The official ball that will be used at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand later this year was launched and then shown off at a function at Newlands on Thursday morning.
Called the Gilbert Virtuo, the newest development from Gilbert differs from predecessors in terms of design and in the technology behind its development.
It was given the thumbs up by a number of former Springbok kickers, including Braan van Straaten.
“The ball travels perfectly through the air. It’s aerodynamic and with the adaptation Gilbert has made to both the strength and the bladder it is a pleasure to kick,” said Van Straaten.
Port Elizabeth will host the South African leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series, beating out all comers and old hosts George in a competitive tendering process.
The announcement was made by the South African Rugby Union in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Awesome, now we get to have an excuse to head out to that part of the world.
The inaugural Port Elizabeth event will be hosted at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in early December this year – and the winning bidders are already forecasting a sold-out event.
“I am delighted to be able to confirm that Port Elizabeth will host the SA Sevens for the next four years,” Jurie Roux, Saru CEO, told a media conference in Cape Town on Wednesday.
South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach Jake White has applied and will be interviewed for the head coaching job at Australia’s ACT Brumbies Super 15 team, officials said on Monday.
This follows the sacking of former Brumbies coach Andy Friend after only two games this season, after a reported bust up with the players.
It’s interesting to see Jake getting into coaching again, maybe he can have another stint with the boks? I’d be willing to lay money on the fact Allister Coetzee will coach the boks one day and he will bring Jake White in as a consultant.
The Ex Bull rugby player arrested for the gruesome axe murders of three people for apparently raping his dauighter and giving her HIV, has in fact not got a daughter.
This emerged on Wednesday during his first court appearance.
Joseph Ntshongwana, the 34-year-old former Blue Bulls rugby player stands accused of three axe murders.
He apparently has a history of mental disturbance.
The former Bulls player accused of axe murdering three men who he claimed raped his daughter and infected her with HIV has been described in sporting circles as a Christian and a joker according to a report on News24.
His Facebook profile certainly lends credance to this.
Whilst he is not allowed to be named, it is pretty easy to work out who the accused is with a few Google searches. One of his ex coaches had this to say.
“If the allegations are true, it would be shocking. He is not the kind of person who would want to have a run-in with the law,” said Eric Sauls, head coach of the SWD when the flanker played for the Eagles in 2002.
The 34-year-old former rugby player’s name is known to the Beeld Newspaper.
This story is getting a bit long in the tooth, but it’s being reported once again that Div (aka Super Mario Brothers) is wanting Frans Steyn Back in the Bok team. I have to say, I agree.
You can’t leave the oke with the world longest boot at home or out your team. Enough said.
Div reckons he want’s the Lions to get the services of our boytjie so he can select him for the World Cup later this year.
“We will definitely look at a guy like Frans Steyn and try to speak to the Lions to bring him back for the latter part of the Super Rugby season to speed up his game,” De Villiers said on Wednesday.
Apparently an Ex Blue Bulls rugby player has been going around killing people with an axe. It has been speculated that this is because his daughter was raped and infected with HIV. The name of the accused has not been released yet.
The Bok World Cup Jersey has been unveiled, and not only has the Bok emblem moved to the left sleeve but it is half the size of the Protea emblem.
The IRB Rugby World Cup logo has to appear on the right-hand side of all teams’ jerseys at the tournament.
It was reported that Saru asked the IRB to make an exception for the Boks, but the world governing body refused to budge, which means the Protea (the official emblem of all South African national sports teams) is on the left-hand side of the jersey and the Bok emblem on the left sleeve.
The fact that the Springbok logo is barely noticeable on the sleave is a bit rough. Imagine Englands Rose being chucked to the side of their jersey?
English rugby officials have been left red-faced following the leak of a pre-recorded Nike advert which hails England for winning the Six Nations Grand Slam. Nice one Boys.
I’m sure everyone has heard the addage ‘White Men Can’t Jump’.
This obviously comes from the movie of the same name, with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, from way back in 1992.
