No funnies but just some general rambling, feel free to dig in, agree or disagree!

So some guys who has had the pleasure to recieve my emails over the last couple of months will recall I had my reservations about P Divvie and his coaching skills. It got to the silly point where there was so much talk about who actually coaches the team and who should get the credit…or discredit as it may, on the performance of the Boks. I decided and stated that I will reserve judgement till after the home leg of the Trinations.

Being the beancounter and all, I had all the potential senarious work out before the first ball was kicked in anger. It was really simple you know, one or no wins and I would not even have to point to the knives…they would be drawn and ready to be used. Two wins and I could easily pick sides based on performance and the way we played…three wins and obviously it would point to a coach I never gave enough credit.

Soooo three wins later and I should be here eating humble pie and confess my  undying support to the new messaiah, P Divvie. So why do I feel slightly uneasy in doing it?

A little lack of sleep, being up till some time after 3am this morning (for obvious reasons), combined by some idiot knocking on my front door at the stupid time of 6.30am looking for Peter Habib, just to realise he has the wrong house (no kidding, I was ready to show him the error of his ways without him asking me to…), I had sometime to think about it all.

First of all, lets look at the current Bok team, without much trouble I can state we have probably the worlds best in the following  positions, now I don’t state this lightly, but base it on performances over the last two or three years:

(I add in arguably…just to make sure I don’t sound to full of myself/my team…but…)

I would suggest we have the best, if not then very close to the best Captain running around these days. McCaw is up there but he is struggling to pull an underperforming team together.

Our hooker is arguably the best in the world…maybe if the Kiwi hookers learn to find their jumpers it will change.

Without doubt we have the best tighthead lock in the world…just keep your back straight and I will do the rest…says it all.

We have the best jumping lock on the world, just yesterday they took half the balls of the Wobblies, who stated it would be a targeted area. Yes, he did not do it on his own, but would it have been the same if he was not there..? Not on your nelly…

In Brussow we now have the premier fetcher in the world, from outplaying anything the Lions could throw at him, he now outplayed McCaw and Smith on consecutive Saturdays, who else is left?

We have the best #9 in the world, daylight second and who knows/cares who comes in 3rd…

We have a #10 who may well be limited as a complete flyhalf, but he fits in 100% with the current team. Kicking at 90+% and what more do you need…ja ok, his line kicking is also great. He is no Giteau but who needs him in a team like the current Bok team?

And the rest? Well, they are more than adequate, supporting the team dynamic and all playing their part…

So where does this leave P Divvie and my uneasiness? Well, he mucked up some subs in previous games and again yesterday did some odd things in taking off the Beast and moving Smith the LH?! Replacing Juan with Danie when Juan had his best run this year did not make sense…moving Steyn to #15 to make place for Ruan, well maybe but why go to that extend, rather do a straight swap thn…the game was won and we know Ruan would not let us down. Then we chuck in the pregnant meerkat and what do you then expect from Ruan?

So the bottomline…P Divvie did what was expected, he won all 3 games and we can not take away from his record. The above does however show that my Grannie could probably coach this team (she can’t score tries like Kabous anymore, but that is a different story) with some success.

I am happy with the wins but a friend at my boy’s Rugby this morning probably summed it up best…the Boks retained their own service game…the proof is still ahead!

On a side note, I expect Gituea to recieve a slap on the wrist with the provibiale wet bus ticket for his elbow in the face of Du Preez, maybe a week which will see him ‘rest’ with the team and be back in action when business  resumes….lets see if I am wrong.

I wanted to talk about Ebrahim’s ratings but I think I typed enough for the time being…

240 Responses to Jawellnofine…Sunday Jan and some venting of the spleen.

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  • 1

    Janneman
    “so you think you can tell
    heaven from hell”

  • 2

    Hier is n ander artikel oor min of meer dieselle onderwerp in News 24:
    White or De Villiers?
    by Peter Neill

    2009-08-04 07:55

    Who’s the best – Jake White or Peter De Villiers? It’s time to settle this argument once and for all. To help put things into perspective, maybe the real comparison should not be between Jake White and Peter De Villiers, but rather between Rudolph Straeuli and both Peter De Villiers and Jake White?

    We all know that White was better than Straeuli but for me it would go without saying that I would also choose PDV as national coach over Rudolph Straeuli any day of the week and twice on match days.

    But to those PDV fans who fail to understand why so many people are still stuck on Jake White and find it hard to move on, please believe me when I say, it’s NOT because Peter is black and Jake is White – excuse the pun!

    Instead it’s ALL about the timing of SARU’s decision to fire Jake White, especially after the way White had turned us from being World Chumps into World Champs in four years. For those of you who still believe that JW was not fired, but was actually a racist who left of his own accord, you really are a bunch of easily misguided individuals and obviously you haven’t bothered to either listen carefully or to try to understand the man.

