Saturday, January 21, 2006
General Discussions: Does Jaco prefer sushi to braai?
Picture: www.jeppeboys.co.zaIt is no secret that Jake White would prefer the mercurial Jaco van der Westhuyzen to be playing his rugby in South Africa, preferably at flyhalf and tasked with the kicking duties.
It's an eminently reasonable attitude from the national coach and for a while it looked like the Stormers might just fulfill White's wishes.
With the loss of Gaffie du Toit and Chris Rossouw, the Stormers suddenly look light in the experience department at pivot.
They have two promising youngsters in Peter Grant and Naas Olivier, however gaining a flyhalf with international experience and composure must have been tasking the Stormers brainstrust in recent weeks.
Whilst both Andrew Mehrtens and Carlos Spencer became available over the past six months, it is difficult for South African teams to match the sums British clubs are prepared to offer for superstars.
So, the desire for Jake to have one of his key playmakers plying his trade within the country must have seemed like a golden opportunity for the Cape based franchise.
Unfortunately, it now appears unlikely that Jaco's Japanese club, NEC, are prepared to release him from his contract, which expires in June 2008. It has also been mentioned that Jaco might be carrying an injury which may require surgery to rectify.
White can't be faulted for his determination to explore every avenue in securing Van der Westhuyzen, reportedly telling The Star's Jacques van der Westhuyzen, "We're trying to get a win-win situation here where Jaco, SA Rugby and NEC benefit from whatever deal we are able to strike," said White.
"The Japanese season closes at the end of February so we would be able to use Jaco in March, April and even a part of May.
"What it comes down to at this stage is negotiating with NEC and coming to some sort of compromise... whether that involves some sort of compensation for them or me going to coach there a bit, we have to see.
"We would also have to get Jaco into a team where he plays flyhalf and kicks at goal, because those are things he has to do at international level."
Jake White doesn't strike me as a man who easily takes no for an answer, so whilst the Stormers may not benefit, it still wouldn't surprise me to see Jaco back in SA at some stage.
Information source: www.iol.co.za Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Personalities: I bench press 215 kg's.
Andy Sheridan
After just four England caps, barnstorming Sale prop Andy Sheridan is already hailed by many as his country's talisman. But is he as fearsome off the pitch? Small Talk hoped not.
Paul Doyle
www.guardian.co.uk
Friday January 20, 2006
Hi there Andy, how's it going?
[Very softly] Fine thanks, Small Talk.
You're the biggest, strongest, scariest member of the England squad. How much can you bench?
My record is 215kg. Haven't gone past that yet.
Was there a specific Incredible Hulk moment when you discovered you were super strong?
Not really, you just get there through hard work.
So all the other guys on the team are just lazy?
[Gently] Careful, Small Talk, that's not what I said.
[Fawning] Was Geoff Capes your hero when you were a kid? Do you have any plans to enter a strong man competition?
I did admire Geoff Capes actually. And Bill Kazmaier, too. I wouldn't mind trying one of those competitions, but I'm not sure how good I'd be: some of those guys are really huge.
Sir Clive Woodward: genius or fruitcake?
[Still Lake Placid personified] I enjoyed working with him. He's very well organised and has lots of fresh ideas. That's what you need from someone in his position.
What did you make of Alastair Campbell on the Lions tour?
I liked him. He's a nice bloke and interesting to talk to. He's got strong views and is quite forthcoming with them but that's fine. I enjoyed having him around.
Is it true you're studying to be a bricklayer?
Yes, I'm doing my NVQ. It's something I enjoy and will definitely do more of when I'm finished with rugby.
What the best prank you've ever been involved in?
[Ponders] The lads at Sale once wrapped someone's car in cling film.
Word is you're also a mean folk singer?
[Bashfully] I just dabble.
What are we talking about: weepy odes to line-outs or covers of Chas 'n' Dave classics?
I write my own songs. It's the usual type of folk stuff, sad songs mostly. But I just play them for myself and mates. I certainly don't do gigs.
What's the last CD you bought?
I think it was David Gray's latest one. I like his stuff.
Your favourite TV show?
Since I'm into building and property, I enjoy Property Ladder and that sort of thing.
What's the last movie you went to see?
Cinderella Man. I'd read the book by James Braddock so I knew what was coming, but I still thought it was well done and quite accurate.
What's your poison?
Gin and tonic.
Britney or Beyoncé?
Neither really. [Small Talk pushes for alternative] Maybe Shania Twain.
Who or what would you put into Room 101?
Rude people. And cars - they're everywhere.
So you don't drive?
[Chortling] OK, so I have a car, but I'd get rid of everyone else's!
Fair enough, Small Talk's not one to argue. Not with you anyway. So then, fancy finishing with a joke?
Blimey, a joke! [Asks entourage for assistance, gets some, then quips] What do you call a fish with no eyes?
[Struggling] See-sick?
Fsh [Gentle chuckle].
[Laughing uproariously, as you would too in the circumstances] Nice one, Andy! Thanks for your time, and good luck in the Six Nations.
Thanks, Small Talk. Bye.
Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: There's nothing wrong with a bit of 'biffo'!
"I remember an early ruck in a cup tie in the snow on Pontypool Park, when the sound of studs on a player's head was almost musical, a sort of xylophonic arpeggio of aluminium on bone. There would be a brief splatter of red on white, a player or three shake their heads to check nothing had fallen off, and play would carry on."Intemperance all part of the drama
Eddie Butler
Sunday January 15, 2006
The Observer
Before the start of this season, it was decreed in high places that there should be a clampdown on foul play. There had been a lot of adverse publicity generated in New Zealand, following Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu's off-the-ball clear-out, the twin spear that dislocated Brian O'Driscoll's shoulder and ended his Lions tour. Rugby was spooked into launching a clean-up campaign.
The referees of the world, rather than seeing themselves exposed to universal mayhem, decided to confront the potentially lethal spear-tackle head-on. With a coolness that seemed to elude their political masters, they agreed that if a message was delivered early to the players that the 'spear tackle' was absolutely taboo, then it could be eradicated almost, touch wood, overnight.
The memorandum was sent out: if you lift an opponent into the air you are responsible for bringing him down safely. 'Safely' is a relative term. The imparting of pain, or, at the very least, the loss of dignity for the player on the receiving end, has to be an essential part of a good tackle. Landing 'safely' meant without mortal risk.
There were a couple of incidents - in the Wales-Fiji game, for example - when perfectly good tackles, which began with an upward movement, were penalised, but they were merely a result of the referees' desire to make their point stick. And it worked. The video that accompanied their investigation into 'spearing' contained some frightening scenes of spines being asked to handle stress levels high in the human frame's red zone.
The spear-tackle had been identified and dealt with. Referees and players had responded with alacrity to a genuine alarm. But then came a spate of all-in dust-ups in the early weeks of France's domestic championnat. One brawl at Bourgoin, involving international back-row Julien Bonnaire, was particularly disturbing. This wasn't just handbags, but overnight hold-alls, suitcases, trunks and all outsize baggage.
Then came the latest weapon of personal destruction, the elbow. French captain Fabien Pelous was banned for nine weeks for using it on Brendan Cannon during the France-Australia Test in that same, apparently turbulent autumn. Not long afterwards, Gavin Henson's pointed blow to the nose of Alex Moreno, a back-elbow, cost him 10 weeks, reduced last week on appeal to seven.
There will be some in the high council of the game, who will be dismayed at the leniency shown by the appeal panel of Brian McLoughlin, Phil Orr (both IRFU) and Mike Hamlin (RFU). In a time of anti-social behaviour this is not the moment to go soft on crime.
On the other hand, this again is all relative. For all that it has been slightly tempestuous lately, rugby is infinitely less violent than in its amateur days.
I remember an early ruck in a cup tie in the snow on Pontypool Park, when the sound of studs on a player's head was almost musical, a sort of xylophonic arpeggio of aluminium on bone. There would be a brief splatter of red on white, a player or three shake their heads to check nothing had fallen off, and play would carry on.
And if that is too prehistoric to be of any relevance, there was the series between England and France in the early 1990s. Can anyone remember the 1991 World Cup quarter-final in Paris? Serge Blanco, so elegant, so majestic in every aspect of the game, was tumble-dried by the English forwards out of the first ruck of the game. The great full-back, in his frustration, later used Nigel Heslop's head as a Kronk gym speed-bag.
This game led only to another, England in Paris in the Five Nations of 1992. This ended with two-thirds of the French front-row - Vincent Moscato and Gregoire Lascube - being sent off. And how wonderfully well England kept their composure, it was said, while France seethed with rage. It was just that they did not get caught.
The intemperance of the games was an essential part of the drama. The delicate balance between total commitment and illicit excess had been upset, but had been beautifully stage-managed by England. They played magnificently well on all fronts that day, winning 31-13.
The recent Heineken Cup tie between the Neath-Swansea Ospreys and Leicester, the one that included the Henson-Moreno clash, was a gem in its own right. But every time you read about it, it is described as the 'ill-tempered' encounter.
As opposed to what precisely? The 'traditionally good-humoured' meetings between Wales and England? We may have gone all gooey-eyed over Freddie Flintoff consoling Brett Lee in the Ashes, and Umaga may once have checked to see if Colin Charvis had swallowed his tongue, but in general there is no need in 80 minutes of rugby union to be overly caring. I know O'Driscoll would have appreciated a word from Umaga in Christchurch, but really it was no big deal that the All Black captain there and then on that night thought he had more important things to do.
What happens - or what happened - is that players beat, bit, poked, elbowed, booted - even spear-tackled - lumps out of each other and then, on final whistle, embraced and headed for the bar. It was the gory glory of the game.
Rugby now is infinitely cleaner. And faster and more powerful and simply better. If there is one area that gives cause for concern it is not that there is a trend towards violence, because there is not. There are isolated outbreaks, natural consequences of a sport that advocates so much legitimate violent conduct, spillages that are quickly, if a tad harshly of late, dealt with by disciplinary procedures.
No, what should concern us is that the modern players remain isolated from their opponents. If you try to make their professional lives so antiseptic that they arrive, play and depart, then you tinker with one of the true fundamentals, the shared experience of diving into something that can be pretty dangerous.
Rugby is not meant to be a hygienic experience. The more the players share a few of its germs, the more they will respect each other and the more they will enjoy themselves. And everyone in high places can relax and stop worrying about epidemics of violence. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Warm-up games: Cats 29 - Spears 11
The second game of the Spears. Against the Cats. Kicking off now!
24 - 5 to the Cats at Half time.
This is like War correspondence. Damn!
In the first half, tries for the Cats by Jacque Fourie, Jorrie Muller and Jarno Vermaak. For the spears a try by centre Spencer Wakeling.
16 Minutes into the second half. Spears star left wing, Lovu, late tackled. Penalty to Spears. 24 - 8 to Kieties.
27th minute. Willem Scholtz, lock of Cats yellow carded. Score still the same! Go Spears!!! :)
31st Minute. Try by January. Not converted. 29 - 8 to Kieties.
Final minute of the game - penalty by Reinhard Gerber of the Spears. Final score - CATS 29 - 11. Click here to read full article and comments.
24 - 5 to the Cats at Half time.
This is like War correspondence. Damn!
In the first half, tries for the Cats by Jacque Fourie, Jorrie Muller and Jarno Vermaak. For the spears a try by centre Spencer Wakeling.
16 Minutes into the second half. Spears star left wing, Lovu, late tackled. Penalty to Spears. 24 - 8 to Kieties.
27th minute. Willem Scholtz, lock of Cats yellow carded. Score still the same! Go Spears!!! :)
31st Minute. Try by January. Not converted. 29 - 8 to Kieties.
Final minute of the game - penalty by Reinhard Gerber of the Spears. Final score - CATS 29 - 11. Click here to read full article and comments.
Recipes: Wine drinkers 'more healthy'
In the interests of keeping Rugga World readers healthy and hale, we publish the following report from www.news24.com . Go to News24 for all your breaking SA news.
Paris - The stereotype of the beer drinker as a lover of cholesterol-boosting snacks has been borne out by a study that also confirms that wine drinkers are likelier to tuck into something light and healthy.
Four Danish researchers ploughed through 3.5 million transactions that were carried out in Danish supermarkets over six months.
The team categorised transactions as "wine only", "beer only", "mixed" or "non-alcohol".
"Wine buyers bought more olives, fruit and vegetables, poultry, cooking oil and low-fat cheese, milk and meat than beer buyers," they report in a paper published online Friday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
"Beer buyers bought more ready-cooked dishes, sugar, cold cuts, chips (crisps), pork, butter or margarine, sausages, lamb and soft drinks than wine buyers."
The findings, the authors say, add to previous research conducted elsewhere in Western cultures that say wine drinkers tend to have a higher income, level of education and awareness of healthy diet than beer drinkers.
Investigations into alcoholism may not be taking "lifestyle factors", derived from socio-economic backgrounds, sufficiently into account, they suggest.
The 3.5 million transactions were chosen at random from 98 outlets from 16 supermarkets of the Bilka chain and 82 stores of the Fotex chain.
The computerised checkout data were stored to help the supermarkets keep their inventories and could not be traced back to individual customers. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Trial Game - Cheetahs 29 - Emirates Western Force 19
South Africa's Cheetahs will play the Emirates Western Force at Subiaco Oval this afternoon at 13h00 in a trial game (4 x 20 minute quarters) prior to the Super 14 competition.
This warm-up game can be followed from 1300 CAT on the web by logging onto http://www.6pr.com.au/6pr.asx
End of the first quarter and the Force is leading 14 - 3. After some initial sound problems on this side.
Yeah!
Try by Juan Smith converted by Bosman. Penalty also by Bosman. 14 -13.
End of first half.
Penalty by Bosman. Cheetahs 16 - 14.
Try by the Force. The Force 19 - 16.
Push-over try Cheetahs. Seems like Michael Claasens. Cheetahs 21 - 19.
Conversion by Bosman. Penalty missed by Bosman. Cheetahs 23 - 19.
End of third quarter.
Penalty by Bosman. Cheetahs 25 - 19.
Dont know how but 29 -19 to Cheetahs!
End of game. Cheetahs 29 -19. Well done Cheetahs!!!!! Click here to read full article and comments.
This warm-up game can be followed from 1300 CAT on the web by logging onto http://www.6pr.com.au/6pr.asx
End of the first quarter and the Force is leading 14 - 3. After some initial sound problems on this side.
Yeah!
Try by Juan Smith converted by Bosman. Penalty also by Bosman. 14 -13.
End of first half.
Penalty by Bosman. Cheetahs 16 - 14.
Try by the Force. The Force 19 - 16.
Push-over try Cheetahs. Seems like Michael Claasens. Cheetahs 21 - 19.
Conversion by Bosman. Penalty missed by Bosman. Cheetahs 23 - 19.
End of third quarter.
Penalty by Bosman. Cheetahs 25 - 19.
Dont know how but 29 -19 to Cheetahs!
End of game. Cheetahs 29 -19. Well done Cheetahs!!!!! Click here to read full article and comments.
Recipes: Rasputin's Oxtail Potjie.
Well. It's Saturday. It's Rugby time again. None of the TV Networks realised it yet, though. So we can't watch. But we can listen. And, obviously, follow the warm-up games on the brilliantly exciting website that is Rugga World.
So, why not revisit the age-old famous tradition of an Oxtail Potjie. But with a bit of a twist. The personal recipe of a Saffa contributor living abroad! Rasputin's Oxtail Potjie. Read on!
Ingredients
- 2 large oxtails, cut into joints
- 1/3 cup cooking oil
- 2 large onions, sliced into fairly thick rounds
- 6 bay leaves
- 4 chopped cloves of garlic
- 4 large carrots, scraped and cut into chunky wheels
- the juice & zest of one lemon
- 6 cloves
- a good grind of black pepper
- a dash of Worcester sauce
- salt
- 6 potatoes, peeled and halved
- 1/3 cup brandy
- red wine to cover
Instructions
Heat the oil in the potjie, then brown the meat quickly over high heat with the onion. Add bay leaves, garlic, cloves, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcester sauce and carrots. Add enough red wine to barely cover.
Let it simmer away very slowly for four hours, then add the potatoes and the brandy and let it simmer until the potatoes are done and the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender.
Serve with rice, crispy fresh bread and green salad.
And lots of red wine (Kandas' addition. Just trying to help.) Click here to read full article and comments.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Rugby Personalities: Where are they now?
(With grateful thanks to Pieter for kindly taking the time out of his busy schedule to provide further detail on the chronology of his playing career.)If De Wet Barry can be described as the Prince, Japie Mulder as the General then perhaps it would not be out of place to call Pieter Gysbert Muller the King of recent South African inside centres.
Pieter Muller made his debut for the Springboks as a fresh faced youngster on the 15 Aug 1992 at the age of 23.
Muller played for South African schools in 1987 and 1988 (following in the footsteps of his older brother Helgard in 1981 and 1982). Muller made his debut for Orange Free State in 1990, after playing club rugby in Ireland for six months, and played for the province 25 times before moving to Natal where he stayed till 1995.
The strapping 1.87m, 100 kg debutant couldn't have chosen a more auspicious occasion on which to start his international career, not only against the mighty All Blacks at Ellis Park but in South Africa's first international after re-admittance.
Paired up with the legendary Danie Gerber, and playing outside Naas Botha, his opponents were one of the best centre pairings in history in Walter Little and Frank Bunce.
This was a quality New Zealand team from 1-15 with the likes of Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Jones, Ian Jones, Zinzan Brooke, Richard Loe, Olo Brown and Grant Fox. Their experience told as they thundered to a 2 try half-time lead of 10-0, leaving all South African supporters fearing the worst, not least the 72 000 crammed into the stadium.
Muller and Gerber were having nothing of it however, scorching in three second half tries between them with Gerber crossing twice. Ferocious defence limited the Kiwis to a solitary second half try and the game was to be decided on discipline and the battle of two of the greatest boots the game has seen.
Fox eventually prevailed with the New Zealanders running out 27-24 victors whilst we witnessed the birth of a stellar career for the young Muller.
Pieter played another 17 tests for the Boks before enduring a career threatening neck break in April 1995. One can only imagine the mental anguish, never mind physical trauma, of suffering a life threatening injury in the year South Africa were due to host a home World Cup.
It was thought at the time that we'd seen the last of the massive centre but through quiet dedication and inner resolve Muller rehabilitated himself.
Pieter headed to Australia and joined the Penrith Panthers rugby league team in 1996, where he stayed for a year, further developing his technique and physique. A year with Toulouse in 1997 preceded his return to South Africa and the Sharks.
Recalled to the Springboks in 1998, he enjoyed nine successive victories whilst amassing a further 16 tests to bring his total appearances for South Africa to 33, a highly creditable total given his 4 year absence. Beyond that he shared in the 8th and 9th highest centre partnerships for SA with Andre Snyman and Heinrich Fuls respectively. He also played five matches each with Danie Gerber and Robbie Fleck. Pieter also shares the highest caps as a centre for South Africa with John Gainsford and De Wet Barry.
Whilst most players would consider retiring at the age of 30, Pieter left SA to ply his trade in the UK. Joining the Cardiff Blues in 2000, he appeared in 80 matches for the Welsh outfit. At the same time he started developing his interest in coaching, taking his Coaching Qualifications in Wales. He assisted in coaching the Wales U19 and U21 squads and is developing his skills by doing a MSc Coaching Science degree.
Despite approaches from more glamorous clubs, he chose to move to Doncaster as Director of Rugby Development where he saw the opportunity to learn every aspect of rugby management with a progressive club.
Doncaster's faith in Muller was quickly repaid when he secured the RFU's Coach of the Month - National Two, three months in succession.
On hearing of the award, Pieter said, “I am delighted to accept the award on behalf of the Doncaster players who faced really tough matches in the last month, just as promotion was looming. There were no wobbles and we got the job done. This included a narrow win over Newbury in the best match of the whole season. We were pushed hard and were able to show just how good a side we are. There are a number of very good coaches in this league and I am just happy that, in my first season in that role, success has come early in my career”.
So, in this edition of 'Where are they now?' we can definitively say that an outstanding servant of South African rugby is in Doncaster.
Details of Pieter's club can be found at www.drfc.co.uk
Let's hope that Pieter's rugby journey brings him back home once again at some stage in his career.
Pieter Gysbert Muller, Rugga World salutes you.
Information sources: rfu.com, sporting-heroes.net, scrum.com, bbc.co.uk and www.genslin.us Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: McMeniman in surprise position change.
The Queensland based Reds have pulled a surprising positional switch for their fixture against the Blues tomorrow night.The Sydney Morning Herald provide further details.
Rising Wallabies lock Hugh McMeniman is keen to solve Australia's perennial back-row problem after being handed Queensland's No.6 jersey for the Super 14.
The Reds have shown their 2006 hand by selecting McMeniman at blind-side flanker to play the Auckland-based Blues tonight at Ballymore.
Coach Jeff Miller yesterday revealed the talented 22-year-old's Super 14 future rested in the back-row as Queensland looked for extra height and expertise in the lineout.
McMeniman has embraced the challenge and conceded it was his preference to play as a dynamic back-rower with more freedom to roam the field and carry the ball.
The move comes as a minor surprise as McMeniman was Queensland's bright light in an otherwise gloomy 2005 when he starred at lock to finish the year in the Wallabies second-row.
But his mobility and an eye-catching display in his one match at No.6 last year, in a shock move against NSW, has the Reds convinced he can make the switch work for him, the Reds and Australia.
The Wallabies have struggled to settle on a blind-side flanker since ball scavengers Phil Waugh and George Smith started playing together in the back-row in 2003.
Rocky Elsom, Smith and John Roe all shared time there in 2005 but the Test lineout struggled to win its own ball without a quality third jumper.
Roe deserved to finish in the role thanks to his impressive form in November's European tour but his height (188cm) will forever count against him with Waugh and Smith, now converted to No.8, together.
McMeniman, determined to be key ball-carrier at 113kg and 200cm, is licking his lips at the chance to get more involved in defence and attack.
"I'm definitely up for it," he said.
"I'm looking forward to having a go at it and hopefully I can play the position through this year."
Miller, for one, strongly believes McMeniman can go all the way with the positional switch.
"He's a big man, he's athletic, he gives us size in the back-row and is another line-out jumper," he said.
Skipper Roe, troubled by a foot injury, has been named to make a surprise 20-minute appearance after young No.8 Ben Mowen broke his jaw in an internal scrimmage on Wednesday night.
Mowen's injury has seen Mitchell Chapman, in a battle with Sydney recruit Cam Treloar to partner Mark Connors in the second-row, moved to No.8 for the trial against an inexperienced Blues outfit.
Miller is experimenting with his backline, naming Tim Atkinson on the wing and Julian Huxley at outside centre, due to the loss of outside backs Ben Tune (knee) and Henari Veratau (hamstring).
Elton Flatley will play his first match in seven months, sharing time at five-eighth with former Brisbane Broncos young gun Berrick Barnes, who will start.
The two Reds are on a collision course for the No.10 jersey, with Miller earmarking Lloyd Johansson at inside centre.
AAP Click here to read full article and comments.
International Teams: All Black charged for 'common assault'
The New Zealand Herald are reporting that a current All Black has been charged for assault after being arrested in the early hours of the morning.It is news that is hardly designed to delight the NZRFU, following on from claims by former All Black captain, Anton Oliver, that a 'drinking culture' had been allowed to develop in the team. There is no suggestion that the AB had been drinking but it is further publicity that will be unwelcome.
Sione Lauaki has been named as the All Black charged with common assault after an incident in central Hamilton early today.
Acting Senior Sergeant Morgan Kutia of Hamilton police confirmed a 24-year-old Waikato sports personality was arrested shortly before 5am.
The man was released before 6am and bailed to appear in Hamilton District Court on January 26.
He was charged with common assault on a 26-year-old man in Victoria St.
It was already known that the man involved was a Chiefs Super 14 player. Lauaki was named by Newstalk ZB at lunchtime.
Chiefs chief executive Gary Dawson said Lauaki had agreed his name could be released, partly to prevent speculation that the incident involved any of his other All Blacks and Chiefs teammates, and partly because media were already moving to publish his name.
"We haven't changed our view that it's a matter for the police to complete their work and if it is going to go through the judicial system then that has to take place and until that happens and we know all the facts we're not making any comment."
Dawson said it was premature to say what any internal disciplinary measures from the Chiefs might be until the outcome of the police investigation was known but Lauaki was bound by a collective employment agreement as a professional rugby player.
"It's fairly extensive in there in terms of the various options available if there is misconduct of any sort," he said.
Lauaki would not be making any statement at this stage.
"We've advised him that until he's met with his legal adviser on Monday that all communication will come through me," Dawson said.
Tongan-born, the 115kg 1.94m Lauaki has played seven tests for the All Blacks after starring for the combined Pacific Islands side is his international debut.
New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) spokesman Brian Finn said the union would not comment on any incident that was subject to a police investigation.
- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Unions / Teams: Catt to try his hand at coaching?
Perhaps with the resumption of Jonah Lomu's rugby career in the UK, it might be a fine time for Mike Catt to consider hanging up the old boots?
By David Hands
www.timesonline.co.uk
LEICESTER’S search for a head coach to replace Pat Howard at the end of this season is no nearer resolution, but they have Mike Catt in their sights. The former England utility back’s two-year playing contract with London Irish is approaching its conclusion and, in talks over a possible next stage to his career, Leicester are said to have been “hugely impressed”.
Catt, though a couple of years older than Howard at 34, would not be considered for the head coach’s role but as a backs coach. Leicester are reconsidering the parameters of the job for which they initially short-listed Scott Johnson, Jim Mallinder and John Kirwan, but, for differing reasons, they are having to start again.
Johnson, the Wales skills coach, is more likely to return to his native Australia, where a new coaching regime for the Wallabies will be in place; Mallinder, late of Sale Sharks, has committed himself to the RFU’s national academy and Kirwan, coach to Italy last year, has no experience of the Guinness Premiership.
“Leicester is not the easiest place to come into — sometimes it’s intimidating,” Howard, who has fitted into the East Midlands wonderfully well, said this week. Leicester have not yet given up hope that Howard can be persuaded to stay, but if they believe that Catt can play a part in their future, they must woo him away from the Irish.
It is likely that the exiles have spoken to him about the possibility of a player-coach role when his playing contract ends. Were he to accept a position at Leicester it would reunite him with Austin Healey, bringing together two of the freer spirits to play for England in the past ten years, even if Healey next season will play only part-time. It would also introduce a player who, during a decade with Bath, was at the heart of the inveterate rivalry between the clubs.
Leicester have Richard Cockerill in his formative years as a coach, so they would be looking for an older, more experienced figure to complete their coaching panel were Catt, with 65 caps and a World Cup winner’s medal, to join them.
Gloucester have signed Will James, the former Wales A lock, on a two-year deal. James, 29, has been playing for Cornish Pirates in National Division One and will arrive at Kingsholm in July for his first taste of the Premiership but bringing with him considerable experience, including Heineken Cup appearances with Pontypridd. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: De Villiers warns Cats
Despite the initial setback against the Cheetahs, Spears coach Pieter de Villiers is in no mood for capitulation, exhorting his players to work harder and retain the burgeoning team spirit they are developing.
