Just as I thougt the flap caps just didn’t had enough versatility in the bowling department and was lacking in batting depth. This of course just make our freezing-up in the heat of the quarters so much more of a bummer.

New Zealand tried hard and went into the game with real fighting spirit.  The boulers and batters (most of them) played to their potential but the team as a whole were not balanced enough for sub-continent circumtances. By virtue of clear thinking and application they were there and there about in this match; needing about 20 to 30 runs in the end. McCallum went three over to early for the flap caps as he could have added at least 12 to 20 runs had he stayed three more overs.

Well done to them for getting so far. The sixth time they’ve reached the semi-finals in one day 50 overs WC tournaments. Better record then us, in this regard, I think.

We had the team to go all the way. The fact that we were beaten by a team that just didn’t have the goods to go on and win in the sub-continent is probably the thing that annoyed me most.

Looking forward to the other semi between the Pakkies and the Indians. I reckon India is going to win it and the tournament.

Bring back Gary Kirsten and Alan Donald as new coaches for the Proteas; both have proven their value as coaches in this tournament I would say.  

To be honest I just couldn’t get excited about the cricket WC this year. I’ve been dissapointed so many times by the choking Proteas that I’ve lost all interest in them.

I just knew they were going to choke again and there it is they’ve done it yet again against New Zealand of all sides. New Zealand cricket has been in the dumbs the last 3 years. Really poor. Some reasonable talent but very poor execution.

For this talented SA side with so much bowling and batting dept to lose in such a way against a team struggling to find itself is just an absolute disgrace.

I think SA cricket has to be complimented for the strides they’ve taken in the right direction in terms of more versatility in the side (like I’ve said in my previous post) but this is just too much for this supporter the handle.

To lose if you have a poor team or against a really good team -playing some outstanding cricket- that I can handle. Throwing your wickets away with poor batting and poor running, that I can’t handle. Losing, while you have one of the most versatile and talented sides in the history of SA cricket, against one of poorest performing teams over the last 4 years is too make an absolute mockery of yourself.

Too many withdrawls from my emotional bankaccount when it come to the Proteas. It will take A LOT to get me excited about SA cricket again, if ever. They will always have my support but -like it has been over the last 4 years- it will remain a case of the black sheep brother in jail. You love him but you expect the worse and you don’t talk about him.

Ooch Proteas this one hurts. It really hurts.

Due to time differences I’ve not watched a lot of cricket so far. Matches start late at night New Zealand time and proceed into the early morning hours. However, after watching a delayed broadcast of the match against Bangladesh and some highlights here and there of previous matches I was impressed with the state of SA cricket.

I’ve made my peace that the Proteas would probably never win the WC due to their tendency to choke and their one-dimensional bowling. The make-up with the current team left me with a rather positive view regarding the SA cricket team. I was pleasantly surprised with the versatility of our bowling squad, the competition with-in the squad of bowlers and the discipline and accuracy of our bowling.

For the first time, since I can remember, we actually have real spin bowlers and leg breakers and there is real competition within the squad to make it into the test team. We have fast bowlers competing against spin bowlers for a place in the team and the players are playing for the team and not for personal accolades. In general the attitude to select a team that suite the circumstances rather than trying to be successful with players suited for South African conditions is refreshing.

The real tournament starts now and the question as to whether the team have really sort their ability to handle pressure- and not choke- will now be answered. Independent, however, from the results over the next few weeks I like the look of the current squad and SA cricket have to be complimented for the step-up and evolutionary change in attitude/approach that has been enforced within a culture that has been traditionally pretty rigid and incapable of changing.

In screaming contrast with the cricket the Bulls have clearly not moved on. They are still clinging to last year’s rugby and are rejecting the signs of the times and the message that was so unmistakably and heartbreakingly effectively delivered by the All Blacks during last year’s tri-nations.

The modern game is about maintaining possession (precision at the breakdowns), pace, and width. The Bulls are still trying to play the game close to the big forwards and to control the pace of the game with a lineout and set piece centred game-plan. They are still trying to smash through defenders with size and power and their ground skills (speed at which the ball are placed and quickness of adjusting body position as you hit the ground as well as the body position of the supporting cavalry) have not improved from last year. Ball acendency I believe is 80% the result of the technique, skill and speed on the ground of the ball carrier as he goes to grond and only 20% the result of the supporting players blowing over. Explosive and quick skillfull movement on the ground -by the ball carrier- is key and my observation is that it is in this area specifically where the bulls are still behind the ball game. They still rely on size and rear support (Stegman and Potgieter) to try and hold onto posession in contast with what you see with the Highlanders, Crusaders and even Sharks namely fast and agrresive movement by the ball carrier as he goes to ground.

