Saturday, February 04, 2006
Rugby Administration: Van Rooyen "will do whatever it takes to win this election."
Jan de Koning from Rugby365 is reporting that Brian van Rooyen is touring the provinces seeking their proxies.
A proxy vote would give him the right to vote (for himself) on behalf of provinces and once they have signed the proxy form, they would not be able to change their minds and support another candidate.
According to the rules of the election, each province has three votes, and the proxy could be used to split a union's votes, even if the mandate is to vote for the other candidate.
This is a typical example of where SARU lets itself down on transparency. This should not be an election held by secret ballot, each and every vote should be released to the media for public consumption.
They are electing the three most powerful positions in a national sports body, not a government, there should be no necessity or requirement for the votes to be secret. Let's have the provinces openly declare to the public for whom they will be voting.
This is the same Van Rooyen who has been requesting his opponents to keep things "above board" and not use "devious means".
He has now told Brenden Nel from the Pretoria News that he would "do everything in my power" to stay in charge of South African rugby.
"Yes, I'm asking for them [proxies]," Van Rooyen told the Pretoria News.
"And I will do whatever it takes to win this election. I am not breaking the rules, but this is a game, and in a game you do what you can to win. An election is such a game and I am not undermining the rules.
"I am not going to divulge my tactics, but I have asked provinces to give me the proxy to cast their vote for them."
"I will not be forced out. I was democratically elected two years ago and I will accept the democratic will of the SARU delegates."
Oregan Hoskins has apparently expressed his "horror" at learning to what extent Van Rooyen will go to remain entrenched.
"It's sad that anyone should resort to such means to get elected. I believe he is unsure of his position and does not want to rely on the democratic process of a secret ballot when we get to the 24th."
Van Rooyen and SARU CEO, Johan Prinsloo, have apparently met with the King of the Bafokeng tribe to finalise arrangements for the Test match against the All Blacks in August.
One thing is for sure, SARU's every action will be closely srutinised after this election in order to ascertain whether any favours were promised in exchange for votes.
Let's hope the 14 presidents vote for the candidate that has the best interests of South African rugby at heart, not personal gain.
News sources: www.rugby365.com and Pretoria News Click here to read full article and comments.
Six Nations: Ireland 26-16 Italy
In what wasn't a great spectacle, the Italians can rightly head home disappointed that they lost this one.
The Italians can justifiably question whether Irish wing, Tommy Bowe, grounded the ball for his try.
Television replays appeared to show his arm between the ball and the goal area before he was heroically held up by Azzurri openside, Bergamasco.
Pierre Berbizier was quietly furious at the post match interview, asking why the fourth official wasn't called in to adjudicate. The BBC subsequently ran the footage again from many angles, in none of which can it conclusively be seen that the ball was grounded.
Berbizier went on to question whether stamping is now to be allowed in the Six Nations since there were two clear instances of overly zealous Irish rucking.
It was on the second incident where the Italians were penalised for a retaliatory punch from a furious Martín Castrogiovanni. In fact, the referee could easily have awarded a yellow against the Irish.
Those two scoring opportunities were the difference between the two teams in a match where the Italians matched the Irish in most departments.
The Italians can go away heartened for their upcoming matches against Wales and Scotland whilst the Irish will have to improve if they plan to win the title this year.
For Ireland:
Tries: Flanery, Bowe
Cons: O'Gara
Pens: O'Gara 4
For Italy:
Try: Mi Bergamasco
Con: Pez
Pens: Pez 3
Yellow card(s): Pez, Italy -late tackle, 38
Ireland: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eoin Reddan (Wasps), 21 David Humphreys, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Italy: 15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Antonio Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Carlo Del Fava, 20 Aaron Persico, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Rima Wakarua.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges: Joël Jutge (France), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Click here to read full article and comments.
The Italians can justifiably question whether Irish wing, Tommy Bowe, grounded the ball for his try.
Television replays appeared to show his arm between the ball and the goal area before he was heroically held up by Azzurri openside, Bergamasco.
Pierre Berbizier was quietly furious at the post match interview, asking why the fourth official wasn't called in to adjudicate. The BBC subsequently ran the footage again from many angles, in none of which can it conclusively be seen that the ball was grounded.
Berbizier went on to question whether stamping is now to be allowed in the Six Nations since there were two clear instances of overly zealous Irish rucking.
It was on the second incident where the Italians were penalised for a retaliatory punch from a furious Martín Castrogiovanni. In fact, the referee could easily have awarded a yellow against the Irish.
Those two scoring opportunities were the difference between the two teams in a match where the Italians matched the Irish in most departments.
The Italians can go away heartened for their upcoming matches against Wales and Scotland whilst the Irish will have to improve if they plan to win the title this year.
For Ireland:
Tries: Flanery, Bowe
Cons: O'Gara
Pens: O'Gara 4
For Italy:
Try: Mi Bergamasco
Con: Pez
Pens: Pez 3
Yellow card(s): Pez, Italy -late tackle, 38
Ireland: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eoin Reddan (Wasps), 21 David Humphreys, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Italy: 15 Cristian Stoica, 14 Pablo Canavosio, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Ramiro Pez, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Antonio Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Carlo Del Fava, 20 Aaron Persico, 21 Simon Picone, 22 Rima Wakarua.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Touch judges: Joël Jutge (France), Nigel Owens (Wales)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Click here to read full article and comments.
Six Nations: Scots host the French
The Scotland/France match tomorrow should be fascinating. Scotland are desperate to halt the slide in their fortunes whilst France are eager to build towards the world cup next year.
Brendan Gallagher of the Telegraph provides the low down on tomorrow's clash.
If performances against the All Blacks are the true yardstick of international rugby - when have they not been? - then Scotland, at last, are on detectable upward curve and need fear nobody in this season's Six Nations.
It was the manner of their 29-10 defeat against New Zealand in November that gives modest cause for hope, with a return to their fast, hard-rucking game up front, allied to adventurous, direct running behind. A good performance, not blessed with much luck, against a brilliant team.
It was not enough, of course, to defeat Tana Umaga's men on the day but Scotland can join a long queue in that respect. More of the same, though, would be good enough to ruffle a few feathers in the Six Nations and finally breathe some life into a moribund Murrayfield.
Tomorrow they line up against a supremely talented but slightly edgy French side who have been deprived at the last minute of centre Yannick Jauzion, whose foot problem has belatedly been diagnosed as a broken toe. He will also miss next weekend's game against Ireland. Ludovic Valbon will deputise.
As of yesterday there were still 15,000 tickets left for tomorrow's game, and though Scotland cannot be blamed for these unloved Sunday kick-offs, their challenge is to make every home championship game a sell-out again.
"We have home advantage, a noisy crowd, and the guys like nothing better than playing at Murrayfield," Jason White, Scotland's captain, said. "It's our home, where we love to play and we're looking forward to performing well and getting a victory.
"We're going to look to play with the ball to get the crowd involved and make them feel part of it. We've got some great runners and we're looking to use them."
Scotland must remember what they did well in November. Their forwards, especially in the second half, hunted as a pack and recycled with New Zealand-style efficiency.
Space was found for powerful runners such as Hugo Southwell, Sean Lamont and Andrew Henderson, while Chris Paterson, Scotland's most talented all-round footballer out on the wing, was brought into the game as much as possible.
There will be another factor tomorrow. Mike Blair - a big name in the making two years ago before a slump in form - is back at scrum-half, preferred to Chris Cusiter.
While the latter's defensive qualities are excellent, Blair is a much more potent runner and, with their renewed confidence, Scotland intend to get on the front foot as much as possible. That is the theory.
For the French, meanwhile, this game presents exactly the kind of challenge that will tell us everything we need to know about Bernard Laporte's latest team.
A cold, dull afternoon in Edinburgh against an improving Scotland side who have the capacity to raise their game is an awkward assignment, especially if France underestimate their opponents.
Win well and France will confirm that they are in the early stages of building an outstanding side to take the 2007 World Cup by storm. Lose, and life becomes much more difficult.
Laporte acknowledges as much and the coach talks openly about this Six Nations tournament not standing in isolation. "We have two challenges now: one is to win because the Six Nations is a big competition, the other one is to build, because the aim is the World Cup. It is there in the back of our minds," he said.
France should depart with a win if all their big names fire and they resist the Toulouse habit of inexplicably taking their foot of the gas. Arrogance, laziness, boredom, show-boating?
Europe's premier club side get away with breezing in and out of games in the Heineken Cup, but the Six Nations is different. France went to sleep against Wales last season after all but destroying them in the first half and paid dearly.
They will also be mindful of a distinctly average performance against Scotland in Paris last February, when only a borderline decision against Scotland flanker Ally Hogg enabled them to scrape an unimpressive 16-9 win at the Stade de France.
Scotland have everything to play for - which has not always been the case recently - but if France are the quality team we think they are, they will prevail, albeit by a narrow margin. Click here to read full article and comments.
Brendan Gallagher of the Telegraph provides the low down on tomorrow's clash.
If performances against the All Blacks are the true yardstick of international rugby - when have they not been? - then Scotland, at last, are on detectable upward curve and need fear nobody in this season's Six Nations.
It was the manner of their 29-10 defeat against New Zealand in November that gives modest cause for hope, with a return to their fast, hard-rucking game up front, allied to adventurous, direct running behind. A good performance, not blessed with much luck, against a brilliant team.
It was not enough, of course, to defeat Tana Umaga's men on the day but Scotland can join a long queue in that respect. More of the same, though, would be good enough to ruffle a few feathers in the Six Nations and finally breathe some life into a moribund Murrayfield.
Tomorrow they line up against a supremely talented but slightly edgy French side who have been deprived at the last minute of centre Yannick Jauzion, whose foot problem has belatedly been diagnosed as a broken toe. He will also miss next weekend's game against Ireland. Ludovic Valbon will deputise.
As of yesterday there were still 15,000 tickets left for tomorrow's game, and though Scotland cannot be blamed for these unloved Sunday kick-offs, their challenge is to make every home championship game a sell-out again.
"We have home advantage, a noisy crowd, and the guys like nothing better than playing at Murrayfield," Jason White, Scotland's captain, said. "It's our home, where we love to play and we're looking forward to performing well and getting a victory.
"We're going to look to play with the ball to get the crowd involved and make them feel part of it. We've got some great runners and we're looking to use them."
Scotland must remember what they did well in November. Their forwards, especially in the second half, hunted as a pack and recycled with New Zealand-style efficiency.
Space was found for powerful runners such as Hugo Southwell, Sean Lamont and Andrew Henderson, while Chris Paterson, Scotland's most talented all-round footballer out on the wing, was brought into the game as much as possible.
There will be another factor tomorrow. Mike Blair - a big name in the making two years ago before a slump in form - is back at scrum-half, preferred to Chris Cusiter.
While the latter's defensive qualities are excellent, Blair is a much more potent runner and, with their renewed confidence, Scotland intend to get on the front foot as much as possible. That is the theory.
For the French, meanwhile, this game presents exactly the kind of challenge that will tell us everything we need to know about Bernard Laporte's latest team.
A cold, dull afternoon in Edinburgh against an improving Scotland side who have the capacity to raise their game is an awkward assignment, especially if France underestimate their opponents.
Win well and France will confirm that they are in the early stages of building an outstanding side to take the 2007 World Cup by storm. Lose, and life becomes much more difficult.
Laporte acknowledges as much and the coach talks openly about this Six Nations tournament not standing in isolation. "We have two challenges now: one is to win because the Six Nations is a big competition, the other one is to build, because the aim is the World Cup. It is there in the back of our minds," he said.
France should depart with a win if all their big names fire and they resist the Toulouse habit of inexplicably taking their foot of the gas. Arrogance, laziness, boredom, show-boating?
Europe's premier club side get away with breezing in and out of games in the Heineken Cup, but the Six Nations is different. France went to sleep against Wales last season after all but destroying them in the first half and paid dearly.
They will also be mindful of a distinctly average performance against Scotland in Paris last February, when only a borderline decision against Scotland flanker Ally Hogg enabled them to scrape an unimpressive 16-9 win at the Stade de France.
Scotland have everything to play for - which has not always been the case recently - but if France are the quality team we think they are, they will prevail, albeit by a narrow margin. Click here to read full article and comments.
Currie Cup: Cheetahs fight back
The Free State has long been a nursery of South African rugby. For decades many of it's finest young stars have been lured to larger wealthier regions and currently at one club in the UK alone there are 5 or 6 Shimlas players.
Well, they've had enough and plan to fight back.
Die Volksblad's Hendrik Cronje reports;
Bloemfontein - The Cheetahs are formulating a plan to stop the continuing exodus of promising rugby players from the Free State region.
The province will make it difficult in future for other provinces to lure away talented players like Frans Steyn (flyhalf, Sharks), Adriaan Strauss (hooker, Blue Bulls), Bismarck du Plessis (hooker, Sharks), Ruan Pienaar (scrumhalf, Sharks), Roland Bernard (flank, Lions) and Sewes Oosthuizen (prop, Sharks).
The man who has to try and shut the gates is Pine Pienaar, former first team coach of Grey College.
Pienaar will draw up a data base of young talented players and identify a group which will in future be given the opportunity to practise with Rassie Erasmus' Cheetah team.
"We'll try out utmost to keep our talent here," Pienaar said. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: 'Spears will certainly play Boks from the relegated franchise' - Tony McKeever
Tony McKeever, CEO of the Southern Spears, told RuggaWorld he does not seek players left redundant when one of the current five Super 14 franchises drops out of the competition next year. McKeever also rejected a promotion-relegation match as a compromise out of the impasse created by the Big Five's refusal to sign the agreement that was reached in June 2005.
In an exclusive interview with RuggaWorld the CEO said that he is aware of clause 10.1.10 in the June 8 agreement, which states that Springboks of the relegated franchise will be transferred to the Spears on the recommendation of the national Springbok coach Jake White.
McKeever reiterated that the Spears are not so much interested in the relegated players. He is however willing to accept the Springbok rugby players, if so requested by White.
"We believe in an equitable distribution of our top players in order to prepare them for the World Cup in 2007 and beyond," McKeever said.
He also rejected claims that South Africa does not have 180 first class players. "Take the Stormers as an example – they have four Springbok scrumhalves available. How much playing time will they get where they are? Is this an equitable distribution of resources, and is this in the interest of both the players and SA rugby?"
The CEO rejected the playing of a promotion-relegation match between the Spears and the franchise finishing bottom of the Super 14 log as a compromise and some kind of out, for the current impasse.
"A compromise from what? The President's Council signed off an agreement on the 8th June 2005 last year that was endorsed by the Minister of Sport. Everyone received a white paper giving them ample time to raise objections," McKeever told the rugby writer of the Cape Argus.
"For eight months there was no vociferous opposition. But suddenly, with the Big Five staring into Armageddon and a potential black hole, the Spears have to become the sacrificial lamb. It is outrageous."
After their meeting on Thursday SA Rugby released a statement saying it had been decided that the automatic promotion-relegation issue will be discussed further and referred to the Board of Directors of SA Rugby. Click here to read full article and comments.
In an exclusive interview with RuggaWorld the CEO said that he is aware of clause 10.1.10 in the June 8 agreement, which states that Springboks of the relegated franchise will be transferred to the Spears on the recommendation of the national Springbok coach Jake White.
McKeever reiterated that the Spears are not so much interested in the relegated players. He is however willing to accept the Springbok rugby players, if so requested by White.
"We believe in an equitable distribution of our top players in order to prepare them for the World Cup in 2007 and beyond," McKeever said.
He also rejected claims that South Africa does not have 180 first class players. "Take the Stormers as an example – they have four Springbok scrumhalves available. How much playing time will they get where they are? Is this an equitable distribution of resources, and is this in the interest of both the players and SA rugby?"
The CEO rejected the playing of a promotion-relegation match between the Spears and the franchise finishing bottom of the Super 14 log as a compromise and some kind of out, for the current impasse.
"A compromise from what? The President's Council signed off an agreement on the 8th June 2005 last year that was endorsed by the Minister of Sport. Everyone received a white paper giving them ample time to raise objections," McKeever told the rugby writer of the Cape Argus.
"For eight months there was no vociferous opposition. But suddenly, with the Big Five staring into Armageddon and a potential black hole, the Spears have to become the sacrificial lamb. It is outrageous."
After their meeting on Thursday SA Rugby released a statement saying it had been decided that the automatic promotion-relegation issue will be discussed further and referred to the Board of Directors of SA Rugby. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: 'Rushing the Spears will only embarrass SA rugby'
Twelve months is just too short a time for the Spears to get it together, and embarrassment beckons for them and South African rugby if they are pushed too quickly, says Gavin Rich of SuperRugby.
Rich states that, based on what the Spears had delivered in their four warmups, it would be far more intelligent to delay their Super 14 debut until such a time as they have built experience as a playing unit and developed their individual talent through their participation as a team in the Currie Cup.
He acknowledges that the Southeastern Cape does hold a lot of potential, provided the administrators can find a way to make it all work. Having a strong team in the region should ignite the interest in the black communities. But more time is needed to put structures in place to ensure that the "vast reservoir" in the region is properly tapped and nurtured.
Rich says coach Pieter de Villiers is reminding everyone that he is building his team over three years, and maybe his team should be given three years to develop "before being thrown for the wolves in the Super 14."
"The franchise that finishes fifth out of the local entries in this year’s competition is going to have to be extremely woeful to be weaker than the Spears.
"For a start, they are going to have to recruit a tight five, for the pack was completely ineffectual against the Cheetahs. They were not much better against the Stormers, and will have to bring a lot more muscle to their Super 14 matches if they are not be blown off the planet."
(The Spears will play in this year's Currie Cup competition, which could theoretically also include one of its feeder unions - SWD, Border and EP.) Click here to read full article and comments.
General discussions: Rugby tickets, why you pay more than soccer fans.
It is interesting to note that whilst Springbok fans were forking out about R350 per ticket for the Bloemfontein test against Ireland in June 2004, Bafana Bafana fans paid R20 to watch their heroes in the same stadium a week earlier.
Perhaps it is also instructive that whilst the Boks stand at number 2 in the world, Bafana are slip sliding away down the hill.
Is it possible to reconcile the imperative of taking the game to the masses whilst remaining commercially successful?
Is it possible to remain a world class team in the face of crippling financial losses?
I know what my opinion is but I can't claim to know the answers for a fact.
It is interesting to compare the contrasting approaches between South African soccer and rugby.
It cost the Cheetah Company R4 million to host that test, additionally they had to pay VAT of 14% on the sale of tickets, amounting to approximately R800 000. The cost of putting on the event in terms of marketing, security and personnel was a further R800 000.
Therefore the Cheetahs had to fork out R5.6 million rand for the pleasure of hosting a test match.
As Harold Verster told News 24's Schalk Jonker at the time, "This means that if you charge a standard R200 per person, you would need 28 000 people through the gate. That's just for us to break even."
So why does it cost a host union so much money to put on a test?
Well, they have to guarantee SARU a fee, the fee depends on the opposition and, thus, a team like Ireland attracts a guarantee fee of around R4 million whilst the All Blacks, England, France or Ireland would cost between R5.5 million and R6 million.
What this means is that when SARU take the game outside the traditional powerhouses they cannot expect the host union to pay these enormous sums and therefore have to make up the budget shortfall elsewhere.
SA Rugby's commercial manager Kyle Nel said at the time that the same model is used in Australia and England.
"We don't take that money and put it in our back pockets," Nel told News24. "There are a lot of expenses attached to a tour like this and SA Rugby has to cover all those costs.
"We're hosting the Irish for three weeks and we basically have to pay for everything. We even pay for the water they drink.
"Last year we took the Argentina Test to Port Elizabeth, as part of Sarfu's policy to take the game to the people. It would be unreasonable to expect a small union like that to come up with millions of rands for a guarantee, so we said they could pay less. But, now we have to get that money from the other bigger provinces."
News24 asked Nel why money from sponsors and TV rights could not be used to cover these costs, Nel said it was too complicated to explain.
By contrast, soccer's approach is the complete opposite.
Clive Mtshiselwa, the South African Football Association's marketing manager, told News24, "We have to keep in mind that the most of our supporters fall in the lower income market and a lot of them are unemployed.
"It would be inhumane to ask high prices for these people to see their heroes. It is our mission to take soccer to the people and you can't do that if you pricing structure is at a premium," said Mtshiselwa.
"It would cost us about R3m to host England for example. Safa and our sponsors pick up that tab. We only use gate money to cover minor expenses like security, cleaners and things like that.
"Usually the municipality says 'Okay, we'll cover the costs of getting the stadium in order'."
"But we never charge them a lump sum to host internationals. In fact, all the international matches we stage, we stage at a loss."
Now whilst I am full of admiration for the approach of SAFA, I just can't get rid of the image of Bafana Bafana sliding away into footballing obscurity whilst the Springboks challenge the All Blacks for number one spot in the world.
It also begs the question, with South African soccer in the red to the tune of tens of millions of rands, are they spending more money than SARU in creating jobs, infrastructure and opportunities for the disadvantaged in society? Somehow I doubt it. Luckily for SAFA and South African soccer, they have the money spinning 2010 World Cup to look forward to.
That will be the fresh start they need, time will tell if it is used as a clean slate or a fresh start to begin the plunder all over again.
In the interim, is it possible to charge R20 for international rugby tickets and remain at the top of the tree? I don't think so.
Information source: News24.com Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Home match = 12 point start.
The British Journal of Sports Sciences has found that in the Super 12, kicking off in front of your home crowd equated to a 12 point start on the scoreboard.
The Stormers were found to be one of the two teams with a negative home record.
In what may come as a massive surprise to most, the Cats with finishes of fourth, third, 11th, 12th, 12th and 11th had the greatest home advantage!
The study by Associate Professor Hugh Morton from Massey University's Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health found Super 12 rugby teams with a home advantage more often than not won their games.
Dr Morton analysed the records of 414 games in the Super 12 between the 2000 and 2005 seasons. He discovered that 259 games were won by sides playing at home, seven drawn and 148 by the visiting team. He then calculated the difference between the average number of points scored in games played at home and the average number scored in away games to give a score that indicated each team's relative home advantage.
Former All Black midfield back Bernie McCahill, who played for Auckland in the late 1980s, says a home game has always been an advantage.
"The home crowd advantage in the early days must have been bigger than we noticed."
He said those were the days of "the marchers" where home crowds used to walk from one end of the field to the other.
The latest rugby research would be refreshing reading for Auckland's Blues until they looked harder at the data. They and the Stormers are the only teams with negative home records.
Dr Morton's study found the Cats and then the Brumbies had the greatest home advantage.
The research says the Blues and Stormers are least favoured at home, but it may be simply, in the Blues case, that they perform nearly as well offshore as at home.
The statistics will interest those who have regular rugby betting splurges.
"These figures can be used as a means of forecasting," Dr Morton concurred. If you know what the home advantage is and what the two teams' points ratings are, you can do the arithmetic and forecast what you might expect the result to be.
"Of course, you can't always guarantee it's going to be right," he added.
* The New Zealand Herald's chief rugby writer, Wynne Gray, says he is sceptical.
"At first glance, and without trawling through more than 400 matches as Dr Morton did, I have some doubts about the value of his analysis.
"But as the learned academic also noted, the perception of home advantage, even among sports commentators, is not always accurate."
Gray said the research would have been more effective if the results of all 10 years of the Super 12 competition had been analysed rather than just the last six years.
"Trends can appear in results at home or offshore but to try to then narrow that down further into points differential seems a trifle dubious.
"Some years there is an emphasis on defence and tries are hard to come by while in other seasons there has been a focus on all-out attack."
Gray also queried whether Dr Morton's study allowed for factors such as diverse weather conditions, injuries, suspensions or where sides were in the competition when they played at home or offshore.
"The Cats may rank highest in Dr Morton's scale of home advantage, but they scarcely trouble the scorers offshore so any home points must help.
"All very strange, especially when the Cats, in the six years of Dr Morton's study, finished fourth, third, 11th, 12th, 12th and 11th." Click here to read full article and comments.
The Stormers were found to be one of the two teams with a negative home record.
In what may come as a massive surprise to most, the Cats with finishes of fourth, third, 11th, 12th, 12th and 11th had the greatest home advantage!
The study by Associate Professor Hugh Morton from Massey University's Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health found Super 12 rugby teams with a home advantage more often than not won their games.
Dr Morton analysed the records of 414 games in the Super 12 between the 2000 and 2005 seasons. He discovered that 259 games were won by sides playing at home, seven drawn and 148 by the visiting team. He then calculated the difference between the average number of points scored in games played at home and the average number scored in away games to give a score that indicated each team's relative home advantage.
Former All Black midfield back Bernie McCahill, who played for Auckland in the late 1980s, says a home game has always been an advantage.
"The home crowd advantage in the early days must have been bigger than we noticed."
He said those were the days of "the marchers" where home crowds used to walk from one end of the field to the other.
The latest rugby research would be refreshing reading for Auckland's Blues until they looked harder at the data. They and the Stormers are the only teams with negative home records.
Dr Morton's study found the Cats and then the Brumbies had the greatest home advantage.
The research says the Blues and Stormers are least favoured at home, but it may be simply, in the Blues case, that they perform nearly as well offshore as at home.
The statistics will interest those who have regular rugby betting splurges.
"These figures can be used as a means of forecasting," Dr Morton concurred. If you know what the home advantage is and what the two teams' points ratings are, you can do the arithmetic and forecast what you might expect the result to be.
"Of course, you can't always guarantee it's going to be right," he added.
* The New Zealand Herald's chief rugby writer, Wynne Gray, says he is sceptical.
"At first glance, and without trawling through more than 400 matches as Dr Morton did, I have some doubts about the value of his analysis.
"But as the learned academic also noted, the perception of home advantage, even among sports commentators, is not always accurate."
Gray said the research would have been more effective if the results of all 10 years of the Super 12 competition had been analysed rather than just the last six years.
"Trends can appear in results at home or offshore but to try to then narrow that down further into points differential seems a trifle dubious.
"Some years there is an emphasis on defence and tries are hard to come by while in other seasons there has been a focus on all-out attack."
Gray also queried whether Dr Morton's study allowed for factors such as diverse weather conditions, injuries, suspensions or where sides were in the competition when they played at home or offshore.
"The Cats may rank highest in Dr Morton's scale of home advantage, but they scarcely trouble the scorers offshore so any home points must help.
"All very strange, especially when the Cats, in the six years of Dr Morton's study, finished fourth, third, 11th, 12th, 12th and 11th." Click here to read full article and comments.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Six Nations: The Guide
The 2006 Six Nations kicks off tomorrow with England facing Wales at Twickenham and Ireland facing Italy at Lansdowne Road whilst on Sunday the Scots face France at Murrayfield.
Here Rugga World gives you a brief guide to the 6 nations involved.
England
The most successful side in the history of the championship with 25 outright titles, including 12 Grand Slams.
Captain: Martin Corry. The Leicester number eight was made captain during the 2005 campaign, when Jason Robinson was injured, and is highly regarded as an astute and robust leader
Coach: Andy Robinson. The former England flanker was an assistant to Sir Clive Woodward before taking over the reins in the autumn of 2004 But the former Bath player and coach has endured two difficult years. Last season's defeat to Wales began a poor campaign and England must improve on their two wins and three defeats
Star man: Charlie Hodgson. Unsure and out-of-sorts last season, the fly-half blossomed on tour with the Lions midweek side in New Zealand.
While solid in the autumn internationals, he has been instrumental in Sale's rise to the top of the Guinness Premiership and progress to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals
France
The French won their 14th title, and eighth Grand Slam, in 2004 and are hot favourites to regain the championship, despite their stunning capitulation to Wales at Stade de France last season.
Captain: Fabien Pelous. The imposing Toulouse lock will be fresh after serving a nine-week ban for elbowing Australian hooker Brendan Cannon. Chasing his fourth Slam
Coach: Bernard Laporte.
The former Stade Francais coach is in his seventh season in charge and is developing a side capable of winning next year's World Cup, on home soil
Star man: Florian Fritz.
The Toulouse 22-year-old was voted 2005 Player of the Year in the French championship... ...where he forms a potent midfield partnership with Yannick Jauzion for the European champions. Together they could take the Six Nations by storm as the French build towards a World Cup challenge on home soil
Ireland
The Irish play their last Six Nations rugby at Lansdowne Road before proposed redevelopment is made to one of the game's spiritual homes in 2007
Captain: Brian O'Driscoll. The Leinsterman's lead-by-example style has proven inspirational for Ireland and the responsibility has done nothing to diminish his game-breaking threat.
He was made Lions captain for the tour of New Zealand and will be determined to reclaim his position as the world's best centre after recovering from the dislocated shoulder that wrecked his tour
Star man: David Wallace. The Munster flanker has shown oustanding form in this season's Heineken Cup.
Brother of two former British Lions, winger Richard and prop Paul, his phenomenal work rate and superb ball skills should at last cement him a place in the Irish side
Coach: Eddie O'Sullivan. Under pressure for employing a conservative game plan that has produced limited success since he was placed in charge in 2002.
But O'Driscoll's return to form and some inspired Heineken Cup performances from Munster and Leinster should put him in good heart for the championship
Italy
Joined the championship in 2000 but have won only three matches - two against Scotland (2000, 2004) and one against Wales (2003). Suffered third whitewash last year
Captain: Marco Bortolami. At 22, the lock forward became the youngest player to captain Italy
Coach: Pierre Berbizier.
France's most-capped scrum-half took over from John Kirwan after last year's Six Nations.
He coached France for three years and steered Les Bleus to the 1993 Five Nations title
Star man: Andrea Lo Cicero.
The Sicilian forms the cornerstone of Italy's pack. One of the most powerful scrummagers in the championship
Scotland
Won the last-ever Five Nations title in 1999 but they have struggled since, a third place in 2001 their best Six Nations performance.
Coach: Frank Hadden, the former Edinburgh coach, took over from Australian Matt Williams in September
After autumn defeats to Argentina and New Zealand, Hadden's immediate target is a vast improvement on heavy home defeats to Ireland (40-13) and Wales (46-22) in last season's championship
Captain: Jason White.
The Sale flanker took on the captaincy last autumn following Jon Petrie's injury and Hadden feels the responsibility brings the best out in him as a player
Star man: Simon Taylor.
The Glasgow number eight is unlucky with injury but he is also one of Scotland's genuinely world-class players
Wales
Dominated the 1970s, when they won six Triple Crowns, five titles and three Grand Slams.
Finally ended their long wait for repeat glory last season when their dynamic brand of rugby brought them the championship and a clean sweep
Coach: Mike Ruddock.
Awarded the OBE in the New Year's Honours after becoming the first Welsh coach in 27 years to win the Grand Slam - and he did not even apply for the job
Captain: Gareth Thomas.
Mike Ruddock describes his decision to give 'Alfie' the captaincy as the best he has made as coach.
Thomas's unique style of leadership inspired Wales to glory last season and was recognised by the Lions in the summer
Star man: Dwayne Peel.
First-choice Lions scrum-half, Wales missed him badly when he was injured in the autumn.
Sparks the Welsh backs with quick and creative service and links well with fly-half Stephen Jones
The contenders
Wales defend their title, won by a dazzling 2005 Grand Slam, in rugby union's oldest international tournament.
But, beset by injuries, will Gareth Thomas and his men maintain the winning touch?
The looming presence of favourites France, Ireland under a resurgent Brian O'Driscoll, and the juggernaut power of England, all pose a major threat to the champions.
Meanwhile, Scotland, in their first Six Nations under their new coach, and Italy, fielding their youngest ever captain, hope to spring a shock or two.