Here he chats to the Dispatch, www.dispatch.co.za
De Villiers appeals for teamwork, dedication from Spears
By LUXOLO MANTAMBO
TEAMWORK and sheer dedication. This is what Southern Spears coach believes will conquer the Cats at East London's Absa Stadium tomorrow - while he warns the Gauteng side not to underestimate his team.
The inexperienced Spears team is on a team-building campaign preparing for next year's daunting task in the ultra-competitive Super 14 rugby competition - and the Cats are their next pit stop.
At the team's gruelling training yesterday, De Villiers said he wanted to see his team using tomorrow's game as a stepping stone and producing a much better performance than when they were drubbed 48-0 by the Currie Cup champions Cheetahs in their own backyard in Port Elizabeth last week.
In all fairness, it was the Spears first competitive game in the "big league*.
With his youthful team already being written off by harsh critics, De Villiers believes only the presence of a strong team spirit and sheer dedication can steer his side to victory when they lock horns with the Cats.
The Cats have problems of their own and will arrive in East London this afternoon looking for a positive results.
"Everything we do, we will have to do it as a team. We will have to fight and stand for each other.
"I know that is probably going to take time but we will get there,* De Villiers maintained yesterday.
The tough-talking Spears coach issued a stern warning to the Cats.
"Tomorrow's game is going to be a humdinger.
"No one must expect an easy game. If they underestimate us, they are in for a big surprise,* he said.
The experienced Cats team has obviously been punted by many as hot favourites to whip the unknown Spears team.
"We will have to match them in each and every area. If they come to us fighting, we will have to fight harder,* De Villiers said.
The Spears coach, whose camp has been rocked by injuries including that of captain Ashley Johnson, said he had studied the Cats' game carefully.
"They have a couple of Springboks in their side but I think they are also a bit predictable,* he said.
De Villiers is, however, still harbouring serious reservations about his tight five.
Against the Cheetahs last week, the Spears forwards were badly exposed.
"In any team, you need your forwards to be on top of things.
"We are faced with a challenge to work on our weaknesses.
"We don't have the comfort of time but I'm sure we will get it right very soon,* he said. Click here to read full article and comments.
Here he chats to the Dispatch, www.dispatch.co.za
De Villiers appeals for teamwork, dedication from Spears
By LUXOLO MANTAMBO
TEAMWORK and sheer dedication. This is what Southern Spears coach believes will conquer the Cats at East London's Absa Stadium tomorrow - while he warns the Gauteng side not to underestimate his team.
The inexperienced Spears team is on a team-building campaign preparing for next year's daunting task in the ultra-competitive Super 14 rugby competition - and the Cats are their next pit stop.
At the team's gruelling training yesterday, De Villiers said he wanted to see his team using tomorrow's game as a stepping stone and producing a much better performance than when they were drubbed 48-0 by the Currie Cup champions Cheetahs in their own backyard in Port Elizabeth last week.
In all fairness, it was the Spears first competitive game in the "big league*.
With his youthful team already being written off by harsh critics, De Villiers believes only the presence of a strong team spirit and sheer dedication can steer his side to victory when they lock horns with the Cats.
The Cats have problems of their own and will arrive in East London this afternoon looking for a positive results.
"Everything we do, we will have to do it as a team. We will have to fight and stand for each other.
"I know that is probably going to take time but we will get there,* De Villiers maintained yesterday.
The tough-talking Spears coach issued a stern warning to the Cats.
"Tomorrow's game is going to be a humdinger.
"No one must expect an easy game. If they underestimate us, they are in for a big surprise,* he said.
The experienced Cats team has obviously been punted by many as hot favourites to whip the unknown Spears team.
"We will have to match them in each and every area. If they come to us fighting, we will have to fight harder,* De Villiers said.
The Spears coach, whose camp has been rocked by injuries including that of captain Ashley Johnson, said he had studied the Cats' game carefully.
"They have a couple of Springboks in their side but I think they are also a bit predictable,* he said.
De Villiers is, however, still harbouring serious reservations about his tight five.
Against the Cheetahs last week, the Spears forwards were badly exposed.
"In any team, you need your forwards to be on top of things.
"We are faced with a challenge to work on our weaknesses.
"We don't have the comfort of time but I'm sure we will get it right very soon,* he said. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Focus on the Chiefs
Source: thesilverfern.com
Article by Bartman
After a shonky start last season, the Chiefs eventually managed to make it to 6th place on the log. This year, with the least All Black representation, and a darw that sees them play in Boerland twice and then against the Western Force in Perth, expect after the first three rounds things to be pretty grim. But this team will come back from there, they have recruited well, have leadership coming back into the fold in Tom Willis, and a core of players with enough experience to really give this first season of Super 14 a good nudge.
Changes
There is plenty to be excited about this season for the Chiefs and their fans. Starting with the returning Tom Willis, which adds not just a fine front rower to the roster, but also another strong leader to back up captain Jono Gibbes. Also the Phantom, Mils Muliaina, New Zealand's best fullback is also going to be pulling on the colours. Sam Tuitupou also joins the Tribe, and will have much to prove after his horrible year in 2005. He'll want to put that behind him, and what better stage than the Super 14, and bringing up a previously under performing team in the Chiefs. A vital midfield addition. Only three players, but all in influential positions, the Chiefs will be vastly improved for it.
Strengths
The threes. Sivivatu, Anesi and Muliaina. No way in hell would you aimlessly kick to that three, they will tear you up every time. Holah, Bates, Lauaki in the loose trio too will be good to watch. Two genuine workers in Holah and Bates, and a game breaker in Lauaki. If Lauaki can play to the form that he showed against Canterbury in last seasons NPC, then all good. Plenty of depth in the loose too, with the return of Ormsby to the Chiefs, Liam Messam, and Gibbes all waiting in the wings. The leadership Gibbes, Bates, and Willis.
Weaknesses
Strange to say with a Chiefs team, but there seems to be no real weaknesses this season, nothing glaring at any rate. With Willis back at hooker, that area is shored up. Perhaps at lock a little short on real height (Upton and Gibbes starting locks), at lineout time, but clever play can beat the lack of tall timber. Perhaps also first five - Stephen Donald yet to be proven at Super 12 level, and Hill proven to be a better 12 than 10, and that is not really saying much...
Draw
Tough with three away games to start proceedings, 2 in Beorland, the other in Perth. Then 5 of the next 6 games are at home, and 9 of the 10 in New Zealand, so travel tiredness will not be a problem come the business end of the season.
Questions
What mix will Fozzy use in midfield? Will Hill or Tuitupou be starting in the 12 shirt? Mils at fullback or at centre? Can Holah, Gibbes and Willis lead this Chiefs forward pack to glory, and reclaim All Black jerseys in the process?
Look out for
Nathan White at loosehead prop. Up to it or not, I don't know, has the size for the job, in spades! Tuitupou to push himslef back into All Black contention. Holah also, and Tom Willis, will be rated number one hooker in New Zealand at the end of the Super 12 - injuries permitting!
Prediction
With the favourable draw, some handy new players, a bit of deadwood carted away, it is a promising season ahead for the Chiefs. Semi final contenders, possibly. Between 6th-4th.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Unions / Teams: Japan place focus on raising level of national team
By David Handswww.timesonline.co.uk
Our correspondent finds the country taking a positive approach to the disappointment of their failed bid to stage the World Cup.
WHATEVER claims may have been advanced this month on their behalf, or the development of the sport in Asia, Japan’s face is firmly to the future. Having overcome their initial disappointment that their bid to stage the 2011 World Cup was unsuccessful last November, the Japanese union is intent on sustaining the positive image that surrounded their bid.
There has been mild embarrassment over the spat involving the letter sent by the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) to the IRB regarding the transparency of the bid process; also over the publicity attending Japan’s exchange of e-mails with Jamie Scott, the ARFU secretary, in the immediate aftermath of the voting that ended with the award of the tournament to New Zealand.
At the same time, Japan have received encouragement to bid again, perhaps in 2015, when, if the usual rituals are preserved, the World Cup should return to the northern hemisphere. Whether that would bring them into conflict with England, one of their supporters in November, remains to be seen. The RFU bid unsuccessfully, with a radical new tournament structure, for the 2007 World Cup but has yet to decide whether it would return to the fray in three years’ time, when the tender process for 2015 is likely to begin.
The RFU is, in any case, critical of the present methodology used by the IRB in determining the host union. “The award of hosting a RWC tournament under the current bidding system is not necessarily based upon organisational capabilities or financial strength,” its strategic plan published last year said.
“It is strongly influenced by the emotional and political needs of the global game. It is, therefore, questionable whether a competitive bidding system is appropriate . . . or whether it would be better to adopt a rotation system between selected eligible countries for, say, five RWCs ahead.”
The RFU believes that that would offer a better long-term strategy for the global game and balance the need to maximise World Cup revenues against the need to stage a World Cup in a developing country such as Japan or the United States. Under such a system, the IRB could have awarded the 2011 tournament to New Zealand and told Japan, at the same time, to prepare for 2015. As it is, Japan have decided that, having achieved such an administrative presence on the world stage last year, they must improve their playing strength as a matter of urgency.
“We have learnt many lessons from last year’s bid, but that is closed now,” Koji Tokumasu, the Japanese RFU chief executive, said. “That has now become our starting point for the future. But we understand that, under the current bidding system, we might not achieve success in the future unless we change, so we have to make our national team stronger.”
To that end, Japan are not only eagerly awaiting the inaugural Pacific competition, to be played in June and July, but are making overtures to other tier-two countries. The new competition, involving the Junior All Blacks, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, as well as Japan, takes the place for an initial three years of the Super Cup, of which Japan are the holders. It seems certain, therefore, that Japan will be talking to those countries who were involved in the Super Cup (Canada, the United States and Romania), as well as the likes of Spain, who visited Tokyo in November, and Portugal, accepting the possibility that there would be financial implications in inviting other countries to play regular international matches.
“If we fail to show the rest of the world in four years’ time that Japan is growing, maybe our image will go down,” Tokumasu said. “That’s why we will work even harder than before to improve the performance of the national side and that’s why we need a longer international programme, to demonstrate we are getting better. We had some nice catchphrases for our bid last year, but now people will be looking at us in a different light.” Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Sharks in an Orca pod
The Shark. Razor-toothed piscine hunter of the deep ocean. Man-eater. A 1981 US survey found,the word SHARK induced the most terror. But alongside the greatest predator of all, Sharks are clown fish. Sleek black and white nine ton mammal. The Orcas. They outgun Sharks in every sense. Faster, bigger and much much more intelligent using complex communication and co-operative tactics. They hate sharks. Sharks threaten their babies. Crossing paths with Orcas is certain death to Sharks. After this Super 14 we’ll see a Sharks carcass wash up on the gentle shores of Currie Cup rugby covered in bite marks from thirteen Orcas.
The old Murphy moniker (If anything can go wrong, it will) applies for the Sharks this year. Everything is stacked against them getting even one win, and they will follow the past few year’s form and finish dead stone last, making place for Tony McKeever’s young Spears to have a shot at greatness while the Banana Boys groggily take a year out to get up from their own peel they slipped on. Why do I say this?
The past two years count against them
In the heady days of Mark Andrews, Lem and Teich, the Sharks had everyone’s number in this competition, starting their campaign with 2nd, 4th and 3rd. From 2002 it was 10th, 11th, 7th (an aberration that came to an end when Butch James couldn’t play in the home games) and finally 12th. Nothing has changed from 2005. The same ageing players, a few younger and more inexperienced ones, their open tiff with SARU when Oregon Hoskins lead a failed palace coup, and injuries. They look under prepared this year. The new coach has also failed to deliver in the Currie Cup. He starts as a green head coach for Super 14.
Their schedule is a road to disaster.
They start against the Chiefs in Durban. The Chiefs are probably 4th strongest of the Kiwi teams, but with All Blacks Byron Kelleher, Sione Lauaki and dangerous Sitiveni Sivivatu this is not a team to be trifled with. The week afterward the Currie Cup champion Cheetahs visit the Shark tank. A stern test. This is where it goes pear-shaped.
Next up they hit the Australiasian road, starting their overseas campaign against the worst possible opponents, the Crusaders. Then the Waratahs, Brumbies and Highlanders in frosty Antarctica. With all shuttling between Australia and New Zealand the Sharks are going to spend a lot of time in airports – and with jet lag.
Then they come home to a relieving easier game against fellow cellar dwellers, the Reds. Following this they fly to Jozi for a showdown with a classy Cats outfit, before they face the mighty Blues starring Doug Howlett, Luke McAllister, Keven Mealamu and Joe Rokocoko. This is followed up with another trip to Gauteng to play the Bulls in their blue kraal. Then back onto a plane to face the Bok studded backline of the Stormers in Durban and lastly debutante Aussies the Force in Durban.
What a shocking schedule. The Sharks will be on planes every Saturday evening or Sunday morning throughout their campaign. Every single game requires flying and only their first two matches and the last two don’t require them to travel.
This travel crazy itinerary will count against them. They face difficult teams away from home in successive weeks, e.g. the Bulls and Blues. The schedule is going to be their undoing.
The crazy schedule means key players need rest and there’s no backup
The Sharks only named 29 players, so that leaves room for 2004’s inspirational Butch James to come back into the side. So let’s look at their make-shift team. Even this is crazy. There’s space for Butch James, John Smit or Tony Brown, but not all three. So who will have the 30th spot?
Their back three will probably start as Russel, Mkhize and Mentz. Mentz is strong, big and fast, but has failed at this level before. Russel is a breakaway player. He needs space to dominate and his defence is questionable. Like most of the young guns coming through at the moment, Mkhize is fast. But that’s about it. In the back-up they have pint sized, but promising JP Pietersen and Odwa Ndungane, a player with only speed in his arsenal. Defensively this back three is suspect and any opponent would be well advised to spin it wide where people like Clyde Rathbone, Joe Rokocoko, Sitiveni Sivavatu, Bryan Habana and Ashwin Willemse will wreak havoc on this back three.
In the midfield the Sharks are reasonably represented with another 16 Valve in Adie Jacobs, promising but inexperienced Freestate journeyman Andries Strauss and non passing defensive hole Ncgobani Bobo. Without Butch James and Tony Brown, the flyhalf berth looks decidedly vulnerable with make-shifts long in the tooth Percy Montgomery, pocket rocket utility Brent Russel and scrumhalf convert Ruan Pienaar, who failed there in Currie Cup 2005.
Only at scrumhalf are the Sharks ably represented with Ruan Pienaar fulfilling a good role as back-up to competent Jake White outcast Craig Davidson.
The back row is served with Samoan international Daniel Farani, who could not get a contract with a Kiwi side, ageing AJ “Fabio” Venter, incorrectly identified “star” Solly Tybilika and back-up in geriatric Warren Britz. Against the likes of Danie Rossouw, Schalk Burger, Richie McCaw, George Smith, David Lyons, Jerry Collins and Mose Tuiali’I they will be seriously outgunned in the size and speed departments. Much like sharks against orcas.
The lock department looks useful with Bok impact Albert Van Den Berg backed by similarly ageing former Bok and Bulls enforcer Johan Ackerman. The problem is that neither are particularly good jumpers or ball competitors so while Van Den Berg may make a useful blindsider and Johan Ackerman a useful ruck buster, neither inspire confidence against the likes of Big Vic, Jannes Labuschagne, Bakkies Botha, Ali Williams, Chris Jack and Daniel Vickerman. The backup is effectively non-existent. Nobody in their right mind would call them Super 14 players which augurs poorly for the Sharks.
The front row features promising and inexperienced BJ Botha, ageing Deon Caarsten, who has never impressed, and promising Bismarck Du Plessis to replace inspirational Bok skipper John Smit. They have to face people like the wily Matt Dunning, The Bulls front row, North Harbour All Blacks Keven Mealamu and strongman Tony Woodcock. But in their second match they face Bok pairing Os Du Randt and strngman deluxe CJ Van Der Linde. This will be enough to spell doom.
No Bok skipper and no experience in the coaching set-up
Yes David Campese came over to help, but he has absolutely no coaching experience and his current rugby knowledge is limited to whining about Eddie Jones in The Australian and running a sports shop. Dick Muir was an outstanding player and his replacement of pariah Kevin Putt caused a breath of relief for fans. His coaching experience at this level as head coach is non existent.
Then we have a Director of Rugby who single-handedly did his best to give every male in South Africa a cap and tried his best to destroy our game. Okay, he lead the Sharks to two Currie Cup Finals where they lost, but he’s credibility is shot for all times and always.
John Smit makes a massive contribution to the Sharks success. He’s out with an injury. Afterward, he faces a ban. He will probably only become involved when the Orcas have done the worst damage, and the Sharks carcass is washing toward the gentle shore where the Spears await their turn to have a shot.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: More bad news for Bulls
Team to play Russia announced
Source: News24
More bad news arrived for the Blue Bulls yesterday: Victor Matfield's injury is worse than expected and will keep him from leading the side for a considerable time. Matfield is also one of the ten players announced from which the Bulls' Player of the Year will be chosen.
The knee injury which Matfied picked up in the warm-up match against the Cats at Ellis Park last Saturday is not responding to treatment as expected and is likely to keep him sidelined him for up to six weeks. The initial report indicated only a month.
The new prognosis means Matfield will probably miss the Bulls first Super 14 match against the Cheetahs on 10 February, as well as their clash with the Brumbies the following weekend.
This makes the Bulls warm-up match against Stormers at Newlands on Saturday an mportant trial for Gary Botha and Francois van Schouwenburg especially. Botha will captain the Bulls on Saturday and with Matfield's vice-captain Fourie du Preez also out injured, Botha should prepare himself to lead the Pretoria side against the Cheetahs and the Brumbies too.
Van Schouwenburg, the new man in the No 5 jersey, has huge shoes to fill, but is not someone to shy away from a challenge.
Players of the Year
Matfield is one 10 players that have been nominated as the Blue Bulls' Rugby Player of the Year for 2005. The others are: Anton Leonard, Bakkkies Botha, Gary Botha, Jacques Cronjé, Wynand Olivier, Johan Roets, Fourie du Preez, Akona Ndungane and Bryan Habana.
Team to play Russia
The team to play Russia at Loftus tomorrow is:
Riaan van der Bergh; John Mametsa, Joey Mongale, Jacques Louis Potgieter, Trompie Montshinga; Len Olivier, Danie van der Merwe; Pedrie Wannenburg, Derek Kuün, Hilton Lobberts, Cliff Milton, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Ruan Vermeulen, Kobus van der Walt, Harry Vermaas.
Reserves: Adriaan Strauss, Werner Kruger, Tonie Gronum, Hendrik Blignaut, Lutho Nyenka, F J Pienaar, Dawie Steyn, Emile Verster, Jerome Williams.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Source: News24
More bad news arrived for the Blue Bulls yesterday: Victor Matfield's injury is worse than expected and will keep him from leading the side for a considerable time. Matfield is also one of the ten players announced from which the Bulls' Player of the Year will be chosen.
The knee injury which Matfied picked up in the warm-up match against the Cats at Ellis Park last Saturday is not responding to treatment as expected and is likely to keep him sidelined him for up to six weeks. The initial report indicated only a month.
The new prognosis means Matfield will probably miss the Bulls first Super 14 match against the Cheetahs on 10 February, as well as their clash with the Brumbies the following weekend.
This makes the Bulls warm-up match against Stormers at Newlands on Saturday an mportant trial for Gary Botha and Francois van Schouwenburg especially. Botha will captain the Bulls on Saturday and with Matfield's vice-captain Fourie du Preez also out injured, Botha should prepare himself to lead the Pretoria side against the Cheetahs and the Brumbies too.
Van Schouwenburg, the new man in the No 5 jersey, has huge shoes to fill, but is not someone to shy away from a challenge.
Players of the Year
Matfield is one 10 players that have been nominated as the Blue Bulls' Rugby Player of the Year for 2005. The others are: Anton Leonard, Bakkkies Botha, Gary Botha, Jacques Cronjé, Wynand Olivier, Johan Roets, Fourie du Preez, Akona Ndungane and Bryan Habana.
Team to play Russia
The team to play Russia at Loftus tomorrow is:
Riaan van der Bergh; John Mametsa, Joey Mongale, Jacques Louis Potgieter, Trompie Montshinga; Len Olivier, Danie van der Merwe; Pedrie Wannenburg, Derek Kuün, Hilton Lobberts, Cliff Milton, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Ruan Vermeulen, Kobus van der Walt, Harry Vermaas.
Reserves: Adriaan Strauss, Werner Kruger, Tonie Gronum, Hendrik Blignaut, Lutho Nyenka, F J Pienaar, Dawie Steyn, Emile Verster, Jerome Williams.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Super 14: Focus on Highlanders
Source: thesilverfern.com
Article by Southern Man
For the Highlanders 2006 will hopefully be the year that they get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The form of the franchise memebers during the NPC can only point to this year being a much more improved compared to the last few.
Changes
The Highlanders have had quite a few changes coming into the 2006 season, But to me the biggest change is that of the defensive coach. We have lost our defensive master mind in John Haggart to Canterbury, and have bought in North Otago and New Zealand divisional coach Glenn Moore. Haggart was the mind behind both the highlanders and Otago's defensive systems that most opposition teams found very hard to penetrate. But with him gone and Moore being an unknown quantity at the top level who knows what will happen to our much vaunted defence.
Big Paul Miller had a very consistent season, but when he got snubbed by all the higher level selectors he decided to leave our shores to earn some big money. So we have had to find a replacement at 8, this task was made harder when Grant Webb had to withdraw from selection to take some time off to get some surgeory. But we struck it lucky when Andrew Blowers came up on the draft. Blowers is a far more rounded player than Miller, and a more talented version of Webb. Blowers will compliment our loose trio well with his pace and skills. So no real lose in that change.
Highlanders and Otago stalwart Carl Hoeft farewelled New Zealand last year to join up with his old mate Kees Meeuws in France. But his departure won't be such a huge loss as Southlands Clarke Dermody and Otago's Chris King have shown that they are more than equiped to handle what ever is thrown at them. Then in the backround we have the Southland giant Jamie MacKintosh developing nicely.
Anthony Tuitavake's line breaking and great finishing ability will be a great loss to the Highlanders backline, but with the ever improving Neil Brew i think we can cover that loss.
Strengths:
Our major strength has to be our front five. With Dermody, Oliver, Hayman, Ryan and Donnelly we have a tight five that should be feared by most other super 14 teams. Our front row provides a very stable foundation from the scrum and offer great support for our loose forwards. Anton is still a great contribuiter with ball and hand around the fringes, while close to the try line he is nearly impossible to stop. While Clarke and Carl will be found right in the middle of all the dirty stuff. In the locking department we have two of the better ball winners going around in Ryan and Donnelly, But they are more than just ball winners they both have a great work ethic around the pitch.
Our mix in the halves should be a strong point too, as long as Evans doesn't get injured. Smylie was arguabley the find of the NPC and Cowan managed to get back to no3 in the All Black half back pecking order. Both are very strong runners with a decent enough passing game. But if Evans were to get injured this strength to turn into a very large weakness.
Weakness:
Our major weakness would be depth in a few areas, mainly first five and the midfield. at first five we have two untried rookies backing up Evans in the form of Ryan Bambry and Callum Bruce. Bambry has onlyplayed second division regularly as a starter and a season for Otago off the bench. While Bruce only has one NPC off the bench. While in the midfield we have no cover at second five ,while at centre we have Ben Smith who has played most of his first class rugby on the wing and Matt Saunders is also seen as an option to cover here. He started off his first class career at centre for North otago as a teenager.
The Draw
We have a very tough draw, espically the first five weeks where we have a three week trip to South africa, play the Crusaders away and our only home game being against the Blues. If we can get out of this with ten or fifteen points then we would have done very well.
Questions?
Who will the halfback be at seasons end?
How will Paul Williams come back to top level rugby?
Will the defence hold without John Haggart there?
Will Andrew Blowers be able to cope with the pace of Southern hemisphere rugby after being away for so long?
One to watch
Live wire flanker Tim Boyes will be one to keep a keen eye on if he gets a chance. Boyes was loaned to Southland for the 2005 NPC and made every post a winner, and by doing so he forced the hands of the Highlanders selectors. He is in the Richie mcCaw mould in that he is great on the ground and has the uncanny ability to get a turn over in the blink of an eye, he also has a brillant defensive work rate.
Prediction.
The first five weeks are very crucial if we start well then I think we could be a good bet for the semi's. But if we struggle then it could be a long season. I think we will manage quite well in that tough period. So I forsee a finish somewhere between 3rd and 7th.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Brannasnacht: Rugby legends of the past - Pre 1990
In keeping with our weekly themes, I thought it might be nice to remember the rugby legends of yesteryear. I have split it into pre 1990 and post 1990, but tonight we will focus on the pre 1990 era(Sorry PissAnt, you can use Fleckie next time).
As usual we will get together at 21H00 and remember although the nicknames will be rugby related, the discussion is all but rugby related. And I only ask ONCE. Looking forward to tonight and remember to bring your favourite drink.
Should you need help in selecting your legend and to get more information on him, please visit http://www.genslin.us/bokke/.
Please note that some moderation might be used tonight.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Cheetahs to play inexperienced Force squad
Source: News24
Bloemfontein - The Cheetahs and the Western Force of Australia clash in Perth this weekend and will both be looking for a morale-boosting win in this warm-up ahead of a grueling Super 14 season.
The Western Force coach John Mitchell named a relatively inexperienced squad to take on the Bloemfontein-based team with 19 of the 27 players making their first appearance at this level.
Of the players with Super 12 experience only prop Angus Scott and locks John Welborn and David Pusey have more than 20 caps.
The match, to be played at the Subiaco Oval on Sunday, will go a long way in realizing which of these new franchises will last the pace in this competition.
The Cheetahs can boast four Springboks
The Cheetahs can boast four incumbent Springboks in their starting lineup with flyahlf Meyer Bosman, scrumhalf Michael Claasens, prop Os Durandt and flank Juan Smith all having represented their country last year.
Added to this the SA team boast Keith Lowen, a one-time All Black who has made 83 appearances for Waikato in New Zealand's NPC (domestic provincial competition) and 55 for the Chiefs in the Super 12.
The Cheetahs have an excellent opportunity this weekend to gain valuable experience against a fledgling team and could quite conceivably come home with an away win, boosting confidence ahead of a marathon away trip in the competition proper.
Cheetahs coach Rassie Erasmus, well known locally for his tactical acumen, will definitely come back with key information of securing a Super 14 win against the new Australian franchise.
The Western Force squad:
Richard Brown, Vitori Buatava, Pek Cowan, Scott Daruda, Tim Davidson (vc), Gavin Debartolo, Josh Fuimaono, Josh Graham, Gareth Hardy, James Hilgendorf, Matt Hodgson, Luke Holmes, Brock James, Tajhon Mailata, Tai McIsaac (c), David Te Moana, Pat O'Connor, Chris O'Young, Alexander Peden, David Pusey, Haig Sare, Angus Scott, Brett Stapleton, Ben Ward, John Welborn, AJ Whalley, Matt Windle.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: AJ back for the Sharks
The Sharks have announced their team to take on the Leopards tomorrow night in Durban.
