Excellent as the Boks were in the World Cup, particularly in the quarter-final and final, a couple of things go the other way and the trophy ends up in other hands. Today, while obviously still beatable as Ireland and Argentina have shown, I do think they're opening up a gap from the chasing pack. - ThreadSky

hugogordon.bsky.social • 110 days ago

Excellent as the Boks were in the World Cup, particularly in the quarter-final and final, a couple of things go the other way and the trophy ends up in other hands. Today, while obviously still beatable as Ireland and Argentina have shown, I do think they're opening up a gap from the chasing pack.

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mlungu.bsky.social•110 days ago

It’s a weird one. The Springboks aren’t nearly as cohesive and fluid in what they’re doing as they were at the RWC, and they’ve only had one good performance this year, but there is something in what you say. 1/

mlungu.bsky.social•110 days ago

The major change, I think, is that they went into RWC23 with 1 or 2 of the best players in their position in the world, whereas now it’s closer to +10 players. This has meant that they can snatch a win, almost at will, despite misfiring. 2/2

hugogordon.bsky.social•110 days ago

Not sure I agree that you've only had one good performance this year! And also think that you probably went into the WC with a stronger team than that suggests. But I agree, the talent is only developing and it means you've become a team where the default, even on a bad day, is a win.

hugogordon.bsky.social•110 days ago

Think some of the cohesiveness issues are just a by-product of changing up the attacking system but I actually think it's settled in extremely quickly. Think by next year it'll look pretty fluid.

mlungu.bsky.social•110 days ago

What I mean is that, when you learn a new technique, there is a delay between the impulse to act and the action, since you need to think about the technique. When you’ve mastered something, like walking, there is no thought about technique at all. 1/

mlungu.bsky.social•110 days ago

You simply have an impulse to be over there and the act happens without any further thought. The QF was the pinnacle of the last phase of Bok mastery. Mbombela gave a glimpse of what mastery might look like in this next phase, while the other games involved a lot of thinking and stuttering. 2/

nickodonoghue.bsky.social•110 days ago

Yeah. They are absolutely quality, with Tony Brown on board their attack is getting even better, they're bringing in exciting young players... and they've learned from the two defeats. Would love to seem them play France.

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