Information source: The Daily Telegraph Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: SARU and the HSM connection
You don’t think so? Let’s have a look. Since 2003 there has been a lot of co-operation between SARU and HSM. Who is HSM do you ask? Highbury Safika Monarch is the company that owns titles like SA Rugby, Fifteen and keo.co.za. They were previously known as Monarch Communications. Then they changed their name to Highbury Monarch. This happened in 2003
2003 was a traumatic year in our favorite sport. The final crazy days of the reign of Rudolph Straueli, The Geogate scandal. Ngconde Balfour saying he prefers the All Blacks over the Boks and a fifty point snotting of the Boks at Loftus at the hands of the All Blacks. What happened in these dark days?
Where does HSM come from?
They are an offshoot of Monarch Communications, a company registered in 1998. At that stage, a publishing house called Strobe Publishing owned the rights to use the trade mark SA Rugby. In 2002 Strobe Publishing went into liquidation. Highbury Monarch bought some of their assets. Maybe they thought they also bought the rights to the name SA Rugby. The name is actually owned by SARU. It was registered as a trademark as far back as the 1980’s with Danie Craven.
From 2003, the then Highbury Monarch entered into an agreement with then SARFU to publish certain tiles like “Fifteen”, the official SARFU magazine and certain programmes at SARU sponsored matches. No mention was made of the use of the name SA Rugby. Nowhere on the magazine itself or on the HSM website do they acknowledge that SA Rugby is a trademarked name.
From 2003 to January 2006, Highbury Monarch published its titles, including SA Rugby, Fifteen and the programmes at SARU events. From January 2006, a new company, Highbury Safika Monarch publishes these titles.
The connection between HSM and SARU
Now there’s a contract between SARU and HSM about publication of “Fifteen” and match day programmes. What else.
Amazingly, Mark Keohane. Mark Keohane was media liaison of the Boks in the traumatic dark days of 2003. He was the voice of the Springboks. After Geogate broke, Keohane left SARU to start up with then Highbury Monarch Communications. He started the weblog keo.co.za, under the auspices of Highbury Monarch Communications.
But according to ex Bok Joost Van Der Westhuizen, Keohane was half the trouble with the 2003 vintage Boks. Allegedly Keohane was the one who broke the story of Kamp Staaldraad through Dale Granger of the Argus. He goes on to say that Keohane’s appointment as SARFU media liaison was “the blackest day in South African rugby”.
Now we have Highbury Monarch Communications linked to SARU by more than a contract.
But who owns SA Rugby?
Easy, SARU owns “SA Rugby” the name. They registered it in the 80’s and then again in 1999. Then, in 2005, some issues flared between Highbury Safika and SARU about SA Rugby the name. Both parties tried to push it under the table and gloss it over with a joint media statement, but the statement itself confirms that there are issues over use of the name.
Let’s look at a little legal discourse and some professional insight. Lawyers draft contracts. They are pretty damned airtight even if the language they use is awful. Now intellectual property is very complex. If I own registered intellectual property then I can let someone else use it under license. Now the questions we have to ask are complex.
In September 2005 Highbury Monarch and SARU saw fit to publish a media release saying they were discussing the extension of the contract to publish and the use of the name SA Rugby was under discussion. Now in these apparently amicable discussions, both parties saw fit to obtain lawyer’s opinions over the use of the name SA Rugby. Does that sound amicable to you?
A good trademark lawyer costs about R2000-00 an hour. Why spend that to get an opinion for amicable discussions? And why get seriously heavyweight lawyer’s opinions when this was apparently covered in the agreement of 2003
In intellectual property law the use of another’s intellectual property is called “passing off” and if you, as trademark owner allow it for long enough, you lose your trademark and it can be deregistered.
So the answer is SARU owns the trademark at CIPRO, but we don’t really know if HSM have consent to use the name. In a press release of 2 August 2005, however, SARU trumpets that “its” trademarked brand name SA Rugby is worth R3 billion. And yet, they appear to have allowed it to have been used by HSM and its predecessors since 1995 when SA Rugby first came off the presses.
However, there are the questions
Why did both parties get heavyweight lawyer opinions when the contractual relationship, and presumably, the use of the trademarked name were already agreed? Why did they see the need to mention specifically that they were having discussions about the use of the name when all the other matters between them were also in the extension of the contract.
So, does HSM have rights to use the name? If they don’t, then have SARU allowed 11 years of passing off to let their rights to the trademark lapse?
As though this is not enough, under the current administration, close to 3 years have passed and they have done nothing about this situation if it is a trademark violation. And if it is? Then SARU would have allowed a R3 billion brand name to escape from their hands.
I’ll tell you what though. I don’t go visiting my business partners with R2000-00 an hour legal opinions under my arm!
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Prop's injury spells bad news for Bulls and the Boks
There is bad news for the Bulls and the Boks: Springbok prop Gürthro Steenkamp was told that he would certainly miss the Super 14 competition and possibly the whole season with a wrist injury that is not healing.
Steenkamp had been struggling for five months with the injury and a scan in Cape Town revealed that a fractured bone had not knitted. He may need a second operation, which could mean 12 months of inactivity.
The news is as much a blow to the player as to the Bulls' Super 14 side and the Springboks, where Steenkamp is seen as the natural successor to veteran loosehead Os du Randt.
"The news wasn't good," Bulls doctor Tommy Smook said to the Pretoria News. "The bone doesn't seem to have reattached and the specialist is now consulting with other specialists to see if there is any other solution.
"But it may be as bad as Gurthro missing the rest of the year through this injury."
Steenkamp was shocked but pragmatic. "It was definitely not the news I wanted, but what can you do?" was his response.
The big prop has been beset with injury problems since moving from Free State to the Bulls at the beginning of last season. In fact he has played only two Vodacom Cup games and came off the bench once in the Super 12 last season since his arrival at Loftus.
Steenkamp will know his fate by the end of the weekend. Click here to read full article and comments.
Other sport: Aussies last ten set Proteas a big ask!
The Australians Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds turned the Last ten overs of their innings into a batsmanship show as they ripped Hall and Van Der Wath to pieces. At one stage they took 40 in two overs. In what is becoming standard fare, our skipper’s batsmanship didn’t match his mouth as he got out early again.
After 40 overs the Aussies were still short of 200, with Pollock and Smith drowning the Australians in dot balls. However, once Pollock came off with 0/20 in his ten overs, the fun and games began as Symmonds and Hussey took the South Africans for close to eight an over. In response, we’ve already lost Dippenaar and Smith, while Rudolph and Gibbs are batting as though they’re trying to save a test!
The Australian innings was one of three parts.
The Australians started like a house on fire as they took quickie Langeveldt to pieces with his first six overs costing 50 runs. Luckily, Pollock did the strangulation bit from the other side. Once they got out Gilchrist and Katich, Botha and Smith played a role of twin spin, slowing the scoring and squeezing out wickets at regular intervals, with Botha and Martyn both falling for the spinnersbefore the dangerous Clark got himself into a mix up with Symmonds and run out.
In the last two wickets in Hussey (62 off 44) and Symmonds (65 off 60) ripped us to pieces with a partnership of 109 in 13 overs! Hall going for 56 in his ten and VD Wath for an incredible 82!
This left a probable score of about 250 at a formidable 281.
The Proteas reply in typical fashion
So what’s typical Proteas start these days. For starters it’s slow. We’re going at 3,76 per over chasing a score of 281 and now need to get a run rate of over 6.
The next typical thing is that the openers can be trusted to get out early. Smith falling to Lee off the second ball he faced and Dippenaar falling for nine off a slow coach 23. Then Rudolph and Gibbs set off to emulate their forerunners, with Rudolph getting a slow coach 19 off 39 before he survived a confident lbw shout. Then he stupidly set off to run to the other end and managed to get himself run out.
This followed another stupid run out with Gibbs and then Ashwell Prince being thrust into the unfamiliar “Jonty” role.
The current situation
Chasing 281 and needing to achieve a rate of 6,54 per over, we’ve reached the amazing rate of 3,53 with the ridiculous experiment of using poor Johan Botha as a pinch hitter at 5!!!
SA: 112 / 4 (rqd rate is 7,87)
Aus: 281 / 7off 50 overs (5,64 p/o)
Botha and Prince at the wicket
More updates as the disaster unfolds
Click here to read full article and comments.
After 40 overs the Aussies were still short of 200, with Pollock and Smith drowning the Australians in dot balls. However, once Pollock came off with 0/20 in his ten overs, the fun and games began as Symmonds and Hussey took the South Africans for close to eight an over. In response, we’ve already lost Dippenaar and Smith, while Rudolph and Gibbs are batting as though they’re trying to save a test!
The Australian innings was one of three parts.
The Australians started like a house on fire as they took quickie Langeveldt to pieces with his first six overs costing 50 runs. Luckily, Pollock did the strangulation bit from the other side. Once they got out Gilchrist and Katich, Botha and Smith played a role of twin spin, slowing the scoring and squeezing out wickets at regular intervals, with Botha and Martyn both falling for the spinnersbefore the dangerous Clark got himself into a mix up with Symmonds and run out.
In the last two wickets in Hussey (62 off 44) and Symmonds (65 off 60) ripped us to pieces with a partnership of 109 in 13 overs! Hall going for 56 in his ten and VD Wath for an incredible 82!
This left a probable score of about 250 at a formidable 281.
The Proteas reply in typical fashion
So what’s typical Proteas start these days. For starters it’s slow. We’re going at 3,76 per over chasing a score of 281 and now need to get a run rate of over 6.
The next typical thing is that the openers can be trusted to get out early. Smith falling to Lee off the second ball he faced and Dippenaar falling for nine off a slow coach 23. Then Rudolph and Gibbs set off to emulate their forerunners, with Rudolph getting a slow coach 19 off 39 before he survived a confident lbw shout. Then he stupidly set off to run to the other end and managed to get himself run out.
This followed another stupid run out with Gibbs and then Ashwell Prince being thrust into the unfamiliar “Jonty” role.
The current situation
Chasing 281 and needing to achieve a rate of 6,54 per over, we’ve reached the amazing rate of 3,53 with the ridiculous experiment of using poor Johan Botha as a pinch hitter at 5!!!
SA: 112 / 4 (rqd rate is 7,87)
Aus: 281 / 7off 50 overs (5,64 p/o)
Botha and Prince at the wicket
More updates as the disaster unfolds
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: We support the Spears!
No, we haven’t changed our allegiances. We’ve decided that we should state our views on the current back tracking from the five other Super 14 franchises. We disagree that these kinds of dishonesty and backtracking has any place on our rugby. It is a last ditch cowardly attempt to entrench positions that should never have been. It is breach of obligations already publicly undertaken and deserving of our contempt.
Yesterday, the five Super 14 franchises set to play in the inaugural Super 14 made known that they collectively opposed the relegation system, thus virtually rendering a court case on Spears participation in the competition a foregone conclusion. When we look at this situation closely, the current situation was brought on by yet some more SARU incompetence.
On 8 June 2005 SARU agreed to the existence of the Spears and the present system
In law, a contract comes into play when there is a consensus or meeting of minds, not when pen touches paper. There is the famous case law of Du Toit v Atkinsons Motors where parties reached agreement and then later signed a written contract that differs from the oral agreement and the court upheld the oral contract, because that was where the meeting of minds was.
Now, on 8 June 2005, SARU and the President’s Council met with the five Super 14 franchises elect and the representatives of the Spears. Afterward they issued this joint statement that EVERYONE HAD AGREED TO!
• The parties would immediately draft a formal agreement to reflect the agreement reached on the Super 14 franchise system
• SARU would financially support SEC (the Spears) for 2006 while they developed and SARU must help them procure sponsorships in 2006.
• The SEC would be entrenched in Super 14 for 2007 and 2008
• The South African team finishing lowest on the log in 2006 would automatically be replaced by the SEC in 2007.
• At the end of 2007 Super 14, the lowest finishing SA team would play a promotion relegation match against the Super 14 team excluded from Season 2007. The winner would play in 2008 Super 14. The SEC team was excluded from this.
• The 15 April 2005 SARU decision was amended to reflect this.
• The Falcons would fall into Blue Bulls Super 14 franchise.
Now don’t tell me this is not reflective of an unequivocal meeting of minds then I don’t know what is.
Dishonouring our rugby more
This is a dishonouring of South Africa’s rugby. Yes we already have the world’s best corporate governance experts in power at SARU. Yes they’re also in power in the unions. Yes, we’ve already had the Big Five express, lead by the Lions, their distaste for the Van Rooyen administration and pledge support for anyone who opposes him. Yes we’re having incompetents at Border and SWD replaced.
And now the five inaugural participants in Super 14 are joining the gravy train. They want to entrench their positions for the benefit of their pockets only. There’s nothing altruistic in their actions.
How can we, for the last time probably, have to rely on Brian Van Rooyen to bring honour to our rugby? He’s the man that everyone is accusing of mismanagement and corruption. Now we have to trust him to return honour to Super 14 rugby. We have to trust him to be strong. We have to trust him to enforce a legal and binding agreement. I’m sorry, but I can’t think of many people less suited to do the job.
They made the agreement in June. The Spears have contracted players, set up offices, procured sponsors. They’re readying themselves for Super 14. Now these gravy trainers have realised what’s at stake and they’re afraid of the risks.
Their excuses are pathetic
The ostensible excuse for wanting the Spears excluded is that they have not developed well enough yet. They have not done well in their warm-ups so far.
Let’s review that:
• The Cheetahs haven’t played a single game in Super 14 yet so how can they say that the Spears aren’t good enough to play against them? Their history is as being half of a Cats team that, aside from two or three blips in their history, have been an embarrassment to us in this competition. Now they’re going it alone and they think that putting 40 points over a team in it’s second match is reason to leave them out of Super 14. Try another one!
• There’s the Cats, who managed to lose 9 games in a row last year and managed nothing but a win against the Bulls and a dour draw against a pathetic Sharks set-up. Aside from that, they’re perennial bottom feeders. So what if the Spears aren’t good enough – you’re not either!
• Then we have the Stormers who put 70 points past a team playing most of the game with a one player disadvantage. Yeah, the same Stormers who had 70 put past them in Pretoria last year playing with 15 players, say the Spears, who get 70 past them with 14 (and sometimes 13) on the field aren’t good enough. That’s rich Stormers, very rich!
Aside from which, these Franchises have existed since 1998! Their constituent provinces have, in some cases, been around for over 100 years. They’ve been the real beneficiaries of professionalism. They have the players that they bought and developed. They have the history. They have the settled players and teams.
What about the Rudolph Straueli Boks? Getting their butts handed to them in 2002 and 2003? They had 53 put past them against England in 2001, lost by over 50 to the All Blacks in 2003, as part of a three game losing streak! Should they have been told they’re not good enough too?
Grow up Franchises
Yes, grow up. You’re pathetic. You’re an embarrassment to our rugby. Rather put up and do your part. Play in the Super 14 and prove yourselves. If you’re last then you have only yourselves to blame for letting your sponsors down. Tough!
You are the weakest – goodbye.
Accept defeat gracefully and come back better and tougher in 2008 ready to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Maybe we will finally see our South African teams actually play well in the competition because the entrenched Murdoch millions aren’t readily available and there’s something at stake for them and for the players for a change. Now the big unions will know what it’s like to play for everything at stake.
To Tony McKeever and the Spears
We at Ruggaworld support you. We support your team and your people. We support your inclusion in Super 14 rugby. We support the agreement of 8 June 2005.
Most of all we support honesty and integrity.
Go for it!
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: 'Five franchises are ambushing SA rugby' - Spears CEO
Spears CEO Tony McKeever accused the other five franchises of having "ambushed" SA rugby and admitted that his side's participation is in jeopardy following yesterday's meeting between the five current franchises, the Spears and the management of SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd in Cape Town.
Speaking to rugby365.com McKeever pointed out that they have all been aware of the agreement reached by the President's Council in June last year and they waited until now to raise their concerns in an official forum.
He said the fact that the five waited until eight days before the participation agreement (for the 2006 Super 14) had to be signed and then not to sign, is simply not on.
"I just think it is an ambush of SA Rugby," McKeever said. "This promotion-relegation issue has been on the table, agreed to by the president's council, since June last year.
"For these guys to turn around now, on February 2, and say they won't sign [the SANZAR participation agreement] is simply not on.
"How would the Cheetahs have felt if we had won the rights to host the franchise and they now sat on my side of the table?"
McKeever also said his team should not be judged simply on the basis of just three warm-up games, when all five the other teams have been around for years and have had plenty of time to build.
"If we had been together for a year and had been able to build a team it would have been different. Just give us a fair chance," he said.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Participation agreement still unsigned
The inaugural Super 14 competition kicks off in a weeks time, but still the participation agreement is not signed by the six franchises in South Africa.
How can rugby be viewed as a professional sport if the people running it shows such incompetence and blatant ignorance. The decision was taken 9 months ago with regards to the promotion/relegation system, but they have waited till the last minute to challenge it.
According to News24, Johan Prinsloo stated that the relegation system and the lending of players to the promoted franchise remains problems that needs to be discussed.
Prinsloo doesn't feel that the fact that the agreement will be only signed at this stage is serious. He stated "No one is going to jump off Table Mountain if the agreement is signed late."
This is unprofessional in the highest regard. A foreign sponsorship has all ready been procured by the Spears to the value of R15 million. Should the decision to allow the Spears to play next year in the S14, be revoked, it will be an embarressment for SA Rugby that can only be compared with the Kamp Staaldraad fiasco.
Click here to read full article and comments.
International Teams: No-nonsense Knuckles lays down the laws
New Australia coach John Connolly warned that just about all the places in the Wallaby squad is up for grabs. He will build his team around an exciting backline and forward power and will cut back on the pampering of the side.
Speaking to Peter Jenkins of Fox Sports Connolly (54) - nicknamed 'Knuckles' for his no-nonsense approach - wasted no time in sending a message to established stars that their comfortable and cocooned existence was officially at an end.
Connolly said the Wallabies had the players to win the Webb Ellis trophy, but he also suggested the players involved might not be current test regulars.
"You could have a long discussion on every position bar maybe one or two," he said. "Outside of that it's very open. You don't come off losing eight out of nine thinking everything's hunky dory."
Wallabies must get back into the public
While Connolly refused to name the pair - Lote Tuqiri and George Smith are likely contenders - he did not hide his desire to cut back the pampering of the team. A luxury resort at Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales Mid-North Coast has long been their training base, and the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) is under contract to use the facility until the Rugby World Cup.
Connolly, however, intends to cut back time in the five-star surroundings and is keen to get the team into the city of Test matches a lot earlier.
"We definitely want to get back out into the public. No other team in Australia is embraced more than the Wallabies. It's incredibly important players realise that."
Forward power must be developed
Off-field misbehaviour will also be targeted by a regime that will see three assistants - Scott Johnson (offence), Michael Foley (scrums, lineouts, restarts) and John Muggleton (defence) - form a four-pronged coaching front.
"Players representing Australia have a huge responsibility," Connolly said. "It's not a God-given right. They're lucky that when God handed out talent they weren't behind a tree, but they have to uphold the traditions of the great Wallabies who go before them. It's non-negotiable."
The Connolly approach will be simple. An exciting backline will be used. But forward power needs to be developed if the Wallabies are to flourish.
"You need dominance in the scrum and lineout and power at the breakdown," he said. "We saw the problems England caused Australia at Twickenham last year. We saw how dominant the French were when they picked up that Australian maul and threw it across the sideline." Click here to read full article and comments.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Brannasnacht: Kango Wines
Kom al julle maatjies, kruip uit julle gaatjies, dit is tyd vir Brannasnacht. I know we have focused on Klipdrift since the start of this site, but I thought it maybe interesting to look at other not so well known brandys, specifically the cellars that produce them. This week it is the turn of Kango Wines. Seeing that we have a representitive in Oudtshoorn, he might give us additional information on Kango Wines.
I heard a rumour that Blondie will bare all and tell us who she really is. Be sure not to miss it. For those of you that tire easily, please take a quick nap at five o'clock.
History
Kango Co-op was founded in 1926 as the Kango Co-operative Tobacco Company. The tobacco buildings were built in Park Road South , Oudtshoorn. Due to a demand by local grape producers the board of directors decided on the 25 th of May 1973 to establish a wine cellar, the construction of which started in July 1974 right next to the tobacco buildings and the first grapes were taken in during the 1975 harvest.
Today, the harvest yields approximately 3500 metric tons from our members situated in the Klein Karoo, Western Cape and Swartberg Areas.
Today Kango Head office is situated in Van Der Riet Street , which includes the bottling, labelling and distribution as well as the Wine House where the public can taste the fine range of products on offer.
The cellar in Park Road South is where you can find the winemaker and tours of the cellar can be arranged on appointment. If you are lucky you can go and have a look at the rolling of chewing tobacco still done by hand.
Brandy products
Kango Buchu BrandyColombard grapes and a Buchu punch are used in this Brandy which has a distinct buchu herb character.
Varietal composition: Colombard/Buchu Punch
Alcohol: 43% VOL
Buchu has been used for hundreds of years and is famous for its medicinal properties especially in curing stomach ailments.
Kango Hanepoot Brandy (3 years)Hanepoot grapes are used for this distinct brandy and it has a distinct sweet hanepoot nose and raisin character.
Varietal composition: Hanepoot
Alcohol: 43% VOL
This brandy is a must for any brandy connoisseur and is enjoyed best on its own or on the rocks.
Kango Honeybush BrandyKango Honeybush Brandy is made from the indigenous African Honeybush. This herb is full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and together with its great taste offers a refreshing brandy for any occasion.
Varietal composition: Colombard / Honeybush Punch
Alcohol: 43% VOL
Kango VO Brandy (3 years)Colour: Deep amber.
Aroma: Fruity nose with nuances of straw and almonds.
Taste: The aroma is distinct on the taste . This brandy has a smooth character with no harshness when swallowed
Alcohol : 43%VOL
Grape Variety : Colombard
Enjoy with a cigar after any meal
For more information on Kango Wines and the other products they produce, please visit http://www.kangowines.com
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Spears - Will they or wont they
The "big" 5 Super 14 franchises are not taking the relegation issue lying down.
Thursday's meeting between the Super 14 franchises at SA Rugby offices at Newlands was set to ignite in confrontation with all five of the country's Super 14 franchises determined to veto the automatic inclusion of the Southern Spears into next year's tournament.
This follows a decision taken by the President's Council in 2005 that from 2007, the new Southern Cape rugby franchise, an amalgamation of SWD, Eastern Province and Border, will be guaranteed participation in the Super 14 for two years while the bottom-placed South African side is relegated.
This means that whichever South African team - the Stormers, Bulls, Cats, Sharks or Cheetahs - that is eliminated after this year's tournament will face disastrous financial and commercial consequences.
However, after the Spears suffered a string of humiliating defeats in the pre-season friendlies against the Super 14 incumbents, the five South African teams who are participating in this year's competition have all decided to oppose the relegation-promotion format that was decided by the President's Council.
Southern Spears chief executive Tony McKeever will arrive at the South African Rugby Union's (Saru) offices on Thursday with an independent attorney to discuss the issue with the five other franchises. On Wednesday he was confident that the decision would be ratified in writing on Thursday.
But by Wednesday night it became clear that the "Big Five" who will play in this year's competition had decided to veto the President's Council decision and that they would refuse to sign the document on Thursday.
The battle lines have thus been drawn with top officials of the "Big Five" all confirming to the Cape Argus that their stance on the fifth South African Super 14 team had changed. They said they would even be prepared to go to court to fight SA Rugby.
"It's ridiculous that the Spears, who are clearly not yet even ready to be competitive in the Currie Cup, can just walk into next year's Super 14 at the expense of one of the other sides," said one top rugby official, on condition of anonymity.
"Besides the fact that they are poaching our Under-21s when they pledged to develop local talent from the Southern Cape region. In their friendlies they played few black players from their own areas."
Another top rugby administrator described the decision to give the Spears Super 14 status as both "premature and ridiculous".
"Nowhere in sport would you find a team punching so far above their weight. Before they are even considered for the Super 14, they should prove that they can be competitive in the Currie Cup. We could end up with a situation where the Spears finish sixth or seventh in the Currie Cup but still get to play in the Super 14."
In addition, plans are on the table for the South African team that is relegated from this year's Super 14 to hand over eight of their players to the Spears for 2007.
The Spears are also eager to tap into surplus resources by having first bite at players who are contracted to financial heavyweights, such as the Bulls, who fall outside of Super 14 squads.
"That means that not only would one of us (the Big Five) have to make way for the Spears, but we would also have to hand over players whose salaries we pay and are on our books. There is no way we can accept this."
McKeever was stunned when told of developments and vowed to fight the major franchises on Thursday.
"I cannot believe what I am hearing. Their presidents agreed to this and they are not in a position to renege on the decision taken by the President's Council.
"It is nauseating for them to say we are poaching players. They have been taking ours for years and alienating themselves as real dinosaurs for the good of South African rugby.
"This document that has been tabled for (today) was agreed in principle and they cannot now just turn around and sing a different tune. We have already assembled a squad, we went out and found a R15m sponsor (sports clothing firm ISC) and we have set up a PE base.
"It's now up to SA Rugby to have the balls to stand up to these dinosaurs and for (SA Rugby President) Brian van Rooyen to put his foot down," said McKeever.
Next year, with the Spears guaranteed immunity from relegation under the original decision, they could effectively finish last in the tournament but still play in the tournament in 2008 while a South African side that could technically finish fourth and make the semifinals, was eliminated.
Source: www.iol.co.za Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugga World Humour: Smile a while!
Amidst all the tensions and stress of upcoming SARU elections, not to mention the Municipal Elections, the almost-upon-us inaugural Super 14 - and the evident soon-to-break-out-in-all-hell war between Aldo and OO, WPW and PJLD, etc. etc. - we thought we might cheer up your day a bit.
GLOBAL EVENT
On a chain of beautiful deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following people are stranded:
Two Italian men and one Italian woman.
Two French men and one French woman.
Two German men and one German woman
Two Greek men and one Greek woman.
Two British men and one British woman
Two Bulgarian men and one Bulgarian woman
Two Japanese men and one Japanese woman.
Two Vietnamese men and one Vietnamese woman
Two Irish men and one Irish woman
Two American men and one American woman
One month later, on these absolutely stunning deserted islands in the middle of nowhere, the following things have occurred:
One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman..
The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a ménage a trios
The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of alternating visits with the German woman
The two Greek men are sleeping together and the Greek woman is cooking and cleaning for them
The two British men are waiting for someone to introduce them to the British woman
The two Bulgarian men took one look at the Bulgarian woman and started swimming to another island
The two Japanese have faxed Tokyo and are awaiting instructions
The two Vietnamese men have set up a pharmacy, liquor store, restaurant, and laundry, and have gotten the woman pregnant in order to supply employees for their stores
The two Irish men divided the island into north and south and setup a distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it gets somewhat foggy after a few liters of coconut whiskey. However, they're satisfied because the English aren't having any fun
The two American men are contemplating suicide, because the American woman will not shut up and complains relentlessly about her body, the true nature of feminism and about how evil men are as exploiters of women, what the sun is doing to her skin, how she can do anything they can do, the necessity of fulfillment, the equal division of household chores, how sand and palm trees make her look fat, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her nicer than they do, and how her relationship with her mother is the root cause of all her problems, and why didn't they bring a damn cell phone so they could call 911 and get them all rescued off this Godforsaken deserted island in the middle of freaking nowhere so she can get her nails done and go shopping.
EDDIE JONES
Here's a quote from Mike Carlton (Aussie journo and broadcaster) in the paper on the week-end, which brought the only recent smile to my rugby face....
Eddie Jones, in attempting to defend Australia's 7th loss in a row said, "If you take the scrum out of the equation (Aust v Eng, Twickenham) we played well", to which Carlton responded,
"If you take the assassination out of the equation, President & Mrs Kennedy quite enjoyed the drive from Dallas to the airport."
Golf lingo
An Adolf Hitler - taking two shots in a bunker
An Arthur Scargill - a great strike but a poor result
A Kate Winslett - a bit fat but otherwise perfect
A Rodney King - over-clubbed
An O.J. Simpson - somehow got away with it
A Condom - safe but didn't feel real good
A sister-in-law - up there but I know that I shouldn't be
A Sally Gunnell - ugly but a good runner
A Paula Radcliffe - not as ugly as a Sally Gunnell but still a good runner
A Kate Moss - a bit thin
Putting lingo
Taking a Gerry Adams.......hitting a provisional ball
Putting like a gynaecologist's assistant....shaving the hole.
A Dennis Wise - a nasty 5 footer
A Diego Maradonna....very very nasty little five footer
A Salman Rushdie - an impossible read
A Rock Hudson - thought it was straight, but it wasn't
These are entries to a Washington Post competition asking for a rhyme with the most romantic first line... but the least romantic second line.
1. Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss
But I only slept with you, because I was pissed.
2. Thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.
3. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.
4. Of loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face
5. Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not
6. I want to feel your sweet embrace
But don't take that paper bag off of your face
7. I love your smile, your face, and your eyes -
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!
8. My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life
9. I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming
10. My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way
11. My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe "go to hell"
12. What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime.
HOW TO MAKE A WOMAN HAPPY
It's really not difficult...To make a woman happy; a man only needs to be:
01. a friend
02. a companion
03. a lover
04. a brother
05. a father
06. a master
07. a chef
08. an electrician
09. a carpenter
10. a plumber
11. a mechanic
12. a decorator
13. a stylist
14. a sexologist
15. a gynaecologist
16. a psychologist
17. a pest exterminator
18. a psychiatrist
19. a healer
20. a good listener
21. an organiser
22. a good father
23. very clean
24. sympathetic
25. athletic
26. warm
27. attentive
28. gallant
29. intelligent
30. funny
31. creative
32. tender
33. strong
34. understanding
35. tolerant
36. prudent
37. ambitious
38. capable
39. courageous
40. determined
41. true
42. dependable
43. passionate
WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:
44. give her compliments regularly
45. love shopping
46. be honest
47. be very rich
48. not stress her out
49. not look at other girls
AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:
50. give her lots of attention,
51. give her lots of time, especially time for herself
52. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:
53. Never to forget:
* birthdays
* anniversaries
* arrangements she makes
HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY:-
01. Feed him
02. Sleep with him
03. Leave him in peace Click here to read full article and comments.
SA Teams/unions: Eagles ready for WP prey
The SWD Eagles are preparing to face up to Western Province on Saturday at the Bellville Rugbyclub.
True to their word the Eagles will use the Vodacom Cup to develop new players. Seeing that quite a few of their players are doing duty with the Spears, this relatively inexperienced team under Phil Pretorius will have their work cut out in the competition.
Isak Saayman has been released from his sevens duties under Paul Treu and Phil would welcome his experience in the midfield. According to Raven du Plessis, team manager, Isak is full of confidence and his ability to lead and motivate the players around him impressed the management team and coach.
According to Du Plessis people should keep an eye on the flank forward Rautenbach. Apparently he is in the same mould as Corne Krige and a true fetcher.
Kick off at 17h00.
Teams:
SWD Eagles: Ambrose Barendse, Jeremy Plaatjies, Valentine van Wyk, Eugene Kinghorn, Isak Saayman, Rynard van As, Hendrik van der Nest, Bertus Mulder, Theo Bezuidenhout, De Waal Rautenbach, Henri Grinds, André Wessels (c), Kenny Mckenzie, Hannes Franklin, Theunis Ashley-Buys. Plaasvervangers: JP Koch, Tiaan de Kock, Ig van der Merwe, Neil Coburn, Jan Viljoen, Allister Ketteldas, Charl Kitching.
