Another day....

Just saw this on sharksworld.co.za, who saw on Racing Metro’s website that Frans Steyn rejected a contract extension in order to come back to SA. No concrete news where he’ll play his rugby, but this is fantastic news for SA rugby.

This from Racings site, translated by Google:

Francois Steyn has finally decided to go home in South Africa, probably pushed by the Federation of South African Rugby who wished to recover its strong player fetish.

The Club Racing Metro 92 president Jacky Lorenzetti and understand this decision and thank him warmly for three seasons at the club since joining in 2009. For his contribution within the team and its formidable qualities of a player, he actively participated in the revival of Racing. As he has yet shown Friday night against Castres, he will obviously be combative and efficient during the last few games, to go back as long as possible the due date of his departure. With its many renewals and new recruits, Racing Metro 92 tackles serenely next season, hoping of course be qualified for the next HCup.

So the Sharks staged a gutsy fightback after a horrible start. The team was thrown a bit with JP Petersen pulling something in the warm up, leading to Bosman and Whitehead teaming up in the midfield. They missed a bucketload of tackles during the first half, but got better as the game progressed and they found their groove. The first 30 minutes were awful from a Sharks perspective.

The Reds got ravaged by injuries, and poor Genia had to play flyhalf for most the second half. This sucks for them, but it’s part of the game and it has happened to all teams. It does show that the Reds doesn’t really have a lot of depth, but that is true off all the Australian teams. And the Cheetahs.

Some stats:

The Sharks made 143 tackles to the Reds’ 93, and both teams had the same effective tackling rate of 72%. Now that is too low for both.

Marcell Coetzee made 24 tackles,  next best was Alberts with 15. The best Reds was Beau Robinson with 11.

Sharks turned the ball over 11 times, Reds managed 18

Digby had the most running metres at 156m, best Shark was Coetzee with 75m.

But the most important stat of all, Sharks 27 – 22 Reds!

Well done Sharkies, well played!

In other news, rumours are going around that Frans Steyn wants to come home. Thats good news for SA rugby.

Jeez Crusaders, there you screw up my Superbru once again. Thanks a lot!

Well played Chiefs. 

Chiefs 24 – 19 Crusaders.

1. Dale Chadwick

2. Bismarck Du Plessis

3. Wiehahn Herbst

4. Steven Sykes

5. Ross Skeate

6. Jacques Botes

7. Marcell Coetzee

8. Keegan Daniel (C)

9. Freddie Michalak

10. Pat Lambie

11. Lwazi Mvovo

12. Meyer Bosman

13. JP Petersen

14. Louis Ludik

15. Riaan Viljoen

16. Craig Burden

17. Jannie Du Plessis

18. Anton Bresler

19. Lubabalo Mtembu

20. Charl Mcleod

21. Marius Joubert

22. Paul Jordaan

All in all a good team, I’m glad to see Plum putting faith in young guys like Herbst and Mtembu. It’s good to rotate the tighthead where possible, since it’s a bloody long season. Unfortunately Alberts, Whitehead and Kanko are all out injured. Hopefully Joubert stays on the bench. It’s going to be a cracker! Sharks by 10

OK I know that the Sharks team hasn’t been announced yet, but I can hazard a guess ot two to who will run on against the Stormers. Here’s what I think.

1. Steven Kitsoff vs 3 Jannie du Plessis

Jannie should give the youngster quite a hard time in the scrums. Kitchoff is strong, but he’s young. I feel the stormers are going to avoid scrummaging like the plauge.  The Doctor to take it.

2. Tiaan Liebenberg vs Bismarck du Plessis

Birmarck should improve from last week, he was awful against the Bulls. Expect him to bounce back and have a huge impact. Liebenberg is busy, but Bismark is in a class of his own. Bismark has it.

3. Brok Harris Vs 1 Dale Chadwick

Chadwick is one strong mother. He should break Harris. Harris is the weak point in an average front row. Watch for lots of dropped WP scrum shenanigans to avoid the shove and try for the penalty. Chadwick to scrum him into the ground.

4 Eben Ezbeth Vs Steven Sykes

Ezbeth is an exiting young lock, not scared of the hard graft. Sykes has stood up to the toughest international locks on earth and performed well. It should be a tough battle, but Sykes to hande the brilliant youngster.