Dick Muir has followed the Bulls and Cats’ example of a week ago and picked two teams to take on the Leopards.
In what I am sure will be a relief for most Shark’s fans, AJ Venter will be in action to partner Albert van der Berg in one of the teams.
Muir has also partnered Ruan Pienaar and Percy Montgomery as the halfback pairing in the one team, with Sandile Nxumalo doing duty at number 9 in the other team.
The Sharks teams have been named the Great White team and the Raggies.
Teams:
Great White
Backs
JP Pietersen, Odwa Ndungane, Craig Burden, Grant Rees, Brad Barrit, Steve Meyer, Sandile Nxumalo
Forwards
Braam Immelman, Nico Breedt, Solly Tyibilika, Steven Sykes, Johan Ackerman, Pierre du Toit, Bismarck du Plessis, Danie Saayman
Ruggies
Backs
Greg Goosen, Dusty Noble, Gcobani Bobo, Andries Strauss, Brett Hennessey, Percy Montgomery, Ruan Pienaar
Forwards
Jacques Botes, Daniel Farani, Warren Britz, Albert van den Berg, AJ Venter, Brent Moyle, Jody Jenneker, Deon Carstens
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: The transformation bugbear today (2
The close of 2005 saw the obligatory semi-final clashes between the existing powerhouses of SA rugby with the teams who are leaders in transformation, the Lions and WP, both losing to the “black wingers only” sides the Cheetahs and Bulls. In the final we saw the obligatory black wingers from the Bulls, but the Cheetahs also played Kabamba Floors aside from one wing and their fullback. Jake White followed this up with a similar strategy in his EOYT. And the present state of transformation in rugby?
With Jake White playing the obligatory “black wings only” approach to transformation of rugby in Europe he did black rugby no favours. So with the end of the season, where do we stand now?
The EOYT did black rugby players no favours
In 2004 Jake White went to Europe with what was then a record number of black players in the Bok squad. Brian Van Rooyen claimed quotas were dead and transformation was in. In 2005 the squad was back to its Straueli-esque best. Out of the 28 players selected, there were nine black players. The usual suspects, with Wayne Julies, Breyten Paulse, Bryan Habana, Lawrence Sephaka and Solly Tybilika among the names. Only Paulse, Sephaka and Habana actually got game time. A far cry from a team that fielded six black players in the match 22 against Australia at Ellis Park.
At the end of the season, Jake White could find nine players, but only three who actually got real game time. Much like Straueli.
Promising youngsters like Jongi Nokwe, Earl Rose, Tim Dlulane and Bevan Fortuin were left at home.
The “Charter”
The predators are gathering as the sickening zebra that is SARU stumbles from one scandal to another. The politicians and ANCYL in particular are annoyed with rugby. SARU are summonsed to a parliamentary sports committee meeting to explain their lack of transformation. Unlike government the excuse ‘legacy of apartheid’ is not open to them.
Instead of using the chance to display their management diversity SARU sends two old style Afrikaners to face the sports committee, Willie Basson and Johan Prinsloo. They present SARU with a “Charter” on transformation, similar in style to the BEE Charters the Financial Sector, IT and Mining created to escape the effects of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.
The Charter contains a scorecard and weighting. It also contains mysterious ‘penalties’ for non compliance. The most controversial part of the weighting in the scorecard is that players reflecting racial demographics of the country counts for 60 points out of 100. This completely misses the real origin of rugby players, i.e. skills development and investment in the youth.
The SARU directive: Thou shalt….
In December Mveleli Ncula of SARU directed that each Super 14 team should have eight black players in its squad, six in the match day 22 and 4 in the starting XV. The media was stunned but, given that SARU was closed over the festive season, nothing more was said. Then in January there is a meeting between coaches and administrators. Ostensibly it is to let the coaches of the Super 14 share ideas and standardise the South African playing style to make things easier for Jake White. But Johan Prinsloo uses it to reiterate Mveleli Ncula’s “Thou Shalt…”-directive. A well known rugby website reports that this has been reduced to eight in the squad, four in the 22 and 2 in the run-on XV. But Johan Prinsloo refutes this in Business Day and on the SARU website and stands by Mveleli’s original pronouncement.
The Charter and the Directive lose other elements from sight
An excellent BEE contributor is one that scores 60 or above on the scorecard (out of 100). Co-incidence that the weight of player representation is counted at 60? It looks less and less that way. In a normal scorecard, the major weighting is given to ownership, skills development and procurement. A representative workplace is seen as only a 10% of the scorecard.
The focus of BEE is development and growth, with the idea that this will create representivity. But SARU does not see it this way. They want to impress and already unimpressed government. But, is government just unimpressed because of the slow pace of transformation? No. Their major gripe is the shambles in the management of SA Rugby. Transformation comes second. Every time Makinkese Stofile has threatened interference in SA Rugby it has been because of its inherent nepotism and corruption, and not just player representivity.
What does government really want?
When there’s an issue about player representivity, it has always been the discredited radical mouthpiece of Jacob Zuma, ANCYL that makes the noise. But ANCYL is the fringe of the ANC. The place where they put rabble rousers and not leaders. The last time ANCYL had good leadership was when twosome OR Tambo and NR Mandela were ANCYL heads. Anyone remember Peter Mokaba? Former Minister of the “highly influential” Department of Science Arts and Culture. Dies in mysterious circumstances of a lung disease when he’s too young to suffer it because of age. Who is the current head of ANCYL. Bet you can’t name him now.
No, government is not actually interested in black numbers on the field as much as what they are interested in the development of the game among black people.
My friend Sandile is from the Eastern Cape and he is a fanatical rugby supporter. Last year he interrupted an important urgent Saturday business meeting and said he couldn’t bear not watching the Boks play Australia. He is high up in the ANC too.
He also reckons that SARU are useless because they don’t understand that player representivity is a long term goal of government. Instead they should be concentrating to ensure that the game is played in the dusty streets of Katlehong and Alexandra and ensuring that the next generation of player represent the demographics of the country. The government knows that the numbers will come. They want to see leadership change. But not just that, they want to see the old style management go and a move to a more corporate style of management.
Well, SARU had that opportunity. But they elected to focus on the silliness of just ensuring the players are demographically representative, without focusing on growing the game, changing the leadership or changing the style of governance.
In the next article we look at the radical proposed changes SARU ignored to protect the fatcats at the top. Click here to read full article and comments.
With Jake White playing the obligatory “black wings only” approach to transformation of rugby in Europe he did black rugby no favours. So with the end of the season, where do we stand now?
The EOYT did black rugby players no favours
In 2004 Jake White went to Europe with what was then a record number of black players in the Bok squad. Brian Van Rooyen claimed quotas were dead and transformation was in. In 2005 the squad was back to its Straueli-esque best. Out of the 28 players selected, there were nine black players. The usual suspects, with Wayne Julies, Breyten Paulse, Bryan Habana, Lawrence Sephaka and Solly Tybilika among the names. Only Paulse, Sephaka and Habana actually got game time. A far cry from a team that fielded six black players in the match 22 against Australia at Ellis Park.
At the end of the season, Jake White could find nine players, but only three who actually got real game time. Much like Straueli.
Promising youngsters like Jongi Nokwe, Earl Rose, Tim Dlulane and Bevan Fortuin were left at home.
The “Charter”
The predators are gathering as the sickening zebra that is SARU stumbles from one scandal to another. The politicians and ANCYL in particular are annoyed with rugby. SARU are summonsed to a parliamentary sports committee meeting to explain their lack of transformation. Unlike government the excuse ‘legacy of apartheid’ is not open to them.
Instead of using the chance to display their management diversity SARU sends two old style Afrikaners to face the sports committee, Willie Basson and Johan Prinsloo. They present SARU with a “Charter” on transformation, similar in style to the BEE Charters the Financial Sector, IT and Mining created to escape the effects of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.
The Charter contains a scorecard and weighting. It also contains mysterious ‘penalties’ for non compliance. The most controversial part of the weighting in the scorecard is that players reflecting racial demographics of the country counts for 60 points out of 100. This completely misses the real origin of rugby players, i.e. skills development and investment in the youth.
The SARU directive: Thou shalt….
In December Mveleli Ncula of SARU directed that each Super 14 team should have eight black players in its squad, six in the match day 22 and 4 in the starting XV. The media was stunned but, given that SARU was closed over the festive season, nothing more was said. Then in January there is a meeting between coaches and administrators. Ostensibly it is to let the coaches of the Super 14 share ideas and standardise the South African playing style to make things easier for Jake White. But Johan Prinsloo uses it to reiterate Mveleli Ncula’s “Thou Shalt…”-directive. A well known rugby website reports that this has been reduced to eight in the squad, four in the 22 and 2 in the run-on XV. But Johan Prinsloo refutes this in Business Day and on the SARU website and stands by Mveleli’s original pronouncement.
The Charter and the Directive lose other elements from sight
An excellent BEE contributor is one that scores 60 or above on the scorecard (out of 100). Co-incidence that the weight of player representation is counted at 60? It looks less and less that way. In a normal scorecard, the major weighting is given to ownership, skills development and procurement. A representative workplace is seen as only a 10% of the scorecard.
The focus of BEE is development and growth, with the idea that this will create representivity. But SARU does not see it this way. They want to impress and already unimpressed government. But, is government just unimpressed because of the slow pace of transformation? No. Their major gripe is the shambles in the management of SA Rugby. Transformation comes second. Every time Makinkese Stofile has threatened interference in SA Rugby it has been because of its inherent nepotism and corruption, and not just player representivity.
What does government really want?
When there’s an issue about player representivity, it has always been the discredited radical mouthpiece of Jacob Zuma, ANCYL that makes the noise. But ANCYL is the fringe of the ANC. The place where they put rabble rousers and not leaders. The last time ANCYL had good leadership was when twosome OR Tambo and NR Mandela were ANCYL heads. Anyone remember Peter Mokaba? Former Minister of the “highly influential” Department of Science Arts and Culture. Dies in mysterious circumstances of a lung disease when he’s too young to suffer it because of age. Who is the current head of ANCYL. Bet you can’t name him now.
No, government is not actually interested in black numbers on the field as much as what they are interested in the development of the game among black people.
My friend Sandile is from the Eastern Cape and he is a fanatical rugby supporter. Last year he interrupted an important urgent Saturday business meeting and said he couldn’t bear not watching the Boks play Australia. He is high up in the ANC too.
He also reckons that SARU are useless because they don’t understand that player representivity is a long term goal of government. Instead they should be concentrating to ensure that the game is played in the dusty streets of Katlehong and Alexandra and ensuring that the next generation of player represent the demographics of the country. The government knows that the numbers will come. They want to see leadership change. But not just that, they want to see the old style management go and a move to a more corporate style of management.
Well, SARU had that opportunity. But they elected to focus on the silliness of just ensuring the players are demographically representative, without focusing on growing the game, changing the leadership or changing the style of governance.
In the next article we look at the radical proposed changes SARU ignored to protect the fatcats at the top. Click here to read full article and comments.
McKeever: The Southern Spears Corporate Culture...........
Article by Tony McKeever, CEO of the Southern Spears.
I have seen the Willie Basson tome and missive and it is exhausting to read and penetrate the 80+ pages of biblical print.
Instead, the Southern Spears has authored its own "charter" or corporate culture and distributed it to its 3 unions leadership.
I happen to be in a paradoxical situation in that as custodian of the Southern Spears, one would imagine that I would need to be as prescriptive as possible to drive transformation and representivity of South African Rugby.
Instead, it has occurred naturally and I am absolutely awed by how rugby has brought our rugby communities and people together in a fellowship.
I expect another gathering of 15,000 people to demonstrate this point and if anyone is in the neighbourhood of East London on Saturday at 10H00 - get a RED something or other garment and come to the ABSA stadium and watch a festival of rugby - we will field over 150 rugby players with Border B playing EP B and then Border A playing EPA and then the Spears vs.s the Cats.
In Swellendam on the same day SWD have a game against Boland and will field another 44 players, so all in all we will have close on 200 senior elite rugby players playing on Saturday the 21st January - quite a statement for a mini franchise.
Here then is the Spears Charter.
Transformation Charter must be Our Corporate Culture
Too many organisations go about the wrong way in creating corporate culture change.
Corporate cultures are created by people and the change in corporate culture will only be changed by the people passionate about rugby in our three regions!
While there are many aspects and Steps that one can learn from corporate culture change, rather than pay lip service to a Transformation Charter, it needs to be dealt with in terms of execution, so that the Southern Spears and its three shareholder Unions, becomes a leader amongst rugby organisations in South Africa and abroad, quite simply because it represents some 2.5 million rugby supporters in this region and 10.5 million rugby supporters in the country.
I have suggested below, that there are Ten Steps that will help the Southern Spears and Border, Eastern Province and SWD, implement a new revitalised Rugby Corporate Culture and become respected organisations by our 3 Shareholder Unions executive, namely Border, Eastern Province and South Western Districts, our rugby clubs, schools, our Sponsors and rugby supporters. These are:
Step 1: Effective corporate culture change must begin with changing mindsets.
No change can be implemented without first a change in mindset. By changing mindsets, refer to the five components of mindsets, Blindspots, Assumptions, Complacency, Habits and Attitudes.
Changing mindsets is about uncovering blindspots with regard to areas for improvement. It is about questioning assumptions of thinking, behaviour and practices that are no longer relevant or useful. It is about reducing complacency in the workplace to increase innovation, productivity and performance.
Changing mindsets is about eliminating unproductive habits or practices that do not add value to rugby in our region. It is about inculcating a positive attitude towards oneself, work, people, the management and the Southern Spears as a whole.
With mindset change, one then is aware of the need to change the policies, procedures and practices accordingly.
Step 2: Successful organisations have corporate culture aligned to their visions, mission, strategies, goals and their environment.
It is generally agreed that the purpose of corporate culture is to develop an internal environment that is conducive for people to perform effectively. However, a corporate culture will only be relevant and useful if it is aligned to the Southern Spears vision, mission, strategies, goals and the external environment it operates in.
What this implies, is that the Southern Spears, must first get its vision and mission right before deciding on the desired corporate culture. Of course, having determined the right vision and mission it can then formulate the relevant goals and strategies.
In the case of the Southern Spears, the culture change led by our leadership, should focus on aligning the culture towards the new revitalised mission for Southern Spears to "Make It The People’s Team!" and become the best rugby organisation in the world.
Step 3: To achieve credibility and win commitment of people, policies, procedures and practices must be consistent with the new culture. Consistency is an important factor in gaining credibility of any change program.
Saying one thing and doing another thing is the surest way of losing credibility Once a new culture is identified and the desired core values and behaviour communicated to employees, it is important to simultaneously change the existing policies, procedures and practices in the workplace to align to the new culture.
Thus, for example if a new culture promotes openness, it is important to share information and disseminates relevant information freely and openly based on needs rather than hierarchy.
Step 4: To get a buy in of corporate culture change requires a strong rationale It is true that most culture change takes a lot of effort and time to overcome resistance. An effective way to overcome resistance is provide a strong, compelling and sound rationale for the culture change.
Such a rationale must often incorporate not just what is good for the Southern Spears but also for the individuals derived from the shareholders of the Southern Spears. It should also communicate to the 3 Unions staff, that such a culture should also add meaning to their work and bring about personal satisfaction in the process.
Step 5: To ensure company-wide internalisation of the new culture, the Southern Spears should utilise every channel of communication and every opportune occasion to promote and communicate the new belief system, core values and desired patterns of behaviour to every level of staff from the top right down to the lowest level of staff.
The Southern Spears should use formal and informal channels of communication to undertake influence and educate others on the new culture.
Step 6: To achieve deep and sustainable culture change, requires a participative approach. Culture change is by nature a deep and fundamental change.
Such a change requires not just opening up minds but also touching hearts, which is what the Southern Spears are about. Passion and Making It The Peoples Team! People must really not just think it but they must really feel it before they behave in the way of the desired culture.
As the saying goes, "People do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care". Showing care goes beyond opening one's mind, it touches the heart.
Step 7: The commitment of the Southern Spears 3 Unions top management and Coaches, is essential for the success of culture change. The success of culture change requires union-wide acceptance.
A limited change in ways of thinking and working within a small unit or department does not constitute a culture change in organisation. To have company-wide practice of new corporate culture requires the commitment of the Southern Spears and the top management and coaches of Border, Eastern Province and South Western Districts.
Commitment here refers to not only the initial launching but the continued support and follow through.
Step 8: To speed up culture change leverage on "opinion leaders"
Every resource is needed to help speed up the culture change process. A good way to tap into the Southern Spears resource is to seek out "opinion leaders" to assist in promoting the new culture.
Step 9: Creating A Powerful Dream Of The New Culture – which is ‘To Win!’ Every great achievement starts with a powerful dream. There is a compelling force of change in creating a powerful dream for the Southern Spears and Border, Eastern Province and SWD. And great changes come from powerful dreams.
Nelson Mandela had a powerful dream when he said in his inauguration speech on the 10th May 1994, "When you touch the soil of our land you feel a powerful sense of renewal".
The Southern Spears has millions of supporters throughout the three regions who touch, fall and get up off the soil of our land on a weekly basis. Our Southern Spears Team will go out there and do it for us today.
It should come across as exciting, inspiring and worthwhile for everybody associated with the Southern Spears.
Step 10: Recognise and reinforce success early and frequently.
A culture change is an ongoing process and may take a while to see tangible results. Too often leaders wait too long before they start to recognise, reward or reinforce the motivation of people in the process of implementing culture change.
If the wait at Southern Spears is too long, people will run out of stamina and the interest will simmer down and the assimilation process will come to a halt. It is thus important to look up for "early wins" and "small wins" along the way of the Southern Spears culture change implementation and recognise and reward people to ensure they stay motivated.
Let’s link it to our Matches.
Let’s link it to our Southern Spears Team, to our Border, Eastern Province and SWD teams and their feeder clubs and schools and what they do for us.
Let’s link it to our Mobile Rugby Training Units.
Let’s link it to our four Coaches and their coaching staff.
Let’s link it to our 3 Unions and to the Southern Spears.
Let’s ‘Make It Our People’s Team!’ Click here to read full article and comments.
I have seen the Willie Basson tome and missive and it is exhausting to read and penetrate the 80+ pages of biblical print.
Instead, the Southern Spears has authored its own "charter" or corporate culture and distributed it to its 3 unions leadership.
I happen to be in a paradoxical situation in that as custodian of the Southern Spears, one would imagine that I would need to be as prescriptive as possible to drive transformation and representivity of South African Rugby.
Instead, it has occurred naturally and I am absolutely awed by how rugby has brought our rugby communities and people together in a fellowship.
I expect another gathering of 15,000 people to demonstrate this point and if anyone is in the neighbourhood of East London on Saturday at 10H00 - get a RED something or other garment and come to the ABSA stadium and watch a festival of rugby - we will field over 150 rugby players with Border B playing EP B and then Border A playing EPA and then the Spears vs.s the Cats.
In Swellendam on the same day SWD have a game against Boland and will field another 44 players, so all in all we will have close on 200 senior elite rugby players playing on Saturday the 21st January - quite a statement for a mini franchise.
Here then is the Spears Charter.
Transformation Charter must be Our Corporate Culture
Too many organisations go about the wrong way in creating corporate culture change.
Corporate cultures are created by people and the change in corporate culture will only be changed by the people passionate about rugby in our three regions!
While there are many aspects and Steps that one can learn from corporate culture change, rather than pay lip service to a Transformation Charter, it needs to be dealt with in terms of execution, so that the Southern Spears and its three shareholder Unions, becomes a leader amongst rugby organisations in South Africa and abroad, quite simply because it represents some 2.5 million rugby supporters in this region and 10.5 million rugby supporters in the country.
I have suggested below, that there are Ten Steps that will help the Southern Spears and Border, Eastern Province and SWD, implement a new revitalised Rugby Corporate Culture and become respected organisations by our 3 Shareholder Unions executive, namely Border, Eastern Province and South Western Districts, our rugby clubs, schools, our Sponsors and rugby supporters. These are:
Step 1: Effective corporate culture change must begin with changing mindsets.
No change can be implemented without first a change in mindset. By changing mindsets, refer to the five components of mindsets, Blindspots, Assumptions, Complacency, Habits and Attitudes.
Changing mindsets is about uncovering blindspots with regard to areas for improvement. It is about questioning assumptions of thinking, behaviour and practices that are no longer relevant or useful. It is about reducing complacency in the workplace to increase innovation, productivity and performance.
Changing mindsets is about eliminating unproductive habits or practices that do not add value to rugby in our region. It is about inculcating a positive attitude towards oneself, work, people, the management and the Southern Spears as a whole.
With mindset change, one then is aware of the need to change the policies, procedures and practices accordingly.
Step 2: Successful organisations have corporate culture aligned to their visions, mission, strategies, goals and their environment.
It is generally agreed that the purpose of corporate culture is to develop an internal environment that is conducive for people to perform effectively. However, a corporate culture will only be relevant and useful if it is aligned to the Southern Spears vision, mission, strategies, goals and the external environment it operates in.
What this implies, is that the Southern Spears, must first get its vision and mission right before deciding on the desired corporate culture. Of course, having determined the right vision and mission it can then formulate the relevant goals and strategies.
In the case of the Southern Spears, the culture change led by our leadership, should focus on aligning the culture towards the new revitalised mission for Southern Spears to "Make It The People’s Team!" and become the best rugby organisation in the world.
Step 3: To achieve credibility and win commitment of people, policies, procedures and practices must be consistent with the new culture. Consistency is an important factor in gaining credibility of any change program.
Saying one thing and doing another thing is the surest way of losing credibility Once a new culture is identified and the desired core values and behaviour communicated to employees, it is important to simultaneously change the existing policies, procedures and practices in the workplace to align to the new culture.
Thus, for example if a new culture promotes openness, it is important to share information and disseminates relevant information freely and openly based on needs rather than hierarchy.
Step 4: To get a buy in of corporate culture change requires a strong rationale It is true that most culture change takes a lot of effort and time to overcome resistance. An effective way to overcome resistance is provide a strong, compelling and sound rationale for the culture change.
Such a rationale must often incorporate not just what is good for the Southern Spears but also for the individuals derived from the shareholders of the Southern Spears. It should also communicate to the 3 Unions staff, that such a culture should also add meaning to their work and bring about personal satisfaction in the process.
Step 5: To ensure company-wide internalisation of the new culture, the Southern Spears should utilise every channel of communication and every opportune occasion to promote and communicate the new belief system, core values and desired patterns of behaviour to every level of staff from the top right down to the lowest level of staff.
The Southern Spears should use formal and informal channels of communication to undertake influence and educate others on the new culture.
Step 6: To achieve deep and sustainable culture change, requires a participative approach. Culture change is by nature a deep and fundamental change.
Such a change requires not just opening up minds but also touching hearts, which is what the Southern Spears are about. Passion and Making It The Peoples Team! People must really not just think it but they must really feel it before they behave in the way of the desired culture.
As the saying goes, "People do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care". Showing care goes beyond opening one's mind, it touches the heart.
Step 7: The commitment of the Southern Spears 3 Unions top management and Coaches, is essential for the success of culture change. The success of culture change requires union-wide acceptance.
A limited change in ways of thinking and working within a small unit or department does not constitute a culture change in organisation. To have company-wide practice of new corporate culture requires the commitment of the Southern Spears and the top management and coaches of Border, Eastern Province and South Western Districts.
Commitment here refers to not only the initial launching but the continued support and follow through.
Step 8: To speed up culture change leverage on "opinion leaders"
Every resource is needed to help speed up the culture change process. A good way to tap into the Southern Spears resource is to seek out "opinion leaders" to assist in promoting the new culture.
Step 9: Creating A Powerful Dream Of The New Culture – which is ‘To Win!’ Every great achievement starts with a powerful dream. There is a compelling force of change in creating a powerful dream for the Southern Spears and Border, Eastern Province and SWD. And great changes come from powerful dreams.
Nelson Mandela had a powerful dream when he said in his inauguration speech on the 10th May 1994, "When you touch the soil of our land you feel a powerful sense of renewal".
The Southern Spears has millions of supporters throughout the three regions who touch, fall and get up off the soil of our land on a weekly basis. Our Southern Spears Team will go out there and do it for us today.
It should come across as exciting, inspiring and worthwhile for everybody associated with the Southern Spears.
Step 10: Recognise and reinforce success early and frequently.
A culture change is an ongoing process and may take a while to see tangible results. Too often leaders wait too long before they start to recognise, reward or reinforce the motivation of people in the process of implementing culture change.
If the wait at Southern Spears is too long, people will run out of stamina and the interest will simmer down and the assimilation process will come to a halt. It is thus important to look up for "early wins" and "small wins" along the way of the Southern Spears culture change implementation and recognise and reward people to ensure they stay motivated.
Let’s link it to our Matches.
Let’s link it to our Southern Spears Team, to our Border, Eastern Province and SWD teams and their feeder clubs and schools and what they do for us.
Let’s link it to our Mobile Rugby Training Units.
Let’s link it to our four Coaches and their coaching staff.
Let’s link it to our 3 Unions and to the Southern Spears.
Let’s ‘Make It Our People’s Team!’ Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Focus on Western Force
Source: thesilverfern.com
Article by Lee Grant
The advent of the 4th Oz Super team is the most exciting thing to happen in Oz rugby since the start of the professional era, but Aussies shouldn’t expect miracles from them.
Strengths
John Mitchell was responsible for getting the bulk of the Force players to Perth. He has a track record of getting the most out of limited material and is exactly the kind of coach the Force needed.
The back three, with Staniforth and Ioane on the wings and Shepherd at fullback, will be potent if they ever get the pill. Then there is utility Hilgendorf available to play any position from 10 to 15.
Forward leadership should be impressive from Sharpe, Cannon and Fava, but I fear the backs will be rudderless.
Weaknesses
The midfield is not distinguished and Junior Pelesasa might not be ready to start the season anyway the last I heard; so MacKay might have to play 12 with Hilgendorf slotting into 13. Daruda, the Oz 2005 U/19 captain might have to start as flyhalf before his time, or they might bring in the 2004 Taranaki flyhalf, James. It’s all a bit makeshift and I fear it will be an ongoing problem.
Scrums: It seemed last year that whenever LH Hardy came on to replace Dunning the NSW scrums went bad. NSW will miss the strong scrummaging hooker, Cannon, but the jury is still out on TH Fitter. I fear that the two likely Queensland locks won’t be of much help to the props either. Assistant coach Ben Darwin and Mitchell will have a huge job getting all the T5 on the same page.
Inexperience: One of the reasons we wanted a 4th team was to assess players who couldn’t get a chance elsewhere and it was inevitable that the Force would have more than their fair share of new guys who have no, or little, Super12 experience in their first year. It will not be surprising that, in the absence of an NPC to grade them outside of amateur rugby, a few of them have no credentials to play Super14 rugby, and some will be found wanting. This will apply especially to bench players.
Draw
Any draw is going to be tough for a brand new team and one of the intriguing side-shows of the Super14 will be that the Force will finish their season against the Cats, Cheetahs and Sharks in the RSA. On paper these 3 teams are candidates to be relegated; so performing well against the new Oz team in the last few rounds could be critical to their staying in the comp next year.
