Springboks
The leader of the Stormers, Schalk Burger, is the right man to take over the captaincy of the Springboks.
The afternoon of the same morning they arrived from South Africa the Springboks played in their first game against a combined team of Western Australia in PERTH.
Charles Blunt the President of Australian rugby formally welcomed every Springbok with a handshake before the first match (see Picture below).
This picture shows Charles Blunt president of Australia rugby being introduced to the players by Hannes Marais before the first match. Here he shakes hands with Dirk de Vos.
An era of unprecedented success – a ten-year period where they won five Currie Cup titles (one shared) and three Super Rugby crowns – now gives way to a time of rebuilding.
This is primarily (although not exclusively) due to the crippling effect of departures, mostly of senior players.
From left to right: Robbie Barnard; Piet Visagie; Johan Spies and Joggie Jansen
One of the brightest stints in the history of Springbok rugby was in 1970 and 1971. In 1970 South Africa of course won the 4 test series against Brain Lochore super All Black team at home. The 1971 international season started off with two tests at home against a French touring side. The Springboks won the first one on 12 June 1971 in Bloemfontein 22-9 and drew the second one 8 all on 19 June 1971 in Durban.
What a year of would-haves, could-haves, should-haves and, ultimately, bitter underachievement for the Springboks in a year when the All Blacks enjoyed the delicious irony of at last winning the World Cup despite being outplayed in the final. After 26 years of being the best team on the planet but failing to land the Webb Ellis Cup because of the wicked vagaries of death-or-glory rugby, the wheel finally turned for the Kiwis at the global showpiece.
Springbok flank Francois Louw has been praised by rugby legend Sir Ian McGeechan for his contribution for Bath over the past two months, and hailed “a Test match animal.”
Rob Houwing imagines what the country’s five Super Rugby Franchises may wish for as main presents in their stockings on December 25 …
Add your wish list in the comments.
Four years ago, the SA Rugby bosses did the right thing morally by appointing Peter de Villiers as the first black Springbok coach. Next month they will hopefully do the right thing again. This time by picking the best man for the Bok job – doesn’t matter if he is white, caramel, black, or something in-between.
14 July 1956 – Carisbrook, Dunedin: All Blacks 10 / Springboks 6
Test matches are won by taking your changes. The prevailing thought after this test match was that New Zealand deserved to win mostly because they took their chances while South Africa made it easy for them by employing the wrong game tactics, with poor decision making on attack and annoying ball handling errors. Reg Sweet writes in his book ‘Springbok and Silverfern’: “New Zealand had three chances throughout the match. New Zealand took them, and so New Zealand won. It was as straight forward as that.”
The Springbok forwards surprised everyone and were without a doubt the better team in the scrum pushing the All Blacks on repeated occasion’s meters back in the scrum. New Zealand worked out some strategies to counter Claassen in the lineout as the game progressed -making it a bit more of an even contest in the latter stages of the match- but South Africa still won the lineout contest comprehensively 28-35. South Africa won the scrum count 12-21. Reg Sweet wrote: “New Zealand’s pack, astonishing sight, was attempting to heel at times while obviously on the back pedal.”
A really fascinating day at the Beyond Sport Summit – highlighted by an entertaining panel discussion including Michael Johnson and Oscar Pistorius, and chaired by Bob Skinstad – was interrupted slightly upon getting three bits of truly bizarre sporting news …
For some reason, around this time of year, as the grind slows down for the festive season, nostalgia sets in, and my mind starts filling with memories. The Windsor Castle is one of those great memories – and there’s an addendum to this one.
Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu says star playmaker Cecil Afrika’s return will be a major boost at the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens.
I just read this blog called Sore Eye. Some of the reactions are posted at the bottom of the article. What do YOU think?
Allister Coetzee is a talker, a great talker, but perhaps an interminable talker. Funny, articulate, intelligent, passionate, the kind of talker who silences the braai with one-man entertainment. He’s the leading contender, they say, for Bok coach. Who knows what SARU will do, but I reckon Allister Coetzee is not the man. Continue reading
The Executive Council of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) has called a Special General Council meeting for January with a view to ratifying the appointment of the Springbok coach.
The meeting will take place in Cape Town on January 27, 2012 and is required by the SARU constitution, which specifies that the appointment of the Springbok coach has to be approved by the General Council to become official.
Former Lions, Stormers, and Western Province star center, Jaque Fourie, has reportedly been offered R22 million for the next two years to stay with his Japanese club Panasonic.
WIAN DU PREEZ is quiet-spoken. Thus, it made sense to meet the Munster and Springbok prop in the calm environs of the Castletroy Carlton Hotel in Limerick, rather than the chaotic surrounds of the Student Cafe in UL.
There is no denying the amount of young talent that was on show at Rugby World Cup 2011. And while we can no doubt look forward to the likes of David Pocock and Toby Faletau playing even better in 2015, there are many stars of the global Game who have seemingly taken part in their last Rugby World Cup match.
