I think you mean "japie", Ian. I don't­ mind the phonetic spelling, but you do show your­ ignorance here: it's a derogatory term for a white­ Afrikaans speaking South African (or Boer)and really no­ longer has place in any vocabulary. Besides, its­ totally inaccurate anyway as Teichman is an english­ speaking Natalian. (It would be like calling a Welsh­ "Taffy" a "Pom" or a­ "Mick"- a childish racial slur, and equally­ inappropriate).
Your surprise at his balanced­ editorial shows that you know little about the man. He­ was a great and inspirational captain, quietly spoken­ yet commanded huge respect from his players (and­ opponents)- his test record speaks for itself.­
It's interesting to compare him and his measured­ commentary with someone like Stuart Barnes.

Clearly David knows nothing about rugby. Teich is a­ legend, head and shoulders above any Northern­ hemisphere number 8 since. No doubt here which one is­ the muppet- or "tjop" as we say down­ south.
The "Incedible Schalk" is untouchable­ on his day, but he has not played hard rugby for a­ while and I question his match fitness and pace: PDV­ needs to pull him if he doesn't perform in the­ first 25. Brussow was outstanding last weekend, and­ should feel disappointed he is not starting. I would­ prefer to see a specialist fetcher on the open side­ anyway.
tlabuscagne, I totally agree. Vickery himself­ conceded he was outmuscled and outplayed. This sort of­ assination of the match officials is distasteful, and­ making such excuses for being beaten by a better team­ on the day rather than addressing the real deficits in­ your side is shortsighted and dishonest.
The bottom­ line: if the singular reason that the Lions were beaten­ last week was the poor refereeing (as appears to be the­ prevailing attitude of most Lions supporters on this­ blog), why then has their management felt the need to­ make such sweeping changes to their side this weekend?

The lions have experience in the team and experience­ would mean a victory on Saturday (slight margin­ though!) The Bocks are going to tighten their game,­ they are going to put pressure on the lions front row.­ I believe the decision to have an all Welsh front row­ is a good thing, these boys work together and stick­ together. We will see some tension and aggression out­ there. It's going to be a cracker, cannot wait. Do­ not write off the Lions just yet, it going to be tight.­ Come on you Lions!!

I'm so tired of hearing people moan about the refs.­ In my opinion it looks and sounds like you are­ preparing the excuses in advance for when you lose the­ series. It seems to be endemic in the UK. Even the­ commentators spend most of the game talking about the­ decisions instead of the rugby being played. For f**ks­ sake, just admit when you lose to a good side and look­ at yourselves to win instead of blaming the ref­ everytime you lose. I guarantee if the Lions lose on­ Saturday, these articles will be full of people moaning­ about the ref, regardless of how well the Springboks­ may play!!!

lions will run riot and win by twenty points!!

Amazing that the Lion supporters still think they can­ level the series on Saturday, you are playing at Loftus­ the home of the Blue Bulls. You had your chance on­ Saturday, to say stuff like Schalk Burger is not so­ sharp after his injury proves to me that you are scared­ and does not no JACK SH....T when it comes to rugby.­ Get the tissues ready.

I'm with Ads A. Burger runs around like a headless­ chicken and is odds on for a yellow, probably for a­ high tackle which is his party piece. Have a really­ close look at the guy and you'll see he's not­ half the play Juan Smith is, just a lot of blond hair­ flying about.

I'm with Ads A. Burger runs around like a headless­ chicken and is odds on for a yellow, probably for a­ high tackle which is his party piece. Have a really­ close look at the guy and you'll see he's not­ half the play Juan Smith is, just a lot of blond hair­ flying about.

Im glad burger is back (i think). Brussow was proven.­ Burger is coming off a long break and might not be so­ sharp. It might just go our way. Also, Burger was­ always a good bet for a yellow card in the past.­ He's copped on a bit over the years but the lions­ get a lead going we might just see the petulant shalk­ of old.

I know what Burger brings to the team but I think­ they'll miss the work from Brussow.

Not only do the Lions have to improve greatly but­ Schalk Burger is back. Deep joy!!!

Thanks everyone, I am now suitably chastised and­ embarrased to have made the comment.

I think everyone's agreed that the only Muppet is­ David!

Thought SA deserved their victory last week,­ and that it will be even tougher for the Lions this­ week - but I really do hope we get a ref that can­ control the scrummage and the off-side. Sounds like­ whining I know, but we have been crucified by the refs­ this tour. Even the Northern Hemisphere officials seem­ to be playing two sets of Laws. Can't blame SA; if­ their payers are doing something and get away with it,­ and then the Lions do it and get away with it, you­ don't ever hear a Yarppie moan. Trouble is,­ although they get away with it, we rarely do!

DAVID YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK AT TEICHMANNS RECORD­ BEFORE YOU MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HIM,HE WAS ONE THE­ BEST NO 8 OF HIS TIME AND LEAD SA TO TRI-NATIONS GLORY.­ AS FOR THE LIONS TEAM FOR SAT I THINK THEY WILL UP­ THERE GAME AND PUT IN A MUCH BETTER PERFORMANCE BUT THE­ BOKKE WILL BE TO STRONG AGAIN. I LOOK FORWARD TO AN­ ABSOLUTE CLASSIC SATERDAY!!!GO BOKKE!!!

What are you talking about David? Teichmann was a­ bloody good No.8 and I don't think he's far­ wrong with his assessment for Saturday. The Boks will­ improve and also play a tighter game, after the second­ half performance last week. The altitude will be a­ factor, meaning more line-outs in the 22s. Now the ELVs­ have been discarded, we can expect both teams to use­ the rolling maul off the line-out. And he doesn't­ contradict himself over O'Gara; he says that he­ does not think the Lions can accommodate both­ O'Gara and Jones in the squad - whoever starts from­ these two, he believes Hook should be on the bench.­ Simple stuff really David. If anything, rather nice to­ hear comment from a Yarppie that is well balanced and­ not derogatory to the Lions.