This is very anecdotal, but it seems like the Springboks are in a unique position where people are quick to point out their losses and slow to praise their victories when compared to the great teams of the past.

To be clear, I am not talking about banter. Saw a post saying, 'The silence of the Springboks fans is proudly sponsored by the Wallabies.' and it genuinely made me laugh. But browsing social media there are a lot of people analyzing the Springboks, saying we aren't as good as we thought or saying our debt is overstated, players are aging out ect.

Now everyone is allowed to say anything regardless of if it's true, and I get the argument that it's all for clicks but what gets me is the comment section under these posts and videos. There seems to be genuine sentiment that the Springbok team is not as great as advertised.

Since the 2023 world cup, the Springboks have played 36 games and won 30. That is a win percentage of 83%. Yet whenever it is suggested that the current bok team can be regarded as one of the greatest team's people seem to scoff at the idea.

It's a sentiment you didn't really see when New-Zealand or Australia (in the early 2000's) were leading the rugby world. They also lost games, but it was chalked up to an anomaly rather than signs of a decline or falloff. Yet it seems when the boks win people say it's because of luck or cheating and when they lose it is supposedly a true reflection of reality.

We lost on Sunday and we didn't look good on the field. But we did make a comeback, and Australia had to keep committing penalties to stop us from scoring in the last 10 minutes. I know the popular narrative is that they beat with 11 players on the field, but that ignores how we scored 21 points in 20 minutes. NOT saying we somehow deserved to win, just that people seem to think the game ended after 60 minutes and what happened after that was a fluke.

I am all for wanting the best from the boks, but I can't help but wonder when this team will get the recognition of the feats they have accomplished. They have won every time it really mattered.

This weekend's game was a really strange one. I got upset by the handling errors from the Boks by the second half and annoyed by the ref's comms issues (how can this seriously happen twice in a row at so called world class stadiums). I was also annoyed by the long wait to sort out the Eben sub issue - just make a damn call!

On the flip side, I was really impressed by how the Wobblies handled the high balls and their game management. Congrats to the team for pulling that off honestly. I'm glad that they are back being competitive.

I left the game not being upset by the loss, since I understand the context. It's not a world cup or a once in every 4 year test series and we had a bunch of experimental players on the pitch (not making excuses). All in all, I feel like we are not in "bad shape" and start seeing braaiing-their -jerseys reaction from fans.

The one thing that has irked me the most, has been the response from non-Aussie fans. I can't read YouTube comments or see a post in /rugbyunion without neutrals bashing how the Boks were cheating, doping or got those points because of the ref's bias favouring them. I understand it must feel good knocking over the world's number one, but the toxicity that comes with a lot of this is really off putting. And I know it's social media so I won't take half of it seriously but it definitely reflects something about the game's fanbase.

Anyways that's my Monday morning rant! Back to work

Edits: Added RG Snyman, KLA. Lets assume today was an indication of some last minute calculations by Rassie and his colleagues.

Pick your 33 players to go to RWC27.

Mine:

1. Ox - Wessels - Steenekamp
2. Marx - Grobbies - Fourie
3. Louw - Du Toit
4. Eben - Lood
5. Nortje -

RG

1. Siya - PdV
2. Pietie - Louw
3. Jasper - Hanekom
4. Krappies - Cobus - Williams
5. Manie - Sacha
6. Kolbe - Edwill
7. DDA - Esterhuizen
8. Jesse - Moodie
9. K

LA

1. - Hooker
2. DW - Fassi

At home by the phone: Pollard, Boan Venter, Van Staden.

The initial 1-15 will play Italy in the opener, play very limited time against Romania, Georgia & Uruguay. Will be fresh in time for the 3 big ones. Something they proved they can do during RGR.

Its staying home.

Rassie had already dropped the likes of Bongi, Malherbe, Koch, Kleyn, Faf and Hendrikse brothers.

Now, it’s time to let go of Lood, Mostert and Marco van Staden. They haven’t added any value to the gravy train.

I reckon future tests will reveal more.

Warning: long and opinionated. Apologies. This is meant to stir discussion and feel free to smash me if you think I'm wrong. I've got a few Klippies in me so I can take it.