You see Billy it's like this, you either smoke or you get smoked. And you got smoked.
Well after this weekends Springboks v All Blacks Game in Bloem to open the Tri Nations for SA, I have to beg to differ. Matfield is a kingpin among men, to use a term I coined myself, he is a ‘Tower Of Strength’ or my other term I have just amde up, a ‘Vertible Collossus’
As Wesley Snipes Character Sidney Deane says in the movie, I don’t mean to brag… but I’m the greatest!
That certainly applies to our Vic.
Victor Matfield, One Jumping Mofo
I was very impressed with the performance of Victor Matfield on Saterday.
This dude brings fear to the opposition with his ability to work out lineout calls. It’s quite often you’ll hear a commentator say… “Matfield has worked out the their lineout calls”
Why? Cos he is the man. We are truly privileged to have him around and Im super thrilled to have him currently playing with Andries Bekker, his obvious heir apparent. It’s a no brainer that he will move on to coach our lineout forwards.
Cos that’s what I would have done… and I’m almost as main as him, cos I can fly.
When I’m dreaming.
Here’s a little diatribe from the movie, between Wesley Snipes Character and Billy Hoyle, played by Woody Harrelson.
Sidney Deane: Can anybody step in for this guy? Anybody? For Mr. Mofo March of Dimes?
Sidney Deane: Billy, listen to me. White men can’t jump.
Sidney Deane: I don’t mean to brag… but I’m the greatest!
Billy Hoyle: You are so stupid. It would take your mother 1, no. 2 hours to watch 60 MINUTES.
I love the way we can get such insightful information so easily nowadays… with a touch of humour of course!
Check it out.
Nice to get a real coaches input on the Ruan Pienaar / Morne Steyn vibe.
BTW Nice work fleckie it’s great to see Western Province playing attractive backline attacking rugby again. I always advocated that Alistair Coetzee was a great coach, and his partnership with Fleckie to coach Western Province in the Currie Cup is a godsend, who knows they may well coach the bokke one day (again for Alistair).
Thought I’d give you peeps a bit of an update on Joost. Apparently he is talking (well he must be to have said this) and is thanking his fans for the well wishes, as per this account from IOL.co.za
Former Springbok rugby captain Joost van der Westhuizen is in a stable condition in hospital, “doing well” and could be discharged “quite soon”.
His spokesperson, Bridget van Oerle, on Monday said he remained under observation at Sunninghill Hospital in Sandton and any heart or brain conditions had been ruled out.
Substance intoxication had also been ruled out and “hopefully the hospital will be discharging him quite soon”.
“His wife, Amor Vittone, and Joost would like to thank people for the incredible support and messages they received from friends and the public,” Oerle said.
Now that I think about it, when Morne Steyn hit that winning kick, I also had heart palpitations and got a wee bit light headed, and I had only had one tequila up until then.
Where there is smoke there is fire. I didn’t comment on this more than my first article [here] cos I was sure after a proper sleep I’d wake up to some proper reporting.
I read over at News24 that Joost is now unable to speak, and doesnt remember the collapsing incident.
Johannesburg – Joost van der Westhuizen, former Springbok captain and – until recently – rugby commentator for M-Net, is in a “very serious but stable condition” in Sunninghill hospital in Johannesburg, after suffering “either a heart attack or a stroke or both”.
Van der Westhuizen’s spokesperson, Bridget van Oerle, said the possibility that he has sustained brain damage “can’t be excluded”.
Van der Westhuizen, 38, had been walking some friends to their car at his home in the exclusive Dainfern suburb late on Saturday night, when he “simply collapsed”, said Mike Bolhuis.
Bolhuis is Van der Westhuizen’s special investigator regarding the infamous sex tape, which apparently shows Van der Westhuizen in the company of a stripper.
Regained consciousness
On Sunday Van der Westhuizen was under “special observation”, and though he has regained consciousness, he apparently can’t talk or remember anything, said Bolhuis.