Questions
Nearly all the players are from the eastern states. Will they bond strongly together as strangers in a strange land, or will they flop? How successful will Mitchell be at getting the best out of his team leaders and at developing players so they can create a competitive team better than the parts, some of them spare parts, from the word ‘go’?
Look out for
Digby Ioane is one of the youngsters that the Reds were appalled at missing out on. I think he is a future Wallaby but we haven’t seen him play in anything like an NPC match yet and therefore don’t know if his junior performances will transpose into Super14 ability.
Brett Stapleton might not get onto the park but if he does he will be the fastest Oz pro rugby player we have ever had. The 18 y.o. has clocked 10.27 for 100 metres and although he still has a lot to learn about rugby, he isn’t the worst schoolboy wing I ever saw. Frankly, it will be a pleasure to see an Oz player with lightning pace after years of seeing other nations trot out their smiling speedsters.
Prediction
No miracles but 12th looks achievable and will be a fair effort in the first year.
Click here to read full article and comments.
General discussions: Anton Rupert passed away
Source: Fin24.co.za
Dr Anton Rupert, undoubtedly South Africa's most successful entrepreneur and one of the greatest businessmen the country has produced, has died.
He was 89 years old.
His wife, Huberte, died just over two months ago after a long struggle against cancer.
His death follows shortly after the release of his biography, written by former editor of Die Burger Ebbe Dommisse and Willie Esterhuyse.
A spokesperson for the Ruperts confirmed on Thursday that he died peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday night.
The Rupert business empire includes Richemont, which sports luxury names Cartier, Mont Blanc, Rothmans and Dunhill, and stakes in Distell, British American Tobacco, FirstRand, Absa, TransHex, Unilever, Nampak, TotalSA, Rainbow Chicken and Medi-Clinic through Remgro.
The Ruperts also hold stakes in e.tv and Vodacom through soon-to-be sold VenFin.
According to his biography, Rupert's business career spanned over sixty years. He started global empire with a personal investment of just £10 in 1941 and climbed the rich ladder to the Forbes list of 500 wealthiest families worldwide.
His assets are currently estimated at $1.7bn.
Anton Rupert was born in Graaf Reinet on 4 October 1916. Our most sincere condolences goes out to his family and friends. May you find peace in the knowledge that he has played a significant role in making our country what it is today. Thank you Dr Anton Rupert.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: New boy Schalk Brits to lead Stormers against the Bulls
Source: SuperRugby
Newly contracted hooker Schalk Brits will lead a second string Stormers team in their warmup match against the Bulls on Newlands on Saturday. Naas Olivier will play his first game at flyhalf alongside Paul Delport, whilst many Bolanders get the chance to stake their claims.
Brits learned his rugby in the Western Cape and played for WP u.21. He was not highly rated in his home town, moved to Gauteng and made name for himself with the Lions and the Cats before he was contracted to return to his roots.
Stormer's coach Kobus Van der Merwe said that Brits was captaining the side in the absence of De Wet Barry, recently operated on but expected back for the opening Super 14 game, as he had impressed with his leadership skills in the time he had been in the Cape and was also a good leader of the Lions pack last season.
"When I left the Cape I never wanted to come back. I was so bitter about the way things were done here that all I wanted to do was beat Western Province on the field," said Brits on Wednesday.
"However, Nick contacted me last year and he convinced me that even if things have not changed completely just yet, they are in the process of changing. I felt that the style of rugby played by WP and the Stormers would suit me.
"Some say this is a second string team, but we are playing the Bulls' top side, so we can prove quite a point both individually and for the team."
Brits leads a side loaded with newcomers. Justin Peach will play his first game for the Stormers at fullback, while Bolander Piet van Zyl is in for his first game at centre. He partners Gus Theron, who is not even in the official Stormers squad at the moment. As expected, Naas Olivier plays his first game at flyhalf alongside Paul Delport, the South African under-21 captain who was drafted to the Cats last season.
Justin Melck is another in a long list of second stringers getting a chance to stake a claim. The flanker is partnered by Hendrik Gerber, who played Currie Cup rugby last year but was injured for the entire 2005 Super 12 campaign.
Bolanders certainly get more of a look-in under the new management than they did under the old. Henk Eksteen is at lock for this game, while it is anticipated that Jonghi Nokwe and Ryno Benjamin, who have impressed in training, will play the final warmup game against the Spears.
Stormers team: Justin Peach, Egon Seconds, Piet Van Zyl, Gus Theron, Tonderai Chavahanga, Naas Olivier, Paul Delport, David Hendricks, Justin Melck, Hendrik Gerber, Gerrie Britz, Henk Eksteen, Attie Winter, Schalk Brits (captain), Dougie Wheatley.
Reserves: Huia Edmonds, Tommy Dixon, Duimpie Theron, Mpho Mbiyozo, Charl Blom, Jacques Badenhorst / Sarel Potgieter, Johan Pietersen. Click here to read full article and comments.
Newly contracted hooker Schalk Brits will lead a second string Stormers team in their warmup match against the Bulls on Newlands on Saturday. Naas Olivier will play his first game at flyhalf alongside Paul Delport, whilst many Bolanders get the chance to stake their claims.
Brits learned his rugby in the Western Cape and played for WP u.21. He was not highly rated in his home town, moved to Gauteng and made name for himself with the Lions and the Cats before he was contracted to return to his roots.
Stormer's coach Kobus Van der Merwe said that Brits was captaining the side in the absence of De Wet Barry, recently operated on but expected back for the opening Super 14 game, as he had impressed with his leadership skills in the time he had been in the Cape and was also a good leader of the Lions pack last season.
"When I left the Cape I never wanted to come back. I was so bitter about the way things were done here that all I wanted to do was beat Western Province on the field," said Brits on Wednesday.
"However, Nick contacted me last year and he convinced me that even if things have not changed completely just yet, they are in the process of changing. I felt that the style of rugby played by WP and the Stormers would suit me.
"Some say this is a second string team, but we are playing the Bulls' top side, so we can prove quite a point both individually and for the team."
Brits leads a side loaded with newcomers. Justin Peach will play his first game for the Stormers at fullback, while Bolander Piet van Zyl is in for his first game at centre. He partners Gus Theron, who is not even in the official Stormers squad at the moment. As expected, Naas Olivier plays his first game at flyhalf alongside Paul Delport, the South African under-21 captain who was drafted to the Cats last season.
Justin Melck is another in a long list of second stringers getting a chance to stake a claim. The flanker is partnered by Hendrik Gerber, who played Currie Cup rugby last year but was injured for the entire 2005 Super 12 campaign.
Bolanders certainly get more of a look-in under the new management than they did under the old. Henk Eksteen is at lock for this game, while it is anticipated that Jonghi Nokwe and Ryno Benjamin, who have impressed in training, will play the final warmup game against the Spears.
Stormers team: Justin Peach, Egon Seconds, Piet Van Zyl, Gus Theron, Tonderai Chavahanga, Naas Olivier, Paul Delport, David Hendricks, Justin Melck, Hendrik Gerber, Gerrie Britz, Henk Eksteen, Attie Winter, Schalk Brits (captain), Dougie Wheatley.
Reserves: Huia Edmonds, Tommy Dixon, Duimpie Theron, Mpho Mbiyozo, Charl Blom, Jacques Badenhorst / Sarel Potgieter, Johan Pietersen. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Focus on Auckland Blues
Source: thesilverfern.com
Article by Mingster
There is a fresh look to the Blues in 2006, with a new coach, and core of players leaving the franchise. After a disappointing 2004 and 2005 season where they finished 7th despite a late surge, they will be out to impress this season after successful Auckland and North Harbour NPC campaigns.
Changes
There was much controversy over the selection of the 2006 Blues squad, and in the end, one must say the 28-man is weaker than expected largely because of the implementation of the draft system which has seen talents such as Brad Mika, Paul Williams, Isaia Toeava, Andrew Blowers and Sam Tuitupou drafted to other franchises. From a NZ rugby standpoint, this is great news as it allows the chance for the above to obtain consistent game time, but from a Blues point of view, they should feel robbed. Nucifora was forced to pick the flaky Rua Tipoki by the NZRFU, and as a consequence, they had to let an All Black go.
There is a record nine Harbour players in the squad, compared to five in 05, and four in 04. The newcomers include lanky blindside-cum-lock Anthony Boric, hardworking lock Kurtis Haiu, under-rated Northland halfback John Senio, the unheralded prop Mike Noble and pacy outside backs George Pisi and Vili Waqaseduadua. The Blues have gained the services of the returning Troy Flavell, who will be out to impress after being lured back to NZ by Graham Henry. Brent Ward and Anthony Tuitavake will also be playing in Blues' colours in 06, after representing the Hurricanes and Highlanders respectively last year.
Altogether there are 10 changes from the squad in 05, and the most notable are the departures of Xavier Rush, Mils Muliaina, Carlos Spencer and the unavailability of Jerome Kaino.
Gains: Anthony Boric, Tim Dow, Troy Flavell, Kurtis Haiu, Mike Noble, George Pisi, Anthony Tuitavake, Rua Tipoki, Vili Wagaseduadua, Brent Ward
Losses: Taufa’ao Filise, Jerome Kaino, Sam Tuitupou, Mils Muliaina, Xavier Rush, David Gibson, Tom Harding, Rudi Wulf, Brad Mika
Strengths
With half of the squad possessing international experience, the Blues are a very impressive side on paper as usual. Even with Muliaina moving to the Chiefs, the Blues still have the most potent set of outside backs in the competition with All Black wingers Joe Rokocoko and Doug Howlett, as well as exciting utility Isa Nacewa and the ever reliable Brent Ward.
The tight five has a solid look to it, with Rawlinson the only one without All Black credentials, although he will come close once he is eligible in June. Ali Williams has improved vastly, and will be the lineout kingpin, and there will be good backup from the rugged Rawlinson as well as the promising Haiu and Boric. The scrum will be vital to securing good ball for the lethal backs to work from, and the Blues’ possess arguably the best scrum in the land with All Blacks Mealamu, Afoa, Taumoepeau and the world class Woodcock.
Weaknesses
It’s a new look Blues squad, and so far no captain has been named yet. Although there is a nucleus of experienced players such as Mealamu, Ali Williams, MacDonald, Devine, Howlett, Collins, picking a captain is not so straightforward. Collins led Auckland to the NPC title last year, but he isn’t assured of a starting spot in the Blues. Some have called for Williams’ to shoulder the extra responsibility as a sign of his growing maturity, but it’s still probably a season too early. The Blues will miss Rush’s direct approach from previous seasons.
Luke McAlister will be vital to the team’s success, and will probably be utilized at second-five with Lavea at 10. Even though the backline is filled with potential, there is inexperience in the midfield as well as 10. Should Devine continue to struggle with injury problems, rookie John Senio would be next in line with Gibson ruled out of the S14. A lack of depth in key positions could be exposed should an injury crisis arise like in 05.
Draw
Only two home games in the first seven rounds should lead to a strong surge in the business end of the S14.
Questions
Who will be the captain? Angus MacDonald is my pick.
Can the Blues start well in the competition and will they lag behind again by mid-competition?
What will be the midfield combination?
Look out for
Isa Nacewa. The flying Fijian is a rare genuine utility with the ability to play right through the backline with the exception of halfback. He has applied for a dispensation to play for the All Blacks after representing Fiji for a few minutes in the 03WC. Had Nacewa been available last year, he would have came very close to making the UK touring squad. Even though he played 12 in the NPC, he will likely be used at fullback or centre, where his attacking skills will be very handy.
Likely starting XV
15 Nacewa, 14 Howlett, 13 Tuitavake, 12 McAlister, 11 Rokocoko, 10 Lavea, 9 Devine; 8 MacDonald (c), 7 Braid, 6 Collins, 5 Williams, 4 Rawlinson, 3 Afoa, 2 Mealamu, 1 Woodcock
Prediction
S14 Champions.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Super 14: Gary Botha to lead Bulls
Gary Botha will lead the Bulls team that will face the Stormers at Newlands this Saturday in their second warm-up game.
Injuries to the two first choice captains, Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez, has forced Heyneke to select an unlikely but very capable candidate to lead the Bulls this Saturday.
Of even greater concern for the Bulls team and their fans, is the fact that Fourie du Preez is almost certainly out for 6 weeks and Matfield’s chances of taking the field against the Cheetahs are growing slimmer by the day.
Botha has been appointed captain only for this game with Derick Hougaard as his deputy.
Teams:
Bulls
Backs:
Marius Delport, Akona Ndungane, JP Nel, Dries Scholtz, Bryan Habana; Derick Hougaard, Neil Powell
Forwards:
Jacques Cronje, Danie Rossouw, Tim Dlulane, Francois van Schouwenburg, Bakkies Botha, Andries Human, Gary Botha (C), Jaco Engels
Stormers
Backs:
Justin Peach, Tonderai Chavanga, Piet van Zyl, Gus Theron, Egon Seconds; Naas Olivier, Paul Delport
Forwards:
David Hendricks, Hendrik Gerber, Justin Melck, Gerrie Brits, Henk Eksteen, Attie Winter, Schalk Brits (C), Dougie Wheatley.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Recipes: Methos se duidelike Kreefpot.
Photo: Methos' potjie at Tietiesbaai (2004).
As promised our section on famous Rugga World Recipes are now up and running. Just the type of recipes for a Saturday during Rugby with friends. Let it be said, however, that certain things are best left in our well-known commentator vleis' Sweetest and Purest Language and, especially our visitors from far abroad must please excuse us for the occasional use of Afrikaans. Those of you who are really interested in these Afrikaans recipes may email us and we will do our best to translate it for you. Boertjie is especially good with bringing over the atmosphere as well! :)
Our first recipe is from our friend Methos.
Bestandele
6-8 Krewe
1 pakkie bacon
1 pakkie marinara mix
1 pakkie sampioene - gesny in helftes
1 ui - gekap.
2 blikkies tuna
1 pakkie squid heads
1 pakkie swart mossels
Ander bykomstighede
Olyfolie
Knoffel - so 5 huisies - gecrusch - Maar regte knoffel wat jy self skil. Nie die wat klaar gecrush in die winkel kry nie.
Sout
Peper
1 Pakkie Mushroom Sop
1 x 250 ml Room.
Vat 'n lekker groot swart pot, so No 3 se kant gooi vol water\see water as jy naby die see is. Sit op vuur tot die water kook. Sodra water begin kook gooi die kreef in. Sit die deksel op en sodra hy weer begin kook begin jy te time. 10 minute. Haal die kreef uit en sit hulle in 'n lee kom. Vou hulle sterte oor die rand en laat hulle koppe afwys. Breek die horingkies af sodat die water uit hulle kan loop.
Stuur 'n kind of die vrou om die pot te gaan was. Sodra hulle die pot terug bring sit hom weer op die vuur. Laat hom so rukkie warm word.
Gooi olyfolie in en gooi uie in saam met die bacon. Roer so rukkie en gooi dan die knoffel by. Ook so eetlepel sout en 'n teelepel varsgemaalde swart peper. Sodra hulle lekker bruin is gooi so bietjie wyn by en gooi vir jou self ook 'n glas. Gooi die Marinara mix in asook die squid heads. Gooi maar so bietjie water ook by.
Nou laat hom oor baie rustige kole aanprut terwyl jy die volgende doen.
Vat die kreef wat nou al so bietjie afgekoel behoort te wees en draai die dop in een rigting en die stert in die ander rigting. Nie te ver nie. Draai nou weer in die ander rigting. Jy wil hom die afbreek nie maar net mooi netjies uitskroef. As hy uit is sit neer en herhaal met al die ander krewe.
As al die strerte mooi uit is hou so 2 van die busse met die meeste bene en gee die res vir die vrou en kinders wat sit en kwyl sodat hulle die bene en busse kan uit eet met 'n pot Koo Mayonaise.
Vat 'n sker of mes en knip die sterte aan die onderkant oop. Haal die vleis uit en gooi die dop weg. Haal die dermpie uit en breek die stert in stukke. Die stert as jy hom legnte gewys oopvou bestaan uit 3 dele, skeur die 2 buitenste dele af en breek in 2, Die middelste dun stukkie hoef jy nie te breek nie.
Gooi nou die Squidheads in en gooi een blikkie Tuna in met die water en alles en van die ander blikkie net die vleis.
Roer deurmekaar en sê vir die vrou sy kan solank rys opsit.
Laat hom so paar minute prut en as die rys amper reg is doen die volgende.
Hervul wynglas. Vat die pakkie sampioen sop en gooi in 'n koppie. Gooi klein bietjie water in en meng todat dit 'n "paste" vorm. Maak seker jy krap die poeier teen die kante weg. Gooi die koppie nou vol water en meng deeglik. Gooi die Koppie sop in die pot en sit die sampioene ook in asook die kreefstukke, roer. Gooi ook die mossels in. Sit deksel op en laat die sous dik word.
As die rys reg is gooi die blikkie room in en gee 'n rustige roer. Breek die kreefpote af van die 2 busse wat jy uitgehou het en gooi oor die kos vir so bietjie kleur as jy deelneem aan 'n potjiekos kompetiesie. As jy regtig die judges wil beindruk kan jy ook so hand vol gerasperde kaas oor die strooi.
Vat die pot tafel toe en bedien oor rys saam met 'n lekker kouerige witwyn soos Groote Post se Sauvignon Blanc. Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Sport: Van Der Wath called up to national squad
According to News24, Johan van der Wath has at long last received a much deserved call up to the national squad after it was decided to send Kallis home.
Van Der Wath, who has impressed throughout the last two seasons in the domestic competitions for the champion side, the Eagles, will fly to Australia on Wednesday to join the Protea squad.
It has been decided it would be in the team’s best interest to send Kallis home were he will receive treatment on his elbow which has been troubling him for the last couple of weeks now. Lorgat believes it is best to get Kallis fully fit for the return leg of the Australian - South African series.
"In keeping with our player management philosophy, Jacques
is coming home for treatment so that we can get him fully ready for the
return series against Australia in South Africa in February-March.”
Lorgat also believes that Van Der Wath, who will earn his first cap if selected, is more than capable of representing South Africa at the highest level.
"With great interest we have been watching Johan's performances and good
form for South Africa A and for the Eagles in the domestic competitions.
"We believe that he has much to offer both now and in the future".
Kallis is the third South African to be sent home with an injury since the South Africans arrived in Australia. Mkaya Ntini and Andre Nel is already back in South Africa.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Personalities: Japie Mulder is back!
Japie Mulder is back! But to those (Cats) supporters that thought he will take the field one last time this year to add muscle to the Cats midfield, I have some bad news for you.
Japie Mulder has been appointed as head coach of the Bulldogs rugby union.
According to newly appointed forwards coach Andy Royle, Japie looks extremely motivated and is already grinding the guys as he did his opposition as a player.
Royle believes one of the Bulldogs’ downfall last year was their fitness and motivation, and although they lost a couple of players that moved to other clubs and unions, Royle believes there is reason to be positive.
“We lost a couple of players who have moved on to other clubs. The new faces we are seeing at practices are encouraging with a number of quality new players that have already signed with us. We also have a few surprises up our sleeve,” Royle said.
The Bulldogs will aim at a semi-final spot this year and Royle believes the team should become more ruthless in pursuit of a win, an attitude Japie will definitely be able to instill in his players in this RugRat’s view.
Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: Paulse's dilemma highlights question of burn out
Article by Boertjie
Springbok wing Breyton Paulse's possible return to South Africa again highlights the question of player burn out. The seasons keep on growing longer, with more and more matches added – so something will have to give. But this should not be the Currie Cup competition, says Alan Solomons. So what then?
Peter Bills reports that it's to early to say, but it looks likely that Paulse will end his sojourn in France after only one season: in June, which is the earliest date to back out.
Last year Paulse played rugby from January 3 to December 23. He then flew back to Cape Town, spent 10 days at home. Feeling drained and mentally and physically tired, his request for an extra few days off was declined.
"It's fair to say I now understand this question of player burn out," Paulse said. He also played in 2000 and 2001 without missing a game, and was also "very tired" then.
Officially Paulse will only decide his future next month after talks with Springbok coach Jake White.
"I am very aware that I must look after myself carefully if I am to have a chance of making the World Cup squad," he said.
It is not only the amount of rugby that gets to him. Clermont is geographically isolated, very cold and away matches means endless hours travelling by bus.
Paulse's dilemma differs little from that of the other potential members of the Springbok WC squad. This year there is a minimum of 13 Super 14 matches in the enlarged competition, whilst the Tri-Nations have two extra tests added – to be followed by a strenuous Currie Cup competition and the customary end of year tour.
Last year White tried in vain to withdraw his squad from the Currie Cup, and understandably so: The coaches have their contracts on the line and the unions are demanding their pound of flesh. Let it also be said that the players wants to make as much money as possibble – so whilst they may silently complain, they were also all takers for the planned extra test against Italy in December.
Trimming the Currie Cup
is not the answer
Limiting their participation in the Currie Cup may seem like the best way out, but experienced coach and rugby man Alan Solomons warns against this solution.
He regards the withdrawal of some or all of the leading Boks from domestic rugby as an "impending disaster" and says such an act would have serious long-term consequenses for the game in this country.
"Taking out the best players does two things. It immediately reduces the value of that tournament but also minimises the chances of some younger players developing into future Springboks. It is important for international players to be playing with club players to lift the standards overall.
"The gap between provincial rugby and Super 14 will widen, making it largely impossible for most players to make that step-up. The bread and butter of any country's rugby has to be a strong, highly competitive provincial competition."
SA Cricket already
paying the price
One can argue that South African cricket is already paying the price for too much international cricket, which hardly ever sees the stars turn out for their franchises. Three-day matches are played before the proverbial man and his dog, whilst the pajama version is also luring less and less spectators.
Not only that. The competition is of such a low standard that it becomes more and more difficult for players to step up to the next level - as it also becomes hard for selectors to judge the worth of their performances in local cricket.
A solution will have to be found for rugby - but judging by the shenanigans in Saru, this is the last place one can look to.
In the meantime one thing remains certain: the times of many players' careers stretching over 10 or even just seven years are something of a bygone era.
Sources: Sunday Tribune; Cape Argus
Click here to read full article and comments.
Springbok wing Breyton Paulse's possible return to South Africa again highlights the question of player burn out. The seasons keep on growing longer, with more and more matches added – so something will have to give. But this should not be the Currie Cup competition, says Alan Solomons. So what then?
Peter Bills reports that it's to early to say, but it looks likely that Paulse will end his sojourn in France after only one season: in June, which is the earliest date to back out.
Last year Paulse played rugby from January 3 to December 23. He then flew back to Cape Town, spent 10 days at home. Feeling drained and mentally and physically tired, his request for an extra few days off was declined.
"It's fair to say I now understand this question of player burn out," Paulse said. He also played in 2000 and 2001 without missing a game, and was also "very tired" then.
Officially Paulse will only decide his future next month after talks with Springbok coach Jake White.
"I am very aware that I must look after myself carefully if I am to have a chance of making the World Cup squad," he said.
It is not only the amount of rugby that gets to him. Clermont is geographically isolated, very cold and away matches means endless hours travelling by bus.
Paulse's dilemma differs little from that of the other potential members of the Springbok WC squad. This year there is a minimum of 13 Super 14 matches in the enlarged competition, whilst the Tri-Nations have two extra tests added – to be followed by a strenuous Currie Cup competition and the customary end of year tour.
Last year White tried in vain to withdraw his squad from the Currie Cup, and understandably so: The coaches have their contracts on the line and the unions are demanding their pound of flesh. Let it also be said that the players wants to make as much money as possibble – so whilst they may silently complain, they were also all takers for the planned extra test against Italy in December.
Trimming the Currie Cup
is not the answer
Limiting their participation in the Currie Cup may seem like the best way out, but experienced coach and rugby man Alan Solomons warns against this solution.
He regards the withdrawal of some or all of the leading Boks from domestic rugby as an "impending disaster" and says such an act would have serious long-term consequenses for the game in this country.
"Taking out the best players does two things. It immediately reduces the value of that tournament but also minimises the chances of some younger players developing into future Springboks. It is important for international players to be playing with club players to lift the standards overall.
"The gap between provincial rugby and Super 14 will widen, making it largely impossible for most players to make that step-up. The bread and butter of any country's rugby has to be a strong, highly competitive provincial competition."
SA Cricket already
paying the price
One can argue that South African cricket is already paying the price for too much international cricket, which hardly ever sees the stars turn out for their franchises. Three-day matches are played before the proverbial man and his dog, whilst the pajama version is also luring less and less spectators.
Not only that. The competition is of such a low standard that it becomes more and more difficult for players to step up to the next level - as it also becomes hard for selectors to judge the worth of their performances in local cricket.
A solution will have to be found for rugby - but judging by the shenanigans in Saru, this is the last place one can look to.
In the meantime one thing remains certain: the times of many players' careers stretching over 10 or even just seven years are something of a bygone era.
Sources: Sunday Tribune; Cape Argus
Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Sport: Former world number one makes successful comeback
Photo: COMEBACK KID: A triumphant Martina Hingis of Switzerland in Melbourne yesterday after she made a successful comeback to top class tennis after three years. Picture: AP
Source: Daily Dispatch. Sapa-AFP
Tournament favourites Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters powered into the second round of the Australian Open yesterday on a day that saw Martina Hingis make a successful comeback to Grand Slam tennis.
Hingis looked like the Swiss Miss of old on her return to a tournament she won three times between 1997-99 and last played in 2002 before injuries cut her career short.
The 25-year-old demolished Russian 30th seed Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour to claim her highest ranking scalp since launching a comeback earlier this month following a three-year injury layoff.
"I still need to do this and that but I've played a couple of tournaments now and I feel I can get better. I love coming back here, this stadium has been so good to me," said a beaming Hingis.
Federer also sent a chilling warning to his rivals by swatting Uzbekistan wildcard Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in ruthless fashion.
The Swiss top seed, who on Monday equalled US great Pete Sampras' mark of 102 weeks as world number one in the ATP rankings, was in devastating form and showed why he is the overwhelming favourite to land his second Australian Open.
Federer, who confessed to knowing nothing about his opponent, broke Istomin's serve six times and was always in command.
"It's never easy in the first round of a Grand Slam," he said.
"But the scores are good and I'm very happy with the result. It's a good start to the tournament." Germany's Florian Mayer is next up to face the Fed Express.
Lleyton Hewitt, the third seed who is scheduled to meet Federer in the semi-finals, was far less convincing against the 58th-ranked Robin Vik of the Czech Republic, struggling to finish him off in a five-set thriller.
The Australian finally hammered the last nail into Vik's coffin after three hours 45 minutes, winning 6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4),6-3.
"I had to wait, I had to bide my time and wait for my opportunities, but it was awfully close," said Hewitt.
Hewitt's former girlfriend Clijsters, like Federer a favourite to win the championship, showed no outward signs of the hip injury that threatened her appearance here as she brushed aside South Korea's Cho Yoon-jeong 6-3, 6-0. But she said she was hurting and her movements and strokeplay were hampered.
"There are moments where it hurts, there are moments where it doesn't. So I just have to protect it," she said.