WP: Jandre du Plessis, Herbert De Wee, Morgan Newman, David Johnson, Terry Jacobs, Berwin Haupt, Charl McLeod, Robbie Diack,Leon Karemaker, Mpho Mbiyozo, Marius Coetzee, Francois van der Merwe (c), Riaan Vermeulen, Ryno Barnes, Vakai Hove, Plaasvervangers: Huia Edmonds, Gerrit Dyman, Lungelo Payi, Craig Kleu, Ridhaa Damon, Sakhi Gqebe, Emile Botha. Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: The Boots For All Project
Logo: Joy Rhodes; Picture: Matthew Kirk
It can be easy to get caught up in the turmoil of board level politics within South African rugby and get blinded by the fact that there are many fine people at operational level, doing their utmost to spread the game and assist those less priviledged.
Rugga World urges you to read this story of passionate dedication, sparked by two young English boys who, having met young poverty stricken boys from the South African townships, couldn't forget the experience and decided to do something positive to make a difference.
The day after Christmas
It was Boxing Day, 1999, when two young English lads, George and Matthew Kirk, accompanied by their Dad, Andy, and South African members of their family went down to the local rubbish dump to deposit Christmas wrapping and boxes.
It wasn't long before George and Matthew were involved in a full contact, impromptu rugby game with local barefoot boys. As George says, "We had been playing for approximately twenty minutes when I stood on one of the boy’s feet. I decided that the game was unfair and took off my boots. When we had finished playing I placed my right foot in the sand and said that if one of the boys had a foot that matched my footprint then he could have my boots."
What George doesn't mention is that those boots were the Christmas present he'd received the day before.
For the rest of the trip the boys couldn't forget that contact with local lads who were impoverished, unable to afford even the rudimentaries of rugby, yet fired with the spirit of the game.
Luctonians lend a helping hand
On their return to the United Kingdom the lads, with more than a little help from their Dad one suspects, determined to do something about it. They roped in the more than willing local club they had joined, Luctonians Rugby Football club in Kingsland, Herefordshire ( www.luctonians.co.uk ) and Boots For All was born.
To borrow a quote from the Boots For All website, www.bootsforall.co.uk *, “all great journeys must start with one small step” and boy, has this journey turned into a great one!
Director Corporate and Special Projects speaks to Rugga World
Speaking to Rugga World, Simon Davies, Director Corporate and Special Projects - Luctonians Sports Club say's, "They identified that in the UK most children who played rugby or football had new boots at the start of each season, whilst the old boots that they had grown out of or were no longer the latest style were left to gather dust in garages and understairs cupboards. They challenged me to look in my garage and I found 6 pairs of serviceable boots neglected because my two sons had grown out of them.
George and Matthew proposed to collect these unwanted boots, refurbish them and send to South Africa to be used to give other children the chance of continuing in the sport that they loved so much.
South African Rugby Union step in
With the help and support of their parents and Luctonians they approached the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) and set up a partnership with them and their project called Boots For All. The aims of the project were simple: to collect and refurbish old rugby and football boots and then to deliver them to SARFU for distribution to young players in the deprived and rural areas through SARFU’s development officers and development programme ‘Make it Your Game’".
The idea has proved to be such a success that thousands of boots have been collected - cleaned, restored or repaired in the Kirk, and no doubt other Luctonian garages, and shipped to the South African Rugby Union for distribution to needy children, who would otherwise have given up the game for the lack of the basic essentials.
The 'Bish' Tutu gets involved
It comes as no surprise then that Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the honorary patron of the Project and has given his personal support and blessings to young George and Matthew.
Recently SA Rugby received communication from Springbok fans in France and the Netherlands, indicating they are initiating similar programmes in their countries. They will also ship sporting equipment to South Africa.
Springbok wing Breyton Paulse is a keen supporter of the programme, and will be playing a vital role with the representatives in the two European countries.
Frank Verdonk of the Netherlands says his country's project will be managed by his under 17 boys team, with the help of himself and Paulse.
"We will launch the project in February 2006," says Verdonk. "Although we are now in the phase of planning, getting sponsors for marketing and publicity, we have already made a breakthrough. In one week we collected over 100 pair of boots. Our target will be 1000 a season."
Kirk says he is thrilled that the project is expanding into Europe.
Rugga World would like to urge all readers to vist the Luctonians and Boots For All Project sites and then consider how you could involve yourself, either in this very worthy cause or with similar iniatives. Are you currently living in a country that hasn't yet started such a Project? If so, and you'd like advice, Simon has kindly extended an invitation to contact him.
Simon Davies extends an invitation to Rugga World readers
As he say's, "On a personal note I would like to extend an invitation to any of your readers who feels that they are able to help this project in any way to contact me via my email address simon@bootsforall.co.uk .
Best wishes to you and thank you for offering your support of the Boots for All Project."
In turn, Rugga World would like to extend our hearty congratulations to the kindness and empathy of the Kirk boys, George and Matthew, and the energy and commitment of their Dad, Andy, Simon, Luctonians, SARU and all who have made this initiative the success it is.
There will be a follow-up article in the future on Luctonian and Boots For All's plans for a reciprocal tour involving English boys, who are already hard at work raising funds, and underpriviledged young South African lads.
* The Boots For All website has some old articles because as Simon points out, the pressures of work and the project don't always allow the time for updating. Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby administration: Who is sitting in the jacuzzi on the gravy train?
The AGM of the SA Rugby President’s council is scheduled for 24 February 2006. The presidential race is on and everybody in the media has been focussing on the candidates. When it comes to Brian van Rooyen the focus is on the inquiry into poor corporate governance and his own position, but is he the only person who profited from all his dealings? Who else is involved? Who are the real beneficiaries? Who sits in the jaccuzzi on the gravy train?
After reading the reports from various sources over the past two years, it seems that the one person got the sweet end of the deal all the way through, was Kyle Nel.
SA Rugby gained millions?
It was reported that when the new deal was brokered with Newscorp, that SA Rugby would receive an additional 2% in commission that would translate into an additional R20 million going into the bank account. This is wonderful news for SA rugby. But was not reported is that SA Rugby would have to pay Insport Management Pty Ltd, commission to the worth of R28 million. Who is Insport Management Pty Ltd?
Non other than Kyle Nel. The company with a registered address in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town is owned and managed by Kyle Nel. Who is Kyle Nel and what links does he have with SARU?
Kyle Nel was the commercial manager of SARU. He is still quoted in news reports as being the commercial manager, but if you look closely this is not true. Brian van Rooyen authorised a contract for all the duties of the commercial manager to be outsourced to Insport Management Pty Ltd. In other words, Kyle Nel is no longer a employee of SARU. His company is an independent contractor to SARU.
Why is all this relevant? This contract is being stated extensively in the report of poor corporate governance. Johan Prinsloo was instructed by Van Rooyen to sign the contract. Some would say that it doesn’t matter, because Van Rooyen won’t get re-elected anyway, but it is not as simple as that. What if this contract is fixed for a number of years? The Newscorp deal has been signed until 2010 and the terms of this contract could have easily been aligned with the Newscorp deal.
This contract could cost SA Rugby more than Nel managed to negotiated extra at the closing of the previous Newscorp deal. Inevitably this will have to be recouperated via the supporters. Maybe Nel’s statement on the question of why certain costs for test matches could not be covered by the sponsors or TV rights, makes sense now: “It is too complicated to explain.”
We will have to realise that Van Rooyen did not operate on his own. He couldn’t do it without the help of other people inside and some outside SARU. 24 February 2006 will mean nothing, unless Oregon Hoskins will be able to not only stop the gravy train, but to throw this jacuzzi with all its inhabitants down crocodile gorge.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Stofile vows to resign
To be brutally frank, I'll believe it when I see it but Mike Stofile, vice-president SARU, has vowed to resign if Brian van Rooyen is re-elected.
We have been down this road before so it will be interesting to see if it is a sincere threat this time.
Stofile is adamant that his future participation is dependent on the ousting of the incumbent president, Brian van Rooyen.
"If he (Van Rooyen) is re-elected I will resign immediately. I can no longer work with that man," he has said.
History of 'resignations'
Stofile has somewhat of a history of threatening to resign, having been previously quoted on the IOL website on Aug 9 as saying that, 'he sent an SMS to former SA Rugby judiciary committee chairperson Koos Basson on Monday to inform him of his intention.'
"I am also tired of what is going on. This is not good at all. We seem to be going nowhere," Stofile said at the time.
Prior to that Stofile, along with Markgraaff and Lategan, were reported in the Mail & Guardian on the 25th of May as having resigned after the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), backed by Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile ordered them to.
Nothing came of that either as Brian van Rooyen simply refused to vacate his office.
So perhaps Mike will bear with us if we don't all experience a sharp intake of breath at his latest threat.
Voting for Hoskins
Stofile will be abdicating his seat as Saru vice-president and has accepted a nomination from the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and Free State Rugby Union to stand for the position of deputy president.
Stofile also reiterated that he has no ambition of becoming Saru president and that he will be one of the members of the presidents' council who will be casting his vote for Van Rooyen's adversary, KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins, at the AGM.
"I have always said that the best person to take over the reins at Saru must be Oregan because he is a calm and collected individual at all times," Stofile has been quoted on News24 as having said.
Never approved Van Rooyen's office
He is also adamant that neither he or Oregan Hoskins had anything to do with voting to approve an office for Van Rooyen at the cost of R1m to Saru.
"This matter was discussed in a finance committee meeting where I do not occupy a seat and neither does Oregan. This matter was never put to a vote at a presidents' council meeting,"
Not influenced by Big Brother
Stofile has also gone to great pains to deny he is influenced by his older brother, the Minister of Sport, Makhenkesi Stofile.
"My name is Mike Stofile and not the minister's brother. My involvement in rugby is not influenced by the minister. He is my role model as an older brother and he is the one guy who taught us rugby administration in our home town of Alice.
"I respect him as a leader. However, I am not taking advice from him when it comes to rugby.
"This tag of the minister's brother really makes me angry. Regardless of what happens I will not be deterred and I will stand for the position of deputy president. I will continue to serve rugby whether I win or not," concluded Stofile.
That's all very well but various incidents over the years will lead to many fans still feeling a little sceptical over the Stofile brothers influence.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Moaner backs his flyers
Stormers coach Kobus van der Merwe believes that his two young Boland flyers might just hold the key to the Stormers' success.
Speaking to Herbert Pretorius of Die Burger, Van der Merwe said: "We've seen in the Super 12 season that players often make a huge impact in their first season. Examples are Daniel Carter and Aaron Mauger. The reason is that the opposing teams don't know them and don't know what to expect. That certainty is a big advantage."
Both Nokwe and Benjamin looked impressive in the game against the Spears, but are still untested at this level. Nokwe is being tipped as the fastest outside back in South Africa, with Benjamin literally biting at his heals.
If the Stormers' tight five could supply these two guys with some decent ball and if the distribution in the rest of the backline is on par, we might just see these two players lightning up the competition.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Zimbabwean can't play.......yet
Strapping 1.81m, 99 kg flanker, David Pocock, has been told he cannot play for the Force until he turns 18 and has therefore missed out on his dream of playing Super 14 this year.
The Force may also have run into early legal trouble by fielding him.
David Pocock left Zimbabwe at the age of 13 when he and his family emigrated to Australia.
The young prodigy has quickly made his mark on the local rugby scene, being selected for the Perth based franchise, the Western Force, at the age of 17 when he played 20 minutes against the Cheetahs in a pre-season hit-out.
It's that appearance that may now have dropped the Force in trouble with the possibility of a fine still not being discounted.
"We advised them he couldn't play," an ARU spokesman told Sydney's Daily Telegraph, referring to his future participation.
"It's an [International Rugby Board] regulation and is ARU board policy. There's a bit of paper that says they can't do it."
Young Pocock doesn't seem much affected by the fuss though, "I loved every minute of it," he said, "When I was on the field I didn't feel intimidated at all. If you're good enough, you're old enough.
"[Chief executive] Peter [O'Meara] and [coach] John Mitchell made it clear it was up to me if I wanted to play, and I was keen.
"It's just disappointing I won't have the chance to push for a (Super 14) spot this year. But I'll get stuck into training and prepare myself for next season." Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Fox gives thumbs down for Waratahs' innovation
The Waratahs' plan to wear initials rather than numbers on their backs have met with stiff opposition from the game's broadcaster, who lodged an official complaint with SANZAR claiming that the move would present a "serious impediment" to its coverage.
A spokesman for SANZAR yesterday confirmed the move was within the regulations of the game, but did not agree to the new jerseys after an official complaint from Fox Sports.
"We weren't consulted in any way shape or form, which itself is upsetting, and we've launched an official complaint to SANZAR via the ARU," said Fox Sports' executive producer of rugby, Matt McKeown. "We can understand what they're trying to do, and we're not trying to say no to any innovation, but this one would just be a nightmare."
McKeown believes the concept would be confusing for fans and commentators and untenable for statisticians and officials. Fox Sports wants the concept limited to Saturday's final trial fixture against the Crusaders, or an alternative plan such as players selecting their own numbers, as Australia's one-day cricketers do.
SANZAR's spokesman said it would hold an investigation into the NSW plan. "We are examining the consequences, however the issues here really relate to other stakeholders and what the implications of it are," the spokesman said. "We believe there needs to be full consultation with broadcasters and other parties before any determination is made as to whether this should be a season-long practice."
Possible loophole in rules
But NSW were determined yesterday to forge ahead and it appears they could be forced to revert to numbers only by a rushed change to existing regulations.
IRB rules relating to player identification on the field are sketchy at best and allows for names or numbers, although the NSW plan could be contested on the grounds that the players' initials do not constitute a name.
NSW coach Ewen McKenzie would be disappointed if the change were reversed. "In the end it's about how we want to play, it's about a mentality thing and getting away from being typecast by the positional number," he said. "If I put numbers on their back then players are inhibited by the history of that position and what that position means."
Source: Rugby Heaven
Click here to read full article and comments.
Other sport: Aussies warned to expect 'racial backlash' on SA tour
Former test batsman Darren Lehmann has warned the Aussies to expect a "racial backlash" on their SA tour later this month following the ugly taunts experienced by the Proteas. Other Australian players are bracing themselves for a "baptism of fire."
Lehmann, who toured South Africa with the Australia side in 2002, says Ricky Ponting's men will feel the full fury of African crowds angered by the racial slurs which have followed the Proteas around Australia.
"If our crowds have been doing that, it's wrong for a start," Lehmann told Fox Sports. "What will happen is there will be a big backlash in South Africa. They will treat our players pretty harshly and cruelly when we play there."
Fox also reports that South African fans have a "history of abusing visiting players".
Keeper Adam Gilchrist was subjected to intense abuse at Johannesburg's infamous Bullring in the last tour in 2002 during which the Australians were also spat on.
In 1994, Merv Hughes was fined for bashing his bat towards a spectator after being abused as he left the field.
Champion spinner Shane Warne knows he will be targeted. "When we go to South Africa it is going to be pretty hostile there. They are going to rip into us and nail us," Warne said.
Test opener Matthew Hayden and strike bowler Glenn McGrath say they expect to be abused in South Africa but are determined not to react to any retaliatory racial taunts from irate fans.
Australia leaves on February 20 for South Africa where it will play six one-day internationals and three Tests in a six-week tour. Click here to read full article and comments.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Rugby Personalities: Professionalism meant a rest.
“My working day began in the gym at 6.30am,” he said. “I’d get to the building site about 8.30, work until 5 and then go to the club for training. When I was signed by Saracens, I had to move house to Twickenham because the drive across London could take two hours in gridlock. We’d train until 9.30pm, which didn’t leave much time for getting the beers in, and I’d get home around midnight. I was glad when the game went professional, as it meant that I could get some rest.”
JASON LEONARD was creaking at the launch of the RBS Six Nations Championship last week. “I’ve just been to the gym for the first time in ages and I’m feeling it,” he said. The former Lions prop is not planning a recall to the England team, just toning up the muscles for a return to the building site.
Patrick Kidd of The Times writes that Leonard was an anomaly in the England team when he made his debut in 1990. Unlike those solicitors (Brian Moore), surgeons (Jon Webb) and members of the Royal Air Force (Rory Underwood), Leonard got his hands grubby outside of a Saturday afternoon. He was a skilled carpenter who learnt the trade as a 12-year-old at his father’s workbench in Barking and worked on building sites while rising through the rugby ranks.
“My working day began in the gym at 6.30am,” he said. “I’d get to the building site about 8.30, work until 5 and then go to the club for training. When I was signed by Saracens, I had to move house to Twickenham because the drive across London could take two hours in gridlock. We’d train until 9.30pm, which didn’t leave much time for getting the beers in, and I’d get home around midnight. I was glad when the game went professional, as it meant that I could get some rest.”
But although Leonard swiftly became a fixture for England, and retired last spring having earned a record 114 caps, he never lost his love of carpentry. “I kept my hand in even when the game changed,” he said. “Being a professional sportsman can be very dull with all that sleeping, training and eating the right food. If you’re a bus driver, you don’t want to talk about buses after work. So I kept in with the building trade.”
A year ago he became a director of the Laboursite Group, a construction logistics company, but he is not the sort to stand around in a suit watching others work. Last year, he helped out with the RFU’s refit of Finchley rugby club, in Herts/Middlesex 1, part of the union’s Rugby Force programme to revamp dilapidated clubhouses, and has offered to do the same this year for another clubhouse as part of a competition organised by RBS and The Times.
“I want to give something back to the game that nurtured me,” he said. “Below the Premiership, the club game depends on volunteers putting in lots of work. It’s a labour of love for them, so we’re going to reward one club by giving it a facelift. I’ll turn up, talk over with the club what they want to do and do a lot of the work myself.
“At Finchley, all the kids got involved and I sent them home covered in paint. They loved it, but it probably drove their parents up the wall.”
Maybe, but who would dare complain Click here to read full article and comments.
JASON LEONARD was creaking at the launch of the RBS Six Nations Championship last week. “I’ve just been to the gym for the first time in ages and I’m feeling it,” he said. The former Lions prop is not planning a recall to the England team, just toning up the muscles for a return to the building site.
Patrick Kidd of The Times writes that Leonard was an anomaly in the England team when he made his debut in 1990. Unlike those solicitors (Brian Moore), surgeons (Jon Webb) and members of the Royal Air Force (Rory Underwood), Leonard got his hands grubby outside of a Saturday afternoon. He was a skilled carpenter who learnt the trade as a 12-year-old at his father’s workbench in Barking and worked on building sites while rising through the rugby ranks.
“My working day began in the gym at 6.30am,” he said. “I’d get to the building site about 8.30, work until 5 and then go to the club for training. When I was signed by Saracens, I had to move house to Twickenham because the drive across London could take two hours in gridlock. We’d train until 9.30pm, which didn’t leave much time for getting the beers in, and I’d get home around midnight. I was glad when the game went professional, as it meant that I could get some rest.”
But although Leonard swiftly became a fixture for England, and retired last spring having earned a record 114 caps, he never lost his love of carpentry. “I kept my hand in even when the game changed,” he said. “Being a professional sportsman can be very dull with all that sleeping, training and eating the right food. If you’re a bus driver, you don’t want to talk about buses after work. So I kept in with the building trade.”
A year ago he became a director of the Laboursite Group, a construction logistics company, but he is not the sort to stand around in a suit watching others work. Last year, he helped out with the RFU’s refit of Finchley rugby club, in Herts/Middlesex 1, part of the union’s Rugby Force programme to revamp dilapidated clubhouses, and has offered to do the same this year for another clubhouse as part of a competition organised by RBS and The Times.
“I want to give something back to the game that nurtured me,” he said. “Below the Premiership, the club game depends on volunteers putting in lots of work. It’s a labour of love for them, so we’re going to reward one club by giving it a facelift. I’ll turn up, talk over with the club what they want to do and do a lot of the work myself.
“At Finchley, all the kids got involved and I sent them home covered in paint. They loved it, but it probably drove their parents up the wall.”
Maybe, but who would dare complain Click here to read full article and comments.
Ruggaworld Humour: Like excretion through a sewer pipe, so are The Chronicles of SARU
In our previous episode we were introduced to Brian, Athrob, Gideon, Andre and Mveleli. They are part of the SARU Illuminati. They’re facing a crisis because there’s a looming election and they may lose. Let’s hear what our intrepid investigative reporters found out next from the office of Brian.
Brian: Yes, hello, can I speak to Mark please. Hi Mark old chap how are you doing? Still putting on the pounds I see….. heheheh….. oh well age catches all of us at some point. Listen Mark, the reason why I’m calling is this damn Oregon character….. yes….. he’s going to f—k everything up you know. .. I know… mmm… I agree. Okay anyway, can’t you publish something about him… I don’t know you’re the ace reporter…. What about saying he’s in cahoots with Markgraaf and Luyt. That always works….. Well it doesn’t matter whether it true or not, if he comes out and denies it then he just sounds like an idiot doesn’t he? Well whatever… we need to start our election campaign now. Wait, I’ve got someone coming in. I’ll speak to you later. Bye. Yes.
Louise: Johan wants to speak to you.
Brian: Oh damn…okay.
Johan: Hello Brian. I see this election thing is hotting up. Do you think we’ll win?
Brian: Oh yes we will. Don’t worry about a thing. I’m in control.
Johan: It’s just you know with people saying I fiddle with my staff, if I lose this position I’m pretty much f—ed.
Brian: I know. I’m working on it and don’t worry.
Johan: Er..okay Brian. Cheers. Hello Louise….
Louise: Get away from me …. sir...
Brian: Ja whatever. Louise! Get me Kyle. No not Mark’s Kyle, the other one.
Louise: Yessir. Is Johan gone? Good.
Brian: Yes? Oh hi Kyle. What’re you up to? Still spending the Rupert commissions? Heheheh. Be careful old boy. The Receiver may start asking questions you know. ……. Heheheh…….Oh yes I think if we lose we’re in deep dwang here…….Of course I’m trying to save our asses, but it’s a bit hard when the CEO of my union just ups and drops me isn’t it?..... Well I’m glad you’re sitting pretty…… No I can’t take more cash from my company, it’s pretty much bankrupt anyway……Ja, I was counting on staying here another two years to set up a nice nest egg…. Listen can’t you use your media contact to pull the plug on all these negative reports about me?..... they did? All of them told you to get stuffed?.... eish…. Um okay, I’ll have to do it myself then. Cheers.
Athrob: Howzit bossman. See these newspaper reports about you and now Gideon too?
Brian: I’ve seen them. What the hell is Gideon doing in the news? I told him to do nothing.
Athrob: He’s opening the Eastern Cape High Performance Centre.
Brain: Oh that thing he’s building with Lotto’s cash? Oh, that’s okay then. At least it’s not rugby related. Thank heavens for that.
Athrob: And me? Am I gonna lose my job?
Brian: Probably we all are if I don’t start getting some votes. I’ve gotten EPRFU and I’m working on Border, helping Yako with his court case. I probably have the Leopards too. Now Mark better just start doing his spinning as soon as possible before we all land in the dwang on shit creek without a paddle. Where’s Mike Stofile?
Athrob: In his office. I didn’t tell him anything.
Brian: What do you mean?
Athrob: Well he asked me what happened in the boardroom so I told him, but I didn’t say “anything”.
Brian: Athrob…. One day is one day then I’m gonna throw you out the window. What’s he doing now?
Athrob: He’s talking to his boet.
Brian: Ag you doos!
------------------- end of transmission -----------------------
Join us next time for another exciting instalment of The Chronicles of SARU, when Brian reacts to Andy Turner’s treason, Mark gives Oregon airtime and the newspapers turn against Brian as the election hots up. Click here to read full article and comments.
Brian: Yes, hello, can I speak to Mark please. Hi Mark old chap how are you doing? Still putting on the pounds I see….. heheheh….. oh well age catches all of us at some point. Listen Mark, the reason why I’m calling is this damn Oregon character….. yes….. he’s going to f—k everything up you know. .. I know… mmm… I agree. Okay anyway, can’t you publish something about him… I don’t know you’re the ace reporter…. What about saying he’s in cahoots with Markgraaf and Luyt. That always works….. Well it doesn’t matter whether it true or not, if he comes out and denies it then he just sounds like an idiot doesn’t he? Well whatever… we need to start our election campaign now. Wait, I’ve got someone coming in. I’ll speak to you later. Bye. Yes.
Louise: Johan wants to speak to you.
Brian: Oh damn…okay.
Johan: Hello Brian. I see this election thing is hotting up. Do you think we’ll win?
Brian: Oh yes we will. Don’t worry about a thing. I’m in control.
Johan: It’s just you know with people saying I fiddle with my staff, if I lose this position I’m pretty much f—ed.
Brian: I know. I’m working on it and don’t worry.
Johan: Er..okay Brian. Cheers. Hello Louise….
Louise: Get away from me …. sir...
Brian: Ja whatever. Louise! Get me Kyle. No not Mark’s Kyle, the other one.
Louise: Yessir. Is Johan gone? Good.
Brian: Yes? Oh hi Kyle. What’re you up to? Still spending the Rupert commissions? Heheheh. Be careful old boy. The Receiver may start asking questions you know. ……. Heheheh…….Oh yes I think if we lose we’re in deep dwang here…….Of course I’m trying to save our asses, but it’s a bit hard when the CEO of my union just ups and drops me isn’t it?..... Well I’m glad you’re sitting pretty…… No I can’t take more cash from my company, it’s pretty much bankrupt anyway……Ja, I was counting on staying here another two years to set up a nice nest egg…. Listen can’t you use your media contact to pull the plug on all these negative reports about me?..... they did? All of them told you to get stuffed?.... eish…. Um okay, I’ll have to do it myself then. Cheers.
Athrob: Howzit bossman. See these newspaper reports about you and now Gideon too?
Brian: I’ve seen them. What the hell is Gideon doing in the news? I told him to do nothing.
Athrob: He’s opening the Eastern Cape High Performance Centre.
Brain: Oh that thing he’s building with Lotto’s cash? Oh, that’s okay then. At least it’s not rugby related. Thank heavens for that.
Athrob: And me? Am I gonna lose my job?
Brian: Probably we all are if I don’t start getting some votes. I’ve gotten EPRFU and I’m working on Border, helping Yako with his court case. I probably have the Leopards too. Now Mark better just start doing his spinning as soon as possible before we all land in the dwang on shit creek without a paddle. Where’s Mike Stofile?
Athrob: In his office. I didn’t tell him anything.
Brian: What do you mean?
Athrob: Well he asked me what happened in the boardroom so I told him, but I didn’t say “anything”.
Brian: Athrob…. One day is one day then I’m gonna throw you out the window. What’s he doing now?
Athrob: He’s talking to his boet.
Brian: Ag you doos!
------------------- end of transmission -----------------------
Join us next time for another exciting instalment of The Chronicles of SARU, when Brian reacts to Andy Turner’s treason, Mark gives Oregon airtime and the newspapers turn against Brian as the election hots up. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Referees for weeks 1 to 4
Never would one have thought the Cats would have a bigger worry after losing the opening match to the Stormers, well they have. They face South Africa's favourite referee, Stuart Dickinson in week two.
Unfortunately for the Bulls, there will be no blaming Jonathan Kaplan, as this important rematch against the Cheetahs will be handled by Mark Lawrence.
The Reds has been dealt a rough one with Marius Jonker in week 4. It seems he likes to give cards to match the teams' jersey.
The draw for the referees for the first four weeks is as follows:
Week 1
10 February:
Blues vs Hurricanes, Auckland - Bryce Lawrence
Western Force vs Brumbies, Perth - Stuart Dickinson
Cheetahs vs Bulls, Bloemfontein - Mark Lawrence
11February
Crusaders vs Highlanders, Christchurch - Lyndon Bray
Reds vs Waratahs, Brisbane - Matt Goddard
Cats vs Stormers, Johannesburg - Tappe Henning
Sharks vs Chiefs, Durban - Scott Young
Week 2
17 February
Highlanders vs Blues, Dunedin - Chris Pollock
Cats vs Chiefs, Johannesburg - Stuart Dickinson
Bulls vs Brumbies, Pretoria - Lyndon Bray
18 February:
Hurricanes vs W. Force, New Plymouth - Tappe Henning
Reds vs Crusaders, Brisbane - Mark Lawrence
Sharks vs Cheetahs, Durban - Jonathan Kaplan
Stormers vs Waratahs, Cape Town - Bryce Lawrence
Week 3
24 February:
Hurricanes vs Cats, Wellington - Scott Young
W. Force vs Chiefs, Perth - Craig Joubert
Stormers vs Brumbies, Cape Town - Steve Walsh
25 February:
Crusaders vs Sharks, Timaru - George Ayoub
Reds vs Blues, Brisbane - JC Fortuin
Bulls vs Waratahs, Pretoria - Kelvin Deaker
Cheetahs vs Highlanders, Bloemfontein - Brett Bowden
Week 4
3 March:
Chiefs vs Reds, Hamilton - Marius Jonker
Brumbies vs Cats, Canberra - Lyndon Bray
4 March:
Waratahs vs Sharks, Sydney - Bryce Lawrence
Crusaders vs Blues, Christchurch - Paul Honiss
Stormers vs Highlanders, Cape Town - Brett Bowden
Cheetahs vs Hurricanes, Bloemfontein - George Ayoub
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Waratahs changes rugby tradition
The Waratahs have decided to swop the traditional numbers on the backs of their jerseys for initials. Waratahs head coach Ewen McKenzie said the idea was the result of pushing for a "more flexible playing style".
Following in the footsteps of the Aussies' Twenty-20 cricketers, the new-look Waratahs
jerseys will replace the player's traditional positional number with their initials for the Super 14 season, beginning with a pre-season match against the Crusaders in Sydney on Saturday.
"I think it's a great move," said Lote Tuqiri. "The blue jersey already means a lot to me but now it's really personal.
"The numbers aren't significant especially with our roving game plan so I think it's an initiative that makes sense rugby-wise too."
Waratahs head coach Ewen McKenzie said they felt there "was too much fixation, internally and externally, on the numbers the players had on their backs".
"The players shouldn't be inhibited by their run-on number.
"Sure, we'll name a traditional one to 22 and have numerals on our shorts but that doesn't define the Waratah game."
New South Wales Rugby Union chief executive officer Fraser Neill said he expected the change to be popular with supporters.
Source: News24 Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: De Wet Barry to return as outside centre
Stormers captain De Wet Barry will move to outside centre when he starts playing. Barry had his first jogging session at the training camp in Swellendam after being sidelined by a knee operation.
Barry is still in a race against time to be fit for the Stormers' opening S14 match against the Cats on February 11, but it is quite likely that he will only be ready for the second match.
Barry told News24 it's not the ideal situation to start the campaign without warm-up matches, but that he would rather start now than in the middle of the season.
When Barry is ready to play, he will have a new role in the Stormers squad this year, not just as captain, but rather the decision to use him as outside centre.
Jean de Villiers' game creating ability ot inside centre is crucial and that is why the coaching staff has taken the unusual step of moving Barry from his favourite position to No 13.
Barry says it will take some time getting used to the new position, but it would not give him sleepless nights.
"I've played outside centre on this level before. I played outside centre for the Stormers a few times in 2003 and prior to that in a Test for the Springboks in 2002.
"The defensive lines differ, but you quickly get used to this in training. And I won't just play on the outside. The plan is that Jean and I rotate depending on the planned move and game situation."
The Stormers' head coach Kobus van der Merwe hopes that Barry will be able to play at Ellis Park, but is nevertheless satisfied that he has enough options on who to field next to Jean de Villiers at centre.
Piet van Zyl of Boland has played in the last two warm-up matches and will compete with the more experienced Gus Theron for the No 13 jersey.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Rugga World Super 14 Fantasy League now open!!
Calling all RugRats!!! Rugga World is happy to announce that our Super 14 fantasy league is now officially open. The competition works the same as most other web-sites’ fantasy league competition, but our own league challenge comes with a twist…
In typical Rugga World style, we give our readers and contributors that added extra in our very own Fantasy League challenge, not only will we compete with one another on a local level as South Africans only, but also on an international level with other rugby fans from around the world thanks to our Kiwi counterparts from The Silver Fern.
