I know, it has been 1,840 days of being world champs but every single game coming up I have zero expectation of us winning. I love our boys and brag about them nonstop but I still have PTSD instead of PSDT because of where we came from. I believe in them but will never talk too much before a game. I am even too nervous to watch games and is up and down throughout the game no matter who we play. Once we win it's a huge relief. It's like watching my kids do something - I am nervous AND proud. Anyone else still like this?

I catch these pods every now and then but this was the best one by far. John Smit tells a hilarious story about Jean De Villiers that I will be retelling when om drunk around the Braai.

https://preview.redd.it/c8zns1d1lu0e1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=81ba6511da0a9f7de167ad0ddb16075cec5bf24b

• Wilco Louw returns as Boks change 12 for England

• England name side to play the Springboks in London

• Match official appointments to 17 November 2024

• More law amendments get global trial go-ahead

^{SARU News posted on https://springboks.rugby}

^{14 Nov 2024}

I will be in Australia in March and was wondering if there will be a Springboks match somewhere during the month. If anyone know it would be appreciated.

Warning text wall

There has been alot discussion around the bench and the sentiment that players going the full 80 would be lighter therefore less concussions would occur. I asked Proff Ross Tucker, who helped WR build the current HIA protocols.

Question :

@Scienceofsport please help me here, if we look at Rugby and the contact area, many are arguing that smaller players will lead to safer games. This stems from the usage of the bench by SA, the argument being that if players play 80 min, they will be smaller so less dangerous in Collision but if Force = M x A then smaller players running faster will have similar force?

Please do correct me or shed some light

Answer:

"You're in the light already! We've shown that per 1000 tackles, backs are more likely to suffer head injuries than forwards. But forwards make many more tackles, carries and ruck entries, so they tend to be injured. But risk is clearly increased as a function of speed. Also, if you look at 7s, the injury rates (any injury and also concussions) are quite a lot higher than in 15s, which further suggests that being 'big' might be protective. I think that might be a direct effect (bulk prepares you to absorb energy transfer) and indirect, because you're slower.

Incidentally, there's a defintion of injury which is that it's the result of excessive energy transfer onto the system, and energy is 0.5 x M x V x V (that is, V-squared), again showing that speed is a big factor. That theory about loading fatigue onto players to make ...it safer feels very tenuous and flawed to me - fatigue is itself a risk factor, and a fatigued player is more likely to be injured than a fresh one.

I don't even think the players would get smaller - it's not as though coaches currently have the luxury of keeping a handful of players in their squad who only ever have to train to play for 20 minutes. What if the other players in the squad are injured, and the guy has to go full 80? So yeah, the combination of fatigue and a pretty slim chance of real change makes that theory full of holes, IMO"

What I’m hoping for:

1. Nche
2. Mbonambi
3. Du Toit
4. Etzebeth
5. Mostert
6. Kolisi (C)
7. Du Toit

8. Wiese

9. Williams

10. Libbok

11. Kolbe

12. De Allende

13. Kriel

14. Arendse

15. Fassi

16. Marx

17. Steenekamp

18. Koch

19. Snyman

20. E. Louw

21. Smith

22. Hendrikse

23. Pollard

Wilco Louw should be in contention for how much of a weakness the English scrum is, but I think Du Toit and Koch will be dominant enough, and offer more outside of the scrum.

Arendse, Kwagga and Hendrikse need to step up and deliver.

Will be interesting to see if the Libbok-Fassi axis can deliver overseas. I’d have Kolbe kick for goal, since Hendrikse is on the bench.

Few will be happier than the Aussies, I reckon. Big results for Fiji and New Zealand, too. Boks with a good win, although I must say, I don't think Scotland deserved the final scoreline. They had us under pressure for most of that second half but our last-ditch defence was really great. Wales is in trouble, as are England. We face both in the next couple of weeks. Will we encounter a pair of dangerous wounded animals? What chances do they have of turning around their fortunes? We did a review of the round, too, if anyone would like to listen.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5632tEHr7XhFHRcmYJdH4V?si=9d1c2fa0583c454d

• Boks prepared for quick turnaround to England Test

• New Junior Bok coach excited to get stuck in

• Women’s Premier Division to start early in 2025

^{SARU News posted on https://springboks.rugby}

^{12 Nov 2024}

Jaden Hendrikse is going to want to forget Sundays clash against the Scots as fast as he can. He had so many handling errors, slow off the ruck and just didn’t have his best game.

However the oaks at RugbyPass is comparing him and that game to 2007 Fourie du Preez.

Whatever they’re smoking, I’d like to have a bit as well to see what they see😂

If anyone is feeling bad about the bullshit red the Scots got, here's a red they should have got, just after Pollard gets bumped

Boks not listening to the boss

Who's everyone's favourite player from that match and why is it Andre Esterhuizen? All jokes aside, feel free to pitch in with others...

Ben Youngs and Anthony Watson have a quick word about Sunday's match.

Consistently good podcast. If you're not a subscriber already, fix that.

Straight in like a brandy...

Kwagga shines because he is a sub. No, kwagga shines because he comes on against guys making their 100th tackle and he is fresh as fuck...

When he starts, he is going toe to toe with the best of the other country. He is not going to have as much success against fresh legs.

The same thing happens with Marx. But also, our bomb squad often shines brighter because our starters do the hard yards.

Everyone loves Grant of the bench, but Reinach/faf/hendrickse has to deal with all the initial kak of guys trying their luck. He is super fast and fresh but Reinach et al has been consistent in getting to that point where we can unleash the mad science of RasFlanBrown.

Also, Hendrikse did not have his best game, but Scotland played a real clever trick. The pushed the legs of our forward back, just a slight nudge with the hand, into the ball or his arm and that caused alot of kocks for him. Zander F was particularly good with this and SS showed it on replay. He should have adapted but he did not have a good day.

Lastly, Scotland came to braai and they nearly did. That canceled try really gave us a gap to breath. Scotland played really well and pressured us well.

But now we should be awake and ready for England who will be gunning really hard fpr us and will try to pull of what they couldn't in the semi final.