IRB Juniors
There is some confusion among local Super Rugby coaches over where they stand with regards to players who have been selected for the national Under-20 squad about to contest the Junior World Cup in Stellenbosch and Bellville which starts next week.
Vodacom Blue Bulls flank Wian Liebenberg will lead a powerful SA Under-20 team at the IRB Junior World Championship 2012 in Cape Town, the South African Rugby Union announced on Tuesday.
SARU named the 28-man squad during a midday media conference held at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport.
South Africa Under-20 coach Dawie Theron has picked a complete new selection to face the visiting Argentina Pumitas in their second of three international matches at the Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch (4pm).
The team comprise mostly of Under-19 players and those who were not involved in the opening clash on Saturday at the same venue.
William Small-Smith and Craig Barry, who are both contracted to the Springbok Sevens team, have been included in a squad of 33 players for the South African Under-20 training camp in Stellenbosch in January.
Dawie Theron, coach of the South African Under-20 side, is satisfied with the significant amount of work his training squad put in during their camp in Stellenbosch, which concluded on Wednesday.
Former Springbok centre Brendan Venter and Nazeem Adams, head coach of the Western Province Under-19 side, have been appointed as assistant coaches of the South African Under-20 side.
A squad of more than 100 players have been invited to Kimberley for a first round of SA Under-20 trials next week.
The camp will run from November 6 to 11 during which time the players will compete in a series of trial matches, to be held on November 8 and 10 at GWK Park in Kimberley.
So the die has been cast and the quarter finals match-ups have been decided.
Folks, friends and fuddy-duddies,
When one starts a web site, the first thing you do is to register a Domain… and through time it becomes your signature, brand name, the web site’s personal name and surname, much like a person has a name and surname. That is your Identity, that is how people know how to find you, and know what you look and sound like.
For a person to move house, or from Province to Province, or perhaps from Country to Country, is rightly seen as a massive decision and reknowned to be one off the most traumatic occurences in life, only beaten by death in the family or divorce from your spouse.
Another week, another, so close, yet so far result for the Lions. Another analysis showing heaps of missed opportunities, coupled with poor decision making. Because let’s be honest, the Lions aren’t nearly as poor as their results show them to be, they just have a knack for knowing exactly when to self-destruct. In 2010 we blamed the coaches, in 2011 enter a new coach, but the nett result stays the same, the Lions are STILL languishing at the bottom of the log. This begs the question: What on earth is wrong in Johannesburg?
I am probably starting to sound like an agony aunt, but Rugby Press in general really leave so much to be desired, it seems more in place at a kindergarden party. I am not pretending to be above the board, because what I do can hardly be described as journalism, partially biased social commentary more like. Everyone knows I am a Stormers supporter, I never pretended to be anything else, however, in the interest of all bloggers and other people who have to read my ramblings, I try to be as honest as possible in my assessments, and I will never decapitate someone for not agreeing with my stance on a subject, and lastly I try to be entertaining…even ridiculous at times…
Much has been said about Peter de Villiers’ insistence on picking players that apparently need a rest, experts on the human condition, ex-rugby players, and everyone has had a go at old SNORRE, and generally the consensus is that this has been somewhat of a bad idea. Well, let’s have the Saint play a bit of Devil’s Advocate…
South Africa, famous for affirmative action, crooked politicians, the 2010 Soccer World Cup and last, but definitely not least, its one-eyed rugby public. Yes, I include everyone in the latter, from little Elton in Cape Town to old Jan in Pretoria, as well as myself, and each and every one of our esteemed bloggers…especially the Bulls…sorry, I had to get a shot in…hehehe.
Coming to the end of what is probably the most fiercely contested Super 14 competition ever, one has to ask if the Super 14 is really as super, as we in the Southern Hemisphere make it out to be. In reality the competition does not have 14 “super” teams, hell, we hardly have 7. Now we are expanding to 15 teams? What we are actually doing is beefing up the race to the wooden spoon, because none of the newer franchises have any place, or chance to actually compete for the trophy. Continue reading
OK, GBS is busy, so it gives me a chance to entertain you with MY version of what I believe will happen this weekend. My team isn’t playing, so I do not stand a chance of seeming over-confident or arrogant, so let’s look at what’s on in Super 14 Round 7.
Rugby is a game that I, as well as, I am sure, multitudes of people from all around the world feel very strongly about. We will wait in anticipation for the season to kick off, moaning constantly about the lack of any “real” sport in the off season. During the games, we will sit, breathlessly waiting until the final whistle, whether the result is a foregone conclusion or not. We will passionately defend our team in any situation, blaming anything from the ref, the touch-judge, the other team’s supporters or even imaginary people “read 1995 World Cup’s Suzie” instead of admitting that our boys were in the wrong.
Firstly let me say this, The Saint is no Saint, and everything I say must be taken with a little laugh and a lot of patience….
Enough is enough, the Lions have messed up my whole Superbru season…how the hell am I supposed to predict exactly what margin they are going to lose by next week? For the uninformed, this my way of joking….
Congratulations to the Australian Rugby Union – who against all odds, have managed (read carefully and meticulously choreographed) to bring the 15th Super Rugby franchise to Melbourne, especially when the ARU has 80,000 registered rugby players and SA Rugby over 500,000, over 5 times the number of players in Australia.