    The same however can be said of those who simply choose to dismiss Peter De Villiers and give him no credit for anything good that has happened to this team. If the team plays badly it’s De Villier’s fault. If the team plays well it’s only because of White, the players and the assistant coaches.

    The fact of the matter is that the team is continuing to win AND improve under De Villiers and one has to wonder where we would be now if Rudolph Straeuli had taken the reins again after White, instead of De Villiers? Don’t laugh – nothing could surprise me anymore in rugby with SARU.

    Furthermore, it’s difficult to speculate how far White could have gone with this team. Take Graham Henry and the All Blacks as an example – sometimes a change is as good as a holiday – and right now the All Blacks are in serious need of a change of coach, even though Henry previously guided the All Blacks through a golden era in New Zealand’s rugby history.

    Now think about this – had SARU decided to appoint Peter De Villiers after Straeuli instead of Jake White, things could have been very different. I have no doubt that De Villiers would have done better than Straeuli, and who knows, maybe just as well as Jake White? Maybe by now, we would all be singing Peter De Villiers praises instead?

    The reality is that De Villiers was always on a hiding to nothing because of SARU (as was JW) and maybe it’s us as fans that need to take the lead, and stop blaming De Villiers for SARU’s incompetence? Yaya.I hear all the Heyneke Meyer fans chirping now, but let’s be brutally honest for once. If Heyneke Meyer had achieved the same level of success as De Villiers has at this point, since taking over from White, we would all be satisfied. Right?

    But instead it is about race and that’s simply because of SARU’s poor leadership. They needed a reason to fire JW and chose to make it about race – period! And because of this, poor Peter De Villiers ends up on the receiving end of all our frustrations as fans.

    So for me this debate is more about Straeuli and SARU and the timing of White’s departure, simply because the period preceding White’s appointment was such a shocker that almost anything and anybody could have done better. In fact I can’t remember a time when Springbok rugby was at such a low, and the future looked so hopeless.

    That’s not to say that Jake didn’t make mistakes or lose games once he was appointed, and quite frankly the same can now be said of Peter De Villiers. I would suggest to all of Jake’s followers not to underestimate De Villiers because of your resentment against SARU. He may not have Jake’s ability to communicate and his style may lack the guile, but he is not to be underestimated and his results have proved that so far, and no one can question his passion.

    Like Jake, this man thinks outside the box and hasn’t been scared to try new plays or players, and in most cases when it hasn’t worked he has corrected the problem quickly, so you would be foolish only to credit the players and not the coach for our recent results.

    Yes I admit that he has put his foot in his mouth a few times, but remember that English is not the man’s first language and to judge him as dumb because of this is silly. Look at Bafana Bafana’s Brazilian coach, Carlos Parreira and ask yourself how dumb does he sound?

    Furthermore, remember how White fired up the Irish in a press conference by telling them that not one of their team would make his starting 15 – a team that included Brian O’Driscoll – how stupid was that?

    Anyway, the mark of a good leader is to be able to empower those around him and to adapt and to say that Peter has not done this is naïve and not impartial. Just like Jake did with Eddie Jones, Peter has empowered his support coaches and even the players. In fact I honestly would like to see Peter De Villiers and Jake White working together in future (White could handle the press) and maybe Peter could also hire the likes of Eddie Jones and Robbie Deans as consultants.

    Of course the cynics would then say that it’s not Peter, it’s only Eddie and Robbie that are making the difference, but they would be 100% wrong, as ultimately it’s this kind of “out of the box” mentality and leadership that separates the good leaders from the great.

  • 3

    Wrong to compare them.
    Unless they played the same opposition on the same day with access to the same national player pool and identical weather it is all really fruitless.
    For White to have won the RWC in that moment in time was phenomenal. There can be no doubt Snor has derived some benefit from this,

  • 4

    The real test for Peter will be in the away leg, if he can win 1 there it wll finally swing his way. One can manipulate stats , but a record is there for a reason, that is the only way.
    Look at this last 3 coaches.

    AGAINST TRI NATIONS OPPONENTS
    RS
    OVERALL Played 8- W -2-L-6
    AWAY PLAYED 4- W 0 -L 4 -%0

    JW
    OVERALL P 18 W 8 L10
    AWAY P 9 W 1 L8 %11

    PDV
    PLAYED 9 – W 5 L- 4
    AWAY P 3- W 1- L 2- %33
    Peter needs a win there

  • 5

    Records and statistics are just smoke and mirrors.
    Can’t compare a new game farm still in it’s infancy with Mala Mala.
    Especially when most of the animals on the new game farm are moved straight to Mala Mala.
    Any comparison is fruitless and mere speculation unless the sample data is either very large or exactly the same. Rugby doesn’t offer that.

