Playing in wet conditions the Boks convincingly beat a second rate Italian team on 21 June 2008 at Newlands, South Africa. Due to commitments to the French club team Clermont, captain John Smith was not available for this match while Butch James and Pierre Spies were given a rest.

Frans Steyn got a chance starting at flyhalf with mixed success. At times he played the conditions very well with some long line kicks winning territory for the Boks. Two of his kicks got charged down though and he was guilty of not kicking the ball out on quite a few occasions.

The Boks would we worried about their scrum and  poor handling with their backs spilling the wet ball on various occasions  and wasting quite a few  try scoring opportunities.

South Africa: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Gcobani Bobo, 12 Jean De Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Francois Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ Van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawaria.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Joe Van Niekerk, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Peter Grant, 22 Ruan Pienaar.

link : Boks win Newlands borefest

Game was played on 14 June 2008 in Pretoria, South Africa. Wales gave a much improved performance and at times lived up to their reputation as Six nation champs.

The Boks attacking game lacked structure and the back line never got going against the Wales rush defense. The Bok’s scrum, featuring a new front row, performed better than in the previous match. The Bok’s lapses on defense is still a cause of concern.

South Africa: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Tonderai Chavanga, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Percy Montgomery.

Changes in the team from the previous week indicated in green.

link : Wales fall short in Pretoria

Game was played on 7 June 2008 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Wales played poorly making too many mistakes and being outplayed comprehensively at the breakdown.

The Boks looked good on the attack but there is a big question mark over the scrums and the defense.

South Africa: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Tonderai Chavanga, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 CJ van der Linde, 17 Bismarck du Plessis, 18 Victor Matfield, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Peter Grant, 22 Percy Montgomery.

link : South Africa make light work of Wales

The thirty man Springbok squad, destined to form the basis of South Africa’s 2011 RWC challenge, was announced on 28 May 2008.

Bok squad:
Bekker, Andries (lock) [new]
Bobo, Gcobani (outside centre)
Botha, Bakkies (lock) [RWC 2007]
Botha, BJ (tighthead prop) [RWC 2007]
Conradie, Bolla (scrum half)
Chavhanga, Tonderai (wing)
De Villiers, Jean (inside centre) [RWC 2007]
Du Plessis, Bismarck (hooker) [RWC 2007]
Grant, Peter (fly half)
Habana, Bryan (wing) [RWC 2007]
Jacobs, Adrian (outside centre)
James, Butch (fly half) [RWC 2007]
Jantjes, Conrad (fullback)
Januarie, Ricky (scrum half) [RWC 2007]
Kankowski, Ryan (eightman)
Mtawarira, Tendai (loosehead prop) [new]
Matfield, Victor (lock) [RWC 2007]
Montgomery, Percy (fullback) [RWC 2007]
Mujati, Brian (tighthead prop) [new]
Ndungane, Odwa (wing) [new]
Pienaar, Ruan (scrum half, utility back) [RWC 2007]
Rossouw, Danie ( eightman, utility forward) [RWC 2007]
Smit, John (c) (hooker) [RWC 2007]
Smith, Juan (blindside flanker) [RWC 2007]
Spies, Pierre (eightman)
Steenkamp, Gurthro (loosehead prop) [RWC 2007]
Steyn, Frans (inside centre, utility back) [RWC 2007]
Van der Linde, CJ (tighthead prop) [RWC 2007]
Van Niekerk, Joe (eightman)
Watson, Luke (openside flank)

The 2008 squad includes 16 players from the 2007 RWC winning Bok squad and 4 players who have never played for the Boks before.

A little tribute to true subgenius.

David Byrne (born May 14, 1952, in Dumbarton, Scotland) is a Scottish-American musician and artist. He is perhaps best known as a founding member and the principal songwriter of the new wave band Talking Heads, who were active between 1974 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo projects on record, and worked in a variety of media, including film, photography, opera, and internet-based projects. His achievements have been recognized by Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe awards. He currently lives in New York City. David is a SubGenii.

link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Byrne_%28musician%29