Rugby & a braai, only a South African knows...

Only Saffa's will fully understand and appreciate the value of the Rugby/Braai combo! I am of course referring to a BBQ South African style - nothing compares!

Give me sunshine, rugby and a braai (with braai meat of course!) and I will have no complaints. In many ways myself and the many others like me are easy to please.

Everything that goes onto a braai from mielies (corn on the cob) to a coil of boerie (beef sausage) tastes better than any other means of cooking. A great addition on any braai item is the orange bottle of braai salt - those that have had it will know what I'm talking about!.

Whether your team loses or wins a rugby match, a braai is either the perfect cure or the perfect celebratory event!

What's your favourite braai item???

Post a comment...

Boring Boks score bonus point win

Fourie du Preez made his 50th appearance for the Springboks against Australia in Perth and celebrated in the 'boring' fashion of scoring a try.

Du Preez's try was the first of the four that contributed to a bonus point victory for the Springboks. Henry and Deans and all the Australian players who labelled the Springboks boring please issue a public apology.

The simple fact of the matter is that Australia and New Zealand just won't accept that South African sport is currently the world dominating force. Our rugby team is setting the standard and our antipodean friends cannot stand this. Stinks of bad sportsmanship if you ask me.

Australia are the bigger culprits in this saga and the instigator for the All Blacks, Graham Henry, is probably not a fair reflection of New Zealanders anyway. Henry is purely looking for an excuse as to why the All Blacks aren't the all conquering team that they can be. While I have nothing against the Australian people, their sportsmen and women are arrogant sore losers. Australian people are lovely, I have cousins and friends in Australia and have visited the country. The people are great but as for their sports personalities I say, "be humble in victory as in defeat, because karma is a bitch!"

Let's not deter too much from the achievements of the current Springbok team. I believe that the current crop will make up almost the whole all time best Boks.

This is my best ever Boks:
1. Os Du Randt
2. John Smit
3. Cobus Visagie
4. Bakkies Botha
5. Victor Matfield
6. Schalk Burger
7. Juan Smith / Andre Venter
8. Gary Teichmen
9. Fourie du Preez / Joost van der Westhuizen
10 Henry Honiball
11. Bryan Hanaba
12. Jean de Villiers
13. Jacque Fourie
14. James Small / JP Pietersen
15. Percy Montgomery / Andre Joubert

So Henry, next time you label the Boks delete "boring" from your list of options.

Wallabies v Springboks - Perth 2009

5 to 1, changes to the Wallabies team compared to Springboks and also what I think would be the odds of Australia winning on Sat.

Don't confuse my confidence with arrogance, you cannot right off any of the top rugby nations, but when you compare recent showings and the amount of changes that the Australians have had to endure compared to the Springboks, you have to concede that the Boks are clear favourites!

As individuals, the players coming in and those swapping positions for Australia definitely have the potential and talent to play top class rugby, but as we all know rugby is a team sport. The Wallaby's have their backs up against the wall which makes them even more dangerous as stranger things have happened, but a win this weekend seems highly unlikely.

The Springboks on the other hand (Darrrren), have the luxury of a fully fit squad with the exception of Danie Russouw who has just overcome an ankle injury and will be rested this weekend. An interesting change for the Boks is Ruan Pienaar starting at fullback ahead of Francois Steyn. Steyn's impending move overseas was surely a motivating factor combined with PdV having half an eye on the end of year tour. For me Pienaar would start at flyhalf and I would put Morne Steyn at fullback, but PdV might be right in keeping Morne at flyhalf and perhaps weening him into the fullback position. The only department where Morne is better than Ruan is at goal kicking time and you don't have to play at flyhalf to kick at poles. As a flyhalf, I still believe Pienaar offers much more on attack and marshalls the backline better.

Finally, I cannot wait to see Schalk Burger come off the bench! I fully agree with Brussow starting ahead of him, but consider yourself in Burger's position. A former IRB Player of the year and Springbok stalwart having been banned for the past 8 weeks. Surely he would want to put in a massive display to resurrect his playing career and reputation? Be afraid Wallabies, be very afraid...

Go Bokke!

For the full teams and chosen write-ups click on the links below:

Springboks - http://www.supersport.com/rugby/article.aspx?Id=313455

Wallabies - http://www.sarugby.com/news/News/article/sid=12137.html

Appluading the Legends

When I read on SARugby.com that the Springbok Legends will pay for the IRB fine, I felt a huge sense of satisfaction being a Springbok supporter. This gesture confirms what the Springboks stand for and what they mean to the South African rugby public.