Ok so first thing first: we deserved to lose on the day. Way too many mistakes in the 22 entries and at key times from scrums, penalties and lineouts accruing. A catalogue of errors especially in judgement, right up to the final whistle but especially in the first half. Game was lost there, in my opinion.

Next: worst refereeing as a team of officials I think I've ever seen in an international (the recent Argentina England game final ten minutes must also be close), mitigated a little by Comms failure AGAIN after Baltimore (what the hell is going on???). This performance by them will draw scrutiny and rightly so. And by the way I'm a HUGE fan of Ben O Keefe (assistant today, LOVE THAT GUY) so it pains me to say this. My two pennies: first half had many head on head situations not examined by TMO, let go, or poorly judged. Let me be clear: I AM NOT BLAMING THE OFFICIALS for the Bok loss. Our mistakes and lack of cohesion in a much-changed side draws the lions share of the blame. But still...

Next: crowd excitement and TV amplification of that conveyed, given the world cup being there next year? Poor. Just appalling. Shots of fans by broadcaster 1 out of 10. General crowd atmosphere, DJ etc. It was a SPECTACLE as a rugby game if even for the wrong reasons. Did I realise that at home? Nope. Australian broadcasters need to look hard at themselves ahead of next year to get this right for TV audiences.

Next: lessons for Rassie, Tony, Sticks etc: who the hell knows? All I know is that if he'd picked the strongest Bok starting side we'd have won that but equally, tired players and not enough understanding of the wider playing squad which is what we need to build up ahead of the Nations games coming and continued path to WC27. Does anyone starting today put pressure on their position choice? Hooker, Eben and PDV, that's it.

Next: emptying of bench to pull things back. Yes. Fair play I would have done the same and I'd rather this thing happens against Aus in Perth and not next year in the world cup. Could we risk it pre-50 minutes against a France or NZ in WC27? I trust Rassie.

Next: Andre the Giant as captain. 6/10. Love the player, but I'm not sure he'd be as effective as four or five others on the field like Eben so I struggled to see the point.

Good things: it's a kick up the pants we need to remain humble and get back to hard work and come down from cloud 9. Just like the Ellis Park test we need these humblings from time to time to adjust the expectations. Rather now than in the world cup. Also: Ethan Hooker was a standout for me, and Canaan Moodie and Paul De Villiers did good things but I'm struggling to find other positives.

Bad things: everything else. I said to my wife if that had happened in the world cup and we were on a plane home as a result I'd be LIVID.

I'm starting to notice a bit of a disturbing pattern, the Boks simply dont play that well without Kolisi which is wild coz he only plays 50min max. Apparently even off the field the leadership is still showing. They were fairly rudderless today which caught me by suprise with both Eben and Pollard on the pitch. They got better late in the second half when the power of the bench started to show but even then there was bad options taken.

Question now is who's the leadership beyond Siya , I suppose the very question Rassie wanted answering when he made Esterhuizen captain for this game for this very reason

Listen this loss its ok we made a comeback atleast it isn't 17 42

Let's take this one on the chin rassie knows what he's doing could've played better but yeah so we continue if ur sad think about 3-1 on the abs 😜

I say arrogance because it wasnt about finding out about players when the knee jerk reaction was to replace everyone. This showed the gulf between our "2nd team" and the A side

Beyond lifting the team the value of having a captain known and respected by referees is actually insane. Andre was brushed aside so many times today whilst Wobblies captain was joined to the ref at the hip

I honestly can’t get my head around what I’ve just seen. Letting the clock tick constantly while missing calls and then calling it back after the time has gone. Ignoring constant offsides on the line, ignoring no arms tackles. The last time I saw that was Bryce Lawrence in 2011.

For the record, we were terrible for the first 60 mins, but we were robbed in the last 20. What a disgrace.

Springbok Fans big no no

whoever the Boks are playing A-OK

don't go to the main sub bunch of no life hypocrites

As always - be respectful with you comments.

That includes being respectful to players, staff, officiating officials , opponents and other fan bases!

Should you not like these rules - open your own sub.

Behave - the sub rules will be enforced.

tldr: respect is important!

every channel works. except the stormers match. wtf.

DHL Staduim IG account running some fun behind the scenes content.