Doctors will only be able to determine precisely what happened to him, as well as what the damage to his body was, during the course of this week. Whether or not he has brain damage will also only become clear then, said Van Oerle.
His wife, singer Amor Vittone, is in severe shock and has received “medical help”. According to Van Oerle, Vittone is now in a relatively good condition, considering the circumstances. She did not answer her cellphone on Sunday.
Bolhuis says Van der Westhuizen had been spending time with his guests on Saturday night, even though he had complained of not feeling well several times.
“At times he held his chest. When the guests were ready to leave at about 23:00, Joost walked them to their car. Along the way, he suddenly collapsed. Luckily the people who were there with him know a lot about first aid.
‘In laymen’s terms, he was dead’
“They did mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while they waited for the paramedics. At that stage, Joost was not breathing. In laymen’s terms, he was dead.
The article continues here
What can I say, stress can be a killer. Make me wanna retire to a farm in the Karoo like my boet. Interestingly, talking about a simpler life and all that, I read this pretty informative post about just that last night. Aaah the times when life was simpler. read more about that here.
News24 is reporting that former springbok Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen has been rushed to hospital after a suspected heart attack.
Cape Town – Unconfirmed reports say rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen has been admitted to the Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg.
The hospital spokesperson refused to comment and referred calls to his publicist, who confirmed that Van der Westhuizen had been admitted to hospital for observation.
She declined to say what the nature of his complaint was, but reports indicated that he could have suffered a heart attack.
Joost has been embroiled in various off the field events of late, not least his ‘supposed’ sex video.
I love my rugby and I was really thrilled at the start of Saturdays game with the Springboks playing the British and Irish Lions. We got off to an absulte flier and my initial nervousness with Ruan Pienaar maybe being rusty was dispelled early on.
I have always advocated that we back the coach, but after this weekend I am worried that this oke might actually not know what he is doing. I can understand him wanting to try various ‘fringe squad members’ in tight situations, but to yank off all your top players in such a short period of time? Madness!
Peter de Villiers deffo dodged a bullet here with this 26 – 21 win, and should give John Smit a massive bonus.
Snor makes tracks
“I made a mistake,” De Villiers admitted later. “I made the changes too soon, but I thought we were flat and needed fresh legs and more energy.”
Bru, changing Bakkies, Smit and Beast all in short space isn’t a mistake, it’s a monumental fuck up. Taking your fetcher off with more than a quarter of the game left and replacing him with a lock replacement makes no sense. John Smit had to save the day when Carstens conveniently ‘hurt his shoulder’
Smit said:
“It wasn’t part of the plan and I was just delighted to be back on the field,” said Smit.
“There were four minutes left, the waves (of Lions attacks) were coming at us and I needed to get out there and calm the ship.
Lucky then that it was a front row injury. Lucky too that our Ox has been replaced by a Beast.
So it is being reported that Mike Catt will play for an Alan Solomons coached, Solly Tyibilika captained Southern Kings side against the British and Irish Lions.
This is slightly surprising, seeing Solly as captain, seeing as when he was playing for the bigger franchises he often didn’t ‘make it to practice’
Maybe this is one of those cases of making the delinquent in charge? They tried that with me in High School and see how well I turned out!
Mike Catt, who is nearly 38 and a former Lion, has been included in a provisional Southern Kings XV consisting mainly of former players from the Eastern Cape to face the Lions.
The team selected is not final and it is uncertain whether all the players are available.
Apparently not available are Gcobani Bobo (WP), Skipper Badenhorst (Sharks), Fabian Juries (Cheetahs), Hilton Lobberts (WP), Albert van den Berg (Sharks) and Luke Watson (WP).
The launch of the Eastern Cape franchise coincides with the match against the touring Lions.
The Southern Kings team list as forwarded by Solomons is as follows:
Tiger Mangweni, Vuyo Zangqa, Rudi Coetzee, De Wet Barry, Wylie Human, Mike Catt, Neil de Kock, Darren Nel, Solly Tyibilika (captain), Trevor Hall, Ross Skeate, Mpho Mboyosi, BJ Botha, Hanyani Shimange, Daan Human.