If New Zealand or England or any other national team for that matter were treated the way the Springboks are with regards to citing's and outcome's, there would be massive debates and huge criticisms.

If anyone can give me 1/2 a good reason why Bakkies Botha was cited and banned for his legal cleaning out during the 2nd Lions Test match, then they do not understand the rules of rugby.

I totally agree with Schalk Burger's "eye-gouging" incident. I do believe the player was found NOT guilty of eye-gouging, but found guilty of reckless play around the face area. I do not condone what he did and he deserved his ban as it may have done far more harm than he anticipated with reference to Heinrich Brussow's amazing performances.

The main point is that South African rugby is labelled and the fact that Adam Jones (Lions prop whose shoulder was dislocated due to the Bakkies Botha incident) is adamant that Bakkies did nothing wrong proves the injustice.

To quote Jones, "It was just one of those things that happens in Rugby. Botha shouldn't have been banned for it, nowhere near it." -walesonline.co.uk

So when everything points to the IRB making incorrect judgements, is it coincidence that it always seems to be the Boks that are involved? I think not.

Legends, I applaud you!

South Africa's golden genration

What a generation of sportsmen we currently have!

South African sport surely has to be applauded for all their achievements over the past few years.

I don't think there is any other country that has as much political interference and as much public pressure as South African spots teams! Yet through all of this we have the No.1 Rugby & Cricket teams in the world!

Yes, the Proteas have become number one by England beating Australia, but the work done to be in the position of taking the number one spot has been the main contributing factor. When a batsman scores a century the score book doesn't say how many times he was dropped and the same can be said for the No.1 ranking, the table will simply read: "1. South Africa". How they got there is all academic.

Before I mention the all-conquering Springboks, we have to mention that Bafana Bafana have had some promising results, showing great potential. We all know that there is soccer talent in South Africa and with the right mental coaching and man management there is no reason why soccer cannot emulate it's cricket and rugby siblings.

Another code in for a quick mention is the Springbok sevens team. They won the world series last season and put in some demolition job performances against highly ranked opposition.

Onto our beloved Springboks. World Cup medals, Super 14 medals, Lions Series medals and unbeaten in the Tri Nations so far - these are just a few of the many accolades the Boks have accumulated over the past few years. I won't go too much into the Springbok team's achievements as they are well documented, but they are by far the most outstanding sporting unit to represent South Africa of late.

When there are so many negatives in our country, the great achievements by our sports men and women gives us something to be extremely proud of. So next time you cross a loud South African be careful not to confuse arrogance with pride!

Destiny

Okay, so the All Blacks beat the Aussies in a "thriller". As far as I'm concerned, a game in which the lead changes several times is exciting and a good rugby match. I do have to however have a go at NZ coach Graham Henry for preaching running, spectacle rugby when his team kicked as much as they did.

Right, now that my rant is over let's discuss 2 things as to keep to the topic. Firstly let's work off the "running rugby" comments made by Henry and Deans. Yes, for the average fan or someone who knows nothing about the game, scoring tries and lots of them would be far more exciting. For the millions of others that appreciate the game in it's purest form, we know what gets us excited. It could be newcomer Brussouw outplaying veteran McCaw, it could be a grubber by tighthead John Smit which leads to a try or it could be Vickery being totally dominated by the Beast. It is clear that what gets real rugby fans excited is not purely based on the scoring of tries.

Regarding the amount of kicking that has taken place in games recently, I think, is due to adaptation. Teams defences have improved vastly over the past half decade which means opposition teams have had to adapt and find other ways to get over the advantage line. Kicking well can be very effective and because good teams play the situation we mostly find the best option is to launch a kick leading to less "running" rugby. By playing the situation correctly your destiny lies predominantly in your own hands.

As we look ahead for the week, the second point to the topic is the fact that the Springboks have their Tri Nations destiny in their own hands. Unlike the All Blacks and Wallabies who need to rely on other results (with the Aussies almost certainly out of the running), the Springboks know that winning two of their away games will clinch the 2009 Tri Nations. Unbeaten in the Tri Nations so far, the Boks' previous travels to Australasia have always been seen as a huge challenge in which losing admirably was good. Expectation has never been higher in South Africa and neither has the ability to fulfil such expectation. The current crop are more than capable of recording a clean sweep of their away leg as they have players that have experienced winning Down Under and know what is expected.