The bulls kept losing the ball in contact or kept on kicking it away and that prevented them from getting into the game. The Stormers game plan had some semblance with the way the Crusaders play namely they kept the ball making sure they don’t risk losing it by trying to smash trough defenders and by constantly moving the ball with speed away from the big tacklers to the edges. They also took the Bulls on –effectively one have to add- in the lineouts and scrums making sure they didn’t get bullied in the set piece. The played the ball to the corners with excellent tactical kicking into open space and sped-up the pace of the game at every opportunity.

Grant was clearly the more mercurial flyhalf on the day; his tactical kicking, place kicking and decision making outstanding.

I am waiting for the bulls to make the mental shift that SA cricket have made and my feeling is that this will only happen once the current senior players have retired or moved on and started to play rugby in the Northern hemisphere.

My concern is that these senior Bulls players are also going to be instrumental in the Springbok set-up. Entering the WC with Bulls rugby is going to be interesting and probably not entirely off limits considering the knockout nature of the tournament.

The bulls big problem and therefore potentially the big challenge of the Springboks would be to keep the ball in hand and try and make contact on the fringes away from the big hitters and higher number of tacklers. The ball retention and rucking skills of our outside backs would need some tutoring and the ability –fitness- of our big forwards to play with more width and at faster pace is things that need some attention, is my feeling at this stage.

14 Sept 1976 – Griqualand West 3 / All Blacks 26

Referee Professor Tinkie Heyns was the unlikely –and unwilling, one might add- hero of the fixture in Kimberley.

Kimberley goes with the accolade as the place which featured the ugliest incident during the 1970 tour. A full scale riot resulted in 1970 after a vindictive white punched a coloured running on the field –after the match- trying to get close to his hero Bryan Williams.

There were some ugly incidents in the run-up to this match which set the stage for this fixture to potentially turn just as brutal on the field as the Upington game and just as violent after the game as the 1970 game. The persistent skirmishing during the 1976 game in Upington led to a punch-up that evening in one of the pups between some local supporters and a few of the All Blacks.

The 1970 game resulted in some racial conflict after the game and in run-up to the ’76 fixture in Kimberley the possibility of a repeat of either the ’76 (fighting between players and supporters) Upington scene or the ’70 post match scenes (racial violence) or both become a distinct possibility because of the nature of a number of pre-match incidents.

The All Blacks are in trouble on the field and their friends the coloureds are sorrowing. The coloureds sided with the All Blacks and went out of their way too meet and see their hero’s.

Taking the incidents preceding this match in Kimberley in order of occurrences there was first a scuffle in the cocktail bar of the Savoy hotel. A women sitting with two men attacked one of the men with a knife. Several All Blacks as well as AB manager Noel Stanley had a ringside view of these hostilities and only the intervening of a few journalists –escaping with some scratches and bruises- prevented this incident turning into something really nasty.

The fact that the incident reeked of disrespect for the dignity and well-being of other people could not escape the consciousness of the players. It is hard to treat people you play against (white South Africans or Afrikaners in general) with respect if you don’t respect them as a race/society anymore. It was the end of a long tour during which the Kiwi’s had been repeatedly disillusioned and disconcerted with lack of apathy between black and white and in general with Afrikaner mentality.  

Next, JJ Stewart almost completely lost it when he saw the assistant hotel manager –and dual owner of the hotel where the All Blacks stayed- hurling a young coloured autograph hunter viciously to the ground in the hotel foyer just after the last mentioned took a picture of one of the All Blacks.

Stewart responded with anger; with his face inches away from the hotel owners’ he shouted: “No man does that to a human being, in my presence.” The situation was resolved in the assistant manager’s office but a substantial number of coloureds had gathered outside -by the time the cops arrived- silently but clearly unhappy watching proceedings unfold. The All Blacks went outside and started to mingle with them, signing autographs and generally treating them with acceptance and respect; this contributed to deflating a difficult situation.

All Black coach signing autographs for young fans. JJ Steward took serious offense when one of the coloureds were thrown to the ground by one of the hotel managers in the foyer of the hotel in which they stayed in Kimberley.

Into this mix was also the private dual between Frank Oliver and Hamish Macdonald for a spot in the test side as locking partner for Peter Whiting. Criticism against Macdonald was that he fades when things get hard. Oliver’s’ strength was his ability to brings fire to the pack. These two gents were paired together for this match -for only the second time in 23 matches- competing for a test place. The one out to show that he doesn’t fade when the going gets tough and the other one determined to confirm that he does make a difference to the pack with his fire and liveliness at mauls breakdowns and rucks.  