This team is better than I thought it would be, but I can’t see anyone hurrying to want to get a hiding from the Lions, so expect it to change! After the way they dispatched the Xerox Lions who are a slightly more settled team than the Southern Kings can expect to be, I shudder at the thought of this outcome!
SA Rugby has announced the Squads for the upcoming Lions Tours games.
No player who has played for SA is selected for the emerging Boks. Looks pretty decent to me. This is a very strong position we find ourselves in when we can select two such sides. Obviously we can only select a certain amount of players and this is a well balanced selection.
There will be a few knobs who will bemoan a few selections, but in my HUMBLE opinion, well done selectors.
SPRINGBOKS
Forwards (14):
John Smit – Sharks (81) – Captain
Victor Matfield – Vodacom Blue Bulls (80) – Vice-Captain
Andries Bekker – Vodacom Western Province (13)
Bakkies Botha – Vodacom Blue Bulls (55)
Schalk Burger – Vodacom Western Province (49)
Deon Carstens – Sharks (7)
Bismarck du Plessis – Sharks (21)
Ryan Kankowski – Sharks (7)
Tendai Mtawarira – Sharks (10)
Chiliboy Ralepelle – Vodacom Blue Bulls (3)
Danie Rossouw – Vodacom Blue Bulls (36)
Juan Smith – Vodacom Cheetahs (54)
Pierre Spies – Vodacom Blue Bulls (19)
Gurthrö Steenkamp – Vodacom Blue Bulls (20)
Backs (14):
Jean de Villiers – Vodacom Western Province (46)
Fourie du Preez – Vodacom Blue Bulls (43)
Jaque Fourie – Xerox Lions (42)
Bryan Habana – Vodacom Blue Bulls (46)
Adi Jacobs – Sharks (21)
Ricky Januarie – Vodacom Western Province (34)
Odwa Ndungane – Sharks (3)
Jongi Nokwe – Vodacom Cheetahs (3)
Wynand Olivier – Vodacom Blue Bulls (21)
Ruan Pienaar – Sharks (27)
JP Pietersen – Sharks (24)
Earl Rose – Xerox Lions (uncapped)
Frans Steyn – Sharks (27)
Morné Steyn – Vodacom Blue Bulls (uncapped)
EMERGING SPRINGBOKS
Forwards (12):
Jacques Botes – Sharks
Jean Deysel – Sharks
Wian du Preez – Vodacom Cheetahs
Werner Kruger – Vodacom Blue Bullsv Patrick Cilliers – Sharks
Tiaan Liebenberg – Vodacom Western Province
Bandisa Maku – Vodacom Blue Bulls
Dewald Potgieter – Vodacom Blue Bulls – Captain
Wilhelm Steenkamp – Vodacom Blue Bulls
Steven Sykes – Sharks
Franco van der Merwe – Xerox Lions
Duane Vermeulen – Vodacom Western Province
Backs (10):
Heini Adams – Vodacom Blue Bulls
Bjorn Basson – GWK Griquas
Burton Francis – Vodacom Blue Bulls
Zane Kirchner – Vodacom Blue Bulls
Louis Ludik – Xerox Lions
Morgan Newman – Vodacom Western Province
Earl Rose – Xerox Lions
Deon van Rensburg – Platinum Leopards
Jano Vermaak – Xerox Lions
Luzuko Vulindlu – Sharks
Every now and then the peeps over at www.blatant.co.za pull out a pearler.
This is one of them.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Bull thrashed the Chiefs this weekend in the Super 14 final, 61 -17. Everyone I know was pretty thrilled with the idea. I only know a few Kiwis you see. Well I know 1. And he ain’t around right now.
Anyway while checking out the reaction I came across this commentary by the Fuhrer. He is pretty damned pissed off about the events. This is a mash up on the Valkyrie movie, set very cleverly against the weekends events.