Don't get me wrong, complacency is never an ingredient for success, but watching destiny unfold in the business end of the Tri Nations will be filled with high emotion.

Go Bokke!

Player 23

What a brilliant move by the IRB!

The latest ruling to include a 23rd player in a squad - provided he is a front rower - is a masterstroke by the IRB. It plans to alleviate the sneaky tactic used by teams with weaker scrumming power that force un-contested scrums under current rules.

A 23rd player may be included in a squad provided that there are three replacement front rowers in the form of 2 props and a hooker.

The current ruling that allows un-contested scrums, states that when a front rower gets injured and there are no more front row replacements in the entire squad fit enough to take his place, then un-contested scrums are in play.

Recently we have seen more and more teams force uncontested scrums by having a couple frontrowers deemed injured during play and unfit to continue. When no more replacements are available the game is forced into un-contested scrums. This tactic is usually used by weaker scrummaging teams and takes away the competitive advantage of the stronger opposition scrum.

Some may say that scrums do not constitute an entire game, but believe it when I say that being strongly scrummed against takes a lot out of the forward pack as a whole, and contributes to poor performance in other areas of the game. A scrum that is shoved backwards also puts their backline on the backfoot and puts the opposition backline on the frontfoot. Although rugby is a physically brutal sport, the psychology in a game plays a huge part and when a team is being out-scrummed this places huge doubt in the minds of the forward pack.

The new ruling is one that aims to negate the negative impact it may have on a stronger team. At the moment the ruling does not apply to international fixtures and is also not compulsory at any level. The IRB have decided to give the power to the respective unions and governing bodies of domestic and cross-border competitions and let them decide on whether they wish to implement the rule or not.

Further to the ruling, it states that should no more fit front row replacements be available in the squad to take the field and un-contested scrums come into play, then the team forcing the non-contested scrums may not replace the injured front row with another player, meaning that they will effectively play with 14 men from then on.

Great rule and I will be happy for them to implement it at international level as soon as possible - Autralia and Western Province might be devastated by the new ruling :)

Times are changing

News of players changing provinces, clubs, countries and nationalities are part and parcel of the modern era. Traditional rugby was all about pride and representing the club, province or country you came from. It was about defending your territory and you wouldn't dare change allegiance and swap sides for fear of becoming a traitor.

These days a rugby player is an employee and all decisions are business based. Some players would argue that moving to a bigger union or club is because of the huge history or the quality of players at the club, but we all know that at the end of the day it is a business decision.

Clubs and provinces look for quick solutions because the pressure from fans and supporters to produce winning results is immense. Developing a player is time consuming and not always easy. Rugby is showing signs of becoming much like soccer (or football) when it comes to the trading of players, but the powers that be should becareful of retaining the traditions of the sport that make it so unique.

I do not mind players changing clubs or going overseas for a year or two to earn the Euro or Pound and to learn a different style of rugby, but when you change your allegiance to an adopted country I have to question the moral and ethical points of such a move.

When you represent a club or province, you do so for the level of play and the financial gain. Changing your loyalties can be easy when you are being paid more and play with better quality players at a club or province.

International rugby is about pride, nothing more than raw pride! I am sorry, but Riki Flutey is not English. He doesn't deserve to play for England, not because he is a bad player, but because he is not English. Clyde Rathbone's grandmother was Australian, so what! Clyde Rathbone is South African.

You cannot tell me that playing for a different country is a financial decision as you can earn a lot more by being a quality player for a club - just look at some of the salaries being paid out by French rugby clubs!

Some may argue that playing in a foreign country makes national selection difficult. I say work out what your priorities are, finances or pride? There is of course the option of doing both. John Smit did it, Daniel Carter did it and many many more have done it and will continue to look after their financial futures while not jeopardising their international careers a la Frans Steyn.

Anyway, whichever way you look at it rugby needs to keep it's rich traditions at some level and there is no better place to do this when representing your country.

Schalk Pienaar or Morne Brussow?

I'm sure all South Africans will agree that South African rugby is in a very healthy state. Head coach Peter de Villiers has the "pleasant" headache of having too many quality players available at the same time and may find selecting certain players won't please everyone.

