Two Cents

Since I was a little boy i have been a Western Province supporter, even during my Francois Pienaar-phase I still supported Province. When the Blue run started and we could not buy a trophy i still supported the beloved blue and white stripped team…even during the Luke area and that Figian/Samoan/Islander who blew our chances year after year.

A few years ago I moved to Port Elizabeth and to my astonishment there were very few Eastern Province supporters. Local was nie lekker nie! The local union was in disarray and some cheecky oke was trying his best to use every single contact he had to get this once proud province back to the glory days of yesteryear. Though my heart will always be proudly Province I did my best to get behind the local boys, as long as they did not play WP, and even call them my adopted team. I proudly acknowledged their inclusion into Super Rugby and stood behind them all the way. Even though I decided not to play superbru when asked to pick a winner by some bloggers i picked the Kings to win…and i actually got it right twice! I got excited when they scored points and sad when they lost…but nothing can come close to the absolute anger and frustration i have experienced this season from the Stormers!

Listening to the coach and the captain week after week fumbling with their useless words on why they almost made it and did not…. K@K! Or what small changes would make all the difference… K@K! And week after week i saw slight glimses of what could possibly have been THE YEAR…but no, not this time, not this year. At least we won the Curry Cup and i thought the tide had turned, we have turned the corner, taken the step, etc to a winning province…THE winning province! But no… We have so many great players…JdV, Gio, Brain, JdJ, Deon, Dwain, Andries, Etzie, Tiaan, Ginger en nog so baie ander name! But NO, another year of failure!

Now, to calm myself and to make a point, i will move to another sport, Football, soccer, a hooligan sport, i my opinion, with overpaid mommy’s boys who throw a hissy fit if they cant play every week. Sorry, off topic… my point i am trying to make is that with all the things i dislike about the sport they do know how things must change when a team keeps under performing. Even ending second could be the end of your carreer…look at that guy who thinks he was/is the chosen-one. Gone, thanks for coming, pick up your coat at the door…byebye!

My point is clear, talented players are not performing. Talented players in a seemingly professional setup are not performing. Things need to change. Do we need new players? Yes, we are lacking in some areas and depth but that is not enough. The time has come for province and its fat executive committee to start acting like a professional set up… ring the changes! What is not/has not been working for the last few years? Why cant Province take the step up from competitive to champions? How can some of the most exciting backline players in the world look so dull? How can a union that is known for great running rugby kick the ball more than the land of Naas Botha, Morne Steyn and Hougie?

If this was football AC would be on his bike after the first 5 games. The sport must evolve and blaming the ref (admittedly they are super poor this year) has been the fall back for too long. You keep blaming those half-arsed speedcops to determine the winner. Score more points and you win! Thats that, end of story. Just to illustrate how bad it is, the Kings who only got their full squad together less than six months before SR 2013 started beat the Rebels but the Stormers that have more Springboks and Junior World Cup winners than non-Springboks could not beat the bottom dwelling Rebels. How is that possible? Actually the Kings got more points out of their tour than the Sharks or the Stormers got…maybe even the Bulls (how many did the bulls win down under?) 

Something is wrong in the Cape of Good Hope…and it needs to change now!

Now I have read the other blogs and after every weekend there is some mention in the blogs and newspapers about certain players not performing to their abilities. I believe all players go through slumps and good players come back better…just look at Brain Habana and Morne Steyn. MS still to be proven but he has his kicking boots back. Anyway, what if some players never really hit a slump but some darker conspiracy is at play…

You all know exactly what I am referring to: How does a team lead the SA conference two years in a row, only to loose in the play-offs, be called chockers. win the Curry Cup, apparently shake that chockers cloak and then the next year find itself swimming at the bottom of the pool? And that after some hefty purchases during the offseason? What here is different than last year? Why all of a sudden are they unable to scrape out wins? Did the coaching staff change? Did their game change dramatically? Was new blood introduced before its time? Does the franchise carry more injured player and less depth than before?