Yes ladies and gentleman, we have challenged the old foe to prove once and for all, that although they might reign supreme on the rugby field (for now), there is no question who the most knowledgeable supporters of the game are - and we are out to prove it.
In addition to showing the Kiwi’s and the rest of the world which country’s fans knows their rugby better, we are also throwing in a couple of prizes for the overall division winner, plus a South African Rugby Collectors item prize, for the RugRat that manages to whip the Rugga World’s combined Admin team's butt.
In teaming up with our Kiwi Mates from The Silver Fern, we will compete against rugby fans from all over the world including the Aussies and Poms.
The Silver Fern and Rugga World will reward the overall division winner with a case of each country's finest brew. We will DHL the ‘prize’ to the lucky winner, but we want to make one thing absolutely clear, we do not intend, or plan, to ship this case off to Pommieland, so you had better get going and pick your team to help the Southern Hemisphere keep its reputation in tact!!!
In addition to the overall division prize, Rugga World will internally acknowledge the RugRat that manages (like that is ever going to happen) to beat the Rugga World’s Admin team at the end of the competition, by shipping of a truly magnificent, and a one of a kind, rugby collectors item to the unlikely winner.
Details of this collector’s item will be revealed in the next couple of days.
As you all know, entry to this competition is free, and the main idea is to have fun while we enjoy the Super 14. Weekly updates will be published in both Rugga World and The Silver Fern to keep our readers up to date on how their teams are shaping up against those of the other international rugby fans playing in this division.
To register your team please follow the following guidelines:
• Log on to http://www.testrugby.com
• Click on “Play Super 14 Now”
• Register a brand new team
o NB!!! Some of you may already have teams registered competing in other divisions or leagues – but because we are competing against The Silver Fern readers, we will need for each of OUR readers to register a team followed by adding “RW” (Rugga World) in their team name
o This is for the owners of both web-sites to know which team represents which web-site/country as we will be awarding some prizes at the end of the competition (we don’t want to give a Pommie a South African Rugby collector’s item now do we!!!)
o For example, if your team is called: Mondi Maulers – you will need to register it as Mondi Maulers RW so we know which country or web-site you represent
o Obviously you can register exactly the same team (selections) as you have selected in any other division you are competing in already, just amend your team name
• Pick your team name (remembering to add RW at the end of the name) and password
• Complete all the required personal details as per the web-site
• When you are prompted to select a division, select the division called
TSF Super 14
• You will be asked to enter a password to join the division, simply enter the password: plonker
• You should now be able to select your team and compete in the Rugga World and Silver Fern challenge
If you run into any problems, pop us a mail to the e-mail addresses found on our main page.
Remember:
Division: TSF Super 14
Password: plonker
Now let’s go kick some Kiwi, Aussie and Pommie butt!
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!
Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussion: Morocco murders once powerful Springbok Rugby team 75 - 14
Impossible? I don’t think so. This could well be the reality we wake up to one day if our rugby follows the trend we are currently experiencing. Why do I say this? Because I have seen it happens once before.
South African rugby is part of our culture, it is something a lot of South Africans grew up with, it brings people together, it brings cultures together, hell, its a religion!
Every single year thousands of supporters in South Africa spend thousands of rands on rugby tickets, satellite television, rugby gear, flags, caps, and not to mention therapy.
The Springboks improved in 2 years under Jake White, from number 6 in the world, to number 2. They managed to secure a Tri-Nations title in 2004 and only lost out on bonus points in 2005. In 2004 they were honoured with the team of the year, the player of the year as well as the coach of the year IRB awards. Both our under 19 and under 21 national teams won their respective World Cups. So it will be fair to ask why I believe if we don’t see changes in South African rugby soon, the once respected and powerful Springboks, will be nothing more than a 3rd rate team in world rugby.
The answer is simple. We have the players and the talent in the country to be the best in the world. We have some pretty decent coaches. We have a wealth of knowledge in South Africa in the form of ex-players and old Springbok legends – which is the only reason we have survived in the professional era. Unfortunately, unless we change the way our game is managed, all of this, will be lost to the game and lost to Springbok rugby.
People usually criticize me when I compare the sorry state of affairs in Namibian rugby to South Africa, highlighting facts such as a superior tradition, culture, history, etc. as reasons why I cannot compare the two.
Well, for those who don’t know this, Namibia once had all this too. In as recent as 15 years ago, they lost by 4 and 5 point margins against nations like Wales and France, and even beating Ireland twice in 1991. Admittedly, their rugby history or traditions are not as long or as proud as South Africa’s, but as our favourite Kiwi poster loves to points out all the time, the past counts for nothing, it is what you do today that will secure your success tomorrow.
To say Namibian rugby is in shambles is an understatement of the highest degree. It is shocking what is happening to a sport once proudly supported by all in the country.
The rugby players have still not been paid for their services during the Rugby World Cup of 2003. Clubs have been kicked out of the national league following disputes with the Namibian Rugby Union.
A local garden centre, who supplied grass for the turf of their national stadium, yes their national stadium, has gone and physically lifted the turf and loaded it on trucks to take back because of outstanding amounts the national body still owed them!!!
A local sponsor pulled out on the eve of a Seven’s tournament Namibia was supposed to take part in, because the president of the Namibian Rugby Union went on radio lashing out at local companies for not supporting the union because they wanted to keep the game ‘white’, labeling them as racists.
In fact, no company wants to get involved with the union in any way. Thousands of Namibian Dollars simply went ‘missing’, and although an investigation has been launched, and damning reports released of those in charge of the game, they remain in power playing the race card and blaming the minority ‘old guard’ for the state of rugby.
It is no surprise then that players, of all races, refuse to represent their country at the highest level of the game. Can we even imagine that? A talented youngster being selected for his national team simply says, no thank you, they would rather forego this ‘honour’ and take their chances in an already saturated South African market. Because as we all know, once you pull the national jersey of your country over your shoulders, you can never represent another country under IRB ruling.
Now tell me, is it so far fetched to consider the same could happen to the sport in South Africa? Let’s look at the factors that contributed to the state Namibian rugby finds itself in.
The Players – Exodus
Already we are seeing hundreds of South African players playing the game in Europe and Australasia. We have South Africans in the national squads of England, Australia, France, USA and Italy to name a few, and also a mention of a South African player (eligable to play for our country still) in line to pull an All Black shirt over his shoulders in the not too distant future.
Player do this for various reasons, some consider it a better career move with better opportunities, some do it for the money, some do it to pick up valuable experience but end up staying in those countries, and some sight the structures in South African rugby as their reasons.
Whatever the reason is, I think it is becoming very clear that in the professional age, players assess their situations as to where they believe they can build a successful career first, and worry about ‘the jersey’ later. We have to understand, this is what these guys do for a living, this is their lifeblood, so pride – the thing every supporter that has followed the game for more than 15 years regard as priority – takes a backseat for the players, and I agree with them.
If this means they have to give up the chance to represent their country one day, then so be it.
The Administrators – Window Dressing & Shifting Blame
The Namibian Rugby Union, after 15 years of independence, still plays the race card and use ‘racism’ or the ‘old guard’ as an excuse for their incompetence. If we think back to the 2003 World Cup, we will remember that the team could not even afford to kit the players out in official blazers and ties – shocking.
There are situations of money going missing, investigations being swept under the carpet, sponsors ridiculed and just plain general chaos.
Now compare this to South Africa. We have commissions after commissions of enquiries being launched to investigate corruption, fraud, theft, bad corporate governance, and the list goes on.
Union presidents are threatening court action against their former unions, after they are unanimously voted out because of their incompetence or mismanagement.
The SARU president is implicated in bad corporate governance allegations and shady dealings, his own board members deny having any knowledge off. Sponsors displaying unhappiness because of allegations of negotiations with competitive companies and the advertising of such companies under the SARU banner at games our national team is involved in.
Allegations and reports of funds being mismanaged, for the purpose of satisfying personal interests, by the current president himself where his own company is implicated. Reports of catering bills amounting to over R100, 000.00.
Players being overplayed and seemingly the least of their concerns when negotiating expanded competitions such as the Super 14 and Tri-Nations in an already overcrowded schedule of international games.
Public mudslinging matches between the national and provincial coaches regarding the welfare of players in the name of national interest.
A sub-standard domestic competition where the game is not developed at all, but rather a case of the big unions milking and raping their smaller cousins which has no benefit in the long run for anybody.
Controversial ‘quota’ systems that is not only confusing, but a national embarrassment if you consider we have not moved forward one bit in over 10 years of democracy in making the game representative at national level. A system abused by administrators in unions by simply window dressing and not developing the games at all.
The Future – Change
The point has been brought up that because of the thousands of passionate fans something like this will not happen in South Africa – the game is bigger than the players and administrators.
Well I can assure every single one of you, when it comes to passion and a love for the game, Namibia and its people is nothing short of fanatical about the sport, just not in their own country or for their own national team.
I have gone out to pubs in Namibia to enjoy Super 12 and Currie Cup matches, and the enthusiasm for the domestic competition in South Africa is amazing.
During the semi-final and final games of the Currie Cup, I was amazed to see how many cars were draped in Blue Bull flags, not to mention the hordes of supporters flocking to their local pubs dressed up in their respective teams’ jerseys – hell it felt like I was back in Pretoria!.
For the final and every Springbok game, you have to book a table for you and your friends, otherwise you can forget about seeing the game whilst enjoying a beer at the local watering hole.
Before and after the game, you just have to sit and listen to the locals to understand how much they love this game. You hear stories about the time that the Namibian team visited Newlands in the 80’s and beat the awesome WP side of the 1980’s and how proud they were of their team. Or the times they hosted big international teams and gave them a run for their money and sometimes caused an upset or two, and of course they cannot tell you enough of how many Namibian greats went on to represent the Springboks, or that they know the barber in Swakopmund who cut Percy Montgomery’s hair as a child!
If you ask them what went wrong, they simply stare into space, as if they are struggling to find the answer themselves. Then someone mumbles that Morocco put 49 points against ‘that’ team a couple of weeks ago – and almost as to wipe that train of thought from their memories, they order another beer and continue to tell Jake White what he did wrong and debate the strength and weaknesses of South African rugby.
These guys will tell you everything you need to know about any player in South Africa playing in the big league, but if you want to find out who Namibia is playing next, buy the local paper on a Thursday and look for an article on the back page the size of a ‘classifieds’ add to see who they will be playing next.
It really saddens me to witness what is happening in Namibian rugby, and unless the IRB and South Africa come to the party soon to assist this once proud rugby country with funding, clinics, etc., the game will surely become extinct.
In my view, we are not a Namibia yet, but if certain aspects of our game are not sorted out soon, Morocco might just hand the once proud Springboks, their arses on a plate.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Nine provinces to support Hoskins?
As everyone knows, elections for the vital position of SARU president will be held on the 24th February.
One of the contenders, Oregan Hoskins, president of the KZNRFU is quietly confident that the incumbent's days are numbered.
Speaking to Dale Granger of The Argus, Hoskins said, "It might be early days to count widespread support and in rugby there are no guarantees, but the early indications are positive,"
Given the archaic nature of rugby elections in South Africa, the power behind the throne is not, ironically, the wealthiest most powerful unions but actually resides in the 9 small unions who have been known to frustrate the ambitions of the Big Five before.
The Hoskins camp, however, are counting on pledges of support from the Bulls, the Lions, the Sharks, Western Province, Griquas, the Griffons, the Cheetahs, the Pumas and the Falcons.
Inevitably Brian van Rooyen has refuted these claims, in turn claiming the support of 9 provinces. Van Rooyen, who it is widely believed was originally helped into power by Andre Markgraaf and Louis Luyt, has said, "I will not be stepping down as president of Saru and will be standing for re-election," seemingly shrugging off pending legal investigations he continued, "At this stage a charge sheet has not even been compiled."
Granger further reports that, 'Van Rooyen's ability to keep pace in the race will almost certainly be determined by his ability to woo the support of the three southern Cape unions - South Western Districts, Eastern Province and Border.
These three provinces are themselves embroiled in bitter, internal power struggles and confusion reigns over who will represent them at the annual general meeting.
Each of the 14 provinces have three votes at the AGM and Hoskins believes that even if Van Rooyen does get some support from the southern Cape unions, this could be nullified by a split vote.'
Hoskins has furthermore criticised Van Rooyen for promising support to the SEC which, reading between the lines, he believes has not been delivered. Additionally, he feels that awarding a major test against the All Blacks to the Leopards is ridiculous because SARU will not maximise revenue from a 30 000 seat stadium.
What is often forgotten is that it is not just the position of president up for grabs but the deputy and vice-presidencies. The GLRU's Jannie Ferreira has already made himself unavailable for both, "The reason I am hesitant is because I have no major obsession to serve in higher office of Saru right now and feel that I can make a bigger contribution as president of a major union."
Hoskins once again repeated that, "We need to clean up the image of rugby and continue to work on issues that have tarnished our reputation, here and abroad."
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Bulls go into rest mode.
The Bulls feel they have put the hard yards in and it is now time to scale back before the competition proper starts.
Speaking to Die Beeld's Morris Gilbert, Bulls coach, Heyneke Meyer says, "It's necessary for us to scale down to prevent over-exertion."
They open the series against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Feb 10, but will wrap up their training for the week on Wednesday before regrouping again next week.
Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer, who has lost the services of three of his captains Victor Matfield, Gary Botha and Fourie du Preez with knee injuries, says his players have worked very hard since the training camp held in George in December.
He said it was incredible what the Bulls had achieved in their warm-up matches against the Cats, the Stormers and the Sharks.
"We trained with the same intensity all the time. We had, for example, a tough training session just before the matches against the Sharks (at Sun City)."
The coach said he has not yet decided on his final 22-man squad for the tussle with the Cheetahs.
"I'm still playing with a few ideas, because it's important to get my combinations right from the word go.," Meyer said.
The first and most important decision Meyer would have to take is to decide on a new captain. Meyer confirmed that he would choose either Johan Wasserman or Jacques Cronje, both loose forwards, as the fourth captain of the season.
Cronje had more game time for the Bulls and Blue Bulls last season, but Wasserman has more experience as captain. Prior to his injuries in 2004 and last season, he was the Bulls' Vodacom Cup captain.
The symbiotic relationship between the Bulls and the Blue Bulls was taken a step further this week. At the request of Meyer the two teams are now training together to great advantage of both.
The Bulls' Vodacom Cup team manager, Ian Schwartz said: "We see ourselves as an extension of the Bulls and that's why we will do everything we can to accommodate Heyneke's team selections.
"It is of great value to train with and against each other. There's a fantastic inter-action between the teams and their coaches."
The Bulls start their Vodacom Cup series against the Leopards in Potchefstroom on Friday next week.
In other news, Dr Tommy Snook, Bulls team doctor says it is more likely that Gary Botha will be out for 6-8 weeks rather than the feared 6-8 months.
"The medial ligaments have been torn, but the cross ligaments were only strained.
"If the cross ligaments had also been torn, he would have been out of action between six to eight months, but now it's a case of between six to eight weeks. He won't need an operation,"
It has been mooted in certain quarters that Richard Bands might play hooker but that sounds ridiculous considering he hasn't played for about 7 months. Click here to read full article and comments.
International Teams: Wallabies enter new Big Brother era today
The Wallabies' worst kept secret will be made official today when they announce the head coach to take over from Eddie Jones. But there will be more to it than just a change of coaches.
John Connolly, formerly the coach of Queensland, will today be appointed as the coach to get the Wallabies back on the road after a disastrous 2005, in which they lost eight of their nine matches - their worst ever period.
Jim Tucker of FoxSports reports that the Australian Rugby Union has held fire on any announcement until this week so deals could be closed with former Wallabies hooker Michael Foley (forwards) and Scott Johnson (backs) to be his assistants.
Tucker also expects various intriguing fine prints accompanying the appointment, like there will be no repeat of the head coach keeping the ARU's high-performance unit at arm's lenght like Jones did.
Other envisaged changes include:
THE coach being more accountable in the off-field handling of personnel so there is no repeat of the 2004 walkout of Jones's assistant coaches Andrew Blades and Roger Gould
MORE training camp time in the Test cities of Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and fewer at last year's Coffs Harbour training base
USING Connolly's nous for a major upgrade of Australia's forward play.
As slick, as intense and as game specific as the Coffs Harbour camps were during the Jones era, it allowed him to operate too much in isolation.
The big brother gaze of the ARU will be far more evident in the Connolly regime, which faces a sprint over less than 18 months to the Rugby World Cup in France.
Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: South African Rugby Legends
The South African Rugby Legends (SARLA) is a vehicle for ex-players worldwide to put something back into Rugby.
Durban will host the World Rugby Festival from 19 - 24 June 2006, where it is expected that over 4000 people will attend.
The purpose of the World Rugby Legends Festival is to promote the brotherhood of amateur rugby across all sectors of the rugby playing fraternity. It is SARLA's vision therefore to have a rugby festival incorporating the following sectors of rugby: International Legends, Golden Oldies, current Club Players and Schoolboys.
As John Allan, CEO, SARLA say's, "The main purpose of the Legends brand world wide is to highlight the need to support amateur rugby at all levels. Most money generated by rugby goes towards the professional code of the game which caters for less than 1% of the players. This has led to the neglect of the amateur code on a world wide scale. It is now time to focus on the full spectrum of rugby from schoolboys at grassroots level to the veteran players who have played the game for over 30 years for fun."
The tournament is endorsed by Oregan Hoskins, "By honouring our past rugby legends we are ensuring that the link between the past, the present and the future will remain steadfast and true and that rugby will always prosper as a sport in our country."
The Springboks most capped Test captain, Gary Teichmann has also added his endorsement, saying, "In 1995 the game of rugby changed dramatically. There are certain principals in rugby that must not change and that is what the concept of Rugby Legends is about. The friendships that are formed through rugby should never be lost but should be cultured through time. For ex-players it is a way of giving something back to the game, a game that has given us so much enjoyment."
The deadline for registration has been extended to the 25th February.
Find accomodation and venue information at: www.wrlf.co.za Click here to read full article and comments.
International Rugby: IRB puts it's foot down.
The IRB have finally lost patience with the interminable back-chatting to officials and subtle, sometimes not so subtle, psychological intimidation players exhibit.
There is going to be a worldwide crackdown on those players complaining to referees or touch judges about their decisions. Warnings will be given, but then penalties and even yellow cards are possible, on the grounds of persistent law breaking.
There is a long held myth that the captain has a right to question a referee on why a decision was given against his team.
In fact, the law book is quite clear, "the referee is the sole judge... of the laws ... and no one has the right to dispute a decision". Yes, not even the captain.
Referees, in order to promote transparency, allowed a culture to develop whereby it has become routine for a captain to question his decisions, point out opposition infringements and plead for clemency.
This leeway has been exploited to the point where all and sundry now feel it is their right to conduct a discourse with the officials.
We have seen the likes of George Gregan and Matt Dawson vehemently disagreeing with referees to the point where the tendons were sticking out on their necks, their face suffused with blood.
It is precisely images such as these that have led Paddy O'Brien, IRB refereeing supremo, to act, "It has become an epidemic. It is a bad part of the game."
O'Brien vividly remembers a recent match, "At every decision, there was this talking going on," he said. "More recently, I went to watch a club game in Dublin and heard it there, too."
"There is nothing in the law book that says players have the right to make comments to a referee. It is a privilege on their part, but sadly it has been abused."
"When players show clear dissent at a referee's decision, crowds can get involved and it becomes a thin dividing line. It certainly is not in the spirit of the game."
"We don't want to be stupid about this, but we are going to act to stop it,"
Half the time, players or captains are complaining simply to stop the other side taking a quick penalty. It is slowing the game up and has to be tackled.
In fact, the law book says that players must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. Clearly, this falls within that particular category.
O'Brien has told all the referees handling Six Nations matches in the next two months to crack down hard on the trait. He believes that a couple of early penalties in the first few minutes of a game, as soon as the complaining starts, will solve most of the problems. If that doesn't do it, referees will be told they have the right to issue yellow cards for persistent offenders.
Click here to read full article and comments.
There is going to be a worldwide crackdown on those players complaining to referees or touch judges about their decisions. Warnings will be given, but then penalties and even yellow cards are possible, on the grounds of persistent law breaking.
There is a long held myth that the captain has a right to question a referee on why a decision was given against his team.
In fact, the law book is quite clear, "the referee is the sole judge... of the laws ... and no one has the right to dispute a decision". Yes, not even the captain.
Referees, in order to promote transparency, allowed a culture to develop whereby it has become routine for a captain to question his decisions, point out opposition infringements and plead for clemency.
This leeway has been exploited to the point where all and sundry now feel it is their right to conduct a discourse with the officials.
We have seen the likes of George Gregan and Matt Dawson vehemently disagreeing with referees to the point where the tendons were sticking out on their necks, their face suffused with blood.
It is precisely images such as these that have led Paddy O'Brien, IRB refereeing supremo, to act, "It has become an epidemic. It is a bad part of the game."
O'Brien vividly remembers a recent match, "At every decision, there was this talking going on," he said. "More recently, I went to watch a club game in Dublin and heard it there, too."
"There is nothing in the law book that says players have the right to make comments to a referee. It is a privilege on their part, but sadly it has been abused."
"When players show clear dissent at a referee's decision, crowds can get involved and it becomes a thin dividing line. It certainly is not in the spirit of the game."
"We don't want to be stupid about this, but we are going to act to stop it,"
Half the time, players or captains are complaining simply to stop the other side taking a quick penalty. It is slowing the game up and has to be tackled.
In fact, the law book says that players must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship. Clearly, this falls within that particular category.
O'Brien has told all the referees handling Six Nations matches in the next two months to crack down hard on the trait. He believes that a couple of early penalties in the first few minutes of a game, as soon as the complaining starts, will solve most of the problems. If that doesn't do it, referees will be told they have the right to issue yellow cards for persistent offenders.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Other Sport: Graeme Smith is fat and Keps isn't backing down
Former Proteas captain and Australian stalwart, Kepler Wessels, called the incumbent Proteas captain to task, saying, "he's fat".
Smith was in no mood for taking it lying down and retorted that Wessels must have another agenda, "I'm fit, not fat".
Never one to back down, Kepler has now issued Smith with a challenge.
The Herald reports that Port Elizabeth-based Wessels predicted fitness tests would confirm his claim that Smith and fellow batsman Jacques Kallis were fat and unfit.
Yesterday, Smith dismissed Wessels’s initial comments in a Sunday newspaper. Wessels had claimed Smith was out of form and said the South Africans were “sluggish”.
He said Kallis and Smith were not up to scratch for international cricket and asked if Smith’s condition was affecting his batting form.
Wessels also felt that Australia’s players looked in better shape than the Proteas.
Smith responded that his level of fitness had been constant for three years and he would provide statistics to back this up.
The Protea skipper said: “It looks as if Kepler wants to get into a scrap with me.”
He suggested some former South African players did not have the interests of South African cricket at heart.
“There are a few of them on the list. We have invited these guys time and time again to come to our training camps and help out – guys like Kepler and Fanie (de Villiers) – but they’ve refused,” said Smith.
Wessels, in turn, said he did not want to fight with Smith.
Whenever he was asked, he gave his full support to South African cricket, but he has not been approached during the “Smith era”.
Wessels said disappointed Protea supporters should wait and see if Smith could prove his claims of fitness and form.
Additional reporting by Sapa
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Senior Member of SARU MANCO resigns
Citing the 'current circumstances', a senior member of Brian van Rooyen's Management Committee has resigned saying that, 'he was not prepared to continue working in the current circumstances.'
SABC News reports that the beleaguered President of South African Rugby, Brian van Rooyen, suffered another blow on Tuesday with the resignation of a senior member of his management committee.
Koos Basson, who is also President of the Western Province Rugby Union, said in his letter of resignation that he was not prepared to continue working in the current circumstances.
South African rugby has been plagued by turmoil and infighting, and members of the President's Council of the South African Rugby Union (Saru), have come out in open revolt against Van Rooyen's leadership.
The CEO of the Cheetahs Rugby Union, Harold Verster, confirmed that members of the president's council had met in Johannesburg on Tuesday to discuss the way ahead, and the Executive of the Golden Lions announced that they would not support Van Rooyen in the Saru elections later this month.
Sharks Rugby Union President Oregan Hoskins will stand against Van Rooyen, and support for his candidacy is reported to be going from strength to strength.
Meanwhile, Van Rooyen is to be the centre of the Judge Joos Hefer inquiry into alleged mismanagement of Saru corporate affairs. Click here to read full article and comments.
General discussions: Dreaming the rugby dream
The stadium is packed, the atmosphere electrifying, conditions are perfect for rugby, and not any rugby, WC final against the All Blacks. You are sitting in the stands right above the tunnel. The crowd starts roaring, you know they are coming out. The stadium erupts, the teams form a line, Nikosi Sekele starts ringing out, your pulse is racing, the adrenalin levels are making you dizzy and your chest can’t swell big enough. There he stands next to Madiba, singing the anthem, wearing the Green and Gold and....................................... his your SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which father hasn’t pictured this in his mind? His laaitie is only 4 years old, but you have already seen him score tries, kick conversions and holding that cup. Where do you start? How do you help him to develop the skills? Well here is the answer.
Rugby skills for 4-5 year olds
Rough play is popular among this age group and can be a useful way of fine-tuning physical skills. This is the time to encourage social, intellectual and physical development as learning the basic skills lays the foundation for grasping more complicated sports and activities.
What a four to five-year old can do:
• Very little or no developed eye-foot coordination
• Children of this age have a very low attention span. Encouraging enthusiasm is more important at this stage than any skill development
• Play with balls but has difficulty kicking, catching and throwing accurately
Rugby activities for four to five-year olds
The four to five-year-olds can practise the basic skills of rugby as suggested below. It is important for the child to have much success and fun while doing the exercises.
The following pieces of equipment will be required: a large plastic ball, a size 3 Rugby ball, flat beacons, a pillow and a mattress. These activities would be best executed on a field but the back garden will suffice. These activities have been selected so that they can be practised with Dad, Mom and siblings.
Skills:
• Ball handling
• Running with the ball
• Passing
• Catching
• Picking up/putting down ball while running
• Kicking (Punt and Place kick)
Ball handling:
1. Use large plastic ball, stand with feet wide apart and roll ball in and out between the feet in the figure of eight.
2. Use rugby ball (size 3) and pass it around own waist without dropping it.
Practical suggestion:
Make activities fun by saying that Spiderman wants to spin a web around their feet and waists – see how many times the web can go round without dropping it - challenge them.
Running with ball:
Partners stand 10 m apart, one with and one without ball. On the count of 3 they run towards each other, give the ball into the hands of the partner and run to the opposite end.
Practical suggestion:
Hold the ball on the side that the partner runs by on – make it easy for your partner.
Passing:
1. Work with a partner - place four sets of cones 2 m apart at intervals of about 3m (see below). Partner 1 passes to partner 2 at (a), they run to (b) and then partner 2 passes back to 1, they run to (c) and 1 passes back to 2 and so on. Start off using the plastic ball and then introduce the rugby ball.
Practical suggestion:
Rugby is a team sport so you need to make things easy for your partner. Pass the ball from your hip and aim for your partner’s belly button. Watch partner throughout and expect the ball at the next set of holders. As a challenge, the partners could see how many times they can do this without dropping the ball or they can time themselves and see how quickly they can complete the task. When the rugby ball is introduced, show the child how to grip the ball properly. Important to turn head and shoulders to look at partner as he passes.
Catching:
1. High lobbed balls – parent stands 2 m away and throws ball with an arc into the arms of the child. The child holds arms like an ice cream scoop and squeezes the ball once it is safely in his arms.
Practical suggestion:
Start off using the plastic ball and make it easy for the child. Later introduce the rugby ball but make sure that the ball is thrown into the arms. As they progress, teach them to run and move in under the ball – vary the height of the arc.
2. Waist high balls – teach child to watch, expect and stretch hands out to oncoming ball.
Practical suggestion:
Pass ball to the left and right side of the child. Increase the distance between parent and child as they progress. Also challenge them by seeing how many catches out of ten are caught successfully.
Picking up and putting down of ball:
1. Partners stand 10 m apart, place two balls half way between them. On the count of 3 they run towards balls, pick one up and run to their partner’s place and put ball down as one would when scoring a try.
Practical suggestion:
Make it challenging by seeing who can pick up the ball and get to their partner’s spot first (shout, “try” when ball is dotted down)
Kicking:
1. Punt kick – hold plastic ball between hands and lean forward, best foot back, drop ball and kick it before the ball hits the ground.
Practical suggestion:
Introduce the rugby ball only later on - teach them to kick the ball on the rounded part of the ball and not on the pointed sides (shoes to be worn if the foot stings). Challenge the child by seeing how far and high they can kick the ball. Later introduce a target for them to kick at e.g. into the parent’s arms/a circle of beacons etc.
2. Place kick - place plastic ball on holder, take two steps back and kick ball off holder.
Practical suggestion:
Teach the child to kick the ball on the spot where the ball rests on the beacon (i.e. under the ball - in order to gain height) and also to keep their heads down while kicking. Introduce the rugby ball later – cut a larger hole in the top of one of the beacons to stabilise the ball. Challenge the child by pasting strips of masking tape resembling a set of rugby posts on the garage door. Let them try and kick the ball over and through the “posts”. Place the ball in different spots to make it more difficult or easier for them.
Activities supplied by Playball. For more information on Playball search www.playball.com.
Source: Health24
Click here to read full article and comments.
Which father hasn’t pictured this in his mind? His laaitie is only 4 years old, but you have already seen him score tries, kick conversions and holding that cup. Where do you start? How do you help him to develop the skills? Well here is the answer.Rugby skills for 4-5 year olds
Rough play is popular among this age group and can be a useful way of fine-tuning physical skills. This is the time to encourage social, intellectual and physical development as learning the basic skills lays the foundation for grasping more complicated sports and activities.
What a four to five-year old can do:
• Very little or no developed eye-foot coordination
• Children of this age have a very low attention span. Encouraging enthusiasm is more important at this stage than any skill development
• Play with balls but has difficulty kicking, catching and throwing accurately
Rugby activities for four to five-year olds
The four to five-year-olds can practise the basic skills of rugby as suggested below. It is important for the child to have much success and fun while doing the exercises.
The following pieces of equipment will be required: a large plastic ball, a size 3 Rugby ball, flat beacons, a pillow and a mattress. These activities would be best executed on a field but the back garden will suffice. These activities have been selected so that they can be practised with Dad, Mom and siblings.
Skills:
• Ball handling
• Running with the ball
• Passing
• Catching
• Picking up/putting down ball while running
• Kicking (Punt and Place kick)
Ball handling:
1. Use large plastic ball, stand with feet wide apart and roll ball in and out between the feet in the figure of eight.
2. Use rugby ball (size 3) and pass it around own waist without dropping it.
Practical suggestion:
Make activities fun by saying that Spiderman wants to spin a web around their feet and waists – see how many times the web can go round without dropping it - challenge them.
Running with ball:
Partners stand 10 m apart, one with and one without ball. On the count of 3 they run towards each other, give the ball into the hands of the partner and run to the opposite end.
Practical suggestion:
Hold the ball on the side that the partner runs by on – make it easy for your partner.
Passing:
1. Work with a partner - place four sets of cones 2 m apart at intervals of about 3m (see below). Partner 1 passes to partner 2 at (a), they run to (b) and then partner 2 passes back to 1, they run to (c) and 1 passes back to 2 and so on. Start off using the plastic ball and then introduce the rugby ball.
Practical suggestion:
Rugby is a team sport so you need to make things easy for your partner. Pass the ball from your hip and aim for your partner’s belly button. Watch partner throughout and expect the ball at the next set of holders. As a challenge, the partners could see how many times they can do this without dropping the ball or they can time themselves and see how quickly they can complete the task. When the rugby ball is introduced, show the child how to grip the ball properly. Important to turn head and shoulders to look at partner as he passes.