Two positions which will have many fans in debate is open side flank and flyhalf. In both positions, you have a more experienced international player available and a strong newcomer staking a claim. Ruan Pienaar would be the starting flyhalf for South Africa in every test match if he had a consistently reliable goal kicking boot or if Percy Montgomery was still playing. While Morne Steyn has more ability than my previous sentence suggests, as an all round flyhalf Pienaar's only flaw is his inability to target the oval shaped ball over the cross bar and between the two uprights, if not for this aspect Pienaar wins the battle hands down. If you asked me who I'd currently select to start it would definitely be Morne Steyn, as a kicker is imperative to the cause and although he hasn't done anything special, he hasn't done anything particularly bad either.

IRB player of the year 2004, Schalk Burger, is back in the fray. Burger has undoubted ability and has an aura about him built up over many seasons of intense physical play that opposition teams have come to fear. Yes, he is not the best "fetcher" in world rugby and his recent "eye-gouging" incident didn't do well for his street credit. I must mention that Burger was cleared of eye-gouging but found guilty of reckless play around the face and eye area. Heinrich Brussow is the incumbent open side flanker and has been a revelation outplaying Richie McCaw and George Smith who are both seasoned world class open side flankers. Although Brussow and Burger cannot be compared like for like, this would be more a case of horses for courses. You cannot start Schalk Burger in any of the away test matches, the only one I may start him in is the last. Brussow is the real answer to combating Australia and New Zealand's ability to disrupt opposition ball at ruck time. Schalk is short of game time and should be eased back into action. I would start Brussow in every match and have Schalk play his way back into form and fitness from the bench.

There might also be far more harm done if Burger starts ahead of Brussow as it will show poor management and create disloyalty between players and coaching staff.

My verdict start Morne Brussow and bring on Schalk Pienaar to seal the deal.

Clash of the wounded titans

Only Australians and Kiwis will be interested in next Saturdays game, as South Africans will smugly tell you that we are unbeaten in three games and should we continue in this fashion then the outcome of next Saturdays game will be of no importance.

As a Springbok supporter, if I happen to miss watching Saturdays game I don't think I'll lose any sleep over it. As a rugby fanatic, next Saturdays Tri Nations match was allocated it's time slot in my diary months ago.

Australia versus New Zealand in a Tri Nations match is always a biggy - this one no different. In fact next Saturdays match is probably more interesting than many of the past trans-Tasman battles. New Zealand are in a place that they haven't been in a long time, knocked off their podium. New Zealand are known to be the best team in the world in non-world cup years, but two years after the world cup they are not the all-conquering rugby powerhouse that we have been used to.

Australia have arguably the best coach that ever coached in Super Rugby history. While rugby union isn't Australia's no.1 sport , Robbie Deans has an uncanny knack of unearthing some gems. While news from both camps are contrasting with Stirling Mortlock out for the remainder of the series and Dan Carter back in the mix, we should still be in for a mighty clash.

Both teams have forward packs looking for dominance and backlines that haven't been allowed to gel in the Tri Nations games so far. Both teams will be looking to make a statement and this will be a difficult one to predict.

Lots of good match ups are on the cards with Richie McCaw and George Smith going head to head and the potential Giteau vs Carter battle seemingly mouth watering. While it is too difficult to predict a winner, a home win for the Wallabies is a result I am inclined to go with. Either way I am not too concerned with who wins, but I am looking forward to a great rugby game.

Australia punished by men in yellow

Australia were their own worst enemies on Saturday when they lost 29-17 to the powerful game play of the Springbok's.

The indiscipline that saw three Wallaby players yellow carded in the game against the Springboks at Newlands on Saturday can be compared to a 3 punch knockout combo in boxing.

Although the Springboks deserved the win, their performance was far from polished. The winning margin could and should have been far bigger. Handling errors and a messy scrum saw useful field position and try-scoring opportunities go a begging. I have already written about the Springbok scrummaging woes in a previous posting so I won't go into that now.

I do feel that John Smit needs special mention for his superhuman rugby skills. Everyone that watched the game on Saturday will admit that the moment of the match was when John Smit (who, remember, now plays tighthead prop) was about to pass the ball when he looked up to see no-one in behind the Australian defence - as they had all rushed up. His pass turned into a dummy pass and in one motion he proceeded to drop the ball onto his left boot for a perfectly weighted grubber. To everyone's amazement the grubber was executed as if he did it week-in-week-out. It was perfectly weighted and resulted in a try for Springbok lock Victor Matfield - who together with Bakkies Botha were celebrating their 50th appearance as a lock combination for South Africa.

