100% agree Pete. I know that there's lots of rave reviews about the 2009 team but their form started dipping after the 2009 tri nations. In terms of the 2007 RWC World Cup winning team (and yes I realize that there was a change of coach) they had a mediocre 2008 season. The 97/98 team was phenomenal in winning 17 in row and winning the '98 Tri Nations but then had a mediocre '99 Season, even though they were probably a Stephen Larkam drop goal away from winning the '99 RWC. So I'd also give the current Bok squad GOAT status. I just hope they back it up again in 2025!
Boet, love your professional delivery of your program. Very educational/insightful. Keep it up. 💚🇿🇦. Question . Do you think springboks would be able to field two sides in the 2027 RWC tournament if two teams were to compete in all the matches prior which all them are required to do ? 💚🇿🇦.
Thank you so much for that lovely compliment! It's very encouraging!! So legally it's not possible for us to have two separate teams playing (imagine if South Africa A played South Africa B in the final!). But I think Rassie is trying to get it to a point where the death is so strong that he can easily make 10 changes or more for each match and it makes no difference to the outcome! That's very scary for our opponents!
You can't compare amateur/ professional players directly, but you can compare their relative performance. And also look at individuals/ teams impact in their own time.
Yes, everyone was good or great in their time. I also believe that the very best players were great because they were able to adapt better than anyone else so in that sense if you were great in the 1950s you would have also been great in the 1980s, 2010s etc.
Back2Back alone makes the 2019-2023 team the greatest Boks of all time, and if they can follow up this year's shenanigans with wins in NZ, France and Ireland next year, that would edge them ahead of the 2011-15 All Blacks as the greatest rugby team of all time in my book! 🤘
There have been many great springbok teams, obviously 95/96 and then 98 was something else. I watched the game in Durban at kings park where we had the greatest comeback of rugby history! All the players were so fired up in that second half it was so tangible for everyone in that stadium. Joost throwing his world class dummy/ jinx and Bullet crashing over head first with his monstrous forwards using him like a battering ram… it’s something I will never forget and wish the young fans of today to feel what it’s like to be in front of Springbok greatness. Saying all that, I agree with Peter, this current Bok team would probably whip the 98 team, simply because they are simply bigger, better faster, more conditioned mentality and physically before every single game. You simply have to look at the speed of the game and how fast players have to react and still stay within the laws of the game. When you factor all of this into it, there’s no team, and I mean no team, not even the 2011 - 2015 AB’s that could dare challenge this current Bok team, especially with the evolution of the Bomb ( nuke ) squad??? It’s super intelligent rugby and not just preparation but the execution is off the chart and it’s getting progressively better all the time.
That 98 Test in Durban was very special. I watched it with two All Blacks fans. They had a lot to say for most of the match and then suddenly they were dead quiet! And yes, things are only going to get better!
The scary part is that there was a lot of excitements with 51 players, what will happen when focus is placed on 30 member sqaud and building consistency
The current Sprinboks are not the best team ever. It's Rassie. Without Rassie, the same group players would not have won the last World Cup, so they're not he best team. It's Rassie. Rassie is the best coach of all time! The best rugby team ever was the 2011-2015 All Blacks, cos even with the kak coaching duo of Steve Hanson and Ian Foster they had a stellar winning record and won the 2015 world cup. The team itself was just excellent. Best team of all time!
Let's not compare the Springbok b4 1996....it's not fair 🙄 Stansky hardly missed a kick. Now they hv Manie Limpcock that hardly gets one over when under pressure 🤣 I won't mention Nass
The greatest team of all time? Your argument is flawed by your comment that teams before 1995 should not be considered. You therefore agree it is not the case. You comment that because of diet, gyms etc the amateur era players could not compete in today's day and age, but could todays players compete under the same circumstances the players of old did? I do not think so, however if you give the players of old the same nutrition, exercise regimes, and allow them the same time as current players get, to hone their skills, I think the old guys would have given this side a hard time. Remember, rugby was a part time deal for them. The players of today are protected by all sorts of laws, and replacement options, and very few forwards play an eighty minute game. Like Frik du Preez said once regarding the almost double amount of tests Ollie le Roux played vs his 38, Le Roux probably spent half the time he, Frik, was on the field in tests. I believe there are a couple of players, like Vermeulen, Bakkies Botha, PSdT, Os and Ruben Kruger that would have revelled under those circumstances, but imagine what Frik, Theuns Stoffberg and Danie Gerber could have achieved under today's circumstances - Frik and Danie would have been able to play well into their forties if they were protected like the players of today are. They both retired at 35 at the peak of their powers. Danie Gerber at 34 was the best centre in the world with the Springboks comeback in 1992! You compare todays players to players from yesteryear, but you compare a flyhalf to a loose forward, and a prop to a centre to try and get a point across.... I fail to see the significance! Rugby is a team game, and this is what I suppose your post is about so here are a couple of examples to show how ridicilous this argument is; 1928 - 1938 team: Drew series with NZ, beat Australia, Grand Slam tour winner of Europe, AWAY series win over NZ and Lions series winners 1949 - 1955 Won ten tests in a row. WHITEWASHED NZ 4 - 0 in a series, beat Australia, crashed through Europe claiming a Grand Slam and a win over France, and drew a series with the Lions. 1975 - 1981 Beat France, NZ, World 15, Lions and Ireland and lost in NZ in '81 as result of skullduggery. After the 1981 NZ tour the Eighties beat ALL comers up to re-admission in 1992, including the Cavaliers who was effectively the 1985 All Blacks sans Kirwan, who was incidentally showed up by the likes of Gerber(who made Sella look mediocre) and Carel du Plessis during the IRB centenary games. In my opinion, collectively the best backline in the history of Springbok rugby - Heunis, Mordt, Gerber, M du Plessis, Botha, C du Plessis and Wright. And that is leaving players like Pienaar, Germishuys, W du Plessis, Serfontein and Beck on the sidelines. Imagine what the teams of yesteryear could achieve under today's rules - SA has always had lots of depth.
