Ruffling feathers

So it seems that all the Corner_flags ranting and raving about flawed philosophies and thoroughly subdue then penetrate crap realised some fruit yesterday. It is clear that Meyer has showed his hand in terms of his game plan (thuggery), big boys to carry the ball and then hope to wear the opposition down looking for a gap to take. But as I have maintained..that is one dimensional and offers nothing more than unattractive rugby to watch..Those chums who managed to fork out the dosh for a test match ticket must be thoroughly let down. Plan A seemed to get the boks nothing more than…well nothing really…a no result..but it did give the English something to revel in..they matched the bash them to a pulp kind of ruggers the boks wanted to play..and even did so with 14 men on the park. Now when the Boks get to play some bigger boys..we’ll see who gets bashed to a pulp.

At the bulls..this plan A of Meyer worked and worked well..He had a meat factory supplying him with the thugs..At this level it seems his Plan A is going to come short considering after every second test match he will have “injured” players..and seems to be the ones he relies on to play bash and charge with..I must say being objectivbe one has to say that Meisiekind did the best of the thugs but really against better opposition he would have also seen his ass..Now I must say Gio had a bit of a slow start to his game but once he got going…you saw the real quality and need to have something different in your team..some solid tackles…and some good breaks…I think he did well and I could see the want and pride to play coming through…Mr Golden boots Steyn, I am in the team to kick did really well..ag nee sies tog..no he didn’t but seems Jantjies did well warming the bench..apparently the coach does have his favourites..Overall a swak performance..And what was that nonsense Bismark was talking about..new calls and all…oh so different under Meyer…I must say the English Afrikaans must be improving cos they seemed to be a step ahead..disrupting the boks..

Now onto something more positive and uplifting, it is clear that the AB’s don’t have such issues or problems…60-0..now that’s the way you show you World Champions..

I read the headline of this article and thought this must once again be one of those attempts to lure readers with a sensationalist take on things..and I guess it worked in some way (I was curious at how this drug thing all of a sudden became a race thing). When you read the opening paragraph it pretty much explains nothing other than the blokes family figure this is some racial plot against him. Without taking anything away from their personal experience, I would find it hard to relate this particular incident to being a racial witch hunt..considering the majority of the top ten performers in the marathon were non white and discrediting all of them at the same time would maybe justify that thinking.

It seems that this particular drug is very commonly found within sports drinks and has resulted in a few rugby blokes getting sidelined for a bit..(fortunately they had the administration behind them to make it dissappear). I am concerned though that in essence Mamabolo (or any other athlete really)will have no real opportunity to defend himself but only ask for a reduced sentence..I find this to be a bit harsh considering that this could have been a drink that his coach or even sponsors gave him…Anyways I wish the oke well trying to defend his pee the second time round.

Onto another dupe of sorts. It seems the majority of you all are a bit taken aback by the news that Olivier is on his way to the land of the rising sun. Funny thing there is quite a similarity between Mamabolo unknowingly consuming his roids and Olivier being “forced” into the publics rekoning as a Bok hopeful. Amazing how people are willing to believe in that which others tell them is best for them..Olivier was never the best centre..and should never have been selected knowing that he was leaving…says much about Bok pride (Meyer- the head doctor)..I’d suggest you okes back a player like Juan De Jong in future…he ain’t leaving his Bok jersey behind…

Now I am sure you all know by now that Kitchner is indeed an employee of News 24 residing somewhere here in South Africa even though he would like to deny it But I somehow figured he (at least this version of Kitchner/ employee of News 24) would let it slip considering the drop in Kitchner standards over time. This poor bloke is probably taking strain considering the previous versions of him were much more authentic..be that as it may…Kitchner old tool..you’re computer pinging here in SA kept me laughing at how much of a tool you really are..and the the pong that you like to talk..

So it seems that as predicted the final test will be “watered down” in terms of the number of changes being made. Meyer is convinced this is still his strongest team and that no one is out of place…The question then remains if these guys succeed and thoroughly subdue and penetrate….will they be the first choice starters for the next test? I am not convinced that is really the case and exposes a fundamental flaw in his head doc talk. But if it will be..then he would have convinced me of his approach being unique…At this point he is basically doing what most other coach’s have done before…rotate and rest your players once the series is bagged.

Today through some fortunate work duties I actually had to make my way to UWC and saw quite a bit of development going on there..seems that my percpetion of where they currently find themselves as a tertiary institution was informed by some outdated experience..I do also have to apologise for not taking another approach to the blog I did yesterday as I had narrowly interpreted PDivy’s lack of employment from the basis that he had not been approached by these great big name clubs and at the same time overlooking the notion that as he has put it..he has found his dream job. I wonder if Jake White would have taken up that opportunity to develop not only UWC’s rugby, but the surrounding community and rugby stakeholders capacity.

Anyways onto the thoroughly subdue then penetrate philosophy that is attributed to the current bok coach. I suppose this would mean soften them up and then run all over them. I am not totally convinced that this is a sustainable approach when looking at the dynamics of rugby. Let alone the dynamics of rugby..you’re always bound to find someone bigger and stronger than you…and then what.. Gio Aplon as a third or fourth rate full back..I’m not so sure..Olivier as a first choice centre…even he is unsure he should be there ahead of some other players not in the squad…but hey that has always been the vleis mentality in this country..being bigger means being better..

I am going to put my head on a block and say that the game coming up will be closer than last week and that the brawn up front is going to struggle..while the tippy toes guys are going to flourish..

Now this is some good news on a few fronts..PDivy is going back to school . It does leave me wondering though about how it is that the guy who coached the Boks didn’t have so many wonderful offers thrown at him after his stint. Instead he finds himself coaching a University team. This is either some serious forward thinking on his behalf as the drive to increase the rivalry and popularity of the game at that level continues and more money is thrown that way…or he really is that unpopular that no Super Team or any other international club would want to make him an offer he couldn’t resist?

UWC has in many instances been left behind by the historical development that has occured at the other two University’s and I rekon PDivy might draw some attention to them. Just wonder whether this will evenb out the racially polarised university rugby club situation. With Maties and UCT drawing the majority white players and UWC the majority black players..Ironicaly I am both a Matie and an Ikey and have yet to study at UWC…

I managed to get a glimpse of the last bits of the first half and the rest of the match between England…and apparently I missed all the good stuff the Boks produced…Now from the outset..let me just say not all South African men finish up in the first few minutes..some can actually last….What I did manage to see was the utter panick and gutted look on Meyer and Rassie’s face everytime the English kept putting the Boks on the back foot and scoring points at a crucial time in the match..Yes the outcome went the Boks way, but I don’t think that was a consumate performance by the Boks standards..

So the politican in Meyer seems to be coming to the fore..this crap about not caring whether he wins the series but wants to win each match…and not diluting the pride associated with being a bok..absolute head doctor talk…(did he get that saying from PDiv) The reality is that if you win every match you will win the series..but I know he must know that..Now the big question Meyer should answer is, with all the injuries the team has suffered, and the inevitable introduction of players who are not his first or second choice but seems rather to be his third or fourth choice (take full back as an example) has he not done a disservice to those players already..by diluting their possible contribution/ selection to the Bok team??

I was just out of the office a bit and caught the news report on 567 Cape Talk..and Naas was being asked to comment on whats what with the ruggers..I fgured he was going to say something profound…but alas nothing significant to contribute…Anyways thought to google “picture of Naas Botha tackling”…and below is what I could come up with…