Ireland's Eden Park Shot Arrives As Rassie Rotates His Bok Squad - Again | Weekend Preview

Welcome back to the weekend preview. Remember, this is the first of two weekend episodes every week. Fridays we have a preview of the upcoming games and Mondays we have a weekend wrap where Ari and I will, where we, you know, dig into what happened, where the surprises were and where the surprises weren't. So anyway, Ari, thank you for joining us again. Welcome back.

Yes, thanks, Enver. Yes, exciting rugby, lots of rugby again. Nice to see that South Africa and New Zealand top of the table, early days, but it's probably going to be between the two of them who's going to play in that so-called final in november but uh yeah important important games coming up but uh lots of them again so it was playing your saturday well again just remember we can't play against new zealand i mean the top of the table in the southern hemisphere you know one of us is going to play in the final but again so whoever's in the top of the table on the other side which at the moment you know france having lost it might even be island but i suppose after this weekend's game against the all blacks things might be a little bit upside down i suppose we'll see what happens we're going to be we can talk about all those matches but just look at the super saturday another six tests in a row i think starting with the all blacks moving across the entire world i mean do these people not know that we have a saturday do you have to do other stuff like gardening otherwise so kind of content over two days maybe yeah yeah there's there's lots happening in your personal life and then there's the british open golf as well and then there's formula one on sunday that you must kind of snuck up and kind of world cup soccer so there's lots happening you must plan your weekend well do the garage and all those little things that we need to do around the house early. I think 10 past nine, first kickoff. That's a big one, New Zealand Island.

And then many, many more to come. So I think that's a big one besides South Africa, Wales. And I think later, Argentina, England, interesting as well. All of them interesting, but I think those are the ones to focus on. But lots to talk about specifically, obviously, the blocks and also the interesting one in Eden Park.

um they're taking them to where they haven't lost in since 1994. so uh they're a bit nervous about playing island i think yeah and don't forget the sa on the under 20 championship as well the final against france which just so happens to overlap the spring box game i mean really again you know do these people even talk to each other do they know what they are you know it just doesn't make any sense to me yeah it's lots of rugby and i think it's lots of interesting the south african an under-20 team. They got a bit fortunate with that hit, but that kind of opened it up for them to come back against England. But amazing talent. There's lots of players there.

I'm not sure if Gilomir is going to be allowed back into the 15 again, because he announced the team before he got away from his red card. So that was a bit unfortunate. So there are lots of good players in the under-20s. Exciting talent to see. Tough to play against France.

They always have a good under-20 team. Lots of players that also play in their top 14 as well super 14 and and so it's uh it's going to be a big game that's the 6 30 kickoff uh south african time so it's going to overlap with the wales game so it's a pvr time so it's it's uh recording one and look watching the other one and catching up and stuff like that so so good planning um besides the british open that's in the background so there's lots happening you know i might be completely off you know off topic or off center here almost but it's like this Junior Springbok team, we know the names. When last did we really know the names of the Junior Springbok? I think back to Jake White's days and all those Springboks went on to win World Cups and everything else. This just feels to me like a new generation, like Yakin Ahmed and Liam Kilumier and those guys.

You know their names. You know these guys are going to be superstars one day. And it's exciting, I think. Yeah, there's a few players that you just know that come through. They always come through.

When you look at the team lists of previous World Cups of the under-20s, look at Vusi Moyo. He played last year at number 10. I was playing the Spinbox on merit. And so there's quite a few. You know, Joste will play many tests.

Like it's Joste, it's Marcus Muller, it's Gilomir that we mentioned. There's quite a few in that team that will definitely come through. So you have these teams. Well, we have more of them every year. It seems like the under-20 team of the Spinbox are quite strong and competitive.

But it's good to see some of them actually have played franchise rugby for all the, not even just Curry Cup, but playing URC, some of them, most of them. So that's good to see. So we're blessed with good talent. And then I think Kevin Footskin doing a great, great job as well. Good coaching, good coaching team.

And they're playing good rugby. So it's a tough one, I've said, but they can win it. So they can defend it. Tough one against France. But yeah, it's good to see this.

And Riley Norton was meant to be there as well. He isn't there as well. So just imagine how strong they would have been with him there as well. So that's good talent that we have. Don't forget, he would not have been there because he would have been in the springbok side.

Remember what Rasti said? I suppose, yeah. Talk to me about quickly, before we talk about the matches, this thing about Kisara, the Italian coach, now being banned for two games after the shape of rugby tournament or conference they had where they decided they're going to be strict on it, automatic two-match ban. You're never supposed to say anything now. And I see also the rules have changed.

you can only submit, I think, six clips from a game. So the guy who makes 17,000 mistakes, you can only show six. It harks back to those days where Russi... How many clips did he include in that hour-long rant of his? I mean, are these guys now above criticism?