The greatest achievement in rugby is to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand. It is a greater achievement than the RWC. My view of teams that I personally watched, including previous teams in the amateur era. 2019-2024 - Siya Kholisi 1997/1998 - Gary Teichman 1981 - Wynand Claasen 1980 - Morne du Plessis 2007 - John Smit
@@Mzansi74 Yes.... and? The World Cup will always be the holy grail. The Rugby Championship's Freedom cup is a farce. They have won it more than the Boks, yet if you look at the games, it was pretty much 1 all for the most part. Let's see how long we can hold onto it now that they have to beat us twice in order to get it. It is always nice beating the AB's, but they are not the holy grail. First is the World Cup, then the B&I Lions Series, then only the All Blacks. PS. We beat them 3/3 games in 2009. You have a selective memory.
Great journalism and discussion.
Thank you very much, Ben. That's very kind of you.
Doring Danie van Despatch he's our hero in every match!
There is only one Doring Van Despatch!
Professional presentation, decently scripted, good data. Your colour palette is well chosen.
Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
100% agree Pete. I know that there's lots of rave reviews about the 2009 team but their form started dipping after the 2009 tri nations. In terms of the 2007 RWC World Cup winning team (and yes I realize that there was a change of coach) they had a mediocre 2008 season. The 97/98 team was phenomenal in winning 17 in row and winning the '98 Tri Nations but then had a mediocre '99 Season, even though they were probably a Stephen Larkam drop goal away from winning the '99 RWC. So I'd also give the current Bok squad GOAT status. I just hope they back it up again in 2025!
For sure, Michael! I've got a good feeling going into 2025. Those two Tests in New Zealand will be war!
Merry Christmas.
And a very merry Christmas to you too, José!
Boet, love your professional delivery of your program. Very educational/insightful. Keep it up. 💚🇿🇦.
Question . Do you think springboks would be able to field two sides in the 2027 RWC tournament if two teams were to compete in all the matches prior which all them are required to do ? 💚🇿🇦.
Thank you so much for that lovely compliment! It's very encouraging!!
So legally it's not possible for us to have two separate teams playing (imagine if South Africa A played South Africa B in the final!).
But I think Rassie is trying to get it to a point where the death is so strong that he can easily make 10 changes or more for each match and it makes no difference to the outcome! That's very scary for our opponents!
You can't compare amateur/ professional players directly, but you can compare their relative performance. And also look at individuals/ teams impact in their own time.
Yes, everyone was good or great in their time. I also believe that the very best players were great because they were able to adapt better than anyone else so in that sense if you were great in the 1950s you would have also been great in the 1980s, 2010s etc.
Agree here
Thanks Eugene!
Back2Back alone makes the 2019-2023 team the greatest Boks of all time, and if they can follow up this year's shenanigans with wins in NZ, France and Ireland next year, that would edge them ahead of the 2011-15 All Blacks as the greatest rugby team of all time in my book! 🤘
Love it! This is a powerful team for sure!
There have been many great springbok teams, obviously 95/96 and then 98 was something else. I watched the game in Durban at kings park where we had the greatest comeback of rugby history! All the players were so fired up in that second half it was so tangible for everyone in that stadium. Joost throwing his world class dummy/ jinx and Bullet crashing over head first with his monstrous forwards using him like a battering ram… it’s something I will never forget and wish the young fans of today to feel what it’s like to be in front of Springbok greatness.
Saying all that, I agree with Peter, this current Bok team would probably whip the 98 team, simply because they are simply bigger, better faster, more conditioned mentality and physically before every single game. You simply have to look at the speed of the game and how fast players have to react and still stay within the laws of the game.