Mary Pierce, the fifth seed, was equally commanding in her opening match, taking less than an hour to dismantle Australian Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-1 and will next play Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.
Others safely into the second round include Amelie Mauresmo, the third seed who beat Pierce in the final of the WTA Championship.
But she was taken to three sets by China's Sun Tiantian.
"The rhythm wasn't really here today," said the 1999 finalist, who committed 35 unforced errors.
"Still, it's the first match, sometimes it goes very well, sometimes you struggle a little bit - that was the case today."
Patty Schnyder, the Swiss seventh seed who reached the quarter-finals here last year, is also through after overcoming Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-4, 6-3.
Number 12 seed Anastasia Myskina also comfortably made the second round, making her the seventh Russian women to pass the first hurdle.
Among the men, sixth seed Guillermo Coria of Argentina booked his berth with victory over Romanian Victor Hanescu and Tommy Haas, considered a dark horse, continued his impressive form.
The German, who beat Federer at the Kooyong Classic last week, ousted 14th seed Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets.
French 25th seed Sebastien Grosjean was to play Australian wild card Mark Philippoussis in the night match. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: The Cheetahs will be the team everyone steals from
The Cheetah is a graceful cat that uses its speed to hunt down prey. But it’s the smallest of the big cats and most unsuccessful at hunting. It expends enormous energy hunting, sometimes so much that it cannot defend its prey from even vultures and crows. Even lowly jackals often drive it away from its kill. The Cheetahs hunted down the Bulls in 2005. Their energy is expended. The Super 14 will see them being the team everyone feeds off for points. Read on and see why.
There are many reasons why the Cheetahs will fail at their first try. Their inexperience, lack of midfield depth and the loss of Naka Drotske and Boela Du Plooy are just three of many factors that will see their early demise. What are they?
History is against them
The Cheetahs were a big feeder to the Cats squads. Their best players played for the Cats. In nine Super 12’s they had two losing semi final berths and loads of wooden spoons. Now they are on their own. They can’t blame team dynamics for failure. They can’t rely on the Lions quality in Januarie, Pretorius, Julies and Fourie to hide their backline deficiencies. They are, in one word, alone. The players the Cheetahs will want to rely on have already failed in stronger Cats outfits. Nothing suggests they’ll succeed in a markedly weaker outfit.
They play the hardest teams away from home
They start against a Bulls outfit keen to avenge the Currie Cup final aberration. Then they head to Durban for the Sharks and back home to face the Highlanders. The Highlanders play poorly away from their Dunedin tundra. This may be the best chance for a Cheetahs win.
Then they hit the Hurricanes. Rather, the Hurricanes hit them. Tana’s team, containing internationals like Jerry Collins, Má Nonu, Piri Weepu, Tana Umanga, “Ice” Toeava and Rodney So’oiala.
Then it’s on to Newlands for the Currie Cup semi replay before the woeful Reds at home. Another good chance for points. Following this they hit the Antipodeans, starting with 2005 beaten finalists the Waratahs in Sydney, Then on to Canberra for the ever competitive Brumbies, fielding Wallabies like George Gregan, Steven Larkham, Matt Giteau, Clyde Rathbone and George Smith.
Following this demanding fixture, it’s the formidable Crusaders and All Black stars Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Rico Gear, Aaron Mauger and Mose Tuiali’I – to name but a few. This is followed up with a gruelling showdown in Hamilton against another All Black studded outfit, the Chiefs with Byron Kelleher, Sione Lauaki and dangerous Sitiveni Sivivatu.
The Cheetahs have their away fixtures against the toughest teams in the competition. This will be enough to destroy the confidence of the Cheetahs. On their return to Bloem it’s another Kiwi powerhouse, the Blues. The Blues are in confident mood this year and with players like Doug Howlett, Luke McAllister, Keven Mealamu, Joe Rokocoko and super prop Tony Woodcock in their line-up, who can blame them?
The Cheetahs then get a crack at Super 14 debutantes the Force in Kimberley, finishing their campaign off against the Cats at the same ground a week later.
The schedule is a strenuous one. The watershed game will come against the quality backs of the Hurricanes under the retired All Black skipper. Following this annihilation, there will be no way back and the games following this will be a litany of woe.
The important players will not show
The front row will hold its own. But, with Naka missing it may lack the cohesion we saw in 2005. Trevor Leota is just an effective impact player who can’t cut it in New Zealand and chose South Africa to further his career. With Boela Du Plooy in England the line-outs are looking decidedly vulnerable.
Ryno Van Der Merwe’s speed to the breakdown impressed in the Currie Cup, but the Antipodean opensider specialists will be too much for him. These guys are faster than the Bulls. And players offload first and go down if it’s the last option. Kabamba Floors will be proven as too slow at this level.
Willem De Waal has failed in the Super 12 for two seasons in a row. First with the Bulls and then the Cats. Michael Claasens was shown as pedestrian in the Northern Hemisphere and likely to crack under pressure. In the speedier cauldron of the Super 14 he will be found out, facing fast opensiders like George Smith and big scrumhalves like Byron Kelleher.
The midfield is the weakest point of the Cheetahs. Barry Goodes is a one dimensional so-so provincial player. Ronnie Cooke, though promising, is untested at this level. His size counts against him too. If Keith Lowen can’t get a spot in a Kiwi team, what makes anyone believe he is a quality player?
Then we have the outside backs. Gavin Passens is a Bulls reject who never cracked it. Eddie Fredericks is long in the tooth, whilst Vuyani Dlomo and Sinethemba Zweni are small and inexperienced. Huge fast guys like Sivivatu and Rokocoko are going to eat them for breakfast, lunch and supper. Bevan Fortuin has shown his promise and may be the find of the Super 14.
This leaves us with two conundrums. Gaffie Du Toit. Will he play a part? Yes he will but it will serve no purpose. Gaffie is a streak confidence player. He will not have that confidence in this competition. The Kiwis derisively refer to him as “Huffy The Toy”, because he cracks so easily. With the no performance from his forwards, he won’t be confident.
And Meyer Bosman? Jake White’s Boy Wonder found the world of slow moving northern hemisphere rugby a nasty baptism of fire. But this is the world’s fastest, toughest rugby. He is untested here. In fact we have to wonder whether he will get the test as second choice to Willem De Waal. He cracked in the slow moving conditions of France. This initiation of speed, agility and fury will be too much in his short but promising career. And with forwards constantly on the back foot without the ball, he’ll have no chance to display the flair he showed in the Currie Cup as a super sub last year.
Their astute coach will not save them
Rassie Erasmus proved himself one of the most astute coaches in the country last year with clinical victories over the WP and Bulls at the business end of the Currie Cup. He has played to the strengths of his team. Sometimes with little or none of the flair we associate with Freestate rugby, but it was effective.
But here’s the kicker. He simply does not have the players to match the opposition teams. Eddie Jones and Clive Woodward proved it in 2005. The best coach can only do so much. If his players are facing better players, then he cannot plan to beat the opposition, no matter how well he plans or coaches.
The Cheetahs will hunt small fry in 2007
The Cheetahs played their best match against WP in the Currie Cup semi final. They do not have the players, the speed or the power to compete effectively at this level. They will know the honeymoon ended with their warm-up against the inexperienced youngsters of the Spears. The Cheetahs will be hunting small fry in 2007 while the Spears hunt the bigger game. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Focus on Brumbies
Source: thesilverfern.com
Article by Lee Grant
One good thing about the Brumbies’ catalogue of injuries last year is that it gave new reserve players a chance before their time. It also weeded out some players who were not up to the mark. Whether this will be enough to get the Brumbies into the finals is arguable. I doubt that it is.
Changes
The losses of Fava to the Force and Finegan to Newcastle will be severe and the acquisition of Heenan doesn’t redress these and other losses adequately. Henjak’s departure was disappointing, but I think that his replacements are both fine players, who are more than ready for pro rugby; in fact, Phibbs has already played for Saracens as cover when their internationals were away at the RWC two years ago. One of the reasons we wanted a 4th Super team was to have a look at alternatives as players moved around, and Phibbs and Burgess are worth looking at.
Strengths
By S14 standards the Brumbies should have a strong lineout with no problem fielding 3 good lineout receivers in any game they play, with players like Chisholm, Samo, Heenan, Campbell and AWH available at lock or 6.
Weaknesses
Backrow: – Performance in the 7 and 8 positions will depend a lot on Smith staying healthy and Tawake seizing his chance to be the starting 8 man. Fava was a huge loss. Salvi will be a very good backrower one day, and his goal-kicking will be a bonus, but at 20 y.o. is still a bit lightweight to be a 6 or 8, and he is not a specialist fetcher either. Daniel Heenan will be a good acquisition at 6, but only if he stays healthy, which is unlikely given his history.
Flyhalf depth: – If Larkham is injured again the ACT will have to kiss goodbye to any chance of making the finals. Giteau wasn’t a great flyhalf replacement for either the Brumbies or Oz last year when Larkham was unavailable, and his impact as inside centre was missed when he had to play 10, also. Moreover, promising utility Sam Norton-Knight, who was a natural flyhalf reserve and played there for Oz A, defected to NSW. Third stringers, Fairbanks and Phibbs, do not inspire confidence as flyhalves.
Leadership: – Forward leadership without Fava and Finegan will be a problem as Paul, Young and Smith are not natural leaders.
Aging team: – Gregan, Larkham and Young play in key positions but are on the wrong side of 30. Also Paul’s body is older than its nearly 29 years.
Draw
Arguably, they are a fair chance to win all 7 games at home if they stay healthy and play like in the good old days. They would be favoured to win in Cape Town and Perth also.
Questions
Are the Brumbies still the old Brumbies? Will they stay healthy enough to answer the question?
Look out for
Luke Burgess to shine if Gregan is injured or rested. The kid couldn’t get into the Joeys 1st XV but he can play now.
Prediction
Despite their good draw, the inevitable annual injuries to Larkham and Mortlock will have their effect as will the absence of Finegan and Fava. 6th
Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Sport: The lighter side of cricket
Keeping with RuggaWorld tradition, we take a look at some other sports, and today we will look at the lighter side of cricket. Given our team's performance yesterday, I think we have to look at a lighter side.
The following article contains some classic quotes from cricket commentator Sidhu. Our thanks to JJ for the following article.
1. That ball went so high it could have got an air hostess down with
it.
2. There is light at the end of the tunnel for India, but it's that of an
incoming train which will run them over.
3. Experience is like a comb that life gives you when you are bald.
4. This quote was made after Ganguly called Dravid for a run and
midway sent him back and Dravid was run out in the third test against
the West Indies at Barbados."Ganguly has thrown a drowning man both
ends of the rope."
5. Sri Lankan score is running like an Indian taximeter.
6. Statistics are like miniskirts, they reveal more than what they
hide.
7. Wickets are like wives - you never know which way they will turn!
8. He is like Indian three-wheeler, which will suck a lot of diesel but cannot go beyond 30!
9. The Indians are going to beat the Kiwis! Let me tell you, my friend that
the Kiwi is the only bird in the whole world, which does not have wings!
10. As uncomfortable as a bum on a porcupine.
11. The ball whizzes past like a bumble -bee and the Indians are in the sea.
12. The Indians are finding the gaps like a pin a haystack.
13. The pitch is as dead as a dodo.
14. Deep Dasgupta is as confused as a child is in a topless bar!
15. The way Indian wickets are falling reminds of the cycle stand at Rajendra talkies in Patiala one falls and everything else falls!
16. Indian team without Sachin is like giving Kiss without a Squeeze.
17. You cannot make Omelets without breaking the eggs.
18. Deep Dasgupta is not a Wicket Keeper, he is a goalkeeper. He must be
given a free transfer to Manchester United.
19. He will fight a rattlesnake and give it the first two bites too.
20. One, who doesn't throw the dice, can never expect to score a six.
21. This quote was made after Eddie Nichols, the third umpire, ruled Shivnarine Chanderpaul 'NOT OUT' in the second test at Port of Spain T&T.
"Eddie Nichols is a man who cannot find his own buttocks with his two
hands."
22. Anybody can pilot a ship when the sea is calm.
23. Nobody travels on the road to success without a puncture or two.
24. You got to choose between tightening your belt or losing your pants.
25. The cat with gloves catches no mice.
26. Age has been perfect fire extinguisher for flaming youth.
27. You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hard-boiled egg.
28. He is like a one-legged man in a bum kicking competition.
29. The third umpires should be changed as often as nappies and for
the same reason.
30. Kumble's bowling at the moment is flat as a Dosa.
And Finally the clincher:-
This quote was made when India was losing a match and one of the
fellow commentator made the mistake of saying that things would have
been different had Tendulkar's wicket not fallen at the wrong time.
My dear friend, if my aunt was a man she would have been my uncle !!!!
Click here to read full article and comments.
The following article contains some classic quotes from cricket commentator Sidhu. Our thanks to JJ for the following article.
1. That ball went so high it could have got an air hostess down with
it.
2. There is light at the end of the tunnel for India, but it's that of an
incoming train which will run them over.
3. Experience is like a comb that life gives you when you are bald.
4. This quote was made after Ganguly called Dravid for a run and
midway sent him back and Dravid was run out in the third test against
the West Indies at Barbados."Ganguly has thrown a drowning man both
ends of the rope."
5. Sri Lankan score is running like an Indian taximeter.
6. Statistics are like miniskirts, they reveal more than what they
hide.
7. Wickets are like wives - you never know which way they will turn!
8. He is like Indian three-wheeler, which will suck a lot of diesel but cannot go beyond 30!
9. The Indians are going to beat the Kiwis! Let me tell you, my friend that
the Kiwi is the only bird in the whole world, which does not have wings!
10. As uncomfortable as a bum on a porcupine.
11. The ball whizzes past like a bumble -bee and the Indians are in the sea.
12. The Indians are finding the gaps like a pin a haystack.
13. The pitch is as dead as a dodo.
14. Deep Dasgupta is as confused as a child is in a topless bar!
15. The way Indian wickets are falling reminds of the cycle stand at Rajendra talkies in Patiala one falls and everything else falls!
16. Indian team without Sachin is like giving Kiss without a Squeeze.
17. You cannot make Omelets without breaking the eggs.
18. Deep Dasgupta is not a Wicket Keeper, he is a goalkeeper. He must be
given a free transfer to Manchester United.
19. He will fight a rattlesnake and give it the first two bites too.
20. One, who doesn't throw the dice, can never expect to score a six.
21. This quote was made after Eddie Nichols, the third umpire, ruled Shivnarine Chanderpaul 'NOT OUT' in the second test at Port of Spain T&T.
"Eddie Nichols is a man who cannot find his own buttocks with his two
hands."
22. Anybody can pilot a ship when the sea is calm.
23. Nobody travels on the road to success without a puncture or two.
24. You got to choose between tightening your belt or losing your pants.
25. The cat with gloves catches no mice.
26. Age has been perfect fire extinguisher for flaming youth.
27. You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hard-boiled egg.
28. He is like a one-legged man in a bum kicking competition.
29. The third umpires should be changed as often as nappies and for
the same reason.
30. Kumble's bowling at the moment is flat as a Dosa.
And Finally the clincher:-
This quote was made when India was losing a match and one of the
fellow commentator made the mistake of saying that things would have
been different had Tendulkar's wicket not fallen at the wrong time.
My dear friend, if my aunt was a man she would have been my uncle !!!!
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Referees to whistle different with same laws
Source: Beeld
The laws were not changed, but several pointers as to how they should be apllied are to be given to Sanzar referees following recent meetings of the IRB and Sanzar. They will apply to scrums, line-outs and mauls with the purpose of creating more continuity. The stricter applications will take immediate effect.
Mark Lawrence, one of the country's top referees, explained the pointers to Liam del Carme of Beeld.
More attention would be paid to the pause allowed before the forwards engaged in a scrum. Attention would also be paid to the receiver at the line-out, on players who did not bind properly at the mauls and the attacking team would get more of the benefit in the interpretation of what constituted a forward pass.
SCRUMS
Lawrence outlined what referees would look for when a scrum was formed. "At times the front row will bend down to only about three-quarters and then barge in just before the referee orders the packs to engage. The opponents can then not manage a proper hit. There will be a significant pause between 'hold' and 'engage' in future.
"We want to ensure that the game will not be similar to Rugby League and that the two teams can compete fairly for the ball," Lawrence explained.
The throw-in at the scrums will also be studied carefully. The ball need not be thrown in exactly at
the middle of the line-out, but it should be a credible throw-in. If one draws an imaginary line through the middle of the scrum, a part of the ball should at least touch that line.
"The throw-in should be fair but need not give both teams equal opportunity. The loose-forwards must also bind properly."
LINE-OUTS
There should be no doubt about who the receiver will be. The player identified as the receiver must be roughly one meter away from the line-out. The hooker of the side not throwing in the ball, may not move towards the line-out until the ball has left the hands of the thrower.
"We wanted to ensure that the uncertainty preceding the throw-in be eliminated" Lawrence said.
MAULS
Joining a maul will be under scrutiny as well. Players have to realise is that they should ensure that their goal line is square behind them when they join the maul.
The space (gates) through which they may join is determined by the ball-carrier and the defender. If they join from outside those boundaries (gates) they may be punished.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Super 14: Heyneke has reason to be optimistic
Source: www.pretorianews.com
Article by Brenden Nel
Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer learned a few things from Saturday's two games against the Cats at Ellis Park.
The Bulls won both games (15-11 and 30-14), but the results weren't as important as the performances.
Heyneke learned that Derick Hougaard is back on song, Dries Scholtz is a destroyer in midfield and that in Chiliboy Ralepelle he has a future Springbok. He also learned that captain Victor Matfield will be out for between two and four weeks with a knee injury, but should be okay for the opening game of the Super 14 against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on February 10.
In the early game, Pedrie Wannenburg was exceptional, Morne Steyn impressive under heavy fire and with poor service in front of him, while others such as Danie Thiaart (tighthead) and Adriaan Fondse showed there is a lot of fight in the young blood at the franchise.
Rudi Coetzee struggled in defence and missed two tackles that led to the only Cats try, but then rectified it with a sensational run.
The late game gave a more settled look to the Bulls machine, with Scholtz trampling everything in midfield, while Hougaard's striking ability with his boot was a feature.
Danie Rossouw rumbled up on attack and looks at his fittest yet, while the never-say-die attitude of Tim Dlulane also should be commended. A special mention should also be made of SA under-21 lock Cliffie Milton, who stepped into Matfield's place with pleasing ease.
This coming weekend's friendly against the Stormers at Newlands will see the Bulls revert back to a traditional pre-season game with a squad of 26 making the trip to Cape Town. Hooker Gary Botha and winger Bryan Habana should be back to further bolster the Bulls.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Bosman will start against the Force
Meyer Bosman will wear the number 10 jersey agains the Western Force on Saturday.
Partnered by his Springbok partner Michael Claassens, Bosman will have the opportunity to stake his claim as the first choice flyhalf for the Cheetahs this season.
Although Rassie Erasmus denies any pressure from Jake White, you can be assured that the Bok Coach as well as many South African supporters will keep a close eye on Bosman's performance against international opposition.
On his outside Keith Lowen will wear the number 12 jersey with the talented Alwyn Hollenbach slotting in at number 13.
Gaffie du Toit will also get his first start at fullback for the Cheetahs.
Cheetahs team:
Backs
Gaffie du Toit, Eddie Fredericks, Alwyn Hollenbach, Keith Lowen, Sinethemba Zweni, Meyer Bosman, Michael Claassens
Forwards
Ryno van der Merwe, Juan Smith (C), Kabamba Floors, Barend Pieterse, Corniel van Zyl, Jannie du Plessis, Tiaan Liebenberg, Wian du Preez
Replacements
Os du Randt, Trevor Leota, Ollie le Roux, Ockie van Zyl, Gareth Krause, Frans Viljoen, Noel Oelschig, Willem de Waal, Bevin Fortuin, Ronnie Cooke. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Spears on the right track
Most people will agree that a 48 – 0 drubbing is quite significant in rugby and that you probably only had one team on the field, but then, that is most people.
If we take a look at the match statistics from last Saturday’s game between the Spears and the Cheetahs, it paints a slightly different picture though and one that might make some people think twice before they condemn this team.
There seems to be a feeling that these warm up games against the Spears are nothing more than big unions pulverizing the Spears to confirm what most people advocate, they are not good enough.
I agree, they are not good enough, yet.
The Spears and Pieter de Villiers are using these games for exactly the same reason the other teams are, to see where they are, and to see what they need to work on.
The following stats will reveal what I believe Pieter and his team need to concentrate on in the next couple of months, and believe it or not, it is not much judging on these figures!
Pieter also has a full year to work on these areas, Rassie, and the other teams, has less than a month to sort their problems out, and believe me, there are some.
The most pleasing fact about last week-ends game was the penalty count. In all, 17 penalties were conceded and surprisingly enough, the most were conceded by Rassie’s men.
For me it is not only the fact that you concede penalties that should worry you, how you concede them is as important if not more important.
An area which the Spears were expected to suffer was also the area they conceded the most penalties in, the ruck and maul situation. Now we have to remember these youngsters, who got together only a month ago, were up against one of the best packs in the country. The same pack that not only contained the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup final, but also dominated them at stages.
The Cheetahs have been together for a while, and you would expect them to dominate almost any team in South Africa in the tight phases of the game and in broken play.
For any team to dominate or even just be competitive in tight phases like scrums and line outs, you need two things, some old heads in the tight 5 with loads of experience, and a structure or game plan that you are well drilled in. This the Cheetah boys had and it showed. They stole 50% of the Spears’ ball at line out time and won two scrums on the Spears’ ball.
For a team to be effective in the tight loose, you need ‘streetwise’ loosies who are quick around the park. This the cheetahs definitely have with guys like Juan, Ryno, Kabamba and the likes.
Unfortunately for the Spears, this is the area they suffered in most and also conceded the most penalties, eight to be exact. Since most teams look to use these areas as bases for attack, it is easy to see why the Cheetahs enjoyed the majority of possession.
A feather in the cap for the Spears though is that this is the only area where they conceded penalties, the Cheetahs however conceded one at scrum time and 4 in general play, so adding the four they conceded at the ruck and maul situation, they conceded one more penalty than the Spears (9). What must be worrying to Rassie is that they conceded four in general play - something they can ill afford against Super 14 opposition.
Another highlight for Pieter and his team, even though it meant their downfall, is that turnovers were also only conceded in these areas of play. I say highlight because I believe it is not that difficult to fix. However, with the Cheetahs relinquishing 66.7% of their ball in general play is concerning.
Conceding turnovers and penalties in tight phases comes down to experience in my view. Pieter and his team now know that this is an area they are seriously lacking, and should obviously work hard on getting this right. A couple of signings into crucial positions in the tight 5 will change the complexion of this team completely.
The Spears conceded possession 16 times in line-outs, scrums and tackle ball situations. If they half that statistic before the start of the Currie Cup they will do well.
The turn over statistic shows a lot of promise for the Spears ability to play the game. In general play they only conceded 7 turnovers, to the staggering and worrying figure of 14 by the Cheetahs. As with the penalty count in this area of the game, Rassie must seriously address this issue before they take on Super 14 teams.
Pieter de Villiers and Spears fans will be heartened by the guts and determination the young guys showed. With a staggering tackle count of a 158 tackles made by the Spears to the mere 62 by the Cheetahs, shows you Pieter has already instilled a 'never say die' attitude within his team.
Looking at the difference in tackles however will teach us nothing new, we know that because of their forward dominance the Cheetahs will do all the running and the Spears most of the tackling, but two things are very important to take out of this.
Firstly, the Spears’ success rate on tackles are brilliant. To tackle for most of the game and walk away with an 86.3% success rate is one hell of an achievement. It is in fact higher than the Cheetahs success rate of 84.9%.
Secondly, the fact that the Cheetahs conceded the most turnovers and penalties in general play, tells me the Spears not only stopped most things that came their way, they did so effectively and transferred the pressure right back onto the Cheetahs team.
Taking into account that the Cheetahs also conceded 4 penalties (almost 50% of their penalties) on defense, shows you that there is not much wrong with the Spears’ attacking capabilities as well.
In conclusion before I present you with some match statistics, I believe Pieter de Villiers and the Spears boys should not look at the score and think they are out of their depth. Yes they have a long road ahead of them but it will take small adjustments to see huge improvements.
It is very simple to conclude the Spears need to secure more possession in order for them to dominate more. It is not nice tackling for 80 minutes of a game and it should be the management and administrators priority to strengthen their forward resources.
As mentioned earlier, a few hard men with experience in the tight 5 could make all the difference. This would put both their loosies and backs on the front foot to attack more and also be more competitive at the tackled ball and ruck situation.
Rassie will need to look at a couple of areas himself if he wants to push a competitive team into the Super 14.
With all the domination they enjoyed up front, 9 penalties of which 4 was in general play is not good enough. Even worse is the fact that they conceded possession 14 times in this area of play too, and it will be of great concern to the Cheetahs’ magician, but I am sure he has already started working on this.
Some interesting game stats:
Attack
Cheetahs
• Apart from the halfback (which is to be expected) combination Bevan Fortuin passed the ball the most out of all the Cheetahs – 9 times
• Willem de Waal was the stand out player in meters gained (130) and just lost out to Ronny Cook on crossing the gain line (Cook 6 De Waal 5) and Barry Goods in breaking tackles (Goodes 3 De Waal 2).
• Cook was the second most successful player in meters gained – 94 with Fortuin on 81.
• As we would expect, Juan Smith lead the way in the forwards with 94 meters gained, 2 tackle breaks and crossing the advantage line successfully 3 times. Hat-trick hero Kabamba Floors was very impressive with 74 meters gained, 1 tackle break and crossing the advantage line an impressive 7 times.
Spears
• McBean was by far the leading Spears backline player having a crack at the opposition 8 times and gaining 96 meters in the game.
• The exciting captain and loose forward of the Spears, Ashley Johnson, had a crack at the opposition 11 times and gained an impressive 84 meters during the game for his team.
Dollie kicked the ball 7 times in play to the 13 of Willem de Waal.
Defense
Cheetahs
• Nell just pipped Juan Smith and Kabamba Floors in the tackle count by making 8 tackles in the game to the other two’s 7.
• However, Nell, with De Wall also missed the most tackles but luckily for the Cheetahs it was only 2 each. Floors and Smith had 100% records.
Spears
• The lock forward Combrink, held the tight 5’s name high by making and impressive 17 tackles in the game and only missing one.
• As expected a lot of players have a tackle count of more than 10 with Combrink, Wakeling (15), Raubenheimer (13) and Reid (12) leading the way.
• The biggest culprit in the Spears team was Dollie with missing 5 tackles. An area I am sure De Villiers will spend a lot of time on since it is an important channel.
Line Outs
Cheetahs
• The Cheetahs was awarded 12 line outs of which they lost only 2.
• They also managed to poach 6 of the Spears’ line out balls.
Spears
• The Spears also being awarded 12 line outs lost 50% of their ball on their own throw to the Cheetahs but managed to steal 2.
Scrums
• There were 48 scrums awarded 24 to each team. The Cheetahs won all their own ball and managed to get a heel against the head 4 times.
