Francois Pienaar
The South African Rugby Union (Saru) moved swiftly to shift blame, following Springbok utility back Frans Steyn’s claims that Bok coach Peter de Villiers has been disrespectful.
Was this year really such a massive failure? What will Peter answer to questions and what plans will he put on the table.
If you were part of the review panel on the 28th of September , what would you ask Peter? Post your questions here.
South African Rugby Boss Oregan Hoskins has called for calm amid widespread calls for Springboks coach Peter de Villiers to be sacked.
Springbok rugby fans can look forward to a mid-morning World Cup after the International Rugby Board released the kick-off times for next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.
The Boks will need to get used to playing night games, as most of their pool matches have been scheduled for a late (in South African terms) 8:30pm kick-off.
Having had a look at the new look Super 15 schedule for 2011 and reviewing the results of this year’s Tri-Nations and going back all the way to the End Of Year Tour last November it is becoming increasingly clear that our top rugby players are playing way too much rugby. Injuries have also taken it’ s toll on a number of Springboks and a few had to take care of long standing injuries such as Fourie Du Preez with his shoulder. Continue reading
The likely absence of Butch James could open the door to a Springbok return for Peter Grant at flyhalf on the Grand Slam tour at the end of the year.
The Super 15 can be tantamount to a SANZAR suicide if players from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia are not managed carefully to enable them to perform optimally at next year’s World Cup.
It is clear that SARU is using window dressing to appease Springbok supporters. The next instalment of a “review” with PDV is most likely to add more frustration and disillusionment to loyal Springbok supporters. Continue reading
September 28 is D-Day for Peter de Villiers.
In the pre isolation years South Africa played 174 Tests winning 112 Tests, drawing 15 Tests and losing 47 Tests. With an overall win rate of 64% Continue reading
Reports are rife this morning that some contracted players are revolting against their conditioning programme and that certain agreements reached between them and SARU is being breached. Continue reading
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Wallaby coaching staff have replaced Saia Faingaa and Dean Mumm with the more experienced and hardened duo of Stephen Moore and Mark Chisholm. With some lineout wobbles in Pretoria and some less than perfect scrum work, a change here can’t be a bad thing.
The 19 contracted Springbok frontliners will be available for at least three Absa Currie Cup matches this year, in order to give them match practice before the end of the year tour.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) jointly announced a ground-breaking rights deal for Springbok players’ image rights with the Springbok Players’ Trust on Tuesday.
Springboks coach Peter de Villiers’ mouth has gotten him in trouble again after he claimed that the Springboks were “100 per cent” in support of accused murderer and Bulls rugby prop Bees Roux.
A lot has been said about the way the Springboks seemed to have stagnated in their play. The most obvious direction to pass blame is towards PDV and his assistant coaches. They are the ones who must give direction to the team. They are also primarily responsible for selecting a group of players that can fit into a game plan that is required to win tests. Continue reading
The possibility of further misery or a likely last chance in 2010 to get his Test-level act back together?
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers had a simple statement for all those critical of the national team even though they had won this weekend: Either you’re for us or you’re against us.
Recordings of both After Match Press Conferences were made by me, both on Audio Format as well as seperately on Video Format.
The Audio Recordings:
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The Video Recordings: The Videos are long, so they’ll take long to buffer before playing, hope you have proper broadband
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Springboks (24) 44 / Wallabies (28) 31 (Final Score)
The Springboks hosted the Wallabies in their penultimate encounter against one another this year in the Tri-Nations at Loftus, Pretoria, South Africa at 17:00 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The game was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SuperSport HD and M-Net with previews from 16:00 SA Time.
In a very strange match, the Springboks proved too tough for the Wallabies, running in 5 tries to 4.
What was apparent to me of this match was how severely off form Bryan Habana was the whole match and what a positive impact Chiliboy Ralepelle made as a substitute for a lacklustre John Smit.
Francois Hougaard is my Man Of The Match!
Victor Matfield did a lap of honour after the match to celebrate his 100th Test Cap.
Time for some tough decisions for Peter de Villiers….. put Bryan Habana and John Smit out to pasture, their time has come and gone!
Former Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer on Friday presented the Springbok jerseys to the Test team playing the Wallabies in a Tri-Nations Test at Loftus on Saturday.
For lock Victor Matfield this was a special occasion on the eve of his 100th Test match.
The Springboks host the Wallabies at Loftus, Pretoria at 17:00 on Saturday 28 August in the 2nd last Tri-Nations encounter between the 2 teams for 2010.
We see the match like this:
John Smit was answering fan questions in the Springbok E-zine and was asked how long he still feels he can play at this level.
Despite consistent criticism throughout this year’s Vodacom Tri-Nations campaign, and a mediocre showing in his 100th Test match, where his fitness and form was consistently questioned, Smit still believes he can soldier on until the World Cup.
The captain was visibly irritated last week by questions about him retiring and a rumour that went around that he would call it a day after the 100th cap. After missing the tackle that cost the Boks the game against the All Blacks at FNB Stadium, he has returned this week more determined than ever to make up for his mistake.
A few little tit-bits regarding the rest of the Tri-Nations of 2010.
Ex Test prop Toks van der Linde, now part-time TV presenter, will become the first Ex-Springbok to sing the National Anthem on-field ahead of the Tri-Nations clash between the Springboks and Wallabies at Loftus on Saturday.
At the end of this year’s Tri-Nations the Springbok management will have to stand objectively and clinically look at the difference between blind loyalty and blind faith as opposed to reward in selecting the best Bokke to lead them into next year’s Rugby World Cup.
This is not their only poser, they have to decide whether Assistant Staff has the ability and afinity to take it competently from here as well as how to adapt or fine-tune game plans for the World Cup.
Today I look at player selection only, the game plan strategies and coaching staff will have to wait for another time.
Francois Steyn, who has been called up for South Africa’s Tri-Nations match against Australia, is “not ready” for Test rugby, according to his Racing-Metro coach Pierre Berbizier.
The Springboks have made two changes to their starting line-up for the Vodacom Tri-Nations Test against Australia at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
The New Zealand media wasted no time in getting another dig in at South African head coach Peter de Villiers.
The World Cup holders, the Springboks, are not in good health and the South African Rugby Union will be bonkers if Peter de Villiers, the fake coach, should remain in charge.
Flanker Juan Smith is the only injury concern in the Springbok camp following the weekend’s 22-29 loss to the All Blacks at the FNB Stadium.
After 4 Springbok losses in a row in a Tournament, the Tri-Nations, which lies very close to the hearts of South Africans and with the Rugby World Cup now exactly a year from now, the temptation is there to insist on taking the knives out and to cut some dead wood from the Springbok team and management.
… but we’ve been there before, remembering so well how we, me included, shouted from the rooftops that Jake White needed the axe.