Last Minute Change to Springboks

I awoke this morning to the anouncement that the Springbok loose forward trio is undergoing yet another change. Apparently Van Niekerk couldn't sleep last night, and scans this morning have revealed an injury to his neck in the same area that Burger sustained his career threatening injury recently. It is never good to hear of these injuries and I gather he is being rested as a precaution.

However, this kind of last minute injury is either posturing for the media, or a serious blip on the South African preparation. These last minute changes introduce instablility to the team, and I am sure that Coach White will be hoping that the boys can overcome this, or perhaps even use the adversity as extra motivation to ensure that the Springboks do not lose their seventh straight test match. He will already be able to feel the noose tightening around his neck right now, and another loss is sure to see the trap door open up beneath his feet and he'll be sent on his way.

Van Niekerk's loss is Pierre Spies' gain. He comes back into the mix leaving the other contenders Wannenberg and Van den Berg on the bench as back up during the test match. In spite of the reshuffle, the Springboks still have the edge in terms of preparation as they are playing at home, have had a decent rest since thier last game in Sydney, and are used to playing at altitutde. The cards are about as stacked in their favour as they are ever going to get, and I will be surprised if we see anything other than a very close African loss, or even (shock horror) a win to the men in Green.

One reason I say this is that we can expect to see the mediocre (at best) All Black lineout return tonight. There is only one recognised lineout jumper in the team, Williams, and he is not performing that well in this area at the moment. Add to that the inclusion of Oliver, a powerful scrummager to be sure but no one would ever claim he is recognised as a master of lineout throwing, and I think we could see a serious and substantial breakdown in the lineout. The inclusion of a totally new front row (with the exception of Sommerville who replaced Carl Hayman last week due to injury), could bring into question the cohesiveness that the tight five will play with, not having had much game time together.

The loose forwards are of course an important aspect of this game. I am glad that Masoe is getting the chance to have a crack in the starting side, but including him as number 8 seems unusual. Reuben Thorne reportedly enjoys playing at Loftus and his inclusion as number 6 would seem to be a sound choice. Captain Fanstastic of course is a shoe in, however it seems he is not part of the rotation policy - the All Blacks will be beyond help if he is injured before or during the World Cup tournament next year.

The traditional tough test with the old foe beckons. I think that it will be a cracking game, and I can feel the tension increasing around me now that gameday has finally arrived. I will be watching the game tonight at the local tavern, free to air Aussie tv has let me down and are not screening the game tonight. I guess that there is no local interest as their team is not playing. Pretty poor really. In any event, check back later today for the results of the poll, and enjoy the game tonight!