  • 6

    5
    That is your opinion, imagine his record went the other way, would that then be used?

  • 7

    Rugby is a sport based on of Friction de Guerre.
    In rugby all things are simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.
    There are countless unforeseeable minor incidents during the course of a game that affect the level of 30 to 44 different but simultaneous performances.
    This Friction de Guerre distinguishes real rugby from rugby on a piece of paper.

    One cannot compare coaches, other than with subjective memories and personal prejudice. It is a philisophical impossibility. I truly believe this.

  • 8

    I dont think for one moment PdV is the Saviour of our Rugby, but he is also not the Devil, although his surname lends that way 😆 One thing he has in his favor is the transformation noose around his neck was never tight. Imagine HM got the job with the constant bickering about the demographics etc.

    PdV is clever bringing up Chillies, Januarie and Adi up at the end, if HM did that he would have been slaughtered , he gets away with it. We were told that this year there MUST be 7 POCs in the 22, did he do that. I think we can count our lucky stars he got the job.

    What i said last night is that he must stay one step ahead of the rest, get new blood in, get new ideas in the backline department. Let FdP vary it a bit, he can.

  • 9

    7
    I dont want to argue , but sorry i dont understand your view. Can one somehow come to a conclusion on why JW only won 1 game in the 3N away. I can get a excuse for 2 matches, the 2 in 07, when he rested his WC players.

    The other 7 somehow there was something amiss, what would you say.
    Maybe the answer is just EJ, we just needed a little bit more?

  • 10

    Different era, JW inherited zero ethos, zero values, zero structure and almost no self belief on the field and boardrooms. Most of the squad saw no future in the Saffa game.
    JW spent most his time establishing these vital cornerstones in an incredibly difficult enviroment / circumstances.
    Snor didn’t have to do this. He came in and just got on with rugby.
    In fact he has the first real crack at proper coaching without the sideshows.

    YET I have said it on a number of occasions JW will be a brilliant DOR, Snor the better coach.

    I just can’t see how you can compare their ratio’s.

  • 11

    Straulis last- last 2 is age and prev tests
    Loose-head Prop Christo Bezuidenhout Pumas 33 3
    Hooker John Smit Sharks 25 25#
    Tight-head Prop Faan Rautenbach WP 27 11
    Lock Bakkies Botha Blue Bulls 24 10#
    Lock Victor Matfield Blue Bulls 26 23#
    Flank (C) Corné Krige WP 28 38
    Flank Danie Rossouw Blue Bulls 25 3#
    Eighthman Juan Smith Cheetahs 22 9#
    Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen Blue Bulls 32 88* was best by far even JW would pick
    Flyhalf Derick Hougaard Blue Bulls 20 4 3 penalties
    Left Wing Thinus Delport Falcons 28 17
    Inside Centre De Wet Barry WP 25 22
    Outside Centre Jorrie Muller Lions 22 5
    Right Wing Ashwin Willemse Lions 22 8
    Full Back Jaco van der Westhuyzen Blue Bulls 25 8
    Reserve Jaque Fourie Lions 20 3#
    Reserve Richard Bands Blue Bulls 29 10
    Reserve Schalk (junior) Burger WP 20 2#
    Reserve Danie Coetzee Blue Bulls 26 11
    Reserve Louis Koen Lions 28 14
    Reserve Selborne Boome WP 28 19
    Reserve Neil de Kock WP 24 9

    JWs WC Final team
    Position Player Province Age Prev Tests Scoring
    Loose-head Prop Os du Randt Cheetahs 35 79
    Hooker (C) John Smit Sharks 29 73
    Tight-head Prop CJ van der Linde Cheetahs 27 46
    Lock Bakkies Botha Blue Bulls 28 43
    Lock Victor Matfield Blue Bulls 30 66
    Flank Schalk (junior) Burger WP 24 37
    Flank Juan Smith Cheetahs 26 40
    Eighthman Danie Rossouw Blue Bulls 29 30
    Scrumhalf Fourie du Preez Blue Bulls 25 37
    Flyhalf Butch James Sharks 28 25
    Left Wing Bryan Habana Blue Bulls 24 34
    Inside Centre Francois Steyn Sharks 20 15 1 penalty
    Outside Centre Jaque Fourie Lions 24 36
    Right Wing JP Pietersen Sharks 21 14
    Full Back Percy Montgomery Sharks 33 93 4 penalties
    Reserve Bismarck du Plessis Sharks 23 8
    Reserve Wikus van Heerden Blue Bulls 28 13
    Tel hoeveel hy geerf het van vorige Afrigters. Die hele ding dat JW Springbok rugby gered het is oor opgeblaas. Ek waardeer dat hy waardes geskep het dat hy by sy manne gestaan het, maar dan weer is dit sy manne. n Bok afrigter het die HELE land tot sy beskiking , hulle is daar vir hom om te gebruik, hoe hy die manne wat hy kies laat saamwerk in n span is die geheim.