What's the thinking? I mean, Italy, one of those teams on the rise and now suddenly you're not allowed to say anything. That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, the coach is in trouble.

There are two games he's going to miss. I think it needs to go both ways. i mean it's um the referees um i understand that they're trying their best and they're neutral and all those good things and they they also human uh but they also need to go through a bit of scrutinizing and and criticism if need be so what's the platform the problem is it's not only posting six videos you're posting them on a platform that goes out to everyone so it used to be you can kind of engage um the powers that be um like if rossi rasnaz did that he can engage them and engage them about specific things but now he needs to be careful if he posts six videos apparently it goes onto a platform that goes to everybody um everybody sees what you're posting and what you're concerned about um so so it kind of makes it makes a bit more uh tricky um so russia rasmus did allude to that he wasn't too happy didn't like it at all so we know there's history with with um them i mean there's there's many coaches that that had to bite their tongue in many press conferences that i've been to and you've been to that uh tough questions was asked and it's like 30 minutes after the final whistle and they're just fuming but now they need to just stay clear and and and kind of be um kind of go um more um the softer road so to speak but but um it's it's tough i think there needs to be a looking at that um my question is always if there's a big call and a few big calls in a game and and it went the wrong way uh what's happening to that referee i mean it's they're not going to replay the game it's it's a game that's lost and lots at stake so um so yeah i think there needs to be a bit more um opportunity to to have that engagement um so um i don't know how they're going to fix that that's a call that they've made now they they clearly don't like it when the coaches approach the referees and directly after the games and you're not allowed to say anything in the media so now it's the only thing left is to send something to everyone um so that's a bit tricky So we'll see. But I understand from the referee's standpoint, yes, they do try their best and they're human and all those things. But there should be a way that they can be called to order.

I mean, we saw it in the World Cup soccer as well, the big influence of refereeing. And there's a bit more of an issue because they dive and they make up things to create more interesting penalties. The reward is big for penalties there. But in rugby, also, there's massive calls, lots happening. and especially with cards.

I think that's a big thing. We saw in the under-20 World Cup now with Helomir's red card that was given a straight or a 20-minute red card on the field, but then afterwards they took it away to a yellow. So it's those kind of things, scores that's made there that makes a massive impact. But, yeah, hopefully they will find a way. But I think Rossi will put enough pressure on them.

I think he just wants the next meeting again in London. So I think they will have their... their point is to put towards them. I don't know when they're going to have that opportunity again, but it seems like you're barking up a tree that you're just going to keep on barking. I'm not sure if you're going to win that.

Two things there. The one thing I think is to protect the referees against social media outbursts, because if the coach says something, then people are going to jump on that bandwagon. We know our social media can run away with something. All kinds of threats are getting issued and stuff. I get that.

That's probably the one side of it. The other side of it, Russ, you also mentioned this week that you can't speak to the referee in front or ahead of a game unless the other coach is present as well and unless the other coach agrees to that. I mean, that's also a new thing now. Suddenly you can't clear up any questions or uncertainty or anything beforehand, I suppose. And, you know, what's the thinking about that, do you think?

Yeah, it's also strange. I think they want both of the teams that know what's happening probably. I suppose they don't want one coach just to have extra time and keep on kind of bugging the referee and so I can understand that there's a bit more discipline, but I think the area that's a bit grey is if the other coach don't want to speak to the referee, that disqualifies you to speak to the referee. So that's the grey area for me. So in that case, they must say, but you can still talk, but just inform the other coach that they're going to get five minutes.

And often we see in video, in leading up to a kickoff, you see a referee in the change room and talking to the front rows. I haven't seen that in a while, so I don't know if that's still happening. Many times in the past, the referees used to go into the change rooms and just chat to the front row and just reaffirm how it works and I was going to blow it, et cetera. But I mean, the referees, the coaches know more about the referees than with what their own wives know about them, I think. So they kind of look into the whole history from the way they live and their personality and the way they react under pressure and the way they blow certain situations and certain games, they know what to do.

I know that for a fact that, for instance, we talked about it in the past, the spin box at one stage, I don't know if it's still the case, but I know a few years ago, they had the captain talking and then they had one player just complimenting the referee and one player that is the player that will challenge the referee. Those are the three that communicated more. So that's the way they approach it. So teams, I don't know if it's still the same, but that's just how important the referee is. So some needs to be told you're doing a great job and some you need to challenge, but that's just one player doing it and the captain doing it as well.