5 Andries Bekker vs Ross Skeate/Bresler

I think Skeate will start since he has more experience than Bresler. He has to try to contain Bekker and limit his lineout impact. It will be tough going for Skeate. Bresler to come on and make a bruising impact. Bekker will be a problem.

6 Kolisi vs Daniel/ Du toit/Botes

Kolisi is fast and big. Daniel is bloody fast with good hands and skills. It should be good, but Daniel to be a handful. 

I hope they call up Piet-steph du Toit for the game. He’s a monster in the making.

Jacques Botes is a try scoring machine and a good fetcher. He might lose out due to size though.

Kolisi vs Du toit will be good. Otherwise, the Sharks has him

7 Vermeulen Vs Coetzee

We all know what Duane can do, Marcel Coetzee is busy making his mark. He was the Sharks best forward against the Bulls, watch him build on that. Duane should just take it.

8. Koster vs Daniel/Alberts

Koster had a lot of potential but he never delivered in my opinion. Daniel has experience at 8 and loves the loose game. Hopefully Alberts comes of the bench to make an impact. Daniel or Alberts will show up Koster

9. Duvenhage vs Mcleod/Michalak

I think Mcleod will start, he looked sharp against the Bulls. Michalak was a bit slow, Mcleod has good form and is always overlooked as a threat. He’ll come up tops in the battle of the nines. 

10. Van Aswegen vs Lambie

Lambie, no question. Even if a tired Grant comes on, still Lambie by a huge margin.

11. Habana vs 14 Ludik/Ndugane. Stalemate. Habana seems past his best and Ndugane is solid, not a gamebreaker. Same with Ludik. But ludik could come forth with something special as well as Habana. A draw.

12 De Villiers vs Whitehead.

I hope Whitehead gets another chance. He looked bloody good last week. An upset could be on the cards. Look for De Villiers trying to bulldoze Whitehead and get smashed. Everyone one knows De Villiers passes rarely. And Whitehead will want to make a point against his old team. Bosman will be solid for the Sharks as well.

13 De Jongh vs JPP. Petersen brings another dimention to a position the Sharks have been struggling with for many years. Watch him pop up everywhere and make a nuisance of himself. De Jongh to be a bit rusty in his first match back. JPP to be taken seriously at center.

14. Aplon vs 11 Mvovo. The two gamebreakers. Anything could happen here. To be decided by who gets ball from their backs or pulls of a freak of a move.

15 Petersen vs Viljoen. Viljoen to take it with his massive boot and 60m drop goals.

It should be close, but the Sharks forwards as well as having some decent centers on the field for a change should see the Sharks home. Sharks forwards to dominate up front, and the backs to suffocate in defence.

Calling it Sharks by 10.

So I see an  article (article on sport24, do not know how to post the link)  this morning that the NZRU are saying that if the current interntational model for the world cup does not change, that they would consider skipping the 2015 tournament as a “last resort.”

Apparently they are bleeding money every four years to the tune of NZ$13 million during a world cup year, mainly because of less gate attendances and tv rights lost because the Tri Nations is shortened.

The one solution they are willing to accept is that the World Cup moves to accomodate a full Tri Nations schedule. Now when do they want to play world cup? December? The calendar is full. Idiots.

I’m getting very tired very quickly with the All Blacks. They are like the talented, petulant child of world rugby. “You are sending a B team to play us even though most of them are injured, how dare you?!?!.” “France is playing a scrumhalf at flyhalf agaisnt us, how dare they!?!”  ”Englands away jersey is black, that is our colour!!!”

Boo flippen hoo.

So what if they do not go to the World Cup. I know they like to think that they are the be all and end all of the game, but there is a whole world out there playing rugby. Will they be missed? Of course. Will they be missed if they stay away for moneys sake? Hell no. Stay away mammon.

New Zealand and Australia are dependant on SANZAR to stay afloat. That is a fact. The viewing figures from SA carries both their sorry butts through the Tri Nations and the Super Rugby season. So, if they are losing money, it stands to reason that we are losing a boatload. Are we complaining about it like little girls? No we are not.

New Zealand likes to boast that they are a rugby nation, who plays for the pride of wearing that black jersey of theirs. They are showing their true money hungry faces with threats like these. They are strutting around screaming at everybody to respect them and their traditions and to listen to them because they are the number 1 team on the rankings and the All Fucking Blacks. Do they respect one other team? Not in the least. I’ve never seen a drop of respect. They play dirty, they cheat, they do what they can to get an advantage and to win. If they get caught, they go and cry to the IRB.  As long as they win, they are happy. As long as the world follows their lead, they are happy.