If not for the way that the Springboks dominated every facet of forward play, on another day the school boy handling errors may have cost the them the game. For a team with the experience and class of the Boks, they have a lot of work to do. The trip to Australasia won't be easy and making basic errors will only compound the massive task ahead.

The Springboks definitely showed that they are worthy of the World Champion tag and the no.1 ranking, but they should be very wary of complacency.

No Waugh between Smith and Brussow.

Heinrich Wilhelm Brussow, is one of the "finds of the season" according to Springbok skipper John Smit.

The open side flank role slowly started being defined when the game began moving towards professionalism in the 90's. Traditionally, the only criteria the open side flanker needed was to be the fittest and quickest forward and his main role was to make the most tackles on the field.

As rugby progressed through the past two decades, coaches and players have helped to redefine the role to make it much more specialised, and having a good open side flank can prove to be detrimental to the outcome of the game.

One of the more prominent open side flanker types to evolve is the 'fetcher'. The fetcher is the scavenger, stealing the opposition ball and disrupting the speed at which the opposition recycle their ball at rucks.

Although traditonal responsibilities of being the first to every breakdown and trying to achieve the highest tackle count are still an important part of the open side flankers duties, the legal poaching of opposition ball has become a very useful weapon.

For me, George Smith was the first to truly highlight the importance of the fetcher role on the pitch. Since then Richie McCaw, Phil Waugh and Schalk Burger have added the valuable attribute to their skillset, but none are equal to Smith. The master fetcher has represented his country on over 100 occassions which proves just how good he is, especially when another world class fetcher in Phil Waugh has been competing for the same position throughout.

On Saturday, Smith will come up against his newest rival for the title of master fetcher in Heinrich Brussow. The South African "find of the season" has already upstaged All Black captain Richie McCaw on two weekends in a row, but Smith will prove a whole new challenge. Although Brussow is still a newcomer to the international rugby scene, he is quickly creating a global reputation.

When unveiling their squad, Australia omitted the name of Phil Waugh but have the veteran Smith in the starting XV. Surely Brussow has his work cut out for him, but don't be too surprised if it emerges that Smith's title is under serious threat come the end of the Tri Nations match on Saturday.

Check Mate!

As brutal and as rough as rugby may be, it still remains a very tactical game.

Although execution is key, having a good tactical approach will go a long way to securing victory. Teams often have different tactics for different opposition and no matter if they have a brilliant team full of brilliant players, if the tactics aren't spot on it could lead to defeat. The same can be said for weaker teams beating stronger sides with better tactics.

I believe that the leading rugby playing countries all possess players of equal or near equal quality. The difference lies in both tactical and technical coaching and man-management.At international level players do not have to be coached, they are professionals in a professional era and are picked because they have mastered their rugby game more than anyone else in their position in their country. At the international level, I believe that players need to be managed correctly and sold into executing a coaches tactics.

Getting tactics right is like playing a game of chess, you have to predict your opponent's moves before they've made any, while making sure that your own strategy doesn't weaken your ambitions or open up opportunities for your opponent to exploit.

Tactics need plans and back up plans. If one tactic isn't working you need alternatives to turn to, but if they are working keep applying them - more often and with pristine execution. South Africa's tactic of using the up-and-under against the All Blacks in Durban revealed a previously un-obvious weakness. After the first few successful attempts, the Boks repeatedly put the New Zealand back three under pressure with high balls. This tactic proved highly effective and provided good go-forward as the ball was often won back and placed uncertainty and disappointment in the All Black side. The mental side of rugby is a whole new discussion, but tactics can play a huge role in demoralising your opponents.

The Australians like to hold onto the ball for long periods of play, this often tests the opposition's patience and resolve, and those with little patience often give away penalties or stray away from their original game plan in order to retrieve possession which sometimes leads to try-scoring opportunities for the Wallabies.

Tactics are needed to exploit weaknesses and take advantage, but sometimes tactics are used to play to certain strengths. There is far more to rugby than the brutal nature of the sport which is another reason why rugby is so insanely exciting.

At the end of the day, it's all about being able to say "check mate".

Time to scrum up!

The Springbok forwards are a formidable unit, but there is still an area where they can improve vastly!

Everyone who knows a little bit about rugby knows that if your forwards dominate the opposition forwards then you usually stand a much better chance of winning the match. The Springboks have world class players from 1 to 8, but if you are looking for an individual sport I suggest looking into tennis or golf.

The one area that the Boks need to do a lot more work on is their scrum. Pierre Spies with all his class did well under pressure behind an unsteady scrum, but imagine how effective he'd be on the front foot!