So many teams have different ways of doing it, but it's such a big component of the game in rugby specifically. So we've seen it many times, the scrum going down and you can't see what happened there and it's a penalty. But anyway, there's many examples, but hopefully they can sort it out. But I think it's important for the coaches to have that time with the referee if they want to So hopefully it will happen i saw uh when i was the bulls the game against monster in a normal season holly davidson coming into the change room and speaking to the the front rows and stuff so that does still happen all right let's move on to this this weekend's game this is sort of the one in new zealand all blacks first island at even park like you said 52 wins last lost two draws i think last last day in 1994 we we tried as africa tried last year to you know upset that we can do that at Eden Park we did it the week after at Wellington but a new new all-black coach a new approach almost a very ball in hand kind of approach almost the exact opposite Ari and I talked about that last week South Africa kicking more and more and the all-black kicking less and less so it's interesting to see the contrasting styles and then Ireland of course you know the one team I think that could possibly upset the the all-blacks this year france didn't send the the first team and they said a very good team make no mistake but it wasn't the point wasn't there and the likes but island looking very i mean promising on paper but when i speak to you griffin last night he said nah not a lot of optimism in ireland they think they're going to get whipped in this one what are you thinking uh yeah i i think uh that ireland's going to do quite well um so um they've they've done quite well in past years though it's mentally not so difficult for them to play in New Zealand anymore. So they've had success there.

And I think it's a settled team. So if you have Bunde Aki on the bench, for instance, and it just shows the depth you have in the midfield, for instance, you have Gibson Park at nine that actually is a New Zealander, but he's been playing great rugby. I think they settle side. They've got the forwards to challenge them. I'm just a bit concerned.

I'm not sure if Furlong is still their best tight end and it seems a little bit weak there in the front row slightly a little bit. But New Zealand pressure may be in scrum time and forward pressure but I think New Zealand's going to get the defensive defense from Ireland that's going to challenge them they're not going to have the freedom to play as much so that's going to be interesting but yes there's changes it's a new season for New Zealand that's a first real test now France was a good test that first one obviously it was still a good French team Italy not the ultimate test that they had but this is going to be a big test so yes a good record at Eden Park it's become a little bit of a mental thing for many teams but um those records are there to be broken and um it's going to be broken soon I'm not so convinced they're going to keep on winning on Eden Park till till the end of of of of the world but um so so uh yes the 1994 against France was the last time and they had a close ones there a few draws against the British and I.S. Lions was one of them but um I think it's going to be a close one. But yeah, Dave Rennie, good coach.

I think he's playing to the strength of New Zealand rugby. He's a good international coach. He knows European rugby as well. Remember he coached quite a bit in Europe as well. So he will know Ireland.

He would have coached against some of those players as well. So I think it's a good system. Good things happening in New Zealand rugby. They seem settled. They've got most of the team that played last year as well.

They've got a good back, good exciting backs. Ruben Love is a good, exciting number 10. Again, they've got good outside backs. If you have Caleb Clark on the bench, then it shows you there's good players coming through. That Ralph Moodley is the new guy that's coming in on the wing.

Quite a tall guy, 6'2", 6'3". So he's experimenting. He's a lot like Will Jordan. I think he's looking at one eye on playing South Africa. So he's looking at those taller wings.

Looks like he's got a fullback on the wing in Will Jordan already, but he's got a small guy at the back at 15 in mckenzie so um he knows that there's going to be aerial challenge when he comes to south africa so everybody's kind of looking ahead to south africa so they must first get by island so that's a big one but um one thing just just briefly on that i think what what concerns me a little bit between for south africa all blacks is that new zealand's been playing lots of rugby with their first choice 23. they've kind of did that against france they did that against italy they're playing their first choice definitely on saturday against ireland Then there's one more game and then it's South Africa. So South Africa has been kind of doing a bit of everything. So you had combinations and new guys and like we're doing on Saturday again. So we haven't really played.

And then Rossi also said he's going to keep at least 17 players back in South Africa when they play Argentina in two weeks' time. So he's going to send some of the players that need minutes, but most of the team is going to stay behind and start preparing. So by the time we play the first test against the All Blacks, It's going to be a 23 and a 15 that haven't played together for a very long time. You had components, you had centers playing, you had some of the loose to you, you had props and hookers and stuff. So it's not all bad, but I'm sure they can manage that.

