Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile is “furious” about the comment by Springbok coach Peter de Villiers that the Springboks support Blue Bulls prop and murder suspect Bees Roux.
“Goodness man! Get yourself a spokesperson!” was the advice offered by Stofile to the Bok coach.
This season could be the most important in the history of rugby union. We are entering a 12-month period that will define the game’s future, change the view we had of it looking back, and put down the foundations for global domination that will see rugby challenge the biggest spectator sports.
There has, since 2008, been comments over and over again that Peter took a world champion side and screwed it up, because he could not maintain and improve on that team’s performance. In 2008 we had a poor tri nations following the World Cup victory, but in 2009 we white washed the All Blacks, beat Australia twice and we beat the British and Irish Lions.
We need to look at the World Champion side in perspective. Were they really as good as we thought they were, being the World Champions? Continue reading
The Blue Bulls are the biggest losers from the Springbok reconditioning program that kicks off from this week until the 6th of October. Continue reading
How does a team that came of such a high in 2009 hit such a low in 2010, more importantly, can it be fixed? Continue reading
Former Springbok coach Jake White believes the warning lights are flickering for Bok rugby. Continue reading
“It’s nice to be back.”
The remark by Bakkies Botha could just as well have been the official comment from the Blue Bulls.
The Blue Bulls may have a swagger following their win over the Sharks, but Free State would also have started their preparations for Saturday’s Currie Cup match against the champions with a smile.
Springbok prop CJ van der Linde will strengthen the Cheetahs’ pack for the clash with the Blue Bulls.
Jake White wants his old job back – but only as an interim measure to help get Springbok rugby back on track before handing over to his former assistant, Allister Coetzee, after 2011.
Short and sweet, this is what Divvie serves South Africans after yet another Tri-Nations loss….
I was a loose head prop and don’t pretent to know too much about rugby, but if I was given the opportunity to coach the springboks for a day, here is what I would like to say to them. Continue reading
New Zealand Women have been crowned RWC Champions for the fourth time in succession. Continue reading
Stats from Australia , more will follow from the rugby guru’s. Interpret these the way you feel. Lets hear what comes out of this.
It was what one could call a winter of discontent for the Springboks as they lost their fifth Tri-Nations match from six in Bloemfontein on Saturday and set a new Tri-Nations record by conceding the most tries in the 15 years of the competition. The 41-39 loss meant the Springboks ended bottom of the log.
Simple. What you see is what you get. That is Francois Hougaard.
Humble about his successes, yet confident in his abilities. Quiet-spoken about his fame, but not shy about his hairstyle or shiny set of wheels.
The Champions League Twenty20 has the potential to be one of the world’s biggest cricket tournaments, former Australia opening batsman Matthew Hayden said on Sunday.
The annual review of the Springboks’ performance in the Vodacom Tri-Nations will be scheduled with Springbok coach Peter de Villiers for later this month.
The review will cover all aspects of the Springboks’ performances.
What a weekend of upsets. The previous weekend had two surprise results, with one a real upset. The Cheetah win against WP was not such a shock but the Bulls sent back to Pretoria with the wool over their head was. This weekend had again two great surprises.
Reaction on the 2nd test
In the firing line, the All Black backline unable to score tries in spite of having the majority of the possession. Too much kicking, the charge against the halfbacks. After a TV broadcast of the test even the Springboks were asked about this; their response slightly arrogant. Terry McLean writes:
After a telefilm of the test, the Springboks, or the thinking ones, this evening were agreed on one thing –if the All Blacks had been really on the ball, they would have won by 20, even 25, to nil. The case in point just before halftime when Laidlaw ran the blindside from a loose movement with Murdoch, Moreton and Birtwistle lined up outside him. Ahead stood only Gainsford and Brynard.
With any sort of accuracy in passing and any sort of speed in movement, it must have been a try at the other end. But did this try come off? Not a ghost of a chance. Murdoch kicked.
“I tell you,” said Gainsford not without a touch of scorn, “those All Black backs will never run against us. They never will. They will always kick.” This remains to be seen and proved; but it was a devastating display of defensiveness of New Zealand rugby at the highest level. Continue reading
Where does one begin, in 2009 PDV led his charges to a series win over the Lions and to the Tri Nations trophy, during this time there was a lot of criticism for the way they played and also a couple of controversial issues raised in regards to on the field “fouls” commited by Schalk Burger (alleged eye gouge), Bakkies Botha (clearing out the ruck with no arms), this continued into 2010 with Bakkies Botha (head butt) once again in the frame. There were also a number of spear tackles which saw Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie receive bans for these dangerous tackles. Continue reading
Blue Bulls (13) 40 / Sharks (24) 34 (Final Score)
The Blue Bulls hosted the Sharks at Loftus, Pretoria at 19:15 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Blue Bulls fought back from an 11-point halftime score to win a magnificent game, earning their bonus point for tries, winning 40 / 34.
