WELL DONE BOKKE, NZ & AUS.SOUTH RULE

My Thought For Monday Morning :

Debating the merits of a Super 15 or Springbok team is half the fun of following rugby. With sports betting you also have the opportunity to put your money behind your opinion if you so wish! I'll wager that those of you who were active at Clairwood and Turffontein over the weekend wish you had stuck with the rugby!! Lol.

Moving on - My left field suggestion for Monday is this : I believe Heineke Meyer should consider re-treading Francois Hougaard as a CENTRE.

He already has extensive experience on the wing at international level so it is not an act of madness to retrain him at 12 or 13. My reasons are as follows :

He has a superb sidestep which would be well suited to straightening the line ( a skill sorely lacking in SA rugby where few of our backs run straight unless it is stright into the opposition ).

He has a proven record of being exceptionally strong on his feet so is unlikely to be unduly bullied by larger opponents. He also has the ability to advance over a gainline just when you think you have tackled him.

I have not noticed any defensive frailties in his play.

He could most certainly be labelled as a gamebreaker with the ability to do something extraordinary from time to time.

His kicking game is better than that of the majority of current centres.

The counter argument is going to be about his size. Hellloooooo - we possibly have South Africa's answer to Tim Horan sitting right under our noses and have yet to realise it. I would rather have his speed off the mark and ability to wriggle through apparently non-existant gaps than ANOTHER crash ball player.

I'll take it a step further - a Francois Hougaard/ Juan De Jongh combination could be quite a handful. Both are small. Both have exceptional off the mark speed and neither are poor defenders. This would be quite a change from recent years where our centres have not been noted for their speed off the mark and usually require critical space and time to find their strides.

Hougaard was my man of match on Saturday. His defence around forward play is awesome. Another Joost in the making.
Hougaard and forwards stepped up tempo the in the second half which ensured a good win considering our limited game stratergy.

Pity we did not see more of him and Bismarck in the World Cup. Smit and De Villiers really let us down.

Interesting thoughts there Garrick. Not sure where or if you would play the Captian and Springboks player of the tournament until he was hurt in the World Cup? This is what makes forums interesting as contrary to Toontony I thought the Boks were much better when Ruan came on. I thought Francios had a very ordinary game by his standards. Ruan's service to the back line was much quicker.

Very tight first half, broke their resistance in the second half before Ruan and bulk of the subs came on.

I agree with Garrick about Hougaardt not being an international scrumhalf - but not sure if he would be a better centre than de Villiers, de Jongh, Taute or even Frans Steyn to name a few - I also agree with OR that he can best serve the team as an impact player - preferably on the wing, but it could be an idea to bring him on as centre.

What I find interesting is that no-one commented on my suggestion of replacing Morne Steyn with Lambie at flyhalf; my starting backline would be the following:

Fullback: Frans Steyn

Wings: Peterson, Habana

Centre: de Villiers, de Jongh

Flyhalf: Lambie

Scrumhalf: van Zyl

Reserve backs - Pienaar, Taute (if fit) and Hougaardt

Among the forwards, not sure if Brousseau is available, if he is, must be first choice at flank, then I also like that big oke from the bulls (think he is also a Potgieter - but not the blonde one) - and we need some quality locs from somewhere imo

Frodo Wrote:

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> gregbucks Wrote:
>

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>

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> > Frodo Wrote:
> >
>

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>
> >

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> > > PeeKay Wrote:
> > >
> >
>

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>
> >
> > >

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> > > > i see the book is marked down to R149 from
> > R220.
> > > I
> > > > was itching to buy one, but decided against
> > it
> > >
> > >
> > > I'm going to wait until it sells at R39.99
> and
> > > then maybe buy it for my boss for Christmas
> in
> > > return for all the sh*t he has given me
> through
> > > the year <
> >
> > Hey Frodo, maybe we can go dutch and then
> > photostat a copy for the boss...<
>
>
> I like your thinking (tu)


Scan the photostatted copy to me and then hopefully my boss can't make out some of the words <

Frodo Wrote:

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> I agree with Garrick about Hougaardt not being an
> international scrumhalf - but not sure if he would
> be a better centre than de Villiers, de Jongh,
> Taute or even Frans Steyn to name a few - I also
> agree with OR that he can best serve the team as
> an impact player - preferably on the wing, but it
> could be an idea to bring him on as centre.
>
> What I find interesting is that no-one commented
> on my suggestion of replacing Morne Steyn with
> Lambie at flyhalf; my starting backline would be
> the following:
>
> Fullback: Frans Steyn
>
> Wings: Peterson, Habana
>
> Centre: de Villiers, de Jongh
>
> Flyhalf: Lambie
>
> Scrumhalf: van Zyl
>
> Reserve backs - Pienaar, Taute (if fit) and
> Hougaardt
>
> Among the forwards, not sure if Brousseau is
> available, if he is, must be first choice at
> flank, then I also like that big oke from the
> bulls (think he is also a Potgieter - but not the
> blonde one) - and we need some quality locs from
> somewhere imo

Hope Heyneke tries the Pienaar & Lambie combo

R2.2m dream car for Hougaard

Durban - Audi Centre Northcliff on Monday announced its delivery of a brand new Audi R8 V10 Spyder to Springbok and Bulls scrumhalf, Francois Hougaard, who earned his 16th Bok Test cap against England on Saturday.

The car, sponsored by Prime HP and Audi Centre Northcliff, is the largest car sponsorship of a South African sportsman.

Attached files [img]/wp-content/uploads/attachments/287039=865-Francois Hougaard with his new sports car.jpg[/img]

Predictions

All Blacks 38 Ireland 12
Australia 22 Wales 24
South Africa 33 England 9
Argentina 18 France 16

All Blacks by 25
Australia (if they come to play) by 7
SA by 10
Argentina by 6 (France has not won in Argentina since 1998)

after both Wales and Ireland came so close last week I expect both the All Blacks and the Aussies to win with ease this weekend as the Irish and Welsh must be mentally affected by those results. As for SA they must really give it to England this week as they took the foot off the pedal in the first two matches.

Prediction, All three Southern teams to win with a combined victory margin of plus 40 points.

chicken 'n chips Wrote:

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> after both Wales and Ireland came so close last
> week I expect both the All Blacks and the Aussies
> to win with ease this weekend as the Irish and
> Welsh must be mentally affected by those results.
> As for SA they must really give it to England this
> week as they took the foot off the pedal in the
> first two matches.
>
> Prediction, All three Southern teams to win with a
> combined victory margin of plus 40 points.

Ek dink dit gaan gebeur.(tu)