But New Zealand is going to come prepared. So this is another hurdle for them. I mean, they must first look at Nations Championship, but I'm sure that Dave Rennie is kind of looking at South Africa as well. And the one reason I say that is that Vavi, I think that's the way you pronounce it, one lock is it uh vahi um and uh he's playing a lock on the on the flank they're playing him six we normally call it the seven flank or the the taller taller flank so it's a bit of a peter steve detroit um yeah kind of kind of a plan that he's got there so he's he's um so i think he's kind of looking at the box as well but maybe that's what he also needs for island um but i think he wants to see how it works in his back when he's got a taller guy um playing on the on the flank as well so um interesting what will happen but i think i think island's going to push them um i think it's going to be quite a quite a tight one and i'll be surprised if island win that game as well yeah island also probably the strongest team the only name that i don't see there is it's probably galen doris jacqueline is there he's not a bad replacement at all and they all look good um jimmy brian i think there's a bit of a question mark about him or baton coon you know how well you played in the six nations yeah now this is a very good team i must be honest i think this is going to be the game to watch now and i will be doing a live instant reaction after the final whistle goes um in that game it's about 11 o'clock south african time watch after this sorry he's also written an article on that on his x page go go watch it i'll put the link down in the description um we'll take it from there then obviously the game that we all interested in green box versus wales now like you just said we keep dropping and changing and last week in Scotland it was touch and go from it and we're all very confident afterwards yeah they look good Scotland but they were never in with a chance to win I didn't feel like that on the on the day I thought oh my word that these guys just keep coming back I mean 14-0 up and it was 14-0 and it's we pulled ahead and then they came back again and you know it was sort of in the balance right to the end and then also that Scotland got quite a few injuries one of them being um Rory uh Carlstein I don't know I was having operation wise I'm wondering you just mentioned that are we taking a bit of a gamble here you know just keep experimenting and the likes or are we just not that worried I mean the greatest rivalry it's called the greatest rivalry for a reason first time in 30 years there's an All Black 2 in South Africa we don't want to go losing this thing because we haven't had enough time to prepare or play together or whatever the All Blacks have or is Rasi just simply too clever for that what do you think? I think for me a bit of both i think i see the merit in in getting um more depth and getting more players that can play at that level and more test match we see players i think the big thing for him was to have players play against a higher tier team like um it was evan roos for instance he played eight tests but it was like against georgia and uruguay and those teams so he wanted him to play against a real tough team and so that they don't understand so so it's it's that on the one side so that's a tick i think that's positive the other challenge for me is that you you don't get that cohesion in your 15 and your 23 to get your best players together how quickly that will they be able to do that against the all blacks so we know now that the first time when they play the all blacks it will be a 15 that haven't played as a 15 like that for a very long time the closest was against england so so that team that was that was picked um was was kind of you look at the one two 15 you say that was kind of on merit the best that he could pick there's a few players that come in so So that is the one game that you can say, OK, they have played that.

So it's that one that they have been played. So then in between, there's combinations that play together. So I think it will work. So Rossi knows what he's doing. So just looking, I think the England game maybe answers it that we have had that game.

And so we shouldn't be too concerned. I'll be concerned just at lock. I mean, Ruan Urquia should not play against Argentina. They should just keep him in cotton wool and keep him healthy for the All Blacks because we have a real challenge at lock because the longer it's a bet and Lodiaga keeps on missing games, missing games, missing games, we're going to end up who's going to play with Ruan Norkia. That's going to happen against the All Blacks.

So that's kind of the only healthy lock that's left almost in the system. Against the All Blacks, you cannot move Ben Jason Dixon to the lock all the time. It's not going to be the same effect. you need a decent number four. So either Yibben or Luit or both of them need to play against Argentina.

Hopefully they'll be ready. So that will be key for them to get some minutes behind them. That will be key. If you can have those two ready with Norquia for the All Blacks, that will be a big positive. But if they're not ready, who's going to play for Locke?

Who's going to play with Norquia? So he's going to be even Pisa. So that's where he's getting to. So that's one area that's a bit of a challenge. We know that there's a massive volume of injuries at lock.

So that's where we thin. So I think a lot rely on how Iben Ezebet and Lüder Jager. And obviously Morslift as well is key in that as well. So those three, hopefully they will come through and be able to play against Argentina. So that's going to be key.

But for Saturday, yes, I think it's a great balance in the team. We've talked about the team. We've talked on Monday about the South African team. We can maybe touch on the Welsh team. But I'm a bit concerned before we talk in the Wales team that I'll close with that is that why I'm concerned is what happened in the Six Nations.

And don't underestimate Wales. Why I say that they won against Italy. Remember, 31-17 in the Six Nations and then two close losses. And this is what makes me nervous. It was in March.

They lost 27-17 against Ireland. So there's 10 points in it, but it was a strong Ireland team. And then just 23-26 against Scotland. So it was close. So they got better.

So Steve Tandy's been doing great work. They're not the Wales losing 10, 12, 15 on the trot anymore. So yes, they battle against Argentina. They did beat Fiji, not too convincingly, but that beat them. But I'm a bit nervous.