The sun does come up in the east, but is sure as hell does not rise out of the All Blacks’ asses.

Grow up and play the game you sissy crybabies.

I was able to watch the Japan vs Canada game this morning. It helps to live very close to your workplace. The game really wasn’t bad. It wasn’t the Tri-Nations, but the guys ran with pace and convicion, the tackles were good and there was some very enterprising play from both sides. Just thinking how much better they would be with some real big match ecperience behind them gave me an idea.

The IRB pats itself on the back after each World Cup, bragging about how rugby is growing worldwide as a sport and saying that one of these days USA or Russia or Georgia or Canada are going to awake as one of the giants of the game and shake up the established order of things. This happens every four years.

I agree that the game is growing all over the globe. I think Sevens have a huge deal to do with this.

It’s the awakening of the second tier / third tier teams that’s bullcrap. For the teams like USA, Canada and even the pacific islanders to “awaken” and give the big boys a go, they need more tests against better opposition. That’s the only way to develop them.

How about the IRB reach into that purse of theirs, and make a two world class tournaments for the minnows? Yes. there are some things like the Asian cup and Canada vs USA happens often (I’d guess, since they are neighbours), but they should increase the incentives. 

If they structure the tournaments so that the winner of the northern hemisphere Shield gets to play  the wooden spoon Six Nations country, everything gets spicier. Same with the winner of the Southern Hemisphere Shield face the wooden spoon Tri/four nations country. I’m not saying it should be a promotion / relegation game from the first go, but for some of the so called minnows to get a yearly game against top 10 ranked teams would do them a world of good. And then a Six Nations with the best second tier teams in the world (3 Northern Hemisphere, 3 South) would also work wonders.

It is also insane that SA vs NZ happens four times a year, but we face Fiji only once in four years. Each Tier 1 Nation should play a Tier 2 nation each year and a Tier 3 country every 2 years, and not the same teams the whole time. A rotation policy should be in place.

If they could impliment something like this and get the scheduling right for the next World Cup, then the IRB can smile and say with honesty that they are doing something to help the smaller countries. And then some upsets may be on the cards.

This was my first time at loftus in 5 years.

I must say, Saturday was a bloody fun day! Good friends, good food and cold beer. No better way to prepare for the game!

I’m bloody glad that we missed the Fuzz raiding supporters before the game. It was handled flippen badly by the Police, but what could those guys do? Not a lot.

Loftus Versveld was interesting. The crowd was out of this world. The atmosphere was brilliant. The banter between supporters was handled in good spirits mostly, except for the blue bull fan with the mine hat-horns combo. What a sore loser.  Dumbass. And that lugnut with the laser. Deuche. And the man who called me an “Engelsman” just because i support the Sharks. Eks afrikaans jou poephol.

Loftus itself was cramped. The tunnels are bloody small, getting in and out took forever. Not a lot of space inside. I now understand why they cannot drink on the stands. It’s not because of the drunk supporters or kids, there just isn’t enough space to accomodate it!

All in all, with a Sharks victory, a good day!

I’ve thought long and hard on what to write on this subject, since most of the people are going to go on and on about rugby citings. I had to resort to using www.urbandictionary.com for some help.

Cite

Short for: Cock In The Ear

It is best used as a substitution for “fml” because of the overuse of “fuck my life.”

“I completely failed my philosophy midterm, what  a CITE.”

I believe that the above mentioned definition for the word “cite” should become the general accepted usage of said word.

As in “Bakkies was Cited” would work in the old terminology (judicial hearing and all that), and when he gets another 9 week ban for glaring at the ref, he’ll feel like he received a cock in the ear.

Ah, the joys of technology! 

It’s taken me a while, but I have finally convinced my boss that uncapped internet is the way to go for the office. And since we have the uncapped internet, live streaming from the Supersport site was easy to set up so that I could at least watch the Sharks tour games.

What happened today? Dual commentary streaming. Afrikaans and english all over each other with no way that I can see to switch one off. The noise was terrible!

I muted the sound and went hunting for some live audio streaming but guess what? All the live audio streams are about two seconds delayed for some or other reason. It’s impossible to watch ANYTHING with a two second audio delay. Your brain will explode from the frustration.

So well done Supersport, now I have to listen to New Zealand commentary. With no visual.

You bastards