Total tackles during the game
220 (158 made by Spears 62 by the Cheetahs)
Missed tackles
36 (25 missed by Spears and 11 by Cheetahs)
Penalties conceded while on defense
Cheetahs – 4
Spears – 7
Restart success rate was a 100% by both teams.
Total turnovers in the game
43 (23 won by the Cheetahs and 20 won by the Spears)
Total penalties in the game
17 (9 conceded by the Cheetahs and 8 by the Spears)
A special thanks to Mr. Tony McKeever, CEO of the Spears & TWM Tolbos for providing the statistics of the game.
Click here to read full article and comments.
If we take a look at the match statistics from last Saturday’s game between the Spears and the Cheetahs, it paints a slightly different picture though and one that might make some people think twice before they condemn this team.
There seems to be a feeling that these warm up games against the Spears are nothing more than big unions pulverizing the Spears to confirm what most people advocate, they are not good enough.
I agree, they are not good enough, yet.
The Spears and Pieter de Villiers are using these games for exactly the same reason the other teams are, to see where they are, and to see what they need to work on.
The following stats will reveal what I believe Pieter and his team need to concentrate on in the next couple of months, and believe it or not, it is not much judging on these figures!
Pieter also has a full year to work on these areas, Rassie, and the other teams, has less than a month to sort their problems out, and believe me, there are some.
The most pleasing fact about last week-ends game was the penalty count. In all, 17 penalties were conceded and surprisingly enough, the most were conceded by Rassie’s men.
For me it is not only the fact that you concede penalties that should worry you, how you concede them is as important if not more important.
An area which the Spears were expected to suffer was also the area they conceded the most penalties in, the ruck and maul situation. Now we have to remember these youngsters, who got together only a month ago, were up against one of the best packs in the country. The same pack that not only contained the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup final, but also dominated them at stages.
The Cheetahs have been together for a while, and you would expect them to dominate almost any team in South Africa in the tight phases of the game and in broken play.
For any team to dominate or even just be competitive in tight phases like scrums and line outs, you need two things, some old heads in the tight 5 with loads of experience, and a structure or game plan that you are well drilled in. This the Cheetah boys had and it showed. They stole 50% of the Spears’ ball at line out time and won two scrums on the Spears’ ball.
For a team to be effective in the tight loose, you need ‘streetwise’ loosies who are quick around the park. This the cheetahs definitely have with guys like Juan, Ryno, Kabamba and the likes.
Unfortunately for the Spears, this is the area they suffered in most and also conceded the most penalties, eight to be exact. Since most teams look to use these areas as bases for attack, it is easy to see why the Cheetahs enjoyed the majority of possession.
A feather in the cap for the Spears though is that this is the only area where they conceded penalties, the Cheetahs however conceded one at scrum time and 4 in general play, so adding the four they conceded at the ruck and maul situation, they conceded one more penalty than the Spears (9). What must be worrying to Rassie is that they conceded four in general play - something they can ill afford against Super 14 opposition.
Another highlight for Pieter and his team, even though it meant their downfall, is that turnovers were also only conceded in these areas of play. I say highlight because I believe it is not that difficult to fix. However, with the Cheetahs relinquishing 66.7% of their ball in general play is concerning.
Conceding turnovers and penalties in tight phases comes down to experience in my view. Pieter and his team now know that this is an area they are seriously lacking, and should obviously work hard on getting this right. A couple of signings into crucial positions in the tight 5 will change the complexion of this team completely.
The Spears conceded possession 16 times in line-outs, scrums and tackle ball situations. If they half that statistic before the start of the Currie Cup they will do well.
The turn over statistic shows a lot of promise for the Spears ability to play the game. In general play they only conceded 7 turnovers, to the staggering and worrying figure of 14 by the Cheetahs. As with the penalty count in this area of the game, Rassie must seriously address this issue before they take on Super 14 teams.
Pieter de Villiers and Spears fans will be heartened by the guts and determination the young guys showed. With a staggering tackle count of a 158 tackles made by the Spears to the mere 62 by the Cheetahs, shows you Pieter has already instilled a 'never say die' attitude within his team.
Looking at the difference in tackles however will teach us nothing new, we know that because of their forward dominance the Cheetahs will do all the running and the Spears most of the tackling, but two things are very important to take out of this.
Firstly, the Spears’ success rate on tackles are brilliant. To tackle for most of the game and walk away with an 86.3% success rate is one hell of an achievement. It is in fact higher than the Cheetahs success rate of 84.9%.
Secondly, the fact that the Cheetahs conceded the most turnovers and penalties in general play, tells me the Spears not only stopped most things that came their way, they did so effectively and transferred the pressure right back onto the Cheetahs team.
Taking into account that the Cheetahs also conceded 4 penalties (almost 50% of their penalties) on defense, shows you that there is not much wrong with the Spears’ attacking capabilities as well.
In conclusion before I present you with some match statistics, I believe Pieter de Villiers and the Spears boys should not look at the score and think they are out of their depth. Yes they have a long road ahead of them but it will take small adjustments to see huge improvements.
It is very simple to conclude the Spears need to secure more possession in order for them to dominate more. It is not nice tackling for 80 minutes of a game and it should be the management and administrators priority to strengthen their forward resources.
As mentioned earlier, a few hard men with experience in the tight 5 could make all the difference. This would put both their loosies and backs on the front foot to attack more and also be more competitive at the tackled ball and ruck situation.
Rassie will need to look at a couple of areas himself if he wants to push a competitive team into the Super 14.
With all the domination they enjoyed up front, 9 penalties of which 4 was in general play is not good enough. Even worse is the fact that they conceded possession 14 times in this area of play too, and it will be of great concern to the Cheetahs’ magician, but I am sure he has already started working on this.
Some interesting game stats:
Attack
Cheetahs
• Apart from the halfback (which is to be expected) combination Bevan Fortuin passed the ball the most out of all the Cheetahs – 9 times
• Willem de Waal was the stand out player in meters gained (130) and just lost out to Ronny Cook on crossing the gain line (Cook 6 De Waal 5) and Barry Goods in breaking tackles (Goodes 3 De Waal 2).
• Cook was the second most successful player in meters gained – 94 with Fortuin on 81.
• As we would expect, Juan Smith lead the way in the forwards with 94 meters gained, 2 tackle breaks and crossing the advantage line successfully 3 times. Hat-trick hero Kabamba Floors was very impressive with 74 meters gained, 1 tackle break and crossing the advantage line an impressive 7 times.
Spears
• McBean was by far the leading Spears backline player having a crack at the opposition 8 times and gaining 96 meters in the game.
• The exciting captain and loose forward of the Spears, Ashley Johnson, had a crack at the opposition 11 times and gained an impressive 84 meters during the game for his team.
Dollie kicked the ball 7 times in play to the 13 of Willem de Waal.
Defense
Cheetahs
• Nell just pipped Juan Smith and Kabamba Floors in the tackle count by making 8 tackles in the game to the other two’s 7.
• However, Nell, with De Wall also missed the most tackles but luckily for the Cheetahs it was only 2 each. Floors and Smith had 100% records.
Spears
• The lock forward Combrink, held the tight 5’s name high by making and impressive 17 tackles in the game and only missing one.
• As expected a lot of players have a tackle count of more than 10 with Combrink, Wakeling (15), Raubenheimer (13) and Reid (12) leading the way.
• The biggest culprit in the Spears team was Dollie with missing 5 tackles. An area I am sure De Villiers will spend a lot of time on since it is an important channel.
Line Outs
Cheetahs
• The Cheetahs was awarded 12 line outs of which they lost only 2.
• They also managed to poach 6 of the Spears’ line out balls.
Spears
• The Spears also being awarded 12 line outs lost 50% of their ball on their own throw to the Cheetahs but managed to steal 2.
Scrums
• There were 48 scrums awarded 24 to each team. The Cheetahs won all their own ball and managed to get a heel against the head 4 times.
Total tackles during the game
220 (158 made by Spears 62 by the Cheetahs)
Missed tackles
36 (25 missed by Spears and 11 by Cheetahs)
Penalties conceded while on defense
Cheetahs – 4
Spears – 7
Restart success rate was a 100% by both teams.
Total turnovers in the game
43 (23 won by the Cheetahs and 20 won by the Spears)
Total penalties in the game
17 (9 conceded by the Cheetahs and 8 by the Spears)
A special thanks to Mr. Tony McKeever, CEO of the Spears & TWM Tolbos for providing the statistics of the game.
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Super 14: The Drop: Why Stormers will be swinging in the wind.
In the nineteenth century “The Drop” referred to the gruesome fall of a condemned criminal when the hangman opened the trapdoor under him or her on the public gallows at Tyburn Tree in England. The corpse was traditionally left to sway about for an hour to ensure the miscreant was really dead. This year one South Africa team will face The Drop and for a season, their corpse will sway in the gentle breeze of Currie Cup doldrums. Why will it be the Stormers? Read on.
The Stromers have a proud record in Super 12, compared to the other South African teams. They have never ended last. It is a dubious honour among a group of perennial under achievers. Last year they were the victims of some murderous forwards dominated play by the Bulls and Cheetahs in the Currie Cup, and in the case of the Bulls, the Super 12. Both those teams are still in the competition and virtually unchanged. The Cats start looking more complete in the forwards, and more likely for their tight five to compete effectively with enforcers Jannes Labuschagne, Marius Hurter, Lukas Van Biljon and Lawrence Sephaka set to provide similar grunt to their Tight Five. With Albert Van Den Berg, Johan Ackerman, BJ Botha and Bismarck Du Plessis in their tight five, even the Sharks are looking pretty competitive.
By contrast, in their tight five, the only real names are converted loosies Schalk Brits and Hanyani Shimange. Among the names they have Eddie Andrews and Ross Skeate, another man who’s no more than a converted loose forward. Last year we saw the WP tight five dismantled by the Bulls and the Cheetahs. The locks are propped up with inexperienced Andries Bekker and former Cheetah Gerrie Britz. Neither have much Super 12 experience and, in the case of Bekker, not much experience at any level beyond the juniors.
Against any team with more than a little grunt in their tight five, the Stormers are going to struggle. They start off the campaign against the Cats in Johannesburg. Then come the home games. First last year’s semi finalists, the Waratahs, who outplayed the Bulls twice. Then the Brumbies, the Highlanders, Hurricanes and Cheetahs before they head overseas to face the Force, Blues, Chiefs and Reds on the road. Finally coming home to face the awesome looking Crusaders at home and then the Sharks in Durban and the Bulls at Newlands.
Now let’s get to the nitty gritty. Last year Pat Barnard and Frederico Mendes shored up a front row that was decidedly the weakest among the top teams in the Currie Cup. Both are gone this year, leaving the weak link, Eddie Andrews with a newcomer and two converted loose forwards in Shimange and Brits. The more gritty front row was able to hold its own in the scrums, but as Ewen McKenzie said last year and the Bulls and Cheetahs proved. The scrums play but a small role in the modern game. It’s all about the loose situations, the rucks, the mauls and the lineouts. In these departments the Stormers front row is decidedly weaker than it was last year.
This leaves Gerrie Britz and Skeate, who are so-so locks to compete against the likes of Matfield, Labuschagne, Botha, Vickerman, Rawlins and Williams. This does not bode well for the Stormers. The main problem, yet again, will be the shortage of ability to compete successfully at the rucks. If anyone mauls against the Stormers, they can use this tactic alone to win the match. None of their locks are enoforcers in the Bakkies Botha / Martin Johnson mould. They look like converted loose forwards. Against powerhouse forwards dominated teams like Auckland, the Bulls and Crusaders, the Stormers will suffer.
Much has been made about the back three of the Stormers. In Greef they have an experienced, but injury prone player who could not hold down a regular spot at WP last year. Nokwe and Benjamin are raw at this level, having performed well at Boland last year, but Boland is not Super 14 rugby against the best players in the world. In particular, Nokwe’s performance against the Bulls that catapulted him to fame was against effectively a weakened Bulls side. Then we have Chavanga with his pace, but well documented weakness in defence. One would ice to think how he’d fare against players of the calibre of Howlett, Sivavatu, Rathbone, Ashwin Willemse, Toquiri and Rockockocko. We move on to the vaunted midfield where Boks De Villiers, Barry and Joubert will vie for spots. Kobus Van Der Merwe has already said he will play Barry out of position at 13 with this leaving De Villiers to fill the 12 spot. Marius Joubert will have to vie for a spot. This confusion may have a negative effect on the capability of the dangerous midfield to perform. This however does not even mention the issue of how this midfield will get any ball from a tight five that struggled to impose itself in Currie Cup rugby – and this tight five is short of the two players that actually provided the grunt.
We move to the engine room players. At flyhalf we have promising Peter Grant. I say promsing because he is yet to deliver any match winning dominant performance. In fact, in the Currie Cup 2005 he was completely outplayed in matches against the Cheetahs and Bulls with even the lowly Boland able to exact a win and this is the player who is supposed to dictate and control the release of the Bok studded midfield. Facing speedy opensiders like Ricie McCaw, Jerry Collins, George Smith, Tim Dlulane, Cobus Grobbelaar and Ryno Van Der Merwe at this pacier level may find him out. At scrumhalf we’ll see the below par performances of confidence shot Bolla Conradie and the underachieving Niel De Kock. Yet again backup comes from a highly inexperienced but promising youngster in Paul Delport. Paul Delport’s experience is at WP U21 and WP “B” level. The Super 14 is hardly the place where he should debut.
In the loose forwards the Stormers have a good combination with Schalk Burger, Luke Watson / Justin Melck and Hendrik Gerber. Joe Van Niekerk will join the team later, after recovering from injury. But a good loose trio is not going to win matches. They need the support of their tight five. That support will be non-existent in this Super 14. They will constantly be on the back foot, and trying to compete at this level without the support of the other five forwards will be a bridge too far for the Stormers. And this loose trio may be competitive, but they lack a real grunty mongrel ball carrier.
Add to this the quirky attitude of the coach who does things like drop his skipper in Niel De Kock, selects one of the best inside centres in South Africa at 13 and spent the off season contracting more wings and another hooker who’s more of a loose forward than anything else. A coach who missed the boat in contracting the enforcer lock Johan Ackerman from Griquas and left him for the Sharks to pick up. A coach who has let three quality midfield / flyhalf players in the Rose brothers and Ishmael Dollie go. Kobus Van Der Merwe is untested at this level and his experience is at Griquas as a so-so Currie Cup coach. He has Nic Mallet, ostensible Director of Coaching at WP, looking over his shoulder at every moment and this may affect his own confidence too. This is the same quirky coach who spent the end of the Currie Cup ostensibly grooming Schalk Burger to lead the Stormers in the Super 14.
With so much going against them, the Stormers are lucky in that they will not face any of the traditionally strong teams in the Brumbies and Crusaders on the road. Last year they won three matches only. This year it will be less, with them maybe beating the Sharks and competing well against the Highlanders.
This schedule, however, is not going to save them.
With everything against them the Stormers can see the noose waiting for their necks at Tyburn Tree. And nothing clears the mind like the sight of the gallows.
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Rugby administration: So what new pussycat?
Source: rugby365.com
SARU delays too much for the judge
Edwin King, a retired judge president of the Western Cape, has broken his initial silence and revealed why he resigned as head of the enquiry into the affairs of South African Rugby Football Union (SARU) president Brian van Rooyen and other members of his notorious president's council.
King formally resigned from the inquiry on Monday and a day later said the delays in finalising the matter has resulted in him stepping down.
King was careful not to apportion blame t0o anybody, but made it clear that he had other "commitments" and could not wait for SARU to finally get their act together.
Speaking to rugby365.com on Tuesday King said it was a personal decision.
"The matter has taken too long to come to fruition and it's had an impact on my personal time," King said. "I have other commitments, hence my decision to step down."
King added that he had thought January 23 would be a good date to start the inquiry, but some of the other parties involved were simply not ready.
"January 23 was a date I had suggested for the start [of the inquiry] and I thought it would give everybody sufficient time to prepare. But they came back and said it is not enough.
"I then reconsidered my position and informed them [SARU] that I am stepping down," King said.
Judge Lex Mpati, an Appeal Court judge in Bloemfontein, who in December appointed King to head the enquiry, said on Tuesday that he will appoint a new head as soon as possible.
"Yes, Judge King's decision to step down will cause further delays, but I'll make the new appointment as quickly as possible," Mpati said.
The board of SA Rugby, the corporate arm of SARU, was meeting on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments.
But these developments must raise questions about the commitment of SARU officials to deal effectively with the claims of poor corporate governance and maladministration levelled against Van Rooyen and other members of his notorious president's council.
King's decision to resign follows after the inquiry, originally scheduled for January 23, was postponed because of a delay in finalising the "charge sheet". The inquiry was pushed on into February, but it is uncertain when it will now take place.
The decision by Mpati to appoint King follows a second investigation - headed by advocate Jannie Lubbe - which reportedly found Van Rooyen guilty on 11 charges of maladministration.
The decision to appoint an independent judge to head an investigation into SARU's affairs, followed the failure of SARU to act on the findings of poor corporate governance contained in a 338-page report released by Advocate Jan Heunis and attorney Adri Brand earlier last year.
Amongst the charges of financial maladministration levelled against Van Rooyen are the claims that he tried to convince SARU to rent office space from his company, that he attempted to obtain a vehicle for his personal use, as well as unprocedural appointments of staff and service providers.
Most of these claims were contained in the Heunis/Brand report, which the president's council attempted to sweep under the carpet.
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Super 14: Focus on the Crusaders
Source: thesilverfern.com
Article by Shark
The pre-eminent Super 12 side of, well, all time really, with five titles out of 10 (1998 – 2000, 2002 & 2005) and two losing finals appearances (2003, 2004), the Crusaders have stood astride this competition in Man United-esque fashion. Victims of their own success in that they have produced so many quality players, it was inevitable that there would be a raft of significant player losses eventually, and this year sees that happen. However, the 2006 Crusaders can still boast the lions’ share of New Zealand’s truly world class players and should enjoy another successful year.
Changes
Aforementioned player losses include rugby royalty such as Marshall and Mehrtens, plus lesser All Blacks such as Broomhall, Harding, Maxwell, Hewett, Blair to the draft and the non-selection of Greg Feek. New to the squad are up-and-coming locals Craig Clarke, Ben Franks, Andrew Ellis, Wyatt Crockett, and Steve Yates. Extra firepower has been bought in in the form of Kevin Senio (a somewhat controversial signing, seen as unnecessary in some quarters, like right here) and from the draft Ross Filipo, Brad Mika, Tenarau Latimer and Tony Koonwaiyou.
Strengths
Class in key positions across the park. From Yoda Sommerville at prop (“scored two tries against the Brumbies one year I did”), to Chris Jack in the second row, to loosies Richie McCaw, Reuben Thorne and Mose Tuaili’i, Dan Carter and Aaron Mauger in the five-eighths and Rico Gear and Rangi MacDonald out wide. Filling in the gaps are former (short term) All Blacks such as Campbell Johnstone, Corey Flynn, Brad Mika, Kevin Senio, Casey Laulala and Caleb Ralph, plus exciting talent such as Crockett, Kevin O’Neill, Latimer, Ellis, Cameron McIntyre, Koonwaiyou and everybodies’ favourite outside back, Scott Hamilton.
Weaknesses
If one must be found it could be depth in the loose forwards and at prop, particularly when one considers the talent available in these positions in previous years. After the all-All Black first string trio, openside cover is adequate with the stalwart Johnny Leo’o still there plus an unproven Latimer but injuries to Thorne and/or Tuaili’i will test the likes of Mika as a serious number eight option, while McCaw could be utilized on the blindside. In this area I believe the Crusaders’ selectors have made a rare mistake in not selecting Hayden Hopgood or George Nauopo, while there are an abundance of locks. At prop a gamble has been taken on youth in selecting back-up to Sommerville and Johnstone. Crockett is highly promising but extremely green, while if Crockett is green, Franks must be almost glow-in-the-dark fluorescent lime. Whether or not discarding the experienced Feek was a mistake will hopefully not be known.
Draw
A good dispersal of seven home matches, including a return to Timaru for the first time since Easter 1998, only this time I will not be at the Loaded Hog post-match to tell Owen Finegan what a useless tub of lard he is/was. With four home matches out of the first six rounds, preceding their bye, and the other two forays to Hamiltron and Brisbane, the Crusaders should be well set-up to deal with a back-end leg that includes a three match stretch in Perth and SA. The marquee home draw includes the Highlanders, Blues, ‘Tahs and Brumbies. The danger games to me being the away tie with the Hurricanes and the SA leg consisting of the Stormers and Bulls.
Questions
Will the loss of so much experience and perhaps depth hurt Deans’ men? If so, well, you TSF locals know the rest.
Look out for
Andrew Ellis took the first half of the 2005 NPC by storm before his efforts lessened in stature, but it would be rare for a player of his pedigree to not flourish in the Crusaders environment. It’s not difficult to see him usurping one-test All Black Senio as the number one choice at halfback, and if he can do this I’m sure he will be firmly in the eye of the New Zealand selectors.
Prediction
First qualifiers and eventual competition winners.
Squad
Daniel Carter (Canterbury), Craig Clarke (Canterbury), Wyatt Crockett(Canterbury), Andrew Ellis (Canterbury), Ross Filipo (Wellington), Corey Flynn (Canterbury), Ben Franks (Canterbury), Rico Gear (Nelson Bays), Scott Hamilton (Canterbury), Chris Jack (Canterbury), Campbell Johnstone (Canterbury), Tony Koonwaiyou (Auckland), Tone Kopelani (Canterbury), Tanerau Latimer (Bay of Plenty), Casey Laulala (Canterbury), Johnny Leo’o (Canterbury), Leon MacDonald (Canterbury), Richie McCaw (Canterbury), Cameron McIntyre (Canterbury), Aaron Mauger (Canterbury), Bradley Mika (Auckland), Kevin O’Neill (Canterbury), Caleb Ralph (Canterbury), Kevin Senio (Canterbury), Greg Somerville (Canterbury), Reuben Thorne (Canterbury), Mose Tuiali’i (Canterbury), Steven Yates (Canterbury).
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Super 14: It's a surprise at the Stormers as Barry is the novel skipper
Source: www.sarugby.net
SARU website, sarugby.net reports that Kobus Van Der Merwe has named De Wet Barry as his skipper for the Stormers Super 14 campaign. He has come up with a novel way to ensure Barry plays all the games. One that may leave Stormers supporters scratching their heads. Read on.
Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe has put an end to speculation over who will captain his team in the coming season by naming Springbok centre De Wet Barry as his leader.
It is a decision that will surprise many Stormers supporters as Barry captained the side in the home matches during the Super 12 last year and was in charge during some humiliating defeats. With Jean de Villiers and Marius Joubert also on the Stormers books, it was also debatable whether Barry would play in all the matches.
However Van der Merwe has come up with a plan that will ensure that Barry should play in all the games. And he has confirmed that Barry was the unanimous choice when the players were asked to vote for their choice of captain by ballot. This is an indication of Barry’s standing in the squad.
Van der Merwe’s plan to make sure Barry plays all the games revolves around a shift of position from inside centre to outside centre. This is good news, as it will enable Jean de Villiers to campaign in at least some of the games in the No12 jersey that he also wears for the Springboks.
Barry has of course played most of his games at first class level at inside centre. He has played there both for South Africa and for his province and regional team. But he did play outside centre when he was an under-21 player and was part of the successful national team at that level in 1999.
He was not a success there when Harry Viljoen tried him there in a test match against France at Ellis Park in 2001, but then he was paired with Japie Mulder, and they were a bit of an incongruous combination in that they have a lot of similarities. Having the more silky Jean de Villiers inside him to create space will make a big difference to Barry’s ability to make a success of the position.
He also has a lot of experience of playing left and right, and did so quite a bit when Robbie Fleck was trying to gain experience of inside centre a couple of seasons ago. He certainly does not lack the required pace for the position, and his at times faulty handling might be better accommodated at No13.
Not that he will not play inside centre at all, as Marius Joubert is fit and ready to start the season and is expected to get quite a bit of game-time. But this will suit the plans of Springbok coach Jake White, who would like to see De Villiers rested for a couple of games as well as possibly tried at flyhalf at some stage.
Schalk Burger was the other top contender for the job and was entrusted with the Western Province leadership at the end of last season ostensibly because the management were looking at him as a potential Super 14 captain. However he was in charge when WP lost their semi-final to the Cheetahs and there is also a view that he should be released from leadership responsibilities to play his natural game.
Burger is however the vice-captain and could see himself leading the side if Barry is injured. Like De Villiers, Burger is a player who should see some time on the sidelines during the Super 14 in order to be fully fit for the international season.
Scrumhalf Neil de Kock was named Stormers captain at the start of last season but ended up on the bench during the home leg of the Super 14 to enable Bolla Conradie to get some time on the field. De Kock remains an important member of the Stormers' leadership group
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SARU website, sarugby.net reports that Kobus Van Der Merwe has named De Wet Barry as his skipper for the Stormers Super 14 campaign. He has come up with a novel way to ensure Barry plays all the games. One that may leave Stormers supporters scratching their heads. Read on.
Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe has put an end to speculation over who will captain his team in the coming season by naming Springbok centre De Wet Barry as his leader.
It is a decision that will surprise many Stormers supporters as Barry captained the side in the home matches during the Super 12 last year and was in charge during some humiliating defeats. With Jean de Villiers and Marius Joubert also on the Stormers books, it was also debatable whether Barry would play in all the matches.
However Van der Merwe has come up with a plan that will ensure that Barry should play in all the games. And he has confirmed that Barry was the unanimous choice when the players were asked to vote for their choice of captain by ballot. This is an indication of Barry’s standing in the squad.
Van der Merwe’s plan to make sure Barry plays all the games revolves around a shift of position from inside centre to outside centre. This is good news, as it will enable Jean de Villiers to campaign in at least some of the games in the No12 jersey that he also wears for the Springboks.
Barry has of course played most of his games at first class level at inside centre. He has played there both for South Africa and for his province and regional team. But he did play outside centre when he was an under-21 player and was part of the successful national team at that level in 1999.
He was not a success there when Harry Viljoen tried him there in a test match against France at Ellis Park in 2001, but then he was paired with Japie Mulder, and they were a bit of an incongruous combination in that they have a lot of similarities. Having the more silky Jean de Villiers inside him to create space will make a big difference to Barry’s ability to make a success of the position.
He also has a lot of experience of playing left and right, and did so quite a bit when Robbie Fleck was trying to gain experience of inside centre a couple of seasons ago. He certainly does not lack the required pace for the position, and his at times faulty handling might be better accommodated at No13.
Not that he will not play inside centre at all, as Marius Joubert is fit and ready to start the season and is expected to get quite a bit of game-time. But this will suit the plans of Springbok coach Jake White, who would like to see De Villiers rested for a couple of games as well as possibly tried at flyhalf at some stage.
Schalk Burger was the other top contender for the job and was entrusted with the Western Province leadership at the end of last season ostensibly because the management were looking at him as a potential Super 14 captain. However he was in charge when WP lost their semi-final to the Cheetahs and there is also a view that he should be released from leadership responsibilities to play his natural game.