Catching:
1. High lobbed balls – parent stands 2 m away and throws ball with an arc into the arms of the child. The child holds arms like an ice cream scoop and squeezes the ball once it is safely in his arms.
Practical suggestion:
Start off using the plastic ball and make it easy for the child. Later introduce the rugby ball but make sure that the ball is thrown into the arms. As they progress, teach them to run and move in under the ball – vary the height of the arc.
2. Waist high balls – teach child to watch, expect and stretch hands out to oncoming ball.
Practical suggestion:
Pass ball to the left and right side of the child. Increase the distance between parent and child as they progress. Also challenge them by seeing how many catches out of ten are caught successfully.
Picking up and putting down of ball:
1. Partners stand 10 m apart, place two balls half way between them. On the count of 3 they run towards balls, pick one up and run to their partner’s place and put ball down as one would when scoring a try.
Practical suggestion:
Make it challenging by seeing who can pick up the ball and get to their partner’s spot first (shout, “try” when ball is dotted down)
Kicking:
1. Punt kick – hold plastic ball between hands and lean forward, best foot back, drop ball and kick it before the ball hits the ground.
Practical suggestion:
Introduce the rugby ball only later on - teach them to kick the ball on the rounded part of the ball and not on the pointed sides (shoes to be worn if the foot stings). Challenge the child by seeing how far and high they can kick the ball. Later introduce a target for them to kick at e.g. into the parent’s arms/a circle of beacons etc.
2. Place kick - place plastic ball on holder, take two steps back and kick ball off holder.
Practical suggestion:
Teach the child to kick the ball on the spot where the ball rests on the beacon (i.e. under the ball - in order to gain height) and also to keep their heads down while kicking. Introduce the rugby ball later – cut a larger hole in the top of one of the beacons to stabilise the ball. Challenge the child by pasting strips of masking tape resembling a set of rugby posts on the garage door. Let them try and kick the ball over and through the “posts”. Place the ball in different spots to make it more difficult or easier for them.
Activities supplied by Playball. For more information on Playball search www.playball.com.
Source: Health24
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Lets banter people
With all the seriousness surrounding the present annoyance with Brian Van Rooyen making accusations of dishonesty against Ali Bacher of all people, and the election dirty tricks department starting their usual banter, DavidS thought it’d be best if we took some time out and started looking at the reason we’re here. To talk shyte about rugby. So in a true Ruggaworld tradition, let’s talk insults!
It’s the silly season. There’s no real rugby news apart from injuries and DUI’s. Of course there’s the election circus with insults exchanged in the mainstream media. Well, forget it now. Let’s get to the rugby and talk who’s going down and who’s going to win. I’ll get the ball running:
The Cats
Well, there’s not much we can insult them about. They’re powerful, balanced, all conquering and superbly fit with a full complement of Bok stars.
No matter which way you look at it, the only thing you can say about this team is be afraid if you’re not a fan. Be very afraid.
So this year it’s the same old same old and then you can watch the Spears take part while you enjoy the surfing at North Beach and try to bury thoughts of “RUGBY” for a season or two till you fail in yet another Super 14.
Aka: The sardines and Nemo’s pals
Click here to read full article and comments.
It’s the silly season. There’s no real rugby news apart from injuries and DUI’s. Of course there’s the election circus with insults exchanged in the mainstream media. Well, forget it now. Let’s get to the rugby and talk who’s going down and who’s going to win. I’ll get the ball running:
The Cats
Well, there’s not much we can insult them about. They’re powerful, balanced, all conquering and superbly fit with a full complement of Bok stars.
No matter which way you look at it, the only thing you can say about this team is be afraid if you’re not a fan. Be very afraid.
aka: The best rugby team in the world. The Super 14 winners.
Forget about those guys in black in the hick sticks in long white cloud cuckoo land. They’re only doing so well because they haven’t had the chance for the Cats to destroy their aura.
The Breezes
Lioghtly fluttering from the sea. Not the black clouded storms that occasionally batter Cape Town. No, this is summer so rather expect the cool relieving summer breeze that you get occasionally while you’re lying on Clifton’s 4th beach trying to get a shot of that topless babe with your camera cell.
The one that takes the edge off the worst of summer. That casually lifts that chick’s sarong so you can see she’s wearing a g-string.
Do you really think a February breeze can do well in a competition that features a team called THE HURRICANES.
Oh, and let’s not forget the uniforms. Made by the best designers to frequent Graaf’s Pool. Who are they trying to kid? All Black? Sorry Breezes. The all black dressing is taken. In fact it was taken years and years ago.
Aka: The Gay Town Boys
The Cheaters
So we had Jonathan Kaplan help you win a Currie Cup? How much did you pay him? You coach was clever enough to figure out what all the punters on keo knew months before. Maybe he learnt to read while watching all those videos, trying to simulate Jake White.
Just how hard can it be to beat a team that has a coach who thinks the best style of play was John Willimas’ “maak dood voor” style of play? You lost almost every other game of consequence and only managed to win two in a row with the help of a one eyed referee.
Guess what? Jonathan Kaplan won’t be there when the Crusaders make you look like the Breezes at Jade Stadium in Christchurch!
Will be known as: The Undeserved
The Cows
Your style of play harks back to the thirties. Any wonder some young player with half a brain cell figured you out? It’s a damning indictment of SA rugby that the Waratahs did it long before and the provincial teams only saw it in October.
Anyway, your run of good fortune is about to come to a sticky end. No Anton Leonard, No Heyneke, No Cup…eish
Relegation or regulation as Aldo calls it.
Maybe that’s a better way of calling it.
You’re going to get regulated and culled out of the Super 14 and it starts when the Cheaters take you apart 11 February!
Aka: The Dutchman’s Team
The Guppies
Why Nemo? Why not rather the Sardines. Flopping about your shark tank with mouths agape at the atrocious disaster jokingly called “Sharks Rugby”.
Sardines charge up the coast every year. With sharks (the real variety) dolphins (not your cricket team which is just as awful) and tuna and people and barracudas catching you all the way, you’d think they’d learn after a few thousand years, but no.
So this year it’s the same old same old and then you can watch the Spears take part while you enjoy the surfing at North Beach and try to bury thoughts of “RUGBY” for a season or two till you fail in yet another Super 14.
Aka: The sardines and Nemo’s pals
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Revolution v Evolution: The future of rugby transformation
“Australian” academic, Prof JJ Du Plessis, says the difference between European and American companies is the Americans are strategy driven and the Europeans process driven. The Americans flexibly make decisions and then think about implementation. The Europeans think implementation first. This may explain why American companies are killing their European counterparts worldwide. Think of Daimler’s failing partnership with Chrysler and compare that to Ford’s blooming one with Volvo. What has this got to do with transformation? Read on.
In 2005, SARU had the opportunity to embrace revolution and think strategy rather than process on the transformation issue. They decided to go for process. This is a mistake that could eventually have massive negative repercussions for our rugby.
Did SARU follow transformation principles or were they forced?
The time to have started with transforming our rugby was 1994 when we got a democratic government. Everyone then should have seen that the end of white hegemony in all walks of life was over. Some did and some didn’t. Rugby didn’t. By 2004, when Jake White took over the reigns, we were in exactly the same position as 1994.
The regulars in the Bok squad were Chester Williams and then after him Breyten Paulse. Yes people like Lawrence Sephaka and Ncgobani Bobo were given the occasional run, but I’m talking about regularly selected black players.
Jake White changed the goal posts. But did he? What was Jake White’s commitment to transformation before December 2003? Do we even know? When he won the Under 21 championship with the Baby Boks, how many black players were in the run on XV? I remember Ashwin Willemse – on the wing.
When names were bandied about, White was said to be a transformation disciple. He got the job. The thing though. Nobody knew that Jake White was pro-transformation in this aggressive way until he was appointed. He’s broken some records. Most black players in a starting 22 and he regularly plays with 3 black players in the XV.
However, by 2003 the government and Ngconde Balfour in particular, were sick and tired of SARU’s lip service with their black wings in the Bok team and their feeder provinces. Jake White had better have been pro-transformation or he wouldn’t have kept the job for long.
The 2005 transformation charter addressed nothing
The 2005 was drafted on commission from SARU to Willie Basson. Rugby players and administrators were not consulted when it was drafted. The transformation charter is superfluous. It is a meaningless piece of paper that addresses certain process issues about black player numbers it nothing else meaningfully.
What options did SARU have?
SARU sent their charter out to the unions for comments. Spears CEO Tony McKeevr sent his response, called a Corporate Makeover Document to SARU as a comment. The document not only addressed black participation in rugby, but asked for a strategy that adopted a strategic and holistic corporate approach. Sure it’s short and sweet and to the point, but isn’t that the point?
Ruggaworld has exclusive access to the Corporate Makeover Strategy that SARU rejected. Let’s examine it and compare it to the process driven SARU commissioned BEE Charter that went before the sports portfolio committee in parliament.
In the first place, McKeever recognised that changing the player numbers of rugby requires a completely different approach to rugby in South Africa. It requires a mindset change. It requires new thinking and it requires effective corporate change management. It requires a corporate strategising approach to transformation. Transformation is not just 75% black players on the field. It is in change managing the entire SA rugby spectrum to one that is demographically representative of South Africa. And that change begins at the top.
His first point is that mindsets have to be changed within rugby. The present mindset that says there are not enough black players. There aren’t enough black players of international quality. “They” are good on the wing. This leaves SA rugby as an entity incapable of change managing itself into a transformed culture with a singular vision. One that promotes rugby as a people’s sport. The Springboks as a people’s team. With SARU a behind the scenes driving force behind transformation.
Then, it requires a singular vision. A singular mission statement and an environment that allows people to achieve this. At the moment the scandals and allegations rocking national rugby and their provincial franchises leave a terrible fractious set of bodies unable to focus on their mission of managing and leading one of our national sports. One of the cornerstones of this mission statement is openness.
At the moment we have to rely on the media to sniff out what is going on inside our national rugby. We don’t know. We trust committees to investigate matters that are then swept under the carpet. From sources who do not want to be named we learn that SARU’s HR manager has resigned, that their financial manager has had his contract renewed. In this Glasnost approach, everyone would know what is going on inside our national and provincial bodies because, radically, they would tell people!
The reasons for transformation and change management into a corporate culture must be rational and justified. People need to know why things are happening. They need to know what the goal is and why we are striving for it. Mveleli Ncula’s pronouncement in December about player numbers is exactly the opposite of this. A pronouncement from on high without rationale, justification or reason. Completely unexplained and unexpected.
The people running the game must communicate. People must know what is going on. Don’t give rumour and innuendo a chance to get involved. There are so many communications portals open these days that there is simply no excuse for poor communication. It means that the people in control of rugby must openly live out the ideals and vision of rugby, striving to achieve its goals, and openly aligning themselves with its views.
Effective people management. This is an essence of transformation. With people buying into the corporate vision, they need to go home and promote it into their communities. The people of SA Rugby must have this vision reinforced and rewarded for achieving success. I.e. in HR terms, an effective performance management system. There must be a common vision of SA Rugby for them to strive to and feel part of. This is easy. The common vision is: “To Win!”.
Why is this better than a BEE Charter?
Simple really. There are already thousands of pages of Codes of Good Practice from government on transformation. There is an Employment Equity Act (EEA), a Skills Development Act (SDA) and a Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act. All these laws have codes and guidelines for their implementation in place. Why spend a huge amount of money to get someone to draft a 60 page plus document in legalese that nobody can understand? How does one use a legal document to implement change of culture. You don’t. It’s that simple. You need the effective corporate skills to communicate, lead and inspire. Proper corporate leadership skills.
Now compare this with the backtracking on the black player number issue. Although new news reports state that Johan Prinsloo has backed off on Mveleli Ncula’s 8 in the squad, 6 in the 22 and 4 in the 15 numbers, a press release to that effect is still on the SARU website.
Missing the boat will cost us dearly
Australian rugby, even for their recent public spats (that were public because they reported it as a board to the media) is strongly corporatised. Considering their small player numbers we must agree they have the most successful rugby team in the world.
There is no need to implement some charter that will affect a single process, namely black transformation, focusing on black player numbers. There is no need for noises about making SARU black. The process Rian Oberholzer started should have continued. Instead we had effective leaders like Morne Du Plessis sidelined as SARU took the backwards step of actually decorporatising itself.
It went back to the staid undergoverned relic from the dinosaur age. And now we have a situation where money goes missing, deals are made, and systems and processes not followed. In a corporate environment there are just too many checks and balances to avoid this taking place. High profile failures like Saambou are high profile because they are so rare and the perpetrators are brought to book, just like with Leisurenet.
Right now we have a ridiculously outmoded voluntary organisation running SA Rugby free from the checks and balances a corporate culture brings. Free from the openness we could expect from a large effectively run corporation and free from support of the people who make them the money. The ‘dressing’ as Rian Oberholzer derisively called fans.
Then we have black players. They will be the victims and the beneficiaries of this Charter of Willie Basson. So where’s the problem. Simple. 43% of all our rugby players on professional level come from the Eastern Cape. Almost all our black rugby players come from the Eastern Cape. All the other unions have to do is trust the Eastern Cape to keep doing what it does and then poaching their black players without any concern for developing blacl players in their own unions. Remember that skills development is not a big one on the SARU scorecard. Number crunching is the most important thing, not skills development, so this scorecard simply breaks away from what government actually wants. The development of black people to a level where they will compete on an equal footing with white people.
Well SARU must keep going. The only reason they keep escaping scrutiny is because Jake White is succeeding. Once he fails, the axes will come out. Already the Australian and Kiwi media are making noises about the “Thou Shalt” quota pronouncements. If public opinion there turns against quotas, and our teams keep failing in SANZAR competitions, the leap of logic for their fans and eventually Rupert Murdoch, may be we’re failing because of quotas. And quotas are political interference in sport.
That may be the end of professional rugby in our country. And all because SARU has no clue about corporate change management. Click here to read full article and comments.
In 2005, SARU had the opportunity to embrace revolution and think strategy rather than process on the transformation issue. They decided to go for process. This is a mistake that could eventually have massive negative repercussions for our rugby.
Did SARU follow transformation principles or were they forced?
The time to have started with transforming our rugby was 1994 when we got a democratic government. Everyone then should have seen that the end of white hegemony in all walks of life was over. Some did and some didn’t. Rugby didn’t. By 2004, when Jake White took over the reigns, we were in exactly the same position as 1994.
The regulars in the Bok squad were Chester Williams and then after him Breyten Paulse. Yes people like Lawrence Sephaka and Ncgobani Bobo were given the occasional run, but I’m talking about regularly selected black players.
Jake White changed the goal posts. But did he? What was Jake White’s commitment to transformation before December 2003? Do we even know? When he won the Under 21 championship with the Baby Boks, how many black players were in the run on XV? I remember Ashwin Willemse – on the wing.
When names were bandied about, White was said to be a transformation disciple. He got the job. The thing though. Nobody knew that Jake White was pro-transformation in this aggressive way until he was appointed. He’s broken some records. Most black players in a starting 22 and he regularly plays with 3 black players in the XV.
However, by 2003 the government and Ngconde Balfour in particular, were sick and tired of SARU’s lip service with their black wings in the Bok team and their feeder provinces. Jake White had better have been pro-transformation or he wouldn’t have kept the job for long.
The 2005 transformation charter addressed nothing
The 2005 was drafted on commission from SARU to Willie Basson. Rugby players and administrators were not consulted when it was drafted. The transformation charter is superfluous. It is a meaningless piece of paper that addresses certain process issues about black player numbers it nothing else meaningfully.
What options did SARU have?
SARU sent their charter out to the unions for comments. Spears CEO Tony McKeevr sent his response, called a Corporate Makeover Document to SARU as a comment. The document not only addressed black participation in rugby, but asked for a strategy that adopted a strategic and holistic corporate approach. Sure it’s short and sweet and to the point, but isn’t that the point?
Ruggaworld has exclusive access to the Corporate Makeover Strategy that SARU rejected. Let’s examine it and compare it to the process driven SARU commissioned BEE Charter that went before the sports portfolio committee in parliament.
In the first place, McKeever recognised that changing the player numbers of rugby requires a completely different approach to rugby in South Africa. It requires a mindset change. It requires new thinking and it requires effective corporate change management. It requires a corporate strategising approach to transformation. Transformation is not just 75% black players on the field. It is in change managing the entire SA rugby spectrum to one that is demographically representative of South Africa. And that change begins at the top.
His first point is that mindsets have to be changed within rugby. The present mindset that says there are not enough black players. There aren’t enough black players of international quality. “They” are good on the wing. This leaves SA rugby as an entity incapable of change managing itself into a transformed culture with a singular vision. One that promotes rugby as a people’s sport. The Springboks as a people’s team. With SARU a behind the scenes driving force behind transformation.
Then, it requires a singular vision. A singular mission statement and an environment that allows people to achieve this. At the moment the scandals and allegations rocking national rugby and their provincial franchises leave a terrible fractious set of bodies unable to focus on their mission of managing and leading one of our national sports. One of the cornerstones of this mission statement is openness.
At the moment we have to rely on the media to sniff out what is going on inside our national rugby. We don’t know. We trust committees to investigate matters that are then swept under the carpet. From sources who do not want to be named we learn that SARU’s HR manager has resigned, that their financial manager has had his contract renewed. In this Glasnost approach, everyone would know what is going on inside our national and provincial bodies because, radically, they would tell people!
The reasons for transformation and change management into a corporate culture must be rational and justified. People need to know why things are happening. They need to know what the goal is and why we are striving for it. Mveleli Ncula’s pronouncement in December about player numbers is exactly the opposite of this. A pronouncement from on high without rationale, justification or reason. Completely unexplained and unexpected.
The people running the game must communicate. People must know what is going on. Don’t give rumour and innuendo a chance to get involved. There are so many communications portals open these days that there is simply no excuse for poor communication. It means that the people in control of rugby must openly live out the ideals and vision of rugby, striving to achieve its goals, and openly aligning themselves with its views.
Effective people management. This is an essence of transformation. With people buying into the corporate vision, they need to go home and promote it into their communities. The people of SA Rugby must have this vision reinforced and rewarded for achieving success. I.e. in HR terms, an effective performance management system. There must be a common vision of SA Rugby for them to strive to and feel part of. This is easy. The common vision is: “To Win!”.
Why is this better than a BEE Charter?
Simple really. There are already thousands of pages of Codes of Good Practice from government on transformation. There is an Employment Equity Act (EEA), a Skills Development Act (SDA) and a Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act. All these laws have codes and guidelines for their implementation in place. Why spend a huge amount of money to get someone to draft a 60 page plus document in legalese that nobody can understand? How does one use a legal document to implement change of culture. You don’t. It’s that simple. You need the effective corporate skills to communicate, lead and inspire. Proper corporate leadership skills.
Now compare this with the backtracking on the black player number issue. Although new news reports state that Johan Prinsloo has backed off on Mveleli Ncula’s 8 in the squad, 6 in the 22 and 4 in the 15 numbers, a press release to that effect is still on the SARU website.
Missing the boat will cost us dearly
Australian rugby, even for their recent public spats (that were public because they reported it as a board to the media) is strongly corporatised. Considering their small player numbers we must agree they have the most successful rugby team in the world.
There is no need to implement some charter that will affect a single process, namely black transformation, focusing on black player numbers. There is no need for noises about making SARU black. The process Rian Oberholzer started should have continued. Instead we had effective leaders like Morne Du Plessis sidelined as SARU took the backwards step of actually decorporatising itself.
It went back to the staid undergoverned relic from the dinosaur age. And now we have a situation where money goes missing, deals are made, and systems and processes not followed. In a corporate environment there are just too many checks and balances to avoid this taking place. High profile failures like Saambou are high profile because they are so rare and the perpetrators are brought to book, just like with Leisurenet.
Right now we have a ridiculously outmoded voluntary organisation running SA Rugby free from the checks and balances a corporate culture brings. Free from the openness we could expect from a large effectively run corporation and free from support of the people who make them the money. The ‘dressing’ as Rian Oberholzer derisively called fans.
Then we have black players. They will be the victims and the beneficiaries of this Charter of Willie Basson. So where’s the problem. Simple. 43% of all our rugby players on professional level come from the Eastern Cape. Almost all our black rugby players come from the Eastern Cape. All the other unions have to do is trust the Eastern Cape to keep doing what it does and then poaching their black players without any concern for developing blacl players in their own unions. Remember that skills development is not a big one on the SARU scorecard. Number crunching is the most important thing, not skills development, so this scorecard simply breaks away from what government actually wants. The development of black people to a level where they will compete on an equal footing with white people.
Well SARU must keep going. The only reason they keep escaping scrutiny is because Jake White is succeeding. Once he fails, the axes will come out. Already the Australian and Kiwi media are making noises about the “Thou Shalt” quota pronouncements. If public opinion there turns against quotas, and our teams keep failing in SANZAR competitions, the leap of logic for their fans and eventually Rupert Murdoch, may be we’re failing because of quotas. And quotas are political interference in sport.
That may be the end of professional rugby in our country. And all because SARU has no clue about corporate change management. Click here to read full article and comments.
SA Teams / Unions: Large contingent from SEC for U/21 practice camp confirms SEC player quality
SARU has announced the names of players selected for an Under 21 practice camp. The players will be subjected to fitness and conditioning tests. Once completed the player group will be cut down and players invited to attend trials to finalise a team to represent the country at the Under 21 World Cup. Many players from SEC have been invited to attend, proving the vibrancy of rugby in the region and justifying the existence of the Spears.
Recent reports question the existence of the Spears and the contribution the region has made to SA rugby in the past. These people are of course forgetting that SEC is the cradle of black rugby in South Africa. They forget people like Danie Gerber, Heinrich Fuls, Frans Erasmus, Basil Kenyon and Garth Wright. The invitation list to the Under 21 tests show that rugby is alive and well in the region.
These trials measure player fitness and conditioning
The tests measure player conditioning and fitness. They try to assess the condition of the player with a view to inviting the player to the trials for selection to the Baby Boks.With some eligible players in the Super 14 squads, SARU will only finalise the Under 21 squad after the Vodacom Super 14 competition finishes.
These trials will test how well the players are conditioned and kept fit at their provinces so that only the best players are being selected to eventually play in Pieter De Villiers’ Under 21 World Cup challengers in Dubai.
Many players from our 2005 championship team are still eligible.
Eleven players who helped the Baby Boks win the previous IRB World Cup in France are eligible for this side. Among the names that are starting to make their way into the domestic professional scene are Hilton Lobberts, Chilliboy Ralepele, Marius Delport, Adriaan Srauss and Cedric Mkhize.
With a number of former Under 19’s from Eugene Eloff’s world cup winning teams also coming through, the Baby Boks should be looking good to successfully defend their world championship throne.
Players from SEC invited
There are no less than fourteen players from SEC invited to the testing.
They include Under 19 stars Ishmael Dollie and Ashley Johnson. Both are now plying their trade with the senior squad of the newly established Spears franchise. Dollie is yet another in a long line of extremely promising WP flyhalves who was discarded only to perform for a different province. In the past weekend for instance, Dollie easily outclassed his more established WP and now Stormers incumbent flyhalf Peter Grant.
Of the players, the highest representation comes from EP, with six invitees, while two from border and three from SWD will attend the tests. Then we have another Under 19 star in Warren Malgas invited to attend the tests.
What is the state of rugby in the SEC
Tony McKeever, CEO of the Spears has told Ruggaworld that, amazingly, 43% of rugby players in South Africa come from the Spears region in the South Eastern Cape. Secondly, and given the focus on transformation and representivity at the moment, it is similarly amazing that 20% of the players in the SANZAR Super 14 elite group of SARU are black and come from the SEC region.
This means that almost half of rugby players in our country are in the SEC.
It also means that fully one in five players in the 150 are from SEC.
This is an amazing statistic to be shoved down the throat of those who question the contribution the cradle of black rugby makes to our national rugby. These are the same people who forget that EP in the 80’s was the strongest union outside of WP and Northern Transvaal. They forget that in 1997 SWD reached the Currie Cup semi final.
They also forget that the Spears and their feeder teams have to deal with handouts from SARU to finance themselves, while teams like the Bulls and Stormers can rely on sponsors like Mr Price and Vodacom to finance squads in excess of 50, the SEC and smaller regions have to rely on professional squads of under fifteen, with part timers making up the numbers!
This is an unacceptable situation.
What has SARU done so far ?
In a word nothing. Yes Gideon Sam has now announced the opening of a High Performance Centre at the Nelson Mandela University, but does this benefit rugby? No.
In the 2003 SARU elections, Brian Van Rooyen managed to get the vote of the SEC, but then he ognored them. We’ve seen coups at SWD and Border in the past few months with Van Rooyen cronies removed. We saw EPRFU having to go ujder a SARU administrator because of its own mismanagement. We’ve seen SEC rugby’s virtual destruction, due to SARU and union administrative incompetence.
So what does the future hold?
The Spears is the future of SEC rugby. It’s the future of rugby in South Africa. It will be a catalyst for change to ensure that the stars like Pedrie Wanneberg, Odwa Ndungane, Luke Watson and Solly Tybilika stay where their roots are.
Oregon Hoskins has promised to concentrate on SEC rugby for the future. Is he genuine or is that an election promise? Win or lose, we will only know if he wins. One thing is certain. Under Hoskins, SEC stands a better chance of reaching the heights they once held.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Recent reports question the existence of the Spears and the contribution the region has made to SA rugby in the past. These people are of course forgetting that SEC is the cradle of black rugby in South Africa. They forget people like Danie Gerber, Heinrich Fuls, Frans Erasmus, Basil Kenyon and Garth Wright. The invitation list to the Under 21 tests show that rugby is alive and well in the region.
These trials measure player fitness and conditioning
The tests measure player conditioning and fitness. They try to assess the condition of the player with a view to inviting the player to the trials for selection to the Baby Boks.With some eligible players in the Super 14 squads, SARU will only finalise the Under 21 squad after the Vodacom Super 14 competition finishes.
These trials will test how well the players are conditioned and kept fit at their provinces so that only the best players are being selected to eventually play in Pieter De Villiers’ Under 21 World Cup challengers in Dubai.
Many players from our 2005 championship team are still eligible.
Eleven players who helped the Baby Boks win the previous IRB World Cup in France are eligible for this side. Among the names that are starting to make their way into the domestic professional scene are Hilton Lobberts, Chilliboy Ralepele, Marius Delport, Adriaan Srauss and Cedric Mkhize.
With a number of former Under 19’s from Eugene Eloff’s world cup winning teams also coming through, the Baby Boks should be looking good to successfully defend their world championship throne.
Players from SEC invited
There are no less than fourteen players from SEC invited to the testing.
They include Under 19 stars Ishmael Dollie and Ashley Johnson. Both are now plying their trade with the senior squad of the newly established Spears franchise. Dollie is yet another in a long line of extremely promising WP flyhalves who was discarded only to perform for a different province. In the past weekend for instance, Dollie easily outclassed his more established WP and now Stormers incumbent flyhalf Peter Grant.
Of the players, the highest representation comes from EP, with six invitees, while two from border and three from SWD will attend the tests. Then we have another Under 19 star in Warren Malgas invited to attend the tests.
What is the state of rugby in the SEC
Tony McKeever, CEO of the Spears has told Ruggaworld that, amazingly, 43% of rugby players in South Africa come from the Spears region in the South Eastern Cape. Secondly, and given the focus on transformation and representivity at the moment, it is similarly amazing that 20% of the players in the SANZAR Super 14 elite group of SARU are black and come from the SEC region.
This means that almost half of rugby players in our country are in the SEC.
It also means that fully one in five players in the 150 are from SEC.
This is an amazing statistic to be shoved down the throat of those who question the contribution the cradle of black rugby makes to our national rugby. These are the same people who forget that EP in the 80’s was the strongest union outside of WP and Northern Transvaal. They forget that in 1997 SWD reached the Currie Cup semi final.
They also forget that the Spears and their feeder teams have to deal with handouts from SARU to finance themselves, while teams like the Bulls and Stormers can rely on sponsors like Mr Price and Vodacom to finance squads in excess of 50, the SEC and smaller regions have to rely on professional squads of under fifteen, with part timers making up the numbers!
This is an unacceptable situation.
What has SARU done so far ?
In a word nothing. Yes Gideon Sam has now announced the opening of a High Performance Centre at the Nelson Mandela University, but does this benefit rugby? No.
In the 2003 SARU elections, Brian Van Rooyen managed to get the vote of the SEC, but then he ognored them. We’ve seen coups at SWD and Border in the past few months with Van Rooyen cronies removed. We saw EPRFU having to go ujder a SARU administrator because of its own mismanagement. We’ve seen SEC rugby’s virtual destruction, due to SARU and union administrative incompetence.
So what does the future hold?
The Spears is the future of SEC rugby. It’s the future of rugby in South Africa. It will be a catalyst for change to ensure that the stars like Pedrie Wanneberg, Odwa Ndungane, Luke Watson and Solly Tybilika stay where their roots are.
Oregon Hoskins has promised to concentrate on SEC rugby for the future. Is he genuine or is that an election promise? Win or lose, we will only know if he wins. One thing is certain. Under Hoskins, SEC stands a better chance of reaching the heights they once held.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Bulls captains being mowed down
Source: News24Morris Gilbert , Beeld
Eight weeks on the sidelines are better than six months, but Springbok hooker, Gary Botha of the Bulls can still miss more than a third of the Super 14 rugby series because of a knee injury.
An examination performed on Botha's knee, injured in the warm-up match against the Sharks at Sun City on Saturday, showed that there are damage to both the medial and cross ligaments.
The Bulls' team doctor, Tommie Smook, says the medial ligaments have been torn, but the cross ligaments were only strained.
"If the cross ligaments had also been torn, he would have been out of action between six to eight months, but now it's a case of between six to eight weeks. He won't need an operation," Smook said.
This means that Botha will probably miss the Bulls' first five Super 14 matches. It could have been six if the Bulls did not have a bye after their third match - against the Waratahs at Loftus.
The Bulls could be vulnerable in their first three Super 14 matches with lock Victor Matfield and scrumhalf Fourie du Preez also on the long-term injury list.
The first match against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on February 10, could become an even higher mountain to climb, and not just because of the shortage of Bulls' captains.
No lack of self-confidence
The Cheetahs, who pulled off a surprise when they beat the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup final last year, definitely have an advantage over their archenemies after a good run in their warm-up matches. One thing the Cheetahs obviously do not lack is self-confidence.
Luckily for the Bulls they play two home matches after they tackle the Cheetahs. They play the Brumbies on February 18 and a week later the mercurial Waratahs, who stopped the Bulls in their Super 12 march to glory in the semi-final last year.
It will be one of the biggest challenges facing Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer in the next fortnight to find a second hooker able to withstand the rigours and tempo of the Super 14 series.
It would be a tough task to bring Adriaan Strauss and Chilliboy Ralapelle up to scratch in such a short space of time.
It will not be a surprise if the name of Richard Bands is mentioned in the next few weeks. Before he specialised as tighthead prop he played hooker and he knows the in and outs of the front row. Bands, however, last played in May 2005 because of a knee injury and it is not yet clear when he will return to the game.
Another more realistic possibility is Harry Vermaas, who, like Bands, can play in any position in the front row. Vermaas made his Currie Cup debut for the Bulls last year.
Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: Pretorius says his girlfriend drove
By: Liesl Pretorius
Source: Beeld
Johannesburg - André Pretorius, Springbok flyhalf of the Golden Lions and the Cats, claims his "completely sober" girlfriend was driving when they were involved in a collision in Johannesburg on Saturday morning.
Also, an officer apparently said at the accident in Bryanston that Pretorius should not think he could get away with something like this because he was a Springbok.