All these are excelent questions…

The blinding truth is that some acquisitions have not worked for the franchise…not by a long shot and after Saterday’s poor performance it all became clear. These players were not out of form, they did not misunderstand the game…they were here to sabotage our season of glory! IT WAS ALMOST TOO OBVIOUS…and that is why it was missed. Jantjies not able to convert a kick infront of goal, Taute unable to catch, run or kick the bloody ball, and if successful turn it over as soon as contact is made, and then the so-called saviour of our depleted looseforwards, Rhodes, gives away a purposeful penalty that he knew would sink the Stormers. He knew he had to step into the light from out of the shadows where he had hidden himself. He had to be the man after his comrades had fallen to injuries…or did they fail…at figures guessed to be beyond the 3mil line they drained the WP coffers to offer nothing to the new ‘adopted’ team. This could be but the tip of the sabotaging iceberg…

Even though you might read this blog and laugh, when you are alone and your mind has time to think of all that has happened things will become more clear. And other questions arise…did they get to Groom and our hero Fourie? Watch this space and this conspiracy unfolds…

So the fight we have all been waiting for is over. And as exciting as that sound, the fight was not. The fight represented an old man with a big mouth fighting a young talentless big mount…and to make matters worst, the fight was cut from twelve rounds to ten…and just as the fight was getting better.

Quick summary: Sonny Bill was much quicker than the old Buffalo and it was always going to be his match if he could hold out for twelve rounds, i mean, shortened ten round fight. The White Buffalo showed he might be slower than his younger challenger but had some tricks up his sleeve, especially towards the end. The fight did not live up to its hype, bar the 8th, 9th and 10th round.

I was shocked when the ref called the tenth round the final round as it had been advertised as twelve rounds. As SBW had been struggling in the last round i immediately thought match fixing (dam you Lance, i cant trust sport anymore).

The final round SBW was out on his feet, just hanging on to Botha. It was sad to see, one, because i wanted WB to knock SBW out and two, i thought it could happen if SBW would just stop hugging Botha. If the round went two more the fight would have belonged to the White Buffalo but would, should and could does not really count. So Sonny Bill is now thinking he can take on the world…

His next opponents will be a lot younger than the 44 year old South African. Probably from the State or the UK. I can not see the Klitschko Brothers from Ukrain even getting out of bed to fight this guy.

I believe myself to be a avid sportsfan, who enjoys more than just my team winning but the contest as a whole…but it seems I am not in the majority in South Africa. Let me explain: yesterday I we went to the final day of the Sevens at the beautiful Nelson Madela stadium. Now I have been to a couple of rugby Tests and some Curry Cup games at the stadium and the atmosphere, especially during the Trinations match in 2011, was amazing. But this was my first IRB Sevens tournament and from the party atmosphere I have seen on TV I was hoping for the same. There sure was a party but, wow, not a very big party at that. I felt the whole event was lost on the friendly city.

IRB Sevens is more than about the host team and its supporters but about the experience of high pace international rugby, combined with some blistering speed and skill… and lately the IPL type dancers or cheerleaders. You dress up in a theme, wear crazy outfits and have fun…and maybe watch a little bit of rugby in between. On a side note, the highlight or lowlight, depending on who’s view you take, was the slightly overweight gentleman in a Borat suit… not pretty and probably scaring for the young girls sitting close by.