Burger is however the vice-captain and could see himself leading the side if Barry is injured. Like De Villiers, Burger is a player who should see some time on the sidelines during the Super 14 in order to be fully fit for the international season.
Scrumhalf Neil de Kock was named Stormers captain at the start of last season but ended up on the bench during the home leg of the Super 14 to enable Bolla Conradie to get some time on the field. De Kock remains an important member of the Stormers' leadership group
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SA Teams/Unions: Spears are better than 48 - 0
Source: dispatch.co.za
Article by Brian Mclean
LEON BOTHA, former Border rugby captain and current general manager of the Border Rugby Football Union (BRFU) said yesterday the 48-0 scoreline between the Southern Spears and the central Cheetahs was not a true reflection of the match.
The Southern Spears played the Cheetahs in Port Elizabeth in a debut Super 14 warm-up match on Saturday.
This Saturday the Spears play the Cats at East London's Absa Stadium.
"The Spears gave away three soft tries but actually played well, especially their backline.
"They played the type of rugby we expected from them and spectators won't be disappointed when they play the Cats,'' Botha pro-
mised.
Botha said the match in Port Elizabeth had been a huge success and the atmosphere brilliant.
"The support from fans was incredible and we hope for the same against the Cats.
"All 10000 tickets for the game have gone, so there will be no tickets sold at the gates on match day.
"Gates open at 10am and fans will be treated to a full day of rugby and entertainment,'' he said.
Botha added the Border administration were treating the match in the same way they would an international clash.
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SA Teams/Unions: Spring cleaning in EP house continues
Source: EP Herald
Article by Derrick Spies
The directors of EP Rugby could face fines or up to 10 years in prison for failing to report allegations of fraud against rugby boss Phillip Joseph to the police.
In a letter, signed by Barend van Graan, the acting chairman of EP Rugby Pty (Ltd), which is the commercial arm of the EP Rugby Union, EP Rugby directors were informed on December 9 of their obligations under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act of 2004.
The Act states that “any person who holds a position of authority and who knows, or ought reasonably to have known, or suspected that any other person has committed . . . theft, fraud, extortion, forgery or uttering a forged document involving an amount of R100 000 or more, must report such . . . to any police official”.
Further, the Act specifies that “any person who fails to comply . . . is guilty of an offence”.
This follows nearly four months after a forensic audit of the Eastern Province Rugby Union’s affairs by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in August last year. One of the problems highlighted by the report was alleged dishonest and fraudulent activities by EPRU chief executive Joseph.
The main concern raised by the audit was a dummy invoice totalling R414 568,01 that was fraudulently submitted to the National Lotteries Board.
Attached to the letter to the board is legal advice from attorneys Hofmeyer, Herbstein and Gihwala, which indicates the board had a duty to report the matter, as Joseph is a paid official of EP Rugby and reports to the board of EP Rugby Pty (Ltd).
“We have considered whether the board should, or could, wait for the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. In this case, the relevant persons already clearly ‘know’ or must suspect the irregularities.
“We advise that the transactions (dealt with in the reports) should be reported to the police without delay.”
A second report, commissioned by the EPRU and compiled by three advocates who reviewed the PriceWaterhouseCoopers audit, also said there was sufficient material to warrant a police investigation, and recommended the matter be handed over to the police as soon as possible. This report was handed over to the executive committee of the EPRU in November.
It was former EPRU president Willem Stuurman, however, who eventually took the matter up with the police and handed over the findings of the audit on December 13 – this only after he was suspended from participating in any rugby structures in the Eastern Cape for the next five years after being found guilty of submitting fraudulent claims and acting dishonestly.
Stuurman said he had taken the report to the police so the claims of fraud and mismanagement in the EPRU could be “resolved once and for all”.
He added: “If the police find me guilty, then I am willing to be the first one to go to jail.”
The advocates’ report indicated that aside from Joseph, financial manager Sharon Brown, with whom the advocates had consulted during the course of their investigation, had appeared to have incriminated herself after admitting to drafting the dummy invoice.
This report also highlighted the fact that the executive members of the EPRU were obligated to bring the matter of the dummy invoice to the attention of the National Lotteries Board.
“We are of the view that the audit report, annexures and our report should be presented to the National Lotteries Board.
“There is further potential prejudice, we believe, in that upon learning the true facts, the Lotteries Board will not be disposed to allocate any further money to EP Rugby, to the prejudice of the EPRU.
“The further consequence is that the board may attempt to recover the R414 568,01.”
The report, by advocates W Blundin, B J Pienaar and T N Price, reportedly cost the union R60 000.
SA Rugby Union vice-president Mike Stofile earlier confirmed to The Herald that the national body had put up R50 000 of this amount.
EPRU acting president Aldy Meyer said there were processes in place and the matter was being addressed, but he was not prepared to give any further detail, as the matter was still sub judice.
Meyer said Joseph and Brown were still in the employ of EP Rugby.
“The police are investigating the matter and we are giving them our full co-operation,” he said.
When asked if the matter had been reported to the National Lotteries Board, Meyer said it had not.
“We are waiting until the matter has been concluded, and only then will we notify all agencies and people on the outcome, including the board,” he said.
The police have confirmed that they are investigating the matter, but did not indicate at what stage the investigation is.
Van Graan was not prepared to comment on the matter, and repeated attempts to contact Joseph were unsuccessful.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: The ghost of relegation - who will be visited
Source: www.superrugby.co.za
Article by Gavin Rich - Pressure on Sharks and Cheetahs
There were no real surprises when the South African Vodacom Super 14 squads were announced on Monday evening, which generally confirmed the view that the Sharks and the Central Cheetahs will be the squads most under pressure to avoid being relegated from the competition at the end of the season.
At the same time, the Bulls are clearly the team with the most depth in key positions and should be the South African flag-bearers in the competition.
While the Cheetahs are the reigning Currie Cup champions, a look at their squad shows that they do perhaps the necessary depth which is required if you are to consistently challenge through a Super 14 season which invariably has a high attrition rate because of the physical demands of the world's toughest competition.
The Cheetahs have plenty of fire-power in the front-row, and it was this area where they fronted up so impressively to the Blue Bulls when they won the Currie Cup last year. However, they look a little thin at the back, where much will depend on how youngster Ronnie Cooke adapts to this level of rugby as well as the form of New Zealander Keith Lowen.
The Cheetahs will also miss the experience and presence of big lock Boela du Plooy, who has left to play rugby overseas. The retirement of last season's captain, Naka Drotske, also leaves a large hole that will be difficult to fill.
Apart from Lowen, the Cheetahs' gains from last season include Springbok utility back Gaffie du Toit, who has now become a well-travelled professional rugby player in South Africa after representing the Sharks, the Cats and the Stormers earlier in his career.
He is listed as a fullback, which is his best position, but his utilility value will come in handy to help coach Rassie Erasmus shore up other areas in the backline.
If there are injuries at the back, Erasmus could also become indebted to national coach Jake White for giving the young but promising and talented Meyer Bosman the experience of playing for the Springboks on the last tour.
For the Sharks, much hinges on how their injured players come through. When you look at the squad you can see what coach Dick Muir means when he hints that he will field two separate teams during the course of the Super 14 in an attempt to keep players sharp.
But a lot of his players form into either the young and up-and-coming or the journeyman category, which means that potential stars like the newly recruited Tony Brown or maybe Butch James have to come through and deliver the goods.
Neither of those two players have been included in the squad at this stage - Brown because he is still in Japan playing for his club and is now only expected in Durban at the end of the month at the earliest. Muir has agreed to this arrangement, but it will not have pleased him as the New Zealander is an important cog in his machine.
So will James be - if he recovers full fitness after last year's operation. James, considered something of a talisman by the Sharks and definitely a steadying influence when he is present, is expected back in full training at the end of the month. Like Brown, he will be added to the squad at a later stage.
Where the Sharks may battle is in the midfield, where there is a lot of young promise in the form of players like Waylon Murray, Grant Rees and new recruit from the Cheetahs, Andries Strauss, but where someone like Trevor Halstead (now playing overseas) will be missed for his experience.
Why the prophets of doom in Durban might need to hold back on penning the epitaphs prematurely, however, is because there is still enough depth in key areas to suggest the Sharks might be more competitive than expected. AJ Venter is back to bolster the tight forwards, where he has been joined by Johan Ackermann, while even in the absence initially of the injured John Smit there is plenty of experience in the front-row.
Experience is something that may be lacking from the Stormers front-row, who start the season in a similar position to seasons past - they know they have the backs, but do they have the tight five? The departure of Pat Barnard has left a big hole to fill in the front-row.
The Stormers have come up with the one big omission from the group of players down to play Super 14 rugby this year. Gus Theron, a regular in the team for the past few seasons, has been left out in favour of the Boland wingers Rayno Benjamin and Jonghi Nokwe. It will be interesting to see how the latter develops in his first Super 14 season as there is no denying he is a great talent.
The Bulls squad is also predictable - they have by far the greatest depth at forward, even without Kees Lensing, the departed Danie Coetzee and Richard Bands, who apparently still has a couple of weeks to go before he can be considered fit enough for Super 14.
They have a massive midfield, which has been boosted by the return of Dries Scholtz from Griquas, they have two decent flyhalves in Derrick Hougaard and Morne Steyn, but it is also noticeable that they have most of their black talent on the wings, which is also not new.
In the past Heyneke Meyer has been able to get away with this, but what is he going to do this season, where the coaches have been directed to have at least four black players in the starting lineup? Presumably someone like scrumhalf Heini Adams may get a lot more game-time this season...
An interesting ommission from the Bulls team was Chilliboy Rampele, the outstanding South African under-19 hooker from last year who according to some newspaper reports was in good form in a friendly this past weekend. The Cats, like the Stormers, are well served by black talent. The Cats also have arguably the pick of the young talent in the country. They have Earl Rose listed at fullback after his recent move up to Johannesburg from the Cape, but no place for Rose's young flyhalf brother, Jody.
Enrico Januarie is back in the fray after recovering from the injury which kept him from touring with the Boks last November, but perhaps the most welcome returnee is Jannes Labuschagne. The lock has not really seen much action since being sent off early in the Twickenham test in 2002. Hopefully his injury problems are now a thing of the past as both the Cats and the country need his kind of lock.
Many of the notable ommissions from the squads are because of injury and these players will be in the mix when they recover. These players include John Smit (Sharks), Andre Pretorius (Cats) and Joe van Niekerk (Stormers). Now that the squads are announced, the various coaches will be looking at what is available to them on the draft.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Shock move as judge King withdraws from inquest
Source: Beeld
In a surprise move former judge Edwin King has announced that he is not available anymore to lead the investigation into the alleged corporative mismanagement at SA Rugby.
King was asked to lead the investigation and would have used the Brand/Heunis report, as well as other evidence against SA Rugby and among others, the president, Brian van Rooyen as stepping stone in his investigation.
SA Rugby's CEO, Johan Prinsloo, confirmed that King was not available anymore.
"He withdrew because of personal reasons. We will have to wait and see what
the next step is that must be taken."
SA Rugby's board of directors are holding a meeting on Tuesday. King's shock withdrawal, as well as what will happen after the completion of the investigation into the alleged corporate mismanagement in SA Rugby, will be high on the
agenda.
It is essential that the allegations and accusations are thoroughly investigated and then buried. The AGM of SA Rugby will be held in Cape Town on February 23.
Notice of the meeting, at which enemies of Van Rooyen will try to unseat him, has already been sent to all the unions involved. No candidates have so far been nominated to oppose Van Rooyen. Click here to read full article and comments.
Monday, January 16, 2006
International Teams: Wallabies looking at pyramid structure as a cure
Source: RugbyHeaven
The Wallabies are contemplating a pyramid coaching structure to get them back on the winning road after a disastrous season. Former All Black coach John Hart says it can contribute to reviving their flagging fortunes, but it cannot cure all their woes.
With John Connolly certain to be named Eddie Jones's successor, the ARU is understood to be keen, at the recommendation of influential rugby figures, to implement a pyramid structure. This would have Connolly at the top, flanked by two lieutenants.
Wallabies legend John Eales has said Australian rugby's greatest periods have come when the head coach has had capable assistants.
High-performance unit general manager Peter Davis declined to comment when asked about the likely coaching structure the new Wallabies head coach will work under. Davis said the ARU would adopt the structure it believed would provide the best results. "We've decided what structure we want but we don't want to disclose that yet," he said.
But Hart, the Kiwis' 1999 World Cup coach, has warned of the dangers of trying to imitate the All Blacks' coaching set-up of Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen.
"It's a unique coaching set-up the All Blacks have and to try to reinvent that could be difficult," said Hart, now director of football at NRL side the New Zealand Warriors.
"It won't just automatically work somewhere else. It depends on the talents and the capabilities of the coaches involved. You need to have coaches who have a rapport with one another and have a similar vision and ideas on the way they want the game to be played.
"My concern is there can be too many coaches, especially in the specialist areas. It can be overdone, it becomes a mixed message and the players can get confused.
"With the All Blacks it works well because Henry delegates authority well [to] very good international coaches in their own right."
Once the new head coach is appointed, Hart said he must be given free rein by the ARU to implement the type of coaching structure he wants.
Former Wallaby captain John Eales said the head coach should be given all the help he wants.
"But there is a big difference between the group the All Blacks have and what we are likely to have. All the All Blacks coaches are international coaches in their own right. We don't have that to grab at."
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: SA RUGBY ANNOUNCES VODACOM RUGBY SUPER 14 SQUADS
Monday, 16 January 2006
SA RUGBY NEWS RELEASE
SA Rugby today confirmed the five regional squads to participate in the expanded Vodacom Rugby Super 14 competition.
Competition newcomers Vodacom Cheetahs will kick-start the competition locally when they entertain the Vodacom Blue Bulls in a night match on 10 February in Bloemfontein. The next day the Cats will square up against the Vodacom Stormers, while Durban-based Sharks are at home against the Chiefs.
Johan Prinsloo, Managing Director of SA Rugby, said the expanded competition means more local players will now get the opportunity to gain vital experience at the highest level. This will ultimately enable the national selectors to cast their net over a much wider range in the search to add even more players with potential to the national squad.
"If you look at our on-field performances across all national levels during the past two seasons, then I can safely say that our rugby is in good shape. We are world champions at both under 19 and under 21 level, whilst the Springboks maintained their consistently good form under Jake White.
"The Vodacom Cheetahs will make their debut this year and we are confident that they, like the four other participants, will do us proud in this exciting competition," said Prinsloo.
The confirmed Super 14 squads for 2006 are:
Vodacom Blue Bulls:
Johan Roets, John Mametsa, Akona Ndungane, Danwell Demas, JP Nel, Rudi Coetzee, Dries Scholtz, Wynand Olivier, Bryan Habana, Trompie Nontshinga, Derick Hougaard, Morne Steyn, Heini Adams, Fourie du Preez, Jacques Cronje, Pedrie Wannenburg, Tim Dlulane, Johan Wasserman, Danie Rossouw, Adriaan Fondse, Victor Matfield, Cliffie Milton, Bakkies Botha, Francois van Schouwenburg, Andries Human, Danie Thiart, Gary Botha, Adriaan Strauss, Jaco Engels, Gurthro Steenkamp.
Cats:
Conrad Jantjes, Earl Rose, Aswhin Willemse, Wylie Human, Grant Esterhuizen, Jaque Fourie, Wayne Julies, Doppies la Grange, Dewey Swartbooi, Jorrie Muller, Tiaan Snyman, Enrico Januarie, Dave von Hoesslin, Russell Winter, Cobus Grobbelaar, Wikus van Heerden, Ernest Joubert, Roland Barnard, Gerhard Vosloo, Gordon Gilfillan, Willem Stolz, Jannes Labushagne, Trevor Hall, Bertus Smith, Daniel Muller, Lucas van Biljon, James van der Walt, Lawrence Sephaka, Pietman van Niekerk.
Vodacom Cheetahs:
Bevan Fortuin, Gaffie du Toit, Eddie Fredericks, Gavin Passens, Alwyn Hollenbach, Ronnie Cooke, Keith Louwen, Barry Goodes, Vuyani Dlomo, Sinethemba Zweni, Willem de Waal, Meyer Bosman, Michael Claassens, Noel Oelschig, Ryno van der Merwe, Frans Viljoen, Juan Smith, Heinrich Stride, Gareth Krause, Kabamba Floors, Giscard Pieterse, Wayne van Heerden, Corniel van Zyl, CJ van der Linde, Jannie du Plessis, Tiaan Liebenberg, Trevor Leota, Ollie le Roux, Os du Randt, Wian du Preez.
Sharks:
JP Pietersen, Brent Russell, Cedric Mkhize, Grant Rees, Waylon Murray, Adrian Jacobs, Gcobani Bobo, Andries Strauss, Odwa Ndungane, Henno Mentz, Percy Montgomery, Craig Davidson, Sandile Nxumalo, Ruan Pienaar, Jacques Botes, Daniel Farani, Nico Breedt, Warren Britz, Solly Tyibilika, Johann Muller, Albert van den Berg, Johan Ackermann, Steven Sykes, AJ Venter, BJ Botha, Danie Saayman, Skipper Badenhorst, Bismarck du Plessis, Deon Carstens, Brent Moyle.
Vodacom Stormers:
Werner Greeff, Tonderai Chavhanga, Rayno Benjamin, Egon Seconds, Marius Joubert, Jean de Villiers, De Wet Barry, Jonghi Nokwe, Peter Grant, Naas Olivier, Neil de Kock, Paul Delport, Bolla Conradie, Adri Badenhorst, Justin Melck, Schalk Burger, Hendrik Gerber, Luke Watson, Henk Eksteen, Andries Bekker, Daniel Theron, Gerrie Britz, Ross Skeate, Eddie Andrews, Attie Winter, Schalk Brits, Hanyani Shimange, Huia Edmonds, JD Moller.
Issued by SA Rugby
Rayaan Adriaanse
Media Manager
Tel: +27 21 659-6722
Cell: +27 82 999 0022
E-Mail: rayaan@sarugby.co.za
Visit the home of SA Rugby on the Internet at www.sarugby.co.za Click here to read full article and comments.
SA RUGBY NEWS RELEASE
SA Rugby today confirmed the five regional squads to participate in the expanded Vodacom Rugby Super 14 competition.
Competition newcomers Vodacom Cheetahs will kick-start the competition locally when they entertain the Vodacom Blue Bulls in a night match on 10 February in Bloemfontein. The next day the Cats will square up against the Vodacom Stormers, while Durban-based Sharks are at home against the Chiefs.
Johan Prinsloo, Managing Director of SA Rugby, said the expanded competition means more local players will now get the opportunity to gain vital experience at the highest level. This will ultimately enable the national selectors to cast their net over a much wider range in the search to add even more players with potential to the national squad.
"If you look at our on-field performances across all national levels during the past two seasons, then I can safely say that our rugby is in good shape. We are world champions at both under 19 and under 21 level, whilst the Springboks maintained their consistently good form under Jake White.
"The Vodacom Cheetahs will make their debut this year and we are confident that they, like the four other participants, will do us proud in this exciting competition," said Prinsloo.
The confirmed Super 14 squads for 2006 are:
Vodacom Blue Bulls:
Johan Roets, John Mametsa, Akona Ndungane, Danwell Demas, JP Nel, Rudi Coetzee, Dries Scholtz, Wynand Olivier, Bryan Habana, Trompie Nontshinga, Derick Hougaard, Morne Steyn, Heini Adams, Fourie du Preez, Jacques Cronje, Pedrie Wannenburg, Tim Dlulane, Johan Wasserman, Danie Rossouw, Adriaan Fondse, Victor Matfield, Cliffie Milton, Bakkies Botha, Francois van Schouwenburg, Andries Human, Danie Thiart, Gary Botha, Adriaan Strauss, Jaco Engels, Gurthro Steenkamp.
Cats:
Conrad Jantjes, Earl Rose, Aswhin Willemse, Wylie Human, Grant Esterhuizen, Jaque Fourie, Wayne Julies, Doppies la Grange, Dewey Swartbooi, Jorrie Muller, Tiaan Snyman, Enrico Januarie, Dave von Hoesslin, Russell Winter, Cobus Grobbelaar, Wikus van Heerden, Ernest Joubert, Roland Barnard, Gerhard Vosloo, Gordon Gilfillan, Willem Stolz, Jannes Labushagne, Trevor Hall, Bertus Smith, Daniel Muller, Lucas van Biljon, James van der Walt, Lawrence Sephaka, Pietman van Niekerk.
Vodacom Cheetahs:
Bevan Fortuin, Gaffie du Toit, Eddie Fredericks, Gavin Passens, Alwyn Hollenbach, Ronnie Cooke, Keith Louwen, Barry Goodes, Vuyani Dlomo, Sinethemba Zweni, Willem de Waal, Meyer Bosman, Michael Claassens, Noel Oelschig, Ryno van der Merwe, Frans Viljoen, Juan Smith, Heinrich Stride, Gareth Krause, Kabamba Floors, Giscard Pieterse, Wayne van Heerden, Corniel van Zyl, CJ van der Linde, Jannie du Plessis, Tiaan Liebenberg, Trevor Leota, Ollie le Roux, Os du Randt, Wian du Preez.
Sharks:
JP Pietersen, Brent Russell, Cedric Mkhize, Grant Rees, Waylon Murray, Adrian Jacobs, Gcobani Bobo, Andries Strauss, Odwa Ndungane, Henno Mentz, Percy Montgomery, Craig Davidson, Sandile Nxumalo, Ruan Pienaar, Jacques Botes, Daniel Farani, Nico Breedt, Warren Britz, Solly Tyibilika, Johann Muller, Albert van den Berg, Johan Ackermann, Steven Sykes, AJ Venter, BJ Botha, Danie Saayman, Skipper Badenhorst, Bismarck du Plessis, Deon Carstens, Brent Moyle.
Vodacom Stormers:
Werner Greeff, Tonderai Chavhanga, Rayno Benjamin, Egon Seconds, Marius Joubert, Jean de Villiers, De Wet Barry, Jonghi Nokwe, Peter Grant, Naas Olivier, Neil de Kock, Paul Delport, Bolla Conradie, Adri Badenhorst, Justin Melck, Schalk Burger, Hendrik Gerber, Luke Watson, Henk Eksteen, Andries Bekker, Daniel Theron, Gerrie Britz, Ross Skeate, Eddie Andrews, Attie Winter, Schalk Brits, Hanyani Shimange, Huia Edmonds, JD Moller.
Issued by SA Rugby
Rayaan Adriaanse
Media Manager
Tel: +27 21 659-6722
Cell: +27 82 999 0022
E-Mail: rayaan@sarugby.co.za
Visit the home of SA Rugby on the Internet at www.sarugby.co.za Click here to read full article and comments.
International Teams: Can White's Boks become better?
Article by Boertjie
How good are the Springboks really? Four minutes away from glory in retaining their Tri-Nations title? Or a team whose forwards and backs are struggling to compete with the best in the world? Is Jake White still the answer as coach, or has he reached his pinnacle? With all teams building towards the World Cup, Springbok fans are sadly left with too many unanswered questions to feel confident...
This may sound over-critical, given that the Boks moved from spot number six to spot number two in the world in one season. But alas, the shortcomings are there for any neutral and critical observer to see...
The powerful pack struggled to stamp it's authority in just about every match, even against the Wallabies! They were decidedly outplayed in the first half of their test against the less fancied Pumas and taught a lesson in power, aggression, mobility and technique by the French pack in Paris.
As a forward unit the Boks never properly gelled, were often beaten to the breakdown and lacked the fire-power to quickly and effectively set up and clean out rucks, whilst very little came of their mauling abilities.
The Boks have arguably the best line-out in the world, but we hardly ever saw something positive done with this possession. This is by now an experienced pack, but very rarely did we see them set up multi-phase play via mauling, and sucking in defenders before spreading quality ball to a backline that is very potent – if then only on paper!
How many moves can you recall in which more than three forwards linked up, or linked up with the backs?
Loose-trio combination
In my view we do not have the right loose-trio combination, even though this country seems to be blessed by a plethora of talent in this position.
Juan Smith is world class, but Schalk Burger is not the answer as opensider. Burger is full of action, yes, but I am yet to see him do something more with the ball in hand than running headlong into his nearest opponent. He is seldom the first player to make a tackle and his best attribute seems to be his power and ability to win turnovers - but then he often lacks the support in securing the ball or the vision to start a movement.
Our number 8's were probably the biggest disappointment, as neither Joe van Niekerk nor Jacques Cronjé were very visible. This may have been the result of a tight five not dominating - which will then serve as proof for my earlier evaluation.
Is Gert Smal to blame?
Maybe the inept displays by the forwards are a pointer towards their coach, Gert Smal. He has been with the team from before White took over, yet there are no signs of them improving. It could also be a case of too many forwards being committed to defence – a pattern decided on by White? - for one often sees them outnumbered by the opposition when it comes to rucks and mauls.
Is Small the wrong man to coach the forwards – or is he only allowed to coach within the parameters allowed him by White? Were the pack as a whole not performing better in 2003 – also under Small, but pre-White?
Backline continues to be sterile
As for the backs, our halves often received uncontrolled posession from rucks and even from the set pieces. Teams cannot attack with scrappy ball, and the halves (poor Michael Claassens and Meyer Bosman on the EOYT) are not always to blame. How good will a Gregan and a Carter or a Wilkinson be behind a pack playing the way ther Boks did against the French in Paris?
Fact is that, even with good possession our back play, relying on rush defence and strong counter-attacks, continues to be sterile – despite various promises of rectifying this by White.
Naas Botha once made the point that, given the new laws, the set-pieces offer excellent opportunities for attack. He then followed it up with Tri-Nation stats showing that more tries were scored from set-pieces than from broken play – also by the Boks of 2003/2004. But definetely not by the Class of 2005...
With two or three exceptions, the Boks scored their tries in 2005 from pressuring the opponents and feeding off their mistakes. In this regard, they played much more enterprising rugby in 2004, when they won the Tri-Nations. Chip-kicks, running into the opposition, the skip-pass and the predictable and telegraphed inside pass seems to be the only form of attack that Allister Coetzee and his backs can muster from set-pieces. No blindside moves, no blindside wing or the fullback joining, no creating of overlaps, no feeding off the tackled player (which again asks questions from the loose-trio).
Once more one must ask the questions: Is this the result of forwards not dominating enough on their own ball? Is Coetzee hampered in his coaching by a pattern set by White? Are the players having their natural talents coached out of them? Or is Coetzee just not the right backline coach?
In general the only aspect of our game that seemed to have grown is our line-outs. Scrumming was much better and the backline showed more cohesion and creativity in 2004. Overall one felt the team was unlucky when they lost in 2004, whilst in 2005 it was rather a feeling of relief when they won.
(My thanks to Donner for his contribution to this article.)
Click here to read full article and comments.
International teams: All Blacks to sing to McCaw's tune
Source: Rugby365.com
Henry drops least subtle hint yet
New Zealand Graham Henry has dropped the clearest hint yet that Richie McCaw will take over the All Blacks captaincy from Tana Umaga this season.
McCaw has been the understudy to Umaga for some time, and led the team against Wales in 2004 when he was just 23 years old.