Here are some of the top players who will almost certainly find the tournament in England might be a step too far for them.
South Africa ended the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series by winning the final two tournaments in London and Edinburgh and finishing second overall behind champions New Zealand.
With only four days to go until the first leg of the 2011/12 Series, head coach Paul Treu is looking for his side to pick up where they left off, when the Series begins on 25 November on the Australian Gold Coast.
With SA Ruby (SARU) in the throngs of considering the appointment of a new Rugby coach for the Springboks, when Peter de Villiers’ contract concludes in December 2011, it might be prudent to look at results in the last 4 years.
The first thing which emerges is that there has been a steady decline in winning percentages over the last 4 years.
During the first 2 years of the reign of Peter de Villiers the winning percentage was an average of 68 % but during the last 2 years of his reign it has dropped to an average of 56.5 % for those 2 years.
It has to be noted that Peter de Villiers inherited a World Cup winning squad, which has now slipped to No 4 in the IRB rankings, below France.
The Springboks will return to Soweto for the final home Test of 2012 when they take on newly-crowned world champions New Zealand in the final encounter of the new Rugby Championship which replaced the Tri-Nations.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) will approach a shortlist of preferred candidates in the process to appoint a Springbok coach, the Executive Council of SARU announced on Thursday.
Read this on News 24, think it is hysterical!!!!!
Wellington – New Zealand rugby referee Bryce Lawrence on Wednesday said he won’t officiate in South Africa if he fears for his safety after his performance at last month’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final between the Springboks and Australia.
Lawrence’s control of the October 9 quarter-final, won 11-9 by Australia to end South Africa’ reign as world champion, was strongly criticized by Springboks players, coaching staff and fans.
South Africa 41 / Nelson Combined 3
The 1956 Springboks had two matches left to start playing as a team before the first test, it was not about notching up results anymore it was time for the forwards to start playing as a pack and for the backline to show some polish.
Saracens boss Edward Griffiths says the South African Rugby Union (SARU) should consider playing its international rugby in the Northern Hemisphere in future.
The Springboks will kick-off the new format competition against the Pumas when the all-new “The Castle Rugby Championship” launches in 2012 – the replacement for the Tri-Nations series, SANZAR announced on Tuesday.
An agreement confirming Argentina’s participation was signed in Auckland recently by the SANZAR Joint Venture partners after several months of negotiations with the Unión Argentina de Rugby (UAR) and the International Rugby Board (IRB).
AUSTRALIA will defend their southern hemisphere title next year in an expanded competition called The Rugby Championship – and will meet new boys Argentina on the Gold Coast.
South African Rugby coach Peter de Villiers says that he will re-apply for the Springbok coaching position after his contract expires next month.
With the rugby season for the 15-man code taking a break in the Southern Hemisphere, the upcoming Sevens Series gives rugby players the opportunity to remain sharp and competitive.
One of the players who jumped at this opportunity is Cheetahs centre, Robert Ebersohn, who, instead of opting for a break after a long season, was called up to the Blitzbokke squad for the first three events in the World Sevens Tour.
The appearance of the World Cup-winning All Black team in Soweto and the process to appoint a new Springbok coach appear to be the main bullet points on the agenda this week.
Springboks 22 / Poverty Bay-East Coast Combined 0
The Springboks travelled by plane -for the first time on tour- from Wellington to Gisborne to play a combined Poverty Bay-East Coach team.
Gisborne was a lovely town (now a city) nestling amid the hills and woods which fringe Poverty Bay, where Captain Cook made his first landing in Aotearoa. Continue reading
As the most capped Springbok ever, Victor Matfield is a national hero who transcends rugby provincialism and has fans across the world. His rugby exploits and achievements are numerous: he was an instrumental part of the team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup, he helped win two Tri Nations tournaments for the Boks, he has lifted the Super 14 trophy three times with the Bulls and he has enjoyed Currie Cup glory.
John Smit and Victor Matfield have been vital cogs in the engine room of the Springbok team for more than a decade; will their contributions in the Green and Gold jersey ever be matched?
Ian Jones made an interesting remark the other night on TV during pre-match run-up to the RWC final. The panel were debating Graham Henry’s tenure as All Black coach and what makes him so successful. Jake White over emphasized –for understandable reasons- the fact that NZRU stuck with Henry and gave him another change, which brought that experience of having been there and knowing what it’s all about into the team environment. Jake has a good point to which I’ll return a little later in my dialogue, but Ian Jones took a different angle.
The Western Province duo of Rassie Erasmus and Allister Coetzee have declared themselves unavailable for the Springbok coaching job and have no interest in the position at this time.
Springbok and Western Province centre Jaque Fourie has announced that he will be joining Japanese club Panasonic Wild Knights.