Daily Archives: 29 August 2014

Play Rugby be HappyDON’T CALL US

During their 1978 tour of Australia, the great Welsh team of that era tried all sorts of devious methods to get freebie phone calls through to their wives and loved ones back home. The players resorted to tricks like asking restaurant proprietors if they could use the phone — and then calling the other side of the world when the proprietor thought they were ringing a local number. Prop forward Charlie Faulkner — a not-so-bright member of the legendary Pontypool front row — opted for a different tactic at the reception that followed the first Test match in Brisbane.

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SPCA

The SPCA has visited Mondeor High School.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has visited Mondeor High School after reports of two chickens being kicked to death by five matric pupils at the school, the Johannesburg SPCA chief inspector said on Friday.

“We went there yesterday (Thursday) and met with the principal.

The principal says they identified the kids involved but they wanted to meet with the respective parents first,” chief inspector Ronald Ramalata said.

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ALS Ice Bucket ChallengeReaders of R-T might recall that last week we ran a series of articles related to the ALS ice bucket challenges.

It started off with Joost van der Westhuizen doing the challenge and featured the Wallabies and Springbok team.

Well, it seems as if not all these challenges go according to script.

Have a look at these fails.

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SuperBru LogoRound 2 of The Rugby Championship and Round 3 of the Currie Cup is done and dusted!

No real surprises with the results, except the huge margin the All Blacks smashed the Wallabies by, and the fact that the Bokke hardly scraped their way to a 2 point win.

The Springboks have struggled in Argentina the past three years, but most pundits thought the Bokke would at least still be closer to a 10 point margin better than the Pumas, even on a bad day.

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Ben Cummins

The Broncos remonstrate with Ben Cummins after the controversial call.

The NRL’s refereeing crisis went from bad to worse on Friday night, after a ridiculous sin-binning of Brisbane backrower Matt Gillett for an offside call that Phil Gould labelled “the greatest clanger I’ve ever seen”.

After Benji Marshall restarted from a penalty and sprinted towards the Brisbane defence where he was tackled by Justin Hodges, referee Ben Cummins called Gillett offside — even though he had retired almost 30m back after Marshall’s quick tap.

Watch the video here.

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Glenn Moore

NO PROBLEMS ADJUSTING: Newly appointed Blues assistant Glenn Moore in his days as Highlanders’ head coach.

Former Highlanders coach Glenn Moore will take charge of the Blues forward pack for the next two years.

Moore will join the Blues fulltime at the conclusion of the Heartland Championship – he is the current Mid Canterbury head coach – and replace All Blacks skills coach Mick Byrne, who stepped down at this end of last season.

Auckland-born Moore partners head coach Kirwan and assistant Grant Doorey in the coaching team with a back skills coach, who will fill Sir Graham Henry’s void, to be appointed in the coming weeks.

Moore reckons none of his Super Rugby charges will phone to say they can’t make training because the cow shed roof has blown off in a big storm.

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James Slipper

James Slipper

Wallabies vice-captain James Slipper has underlined his standing as the most influential prop in Australian rugby by dominating the awards at the Queensland Reds’ gala ball.

Slipper became the first front-rower to win the coveted Pilecki Medal for a second time on Friday night while also taking out the People’s Choice award and the Spirit of the Reds award.

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Jacques-Louis Potgieter

Jacques-Louis Potgieter

Flyhalf Joshua Stander will earn a first senior start for the Vodacom Blue Bulls in the 2014 Absa Currie Cup when the home team face DHL Western Province at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The 20-year old former Queens College player was bracketed with Jacques-Louis Potgieter, who failed a fitness test.

Stander has played for the Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-21 side in the Absa Provincial Championship this season and was an unused replacement in the victory against the EP Kings last weekend.
Stander will be one of four changes to the side that won against the Kings.

The flyhalf will come in for Tony Jantjies (concussion), while Piet van Zyl (for Rudy Paige – bench), Callie Visagie (for Bongi Mbonambi – bench)) and Werner Kruger (for Marcel van der Merwe – Springboks) will return to the run-on team.

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Deon Stegmann

Blue Bulls captain Deon Stegmann

The Blue Bulls will be in the rare position of underdog when they host Western Province at Loftus Versfeld, in Pretoria on Saturday.

Only a fortnight ago, Province scored a 41-17 victory over the Light Blues in Cape Town.

Two weeks in rugby was a long time though, and the Bulls had since claimed their first win of the competition when they beat, albeit rather unconvincingly, the Eastern Province Kings 30-25 at home in Pretoria.

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Xerox Golden LionsXerox Golden Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has been forced to make several changes to his side, which will face the EP Kings in Port Elizabeth tomorrow.