Pretorius described this and the night he spent in a police cell as a "nightmare".
Pretorius and Victor Macon, 32, who was driving the other car, appeared in Randburg district court on Monday on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Asked about an allegation on former Springbok spokesperson Mark Keohane's website that Pretorius said he was being framed, the Springbok said he never said he was "framed", as had been alleged.
"I can't say anything further."
Worried about press cameras
Pretorius, dressed in a light suit and dark-blue shirt, stood in the dock during his court appearance with his hands clasped in front of him.
He and his entourage, including his attorney Carol van Molendorff, laughed and chatted in front of the senior prosecutor's office before Pretorius appeared in court.
The only sign of stress Pretorius showed was when he told Beeld to keep "the cameras" away.
Pretorius dodged press photographers and TV cameras by presumably using an alternative entrance.
Beeld's attempts to get comments from court officials about this apparently preferential treatment were unsuccessful.
Police spokesperson Captain Schalk Bornman said the police would not comment about allegations against its members.
He said the court case had been postponed because the results of blood tests on Pretorius and Macon were not available yet.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Source: Beeld
Johannesburg - André Pretorius, Springbok flyhalf of the Golden Lions and the Cats, claims his "completely sober" girlfriend was driving when they were involved in a collision in Johannesburg on Saturday morning.
Also, an officer apparently said at the accident in Bryanston that Pretorius should not think he could get away with something like this because he was a Springbok.
Pretorius described this and the night he spent in a police cell as a "nightmare".
Pretorius and Victor Macon, 32, who was driving the other car, appeared in Randburg district court on Monday on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Asked about an allegation on former Springbok spokesperson Mark Keohane's website that Pretorius said he was being framed, the Springbok said he never said he was "framed", as had been alleged.
"I can't say anything further."
Worried about press cameras
Pretorius, dressed in a light suit and dark-blue shirt, stood in the dock during his court appearance with his hands clasped in front of him.
He and his entourage, including his attorney Carol van Molendorff, laughed and chatted in front of the senior prosecutor's office before Pretorius appeared in court.
The only sign of stress Pretorius showed was when he told Beeld to keep "the cameras" away.
Pretorius dodged press photographers and TV cameras by presumably using an alternative entrance.
Beeld's attempts to get comments from court officials about this apparently preferential treatment were unsuccessful.
Police spokesperson Captain Schalk Bornman said the police would not comment about allegations against its members.
He said the court case had been postponed because the results of blood tests on Pretorius and Macon were not available yet.
Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: Cherish the past
Rugby union was once a very simple thing. It was not just a sport. It was a statement about life. Not a profound one, but an uncomplicated declaration that you could get quietly hammered on Friday night, play a very ordinary game of rugby the following afternoon (not being overly bothered about the result) and go back to work on Monday morning, bruised but much happier.
By: Kevin Mitchell
Source: The Observer
Bill Beaumont remembers those days. 'Even in this era of professionalism,' he says, 'rugby is 95 per cent still like that. It's still about the clubs.'
He treasures his association with the Fylde club in Lancashire, from where he launched a career that brought him 34 England caps, 21 as captain, a couple of Lions tours, England's first grand slam in 23 years, and, after early retirement at 29 because of mounting injuries, a television career on A Question of Sport that made him the first easily recognised rugby player in the land.
So why, I ask, has a game so rooted in good times been racked by so many divisive rows since it went professional in the mid 1990s? It is a question with an obviously in-built answer, probably, but Beaumont, one of nature's optimists, is not disposed to agree that the ongoing row between the Premiership clubs and the Rugby Football Union is insoluble or that money always rules.
The clubs are suing the RFU for the £500,000 they say they are owed in compensation for resting players preparing for international duties. The RFU say they were entitled to end the Long Form Agreement last October because the clubs had not abided by their demands and that the wording was too woolly. It seems a daft, nit-picking and self-serving row.
And two of the high-profile protagonists are Beaumont and Peter Wheeler, team-mates in all but two of Beaumont's internationals. Wheeler, as chief executive at Leicester, is among the many club leaders furious with the RFU, where Beaumont resides on the management board and represents them also on the International Rugby Board.
'Peter threw it in and I caught it,' says Beaumont. 'We have been the best of team-mates, friends off the field and, I hope, can still talk about our differences. I know Pete wants his Leicester players doing well for the club but doing well for England, too.'
But they can't get this worked out that simply. Not with lawyers hovering. Stories during the week suggested the RFU were going to back down and settle. Beaumont doesn't think so. He believes ultimately it will be settled in court, but would rather they could do it the old-fashioned way, over a pint.
'We just have to sit down and talk with a clean sheet of paper,' he says. 'We can't live without each other. England need a vibrant club competition that is producing top-quality, England-qualified players. We have to maybe look at promotion and relegation again, to give the clubs the assurance they won't go down for a couple of seasons. It's surely the only way. Sit around with each other and work out a tripartite agreement, to get the programme right so England can put out the very best team and get back to where we were in 2003.
'We have taken two steps back and one step forward. But it's getting better. The signs are there. England have to have that strut about them again. We had the best second-row in the world, and without a doubt the best captain I've ever seen in Martin Johnson. Singleminded, tough, uncompromising and, in the heat of battle, he made the right decision. And he didn't have to say much. We've got to recapture that.'
The reality is the clubs don't want to rest star players with sell-out crowds pouring into their grounds for Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup European games. Who can blame them? Beaumont says there has to be a compromise, or England will go to the World Cup next year seriously disadvantaged. But we move on. For the better, as far as the game itself is concerned, Beaumont says.
'I go to Twickenham, it's a fantastic experience. We bump into each other, the old guys, Fran Cotton, Roger Uttley, and tell each other how great we were... Not really. But it's wonderful to see the place full and the game so popular. That's why I love to be involved, to make sure England can get back to being number one. On their day, they're more than a match for anybody.
'Bill Beaumont, grand-slam winner in 1980, could have walked down most streets in the land and people would say, "Who's he?" Most people knew me from being on A Question of Sport. Now the game's got massive coverage, in the papers and on television. Any one of the England World Cup guys now are all much higher profile.
'When they first played international rugby, there were about six different lineout calls. Now there are about 50. But what a spectacle it is now. There is a bigger emphasis on defence. At Twickenham, with the big crowds, you get a huge gasp for a big tackle.'
Rugby was seen at its absolute best again through a haze of free Guinness and bonhomie in London the other night. They came from all corners of the game to be at the annual rugby writers' dinner and, in Andy Ripley, the fraternity were blessed with a speaker who brought just the right mix of emotion and eccentricity to what can be a chaotic, sometimes embarrassing, evening.
Nobody who was there will ever forget the night Henry Kelly stormed from the podium after only a few minutes when the well-oiled congregation greeted what was a worthy but boring speech with gathering indifference. There was no chance of that happening with Rippers, a man who better than most knows how to laugh at himself. On his first ever journalistic assignment, a match report for the subsequently murdered Sunday Correspondent, Ripley began thus: 'Get your hankies out readers; this journo's ready to blub.'
So, with Ripley presiding at the Cafe Royal on Monday night, you would never have known the game was in crisis, that England's rugby folk are going into the Six Nations bickering yet again among themselves.
For half an hour or so, the former England tearaway forward cut through all of that. Among other things, he talked with quiet dignity and no little humour about his battle with prostate cancer. He didn't want pity; he wanted every man over 45 to go out and 'get bloody tested'.
'He's a great guy,' Beaumont says of Ripley. 'He's what rugby is all about.'
It would be nice if a few more people were listening to that sentiment. Click here to read full article and comments.
By: Kevin Mitchell
Source: The Observer
Bill Beaumont remembers those days. 'Even in this era of professionalism,' he says, 'rugby is 95 per cent still like that. It's still about the clubs.'
He treasures his association with the Fylde club in Lancashire, from where he launched a career that brought him 34 England caps, 21 as captain, a couple of Lions tours, England's first grand slam in 23 years, and, after early retirement at 29 because of mounting injuries, a television career on A Question of Sport that made him the first easily recognised rugby player in the land.
So why, I ask, has a game so rooted in good times been racked by so many divisive rows since it went professional in the mid 1990s? It is a question with an obviously in-built answer, probably, but Beaumont, one of nature's optimists, is not disposed to agree that the ongoing row between the Premiership clubs and the Rugby Football Union is insoluble or that money always rules.
The clubs are suing the RFU for the £500,000 they say they are owed in compensation for resting players preparing for international duties. The RFU say they were entitled to end the Long Form Agreement last October because the clubs had not abided by their demands and that the wording was too woolly. It seems a daft, nit-picking and self-serving row.
And two of the high-profile protagonists are Beaumont and Peter Wheeler, team-mates in all but two of Beaumont's internationals. Wheeler, as chief executive at Leicester, is among the many club leaders furious with the RFU, where Beaumont resides on the management board and represents them also on the International Rugby Board.
'Peter threw it in and I caught it,' says Beaumont. 'We have been the best of team-mates, friends off the field and, I hope, can still talk about our differences. I know Pete wants his Leicester players doing well for the club but doing well for England, too.'
But they can't get this worked out that simply. Not with lawyers hovering. Stories during the week suggested the RFU were going to back down and settle. Beaumont doesn't think so. He believes ultimately it will be settled in court, but would rather they could do it the old-fashioned way, over a pint.
'We just have to sit down and talk with a clean sheet of paper,' he says. 'We can't live without each other. England need a vibrant club competition that is producing top-quality, England-qualified players. We have to maybe look at promotion and relegation again, to give the clubs the assurance they won't go down for a couple of seasons. It's surely the only way. Sit around with each other and work out a tripartite agreement, to get the programme right so England can put out the very best team and get back to where we were in 2003.
'We have taken two steps back and one step forward. But it's getting better. The signs are there. England have to have that strut about them again. We had the best second-row in the world, and without a doubt the best captain I've ever seen in Martin Johnson. Singleminded, tough, uncompromising and, in the heat of battle, he made the right decision. And he didn't have to say much. We've got to recapture that.'
The reality is the clubs don't want to rest star players with sell-out crowds pouring into their grounds for Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup European games. Who can blame them? Beaumont says there has to be a compromise, or England will go to the World Cup next year seriously disadvantaged. But we move on. For the better, as far as the game itself is concerned, Beaumont says.
'I go to Twickenham, it's a fantastic experience. We bump into each other, the old guys, Fran Cotton, Roger Uttley, and tell each other how great we were... Not really. But it's wonderful to see the place full and the game so popular. That's why I love to be involved, to make sure England can get back to being number one. On their day, they're more than a match for anybody.
'Bill Beaumont, grand-slam winner in 1980, could have walked down most streets in the land and people would say, "Who's he?" Most people knew me from being on A Question of Sport. Now the game's got massive coverage, in the papers and on television. Any one of the England World Cup guys now are all much higher profile.
'When they first played international rugby, there were about six different lineout calls. Now there are about 50. But what a spectacle it is now. There is a bigger emphasis on defence. At Twickenham, with the big crowds, you get a huge gasp for a big tackle.'
Rugby was seen at its absolute best again through a haze of free Guinness and bonhomie in London the other night. They came from all corners of the game to be at the annual rugby writers' dinner and, in Andy Ripley, the fraternity were blessed with a speaker who brought just the right mix of emotion and eccentricity to what can be a chaotic, sometimes embarrassing, evening.
Nobody who was there will ever forget the night Henry Kelly stormed from the podium after only a few minutes when the well-oiled congregation greeted what was a worthy but boring speech with gathering indifference. There was no chance of that happening with Rippers, a man who better than most knows how to laugh at himself. On his first ever journalistic assignment, a match report for the subsequently murdered Sunday Correspondent, Ripley began thus: 'Get your hankies out readers; this journo's ready to blub.'
So, with Ripley presiding at the Cafe Royal on Monday night, you would never have known the game was in crisis, that England's rugby folk are going into the Six Nations bickering yet again among themselves.
For half an hour or so, the former England tearaway forward cut through all of that. Among other things, he talked with quiet dignity and no little humour about his battle with prostate cancer. He didn't want pity; he wanted every man over 45 to go out and 'get bloody tested'.
'He's a great guy,' Beaumont says of Ripley. 'He's what rugby is all about.'
It would be nice if a few more people were listening to that sentiment. Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Good news in pipeline for Border Rugby
Source: The Daily Dispatch
By LUXOLO MANTAMBO
Official announcement of new sponsor expected on Wednesday
THE CASH-STRAPPED Border Rugby Football Union (BRFU) is on the brink of announcing a multi-million sponsorship from a major South African airline company this week.
The Daily Dispatch yesterday established that the union will make the official announcement by Wednesday this week which will mark a new era and relationship with the new sponsors.
The union is currently in the red with debt estimated to be more than R3 million.
The debt was incurred during last season's disastrous spell which saw former CEO Janice Ingram handing in her resignation amid allegations of mismanagement.
At the BRFU's annual general meeting (AGM) at the Absa Stadium in East London yesterday, it was announced that the financial statements of the union will be unveiled once the audit, currently in progress, is finalised.
Although the BRFU general manager Leon Botha preferred to remain mum on the sponsorship issue, it is understood the deal has already been done and sealed between the two parties.
"I cannot confirm nor deny it. But all I can say is that we will inform the media if anything like that happens," Botha said yesterday.
"At this stage, it is difficult to comment."
The figures of the deal have not been revealed but a close source informed the Dispatch that the sponsorship is sure to come as a huge relief to Border Rugby which has been riddled with allegations of financial mismanagement, corruption and negative publicity.
During the AGM it was also revealed that Border Rugby's books were not up to date prior to Ingram's resignation.
In their attempt to tighten the belt, Border Rugby agreed to combine some posts and reduce salaries among the team management of the Border Bulldogs team.
Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move in Border rugby history, no president for the BRU was elected at yesterday's AGM after the Grahamstown High Court recommended the post of president, deputy-president and schools sports executive be frozen pending the court case.
This meant only six position were up for grabs.
Nqamakwe FC's Sakhumzi Manakaza, who was elected as the vice-president of the new executive said his executive was committed to bringing change at Border Rugby.
He appealed to the public to support Border during these turbulent times.
Other executive members are: Renier van Staden as Premier League representative, Sipho Suntu, representative of the sub-unions, Mathews Sohopu, representative of First Division clubs, Nomfundiso Nyawumbi, representing women's rugby and Fred Darke, representing referees.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Brumbies' strength is rebuilding
Source: Rugby365.com
The Brumbies will welcome back four more Wallabies for this Thursday's intra squad trial, while rehabilitating stars Matt Giteau and Jeremy Paul will be rested ahead of next week's Super 14 season opener against the Western Force in Perth.
Fly-half Stephen Larkham, Clyde Rathbone, George Gregan and Radike Samo will partake in their first full contact session for the 2006 pre-season when the squad is split for an internal match Thursday at Viking Park, Tuggeranong.
The match, which will be played in the mould of a full contact opposed training session, will be played over a duration of forty-five minutes (in three fifteen-minute thirds).
"Its more of a glorified training session than a trial match," said Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher.
"It gives us a chance to work on a few plays and set up a few game scenarios to work on some of the things we have put in place during the pre-season," he said.
Inside centre Matt Giteau and hooker Jeremy Paul will be rested from the match in a bid to reach full fitness for the Super 14 opener.
"I'm still very positive about my chances of playing in the first game, but the medical staff have decided that rather than risking getting a bump [on the knee] Thursday and setting myself back a week, I'm better off continuing with strength work to make sure it's 100 percent for next week," said Giteau.
Paul, who strained his right calf at training last week, will be given until next week to prove his fitness for the first round of the inaugural Super 14 competition.
"At the moment it appears that Giteau and Paul are on track to play in Perth and the rest of the squad is now into full training," said Fisher.
Click here to read full article and comments.
The Brumbies will welcome back four more Wallabies for this Thursday's intra squad trial, while rehabilitating stars Matt Giteau and Jeremy Paul will be rested ahead of next week's Super 14 season opener against the Western Force in Perth.
Fly-half Stephen Larkham, Clyde Rathbone, George Gregan and Radike Samo will partake in their first full contact session for the 2006 pre-season when the squad is split for an internal match Thursday at Viking Park, Tuggeranong.
The match, which will be played in the mould of a full contact opposed training session, will be played over a duration of forty-five minutes (in three fifteen-minute thirds).
"Its more of a glorified training session than a trial match," said Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher.
"It gives us a chance to work on a few plays and set up a few game scenarios to work on some of the things we have put in place during the pre-season," he said.
Inside centre Matt Giteau and hooker Jeremy Paul will be rested from the match in a bid to reach full fitness for the Super 14 opener.
"I'm still very positive about my chances of playing in the first game, but the medical staff have decided that rather than risking getting a bump [on the knee] Thursday and setting myself back a week, I'm better off continuing with strength work to make sure it's 100 percent for next week," said Giteau.
Paul, who strained his right calf at training last week, will be given until next week to prove his fitness for the first round of the inaugural Super 14 competition.
"At the moment it appears that Giteau and Paul are on track to play in Perth and the rest of the squad is now into full training," said Fisher.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Monday, January 30, 2006
International Rugby: England need to take risks
Source: The Sunday Times
By: Stuart Barnes
WHAT do you want first, the good news or the bad news for England ahead of the Six Nations? The good? Andy Robinson’s team does not have to win the tournament to have a creditable campaign. Only the littlest of Little Englanders expects England to win in Paris by rights. Defeat there would not be the end of the world, as long as England win the other four games.
Now for the bad news: even if England win the other four games, it does not necessarily equate to a successful campaign. The easy measurement of any side is results. As far as Italy goes, that is fair enough. They have no realistic hopes in the World Cup. The Six Nations is not the starting point for their aspirations, it is the basis on which the future of their rugby will flourish or fail. The same is true for Scotland. But it is not the case for England.
For all their complaints concerning player availability, England have more players and more money than any other union. That is a potent combination which demands more than annual Six Nations success; indeed, it helped make them world champions in 2003. Nothing less than an intelligent defence of that crown should suffice when judging this team.
“Judge me on the World Cup,” said Robinson’s former boss Sir Clive Woodward. The same applies to this England set-up. That makes the Six Nations important, but not everything. It is a staging post, just as summer and autumn tours and Tri-Nations tournaments are. And that means the quality and nature of performance takes precedence over results.
Under Woodward, between 1998 and 2002 England played some of the most sublime rugby the nation’s fans will probably ever witness, but not until 2003 did that side achieve their Grand Slam and, then, the World Cup. The failures on the smaller stage were part of the greater success.
England, historically, is a conservative rugby nation. It used to gloat over pyrrhic victories. The Woodward era was a brief interlude when the broader picture weighed heavier than the immediate moment. He had to possess the hide of a rhinoceros because the public, like shareholders, tend not to care much for the bigger picture.
Robinson lacks the arrogance and self-belief of his mentor. If England are to inject some life into their stuttering march towards the World Cup, it is time for him to brave the wrath of the nation and take some risks. This is not a matter of England throwing caution to the wind and chucking the ball wide with abandon. It is a matter of seeking a balance that can succeed against South Africa or New Zealand in France as much as against a hobbling Wales.
This management has so far lacked the bravura to look beyond the next game. True, eventually Woodward said the next game was the most important and that the future would look after itself. But he only said it when he had a squad he knew was as talented and deep as any in the world. Robinson cannot afford short-term sentiments because his management have yet to unearth a team or squad to do justice to England’s status as world champions. However, short-term selections and no-risk strategy were the order of the day in 2005 and will be a temptation for the coach on Saturday. Home advantage and a powerful pack, allied with depleted Welsh numbers, make England strong favourites to avenge last season’s Cardiff loss. If England keep it tight and kick the corners, they should win with something to spare. It is tempting, but Robinson must resist the temptation.
The acid test will be the selection at outside-centre. Jamie Noon or Mike Tindall will do a belligerent job, but neither will assist Robinson’s team in their attempt to find the balance to deliver a world-class performance. By “world-class”, I mean a flexible approach where power or panache can hurt in equal measure. Once a team has that balance, it can choose the appropriate method dependent upon opposition. That was the mark of England’s 2003 team. This team has to find the courage to rely on anything other than the forward strength and battling qualities that ran an off-form New Zealand team close in November.
James Simpson-Daniel is the key name, not because he is definitely the answer at 13 — it is feasible this is not his best position — but because to risk playing him is to suggest that Robinson is not filled with the derision for intuition that seemingly haunts this power-obsessed management. If it fails, so be it, but there is only one way to find out.
The management should chance their entire squad, maybe more, in the next few months. The aversion to change has to change. Danny Grewcock and Steve Borthwick are probable starters against Wales but a week later, should England not be looking to Alex Brown in Italy to analyse his Test credentials? Or will England spool out the old nonsense about Italy’s pack and treating them with respect etc, etc.
England should be mixing various permutations and be confident of beating Wales and Ireland at home and Scotland and Italy anywhere. If the only way to get these results is to stick with the tried and trusted, England will be not be out of the World Cup starting gates while New Zealand are turning for home.
As for a Grand Slam, if England win in Paris they will have to be more than big and strong. To win there will require the balance of game England have lacked until now. A win in France is almost a guarantee that performances will match results. If they lose that one, judge them, first and foremost, on performance.
The key question
Where are England’s game-breakers? There is just a suspicion that this squad is full of fine international players but critically short of world-class players who can turn the game — perhaps by a surge of inspiration, an attitude or example, even by a near-perfect kicking ratio. They look efficient but despite talking the talk of pace and incisiveness, do England really have genius in their boots?
Click here to read full article and comments.
By: Stuart Barnes
WHAT do you want first, the good news or the bad news for England ahead of the Six Nations? The good? Andy Robinson’s team does not have to win the tournament to have a creditable campaign. Only the littlest of Little Englanders expects England to win in Paris by rights. Defeat there would not be the end of the world, as long as England win the other four games.
Now for the bad news: even if England win the other four games, it does not necessarily equate to a successful campaign. The easy measurement of any side is results. As far as Italy goes, that is fair enough. They have no realistic hopes in the World Cup. The Six Nations is not the starting point for their aspirations, it is the basis on which the future of their rugby will flourish or fail. The same is true for Scotland. But it is not the case for England.
For all their complaints concerning player availability, England have more players and more money than any other union. That is a potent combination which demands more than annual Six Nations success; indeed, it helped make them world champions in 2003. Nothing less than an intelligent defence of that crown should suffice when judging this team.
“Judge me on the World Cup,” said Robinson’s former boss Sir Clive Woodward. The same applies to this England set-up. That makes the Six Nations important, but not everything. It is a staging post, just as summer and autumn tours and Tri-Nations tournaments are. And that means the quality and nature of performance takes precedence over results.
Under Woodward, between 1998 and 2002 England played some of the most sublime rugby the nation’s fans will probably ever witness, but not until 2003 did that side achieve their Grand Slam and, then, the World Cup. The failures on the smaller stage were part of the greater success.
England, historically, is a conservative rugby nation. It used to gloat over pyrrhic victories. The Woodward era was a brief interlude when the broader picture weighed heavier than the immediate moment. He had to possess the hide of a rhinoceros because the public, like shareholders, tend not to care much for the bigger picture.
Robinson lacks the arrogance and self-belief of his mentor. If England are to inject some life into their stuttering march towards the World Cup, it is time for him to brave the wrath of the nation and take some risks. This is not a matter of England throwing caution to the wind and chucking the ball wide with abandon. It is a matter of seeking a balance that can succeed against South Africa or New Zealand in France as much as against a hobbling Wales.
This management has so far lacked the bravura to look beyond the next game. True, eventually Woodward said the next game was the most important and that the future would look after itself. But he only said it when he had a squad he knew was as talented and deep as any in the world. Robinson cannot afford short-term sentiments because his management have yet to unearth a team or squad to do justice to England’s status as world champions. However, short-term selections and no-risk strategy were the order of the day in 2005 and will be a temptation for the coach on Saturday. Home advantage and a powerful pack, allied with depleted Welsh numbers, make England strong favourites to avenge last season’s Cardiff loss. If England keep it tight and kick the corners, they should win with something to spare. It is tempting, but Robinson must resist the temptation.
The acid test will be the selection at outside-centre. Jamie Noon or Mike Tindall will do a belligerent job, but neither will assist Robinson’s team in their attempt to find the balance to deliver a world-class performance. By “world-class”, I mean a flexible approach where power or panache can hurt in equal measure. Once a team has that balance, it can choose the appropriate method dependent upon opposition. That was the mark of England’s 2003 team. This team has to find the courage to rely on anything other than the forward strength and battling qualities that ran an off-form New Zealand team close in November.
James Simpson-Daniel is the key name, not because he is definitely the answer at 13 — it is feasible this is not his best position — but because to risk playing him is to suggest that Robinson is not filled with the derision for intuition that seemingly haunts this power-obsessed management. If it fails, so be it, but there is only one way to find out.
The management should chance their entire squad, maybe more, in the next few months. The aversion to change has to change. Danny Grewcock and Steve Borthwick are probable starters against Wales but a week later, should England not be looking to Alex Brown in Italy to analyse his Test credentials? Or will England spool out the old nonsense about Italy’s pack and treating them with respect etc, etc.
England should be mixing various permutations and be confident of beating Wales and Ireland at home and Scotland and Italy anywhere. If the only way to get these results is to stick with the tried and trusted, England will be not be out of the World Cup starting gates while New Zealand are turning for home.
As for a Grand Slam, if England win in Paris they will have to be more than big and strong. To win there will require the balance of game England have lacked until now. A win in France is almost a guarantee that performances will match results. If they lose that one, judge them, first and foremost, on performance.
The key question
Where are England’s game-breakers? There is just a suspicion that this squad is full of fine international players but critically short of world-class players who can turn the game — perhaps by a surge of inspiration, an attitude or example, even by a near-perfect kicking ratio. They look efficient but despite talking the talk of pace and incisiveness, do England really have genius in their boots?
Click here to read full article and comments.
General Discussions: Canterbury of New Zealand
Canterbury of New Zealand are one of the world's leading rugby brands.
They currently manufacture the Springbok's rugby jerseys and pay SARU to the tune of R135m for the priviledge. Their contract lasts until the end of 2009, a contract they took over from Nike.
The company is basically owned by Professor David Teece, who gained his chair at the University of California, Berkeley at the age of 34.
He is also director of it's Institute of Management, Innovation and Organisation (IMIO). Teece is a New Zealand born and raised citizen of the United States and regarded as one of the founders of strategic management, being listed by Accenture as being in the Top 50 business thinkers in the world.
Canterbury of New Zealand almost seems to be a side-line for him, look him up, his CV is pretty awe-inspiring (http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/pdf/teece.pdf).
Here follows a brief history of the company:
Canterbury of New Zealand is located in the Canterbury province of New
Zealand and had its beginnings in the late 1880’s and when two family
companies joined forces in 1904 the foundations of the Canterbury of New
Zealand brand were laid. For many years Canterbury of New Zealand was a
major part of the Lane Walker Rudkin group of companies and was formed to
market the “Canterbury of New Zealand” brand. The company that started
making knitwear in the Canterbury of New Zealand province of New Zealand is
now known as “Canterbury of New Zealand” and is recognised as the number one
rugby apparel brand in the world.
The brand is distributed widely around the world focussing on rugby playing
nations. The head office is based in Christchurch (the capital of the
Canterbury province) on the South Island of New Zealand. There are
operations in Brisbane, Australia; Manchester, United Kingdom; and Cape
Town, South Africa. The brand is also manufactured and marketed in Japan
under licence by Canterbury of New Zealand Japan. In New Zealand, Australia
and Asia the company has dedicated specialty stores which sit alongside duty
free, sports, department, and menswear stores.
No other apparel company in the world has the same singular focus on rugby
as Canterbury of New Zealand. Canterbury of New Zealand built its
foundations in club rugby, the grass roots of the game, and while it outfits
high profile international sides such as Australia, Scotland, Ireland, Fiji,
Japan and Canada, it has never lost sight of its beginnings.
It was a chance request by a friend of one of the company’s founders that
led the company into manufacturing rugby jerseys. The avid rugby player
wanted to see if the company could produce a playing jersey that would not
only be tough enough to withstand the rigours of the game, but would also be
comfortable and stylish.
In fact, Canterbury of New Zealand made its jerseys so well that word soon
leaked out to other rugby playing nations. Canterbury of New Zealand jerseys
found their way all over the world including North America where they became
just as desirable off the field as on. During the late 1970’s the Canterbury
of New Zealand jersey became a hot item in the North American casual wear
market.
Whilst the growth of ‘lifestyle’ clothing for the company has been nothing
short of fantastic, to be successful off the field Canterbury of New Zealand
recognises that it must remain the champion on the field. No other apparel
company in the world has the same singular focus on rugby as Canterbury of
New Zealand. Click here to read full article and comments.
They currently manufacture the Springbok's rugby jerseys and pay SARU to the tune of R135m for the priviledge. Their contract lasts until the end of 2009, a contract they took over from Nike.
The company is basically owned by Professor David Teece, who gained his chair at the University of California, Berkeley at the age of 34.
He is also director of it's Institute of Management, Innovation and Organisation (IMIO). Teece is a New Zealand born and raised citizen of the United States and regarded as one of the founders of strategic management, being listed by Accenture as being in the Top 50 business thinkers in the world.
Canterbury of New Zealand almost seems to be a side-line for him, look him up, his CV is pretty awe-inspiring (http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/pdf/teece.pdf).
Here follows a brief history of the company:
Canterbury of New Zealand is located in the Canterbury province of New
Zealand and had its beginnings in the late 1880’s and when two family
companies joined forces in 1904 the foundations of the Canterbury of New
Zealand brand were laid. For many years Canterbury of New Zealand was a
major part of the Lane Walker Rudkin group of companies and was formed to
market the “Canterbury of New Zealand” brand. The company that started
making knitwear in the Canterbury of New Zealand province of New Zealand is
now known as “Canterbury of New Zealand” and is recognised as the number one
rugby apparel brand in the world.
The brand is distributed widely around the world focussing on rugby playing
nations. The head office is based in Christchurch (the capital of the
Canterbury province) on the South Island of New Zealand. There are
operations in Brisbane, Australia; Manchester, United Kingdom; and Cape
Town, South Africa. The brand is also manufactured and marketed in Japan
under licence by Canterbury of New Zealand Japan. In New Zealand, Australia
and Asia the company has dedicated specialty stores which sit alongside duty
free, sports, department, and menswear stores.
No other apparel company in the world has the same singular focus on rugby
as Canterbury of New Zealand. Canterbury of New Zealand built its
foundations in club rugby, the grass roots of the game, and while it outfits
high profile international sides such as Australia, Scotland, Ireland, Fiji,
Japan and Canada, it has never lost sight of its beginnings.
It was a chance request by a friend of one of the company’s founders that
led the company into manufacturing rugby jerseys. The avid rugby player
wanted to see if the company could produce a playing jersey that would not
only be tough enough to withstand the rigours of the game, but would also be
comfortable and stylish.
In fact, Canterbury of New Zealand made its jerseys so well that word soon
leaked out to other rugby playing nations. Canterbury of New Zealand jerseys
found their way all over the world including North America where they became
just as desirable off the field as on. During the late 1970’s the Canterbury
of New Zealand jersey became a hot item in the North American casual wear
market.
Whilst the growth of ‘lifestyle’ clothing for the company has been nothing
short of fantastic, to be successful off the field Canterbury of New Zealand
recognises that it must remain the champion on the field. No other apparel
company in the world has the same singular focus on rugby as Canterbury of
New Zealand. Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Cattle carcasses in an abbatoir
My brother is a Bulls supporter in a Lions family. He’s got more chance to be smug than the rest of us. After the Currie Cup Final last year my dad, a transport contractor, phoned him and said he’d landed a choice contract with the Tshwane Metro. Apparently they wanted him to urgently remove a bunch of horns, hooves, torn leather skins, ripped carcasses and cattle shit from some field near the University. If the Bulls can lose to a weaker team at Loftus, then this is their Autumn of Disaster.