So they're better than we maybe think. And they'll be very motivated. it and um i i still have nervous um dreams about 2022 loftus fastball you were maybe at that game i remember damon willemsa under big pressure kicking that last kick in the 82nd middent to win 32 29 it was 29 all 2022 and they won that year they beat us i think in blomfontein wales that year so um so so don underestimate them and i looked at the team that played in 2022 i mean aldrich low actually i think uh played in that game as well damon williams of colby who had my lab at lock a prop you had ox all those players many of the players my lab is not involved now but it um there's quite a few of wells that uh joss adams and those players also played in that game so they'll be well positive so i don't i think we shouldn't underestimate wells um it looks like we can give them a big score but uh we still need to do it on the pitch and i'm a little bit nervous always um when i see that they've done well in recent games well that's a good point that you raised because last time we played and we beat them 73 nil in wales i mean your orphan was there and i gave him credit the other night because he still did an instant reaction afterwards i wouldn't have wanted to do it i mean i i said to him with the pools loss against leicester i was not in the mood to talk about it honestly but we did but anyway i don't think it's going to be another 73 no thing though i mean number one it's a bit of a just disjointed south african team not that i'm saying it's not that it's not a talented team it's just haven't played together yet or before um russie is now combining the youngsters with old heads like goobis raunach and voosie moyo jaco williams surrounded by you know the old pair of uh damon delena jesse um you know they they sort of try and ease them into it but that's going to that's going to play a role i'm sure of it what do you think of that that team specifically and you're talking about locks ruben van hieren at last getting his chance to to show what he's made of this is maybe one of those games where somebody these all you've also thought of as a bit of an also and says stick up his hand sticks up his hand and says your hand coach look what i can do and then suddenly you know things become a bit clear i know harry's been a big fan of ruben for a while now yeah what are What are you expecting from this team, those individuals that I referred to? Yeah, it's a big moment. And I think they're surrounded by good players.

So I'm not nervous about what Carlos Saadi will do. I think Ruben van Jelden will do well as well. He's been in that system training as well. It's two very inexperienced locks we have in Visa as well. But Ruben van Jelden will...

I think Wales have a similar challenge at four as well. They've got Teddy Williams that's coming in. And Teddy Williams plays for Cardiff. But he injured his foot last year. it was October, November against Connacht.

So he had a foot injury and he was out till now recently. I think it's almost like his first game back in 12 months now. Not 12 months, but in a long time. So also Teddy Williams coming back for them, but they've got a good spine with good experience. Spine meaning they've got in key positions.

Wales has got good experience. But I think, yes, Van Jorden and Williams will square up a little bit there as well, but not directly opposing each other all the time. But I think our young players or the players making a debut will do well. I'm looking forward to see Vusi Moyo playing. I think that's very exciting.

20 years old, just hearing him speak in the media. He's very mature. He's got good experience around him. So I hope he gets good ball and momentum ball and he will be a good player. So he seems very mature player.

But just about the spine, I just want to explain just very briefly what I mean with, while we need to be wakey for Wales. In their front row, they've got Rhys Carey 30 tests, Dewey Lake 33 tests, and then Dylan Lewis, he's got 59 tests. So they're well-experienced in the front row. Adam Beard's played 67 tests, so he's quite experienced at lock as well. Aaron Wainwright at the eighth man 69 tests, Thomas Williams, the scrum of 74 tests, and then the two wings, Josh Adams and Rhys Zammuth, both 74 tests and 42 tests.

So there's good, they're a bit thin in the midfield. They've got the 12 and 13 that's coming in after. That's a change from the six changes that Steve Dandy made. So the 12 and 13 is new. It's Max Llewellyn and Ben Thomas that's coming in.

And they've got 12 and 18 tests between them. So in centre at 12 and 13, they're a bit thin in terms of that, in terms of what they're facing, Delenda and Creel as well. But interestingly enough, I don't know how many people watching will remember Gareth Llewellyn. He was the lock and the captain for Wales in the 90s. And his son is Max Llewellyn.

His son is playing centre for Wales. So if you're a son of a lock, then you're also big. And Max Llewellyn playing centre this weekend is 1.95 metres. He's 6'5".

So it's a big number 12 that we'll see on Saturday playing against. I don't know how quick he is. He's quick enough to play centre. but it's interesting that he's coming in as well. But yeah, I think they're fine.

They've got experience there. So that's something that South Africa lack a little bit. I think the stats show that South Africa do have lots of good experience still. I mean, the stats show that we've got 537 caps in that team that plays on Saturday. And so the average for the backs is 41 caps and the average for the forwards is 32.

