.

These sorts of bylines of selection are really becoming a thing of the past. A nation like England should instead have great depth, and what this talking points show are a team that can turn to one of three people in any (backrow for now) position in the required circumstance.

Have coachs lost that old art?

It will be interesting to see how well Proctor goes this year with Higgins inside him. JB was largely innocuous last year.

ALB certainly has the physical size to be a world class 12, he's not much different than Aki, just unlike the AJ Lam and Leicester examples, is not able to produce the same power/explosiveness as those two can. They're all in pretty much the same boat, the only player I can really see joining AJ and Big L is Jordie Barrett if he chose to nail down the spot.

That said, he's adapted that as a strength, in the past of course he relied on his class to get him by, but he's largely been robbed of his speed and instinctiveness by now. Better to move onto the next talent as a result.

The only facet he's really missing from being one of the worlds best centers is his link game, and I believe he's got that in him. The useful thing leading up to the WC will be that the team isn't so heavily reliant on Clarke being in form on the left, the will have Leicester their also if no youngsters come screaming through in that time. And hopefully enough depth between these four now to have quality in the two spots.

The only 13 with the gas to check a decoy running into his channel then bounce out to cover/tackle the actual ball receiver (often the blind wing) looping and arc-ing behind the decoy.

Fun fact.

No tries have been scored against the AB’s in the outside channels from set plays since Reiko has owned the 13 jumper.

And yes, LF is very slow to turn to chase kicks. Remember it got him replaced in one of the big tests before the WC. Sorry cant recall the actual test.

Thankfully he knows Pierre it seems, so they can be in contact and together work out that the best midfield for them would be Leicester at 12 and Frisch at 13, not the other way round ;)

I was just referring to with Rieko. To me, he lack of threat attacking is all about what's going on in his head. I keep going back to the early AB game this year (as it had just come off his Blues form) where he had the outside, space in front, and chose to pass to his winger.

I think he's trying unbelievably hard to be a great All Black, to turn around the teams fortunes, and that if he just relaxed and played naturally we'd see a far more lethal version of Rieko. Might not ever be able to make the most of his outsides, but contribute better overall, and yes, that's with specific people inside him. Just look at how BB was unable to read him in the French game. Or, like Finn's argument with Marcus Smith, you just chose a more uncomplicated player in that position, like Proctor or Liecester.

Oh, but also if I was treating your comment in isloation..

This just doesn't happen against pro defences like it used to in the amateur era, with outside centres running the outer arc and putting their wing away.

That is exactly what Dmac did on multiple occasions coming into the line from fullback, drifting wide and around players to put his winger 😉