In the beginning of 2005, the Bulls fielding basically the same team as the end, beat the Crusaders. By the end of the season they had lost to the Sharks at Loftus and conceded defeat against the Cheetahs. The Cheetahs are not a team of stars. They tactically outthought, outwitted and eventually outlasted the Bulls. 2005 was their highwater mark. It’s downhill from here, a slippery slope to relegation.
Their history is not too bad
Aside from the Stormers, the Bulls have been a very consistent team in the Super 10 and Super 12. Aside from their horrors of 1998 to 2002, they have never placed lower than 8th, and they have 2 semi finals to show for their efforts. However, the Bulls are a streak team. They either have a streak of wins or a streak of losses, as the 1998 to 2002 run attests. They live off combinations of factors to survive. Without these, they fail. Two of these factors are worryingly reminiscent of that horror run.
Their schedule is geared to disaster
They start their schedule off with a rematch of the Currie Cup Final, but this time in Bloemfontein, against a foreign legion strengthened Freestate side in the guise of Central Unions. Then a bye, and then the Brumbies. Loftus derbies between the Brumbies and Bulls are traditionally fantastic matches, but with players in their backline like Sterling Mortlock, Mark Gerrard, Matt Giteau and Stephen Larkham, the Brumbies should have enough material to blast the Bulls wide open with their staid 90’s style midfield.
After this they face other light blues the Waratahs in Pretoria. Then they get the chance to avenge the by now famous 23-0 loss in Antarctica against the Highlanders, this time in their own climes. This is followed with Tana Umanga’s tough Hurricanes outfit in Pretoria, before the short trek to Bloem by the sea in Perth to match strength with John Mitchell’s newcomers who recently put three tries past the Crusaders.
Then onward to a certain loss in Auckland against David Nucifora’s Blues, down to Hamilton for the Chiefs and on to Brisbane for a showdown with the woeful Reds in Brisbane’s Bruce Stadium. Then they fly back home and face the Cats and Sharks at Loftus in successive weeks. Then we get a replay of the best match of 2005 with the Crusaders facing them in Pretoria. This time, however, we should the Carters and McCaws of this world outclass the Dlulanes and Hougaards of the world.
Then it’s down to Newlands where they’ve never won a Super 12 match to end their miserable campaign. Why is this a tough schedule?
Firstly they play strong four strong teams at home in the Crusaders, Hurricanes, Waratahs and Brumbies. Then they play the toughest home fixtures away in Bloem and Cape Town. Their overseas games are against the weakest teams where they should suffer because of the Bulls traditional fear of travel, so no free points off the Reds and Force. And they play traditionally difficult rival Blues in Auckland.
The players are average and they’re outgunned in key positions
The key position where the Bulls are outgunned is flyhalf. Anyone who thinks that Derrick Hougaard can stand up to Stephen Larkham, Dan Carter, Butch James, Luke McAllister and Willem De Waal needs their head read. Added to this Morne Steyn’s performance when faced with average speedster Ryno Van Der Merwe in the final, when faced with the likes of Luke Watson, Richie McCaw, George Smith and David Lyons, he will crack like a rotten egg dropped on a tarmac. With the key pivot position uncertain the Bulls won’t be able to send the only quality player in their backline, Bryan Habana anywhere.
Their reliance on 90’s style crashballers in Dries Scholtz and JP Nel also means that there is no vision in the midfield. Their centres are effectively flank replacement ball carriers for the forwards to feed off from the rucks, and this is where the next problem arises.
In an analysis of the 2005 semi against the Waratahs, RSG commentator Nicky Van Den Berg lamented how slow the Bulls were to the breakdowns. It cost them the match. In the final of the Currie Cup, Ryno Van Der Merwe’s efforts at the breakdowns were one of the most important reasons for the failure of the Bulls physicality. Everyone has watched and seen. The Kiwi and Aussie teams traditionally use speedy fetchers and this will be where they crack the Bulls this year. If Ryno Van Der Merwe can do it so easily, imagine what Luke Watson, David Lyons, Richie McCaw and George Smith are going to do…
Then we have the unsettled front row that so dominated previous encounters. Guthro Steenkamp won’t scrum in anger until the horse has bolted and Richard Bands won’t either.
The cohesive requirements for Bulls success aren’t there
The Bulls of the 70’s had Thys Lourens and Buurman Van Zyl. The Bulls of the 80’s had John Wiliams and Naas Botha. The Bulls of recent years had Heyneke Meyer and Anton Leonard. Anyone else see the pattern? This year there’s no Leonard and Meyer is making retirement noises. With these crucial blocks gone or crumbling, the Bulls won’t be a force this year and the rot will start in the Super 14 when they are relegated.
Now add to this litany, injuries to Richard Bands, Guthro Steenkamp, Victor Matfield, Fourie Du Preez and now Gary Botha. The last three are important leaders in the team. Also there are no apparent leaders stepping up to the plate. Bulls sides do well when they have strong leadership. This year they don't.
Carcasses in a slaughterhouse
The Bull is a mighty creature. Goring the matador with vicious horns. A traditional symbol of strength and virility. That is until it ends up hanging on tenterhooks in an abattoir. Waiting to become T-Bones. This year’s Super 14 will see Bull carcasses on tenterhooks in the abattoir of the Super 14 meat grinder.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Administration: Rugby365.com interview with Hoskins
Picture: www.rugby365.com
Jan de Koning gets to the heart of Oregan Hoskins in this interview and it all sounds refreshing. Visit www.rugby365.com for all things related to South African rugby.
KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union (KZNRU) president Oregan Hoskins, who will oppose Brian van Rooyen in the presidential elections at the South African Rugby Union (SARU) annual general meeting (AGM) on February 24, says too much time is spent on talking and compiling reports, while there is very little action in the administration of the game.
Speaking to rugby365.com Hoskins made it clear that his decision to stand against Van Rooyen was nothing personal. However, he was very critical of Van Rooyen's management style, which has dragged SARU and South African rugby in general from one crisis to another for the past two years.
Hoskins feels there is a real need to move forward in order to restore the faith the public and other countries have in the administration of the game in South Africa.
Speaking about the numerous reports, both at national and provincial level, threats of court cases and other administrative bungling, he made it clear that it is time for action.
"I think the days of reports must come to an end," Hoskins said in a wide-ranging interview. "Action is required in terms of the various reports that we've had over the years. Reports have been an excuse to not deal with the problems," he added.
Asked what are the important things that he feels need changing, his answer was again straight to the point: "I would like to see strict adherence to good corporate governance, so that the public can have confidence in the administration of the game."
He also added that there is a real need for SARU to play a bigger role in the issues that have dragged the game into a mire of controversy in the South Eastern Cape (SEC - South Western Districts, Eastern Province and Border).
"SARU has been lacking in terms of playing a positive role in the SEC. I think SA rugby, going forward, after February 24, will play a much more meaningful and positive role in the SEC, because it is going to benefit the rugby family in South Africa if those administrations are brought up to par and if those administrations in SEC can administer the game properly."
Asked what other areas of the game he feels need addressing, he said the SEC is his biggest concern. But smaller (less profitable) unions also need attention.
"Right now the SEC is the [big] worry for me because of the concept of having the Spears.
"There is also an issue that is going on for the last decade or so as far as the smaller unions are concerned. There's been so much money spent on reports, as you know, to look into this aspect. The situation in the smaller unions, in conjunction with SARU, will need to be looked at so the smaller unions can also play a meaningful part."
Acknowledging the fact that recent controversies has contributed largely to the poor image of SA rugby, he said the country has lost credibility on the world stage in recent years?
"The last couple of years, to be more specific the last two years, have accentuated that [poor] image of our rugby. It is not just in South Africa, but in the international rugby community that we are seen in a negative light as far as the administration is concerned,"
However he is convinced that despite a history of political infighting and back-stabbing within the game of rugby, SARU can move away from it all.
"Everyone, including myself, are tempted to say that we can move away from it all.
"Because we've done things like we've done [back-stabbing and infighting], we've done things in the last decade in a very controversial way and we've had controversial figures.
"I as a South African I believe that we can get things right, and I'm not being short sighted when I say that, we certainly can have a positive image of the game of rugby.
"Some people might see it as a miracle. I just believe there's enough goodwill among rugby people in this country to want to see it work, and I look at the miracle that saw us come through the early '90s in this country then nothing is impossible.
"And I think it is another miracle that we need, as a rugby community, in this country. People love the game so much that they deserve a good clean administration."
Hoskins also feel that SARU's constitution can do with some tweaking, in order to make it easier for the administrators in the game.
"When Brian van Rooyen became the president there was a drastic change in terms of the constitution - with the company's memorandum and articles. We really need to find the perfect constitution to move forward.
"It doesn't require major changes, just some minor changes, just to get clarity on how the relationship must be defined between the company (SA Rugby Pty Ltd) and SARU.
"I think that has caused grey areas with the changes that Brian [van Rooyen] introduced. It has caused uncertainty and suspicion between the two, the company and the president's council are not mutually exclusive arms of our rugby organisation. They are actually meant to compliment each other."
Although the lines between company (SA Rugby) and SARU have been blurred, Hoskins feels there is middle road that can be followed.
"There is a place for a middle road. When Silas [Nkanunu] was president and Rian [Oberholzer] the CEO, the emphasis was on the company to the detriment of the president's council. Brian [van Rooyen] came in and took the pendulum swing to the opposite extreme, where he took everything back to the president's council ... and he virtually killed the company.
"You can't have extremes like that in any organisation, whether it's business, or whatever sport, you really need to strike a balance between the two and I think we'll find that balance.
"It will go forward as two arms [company and President Council] that will work together. It is not impossible for the two to work together. We cause the problems.
"Fundamentally it depends on the leadership. Generally speaking structures don't matter if the leadership has its priorities in order and that for me really is the fundamental issue. If you've got the right people there then the thing will succeed."
He added that experienced rugby administrators and respected people like former Springbok captain Morne du Plessis and administrator Keith Parkinson must be brought back.
Both Du Plessis and Parkinson walked out on the board of SA Rugby because of Van Rooyen's dictatorial management style and Hoskins has made it one of his priorities to get these kind of administrators back in the game. Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby administration: Brian pleads……
Article by Donner
..... ignorance. On the SABC3 aired programme, Interface, Sunday 29 January 2006, Van Rooyen defended his position and the allegations made against him, in a open debate between David Williams, Anton Snyman and himself.
"I was in the dark..."
In answering the question on the inquest now underway in connection with the allegations made by Andre Markgraaff and Theunie Lategan, Van Rooyen made the following statement. I quote:
“I was in the dark, as was many of the presidents around the table in Friday’s President’s Council meeting. These allegations are untested, and made by people, I don’t know who made them and we need to test it. And I need to be given the opportunity in the laws of natural justice…. I don’t even know what are the terms of reference of this.
We don’t know who made the charges, when they were made, what process was followed, how was judge King appointed and subsequently resigned, who appointed him, what’s the terms of reference.”
What makes Mr. Van Rooyen’s statement all the more interesting is the fact that it was recently reported that he hired high profile lawyers to defend his case. If he was unsure about the substance of the allegations against him, surely he would be confident enough to defend himself, even without any legal council?
Van Rooyen also highlighted the fact, that the reason he appointed advocate Gilbert Marcus SC, is because his ‘constitutional rights’ were being questioned and attacked, which surely indicates he knows more about this case and the allegations than he is letting on by that statement.
The report on Judge King’s problems to get hold of the information, came out three weeks ago already and still he didn’t deem it necessary to get to the bottom of the process of an investigation, which is to investigate issues at SA Rugby and reflects directly on him as president of the SA Rugby Union.
Does this statement not underestimate and insult the intelligence of every rugby supporter in South Africa?
Rugby to the people
Van Rooyen congratulated himself on the fact that they did manage to get rugby back to the people and even went as far as to state the following. Again I quote:
“Unless there is a fundamental change within the organisation and the way the organisation is going to be run, we are going to sit with this problem on Interface in August again.”
How did they manage to bring the game to the people? By giving one day clinics, handing out T-shirts, photos with little boys smiling and then leave? Where do we stand with regards to transformation? Only 2 players of colour in the starting line up - is this progress? Is this bringing the game to the people? In a country where the majority of our population is black or coloured, yet we only see a handfull playing at the highest level? Where the majority of supporters supporting the game is STILL prodminantly white? To whom did he take the game? Aren't we exactly where we were two years ago?
During the past two years there was more than enough time for mr Van Rooyen to make these changes, but it did not happen. Instead SA Rugby administration has again became the laughing stock of world rugby through reports of back stabbing and scandals and the current administration even allowed the brand of SA Rugby to be misused.
With such reports doing the rounds, what was the realistic chance of the World Cup 2011 bid being succesfull? Did this turn out to be a money wasting exercise?
Sponsors unhappy
During the debate, Anton Snyman, sports editor at the SABC, mentioned that some sponsors where unhappy, but don’t want to speak out publicly, as to not hurt the relationship. Seeing that most of the sponsors are big companies within South Africa, why do they just keep on writing cheques, if they are not happy with the proceedings.
The Rover issue was reported widely in the press and how this was swept under the carpet, with Ford, the official car sponsor, not happy. Then on top of that, the programs for the Newlands test against the All Blacks included advertisements for four other car companies. Surely this must have been a breach of the contract with Ford? The question has to be asked who authorised these advertisements.
This raises the question of what other infringements might have occurred which could constitute a breach of sponsor contracts?
SA rugby needs the sponsors to speak out and tell the SA Rugby and it supporters, if there are situations they are unhappy with. It does not help to appoint Ali Bacher and then sit back and say ‘We have covered ourselves”
Ali Bacher, who oversees all sponsorships and was reported in week-end papers to have 'taken matters into his own hands' in resolving these, by contacting the unions presidents himself, to which Van Rooyen took offense too, according to the same reports. Does this give the sponsors the sense of security they wanted?
Now if we though it was not serious, ask yourself this, why would Ali get himself involved, as a well respected man in sport circles, and run the risk of tarnishing his reputation, if the issues in SARU was not of such a nature that it could permanently damage the reputation of the game and the brand worldwide?
Serious questions
David Williams, Associate Deputy editor of the Financial Mail, said it best in the opening part of the debate, when referring to Morne du Plessis and Theunie Lategan’s resignations and I quote:
“You have to ask some serious questions if so many people are saying that they cannot work within a structure, and the chairman of the audit committee says he can’t do his job. In a normal business, this would be a scandal.”
Will these serious questions be asked now? Will we be able to look back in six months’ time and be satisfied that SA rugby is finally run by people who do it for the love of the game?
Will we have someone in charge of SA Rugby that will be able to make us as proud of the administration, as Jake White brought back our pride in the Springboks?
Will 24 February 2006 bring us the same freedom and democracy in SA Rugby, as 27 April 1994 brought South Africa as a nation?
Only time will tell.
My sincere appreciation to PissAnt for his contributions to this article.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Ruggaworld Humour: Like excretion through a sewer pipe: So are the Chronicles of SARU
In the spirit of détente with keo, we have decided to can the Chronicles of Keo series. After all, last week we helped them to track down a vicious virus affecting their e-mail system. Instead, we have tasked our intrepid team of investigative reporters to find out what SARU is all about. With their hidden mikes and wire taps at the ready, this is the first installment of: The Chronicles of SARU.
Brian: Order. Order. This session of the Cabal is now in session. Silence while I’m talking. Now the first order of business is that we should change the name of the Cabal. There are reports in the newspapers of a Cape Cabal. It’s not nice, so I’ve decided that from now in we’ll be the SARU Illuminati. Anyone disagree? No? Good. So ordered. Mveli?
Mveli: Okay, this is a cool name. Does this mean I have to work now?
Brian: No, of course not. Just say scary things in the media, like you did in December.
Mveli: Oh, in that case, I’m going to announce that all eleven players must be black from now on.
Athrob: But there are 15 players in a team. What about the other 4?
Mveli: Don’t be ridiculous. All team sports have 11 players, like soccer and that other one where they throw balls at guys with sticks.
Gideon: Riiiggghhht. Okay. Why don’t you go tell the media that and we’ll do the rest of the meeting, okay?
Mveli: Okay. You know where I’ll be with the Posse.
Athrob: Ja, and remember to stock up afterwards. We can’t keep having to buy Johnny Walker Black Label.
Mveli: No, that’s your job. You’re the manager.
Brian: Enough. I have a new issue. Firstly Interface last night was not cool was it? Secondly, that Hoskins guy is actually starting to worry me. Thirdly, that Joos Hefer guy was a hanging judge in the old apartheid regime. He’s gonna lynch my ass.
Gideon: Well that doesn’t affect us does it?
Brian: Idiot. Of course it does. If I go, then so will the rest of you.
Athrob: Why me? I’m the team manager. I don’t do things wring. I was even manager for Nic Mallett’s Boks.
Brian: Yeah? And who actually managed the team idiot? Not you. Remember the hotels with short beds, the spikes, the stupid training schedules and travel itineraries? That’s you buddy! What have you done for this end of year tour.
Athrob: I’ve sorted that out. Look I’ve got a nice sightseeing trip to Scotland for the day of the match to calm the players down.
Gideon: Idiot. That’s during the match!
Athrob: So what. They can wait for us a while. The players come first.
Gideon: Well I’m toast seeing as I never even qualified for this position. That’s your fault Brian.
Brian: Okay okay. I’ve hired Gill Marcus to be my lawyer. That’s a start. This way I can blame someone else if we lose and tie SARU up in court for months. Next, get hold of Kyle Ferguson and tell him to get Mark Keohane to say nice things about us on that web thingie place. Next we have to delay that hanging judge long enough so he also leaves like that King guy. Andre, use your nice contacts in the media to sort out these stories about me losing.
Andre: No problem boss man.
Gideon: What do we tell Johan Prinsloo?
Brian: Nothing. That way when the media ask him about Mveli’s screaming again, he can look like the poephol as usual. It takes attention away from us.
Andre: And Mike Stofile?
Brian: I’ll handle him. His boet wants our asses badly, so we have to very careful what we tell him. We gotta make Hoskins look the bad guy. I’m good at slowing down things and smoke screens. I’ll handle him. In any case, his boet is gonna be more interested in Bafana Bafana for a while, seeing as the President is pissed off with them.
Gideon: What do I do?
Brian: Same as always. Nothing.
Athrob: And me?
Brian: You especially do nothing. Especially don’t manage anything. Just do what I tell you. Right. This is the end of the meeting even though we didn’t have everyone here. I’ll phone you for the next meeting. The SARU Illuminati meeting is closed.
------- end of transmission -------
Tune in next time for more Chronicles of SARU as our intrepid rugby leaders prepare to fight of the evils of fan hatred, corporate governance and a looming election! Click here to read full article and comments.
Brian: Order. Order. This session of the Cabal is now in session. Silence while I’m talking. Now the first order of business is that we should change the name of the Cabal. There are reports in the newspapers of a Cape Cabal. It’s not nice, so I’ve decided that from now in we’ll be the SARU Illuminati. Anyone disagree? No? Good. So ordered. Mveli?
Mveli: Okay, this is a cool name. Does this mean I have to work now?
Brian: No, of course not. Just say scary things in the media, like you did in December.
Mveli: Oh, in that case, I’m going to announce that all eleven players must be black from now on.
Athrob: But there are 15 players in a team. What about the other 4?
Mveli: Don’t be ridiculous. All team sports have 11 players, like soccer and that other one where they throw balls at guys with sticks.
Gideon: Riiiggghhht. Okay. Why don’t you go tell the media that and we’ll do the rest of the meeting, okay?
Mveli: Okay. You know where I’ll be with the Posse.
Athrob: Ja, and remember to stock up afterwards. We can’t keep having to buy Johnny Walker Black Label.
Mveli: No, that’s your job. You’re the manager.
Brian: Enough. I have a new issue. Firstly Interface last night was not cool was it? Secondly, that Hoskins guy is actually starting to worry me. Thirdly, that Joos Hefer guy was a hanging judge in the old apartheid regime. He’s gonna lynch my ass.
Gideon: Well that doesn’t affect us does it?
Brian: Idiot. Of course it does. If I go, then so will the rest of you.
Athrob: Why me? I’m the team manager. I don’t do things wring. I was even manager for Nic Mallett’s Boks.
Brian: Yeah? And who actually managed the team idiot? Not you. Remember the hotels with short beds, the spikes, the stupid training schedules and travel itineraries? That’s you buddy! What have you done for this end of year tour.
Athrob: I’ve sorted that out. Look I’ve got a nice sightseeing trip to Scotland for the day of the match to calm the players down.
Gideon: Idiot. That’s during the match!
Athrob: So what. They can wait for us a while. The players come first.
Gideon: Well I’m toast seeing as I never even qualified for this position. That’s your fault Brian.
Brian: Okay okay. I’ve hired Gill Marcus to be my lawyer. That’s a start. This way I can blame someone else if we lose and tie SARU up in court for months. Next, get hold of Kyle Ferguson and tell him to get Mark Keohane to say nice things about us on that web thingie place. Next we have to delay that hanging judge long enough so he also leaves like that King guy. Andre, use your nice contacts in the media to sort out these stories about me losing.
Andre: No problem boss man.
Gideon: What do we tell Johan Prinsloo?
Brian: Nothing. That way when the media ask him about Mveli’s screaming again, he can look like the poephol as usual. It takes attention away from us.
Andre: And Mike Stofile?
Brian: I’ll handle him. His boet wants our asses badly, so we have to very careful what we tell him. We gotta make Hoskins look the bad guy. I’m good at slowing down things and smoke screens. I’ll handle him. In any case, his boet is gonna be more interested in Bafana Bafana for a while, seeing as the President is pissed off with them.
Gideon: What do I do?
Brian: Same as always. Nothing.
Athrob: And me?
Brian: You especially do nothing. Especially don’t manage anything. Just do what I tell you. Right. This is the end of the meeting even though we didn’t have everyone here. I’ll phone you for the next meeting. The SARU Illuminati meeting is closed.
------- end of transmission -------
Tune in next time for more Chronicles of SARU as our intrepid rugby leaders prepare to fight of the evils of fan hatred, corporate governance and a looming election! Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Stormers vs Spears – Match report
It has been a long time since I had such a feeling of disgust after watching a game of rugby. The Stormers won the game 73 – 5 in a game which will leave them non the wiser, nor feeling satisfied with their efforts.
Scoring summary
Stormers
Tries: Hanyani Shimange, Luke Watson (2), Ross Skeate, Jean de Villiers, Rayno Benjamin (2), Schalk Burger, Jongi Nokwe (2) , Joe Pietersen
Cons: Werner Greeff (3) and Neil de Kock (6)
Spears
Try: Spencer Wakeling
General
In general this was a game that both teams would love to forget as soon as possible, but for different reasons. The Stormers gave a performance that was indifferent and could not dominate at all during the first 30 minutes of the game, even while Ashley Johnson, captain of the Spears, was yellow carded in the 15th minute of the game. It took the Stormers a further 10 minutes to score their first points.
The Spears showed a lot of guts during this first part of the game and at times looked very dangerous and full of running when they did get the ball. The first line out of the game was won by the Spears on the opposition’s throw. This alone seemed to give them a boost and in the following few minutes they attacked and was awarded a penalty within striking distance, but failed to capitalise.
The first twenty minutes of the game also revealed the attitude with which the teams came onto the field. The Stormers tried to intimidate their younger rivals with of the ball tactics lead by non other than the captain, Schalk Burger. I can’t recall ever the past two years that Schalla became involve in pushing and shuffing off the ball, but Saturday will never be forgotten.
We all know Schalk to be a liability when it comes to yellow cards and penalties when it comes to doing his job as ball hunter and slowing the oppositions’ ball down, but his behaviour on Saturday was unacceptable. The Stormers should have had the ability to overcome the Spears easily through structured play without the need to turn to off the ball intimidation tactics. This however did not happen as the Stormers could never play with any structure.
The Spears defended like demons and this must have frustrated the Stormers immensely. Twice in the first twenty minutes the Stormers were able to come within metres of scoring a try, only to knock the ball in the last pass. This continued throughout the game with Benjamin later knocking on the line and the supporters’ favourite player, Gus Theron, grabbing air with an open tryline. Overall the finishing and handling of the Cape side were poor and not even an U13 school level team would have made so many handling errors.
Game breaking event
Unfortunately the game was turned into an one sided affair in the 30th minute. After Watson’s first try, all hell broke loose and after conferring with the touch judge, referee Marius Jonker, red carded Eugene Maqwelana and yellow carded JD Moller, both frontrowers. This effectively ended the game as a contest and it became a free run for the Stormers after the Spears sacrificed their left wing to enable them to stay competitive in the forwards.
This as such was a decision that is very questionable. How two players both involved in a punch up, could receive different penalties is mind boggling. The carding as such was however not surprising, but could have been avoided if the referee took charge by talking to the players at previous occasions when the Stormers’ intimidation tactics turned into off the ball pushing and shuffing. This was not the only mistake the referee made, but unfortunately the most important one.
To put this in perspective, one can only look at the 9 tries scored afterwards. Seven of those tries were scored towards the gap that was left by the left wing of the Spears.
What can the Stormers take from this game
Not much. Overall structure in their game was not present. They could only get the upperhand over a very inexperienced and young team after they were only opposed by fourteen men. If the Stormers were to play against the Crusaders like they played in this game, I have no illusion about the fact that they will be down 30 points after 20 minutes.
The performance of Peter Grant was worrisome and his place kicking was poor to say the least. The only positive in my opinion was the fact that they now have backup kickers in Neil de Kock and Werner Greeff. This could offer coach Kobus van der Merwe the chance to make the much speculated move of Jean de Villiers to flyhalf. This move as such will enable the Stormers to field a total different looking backline from one week to the other.
The forwards is difficult to rate. They did dominate most of the scrums, but the line-outs was nothing to write home about. Mauling towards the end of the game did play a big part, but one must keep in mind that the Spears were tiring due to the increased defensive workload playing with 14 men.
What has become clear however, is that if they are able to spread the ball to the wings, they do have some flyers who will be able ask notiable questions of the opposition defense.. Players that stood out for this supporter, were Luke Watson and Rayno Benjamin. Although Werner Greeff was not tested that much, he did look full of running when joining the backline. Neil de Kock made a differance when replacing Bolla Conradie with his tactical kicks from the base and as mentioned his place kicking.
What can the Spears learn from the game
Like many this was the first time that I saw most of these guys play and to be honest, they did impress me. There is a lot of talent in this team and to question their dedication would just be plain blasphemy. Inexperienced showed in the first half as they were playing with the wind and a low setting sun, but not once was there an up and under put up on Werner Greeff or any tactical kicking. The first line-out would have given them the confidence to take the Stormers on in that area, but they failed to follow through on it. It is part of the game to use the surroundings in your favour and they will have to learn to use it.
Another thing that also bothered me, is the fact that when they reached the stage where they realised they couldn’t win anymore, they also loosened their game and by doing this played right into the Stormers hands. I would have thought that this would have been a perfect opportunity for them to even practice their structured game in a match situation. This could have most probably helped them keeping the score down.
The Spears have no reason to doubt themselves, as the scoreline definitely did not reflect the true abilities of the players. The Spears should look at the first 30 minutes of this game and remember it. They played with heart and defended like demons. Believe me when I say that this team has a future and I will not, unlike some spectators around me, doubt them to deliver in the end.
Players that stood out for the Spears was Ashley Johnson (despite the yellow card) for his ability to still rally his troops after the red card incident. Others that impressed were the fullback, Baldwin McBean and Spencer Wakeling.
Summation
A game that was not very enjoyable to watch. Poor discipline, handling and bad finishing with the added poor refereeing decisions ensured that the curtain raisers seemed more interesting.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Admin: 'Bring back Morné and Keith' - Hoskins
Bacher joins fight in new twist.
Sources: News24 and Rapport
Experienced rugby brains like Morne du Plessis and Keith Parkinson must be involved in South African rugby, says Oregan Hoskins, the president of the KZN Rugby Union and the man who will oppose Brian van Rooyen at next month's AGM. There is also news of a new twist in the leadership fight involving dr. Ali Bacher.
Du Plessis, a former Springbok captain and Parkinson, a very Experienced rugby administrator, both left after Van Rooyen became president two years ago. Both were board members and were dissatisfied with Van Rooyen's management style.
Hoskins said: "I'll definitely want to see both involved and believe they can play a role if SA rugby wants to move ahead. I believe rugby decisions must be made by rugby people, in cooperation with the minister of sport, sponsors and the players' association.
"SA Rugby's culture must change and the election on February 24 will indicate if it is possible. Too many agreements were made under the table and by continuing this practice, SA rugby has been severely damaged.
Ali Bacher joins the fight
JJ Harmse reported in Sunday's Rapport that the leadership fight has taken a new twist. The former South African cricket boss Ali Bacher, is apparently trying to reach an agreement with the presidents of the various rugby unions by offering Brian van Rooyen's resignation in exchange for dropping allegations of corporate mismanagement against Van Rooyen.
This suggestion has resulted in widespread repercussions, especially after Van Rooyen sent an SMS message to all the presidents, denying any talk of his resignation or that an agreement has been reached.
This has raised the question if rugby bosses and Van Rooyen have been on the verge of an agreement and he then changed his mind.
Who is lying?
Van Rooyen now accuses Bacher of of contacting the presidents of the rugby unions without the necessary mandate (from Van Rooyen) in an attempt to bring about a settlement. Van Rooyen allegedly asked Bacher to act as mediator so that he could leave rugby at the end of his term of office in a dignified manner.
Bacher declined to elaborate, but said: "I've got an agreement with the sponsors that I won't talk to the media. I will, however, report to them what has happened in my talks with SA Rugby."
The Free State rugby president, Harold Verster said: "You have to ask the question who is lying and who is not. I can't see someone with Bacher's reputation getting involved in Van Rooyen's problems if he wasn't asked. We've become accustomed to these actions the last few months where people change their minds in a day or two." Click here to read full article and comments.
Sources: News24 and Rapport
Experienced rugby brains like Morne du Plessis and Keith Parkinson must be involved in South African rugby, says Oregan Hoskins, the president of the KZN Rugby Union and the man who will oppose Brian van Rooyen at next month's AGM. There is also news of a new twist in the leadership fight involving dr. Ali Bacher.
Du Plessis, a former Springbok captain and Parkinson, a very Experienced rugby administrator, both left after Van Rooyen became president two years ago. Both were board members and were dissatisfied with Van Rooyen's management style.
Hoskins said: "I'll definitely want to see both involved and believe they can play a role if SA rugby wants to move ahead. I believe rugby decisions must be made by rugby people, in cooperation with the minister of sport, sponsors and the players' association.
"SA Rugby's culture must change and the election on February 24 will indicate if it is possible. Too many agreements were made under the table and by continuing this practice, SA rugby has been severely damaged.
Ali Bacher joins the fight
JJ Harmse reported in Sunday's Rapport that the leadership fight has taken a new twist. The former South African cricket boss Ali Bacher, is apparently trying to reach an agreement with the presidents of the various rugby unions by offering Brian van Rooyen's resignation in exchange for dropping allegations of corporate mismanagement against Van Rooyen.
This suggestion has resulted in widespread repercussions, especially after Van Rooyen sent an SMS message to all the presidents, denying any talk of his resignation or that an agreement has been reached.
This has raised the question if rugby bosses and Van Rooyen have been on the verge of an agreement and he then changed his mind.
Who is lying?
Van Rooyen now accuses Bacher of of contacting the presidents of the rugby unions without the necessary mandate (from Van Rooyen) in an attempt to bring about a settlement. Van Rooyen allegedly asked Bacher to act as mediator so that he could leave rugby at the end of his term of office in a dignified manner.