I feel that these events are lost on the South African fans and also the administators. The IPL is a great example of getting an awesome atmospher and packed stadiums. In my opinion, packed stadiums make 90% of the atmosphere. The ticket prices are cheap in the IPL and everybody can afford a ticket…and that’s what you want. Especially if you are trying to bring the game to the masses. The unions and government keep talking about transformation and bringing rugby to the previously excluded groups. Then why, if you have such a great opportunity, do they make the tickets so expensive? Main stand R 350 pp and R 150 pp for the opposite side! R20 a beer, R 20 for some slap chips, R 15 for 500ml Coke, etc. Its a very expensive outing. Now according to my ave maths there were about 15 000 people on Sunday at ave spending of about R 250 pp  to R 500 pp works out to about R 3.75 mil to 7.5 mil. Lower the ticket prices by R 100 ave (R 250 and R 100 pp), you almost double your attendance. People will still spend between R 250 to R 500 pp because they stay longer and have more fun. That raises your income to between R 7.5 mil and R 15 mil.

But the way it looked on Sunday, its was not the biggest party to come to PE! Not by a long shot!

What really bugged me even more than the high ticket prices was the fans. Now I am generalising but after the Blitz Boks lost to the All Blacks in the semi-FINAL (because it was more a final than the final, quality-wise) a large group of fans left. Most of the finals were played in front of crowds rivaling first session first day crowds, in other words, not may people. Even the Cup final was played infront of under 50% capacity crowd. It was only the Werstern Cape New Zealand branch (dont get me started on these ‘South Africans’…’brakets’ used becasue they are not really from South Africa, are they?) that made up the biggest part of the crowd…and those few hundred who were there for the party! How can we be so fickle that if we dont make the final we leave? What happened to the whole experience and party vibe and enjoying the spectical? The finals were very entertaining and the Blitz Bokke really showed that they were the second best team of the tournament, not the third best as the final results showed. New Zealand were the better team but only by a wisker, not the scoreline showed in the Cup final vs France. The 3rd-and-4th place game and the Cup final the ABs and Boks broke there opposition and was very one sided games.

I hope that if the IRB Seven does stay in PE the administators incharge of ticket prices will look for long term profits rather than short term profit that would probably be less that it possibly could be. And let there be a party! We can alway use another party…at cheaper prices please!

Its been coming for a while and everybody has read or written something in the lines of this new mouth-watering competition. It seems this is the IRB’s way of really uniting rugby and keeping it interesting and also allowing club players to be released without fear of financial loss, for international games.

So how will this new tournament work? And who is involved?

To start with the last question, nearly everybody (clubs and nations).

Then how does this new tournament work? It seems in the last few years the Heineken big boys have been unhappy and either South Africans or New Zealander have complained about the state of Super Rugby. These tournaments will naturally have to fall away and make place for the new Super Heineken Castle Championship Cup Trophy.

The tournament will be played from End of January to the End of November. There will be four breaks during the season to accommodate internationals. Two six week breaks for the 6Nations and 6 weeks for the 4Nations Castle Champions Cup. Then also two three week breaks for autumn and spring Southern-Northen test series.

Twenty four teams will play one round against each other, one year home, the next away. The top four teams play semis and finals. Twenty six week long tournament and a total of 44 weeks of rugby.

Smaller domestic tournament will have to change its format slightly. Curry Cup, Avion Cup, Top14 and all the other simular tournaments will change, for example, the Curry Cup will now not have a premier and first division but just one division. The top four, for example Province, Bulls, Sharks and Cheetahs will not take part in the Curry Cup but whoever end lowest in the SHCCCT will automatically be relegated to the CC, and so for all the other countries too.

Who will get to take part in this awesome competition? The top five rugby nations, rated in terms of their rubgy ability and financial contribution, would each have four teams in the competition, for example South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, England and France. The remaining four spots will go to wild card teams that have qualified by financial and performance based scoring of the club, not the nation from which the club comes from. These clubs have to pay a premium to qualify to get in. Especially the wealth Japanese teams that are ‘gooi-ing’ money left and right.

This tournament will not be held in the RWC year. Will need a plan for that year.