I have no complaints about the lineout, loose play and defense, even on attack our forwards are dangerous. The sight of Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira cutting through the All Black line this past Saturday certainly puts a smile on the face of anyone that has played prop before, as props are usually labelled the 'slow fatties'.

The tight five (or engine room as some refer to it as) consists of the loosehead prop, hooker, tighthead prop and locks, and in my opinion they make up the most important unit of the entire team. You can take the best loose forwards and backline in the world and give them a weak sub-standard tight five, but without a fully functioning engine room there will be no go-forward.

The Springboks possess a finely tuned engine, but a bit of tweaking is needed to bring out the true potential and harness the full performance that we know they are capable of. The tweaking is needed at scrum time. The scrum is and will always continue to be a massive part of the 80 minutes during which rugby is played. There is no better example of this than when Isaac Ross got yellow carded in Saturday's test match and the Springboks scored a try off an All Black scrum that had a vital component missing.

In any team sport you need time for combinations to settle, none more so than rugby. As time goes by I predict that the Springbok scrum will improve, let's hope that for now it won't cost us.

The whole package

To repeat what's been headlining the media after yesterday's emphatic victory by the Boks over the All Blacks, Morne Steyn turned in a record-breaking individual performance to score all his sides points to overwhelm the New Zealanders 31-19!

Before Saturday's kick-off between the Springboks and the All Blacks, the jury was still out on the ability of Morne Steyn to control South Africa's back line. If you were a Bulls supporter you had no doubt over Steyn's abilities, but the rest of the country was still split between utilising the "Larkham-like" Ruan Pienaar or the reliable boot of Steyn.

For all of Steyn's achievements this year and his sudden rise into the spotlight as a real contender for the Springbok no.10 jersey, many (including myself) were not convinced that he was the complete package. Yesterday's performance will see Steyn silence and win over many critics, and instill much confidence in the South African rugby public over his all round abilities.

Ruan Pienaar must surely feel hard done, as he was controversially converted to flyhalf as the answer to South Africa's pivotal problem. Pienaar definitely has the skill, vision and potential to be a great international flyhalf, but his goal kicking needs to be a lot more consistent. It was Os du Randt that told an up-and-coming prop to choose between being a tighthead or loosehead prop, if he was good at both he'd be a brilliant substitute. Os was of course suggesting that concentrating on one position would maximise performances and first team selection possibilities. Ruan Pienaar is in the position of being good in all back line positions, and this could rob South Africa of a rugby star.

For the past few seasons, Francois Steyn was in a similar position but since being given the fullback berth he has settled in nicely. Francois Steyn's impending move to France and coach Peter de Villiers' preference for locally based players, might open the doorway to make full use of both Morne Steyn's kicking boot and Ruan Pienaar's distribution abilities.

Morne Steyn, although not flashy, has abilities at more than just flyhalf. He has represented the Bulls at fullback and has the luxury of being able to read the opposition flyhalf which is important for a fullback's positional play. When the incumbent Steyn (Francois) leaves for France, his namesake (Morne) could be employed as the last line of defence. Morne Steyn possesses an equally adept out-of-hand kicking boot and could use the November internationals to settle into this new role allowing Ruan Pienaar a chance to general the back line.

My second thought comes from an approach Wallaby coach Robbie Deans seems to employ with all the teams he has been in charge of. Deans likes to use two playmakers and distributors in his backline. For the Crusaders Deans used Dan Carter and Aaron Mauger and for the Wallaby's he uses Matt Gitteau and Berrick Barnes - in both cases the two players concerned are equally equipped to play at both flyhalf or inside centre and often swap around during play.

With Jean de Villiers following Francois Steyn to Europe, Ruan Pienaar could be shifted to inside centre. Pienaar is solid on defence, has quick hands, possesses brilliant running and distribution ability and kicks very well out of hand. Often when a flyhalf is trapped in a ruck or out of position, it's highly useful to have the No.12 available with equal ability to make the right decision. By shifting Pienaar to inside centre you have the kicking services of Morne Steyn and the playmaker ability of Pienaar on the field together.

Although South Africa currently find themselves placed firmly on top of the world rugby heap, with a few key players choosing to ply their trade overseas after the Tri Nations, interesting times lie ahead for the World Champions.

For now though those times can wait, there is a Tri Nations to be won and the Springboks have an excellent chance. GO BOKKE!