And on the reserve pens is the average 24. player so it's not bad we've been we've had games where we're close to 900 test caps so there's there's there's a good flow of experience for many many approaching 100 i think damien delenda is on 98 and peter steph on 97 so they will probably play the 100 tests against the all blacks but um so um yeah i think it's it's uh just in terms of experience um i think that it will balance out envier as i think van hierden and carlos saudi and even williams on the wing and and um uh moyo um will will fit in i i don't think that will be a challenge uh but uh yeah it's it's uh it's good to see the youngsters coming through but uh there's also experienced team in wales so we must just be waky for them let's talk about the bench quickly a 5-3 bench different to what we've been getting used to i suppose but and by that i mean there's no hybrid on the on the on the bench these are just straightforward this number is herjee anki's manny lovock and the other damien now we don't know we do the may the actual damien is but you know there's a bit of confusion with damien willem says now starting on the bench because he can also slot in everywhere what do you think the thinking is behind it maybe if vusi doesn't shape up you know dropping another put money in and the likes because i just see that you know vusi only made his debut for the sharks in the final round of the usc now he's a spring ball in a test the proper test you know barbarians he played but he It wasn't the formal days or official days. What's the thinking behind the bench, do you think? Yeah, I think the bench is to put more pressure on. The modern bench is to maintain or increase that intensity, and specifically what South Africa has been doing.

But I think Manny Lubbock is a bit of an insurance policy there. So having him there, he could have gone just two backs in there with Damien Willemse there and having Damien as the backup 10, but he decided to go Marnie Lubbock. So Marnie Lubbock is an out-and-out 10. That was his first choice against England. So he's kind of giving Vusi Moyo, say you're good enough to play, but if things really battle, you know that you can bring up bring on Marnie Lubbock.

So in front row also, I mean, Andre Juchofente also playing his second test only. So he's also very inexperienced. Apologies on the reserve as a hooker. And Jan-Hendrik Wessels will be out and out to lose it in that test with Wilco Lowe. So I think the balance is fine.

You'll have again Ben Jason Dixon covering the lock and then Marco van Staden. It's great to see that you'll have 80 minutes of pressure of that typical number six rugby that we know that Villiers and van Staden will bring. So there'll be pressure on Wales at the breakdown throughout the 80 minutes. So it will be good to see Marco van Staden also coming into that. Remember, both of them kind of playing for that Quagha-Smith position in the 23 against the All Blacks.

So it's kind of building up that one of Marco van Staden and Paul de Villiers will probably kind of move into what Quagha did. And Russie always liked to have Quagha on the reserves. so I think it's a good opportunity for them to also play I think it would be good to see Marco Furtstad maybe start also against Argentina to have give him a decent go as well, his experience is very valuable so I'm not sure if Paul is already kind of ready for the big all-black test, but he can be we'll see on Saturday he did well actually against Scotland but it's a good balance as well at the back it's again another number 9 that's been out for a while so you like the nippy nippy nines so we'll have Yankees again like Papir and then Libok and Damien Willemse too that's definitely kind of your insurance policies there at the back if things don't really go that way so yeah I think it's a good balance, good team so South Africa we're blessed to be able to put out about 45 players that's not out of position. If you put them on there, you never look at that team and say that's a weak point. It kind of just looks like they belong.

So that's kind of testimony to what Rossi has achieved. Well, we'll talk about our predictions later on. Let's talk about Argentina versus England quickly. And hopefully, England probably plotting revenge for what happened at the World Cup soccer. Maybe they can beat them in rugby.

You never know. But England have to travel down to Argentina now. They've gone to Trafica, went back to England. Now they go back to Argentina. lots of traveling there.

Waro Itoji still not playing. Jamie George still the captain and the likes. Argentina, you know, off to a losing start against Scotland, then beating Wales comfortably. I don't know how much we could read into that. So I think also this is probably one of those more important games to see which one of these teams are actually on the, in the ascendancy.