The rest i have not worked out yet. So please contribute. I need to present this to the IRB next week Tuesday…#thisismyideaandwillclaimroyalties

If you are good at maths or able to count the amount of players on the field and bench, you would have noticed the bench being ‘stretched’ to 8 players. This is to accommodate an extra front rower. This might possibly be after the Aussies had to have uncontested scrums in our last outing agaist them in the Championship. The fact of the matter is that this has been happening in the Varsity Cup for the last few years and i think its a very good idea. Not just to avoid the hassel of uncontested scrums but to make scrums more strategic and competitive through out the match. Think of the Curry Cup final where the young Province scrum was struggling until a substitution was made and the Sharks had a lot harder time in the last 20minutes where they previously had dominated.

The other good thing is the return of Schalk Brits. He has been lighting up the northen hemisphere and if not for the nationality rule, he might have played against us a few time already. I know they rate him very highly in the UK. On a personal note, he is also an old school mate of mine and its always good to see your friends do well.

Then ofcourse, which will be mentioned in the first paragraph of every news article and blog is the no10 birth eventually going to Lambie. One could say that HM has eventually woken to his talent but I would not go patting HM on the back to quickly. He picked his favourite son on the bench. To me it show he still does not trust Lambie’s talent. If he did, rather having the second highest rated flyhalf (based on CC form) on the bench. Steyn could do with a full season out of test rugby and only come back next year. Time away would make him more hungry and relaxed. Take Pieter Grant for instance. Before he left for Japan he was very much up and down but after returning he has been much more composed (bar the semis).

I am excited with Lambie at ten and good to see JP Pietersen back in the mix.

I am also very excited about our three looseforwards. These are really big guys. Combined with that the young Etzabeth, we could see some brused Irish. Not to mention the other mosters in the pack…BEEEAAAASSSSTTTTTT!

Some changes i would have liked to have seen is Juan De Jongh at 13 and Taute at 15. Maybe next week. And while we are at it, also pick Rule? the Freestater on the wing against the Scots.

But i know the coach will not take risks and would like to keep his changes conservative. I really hope the niggles with JdV and Flow will not hold them back or have them leave the field early. Below is the team to carry the flag:

SPRINGBOK TEAM (no of test caps in brackets)

15 Zane Kirchner (21) 14 JP Pietersen (45) 13 Jaco Taute (2) 12 Jean de Villiers (captain) (81) 11 Francois Hougaard (24) 10 Pat Lambie (17) 9 Ruan Pienaar (60) 8 Duane Vermeulen (4) 7 Willem Alberts (17) 6 Francois Louw (14) 5 Juandré Kruger (5) 4 Eben Etzebeth (8) 3 Jannie du Plessis (39) 2 Adriaan Strauss (vice-captain) (18) 1 Tendai Mtawarira (41)

Replacements

16 Schalk Brits (3) 17 CJ van der Linde (73) 18 Pat Cilliers (4) 19 Flip van der Merwe (20) 20 Marcell Coetzee (9) 21 Morné Steyn (41) 22 Juan de Jongh (12) 23 Lwazi Mvovo (7)

BUT dont underestimate the Irish. Not in drinking, fighting and also not rugby. They will grind out a win and have done so after being very much the underdogs against a much stronger Aussie team a few years ago.

This week’s drink of choice is Guinness and for lunch potato soup.

Next week we’ll enjoy a good whiskey, single malt, and haggis…deep fried if prefered.

Monday mornings many times leaving me feeling blue,  as it does for many after a disappointing sporting weekend or just the fact that we might have to wait another 5 days before we see our beloved sports team play again. But this weekend it was different…

I felt I was slightly bipolar. If you dont know what bipolar is, quick definition: emotionally you have high highs and low lows…ie emotionally a bit unstable…

Let me break it down. Friday i was so looking forward to us stamping down our authority in the T20 WC after good performances leading to the super8s. Unfortunitely we dropped the ball… we let it slip but firstly not getting enough run to start with and then poor death bowling. So i was sad, especially since i was not too sure about our Boks getting one over the Aussies, even at Loftus in the 4N. To further leave me melancholic my beloved Province just seem to be playing poor rugby and looked average at best.