The atmosphere was loaded, primed like an unstable powder-keg needing the slightest of sparks to ignite.

The match itself started off with fireworks similar to Upington and the situation was inches away from turning into yet another on the field bust-up with the potential to then spark some post-match violence. Tinkie Heyns with full appreciation of his duties took immediate and firm action and in doing so prevented a repeat of Upington 76 and Kimberley 1970. McLean writes:

Heyns was quick enough to see that from the second minute the fury in the Griquas’ forwards promised trouble. Lankester set at Leslie. Leslie responded. There was bitterness in the packs. Leslie was hit a second time. The punch was almost a knockout. Macdonald, not a man to be put upon or allow his teammates to be troubled, scrapped with young. It was the end of the road for Heyns. He spoke to both Leslie and Van As Jordaan and issued his general warning. “We knew then where we stood,” Macdonald said. “No sense in fighting after that.”

A little later in the match, Oliver found himself off-side at a maul (for which he was penalised) but Griquas flanker Jimmy Young -who had been very prominent in the first skirmish as well- let fly, and at, that very precise moment Heyns turned around saw the incident, and ordered Young off. McLean continues:

Young struck. He marched. Heyns was flustered, but firm. He was still flustered, later. He wondered at his career in refereeing. He could have been comforted by the sensible words of T.J. Botha in the Rand Daily Mail. “Professor Heyns’ decision,” T.J. said, “is an indictment of all those referees who have allowed players to start fights and go unpunished. If only one of them had had the courage to send off a player during any of those fight-marred games which followed the Northern Transvaal match, this tour would not have ended in the acrimony which has built up during the last month.” Hear, hear.

Referee Professor Tinkie Heyns has a ringside view as Hamish Macdonald leads with his left in the bout against Jimmy Young at Kimberley. Young was ordered off in the next round for hitting Frank Oliver.

Interestingly, the fighting and brutality of the 1976 tour started during the Northern Transvaal game mainly as a result of inciting articles by John du Toit and Quintes van Rooyen. These articles in essence stirred players and spectators to take action by putting attention on the “bullying” behaviour of Billy Bush.  

Specifically, these articles sort of questioned the manly hood of South African rugby players by stating that –up too the NTVL game- none of the SA teams were able to put Bush at his right place; suggesting between the lines that SA players were either too soft, too scared or not able to sort the bullies in the All Black team.

A tackle by Thys Lourens in front of the main stand on Billy Bush -during the NTVL game- was cheered out of normal proportions indicating that the articles did stir-up players and spectators regarding Billy Bush. The trend was set for the ensuing games. The unspoken but very clearly understood message, was, that any average provincial rugby player could become a folk hero by sorting Billy Bush or any other All Black, for that matter, that seemed a little aggressive or robust.

Jimmy Young ended up the fall guy by responding on the robust play of Macdonald and Oliver who in essence were just competing for a test spot. Oliver and Macdonald jumped mightily in the lineouts and dashed about like spare loose forwards. The difference between the two came in the tight, driving play.

Macdonald was good; Oliver was outstanding. He prompted Griquas scrumhalf Gert Schutte to declare that Oliver was the best driving forward he had encountered all season. Oliver’s mighty game was awarded with fourth test selection the following morning. The margin between agony and ecstasy was pretty slim because either Macdonald or Oliver could have been the ones who got the marching orders that day in Kimberley. As a result of the fighting Andy Leslie suffered a broken denture and prop Perry Harris sported a beaut of a black eye.

Several of the All Blacks later confided that they wouldn’t have been surprised if one of their own players got the marching orders as well.

The game itself was an entertaining conglomeration of errors. Entertaining – because the All Blacks threw the ball around gaily. This resulted in a stuttery performance with some 50/50 passes and an agonising number of handling mistakes but the Kiwis ran in some spanking good tries. Bruce Roberston impressed scoring one try and making a try for Terry Mitchell. The other try scorers were Neil Purvis (2) and flyhalf Duncan Robertson. Laurie Mains, however, played himself right out of contention for the test side. He was indecisive, fumbled around, and got caught in possession too many times and kicked poorly.

Lyn Jaffray in all sort of problems as the All Blacks tried to run the ball against solid defence. Daan Wiese (No 11) is around his knees while Tielman de Villiers is going high. 

Griquas’ only score was a penalty by winger Daan Wiese but did impress with their general structuredness and speed. Gert Schutte the Amazol and Griquas scrumhalf in particular made a good impression. Terry Mclean has the following on the Griqualand West team and Gert Schutte:

Griquas were too good a team to need to fight. Most impressive of their many qualities was speed. Every man raced to his job. The tackling was sharp.

