Stefan Blogs

Pre-Match - South Africa vs Scotland (03 October 2015)

Friday, 02 October 2015

Stefan Terblanche

"Score Prediction: Boks to win by 15"

Good day to you all from a very mild and rather pleasant Newcastle in the North East of England. Considering where I find myself and autumn approaching fast in the Northern Hemisphere, I can only think that the rugby gods are shining down on us all and that they must be looking forward, like the rest of us, to tomorrow’s big game, Scotland against South Africa.

I am behaving a bit like a schoolboy on his way to his 1st live Springbok game but I think it’s wonderful that in this day and age with so many other distractions keeping us occupied that rugby still holds this power and aura.

Finally we have seen a Springbok team that most of the nation is happy with and that we all agree on. Unfortunately injury ruled out Victor Matfield and tour captain Jean De Villiers and you have to feel for these individuals. Between them they amassed over 230 test caps and it’s amazing to think that Springbok coach Rudolf Straueli fielded a team with only 234 caps –in the whole team – during The Rugby World Cup 20003. Just an interesting fact and this will give you a better understanding of what experience these 2 guys brought to this team.

In steps the youngsters and the current form players to really show that they can cement their positions in the starting 15 and that they can give all South Africans hope that our Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign is far from over. I always said that we have the players to win a record 3rd Rugby World Cup but the challenge would be in getting them all on the field at the same time. This team is as good as it gets and as close to getting team selection 100% spot on and for once I have to congratulate the management team –well done lads!

If we put my and I am sure your excitement aside for a moment and look at the game and the Scots we are facing we must understand that The Boks will be in for one hell of a game tomorrow. The Scots under the guidance of New Zealand coach, Vern Cotter has shown vast improvement. They have gone away from the traditional kick and charge game and have brought some unbelievable skill and flair to their backline play. In the pack of forwards they are incredibly competitive at the breakdown and with 2 former South Africans in WP Nel and former Lions captain, Josh Strauss they have developed a real hard nose approach to the game and will not stand back to be bullied by any team.

With the rugby gods shining down on us and the weather forecast perfect for rugby, I believe that we will see a very entertaining game of rugby. The Scots will try and play their running game, off-loading in the tackles and trying to keep the ball away from the big South African pack of forwards. They will unfortunately miss their game breaker Finn Russell through injury in the number 10 shirt. On the other side we will have the Bok team hoping to build on their solid and well- structured performance against Samoa. I believe that The Boks will not change a single aspect form the Samoa game plan and will again build their innings by keeping structure and wearing the opposition down through clever kicks, driving line outs and hard running forwards playing of Fourie Du Preez, the captain for this game.

I am very confident that The Boks will win and that they will win well tomorrow. I might be getting ahead of myself and I think we just need to keep the following in mind before opening the champagne. The Boks are still playing for survival and a loss could be the end of their campaign. Don’t forget the extra pressure this will bring to the individuals and team.

The game is taking place in Newcastle, just south of the Scottish border. We can expect a massive influx from the north and many a Scotsman at the game to support their team. They have a genuine believe that this could be their moment.

Follow us on Twitter and I will be posting some Tweets and pictures live from the game @StefanT15 and @JohnBoydSA Dunlop twitter handle.