England had a terrible Six Nations. Didn't really convince against the Springboks, although they weren't blown off the park like we expected them to be. And, you know, beating Fiji, but that doesn't say anything what are you expecting from that game yeah it's a massive game for England if you look at the competition just if you look at the nation's championship and if we look at the logs we're kind of feeding ourselves into this and trying to figure out how it's going to play out so after two rounds you can see that it looks like South Africa and New Zealand look like they might be one either of them might be one or two by the end to play in that so-called final for England lots at stake because they have a game at Twickenham if they finish number one they can win the thing they have a massive advantage playing at tweakingham if they can finish number one in the southern in the northern hemisphere at the moment they're obviously they lost against africa but um uh island big game for them apologies island winning this weekend will be massive for island because then they play all their november games at home and they play south africa as well then but um so for england they need to beat argentina and then they need to beat New Zealand and Australia in England before they can even think about the final at Twittingham but it starts on Saturday so for them they they need to beat Argentina if they lose against Argentina it almost not really done but it going to be difficult for them to finish number one in the northern hemisphere if they lose a game like that so it never given so it will be tough for them I think they they probably will be slightly slight favorites you would think if if Scotland can beat Argentina although they caught them a little bit still lukewarm in in terms of of their form they were a lot better in their second game against Wales but so it's going to be a tough game we know we've we've watch many of those games in South Africa go there with a full strength 23 and it's been a arm wrestle so um so it's definitely not easy going to Santiago Santiago that's where they're going to play Santiago and um so that's going to be a tough tough game and uh yeah there's going to be some needle in it I think Argentina they're happy to play in the World Cup soccer final on on on Sunday you can't change anything the rugby is it's frustrating it's a new game you can't look at the football too much but it's ironic that they even pulled up some of the falkland war stuff on banners and stuff like that so it seems like they they're irritating england big time um so so yeah there's lots of spice in that one um maybe there's a little bit of spice that will boil over from the football um but that's on saturday the finals only on sunday actually england football team play later that evening they play in miami against france football so England supporters have the rugby and the football to follow, but playing for third place is not much. Fussing your system. Even worse than that.

So, yeah. But I think Argentina has got a great team playing at home, so that will be a very interesting game. By the time we get to 9pm on Saturday, we're going to have had seven, six, seven rugby games behind them. Angular eyes, man. DVRs.

Follow all of them. So that's one to maybe follow. I think that's going to be nice. It's going to be back-to-back. Just thinking of that, because it's 11 p.

m. is the soccer game between England and France. So they have a 9 South African time now. 9 p.m.

they play the rugby and 11 p.m. they play the soccer. So it's kind of really back-to-back. So they have a nice little sport evening there in London and British Open Golf.

So there's lots for them to do. All right, let's get into the predictions. Let's start quickly with the big game. All Blacks versus Ireland. What are you expecting?

Who's going to be the big day? Look, that's tough. I'll lean towards Eden Park again, but I think it's getting closer for them to lose that. This is a real tough one for me too. I think it will be tough within seven points.

Real arm wrestle right up to the end and something that happens in the last few minutes that win it. So I'm going to go New Zealand, but it's going to be within seven points going deep into the game. I think it's going to be a tough game for them. I didn't look at the weather predictions. That's going to play a little bit into it, probably.

But I think it's going to be a tough tight run. But I'll give it to New Zealand. Still, I think they're really starting to get a team going there that can be the old New Zealand again. I agree with you. We'll see how that goes.

Ireland, of course, love their phase play. And the New Zealanders like to keep the ball in hand. That's going to be an interesting one to keep an eye on. Remember, Ari and I are doing an instant reaction after the match. Watch out for that one just after 11, I suppose, after the final whistle goes.

Right, then the big ones in Africa, I'm not going to talk about all these other smaller ones. Let's call it that. Springbok versus Wales. And obviously the Springbok is going to win. But, you know, is it going to be, are we going to beat them but, you know, not blow them off the park?

Or is it going to be another embarrassment? Or is Wales sort of on the way back? I think one thing to look at it is what potentially, what score they can put on the scoreboard. And just looking at the previous two games, I said it earlier if they can score 40 plus points against England and Scotland they will probably do that again against Wales or a little bit more so if they kind of achieve their same performance they would end up scoring 40 or 50 points so we don't want to be too arrogant about that but that's just looking at the previous two games and then also looking at Wales conceding 32 points against Argentina so I'm not sure how their defence is They considered 73 points last year against us, but that's long past. So I think that South Africa, for Wales to be competitive, are they going to keep South Africa from scoring 40 points or 50 points?

And I don't see Wales scoring 40 points. So I would think score that in the 50s against the 20s, maybe. I would go to South Africa winning by 30. That's being brave. Having said all I've said earlier about we must be very mindful of their recent record in the six nations.

so they're not that bad but I think we've got a very good South African team and I'm very excited to see this team going. Great balance great forwards, new players exciting 10, exciting outside backs, settled in many areas so if South Africa get front football and win those collisions and get a few scrum penalties etc it's going to be a long evening for Wales but yeah so I think South Africa by quite a few I like that this little battle of the tens starting to brew now. We have Sasha and Marnie and Andre and suddenly there's Vusi Moyo and now there's Yakin Ahmed down at 20 like we said. Plenty of talent there and even John Hendricks is still in the picture I suppose and Kermit Walsh is coming back to the Springbok after the Bulls. You never know.

