RUGBY: Burger to join Bok exodus?

06/06/2007 12:00 - (SA)

News24

Cape Town - The expected mass exodus of Springbok talent following the Rugby World Cup in France appears to be gaining momentum.

Stormers and Springbok flank, Schalk Burger, has been offered a staggering R7m deal to continue his career with French club Toulouse - a move that would make the 24-year-old one of the highest paid players in the world.

According to reports, Burger is also being chased by English club Harlequins who have tabled a £450 000 (R6.4m) offer for the star fetcher.

Should Burger, the 2004 IRB Player of the Year, decide to sign for Toulouse, he'd almost match the salary of Australian and Western Force star Matt Giteau, reported to be the highest paid player in rugby.

Although Burger does have a long-term contract with the Western Province, there is an escape clause in his contract stating that the union would have to match any offer made by a rival if they wanted to keep him in the Cape.

Whether Toulouse constitutes a 'rival' remains to be seen.

The news of Burger's deal comes hot on the heels of Toulon's offer for Bulls lock Victor Matfield.

The second-row star is rumoured to be mulling a R5m per year move to the Tana Umaga-coached second division club who have already signed New Zealand duo Andrew Mehrtens and Anton Oliver ahead of next season.

Trio of stalwarts

The Sharks appear to be in for a torrid off-season with reports linking a trio of their stalwarts with moves out of the Durban 'tank'.

Flyhalf Butch James is set to sign for English club Bath for R2.8m.

Bath earlier in the week confirmed the signature of Cheetahs scrumhalf Michael Claassens.

Indications are that James is White's first-choice flyhalf heading into the World Cup, but the pivot still has his detractors who don't believe he possesses the necessary touch and vision to deliver at the highest level.

Springbok and Sharks hooker John Smit has attracted interest from Clermont-Auvergne, who defeated Toulouse last weekend to reach the final of the French Top 14 championship.

Clermont are the former club of Stormers wing Breyton Paulse.

With Bok coach Jake White's future uncertain after the World Cup - and with him being a staunch supporter of Smit's - it may make sense for the skipper to make the move north.

In another potential blow to the Sharks franchise, fullback Percy Montgomery appears set for a move to Perpignan in France.

Montgomery, 33, previously turned out for Welsh club Newport Gwent Dragons.

Montgomery is the leading Springbok points scorer with 695 in 81 Tests.

Lions wing Ashwin Willemse could well join Montgomery on Perpignan's books.

Prop Lawrence Sephaka (Lions) and centres Gcobani Bobo (Sharks) and Marius Joubert (Cheetahs) are others considering lucrative offers from top European clubs.

RUGBY: Hooray for the humbling result

Sunday 3 June 2007

Keo, in the Sunday Argus, writes that the Springbok stutter at Loftus will help keep Bok feet on the ground in this World Cup year.

A team of greater quality would have hurt the Springboks in this series decider. After the festivities of Bloemfontein came the sober reminder that the Boks, a team on the rise, remain vulnerable when neutralized in confrontation.

For a large part of this match England’s defensive heroics frustrated South Africa, exposed limitations in the decision-making and emphasized just how important Jaque Fourie remains to the World Cup challenge.

With go forward minimal in the opening hour, the Boks missed Danie Rossouw’s physicality in attacking Jonny Wilkinson’s channel and without Fourie in the midfield there was never the threat of a linebreak fashioned through sheer strength.

Wynand Olivier, at No 13, was poor. The Bulls midfielder is a player who can excel when running into space, but when forced to make an impression in a congested contest he went missing. The likes of New Zealand and France won’t be as charitable in midfield team selections come the World Cup.

In tighter matches, again read France and New Zealand at the World Cup, a Bok team shifting the ball laterally and aimlessly will get beaten.

England showed a heart beat, but outside of good old fashioned guts, they offered nothing in attack. They didn’t have the backs to trouble the Boks, but they did have enough conviction in the forwards to leave the Boks bewildered at their inability to break the first line of defence in that first hour.

There was courage in the English performance and there was a definite fatigue about the Boks. You combine those two factors and you have a contest. Defensive heroics kept England competitive, but they were never going to challenge for a famous result.