Dirk Slabbert lost only one heel on his own head, a compliment to the qualities and firmness of the packing. Gearge Cronje (2.03 m) and Van As Jordaan (1.98 m) made most effective use of their height and from go the whoa were confounded nuisance to all except Knight, who ripped about like a man determined to win a cap.

Gert Schutte as a scrumhalf was outstanding quick. His pass to Tielman de Villiers on the right wing was so sharp that the later made 18 m and almost made the last five to the tryline. Quality here, no doubt of that; and one wondered why he had not reached higher than the reverse spot for two internationals.

Stanley Esterhuizen, his partner, was nifty, too, and Tos Smith, playing his 156^th game for his province, was a sound and effective back until the pace applied by the All Blacks, especially in the three quarters, became intolerable.

Picture of Gert Schutte who made quite an impression on the Kiwis so much so that they unreservedly voted him the best scrumhalf they had seen on tour.

Griquas Captain and No8 is leaping high here while Jimmy Young on the left is trying his best to interfere with Leslie and Eveleigh.  

Teams

Referee: Tinkie Heyns (Western Province); Crowd 8 000.

Run of play

Wiese missed two shots at penalty. De Villers tried a dropgoal attempt from a penalty and Esterhuizen missed with a penalty from 34 m. Mains missed two from 23 m and sliced a 43 m drop at goal from a penalty.

Oliver was one of four changes for Ellis Park. The others were the recall of Doug Bruce at flyhalf; the switching of Duncan Robertson from flyhalf to fullback in place of Kit Fawcett; the switching of Kent Lambert to loosehead prop for Perry Harris and Billy Bush at tighthead in place of Lambert.

The front row changes meant that the All Blacks went into the fourth test with their fourth front row combination (a different one for each test); Tanner and Lambert for the first test; Johnstone and Bush for the second; Harris and Lambert for the third and Lambert and Bush for the fourth.

11 Sept 1976 – Orange Free State 15 / All Blacks 10

Front page news of the Sunday Rapport was a remark by All Black coach JJ Stewart apparently made in aftermath of  the Bloemfontein match: “I’ll be glad to get out of this stinking country.”

There were a number of things which probably contributed to this sentiment not least of all the reaction of the New Zealand media in response to the violence the kiwi’s encountered in their previous two matches (3^rd test and the Upington match); the dreariness of the match and stay in Bloemfontein; the criticism that Stewart was responsible for causing a split down the middle of the team through faulty selections.

From the New Zealand media and Rugby Board came a volley of discontent and disapproval with the brutality encountered in the preceding two matches; from the South African rugby board came a solemn attempt to tidy up things on the playing field. This culminated in some extreme tedious refereeing which made the game in Bloemfontein an extreme tedious affair.

The Upington match was played on a Monday -due to a public holiday- and the All Blacks therefore arrived in Bloemfontein on the Tuesday spending 5 days in what they regarded a “deadly dull Afrikaner stronghold”. Affected by this they were deadly dull on the Saturday in glorious summer weather and produced according to Terry McLean “the worst performance he had ever seen by an All Black team”. McLean writes:

At an early stage, five minutes after kick-off, Max Baise called the captains together. There had been a flurry between the forwards, nothing serious, but disquieting because of the savage criticisms which were being made in New Zealand about, as that inflammatory journal Sunday News described them, “Springbok savages”, and which caused the Mayor and the Bishop of Auckland both to exclaim that in self-protection the All Blacks should be ferried home immediately.

Max Baise took total control and produced an extreme monotonous demonstration of how to blow a game into nothingness; no fewer than 29 penalties were awarded amidst a constant barrage of peeps at almost every single scrum and lineout.

De Wet Ras kicked himself into oblivion in terms of ever coming close to a Springbok team again. No fewer than 14 times did he attempt place goals from penalties; more than half were from anywhere between 50 and 75 meters; successful with only three. He also missed with two drop kick attempts. Free State was awarded only 16 penalties –one turned around for talking back- which means that there was only one penalty which De Wet Ras didn’t take a place kick at goal. In total the goalkickers tried 20 shots at goal. A large part of this match was therefore nothing more than kickers going through the motions of setting up the ball, lining-up and kicking. Add to this the frequent stoppages for injuries and the ball going out of play the hold-ups for kicks at goal reduced the actual playing time to about 15 minutes. Many of the so-called injury stoppages smacked of gamesmanship, a ruse to break the other side’s concentration and rhythm on attack.

I still remember the flatness of this match; it was during this match that I as a 14 year-old rugby fanatic lost complete interest in the 1976 tour. I can’t recall even listening to last two matches namely the match against Griqualand West and the fourth test. Frankly, I couldn’t care anymore who won the series. I was stupefied that a team like Free State –which was playing extremely exciting rugby in 1976-, could make such a mockery of the game.