As Tom Cruises character Frank Mackey says in Magnolia when asked what he is doing…
“Im quietly judging you.”
Now rugby writers covering the Lions tour to SA need be scared and quake in their boots as I quietly judge them. Just like Frank Mackey does.
Well not so quietly.
Those of you that know me know that I generally know a lot about a lot of things. Therefore, nothing grates me more than someone who is writing specifically about one subject and can’t even get their basic info right. Now I don’t actually CARE if I get any of this wrong, as I’m not that kinda writer.
Don’t judge me.
I have for you exhibit A.
In an article for the Independant regarding the British and Irish Lions Tour to South Africa (which is now showing at a stadium near you BTW), reference is made of the matches that will be played on tour.
ROYAL XV, Saturday, May 30 Venue: Rustenburg (Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace), Capacity: 38,000 Coach: Chaka Willemse. Key players (possible): Michael Bondesio, Dennis Brits, Hannes Franklin. History: An invitational team likely to comprise players from sides like Valke, the Leopards and Pumas as the Lions open their tour at altitude. Verdict: Should prove a comfortable opening victory for the tourists.
Umm ok! Firstly the Stadium is actually seats 42 000 [wiki wiki] but that’s just nitpicking. I have never heard of any of those okes mentioned. The team was made up largely of Griquas players. 11 in fact. The verdict what with the benefit of hindsight, was that the Lions almost got fucked up.
Highly uncomfortable.
Exhibit B.
SHARKS, Wednesday, June 10 Venue: Durban (ABSA Stadium) Capacity: 52,000 Coach: John Plumtree. Key players: John Smit, Ruan Pienaar, Ryan Kankowski. History: Finished third in Super 12 or 14 rugby on three occasions. On their day, a devastating unit under the direction of former Swansea coach John Plumtree. Verdict: Comfortably the strongest of South Africa’s Super 14 sides, they could make life tough for the Lions.
There’s that word again. Comfortably the strongest? You clearly haven’t heard of the Bulls. You won’t read any Shark bashing on this site…. well not now anyway, simply because my team are so KAK! [The Stoners Stormers]
Then follows an arb game against the Southern Kings, who incidentally don’t even have a coach a team or ANYTHING yet, other than a vociferous leader in Cheeky Watson. Just what they need methinks.
I’m getting sidetracked here.
Exhibit C.
SOUTH AFRICA, June 20, June 27 and July 4. Venues: Durban (June 20), Pretoria (Loftus Versfeld, June 27) and Johannesburg (July 4) Capacities: 52,000 (Durban), 45,000 (Pretoria), 60,000 (Johannesburg) Coach: Peter de Villiers. Captain: John Smit. Key players: Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Bryan Habana. History: Current world champions, as they were in 1997 when the Lions last toured South Africa. Notoriously physical and powerful, history is on their side, having won seven Test series against their British and Irish visitors. Verdict: Test series might be closer than many people think, but South Africa to take it 2-1.
Notorious eh? How about key players “The Whole Team”… seriously though, Key player should really be Fourie du Preez. Unless of course you’ve been under a rock.
I also love the way this unnamed writer says currently Worls Champs, like they were last time. Very sneaky.
He then goes on to suggest it’s going on to be closer than we all think. Is it? I think the Boks should kill the Lions.
As for notorious this is what it ACTUALLY means, so we are powerful for bad reasons…?
Adj. 1. notorious – known widely and usually unfavorably; “a notorious gangster”; “the tenderloin district was notorious for vice”; “the infamous Benedict Arnold”;
Furthermore after the last few weeks, Morne Steyn must be the starting flyhalf. So roll on the rhetoric, I can’t wait for all this to be well and truly underway so we can actually see who is who. They’re playing the Lions this Wednesday and THAT should be the first real form indicator.
I back the Lions to win that one, geddit?
My money is on the the new look boks, in their new looks Jerseys, and this time by a long way.
