The most dominant the ABs looked was when they cleared the ruck quickly and used one-off runners to drive Ireland back.
The Irish made so many crazy mistakes and I can't remember the last time I watched them have such a high error count at such critical moments in the game.
In the post I made that previewed this game, I mentioned how the ABs might remind Ireland of their insecurities. And it felt like that to me. JGP, often going an entire game with no errors, was all over the place at times and stifled Ireland's momentum on a few occasions. Pretender also chucked a few passes into touch. McCloskey's pass behind his own players in Ireland's 22 was probably the moment that sealed the game because Ireland had just gotten a score back and were getting into it. Suddenly that score was nullified and an adrenaline dump ensued.
Neither pack looked particularly powerful to me. The ABs look very snappy at the ruck but not too powerful.
Ireland's pack looked shaky at best.
Scrums were almost a non-entity again in this game with only 2 or 3 scrums actually completed. As Bok fans we need to be very worried about this because we won the last World Cup on the back of scrums and the international matches this year have shown how the scrum is becoming less and less important. It seems like I'm the only one noticing this.
Think about it...3 completed scrums a game is 1.5 scrums a half. Against England, I believe the completed scrum count was also very low at maybe 3 or 4. It's worrying.
Love was excellent again for the ABs. I think the jersey is his now or, at least, it should be. He looks like he has a good eye for positional play and makes the right decisions. Also a bit of a fighter.
Pretender remains sketchy at test level. I'm not a fan. He had one particularly good spell but was pretty average the rest of the time. And even if he had a good game I'd probably still say he sucked because I just can't find a smidgen of love for him.
Ardie was Ardie. Easily the most likeable AB of them all and always makes positive contributions - Roos, are you watching!?!? You don't need to be a hulk...just use your brain and pick your battles.
Side note - There are some truly stark similarities between Ardie and Hanekom. Anyone else notice this?
Jordan was also very good again. Some excellent scramble defence and a crucial turnover to shut Ireland out of the game at a crucial moment.
Probably my favourite player, Caleb, was proper when he came on. I don't know how a guy with that much power and explosiveness doesn't start for the ABs. No idea what form he is in at franchise level but whenever I've watched him he has always looked like the kind of backline player that should be a no-brainier in any international side.
Dmac was also very good. I've always thought he was massively overrated but he's had a few excellent games on the bounce now. Good to see and I'm sure his from makes Rooi happy since he's always sing Dmac's praises.
Where do the Boks sit in relation to the ABs?
I think that the Boks looked rattled against Scotland and this AB side is far better than Scotland. They're more efficient in what they do and seem to do a lot of it slightly more quickly than what one expects. I wouldn't say its alarm bells for the Boks but if we can't slow their ruck down enough things could get out of hand quickly.
All in all the ABs appear on the up and Ireland seem to be retreating to where they belong, which is to look like the 5th ranked test side.
Just some thoughts.