Free State –a team that won the Currie Cup in ’76 with magnificent running rugby- did score an excellent try with Gysie Pienaar coming into the line to put Gerrie Germishuys in space. They (OFS) was clearly the better side on the day in terms of moving the ball and late in the second half they made slashing attacks, one of which should have been a try had the referee observed the obstruction by Alan Sutherland. Blithely to this fact –that OFS were the superior outfit with ball in hand and that the All Blacks were NAVI (NO Ambition F-all interest – an Army term) and fed-up (gatvol) almost beyond the point of remedy, and not present on the field- Wouter Hugo directed one goal kick after another turning the match into a De Wet Ras goal kicking circus.

Where Free State was exciting and enterprising with the ball in hand the All Blacks were awful and mucked-up opportunity after opportunity to win a match that they didn’t deserve to win. Terry McLean writes:

The All Blacks incomprehensively fired away a minimum of 12 and a probability of at least 18 points. Going hooked two easy penalties, one from 22 m in the first minute and another from 36 m in the 21^st.

They were wretchedly bad kicks.

In the second half, to compound these instances of ineptitude, the All Blacks threw away three tries.

Williams had the goalline clear, 5 m ahead, but was nabbed. He passed to Sutherland, who was clear, but, rightly, Baise called his pass forward. Fawcett moved up the right touchline with Bruce Robertson and Mitchell alongside. It was a three to one situation; nothing could possibly have stopped Robertson from scoring. Nothing except Fawcett, who decided on one more Fancy-Dan sidestep and by so doing erased his name from the list of worthwhile contributors.

Williams, really the only All Black worth a damn – though Davis manage some good efforts after he joined the Rip von Winkles on the field – slashed up the field, going like the clappers. But with every step off his left foot he veered further and further away from Robertson and closer and closer to a cover-defence which beyond halfway, gratefully clasped him. Leaving Robertson way out yonder, gazing like stout Cortez at wild, blue, entirely unpopulated yonder.

As a consequence of the All Blacks playing like All Fools (using Terry McLean exasperation of annoyance) Free Sate became the third provincial side to topple the All Blacks. It was difficult to assess the merit of the win in relation to the performance by Western Province much earlier on tour simply because the All Blacks were nowhere as sharp in this fixture as they had been in the sixth match at Newlands.

Pressed for a rating, JJ Stewart gave Free State the accolade as the best provincial team. Many of the players still rated Western Province as the best side they played, while some of the forwards nominated Transvaal with its huge pack as the best they encountered. Transvaal and Northern Transvaal did produce some impressive and compelling –in intensity and efficiency- forward play against the tourist but the Free State pack’s ability to counter the All Black forwards was without a doubt key too the outcome of this match. The home pack with Ross van Reenen – a late replacement for Theuns Stofberg –having a cracker and well assisted by Klippies Kritzinger, Eben Jansen and Tiny du Plessis, took second half control and prevented the All Blacks from manufacturing a typical late comeback and against-the-run-of-play-victory-snatch.

Barry Wolmarans – reserve for all four tests- produced one of the best scrumhalf performances of the tour while Gysie Pienaar was all class, exciting whenever he touched the ball and brimming with energy. Gerrie Germishuys seized his one change and scored after receiving a ball picked-up by Gazelle centre Dirk Froneman as it spilled backwards from a tackle on Joggie Jansen. Jansen has lost some speed and power since 1970 but not his ability to read the game and made one good break which could have led to a try if Klippies Kritzinger were a few pounds or Kilograms lighter and half a yard faster.

Gerrie Germishuys evading Sid Going to score Free State’s only try.

Kritzinger on 127 kilograms -although some newspapers reported he was down to 111 kg after having been told that he should get ready to take a place in the bok team for the fourth test- was the surprise inclusion on No7 in the Springbok team in the place of Stofberg who got injured just before this match. That newspaper report –that Klippies lost 16 kg in three weeks- and the fact that Kritzinger seemed not the least surprised when he was told by one of the Kiwis, the evening after the Free State match, that he made the Springbok team for the 4^th test seems to suggest that Kritzinger’s inclusion was not an injury replacement but dicided on at least three weeks before the Bloemfontein match.

There was crying need for more mobility on the side of the scrum but once again the selectors opted for size and height no doubt part of a plan to counter the kiwi’s in the scrums, lineouts and mauls in the last test. The Kiwis (All Back touring party and media) were stunned by this decision of the Springbok selectors and Terry McLean has these delightful few paragraphs on the Klippies Kritzinger selection:

Klippies had been 127 kg about three weeks beforehand but in the interest of his candidature for the Fourth Test team which was to be announced in the evening (after the Free State match) and for which he had been proclaimed a certainty –there was some good information here among some of the Afrikaans writers- Afrikaans newspapers now said he weighed only 111 kg.