  • 12

    Die enigste ou wat Jake self ontdek het is Frans Steyn, hy het sover gegaan om sy skoolhoof te bel en sy size en bench press stats te kry dit het hom die ja woord gegee. En nou nog sit ons met die spoiled brat.

  • 13

    SuperBul. ons kan maar verskil op die een, dit is fine.

    Ek sal hou by my stelling dat Friction de Guerre verhoed dat mens coaches, onderwysers, oorlogs-generaals ens kan vergelyk, daar is net te veel veranderlikes

    Tot mens die sentrale filosofie van Friction de Guerre omhels sal ons nie konsensus bereik nie. Niks verkeerd daarmee nie.

    EN ek glo regtig dat JW SA Rugby op die regte pad gesit het na jare se gemors, net deur om waardes / vertroue te hervestig. Hy gaan dieselfde doen by die Lions.

    Wie wat geerf het maak nie vir my sin nie want ‘n 20-jarige Matfield kan mos nie met ‘n 28-jarige Matfield vergelyk word IN TERME VAN afrigters vergelyk?

    Maar ek los dit daar, gaan nou gisteraand se varkribs warm maak.

  • 14

    Ek het nou net gisteraand se braaivleis saam met n bier op die stoep ge eet vir brekvis terwyl ek na die dam kyk so ek is happy.Die bokke het ook gewen en ek moes na “Radio sonder mense” se kak komentaar luister en daarna die delayed game op sabc tv kyk met nog kakker commontators.Ek voel jammer vir mense sonder sattelite tv.

  • 15

    Yes Fern, daai lot is omtrent n beproewing.
    Maar die Bokkies moet seker maar moerig voel omdat hulle nie kan afrond nie. Hel ons het seker nou al n wavrag vol driee weggegooi die laaste maand.
    Darem nou n goeie breek, ek hoop hulle kry n tydtjie af om hul koppe skoon te kry want daai trip oorkant toe gaan moeilik wees.

  • 16

    Watter dam Fern
    Bosveld of Golfbaan?

  • 17

    Ek het my kar maar daar langs my braai by die water gepark,met my deur oop en na die game geluister met my Boktrui aan terwyl ek braai en kyk na die vlermuise wat muskiete vang.

  • 18

    Noord Natal bul-a-bloo,moenie eers vra waar nie dis in die middel van nerens.

  • 19

    Klink dem lekker Fern.
    Ouens soos Super en jy is baie bevooreg.
    Maar dan weer mens maak mos jou eie geluk.

  • 20

    Ek het net n kaya hier,shower,toilet en kombuis.Slaap op n sleepercouch,plek is omtrent 24 squares groot.Sal hom later groter maak en kamers aanbou en hopelik hier aftree.

  • 21

    gooeie more vriende, groot uitslag gister. Ons praat weer later,ek moet raak gereed vir ‘n cricket middagete!!

    Phew…..!!! 😉

  • 22

    Groot grond? Kan jy iets aanhou!

  • 23

    Hi and bye Lady C.
    That was fast………………………….

  • 24

    bul die kaya behoort aan my ma en disn 1500square stand,ek kan vorentoe nog aanbou en agter kan n mens n paar hoenders aan hou en n lekker tuin maak op jou ou dag.Dis net n wegbreek plek maar as sy op pension gaan sal ek die plek groter maak en inrig met n klein groentetonnel,hoenderhok ens net om haar besig tehou.

  • 25

    Eish klink lekker. Enjoy Fern.
    Laat ek gou ry. Kontrak renew.
    Gaan hierdie keer gaan met Blackberry Curve 8900.
    Hoop dit is nie ‘n fout nie.

  • 26

    Terloops voor ek waai.
    Gaan kyk http://www.cusd.cornell.edu/
    Dit is my idee van ‘n bosveld kaya in Afrika.
    100% selfsufficient.
    Hulle Facebook het baie foto’s.

  • 27

    Hellooooooo

    …. and that is about all the “mannetjie with the hammer” is allowing me to say….

  • 28

    26
    Darem nog lewe in daai lyf

  • 29

    27 – SuperBul,

    Ok maar net-net…. maar mammie issie meer kwaad vir my nie, so dit tel seker punte.

  • 30

    Ek hoor sopas ek moet later buite innie son staan en braai….. “spikes” gaan my moerrrrr vandag…. dis verseker

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