The Sharks get one Log point for losing by less than 7 points.
This win was absolutely crucial for the Blue Bulls Currie Cup aspirations.
Springboks (13) 39 / Wallabies (31) 41 (Final Score)
The Springboks hosted the Wallabies at Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein at 17:00 SA Time in their last Tri-Nations and Mandela Cup encounter of 2010. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, M-Net, SuperSport HD in SA.
Australia first squandered a 25-point lead, to clinch the game on full time with a successful long distance penalty by Kurtley Beale. Final score Wallabies 41 / 39.
Injuries have reduced the Wallabies to a make-shift line-up. If all players were available, they would look a vastly different side. Greg Growden reports from Bloemfontein.
The Barloworld Toyota Pumas held off a fast-finishing Platinum Leopards’ outfit to claim a narrow 27-26 (half-time 20-13) in their Absa Currie Cup match at Olen Park in Potchefstroom on Friday.
Solid defence by the Free State Cheetahs late in their Absa Currie Cup match against Griquas on Friday night earned them a well-deserved 33-28 win. Griquas now have a mountain to climb if they want to reach the semi-finals.
Continue reading
A rampant Lions team were able to give their new Super 15 coach, John Mitchell, a fantastic welcome be easily outgunning Western Province at Ellis Park on Friday night.
Lions (19) 46 / WP (21) 28 (Final Score)
The Lions hosted WP at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 on Friday 3 September 2010. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
A spirited Lions team came with a huge surge in the last 20 minutes of the game and absolutely demolished WP in that period.
The Lions eventually ran out comfortable winners by 46 / 28 and scoring their bonus point in the process and denying WP any Log points.
Well done Lions, a consumate performance from a Team on the up!
Griquas (9) 28 / Cheetahs (17) 33 (Final Score)
Griquas hosted the Cheetahs at GWK Park, Kimberley at 17:00 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game was NOT broadcast live on TV.
The Cheetahs won by 33 / 28, a 5-point margin.
We have read a lot and discussed a lot that our players are overplayed. The Tim Noakes’ and the Neels Liebel’s and other scientists all have their opinions and we have recently learned that the ideal is for a player to play no more than 1400 to 1600 minutes of Rugby per year.
I am of the view that these minutes are dependant on whether you are a backline, looseforward or tight forward player and also on your age and your proneness to injury. Guys like Bismarck get injured often, and its probably a challenge to even get him up to the 1600 minute mark! Continue reading
The last time the Wallabies won on the Highveld was in 1963 when they won two of the four tests to square the series. They lost the first test (14-3) at Loftus Versveld, won the second (9-5) at Newlands and the third one (11-9) at Ellis Park before losing the last one (22-6) Boet Erasmus in Port Elizabeth. Continue reading
The Springboks host the Wallabies in thier last Tri-Nations and Mandela Plate encounter of 2010 against one another.
As far as Tri-Nations glory goes, this is a dead rubber apart from playing to avoid the wooden spoon.
We preview this game below.
We preview the 4 Currie Cup Premier Division matches for this weekend.
3 Games are played tonight, 1 tomorrow.
The 4 matches to be played are:
- GWK Griquas vs Vodacom Free State Cheetahs – GWK Park, Kimberley, Friday 3 September 2010 at 17:00
- Platinum Leopards vs Barloworld Toyota Pumas – Friday 3 September 2010 at 19:00
- Xerox Lions vs Vodacom Western Province – Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg, Friday 3 September 2010 at 19:10
- Vodacom Blue Bulls vs The Sharks – Loftus, Pretoria, Saturday 4 September 2010 at 19:15
Just read an article by Marc Hinton (Nonu and Smith the best ever) in which he argues that Nonu and Smith is right up there as one the best centre combinations –if not the best ever. He then goes on and compare them with other All Black centre combinations as if New Zealand is the only country that can produce top class centers. Continue reading
The Springbok management aren’t concerned about the apparent slump in form of winger Bryan Habana during this year’s Vodacom Tri Nations tournament.
Last night I watched the semi finals of the IRB Womens Rugby World Cup between France and New Zealand, and England and Australia. New Zealand totally outplayed France and England beat Australia in a typical low scoring Northern hemisphere type of match. Watching these games last night I was terribly disappointed in the lack of eye candy on display. I mean, one would expect a world class event to at least show some semblance of quality, but really, these Rugby games were so error ridden and clumsy, I could not enjoy it. It was frustrating to say the least!
I do not get why women want to play Rugby in any event. Rugby is a collision sport and women are not genetically designed for this type of game. Well, unless you are a Mamma Nonu with breast implants, with nipples harder than nails pointing through your breast pads! Either that girl was on a testosterone high or she was very pleased to be playing the game! Either way, the sheer physical nature of the game is not fitting for women, not to even speak about the type of embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions which may occur. White is just not a fitting colour for a women’s rugby jersey!