Moving at about the maximum velocity of tuatara lizard, Klippies took a pass and headed for the corner 10 m distant. In no time Williams tagged him and Klippies crashed.

Yet he still made the ‘Bok team that night, this despite the ample evidence that his so-called skill or genius as a lineout forward had been completely demolished by Macdonald.

He was at the All Blacks’ party when one of the New Zealanders told him he made the Springbok team. Kritzinger shrugged offhandedly and burrowed into his bear. He, too, must have had good information.

Klippies Kritzinger in the lineout for Free State against the 1976 All Blacks. Kritzinger was a surprise inclusion –for everyone else except for him – in the Springbok team for the 4^th test that evening.

Ken Stewart scored for the Kiwis in the 69^th minute but it was too little too late.

Bruce Robertson again impressed with his speed and playmaking ability in the match against the Free State.

Teams

Referee: Max Baise (Eastern Transvaal); Crowd 40 000.

Run of play

Ras missed with 11 penalty and two drop goal attempts. Going missed with two attempts at goal and Williams with one.

The Kiwis looked like a team shackled by end-of-tour fatigued and struggled through this match in a patternless display that reduced them to a team playing without heart or hope.

On the evidence of this performance, the All Black looked ready for the plucking with absolutely no change of saving the series. They had, at times, merely gone through the motions and the media speculated that Stewart would not be able to fire them up for the big one in Ellis Park.

To complicate matters even more there was also the diversionary matter of a 160 km coach trip to Kimberley and the match against Griqualand West before they could start focussing on the last test match.

The trip to Kimberley –with a seemingly unhappy team- was a thriller on its own producing a number of on and off the field incidents like punch-ups, knife stabbings, heated arguments, hypocrisy, and send-offs –not all involving players- that further detracted from preparations for the last test.

6 Sept 76 – North West Cape/South West Africa Combined 17 / All Blacks 34

This game against a combined team of North West Cape and South West Africa -played in Upington- produced some of the best running rugby on tour. By half time with the score a deceptive 24-7 in the favour of the All Blacks due to the brilliance of Bruce Robertson the Namib and Kalahari boys turned more and more too violent tactics in an attempt to unsettle the All Blacks. This spoiled what could have been a first-rate game as the desert boys had a pack that could stand up to the All Blacks and some real playmakers and speed in the backline.

In Johan Nel, Douvoet Heymann and Hennie Coetzee they had a front row equal in strength and vigour than the touring party; in Ian van der Merwe, Gys van Schoor and Jannie van der Westhuizen they had speed if not playmaking ability equal to the Kiwis and in Wolfie Wolfaardt, Arrie Putter and Chris Saayman a loose trio as industrious and abrasive at the breakdowns as the loose trio of visitors from the land of the long white cloud.

The desert boys rattled up 17 points in the first half –more than most other teams on tour- and actually equalled the All Blacks with 10 points in the second half. Herklaas Engelbrecht was an inspiring leader and a tower of strength in the lineouts, the mauls and at the breakdowns and the combined team was able to won three tight heads and was outscored at the rucks by only 8 to 5.

Behind the scrum Deon Karg –as most SA flyhalves those years- predominantly utilised his boot to explore attacking avenues. Despite this shortcoming, the outside backs of the combined team were full of running and if winger, Ian van der Merwe’s hands hadn’t let him down, the desert XV could have scored two more tries.

This is what Terry McLean writes about the combined North West Cape/SWA team:

There was an excellent fire in the combined team. Engelbrecht, a representative against every international team visiting these parts since the Lions of 1962, was shrewd and cunning hand in the lineouts and the three loose forwards, Saayman, Putter and Wolfaardt, were industrious and pretty clever. There was genuine energy in the backline, too, and that world record-holder on the right wing, Jannie van der Westhuizen, quite had the legs of Purvis when the latter made several attacking runs. (The record was 80 points set in a club match in 1972 – 14 tries, nine conversions, a drop goal and a penalty. Beat that for industry.)

But the curse was that the team was overly attached to unfair methods and violent play. Eveleigh was a hideous sight as he left the field before half-time. His cheek opened by the Saayman kick and reopened by another punch. He was partly concussed. There was much other rugged stuff. It was tedious and unnecessary, the latter because none of the midweek teams faced by the All Blacks was more zealous or played with more fire.