You sensed the Bok players knew that and while the mind may have been willing, the legs certainly weren’t. Those Bulls and Sharks players who have been on an emotional high for the last month predictably lacked the intensity of the last two weekends.

Even so, Jake White would have expected better decision-making from the 8, 9 and 10 axis. Pierre Spies, when running against tired legs in the last quarter, was colossal but in the first hour the performance was more average than exceptional.

Spies scored two cracking tries and some saw it as enough justification for the man of the match award. It is not an opinion I shared with the masses.

The Bulls loose-forward has every attribute to be a great, but to deny what he is getting wrong at the moment would be to deny how good he should become. He has flaws in his game and they were evidence when Saturday’s test was still a contest.

Schalk Burger again was monumental and the pick of the forwards. There is substance to his game, as there is to the make-up of Juan Smith’s weekly contributions.

The Boks won well, scored 50 points for a second successive weekend against England, and yet there still wasn’t a sense of satisfaction. Bryan Habana’s individual brilliance shouldn’t mask the frailties of a back division that never threatened from structured play.

There was much to celebrate about the Boks win, but equally there was as much to keep all of South Africa humble. The Boks are a good team, but they showed in Pretoria they’re not yet the finished team.

Talk of a World Cup win is premature. Let’s first beat New Zealand in Durban.

Posted by keo - keo.co.za

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: Ruan’s getting roasted

Friday 1 June 2007

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the plan with Ruan Pienaar is non existent.

This after Springbok backline coach Allister Coetzee fumbled through keo.co.za’s question of whether they had given the prodigiously talented Sharks scrumhalf a criteria for what he needed to do to move past Ricky Januarie as the back-up to Fourie du Preez.

The fact that Pienaar has been overlooked with Du Preez missing the start of the Test season due to a shoulder injury is perplexing. Januarie played second fiddle to Jano Vermaak for the vast majority of the Lions Super 14 campaign, while Pienaar had a solid season for the Sharks. Januarie was dropped from the Bok Tri-Nations squad last year for poor form and even worse conditioning, yet was the premier scrumhalf on the year-end tour on the back of four mediocre Currie Cup displays.

In that time Pienaar never let the side down, coming off the bench thrice in the Tri-Nations, and twice on the year-end tour. And while it was seen as no more than an exhibition match, Pienaar’s sublime display against the World XV in Leicester was a timely reminder of what a gem the Boks have at their disposal, as was his cameo in Bloemfontein last week.

It has to be said that Pienaar has his flaws. He often takes poor options and has a penchant for isolating himself with ill advised solo bursts. He has however just turned 23, and he’ll mature with more experience.

The selectors would struggle to justify Januarie’s selection if asked to compare the players head-to-head, because Pienaar would triumph in every facet of scrumhalf play. What this website wanted to know was whether Pienaar stood a chance of overtaking Januarie in this World Cup year, or whether it had been decided that the diminutive No 9 would be the back up to Du Preez for the rest of the season. Coetzee offered this response.

“You obviously need to have scrumhalfs who can play different styles,” he said. “And we want to ensure that we have a scrumhalf that can play in the wet, and one who can play in dry weather and hard surfaces who can get the game going and run around.

“In Fourie and Ruan we have scrumhalfs with big boots on them, and Ricky is the one nuggety guy who can play close. So we’re sitting in a good position of having 9s who can play both styles.”

If Coetzee was trying to say that Januarie is better suited to a wet game he is delusional, given that in those conditions teams benefit from having a scrumhalf who has a good kicking game. Januarie’s is poor. What’s more is that Pienaar has proven over the course of his short career that he is versatile enough to adapt his game to the prevailing weather conditions. So he offers you both options.

What Coetzee’s offering does do is give us a clearer picture of just how far Pienaar is from cracking the matchday 22 when Du Preez returns in a fortnight. The Boks will have one of the most naturally talented backs in world rugby watching from the stands because there’s no way Jake White will include him as a utility back, because that would mean dropping one of his wings or forwards from the bench.

Asked whether Pienaar was now seen as a utility back rather than a specialist scrumhalf, White said: “I think Ruan Pienaar is a special rugby player period. Last week guys reported that I put him on the wing, but Jean de Villiers got cramp and I only had two backs on the bench, so I had to put him somewhere on the field and moving Frans Steyn to centre was my only option.