I know they have almost as much injuries as the Aussies and the good ones are playing for the Boks but still…

Goosen was crying during the anthems, which did not leave me with too much confidence, as it leaves players over emotional and they dont play very fluid rugby. And his first 20 was not good at all but after the try can he openned up abit and things looked much better. Much has been said about the match, so i feel i would not add too much more.

I must just mention my two highlight for the match was Flouw’s one hand dummy pass and Alain Rolland’s comment to the Aussie skipper, sorry, you have already made seven subs, you’ll have to play with 14 men! Loved it!

So there I was back on a high and looking forward to the Proteas playing better and getting a double against the Aussies…like the Castle add…

But once again the top order, aka Levi, got nothing! We crumbled and would have had an even worst result if it wasnt for the unluck spinner, old Peterson. His blistering 34 of 15 balls gave us a half defendible total. How can a number 7 bat with so much ease the the top boys cant make runs? The bowling was good but not great. Then, my recently least favourite cricketer, Parnell, drops a catch which he should have taken, miss fields and gets hammered in an average bowling performance. And when i write average, i mean piss poor! So there goes my mood again…depression! Once again we chock on the big stage… i am so over it.

I had to go do some physical activity to get the endorphenes to cheer me up, and it did with some help from the Indian cricket team. We now had a glimmer of a hope to make the semis but need other teams to do us a favour and we need to make some real runs and bowl well, oh and field better…to put it another way, play a hell of a lot better…atleast i was feeling a bit better.

While making dinner i injured myself in the kitchen (will avoid that place from now on) and had to go to the emergency room to get some stitches. A long sad story…but on my return i put on some Ryder Cup, which had until then been dishartening as the Americans were dominating before the start of the last day 10-6, needing only another 4 and a half points out of 12 to win the cup. The Europeans though were not going to give it up so easily. I could not pull myself away from the TV and watched till  late into the night. As one of the commentators said, it was the best Ryders Cup ever. The Europeans scrambled to win 14 1/2 to 13 1/2! The American players and the very rude and hostile crowd were left stunned.

I went to bed happy and excited for the new week… the Proteas had a glimmer of hope, the Boks looked like they had turned the tied and my hand wasnt hurting too much…

In one of my previous blogs I said we need to change our game plan (as has the rest of the rugby loving fans) and that we should stop kicking away posession. We (HM) needs to pick guys like Goosen to get the backline on the front foot. When Gossen was chosen for the touring squad i was happy, when he got picked for the match 22 i was even more happy…but then… Saturday rolled a long…

and guess what happend?

We had this game in the bag and then we kicked away the ball again and again…

We should have crushed the Aussies by four tries in the first half but no! Morne Steyn will attack the line with a three-man overlap. Thankfully Habana was there to save the day but in the end the kicking game again did not pay off! HM’s first lost perhaps but the signs were there all along!

The game is won with ball in hand, always! No exception! Ask the Stormers how their season ended…without the ball…

I eventually woke up this evening from my work induced coma and realised the squad for the tour down under was named. I rushed to my laptop searched the web and there it was… the team to regain our honour after the our humiliating draw to the Pumas.

Thanks to SuperSport…

The squad is:

Willem Alberts (The Sharks) 13 caps – in my opinion needs to step up more, he is a monster of a player and needs to own that.

Andries Bekker (DHL Western Province) 26 caps  – what? this guy should be filling Victor’s shoes and dominate international lineouts but he is not…big step up needed!

Craig Burden (The Sharks) uncapped – well done sharkie! the wing-come-hooker cracks it after playing third string to Bissie and JS at the Sharks.

Pat Cilliers (MTN Golden Lions) 2 caps – really happy with his work rate and solid scrum work.