Hennie Coetzee the tighthead prop was one of the major culprits; a mischief-maker of the first order; his sly and snide tricks push Billy Bush way over the cliff into a red-mist of battle rage bordering on total loss of emotional control. It was only the earnest pleading and persuasive appeal-making ability of both Herklaas Engelbrecht and Frank Oliver that kept him on the field.

The referee actually reversing a send off decision –due to the appeal-making of Oliver and Engelbrecht- after Bush went battle mad, firstly, stamping on a man in the ruck and then chasing Hennie Coetzee for ten or more yards right in front of a stand filled with school children before belting into a grinning Coetzee with fist, elbow, knee and foot. Coetzee was no angel and McLean has the following paragraph on this malefactor:

Coetzee bopped Tanner early with an elbow and for days Tanner’s shiner was a sight of the tour. When Bruce Robertson, playing brilliantly, kicked and threaded through the maze, Coetzee dropped him with a trip – and collected a slambang from Oliver. Coetzee was there or thereabouts, when Saayman, too good a forward to play the silly stuff, kicked Eveleigh on the face, a fraction below the right eye.

Coetzee had been mischievous again when Bush started punching him. Coetzee, in fact, was a damned nuisance, not only for the All Blacks but also to his team – which, in spite of its predilection for tough play, had many fine qualities.

Some pictures of a raging mad Billy Bush in the Upington game. In the bottom picture Billy is about to release a right swinging hook from the boot laces on to Hennie Coetzee. In the right hand edge of the picture Schubel O’Reilly is blowing on his whistle. O’Reilly was so disgusted by the violence that he decided to retire from the game as a referee.

Jay Jay Stewart the All Black coach was vivid during and after the match. While Kevin Eveleigh was stitched-up in the dressing room during the match an angry Stewart vented his anger to the extent that the young Upington doctor finished the operation in tears.

Stewart argued quite convincingly afterwards that until the brutal moments of the third test and the ugly stuff in Upington the tour had been free of violent play. His point that one could hardly blame the kiwis for the violence in the last two games if there was no sign of it in the previous nineteen. “We are the common denominator in the whole question. Our aim on this tour has been, and will continue to be, to play good football. Punching, kicking and gouging has no place in our game. But if your teams start the nonsense you can’t expect our chaps to stand by and do nothing about it though I am disappointed at the way things have gone”.

Kevin Eveleigh taking on the NW Cape/ SW Africa team. This was before he was punched and kicked into submission and leaving the field in the 40^th minute. The home team players on the picture are from the left Willem Gillmer, Douvoet Heyman, Jan Miller and Wolfie Wolfaardt.

Ken Stewart look like he’s got his handbrake on as he charged down field in the Upington game with Gary Seear running up in support.

The stamina-sapping heat of Upington; the resilience and abrasive tactics of the opponents made this a hard assignment for the Kiwis so soon after the demoralising third test defeat. The All Blacks did start the match in style and Bruce Robertson was outstanding. His speed and playmaking skills distinguished him as an All Black in the class of Bryan Williams and Grant Batty.

The first try by Terry Mitchell followed a Robertson break; the second try by Lyn Jaffray was also inspired by a Robertson trust; the fourth try also by Mitchell came from a scorching Robertson break; and the fifth try by Sutherland was the direct result by a perfect kick through by Robertson.

Sutherland and Mitchell both scored twice with Jaffray also crossing the goal line to dot down. His fighting rage incident aside Billy Bush impressed with his work rate in the tight-loose, Frank Oliver was industrious in the lineouts while Lawrie Knight had a good game with the ball in hand.

There was therefore much to savour for the Kiwis after this match but the fighting had a demoralising effect on team spirit and probably played a big part with regard to the team being totally flat in their next match in Bloemfontein against the Orange Free State.

Alan Sutherland putting his shoulder into Johan Nel in the NW Cape/SW Africa match. Sutherland scored two tries in this match making him one of the top try scorers amongst the forwards.

It is unfortunate that the All Blacks was whisked away almost immediately after the game to boring Bloemfontein as there is much to do, see and experience in the Kalahari that could have lifted team morale. Four All Blacks, Ian Kirkpatrick, Grant Batty, Hamish Macdonald and Tane Norton for instance went hunting deep in the Kalahari.

They shot two Gemsbok and was treated to a midnight braai and slept outside in the desert. They rated it one of the great experiences of the tour and it is pity that not more players could have joined in a few days of recuperating in the wonderland of the Kalahari desert.

Tane Norton and Hamish Macdonald posing with a Gemsbok that got shot by the four kiwis able to spend a few days in the Kalahari.

Some typical scenes one would see as you travel from Upington into the Kalahari.

Teams

Referee: Schubel O’Reilly (Northern Transvaal); Crowd 8 000.