Captain Warren Whiteley has been drafted into the Springbok squad and will hence be replaced by Willie Britz, who moves up from the bench. Martin Muller will provide cover off the wood.

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James O' Connor

James O’ Connor

James O’Connor’s willingness to shelve any special contract demands is the first sign that a new maturity at the Queensland Reds will replace his old spoiled kid persona.

There were reservations initially at Queensland Rugby Union board level that a player with O’Connor’s rap sheet of poor discipline was a bad fit for the Reds.

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Jurgen Visser

Jurgen Visser

The Vodacom Blue Bulls have been dealt a massive blow with the news that fullback Jurgen Visser has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

According to reports, Visser injured his foot two weeks ago against Western Province and was allowed to take the weekend off against the Kings to recover.

While the medical assessment on Monday indicated he would be fit and ready to train on Tuesday and rejoin the team, more discomfort has seen the medical team review their diagnosis, and the fullback is set to undergo an operation that will see him out of action for at least the next four months.

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Mark Ella - Randwick 1984

Learning from the greats… Mark Ella playing for Randwick in 1984.

When most people refer to the influence of Wallabies legend Mark Ella on rugby union, they recall his on-field wizardry and brilliance with the ball in hand.

Waratahs coach Michael Cheika did on Thursday at a Randwick Rugby Club fund-raising lunch that feted Australian rugby’s four “Invincibles”.

Ella, who played 25 Tests from 1980-1984 before retiring at the of age 25, is one; along with Col Windon, Ken Catchpole and David Campese – all of whom played for the Galloping Greens.

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The Fox Sports Top 5 lookalikes:

 

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w6m2uJtH7l8[/youtube]

 

Scrum

Could this be a thing of the past?

A health expert has called for rugby to be more closely regulated in schools and for scrums and tackles to be removed from the game at that level.

Allyson Pollock, of Queen Mary University of London, told the Sunday Times that schoolboy rugby players have a one-in-six chance of serious injury every season.

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Zac Guildford

Zac Guildford

Zac Guildford is looking to put his past alcohol-fuelled misdemeanours behind him and launch a new chapter in his impressive rugby career with Clermont.

The bad-boy of New Zealand rugby has had his fair share of run-ins with both rugby authorities and the law, but now he says he has a more mature head on his 25-year-old shoulders.

“I made some mistakes in my youth. The time had come to make some changes in my life and coming to Clermont was one of the best I could make,” he said.

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Warren Gatland

WALES COACH: Warren Gatland.

Warren Gatland’s role in helping to broker peace in Welsh rugby’s civil war has included the adoption of a rule preventing players who ply their trade overseas being available for the national team.

After months of bickering, Wales’ national body and its four regions have agreed to terms, signing a £60 million (NZ$118m) deal for six years.

With finances approved, it is hoped the clubs and country will be able to stop the player drain to competitions like the lucrative French club scene.

The Times reported that equally important in the attempt to plug the talent drain was a new ruling, dubbed “Gatland’s Law”, under which players plying their trade outside Wales would be unavailable for selection for the national team.

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Brad Macleod-Henderson & Paul Anthony

Brad Macleod-Henderson & Paul Anthony

John Plumtree coached the Cell C Sharks in six Absa Currie Cup campaigns, and in four of those they topped the log.

They didn’t always convert that advantage. In 2009 they finished top but got bombed by the Cheetahs in a Kings Park semifinal on a day that, Plumtree will probably agree now, he made a mistake by absorbing too many Springboks back into the starting team. The Boks had won a series against the British and Irish Lions that year, as well as the Tri-Nations.

They weren’t in the mood and didn’t have the energy for the Currie Cup.

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Jacques Botes

Personal milestone: Jacques Botes – 150 Currie Cup Caps

Veteran Sharks flank Jacques Botes will break new ground in the Currie Cup on Friday as he extends his appearance record to 150 matches, which will make him the first player to reach this milestone.

Botes will mark this achievement against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday — the team he first represented in the competition.

He made his provincial debut for the Pumas in 2002 and remained at the union until 2004 before joining the Sharks in 2005. Sharks coach Brad Mcleod-Henderson has handed scrumhalf Conrad Hoffmann his first start, while Springbok lock Stephan Lewies continues his return from injury off the bench.

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The 1995 All Blacks

LINGERING PAIN: The 1995 All Blacks look on after losing the World Cup final at Ellis Park, Johannesburg.

The awful truth about the Wallabies’ hammering last weekend is that by 2015 the All Blacks could roll out an entirely different back line and dish it out all over again.

Wallowing in pessimism? Perhaps, but look at the stockpile of talent that wasn’t even in the 23 in Auckland that, in theory, they could select next year.

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