Marcell Coetzee (The Sharks) 5 caps  – the future looks bright with this mini-schalk…soon we will call other up-and-coming flankers mini-Marcells

Juan de Jongh (DHL Western Province) 10 caps  – i rate him. he runs strong with the ball but sometimes suffers from the terrible disease that many centres suffer from sticky hands. hopefully he’ll get a chance to show his class.

Jean de Villiers (capt, DHL Western Province) 77 caps  – come on cappie! we need the awesome JdV to show some class. leave this crash bang boom style. step somebody!

Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks) 35 caps – what can i say? pure class…for 60min…

Eben Etzebeth (DHL Western Province) 5 caps – awesome! no fear in this young gun.

Johan Goosen (Toyota FS Cheetahs) uncapped – if you read my previous blog, as HM does apparenty does, i said this guy must be our no10. at least he is in the squad…well done HM.

Dean Greyling (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 2 caps – not convinced he is international material.

Bryan Habana (DHL Western Province) 79 caps  – some guys come and go, this guy just rest a little but he keeps coming back to class. super individual!

Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 20 caps – wing or scrumhalf? he is not convincing as a no9.

Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 17 caps  – he is like the Wynand Olivier of fullbacks: great curry cup and super rugby player but thats it. predictable in every asset of his play.

Juandré Kruger (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 3 caps – not bad, not great but the way andries bakker is playing he seems more hungry…and i’ll take that above brilliance with no passion!

Pat Lambie (The Sharks) 13 caps – come on! what are we waiting for… fullback, flyhalf, just let the kid play!

Tiaan Liebenberg (DHL Western Province) 1 cap - without a proper fetcher on the field guys like this save your bacon and changes games. two minutes on the field saturday and stole the first ball.

Francois Louw (Bath, England) 10 caps – Flow! well come back! fetcher atlast. Big, strong, carries strong, jumps in lineouts and fetches, i rate him…even if he gives away the odd penalty or two…

Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks) 37 caps – BEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSTTTTTTT! what else do you what me to say? can do a bit more…

Lwazi Mvovo (The Sharks) 6 caps – let the kid play! give him the ball in space and let him do what he does best! this oke is awesome with ball in hand, if you’re going to play the kicking game, dont pick him, he is a runner not a kicker!

Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N-Ireland) 56 caps – should start. was never a fan but since his move to Ulster he has grown to be world class, seems to have so much time.

Jacques Potgieter (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 3 caps – crash boom bang…if it wasnt for all the injuries in South Africa’s stock of looseforwards we would never have heard of this oke. dont rate him above curry cup!

Frans Steyn (The Sharks) 51 caps – Let the kid play! what are our centres just crashing the ball up the whole time! our midfield has so much flair but no, we just run straight into the guy infront of us….boring…step someone and SBW the ball…

Morné Steyn (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 39 caps – go home! i am over this boring kicking… at one stange on Saturday he was receiving the ball almost on his own 22m line when the ruck or scrum or lineout was on the halfway line… no wonder our backline looks so flat!

Adriaan Strauss (Toyota FS Cheetahs) 14 caps – second/first best hooker for a long time time. for the next year he is our number one! well done!

Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 16 caps – Flip off! go home! help the BB lose by all your yellow cards and penalties! you are the proverbial dumb forward!

Jano Vermaak (Vodacom Blue Bulls) uncapped – shot. great move from the lions to the blue bulls, and into the bok squad…lucky i feel. bandisio? from the lions or piet van zyl from the freestate are in my opinion much beter.

Duane Vermeulen (DHL Western Province) uncapped – At last! As a province man this makes me so happy! He is and has been our number one 8th man  for some time now and hopefully this injury would not hinder him from being himself. it sucks for province because they are running on fumes in the loose forward department. rumour has it AC is looking towards Paul Roos and Paarl Gym for his bench this week…

Thats my two cents. I hope you enjoyed the read. If you agree with my assessment or not, let me know. Even if you are a Blue Bull…