Run of play

Karg failed with one penalty attempt and Smuts with three. Mains missed two penalties in the second half.

Most bloggers are probably aware at this stage that Andy Friend the Brumbies coach has been sacked after the dramatic loss against the Rebels. Read more about it here.

This happened after South African Super Rugby referee Jonathan Kaplan made an utterly baffling decision to award a penalty against the Brumbies prop Salesi Ma’afu, which led to the Rebels’ winning goal in Melbourne. Kaplan probably needs to be called to account for this decision and if the decision can’t be explained, then Kaplan should be demoted for this shocker. All that occurred was a bit of push and shove after a collapsed scrum. There was no penalty offence to be seen.

However, the sacking of Andy Friend had either been brewing for some time as chief executive Andrew Fagan suggested or it is the most staggering reaction to any result in Super rugby history.

The verdict was emphatic.

Friend had to be replaced immediately if the Brumbies were to make any positive headway.

A decision to alter the coaching dynamics this season, shifting Friend to an overseeing role while his assistants provided more of the training ground instructions, had not been a success.

Sacking Friend gave the Brumbies the best chance of reversing that trend, according to Fagan.

“We did put in remedial steps a couple of weeks ago in trying to address some of the issues we were facing,” said Fagan.

“But I felt these steps did not produce the results we desire and the decision was taken overnight to make an immediate change.”

The thing that keeps coming up in reports of this incident is the name of Stephan Larkam and the fact that Larkham was also instrumental in the sacking of David Nucifora a few years back.

Nucifora was the victim of a player revolt lead by Larkham against his coaching style. He remained at the helm for the season and the team went on to win the title at home against the Canterbury Crusaders but got the sack the next year.

The article linked above goes on and states that defensive coach Tony Rea will take over as coach immediately, assisted by former Brumbies and Wallabies Stephen Larkham, Marco Caputo and Justin Harrison.

The article then states: It’s unknown whether Rea is seen as a long-term coaching option, or whether he will be a custodian until Stephen Larkham or one of the other assistants gains enough experience.

See how the name of Larkham keeps on creeping into the discussion and this is exactly the thing that gives me an uneasy feeling about this whole episode. Here is an individual with no coaching experience who was involved in the sacking of two extremely successful coaches suddenly being moved into a top coaching position without going through any form of coaching training or any proper apprenticeship.

It smells to put it lightly and old Robbie Deans needs to watch-out as my gut feeling is that this is just the first phase of this conniving individual Larkham’s plans; he is aiming for the big job and is doing it by stepping on other people.

I might be totally wrong on this but I don’t like what I see and read here and I don’t like the way the whole thing has been orchestrated and the fact that Larkham is suddenly from nowhere in the mix as assistant-coach-in-training for the big job.

Now, Friend maybe a complete arshole and that might be the reason for his sacking but then this need to be communicated to the media. All we have at this stage is that Friend is a highly principled individual who worked his butt of for the franchise and got the sack for no definite reason and that an ex-Wallaby who have been involved in a previous incident of the same nature is now in line for the big job at the Brumbies.

Brumbies management need to clarify here because neither them nor Friend or Larkham are smelling like roses at this stage.

We practice sport as societies because it is suppose to teach our youth things like  honnor, preseverence, the value of team work and team spirit. Sport is supposedly a method to foster and mold moral and ethical behaviour. 

Sport is seen as a great way to learn children how to relate to others. Dealing with coaches teaches children; how to accept authority and instruction without hard feelings. Being part of a team allows them to gain valuable experience in dealing with others of different backgrounds and skill sets. Joining forces to win a game teaches them the value and power of a shared vision and how to work with others toward a common goal.

Playing sports also imparts lessons related to morals and playing within the rules. Like many things in life, sports have a clear-cut set of rules to be followed at all times. Cheating is frowned upon and punished, and players learn there are repercussions for playing outside the rules, just as there are in adult life.

Sports teach that if you put enough hard work into something, you can achieve your goals, regardless of your starting point. You might not be the best player or come from a family rich in athletic tradition, but you can achieve victory by setting goals and working tirelessly to reach them. This lesson develops work ethic and planning.

Sports also promote a healthy lifestyle and the value of exercise which is especially important now that we’re in the age of the Internet and video games. Those who get exercise through sports are more likely to be psychologically and physically healthier than those who don’t some studies have reported.

Sports teach that it’s okay to emulate those who are successful. Children and young adults often observe players better than they are and sometimes without even realizing they’re doing it; pick up habits and techniques used by the superior players. This lesson helps develop a keen awareness of how others achieve success.

Is it just me or is all that sort of stuff missing in action in this saga?