Maybe a couple of surprises. I agree with you. I think Wales will probably lose comfortably 30 at least. I think the Springboks will definitely score over 50 and Wales will be lucky to get to 20 but that's just my thoughts. and then lastly the Argentina England game what are you expecting then well it's it's a tough one I would I always like to lean towards the home team and I think I'll do that again I think Argentina at home is underestimated I don't know how many games England have ever played there and it's going to be a different experience they've been traveling quite a bit they've been on on interesting in South Africa then up in the north and down down to South America again so I I don't know that travels are going to catch up to them a little bit.

I think it might. But, yeah, I think Argentina is a settled team. And when they get going after, when they play their third game, they're going to be a settled team. I just know that they're tough. We've seen that.

So I'm going to give it to Argentina. That's going to be maybe a little bit of a surprise. I think the betting money will probably be on England. But I will go with Argentina winning that one at home. so putting lots more pressure on Borthwick, remember Borthwick is not in a good sequence at the moment, he won against Fiji but before that he lost like five in a row, six in a row with the Barbarians as well, so he's actually not out of the woods yet, you can't really count beating Fiji by 70 points as a comeback, so we'll see on Saturday if there's a comeback but I think Argentina can beat them I think for two reasons Argentina is unbeaten at this stadium number one, and number two is Julian Montoya's 120th captain.

Can you believe it? And Pablo Montero is playing his 124th test match. Now, I think Argentina is going to be too much and a bit too strong. England, I think they're in trouble. Authric is in trouble as well.

And he doesn't seem to know what's coming next and what to do next. Always, you know, putting a glow on the positive side of it where he should maybe be a bit more realistic. But yeah, I think Argentina comfortably. And then lastly, I said lastly before, but this is really lastly, the under-20 World Championship Final, South Africa versus France. Gili Mien Nardin at 23, like you just said, even though he's eligible to play.

What do you think? Can we pull off another title win? That would be impressive if we can do that. We've got the team, but I think France has got a really good team. I watched actually all of that game against New Zealand, the semi-final, and it was good rugby.

They've got strong forwards. New Zealand also have amazing players coming through. But France, typical France, good forwards and then those attacking backs. So we're not going to push them around. It's going to be physical.

We've got the players to handle that. Good outside backs. We've got good players there as well. Ahmed at Flyoff, we've got amazing tens coming through. So, yeah, I would give it to the box only just that.

I think it's going to be a big armory for that as well. So it's difficult to gauge how good France and New Zealand is. Obviously, they played on the other side of the draw in the pool. But France was impressive. So I think it's going to be a tough one.

It always is. It's never – under-20s is not like the senior rugby. There are similarities, but I think we've kind of caught up in the past because of the six nations' under-20s. European under-20s was always a lot stronger than us. Now we've had all these tournaments before, better structures, better preparation.

so we've got more rugby under 20 so we're better prepared for them so we caught up there so I think it's a bit of a 50-50 neutral ground in Georgia so hopefully the box can do that to defend that would be a good achievement I'm a little worried about the mental side of it, I mean playing against England they struggle that first half until the red card like you just said when that guy got a bit of a red miss descending and headbutted Leon Gilumi, I can't remember the name now and then after the obviously they came back after half time also they just pulled away that I'm a little bit concerned about but I suppose they will they'll work harder to make sure that they're mentally prepared for it don't want to lose another game but now you know you won it last year there's lots of pressure on this young team it's actually going to be a good test of their mettle. Yeah it is and I agree that 17-7 before that hit but South Africa was under the cosh under real pressure and I'm not so sure they would have won that game if that number seven stayed on the field so it's that that bigger turnaround so the momentum just totally changed after halftime and they couldn't handle so so it is a little bit of south africa playing better but the door was open because of that red card um but um yeah it's i i still think that new zealand that the europeans have a little bit of a better preparation under 20 competitions we do play new zealand and we have argentina we have our own competitions as well but the six nations under 20 competition is very competitive and a good preparation for them so they they well prepared those european teams for for this under 20 level um so that um i think mentally i think they'll be there i still hope they find a way for gilomir to come into the 15. i don't know how they're going to do that but my understanding is the team's been selected it's done um i don't know why they didn't wait for that disciplinary to be done um because he would definitely be a starter at 15. um so that That's a bit unfortunate. Unfortunate to Gilomir as well, that deserved to play in the final.

So maybe they find a way to get him into that, but it would be unfortunate against Felix that was now named as the 15. And if you just say, listen, by the way, you must fake a hamstring now, that's going to be unfair to him. But anyway, but hopefully they don't go to that, onto that and have a, but it's unfortunate for Gilomir. I would have loved to see him play. Good player.

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