When you factor all of this into it, there’s no team, and I mean no team, not even the 2011 - 2015 AB’s that could dare challenge this current Bok team, especially with the evolution of the Bomb ( nuke ) squad???
It’s super intelligent rugby and not just preparation but the execution is off the chart and it’s getting progressively better all the time.
That 98 Test in Durban was very special. I watched it with two All Blacks fans. They had a lot to say for most of the match and then suddenly they were dead quiet!
And yes, things are only going to get better!
The scary part is that there was a lot of excitements with 51 players, what will happen when focus is placed on 30 member sqaud and building consistency
Bad news for our opponents!!
The current Sprinboks are not the best team ever. It's Rassie. Without Rassie, the same group players would not have won the last World Cup, so they're not he best team. It's Rassie. Rassie is the best coach of all time!
The best rugby team ever was the 2011-2015 All Blacks, cos even with the kak coaching duo of Steve Hanson and Ian Foster they had a stellar winning record and won the 2015 world cup. The team itself was just excellent. Best team of all time!
Let's not compare the Springbok b4 1996....it's not fair 🙄 Stansky hardly missed a kick. Now they hv Manie Limpcock that hardly gets one over when under pressure 🤣 I won't mention Nass
The greatest team of all time? Your argument is flawed by your comment that teams before 1995 should not be considered. You therefore agree it is not the case. You comment that because of diet, gyms etc the amateur era players could not compete in today's day and age, but could todays players compete under the same circumstances the players of old did? I do not think so, however if you give the players of old the same nutrition, exercise regimes, and allow them the same time as current players get, to hone their skills, I think the old guys would have given this side a hard time. Remember, rugby was a part time deal for them. The players of today are protected by all sorts of laws, and replacement options, and very few forwards play an eighty minute game. Like Frik du Preez said once regarding the almost double amount of tests Ollie le Roux played vs his 38, Le Roux probably spent half the time he, Frik, was on the field in tests. I believe there are a couple of players, like Vermeulen, Bakkies Botha, PSdT, Os and Ruben Kruger that would have revelled under those circumstances, but imagine what Frik, Theuns Stoffberg and Danie Gerber could have achieved under today's circumstances - Frik and Danie would have been able to play well into their forties if they were protected like the players of today are. They both retired at 35 at the peak of their powers. Danie Gerber at 34 was the best centre in the world with the Springboks comeback in 1992!
You compare todays players to players from yesteryear, but you compare a flyhalf to a loose forward, and a prop to a centre to try and get a point across.... I fail to see the significance! Rugby is a team game, and this is what I suppose your post is about so here are a couple of examples to show how ridicilous this argument is;
1928 - 1938 team: Drew series with NZ, beat Australia, Grand Slam tour winner of Europe, AWAY series win over NZ and Lions series winners
1949 - 1955 Won ten tests in a row. WHITEWASHED NZ 4 - 0 in a series, beat Australia, crashed through Europe claiming a Grand Slam and a win over France, and drew a series with the Lions.
1975 - 1981
Beat France, NZ, World 15, Lions and Ireland and lost in NZ in '81 as result of skullduggery.
After the 1981 NZ tour the Eighties beat ALL comers up to re-admission in 1992, including the Cavaliers who was effectively the 1985 All Blacks sans Kirwan, who was incidentally showed up by the likes of Gerber(who made Sella look mediocre) and Carel du Plessis during the IRB centenary games.
In my opinion, collectively the best backline in the history of Springbok rugby - Heunis, Mordt, Gerber, M du Plessis, Botha, C du Plessis and Wright. And that is leaving players like Pienaar, Germishuys, W du Plessis, Serfontein and Beck on the sidelines.
Imagine what the teams of yesteryear could achieve under today's rules - SA has always had lots of depth.
The greatest achievement in rugby is to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand. It is a greater achievement than the RWC.
My view of teams that I personally watched, including previous teams in the amateur era.
2019-2024 - Siya Kholisi
1997/1998 - Gary Teichman
1981 - Wynand Claasen
1980 - Morne du Plessis
2007 - John Smit
Very cool. The Springboks will have their chance in 2025 to go to New Zealand and beat the All Blacks!
Rubbish! The WC remains the holy grail.
@@Alias-gy3tz
Springboks: 4 World Cups, 2 finals against AB in 29 years.
also
Springboks: 1 series win against AB in NZ in 1937 in 92 years.
@@Mzansi74 Yes.... and? The World Cup will always be the holy grail. The Rugby Championship's Freedom cup is a farce. They have won it more than the Boks, yet if you look at the games, it was pretty much 1 all for the most part. Let's see how long we can hold onto it now that they have to beat us twice in order to get it. It is always nice beating the AB's, but they are not the holy grail. First is the World Cup, then the B&I Lions Series, then only the All Blacks. PS. We beat them 3/3 games in 2009. You have a selective memory.
Winning a test in NZ is not comparable to winning a world cup. While it is nice to win, teams all get judged on world cups