Bacher declined to elaborate, but said: "I've got an agreement with the sponsors that I won't talk to the media. I will, however, report to them what has happened in my talks with SA Rugby."
The Free State rugby president, Harold Verster said: "You have to ask the question who is lying and who is not. I can't see someone with Bacher's reputation getting involved in Van Rooyen's problems if he wasn't asked. We've become accustomed to these actions the last few months where people change their minds in a day or two." Click here to read full article and comments.
Other sport: 'SA cricket teams may boycott Oz' - Majola
Proteas 'best behaved team'
Source: News24
Future South African cricket tours to Australia could be boycotted as a result of the racist remarks against captain Graeme Smith and company on the present tour.
This was the message from Cricket South Africa's CEO, Gerald Majola, on arrival in Australia. He added that this was no idle threat.
Majola said: "We consider it a very serious matter and if it should continue, we will definitely give serious consideration not to tour this country in future. The remarks occurred throughout the country, but was absent when the Proteas played Sri Lanka in Adelaide.
"I haven't talked to the players about this yet, but if this continues and takes a turn for the worse, I'll support their decision," Majola said.
Best behaved, most competitive team
Cricket Australia's CEO, James Sutherland, in a fax to Cricket South Africa said the Proteas have been the most competitive team to tour Australia in the past decade. They are also the most well behaved.
West Australian officials are desperate not to have a recurrence of last month's incident in the first Test and very strict action will be taken against any spectator who makes racist remarks. Click here to read full article and comments.
Source: News24
Future South African cricket tours to Australia could be boycotted as a result of the racist remarks against captain Graeme Smith and company on the present tour.
This was the message from Cricket South Africa's CEO, Gerald Majola, on arrival in Australia. He added that this was no idle threat.
Majola said: "We consider it a very serious matter and if it should continue, we will definitely give serious consideration not to tour this country in future. The remarks occurred throughout the country, but was absent when the Proteas played Sri Lanka in Adelaide.
"I haven't talked to the players about this yet, but if this continues and takes a turn for the worse, I'll support their decision," Majola said.
Best behaved, most competitive team
Cricket Australia's CEO, James Sutherland, in a fax to Cricket South Africa said the Proteas have been the most competitive team to tour Australia in the past decade. They are also the most well behaved.
West Australian officials are desperate not to have a recurrence of last month's incident in the first Test and very strict action will be taken against any spectator who makes racist remarks. Click here to read full article and comments.
International Teams: Wallabies set to improve rugby's TV ratings
Source: Rugby Heaven
The Wallabies have been the world champions, but the sport is still struggling in Oz. When it comes to TV ratings, rugby still laggs very far behind Aussie Rules and Rugby League. Some clever scheduling may bring about a positive change for the sport.
Rugby union is in that awkward stage: it has grown large enough to want to mix it with the big boys on the Australian football scene, AFL and rugby league, but it's still small fry by comparison and struggles whenever it comes up against them, especially where TV ratings are concerned.
Here's an indication of how the three codes measure up on TV. Of the 50 top-rating sports programs in Australia last year, 12 were AFL, six were league and not one was rugby. Not even the Bledisloe Cup, an event which is sold out within hours in Sydney, made the list.
On the other hand, rugby has something the other two don't have: a truly international dimension. So what if a top-drawer rugby international could be staged at a time it didn't have to compete with AFL or league?
Mightn't large numbers of patriotic sports fans around the country tune in just to support the green and gold?
Trial with Sunday test v England
We'll probably know one way or another in a few months. In one of its more interesting scheduling initiatives of recent times, the Australian Rugby Union seems likely to stage the year's first Test, against England at Telstra Stadium, on a Sunday evening, June 11.
Why Sunday? Because the ARU wants to expose the game on TV in the southern states without the competition of a Saturday night AFL match, and June 11 would be a particularly good day to do it. For one thing, there's a public holiday next day, so people would be more inclined to relax in front of the TV that evening. For another, England is one opponent all Australians, including those who know next to nothing about rugby, would like to see get beaten.
Assuming the Sunday night match goes ahead (this is likely to be confirmed in the next week or two), Seven will provide a live, nationwide telecast. While big audiences are assured in Sydney, Brisbane and probably Perth, Seven will watch closely to see the response in Melbourne and Adelaide. If it's good, Sunday night rugby internationals might become regular fixtures.
Rugby has been occupying the minds of TV executives for another reason lately: the contest for rights to next year's World Cup. While everyone waits to hear officially who's won them in Australia, the expectation within the television industry is that it will be some kind of partnership between the Nine network and Fox Sports.
Break in tradition
If so, it would be quite a break in tradition for Nine. Kerry Packer apparently had no taste for rugby, and Nine has shown little or no interest in the game until now. According to one source, Nine did televise club matches in Brisbane for some reason in the 1970s, but nobody can remember the network ever covering representative rugby.
The asking price for the World Cup rights was fairly steep - close to US10 million ($13.2m). Production expenses would be on top of that, raising the total cost to Australia's World Cup broadcaster to perhaps $15m.
This seems a lot of money to pay for a tournament that will probably be screened here between 11pm and 5am. So why might Nine want to be involved? The best explanation is that Fox Sports, which is half-owned by Nine, would be the major partner in the deal and that Nine would effectively be picking up the free-to-air matches on the side. There may well be only a handful of these; Australia's games plus the finals.
Nine is not entirely without rugby connections. John Alexander - chief executive of PBL, which controls the network - is a rugby fan. At last report, too, Nine's head of sport in Brisbane was former Wallabies captain Andrew Slack, whose team's performances on the grand slam tour of Britain and Ireland in 1984 generated the popularity on which, arguably, the code's subsequent rapid growth has been based.
Article by Philip Derriman, Rugby Heaven.
Click here to read full article and comments.
The Wallabies have been the world champions, but the sport is still struggling in Oz. When it comes to TV ratings, rugby still laggs very far behind Aussie Rules and Rugby League. Some clever scheduling may bring about a positive change for the sport.
Rugby union is in that awkward stage: it has grown large enough to want to mix it with the big boys on the Australian football scene, AFL and rugby league, but it's still small fry by comparison and struggles whenever it comes up against them, especially where TV ratings are concerned.
Here's an indication of how the three codes measure up on TV. Of the 50 top-rating sports programs in Australia last year, 12 were AFL, six were league and not one was rugby. Not even the Bledisloe Cup, an event which is sold out within hours in Sydney, made the list.
On the other hand, rugby has something the other two don't have: a truly international dimension. So what if a top-drawer rugby international could be staged at a time it didn't have to compete with AFL or league?
Mightn't large numbers of patriotic sports fans around the country tune in just to support the green and gold?
Trial with Sunday test v England
We'll probably know one way or another in a few months. In one of its more interesting scheduling initiatives of recent times, the Australian Rugby Union seems likely to stage the year's first Test, against England at Telstra Stadium, on a Sunday evening, June 11.
Why Sunday? Because the ARU wants to expose the game on TV in the southern states without the competition of a Saturday night AFL match, and June 11 would be a particularly good day to do it. For one thing, there's a public holiday next day, so people would be more inclined to relax in front of the TV that evening. For another, England is one opponent all Australians, including those who know next to nothing about rugby, would like to see get beaten.
Assuming the Sunday night match goes ahead (this is likely to be confirmed in the next week or two), Seven will provide a live, nationwide telecast. While big audiences are assured in Sydney, Brisbane and probably Perth, Seven will watch closely to see the response in Melbourne and Adelaide. If it's good, Sunday night rugby internationals might become regular fixtures.
Rugby has been occupying the minds of TV executives for another reason lately: the contest for rights to next year's World Cup. While everyone waits to hear officially who's won them in Australia, the expectation within the television industry is that it will be some kind of partnership between the Nine network and Fox Sports.
Break in tradition
If so, it would be quite a break in tradition for Nine. Kerry Packer apparently had no taste for rugby, and Nine has shown little or no interest in the game until now. According to one source, Nine did televise club matches in Brisbane for some reason in the 1970s, but nobody can remember the network ever covering representative rugby.
The asking price for the World Cup rights was fairly steep - close to US10 million ($13.2m). Production expenses would be on top of that, raising the total cost to Australia's World Cup broadcaster to perhaps $15m.
This seems a lot of money to pay for a tournament that will probably be screened here between 11pm and 5am. So why might Nine want to be involved? The best explanation is that Fox Sports, which is half-owned by Nine, would be the major partner in the deal and that Nine would effectively be picking up the free-to-air matches on the side. There may well be only a handful of these; Australia's games plus the finals.
Nine is not entirely without rugby connections. John Alexander - chief executive of PBL, which controls the network - is a rugby fan. At last report, too, Nine's head of sport in Brisbane was former Wallabies captain Andrew Slack, whose team's performances on the grand slam tour of Britain and Ireland in 1984 generated the popularity on which, arguably, the code's subsequent rapid growth has been based.
Article by Philip Derriman, Rugby Heaven.
Click here to read full article and comments.
Rugby Personalities: The 'Lip' speaks out
"The bench is where you put your old-stagers who can come on and change a game - people like Lawrence, Matt Dawson, Graham Rowntree, and, though he won't like me saying it, Ben Cohen."
Source: The Independent
By: Brian Viner
The return of Lawrence Dallaglio to England's Six Nations squad is, says Austin Healey, mischief-maker nonpareil, "one of the great media stunts of the year".
Healey chuckles. Not for nothing is he known as the "Leicester Lip", even if the accent is more Wirral than Welford Road. I invite him to elaborate. "I don't know what to say about Lawrence, to be honest," he says, before saying rather a lot. "He's a fantastic player and a great character, but you have to pick on form. I've watched a lot of Wasps games this year, and I don't think Lawrence is playing better than Joe Worsley. Martin Corry is playing well, and Andy Robinson loves Lewis Moody, so there's your back row. Would you have Lawrence on the bench? Probably, yeah. The bench is where you put your old-stagers who can come on and change a game - people like Lawrence, Matt Dawson, Graham Rowntree, and, though he won't like me saying it, Ben Cohen."
Healey offers these thoughts in a corner of a chilly dressing-room at Oval Park, the Leicester Tigers' training ground. I ask whether Dallaglio, in the more august surroundings of the England dressing-room, might bring some useful pre-match dynamism? "There's your problem," says Healey. "There's only room for so many really big characters in that England dressing-room, and if Martin Corry's going to carry on as captain then he needs to be the figurehead people look towards."
His Leicester team-mate, adds Healey, could yet be a Grand Slam-winning captain. "It's basically only England and France who can win it this time, and I suppose the French are slight favourites because they play England in Paris. England's game is very much based on safety first, but to beat France in Paris they will have to take quite a few risks. They'll have to play the French at their own expansive game, move them around a bit. Whether they do is maybe a question of whether they go into that game off the back of two good wins or not."
If Healey were England coach - and there's a thought to make Robinson choke on his muesli - he would not countenance the current talk of playing Josh Lewsey at centre. "I think he suits Wasps' style of play as a centre, but I don't think that would suit England. He's a very good athlete and a fantastic finisher, Josh, but he's not the sort of player who puts other people into space. Someone like [James] Simpson-Daniel, or Stuart Abbott, those guys can create space for other players.
"Besides, if you move Josh from full-back then who else would play there? There's no doubt that the back play was not up to scratch in the autumn [internationals], but [the backs coach] Joe Lydon has had a lot of time to think about how he wants to take the back line forward, and to an extent the players need to take it on themselves. You shouldn't be spoon-fed when you're playing for England; you should say, 'I think we should be doing this, or that'. The problem is that you have a lot of Wasps players in there, a lot of Sale players, and you get a mix of styles, with the players afraid to put forward the style they believe in. I believe that the way Sale are playing is the way England should play."
However England play, Healey will be at all five games "I believing" for the BBC. Of all the recent England internationals now clutching microphones, he is probably the most forthright. Sometimes, poachers-turned-gamekeepers are still on the side of the poachers, but not Healey: all he knows is to do a job properly, and anyone trespassing can expect some buckshot up the backside. "It's been to my detriment that I've done the [BBC] job," he says. "Potentially I could have got back into the squad, but there's too much baggage with me. Andy Robinson believes that I'm in the Leicester changing-room pointing at people and saying, 'You're shit ... you're crap', when in fact the complete opposite is the truth. In my player persona I'm completely embroiled in what the side's doing, and would never do anything to detract from it."
Healey played the last of his 51 games for England way back in 2003, before the World Cup, but he is not fantasising by suggesting that he could have jinked his way back into the squad. Not entirely. After all, he is younger than Dallaglio, younger than Dawson, and younger than Corry. And even more significantly, he is having a hell of a season; it is because he and perhaps three or four others have been on top form that Leicester are in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. Indeed, there has been more than a glimpse of the kind of form that made him man of the match when the Tigers, with an epic 34-30 victory over Stade Français at the Parc des Princes, won the Heineken Cup in 2001. Soon afterwards, the Stade top brass offered Healey a lucrative contract, and had his wife not been pregnant at the time we might be having this conversation in a little Parisian bistro rather than on the suburban outskirts of Leicester. Still, Healey has no regrets. A few slight grievances, perhaps, but no regrets.
One of his grievances is that Clive Woodward picked the World Cup squad on 10 September 2003, by which time he had still not fully recovered from the snapped anterior cruciate ligament, sustained the previous April. That he recovered to play top-class rugby at all was a surprise to his surgeon. That he recovered so quickly was astounding. But it wasn't quite quickly enough. Although he was summoned to Australia mid-tournament, Woodward didn't use him. Had the squad been chosen even a fortnight later, he might have been in from the start.
But then, if his surname had been Martin or Jagg, he might have been named after a different vintage car altogether. It's no good dwelling on might-haves, and Healey doesn't. He looks back with pride on his 51 caps, and does not rise to the suggestion that in a way he was too versatile for his own good, able to play with equal flair at No 9, No 10 or on the wing. He rejects the notion that the label "utility back" was, in his case, as much a curse as a blessing.
"I don't know about that. Some players can do different jobs, that's all. Harry Ellis could play on the wing if he wanted to. Clive wanted me to play like that German footballer, is it Günther Meyer?" Günther Netzer, I tell him. But then why should he know; he's still only 32.
"That's it, Netzer. He could do all the jobs he was asked to do, apparently. I didn't have a clue who he was. What does that mean, play like Günther Netzer? But I got the message and appreciated the challenge.
"Clive helped my career a great deal and I've still got a lot of time for him. In fact, I spoke to him after our Christmas do. I'd had a few beers, and I decided it would be good idea to abuse him down the phone a little bit. To be fair he was in a great mood, I think because he knew he'd got the [director of football] job at Southampton."
If Woodward does not succeed in football, Healey thinks it will be football's fault, not Woodward's. "If Clive were a football manager coming to rugby he would be a definite success. Rugby players would respond to him, because they're a lot more responsive to ideas, they take things on board, whereas the impression rugby players have of footballers is that they're not like that. They have too much power. We couldn't tell a coach we're not going to do something for fear of him saying, 'You're dropped'. That's the worst thing that can happen to a rugby player, that they don't play, whereas it seems that the worst thing that can happen to a footballer is that they don't get paid. I know that's a sweeping statement, that they're not all like that, but that's the impression we have."
Healey was himself a decent schoolboy footballer - captain of his county side - and remains a passionate Evertonian. Next year he will get to see a little more of his beloved Toffees because he is returning to his amateur roots as a rugby player, having landed a job, for which he has yet to be trained, as a private banker for Credit Suisse.
I ask him whether he'll be fiddling his expenses; he has admitted before that, at least in his early years playing rugby, he was highly inventive in that department. "Yeah, definitely. But it was different then. I had an expenses form and the trick was how to get it up to £300 to pay off my student loan. When I played with England Students we trained at Bisham Abbey, so I said I'd been on a course in Edinburgh and had driven down. That was worth quite a bit."
A broad grin. Iconoclasm in its various forms looms large in the Austin Healey story; he was fined £2,000 for bringing the Lions into disrepute with his notorious newspaper column during the 2001 tour of Australia, and was at more or less constant loggerheads with the former Leicester coach Bob Dwyer, whom he knew as "Barbed Wire". I'm told, too, that his practical jokes are legendary. What, I ask, was his most memorable?
"I don't think I can tell you." Oh, go on. "OK. I've been sponsored by the local Mercedes garage ever since I've been here, and I got a new car one Friday. Everyone here knew that I went to the cinema every Friday night; most of the lads go as a ritual. So on this particular Friday I came out and my new car was completely covered in shaving foam. You couldn't see a single part of it. I knew who'd done it but I wasn't that bothered. I thought it was quite funny, in fact. Anyway, I managed to get the stuff off the windscreen, but I couldn't get it all off the side-windows, and as I pulled out someone crashed into me because I couldn't see them. I was absolutely fuming. Here was this car not even 24 hours old, and it was all smashed in. I came in the next day and said, 'I'm going to get you back for that'. And I did. After the game, I pooed in his shoes. I thought that made us quits."
The shoes were not, I assume, a pair of size 14s belonging to one M Johnson? "No, Johnno was the sort who'd dish out practical jokes, but not really take them. Mind you, I used to push him over the edge all the time and he used to hit me. Fortunately, he's not the best puncher in the world. They were easy to duck, anyway."
The former Leicester and England captain no longer casts a giant shadow over Oval Park, Healey tells me. "Not really, maybe because in his last season we saw a more natural side of him, the family man, not nearly as intense as he had been. I suppose it's to do with getting older. Me, Backy [Neil Back], Johnno, we were all very intense in the early years, and you see it all round the Premiership, guys like Mike Catt, Will Greenwood, intense guys who've really mellowed out. It happened to me when I became a father; rugby's not the most important thing any more. I'm reading Gazza's book at the moment and I'm like him, I get bored easily. But before, when I didn't have kids, I'd go to the gym or go for a run if I was bored. Now, I have a laugh with the kids. It takes your edge away."
With or without an edge, Austin Healey will be a hard act to follow. I was going to write that his will be difficult shoes to fill, but it didn't seem appropriate, somehow.
Austin Healey will be working for BBC Television throughout the Six Nations Championship campaign Click here to read full article and comments.
Source: The Independent
By: Brian Viner
The return of Lawrence Dallaglio to England's Six Nations squad is, says Austin Healey, mischief-maker nonpareil, "one of the great media stunts of the year".
Healey chuckles. Not for nothing is he known as the "Leicester Lip", even if the accent is more Wirral than Welford Road. I invite him to elaborate. "I don't know what to say about Lawrence, to be honest," he says, before saying rather a lot. "He's a fantastic player and a great character, but you have to pick on form. I've watched a lot of Wasps games this year, and I don't think Lawrence is playing better than Joe Worsley. Martin Corry is playing well, and Andy Robinson loves Lewis Moody, so there's your back row. Would you have Lawrence on the bench? Probably, yeah. The bench is where you put your old-stagers who can come on and change a game - people like Lawrence, Matt Dawson, Graham Rowntree, and, though he won't like me saying it, Ben Cohen."
Healey offers these thoughts in a corner of a chilly dressing-room at Oval Park, the Leicester Tigers' training ground. I ask whether Dallaglio, in the more august surroundings of the England dressing-room, might bring some useful pre-match dynamism? "There's your problem," says Healey. "There's only room for so many really big characters in that England dressing-room, and if Martin Corry's going to carry on as captain then he needs to be the figurehead people look towards."
His Leicester team-mate, adds Healey, could yet be a Grand Slam-winning captain. "It's basically only England and France who can win it this time, and I suppose the French are slight favourites because they play England in Paris. England's game is very much based on safety first, but to beat France in Paris they will have to take quite a few risks. They'll have to play the French at their own expansive game, move them around a bit. Whether they do is maybe a question of whether they go into that game off the back of two good wins or not."
If Healey were England coach - and there's a thought to make Robinson choke on his muesli - he would not countenance the current talk of playing Josh Lewsey at centre. "I think he suits Wasps' style of play as a centre, but I don't think that would suit England. He's a very good athlete and a fantastic finisher, Josh, but he's not the sort of player who puts other people into space. Someone like [James] Simpson-Daniel, or Stuart Abbott, those guys can create space for other players.
"Besides, if you move Josh from full-back then who else would play there? There's no doubt that the back play was not up to scratch in the autumn [internationals], but [the backs coach] Joe Lydon has had a lot of time to think about how he wants to take the back line forward, and to an extent the players need to take it on themselves. You shouldn't be spoon-fed when you're playing for England; you should say, 'I think we should be doing this, or that'. The problem is that you have a lot of Wasps players in there, a lot of Sale players, and you get a mix of styles, with the players afraid to put forward the style they believe in. I believe that the way Sale are playing is the way England should play."
However England play, Healey will be at all five games "I believing" for the BBC. Of all the recent England internationals now clutching microphones, he is probably the most forthright. Sometimes, poachers-turned-gamekeepers are still on the side of the poachers, but not Healey: all he knows is to do a job properly, and anyone trespassing can expect some buckshot up the backside. "It's been to my detriment that I've done the [BBC] job," he says. "Potentially I could have got back into the squad, but there's too much baggage with me. Andy Robinson believes that I'm in the Leicester changing-room pointing at people and saying, 'You're shit ... you're crap', when in fact the complete opposite is the truth. In my player persona I'm completely embroiled in what the side's doing, and would never do anything to detract from it."
Healey played the last of his 51 games for England way back in 2003, before the World Cup, but he is not fantasising by suggesting that he could have jinked his way back into the squad. Not entirely. After all, he is younger than Dallaglio, younger than Dawson, and younger than Corry. And even more significantly, he is having a hell of a season; it is because he and perhaps three or four others have been on top form that Leicester are in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. Indeed, there has been more than a glimpse of the kind of form that made him man of the match when the Tigers, with an epic 34-30 victory over Stade Français at the Parc des Princes, won the Heineken Cup in 2001. Soon afterwards, the Stade top brass offered Healey a lucrative contract, and had his wife not been pregnant at the time we might be having this conversation in a little Parisian bistro rather than on the suburban outskirts of Leicester. Still, Healey has no regrets. A few slight grievances, perhaps, but no regrets.
One of his grievances is that Clive Woodward picked the World Cup squad on 10 September 2003, by which time he had still not fully recovered from the snapped anterior cruciate ligament, sustained the previous April. That he recovered to play top-class rugby at all was a surprise to his surgeon. That he recovered so quickly was astounding. But it wasn't quite quickly enough. Although he was summoned to Australia mid-tournament, Woodward didn't use him. Had the squad been chosen even a fortnight later, he might have been in from the start.
But then, if his surname had been Martin or Jagg, he might have been named after a different vintage car altogether. It's no good dwelling on might-haves, and Healey doesn't. He looks back with pride on his 51 caps, and does not rise to the suggestion that in a way he was too versatile for his own good, able to play with equal flair at No 9, No 10 or on the wing. He rejects the notion that the label "utility back" was, in his case, as much a curse as a blessing.
"I don't know about that. Some players can do different jobs, that's all. Harry Ellis could play on the wing if he wanted to. Clive wanted me to play like that German footballer, is it Günther Meyer?" Günther Netzer, I tell him. But then why should he know; he's still only 32.
"That's it, Netzer. He could do all the jobs he was asked to do, apparently. I didn't have a clue who he was. What does that mean, play like Günther Netzer? But I got the message and appreciated the challenge.
"Clive helped my career a great deal and I've still got a lot of time for him. In fact, I spoke to him after our Christmas do. I'd had a few beers, and I decided it would be good idea to abuse him down the phone a little bit. To be fair he was in a great mood, I think because he knew he'd got the [director of football] job at Southampton."
If Woodward does not succeed in football, Healey thinks it will be football's fault, not Woodward's. "If Clive were a football manager coming to rugby he would be a definite success. Rugby players would respond to him, because they're a lot more responsive to ideas, they take things on board, whereas the impression rugby players have of footballers is that they're not like that. They have too much power. We couldn't tell a coach we're not going to do something for fear of him saying, 'You're dropped'. That's the worst thing that can happen to a rugby player, that they don't play, whereas it seems that the worst thing that can happen to a footballer is that they don't get paid. I know that's a sweeping statement, that they're not all like that, but that's the impression we have."
Healey was himself a decent schoolboy footballer - captain of his county side - and remains a passionate Evertonian. Next year he will get to see a little more of his beloved Toffees because he is returning to his amateur roots as a rugby player, having landed a job, for which he has yet to be trained, as a private banker for Credit Suisse.
I ask him whether he'll be fiddling his expenses; he has admitted before that, at least in his early years playing rugby, he was highly inventive in that department. "Yeah, definitely. But it was different then. I had an expenses form and the trick was how to get it up to £300 to pay off my student loan. When I played with England Students we trained at Bisham Abbey, so I said I'd been on a course in Edinburgh and had driven down. That was worth quite a bit."
A broad grin. Iconoclasm in its various forms looms large in the Austin Healey story; he was fined £2,000 for bringing the Lions into disrepute with his notorious newspaper column during the 2001 tour of Australia, and was at more or less constant loggerheads with the former Leicester coach Bob Dwyer, whom he knew as "Barbed Wire". I'm told, too, that his practical jokes are legendary. What, I ask, was his most memorable?
"I don't think I can tell you." Oh, go on. "OK. I've been sponsored by the local Mercedes garage ever since I've been here, and I got a new car one Friday. Everyone here knew that I went to the cinema every Friday night; most of the lads go as a ritual. So on this particular Friday I came out and my new car was completely covered in shaving foam. You couldn't see a single part of it. I knew who'd done it but I wasn't that bothered. I thought it was quite funny, in fact. Anyway, I managed to get the stuff off the windscreen, but I couldn't get it all off the side-windows, and as I pulled out someone crashed into me because I couldn't see them. I was absolutely fuming. Here was this car not even 24 hours old, and it was all smashed in. I came in the next day and said, 'I'm going to get you back for that'. And I did. After the game, I pooed in his shoes. I thought that made us quits."
The shoes were not, I assume, a pair of size 14s belonging to one M Johnson? "No, Johnno was the sort who'd dish out practical jokes, but not really take them. Mind you, I used to push him over the edge all the time and he used to hit me. Fortunately, he's not the best puncher in the world. They were easy to duck, anyway."
The former Leicester and England captain no longer casts a giant shadow over Oval Park, Healey tells me. "Not really, maybe because in his last season we saw a more natural side of him, the family man, not nearly as intense as he had been. I suppose it's to do with getting older. Me, Backy [Neil Back], Johnno, we were all very intense in the early years, and you see it all round the Premiership, guys like Mike Catt, Will Greenwood, intense guys who've really mellowed out. It happened to me when I became a father; rugby's not the most important thing any more. I'm reading Gazza's book at the moment and I'm like him, I get bored easily. But before, when I didn't have kids, I'd go to the gym or go for a run if I was bored. Now, I have a laugh with the kids. It takes your edge away."
With or without an edge, Austin Healey will be a hard act to follow. I was going to write that his will be difficult shoes to fill, but it didn't seem appropriate, somehow.
Austin Healey will be working for BBC Television throughout the Six Nations Championship campaign Click here to read full article and comments.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
International Rugby: Wallabies wake up to their shortcomings
Source: New Zealand Herald
By: Gregor Paul
The Wallabies have at last swallowed a dose of reality and admitted they need to hire a raft of specialist coaches if they are to be contenders at next year's World Cup.
Top of their list is the need to find a scrummaging expert, with coaches specialising in lineouts, offloads and restarts also being sought.
But it is their scrummaging which appears in most drastic need of improvement.
Having somehow survived for the best part of the last decade with a front five that were barely NPC standard, the Wallabies finally had their frailties exposed last season.
Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive Gary Flowers said the end-of-season review process that led to the sacking of former coach Eddie Jones was responsible for highlighting other other areas that needed to be addressed.
Flowers said: "The clock is ticking but we will put the right structure and the right coaching team in place to put the Wallabies in a winning position for 2007.
"If we are to be brutally honest, we are significantly behind many of our competitors in key areas of the game. We remain number one in areas like defence but elsewhere - restarts, offloads, lineouts and scrummaging we are deficient compared with our major rivals."
The news that the ARU are no longer prepared to stand back and watch the Wallabies tumble down the world rankings will be warmly welcomed by incumbent loosehead Al Baxter.
Baxter has copped media flak about his poor technique and was forced to leave the field at Twickenham last year when he failed dismally to cope with the power of England's Andy Sheridan.
"I think if you don't have a specific coach in that specific role, you're not going to do top level training and development," said Baxter. "I think where we had parity a few years ago, everyone else has taken leaps ahead and because we haven't had a specific focus on the scrum, we haven't taken those steps forward, and thereby fallen behind the pack.
"I would love to see the new Australian coaching staff have a specific scrum coach." Click here to read full article and comments.
By: Gregor Paul
The Wallabies have at last swallowed a dose of reality and admitted they need to hire a raft of specialist coaches if they are to be contenders at next year's World Cup.
Top of their list is the need to find a scrummaging expert, with coaches specialising in lineouts, offloads and restarts also being sought.
But it is their scrummaging which appears in most drastic need of improvement.
Having somehow survived for the best part of the last decade with a front five that were barely NPC standard, the Wallabies finally had their frailties exposed last season.
Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive Gary Flowers said the end-of-season review process that led to the sacking of former coach Eddie Jones was responsible for highlighting other other areas that needed to be addressed.
Flowers said: "The clock is ticking but we will put the right structure and the right coaching team in place to put the Wallabies in a winning position for 2007.
"If we are to be brutally honest, we are significantly behind many of our competitors in key areas of the game. We remain number one in areas like defence but elsewhere - restarts, offloads, lineouts and scrummaging we are deficient compared with our major rivals."
The news that the ARU are no longer prepared to stand back and watch the Wallabies tumble down the world rankings will be warmly welcomed by incumbent loosehead Al Baxter.
Baxter has copped media flak about his poor technique and was forced to leave the field at Twickenham last year when he failed dismally to cope with the power of England's Andy Sheridan.
"I think if you don't have a specific coach in that specific role, you're not going to do top level training and development," said Baxter. "I think where we had parity a few years ago, everyone else has taken leaps ahead and because we haven't had a specific focus on the scrum, we haven't taken those steps forward, and thereby fallen behind the pack.
"I would love to see the new Australian coaching staff have a specific scrum coach." Click here to read full article and comments.
Super 14: Is David Nucifora having a quiet chuckle?
The transformation in the Brumbies fortunes has been remarkable. From perennial S12 challengers they didn't make the semi-finals last year and this year hasn't started any better.
Following on from their season opener 21-5 defeat to the Waratahs last week, on Friday the Brumbies slumped further by being beaten 40-7 by the Hurricanes.
The 6 tries to 1 feat apart, the Brumbies never looked to be in control and it may portend an annus horribilis to come.
It should be remembered that the Brumbies have always prided themselves on being a player-led franchise. From their uncertain origins it has been the senior players who have tasked themselves with driving the success of the franchise forward.
So I suppose it shouldn't have surprised us when they were leading the 2004 campaign with 5 rounds to go and informed their coach that his services would no longer be required after the competition.
It sure as hell surprised Nucifora though, who said he was, "bitterly disappointed" and added, "Despite the appalling way I have been treated, I am committed to the success of the team."
At the time the Brumbies chief, Rob Clarke, was quoted on the BBC website as saying, "The task that David was employed to do for us was to introduce change to the squad, with a particular emphasis on the development of younger players.
"We believe that he has completed this task successfully and the next stage of the team and rugby programme development requires another set of skills.
"We need to think of the future, and believe we require another coach."
However, it is widely believed that it was a player revolt by the senior Brumbies players that led to the palace coup.
History tells us that the 2004, Nucifora coached, Brumbies went on to defeat the superb Crusaders 47-38 to lift the Super 12 Trophy.
Will they turn it around, or were they too hasty in discarding Nucifora? We are about to find out. Click here to read full article and comments.