He also led the team against Ireland on the Grand Slam tour in November.
"It's not set in concrete but a blind man can see what we have been doing," Henry told the Sunday Star-Times.
"McCaw has been vice-captain and filled in for Tana already and that's what we have been grooming him to do.
"Unless something untoward happens in the next couple of months, he will be the front runner.
"There will be ongoing discussions and we will announce the result of those at the appropriate time.
"But I think it's reasonably obvious what's happening there isn't it?
"We have been grooming Richie McCaw for some time and there is a bit of water to run under the bridge before that announcement was made.
"But if everything runs well over the next few months it's obvious."
One factor that could count against the Crusaders captain is his history of head injuries which has seen him sidelined three times in the past 18 months.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Are the Cheetahs being given a raw deal from SARU?
In a spat that is fairly mild by South African rugby administration standards but might seem of seismic proportions in Australia, the ARU has hit back at the Western Force's claims that it is 'not serious about expanding the code'.The Perth based Western Force's Chief Executive, Peter O'Meara, was reportedly fairly scathing last week in his criticism of the Australian Rugby Union (ARU).
O'Meara, reacting to news that the ARU has cut the WF's annual grant from A$300k to A$200k, accused the national body of not being serious about spreading the game, comparing them disfavourably with the effort that League are making.
He went on to claim that considering 20 000 Perth fans had signed up as members of the franchise, the ARU should be doing more to promote the game.
The ARU were having none of it however, with ARU boss, Gary Flowers saying, "The Force is one of the great success stories and we have put a lot of time, money and effort into that."
"We are putting resources into the new team but we don't have a bottomless pit of money. We wish that was the case but it isn't. We are contributing to the new team and the new start around $4.5m to $5m (R22.8m). In an ideal world there could be more resources applied but we don't have them."
Considering the sums mentioned by Flowers, nearly R23m, it begs the question as to what SARU are doing in financial terms to help the Free State Cheetahs this year and the Southern Spears next year?
Whilst it is not clear whether Flowers is referring to direct investment, the figure quoted is still a staggering amount.
Throw in the 20 000 signed, and paid for, members (Diamond, Gold and Silver packages are no longer available, such has been the strong demand. Only Iron and Nickel are available) with Iron prices starting at A$175 and Gold at A$395 and the Western Force would appear to hold a massive financial advantage over it's South African counterpart.
Conservatively, if we counted all 20 000 memberships as Iron, that would provide an approximate extra A$3.5m (R16m) per annum, so the real sum is significantly higher.
Additionally the Western Australian government has granted the Western Force's stadium, Members Equity Stadium, A$24m for redevelopment and given a A$1.5 million grant in order to assist in establishing the Western Force in the Super 14 competition.
So, to recap, and I must stress that I cannot guarantee these figures are 100% accurate but they are in the public domain and on that basis I'll use them for the sake of argument;
ARU claimed investment: A$5m
ARU annual grant: A$200k
Membership packages: A$3.5m
WA government grant: A$1.5m
Without discussing sponsors at all, this gives the Western Force a A$10.2m starting bonanza, that is R46.5 million. Without discussing the international airline, Emirates, naming jersey sponsorship or the more than 250 companies who have applied for corporate hospitality.
Oh, I can hear some of you murmering, what about Purchasing Power Parity, you can't just convert from Australian Dollars and quote a South African Rand figure - cost of living, inflation and all that.
Fair enough, so let's dont. Let's simply make a direct comparison.
The Western Force have a R10.2 million start to their Super 14 adventure, without including corporate hospitality and sponsorships or a massive R24m (PPP, remember!) stadium upgrade.
Okay, the outstanding 20 000 signed up members is from the sweat of the Force's brow, an Australian record by the way, eclipsing the Brumbies previous best, around 12 000.
Now, I ask myself, how much sympathy does the Free State Cheetahs boss have for the Western Force's Peter O'Meara?
Information sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, www.rugbywa.com.au , austadiums.com , The Universal Currency Converter, mbf.com.au Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Teams / Unions: Tigerphile speaks
In an exciting new venture for Rugga World, we'll be posting periodic Leicester Tigers match reports from Tigerphile. Additionally we will be commissioning occasional specialist England and general rugby articles from Tigerphile.Today's match features two of the giants of European rugby, England's Leicester versus France's Stade Francais, Nick Mallett's old club.
Further South African interest provided by Pieter de Villiers and Sean Sowerby.
Leicester (9) 29-22 (12) Stade Francais
---------------------------------------
Leicester: 15 Vesty; 14 Lloyd, 13 Smith, 12 Hipkiss, Murphy; 10 Goode,
9 Healey; 1 Rowntree, Chuter, White; L Deacon, Kay; 6 Johnson, 7
Jennings, 8 Corry (captain).
Replacements: Buckland, Morris, Cullen, Abraham, Ellis, Broadfoot,
Varndell.
Stade Francais: 15 Corleto; Borges, Skrela, JM Hernandez, Dominici; 10
Penaud, 9 Fillol; 1 Marconnet, Szarzewski, De Villiers; Auradou
(capt), James; Parisse, Martin, Sowerby.
Replacements: Kayser, Roncero, Marchois, M Williams, Messina,
Bergamasco.
Referee: A Lewis (Ireland)
Conditions: Dry, 8C, soft pitch not much wind
-------------
Time for the third set of two games in this season's Heineken Cup, and
with Leicester and Stade Francais separated by a bonus point in group
3, this games looked likely to decide the pool winners. The two have
played half a dozen times in the HC before, with SF beating Leicester
twice two seasons ago. Last year SF were finalists, losing to Toulouse
who beat Leicester in a semi final.
The form of both teams has been less than ideal this season, but there
is an increasing emphasis on "coming good at the right time" in the
English and French game, not worrying about things too much until the
crunch games come at the end of the season. This one came round a
little early, and all the more welcome for that.
The first half was extremely physical, geared around SF trying to get
their big mauling pack going. The visitors certainly had the better of
the lineout early on, pinching some of the Leicester ball, but they
were unable to get as much momentum in the tight as they generally do.
What's more, the Leicester scrum looked very comfortable, and put SF
under some pressure which is unusual. It was a territorial half
punctured with a few moments when the tryline was threatened. Firstly
a defensive lineout turned into attack when the admirable Corry made
ground and a half break from the young improving centre Hipkiss found
Murphy in space, and the Irishman kicked ahead to go close, Smith
knocking on trying to collect the loose ball 5m from the Frenchmen's
line. Another attack was close for Leicester, Will Johnson passing
forward to Smith who's touchdown was therefore disallowed.
Leicester scored first when Lloyd was hit illegally by the astonishing
ball of indian rubber Szarzewski. Look out for him in the French
national team this season. After stretching things to 6-0, then a
return to 6-6, eventually SF edged ahead with a penalty as the last
kick of the half. The intensity of the game wasn't to be denied, with
both packs working hard, Leicester effecting a few turnovers not least
from their recent signing Irishman Jennings, who is growing into Neil
Back's shirt in a more classical openside fashion. Corry also was
working hard. A few nice moments from the SF halfbacks showed a break
was never far away, yet SF continue to play a much more conservative
game than is generally associated with the French game. Tough, dour, a
"chess game" with all to play for in the second half, and likely to be
cigarette-paper close.
Leicester managed a little more pressure early in the second half,
Goode untypically unable to convert pressure into points, and the
scoring was continued when SF fullback Corleto pinged over a long
range drop goal from a Goode defensive kick that missed touch.
Still Leicester had been applying the more pressure, but they seemed
to force things too much with some re-jigging of the back line from
set piece, Vesty going to 10 and Goode to centre. Goode's pass was
neatly intercepted by replacement Bergamasco who ran in unopposed for
the 7 points. Close games can go either way, but a 12-22 scoreline
seemed very lopsided from the play so far, but the remaining 15
minutes or so seemed insufficient for the home team to pull make up
such ground.
Leicester have had a habit of pulling things round of late though, and
duly delivered as Goode, pendulum like, swung back into effective
mode. First an easy enough penalty, then a chip which initiated an
unlikely finish by lock Deacon appearing in support of Murphy.
Confidence restored, the conversion from the right touchline was
precise, and there was an inevitability about the final score, with
Leicester driving and recycling for a sustained attack eventually
concluding with an overlap for Hipkiss, the conversion not trivial but
a formality all the same.
This was pressure club rugby, with an intensity matching many a test.
As theatre it wasn't too shabby either, with an electric atmosphere to
close the game. Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: Rugby shamed by World Cup vote farce
The controversy surrounding New Zealand’s right to host the 2011 tournament has disgraced the game and must never happen again.
Source: The Sunday Times, www.timesonline.co.uk
By: Stephen Jones
THE bitterness caused by the horse-trading and secrecy surrounding the vote for the right to host the 2011 World Cup was revealed by The Sunday Times last week, together with the disregard by many voting nations for the merits of the bids.
The three contenders spent £3m between them — wasted money. With the possible exceptions of the Rugby Football Union and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), it is anybody’s guess as to what was the underlying motivation behind each vote cast.
If New Zealand proves to be the best host, the victory will have, in effect, come by default. Our revelations about the disquiet of the Asian RFU, first caused by the successful Irish motion that voting should be kept secret, were simply a flavour of the true poison. But there is a wider issue here, wider even than the fact that the World Cup vote, as International Rugby Board (IRB) insiders told me on Friday, can never be conducted in the same way again.
The truth is that the IRB can never be the same again. Every key decision it takes on the progress of world rugby is made on the basis of self-interest and selfishness by the individual rugby nations. In none of its recent decisions has there been any discernible concern for the game’s general good.
This clearly calls into question the chairmanship of Dr Syd Millar. I have always had enormous respect for him, but he has failed in the challenge he set himself when he took over — to take the whole thing away from backyard brawling and the self-interest of the major nations, into true internationalism.
Millar’s knowledge of rugby is unsurpassed. He has made no secret of the fact that the decline of true forward play and the rise in the use of replacements has disfigured the sport. But even in these, his specialist areas, he has failed to bring the game at large with him and the IRB is hamstrung in its work because individual nations cannot see further than the end of their noses.
It is time for a major figure to take over the chairmanship, to try to take on the power of the big nations.
The internal organisation of the IRB is fine. In its technical, refereeing, marketing, media and other departments, it is staffed by decent individuals with a global vision. But this inner core is still at the mercy of the IRB Council, and it would take a logistical and constitutional shift of seismic proportions to allow the IRB centre to function normally.
The poison drips all over. This week we can reveal that the World Cup vote caused one of the most ferocious arguments ever seen in the French rugby federation, and that takes in some barnies.
The root of the trouble was that Fira, the body representing almost 20 of the smaller European nations, voted for Japan. The French federation president, Bernard Lapasset, took such exception to this that he tore into Jean-Claude Baqué, the Fira president who also sits on the French federation.
Faced with this assault, Baqué resigned from Fira, but the most recent Fira meeting raised two fingers to France and he was unanimously re-elected.
Not even countries, apparently, are allowed their own mind. Australia voted for Japan. However, Jock Hobbs, chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Union, was incensed: “Our concern is that the ARU board chose to support Japan. I have written to the ARU . . . outlining our concerns and the damage this decision has done to the Australia-New Zealand relationship.”
The affair has even led to the resignation of Dilip Kumar, the chairman of the ARU. Do Messrs Lapasset and Hobbs never stop to consider that Fira and Australia might just have seen something they liked in somebody else’s bid? What of the Asian RFU’s disquiet? Last week we learnt that the Japanese Rugby Football Union had formally asked Jamie Scott, the secretary of the Asian RFU, if he had cast the Asian vote for Japan, as was his clear mandate. Scott said he had, but the fact that he was forced to clarify the matter was ludicrous.
Last week Scott sent a barrage of emails (all of which have reached The Sunday Times) trying to establish that, because of the loose nature of the Asian RFU constitution, he could act as the spokesman in an emergency.
The biggest irony of all lies in the result. We are confident, after extensive investigation, that the final vote was either 13-8 or 12-9 in favour of New Zealand. This was achieved democratically and time will tell if it was good for the game.
Nobody doubts New Zealand’s rugby passion. But think what could have been avoided by the simple expedient of revealing the vote, by being open and honest. Asia, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France, Fira and the IRB could have avoided rugby union’s most embarrassing episode.
It simply cannot be allowed to happen again. The voting procedure, and the core operation of the IRB, must change. Otherwise this enormous embarrassment will recur every four years. Click here to read full article and comments.
Source: The Sunday Times, www.timesonline.co.uk
By: Stephen Jones
THE bitterness caused by the horse-trading and secrecy surrounding the vote for the right to host the 2011 World Cup was revealed by The Sunday Times last week, together with the disregard by many voting nations for the merits of the bids.
The three contenders spent £3m between them — wasted money. With the possible exceptions of the Rugby Football Union and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), it is anybody’s guess as to what was the underlying motivation behind each vote cast.
If New Zealand proves to be the best host, the victory will have, in effect, come by default. Our revelations about the disquiet of the Asian RFU, first caused by the successful Irish motion that voting should be kept secret, were simply a flavour of the true poison. But there is a wider issue here, wider even than the fact that the World Cup vote, as International Rugby Board (IRB) insiders told me on Friday, can never be conducted in the same way again.
The truth is that the IRB can never be the same again. Every key decision it takes on the progress of world rugby is made on the basis of self-interest and selfishness by the individual rugby nations. In none of its recent decisions has there been any discernible concern for the game’s general good.
This clearly calls into question the chairmanship of Dr Syd Millar. I have always had enormous respect for him, but he has failed in the challenge he set himself when he took over — to take the whole thing away from backyard brawling and the self-interest of the major nations, into true internationalism.
Millar’s knowledge of rugby is unsurpassed. He has made no secret of the fact that the decline of true forward play and the rise in the use of replacements has disfigured the sport. But even in these, his specialist areas, he has failed to bring the game at large with him and the IRB is hamstrung in its work because individual nations cannot see further than the end of their noses.
It is time for a major figure to take over the chairmanship, to try to take on the power of the big nations.
The internal organisation of the IRB is fine. In its technical, refereeing, marketing, media and other departments, it is staffed by decent individuals with a global vision. But this inner core is still at the mercy of the IRB Council, and it would take a logistical and constitutional shift of seismic proportions to allow the IRB centre to function normally.
The poison drips all over. This week we can reveal that the World Cup vote caused one of the most ferocious arguments ever seen in the French rugby federation, and that takes in some barnies.
The root of the trouble was that Fira, the body representing almost 20 of the smaller European nations, voted for Japan. The French federation president, Bernard Lapasset, took such exception to this that he tore into Jean-Claude Baqué, the Fira president who also sits on the French federation.
Faced with this assault, Baqué resigned from Fira, but the most recent Fira meeting raised two fingers to France and he was unanimously re-elected.
Not even countries, apparently, are allowed their own mind. Australia voted for Japan. However, Jock Hobbs, chairman of the New Zealand Rugby Union, was incensed: “Our concern is that the ARU board chose to support Japan. I have written to the ARU . . . outlining our concerns and the damage this decision has done to the Australia-New Zealand relationship.”
The affair has even led to the resignation of Dilip Kumar, the chairman of the ARU. Do Messrs Lapasset and Hobbs never stop to consider that Fira and Australia might just have seen something they liked in somebody else’s bid? What of the Asian RFU’s disquiet? Last week we learnt that the Japanese Rugby Football Union had formally asked Jamie Scott, the secretary of the Asian RFU, if he had cast the Asian vote for Japan, as was his clear mandate. Scott said he had, but the fact that he was forced to clarify the matter was ludicrous.
Last week Scott sent a barrage of emails (all of which have reached The Sunday Times) trying to establish that, because of the loose nature of the Asian RFU constitution, he could act as the spokesman in an emergency.
The biggest irony of all lies in the result. We are confident, after extensive investigation, that the final vote was either 13-8 or 12-9 in favour of New Zealand. This was achieved democratically and time will tell if it was good for the game.
Nobody doubts New Zealand’s rugby passion. But think what could have been avoided by the simple expedient of revealing the vote, by being open and honest. Asia, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France, Fira and the IRB could have avoided rugby union’s most embarrassing episode.
It simply cannot be allowed to happen again. The voting procedure, and the core operation of the IRB, must change. Otherwise this enormous embarrassment will recur every four years. Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Unions / Teams: The Southern Hemisphere's favourite journalist speaks out
It's the columnist that all avid Southern Hemisphere rugby fans wait with bated breath for.
Source: The Sunday Times, www.timesonline.co.uk
By: Stephen Jones
Many England places remain up for grabs and there is a need for new blood in the squad to be named this week
It is the equivalent in rugby of the first cuckoo of spring. On Wednesday England announce their first squad of the new year, which will prepare for the opening of the RBS Six Nations on February 4, and yet another chapter begins in England’s attempts to live down their World Cup win in what has been a tortuous post-glory period.
There will be 30 names announced, but the chief fascination lies in the announcement — or omission — of one: Lawrence Dallaglio. Friends of Andy Robinson claimed that he was undecided as late as this weekend as to whether he would restore Dallaglio but the Wasps captain seemed to play down his chances in Toulouse last night, after he had played valiantly in his club side’s 19-13 Heineken Cup defeat.
“I have done my best at all times to try to put myself in the frame and it must be good for England to have as many people contending as possible in every position,” he said. “There have been one or two contacts with the England management but I have to be perfectly fair, they have not been recent.”
Dallaglio’s recent form has been vastly improved. Yesterday as well, it seemed the old aura had been restored. Categorically, he is among the 30 best players in England. Yet there are odd rumours that Robinson would deem his return as upsetting the atmosphere in what is seen as a new-look England squad. This strikes me as pure baloney. If the England squad does not contain men of sufficient stature and self-belief to absorb the return of one of England’s most influential players of all-time, then it does not say much for them. The case is not exactly rock-solid as yet, but Dallaglio is clearly still a force on the international scene.
There was a pervading anxiety after the autumn internationals. England beat Australia and Samoa and failed to beat New Zealand, chiefly because of some magnificent defence by the All Blacks in the closing stages. For any world champion, these are reasonable results. But I had difficulty buying into England’s media line that they were on their way as a developing team. The squad announced this week will have an air of worthiness, but not of potential domination or genius.
On this last quality, there are problems. Robinson has never quite come to grips with the construction of his midfield; there is an air of the ordinary about his lineout, about the balance of the back row and about his team as a potential attacking machine. In none of these areas has he been able to unearth, as yet, a world-class match-turner. It is surely not such a profound course correction to have either Dallaglio or Martin Corry, the estimable skipper, on the blindside flank. Those two alongside each other gives the team a regal core of inner belief and a section of the team to be feared by any other opposition.
Furthermore, I would reconstitute the midfield along the lines suggested by Jeremy Guscott. In other words, bring Josh Lewsey closer in to the action at outside-centre, outside Olly Barkley. This might be hard on Jamie Noon and it would be recognition that, at the moment, Mike Tindall has lost the multi-dimensional game he used to play. But to play Barkley outside Charlie Hodgson would give England a booming left foot to go with Hodgson’s booming right; it would give England a passer and distributor of real conviction and it would stop Lewsey’s talents being wasted.
And who will feed our talented trio? The shortage of world-class brilliance at scrum-half is still acute. Matt Dawson is playing well, but not brilliantly. Harry Ellis could not even make the Leicester team for today’s match against Stade Français. Ben Foden, the Sale tyro, is not ready and Shaun Perry, of Bristol, is untested in rugby’s stratosphere.
Up front, further head-scratching. Obviously, the position of middle-line jumper is a core element in any team, and for the autumn Robinson returned to an old favourite, Steve Borthwick. The Bath captain, as he always does, responded with devil, attitude and accuracy. He is no physical giant, however, and in terms of the scrummage and carrying of the ball in the loose as well as hitting power in the tackle, there is a trade-off for his outstanding lineout gifts.
Mike Ruddock, the Wales coach, was recently extolling the virtues of lineout leaders. Ruddock’s opinion is that every team must have one and that explains his loyalty to Robert Sidoli, the Welsh lock of no particular size. It also explains Robinson’s understandable loyalty to Borthwick. But it will be fascinating to see on Wednesday if Robinson has discovered any locking giants around the game to give England hope of a real powerhouse in the position.
However, let’s not forget the good news. Some of England’s key players are finding thunderous form and, in this context, how marvellous it was to see Phil Vickery charging around Vicarage Road last Sunday during Gloucester’s win over Saracens. Indeed, given the rather turgid nature of the proceedings, it is tempting to suggest that Vickery was both the best forward and the best back on the field. Troubled by a hand injury at the end of last season, it takes a man of his size a good few matches to get back up to full pace and power. But he is almost there, raising the happy probability that England can field the best front row in Europe by a distance against Wales: Andrew Sheridan, Steve Thompson and the rejuvenated Vickery. Behind them, Danny Grewcock’s form is impressive.
In a few days, we will be able to better assess England’s immediate prospects. Alarmingly, the World Cup defence will come round in less than two years. If England are worthy contestants but potentially fallible and untouched by greatness, then the conveyor belt bringing the next generation of Test giants needs to accelerate right now. Click here to read full article and comments.
Other Unions / Teams: The Mauger-Bachop Vision.
Today, writing exclusively for Rugga World, Canterbury club Lyttelton's Junior Club Captain, Brian B. illustrates the dedication and passion required to ensure club rugby flourishes. Brian also explains the club's "Mauger-Bachop Vision" for the future plus details the links the club has had with South Africa over the years.It is this kind of committed effort and community spirit that combines to keep grass-roots rugby alive, well and healthy in New Zealand. The Bachops are to be commended. Thank you, Brian, for sharing your club's history with us.
Lyttelton - Portrait of a Waterfront Rugby Club.
By Brian B Junior Club Captain.
Nestled beside the harbour, in amongst the tanks of the “Tank Farm”, is the “Port Recreation Ground”, the home ground of the Lyttleton Rugby & Combined Sports club as it is known today.
The club is small in terms of playing numbers. But it is a community-based club made up of the working people of the port. There are ‘watersiders’, maritime security officers, fishermen, truck drivers, shipping agents plus professional people like bankers, & IT people all making up the playing & coaching numbers.
The Rugby club as we know it today dates back to 1938, however rugby was played in the port as far back as the 1880s. For the most part the club always played in what was called the “Junior Grade”, which was to become the 2nd grade in recent years. Unfortunately few records of those days survive to refer to but it is known that there were several prominent All Blacks who played their rugby in the port as juniors before going off to Christchurch city & the High Schools & big city clubs.
Notable amongst those players from the early days were William “Bill” Dalley, the halfback in the 1924 “Invincibles” who was born in Lyttleton.
Mr Dalley was also remembered by several players in the 1970s & 1980s as the elderly gentleman who would show up to all the teams matches in the city, in all weathers, & support the “Boys From Port.”
The other notable Lyttelton junior player of the early years was former All Black captain Bob Duff (AB 1951 –56) who led the ABs against the Springboks in 1956. Mr Duff made his name in the city clubs after going through the hill to the city but he has always been a keen supporter of the club & has been seen on the sidelines on Saturday mornings watching the Juniors play.
In 1985 the club had it’s only player to be selected as an All Black, while playing for the club, when Victor Simpson became an All Black during his three years playing for the club. Victor toured South Africa in 1986 as a member of the Cavaliers while still playing in Lyttelton.
In more modern times, the name of Bachop has featured prominently in the club. The club’s late patron, Mrs Timi Bachop, was a well-respected member of the community & long time supporter of the club.
Mrs Bachop’s sons all played for the club. Her older sons, Brian & Tony were members of our first Senior squad (1983 –1987). While her other sons, Graeme & Stephen both went on to become All Blacks while playing for Linwood. However, Mrs Bachop made sure they never forgot their roots & both have regularly been seen at the clubrooms & on the sidelines over the years supporting the team. Her grandsons, Aaron Mauger & Nathan Mauger both became All Blacks as well. Both were junior players with the club & both Aaron & Nathan have given their time over the years to help coach & participate in fun days with the juniors.
In recent years the club has fielded one men’s open grade side & 4 junior sides.
Gone are the days of the 1980s when we played with the big boys in the Senior “A” division for 5 seasons & fielded 3 men’s teams & 8 junior teams.
The changing face of reform on the waterfront & related industries & juniors going off to the High Schools in Christchurch City ripped the heart out of the club. Slowly we have rebuilt over the past decade.
In 2005 the one & only men’s side won Division 3 of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union championship round to put the club back on the map, taking on the 2nd XV’s of most of the big city clubs & defeating them all on the way to glory.
In 2006 we see the implementation of the “Mauger-Bachop Vision”.
This plan sees Lyttelton once again going back to “The bigtime” of Canterbury Rugby.
The death late in 2004 of Mrs Bachop saw the implementation of the Mauger-Bachop Vision for the Lyttleton Rugby Club by Aaron Mauger & Graeme Bachop. Both made a commitment to their mother to return to finish their careers with Lyttelton.
The details of the vision were unveiled to the club in May 2005 by Aaron Mauger. The vision was to return Lyttelton to the top echelons of Canterbury Club rugby led by Aaron Mauger & Graeme Bachop.
First the club will play in Division 2 for 2006 with the intention of winning their way to division 1 for 2007. How is this to be achieved?
Aaron Mauger first sounded out several players playing in the city who had all played at junior level for Lyttelton on whether they would return to play with him & Graeme. Then he got a commitment from a couple of other prominent players who also agreed to move clubs & be part of the rebuilding of the club. It was also announced that a local business had been signed up as the major sponsor for the senior rugby section for three years for a significant amount of money.
The strip to is to return to the strip we all knew & loved from the 1970s & 1980s, the Royal Blue & gold hoop which was what Aaron & Graeme remembered as Lyttelton colours.
Graeme Bachop recruited two prominent club coaches from the city who had played with him & they put a coaching staff together. The Mauger/ Bachop Vision was nearly complete.
The last part of the vision was for the whole community to come together behind this venture. They wanted the whole community to “Live the Vision” along with all of us. Aaron also embraced the children of the port, encouraging them to return to the club, wanting a strong junior section behind the seniors. Interest is huge amongst the juniors as the kids all want to see Aaron back, being part of their club.
Other players expected to front for the Lyttelton Division 2 side this season are former All Black, Caleb Ralph, a close friend of Aaron Mauger, & new young Crusaders prop, Ben Franks, who played here as a junior.
The heady days of the 1980s are about to return. The epic matches at the port recreation ground when the big city clubs came to “Port” to take on the local boys in front of a crowd of 500. The convoys of cars through the tunnel to the city will be back as the locals turn up to Rugby Park, Linfield Park & Hoon Hay Park to support “The boys from Port”
A big factor in enabling this vision to proceed was the determination of the current “senior” team, the division 3 side which defeated all comers including several 2nd XVs from the big clubs & the top sides from some of the other smaller clubs to win CRFU Division 3 for 2005.
The ages in this side ranged from 17 through to 47 & as is usual with the port, many times a different side would have to take the field each week due to work commitments. However the side endured & once again we saw big crowds return to the Port recreation Ground as the boys marched onto the division 3 glory.
The 2006 season stands to be a season to be remember in the Old Port town & the whole community is abuzz with anticipation.
Click here to read full article and comments.