“As a scrumhalf, I think he’s quite talented, but as a rugby player I think he’s even more talented,” he added. “So I’m sitting in the very fortunate position that I have two 24-year-old scrumhalfs in Fourie and Ricky who are going to be around for South Africa for a very long time. The fact that Ruan doubles up as a flyhalf, centre, fullback and wing is obviously a huge bonus to us a group,” he explained.

White however added that Pienaar’s versatility didn’t give him an advantage when it came down to selection, saying that players like Wynand Olivier, Jaque Fourie, De Villiers and Steyn all possessed that quality. He stressed that the evolution of the modern game dictated that players no longer had set roles from broken play, intimating that Pienaar’s best position was a non issue.

“The Waratahs introduced the idea that the number on your back shouldn’t matter,” he said. “The one thing that Australia have done better than anyone else is they’ve managed to use their backline players in different positions. Joe Roff played in three positions, Lote Tuqiri’s played in three positions as has Matt Giteau.

“The way forward is that from broken play it doesn’t really matter where you stand as long as you have the understanding of what your trying to achieve.”

An interesting concept, but the first step would be to get Pienaar onto the pitch. We have the opportunity now to give him regular game time at Test level before the World Cup, why are we spurning that chance?

By Ryan Vrede, in Johannesburg - keo.co.za

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: Jake: Opportunity missed?

31/05/2007 11:38 - (SA)
JJ Harmse

A friend of mine recently joked about one of the latest money making schemes at our traffic lights.

A blind person (or so it seems) begs for change and has a guide to help him in doing so.

"Only in South Africa," my friend joked, "could you find someone trying to sell you a blind person at a traffic light."

Yesterday, on my way to attend a Bok training session in Randburg, I passed at least three of those blind beggars.

Remembering the joke, I wondered how that 'blind' person picked his guide, if at all.

Is the blind leading or is he being led? I asked myself.

Did the blind man wake up one morning and decided he was going to beg at intersections? If so, how did he know about it?

What made him decide whom to ask to help him stand in the sun all day?

Opportunistic

What type of person would stand next to a blind beggar all day and help him across busy roads for some food?

Or did a opportunistic family member or even a friend of the family suggest that those fortunate enough to drive a car would be more inclined to give to the blind than to the poor and offered to accompany the said blind family member.

Or even worse, are certain families renting out their blind brothers or sisters?

How is this related to rugby, you may ask.

Well, in many ways.

I am feeling as uneasy about the appalling English performances as I am when being approached by yet another odd couple at an intersection.

Jake White has put a lot of emphasis on beating England in the two-Test series currently being played. He wants to grind them into the ground and gain the mental edge ahead of the Rugby World Cup in France.

Nothing wrong with that and to be honest, to see the distraught faces of the 20-odd English rugby writers on the trip, it does feel good.

Sulky faces

After all, we had the boot on the other foot for so long and they had to suffer (or enjoy) our sulky faces!

However, I just wonder whether we are not being led into an ally here.

In 2003, we had to beat England to avoid the All Blacks in the quarter-finals.

This time around, we'll play either Wales or Australia.

It is not the same as four years ago. If we lose against England in September, we are nowhere near in as much trouble as we were in 2003.

We know we can beat Wales nine times out of 10 and we know how to beat the Wallabies. And whether one plays France or New Zealand the following weekend, you will have to beat one of them to win the World Cup anyway.

We are putting our cards on the table - the English are not.

They clearly are experiencing a tour from hell, especially with several of their players falling prey to a stomach virus on top of their mounting injury toll.

I know Jake White has a plan, but maybe he should've tinkered with his plan for the coming weekend.

Rest

This weekend is not that important, rested legs are.

No need for Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield and no need for John Smit or Bryan Habana to play Test rugby this weekend.

I believe they need the rest more than beating England again.

They know this is a weak English team and that there is no mental edge to be gained.

Even in the reduced squad of around 38, there are still far more questions than answers.

Why not rejuvenate Gary Botha with a start at Loftus?

Why not play Johann Muller and Albert van den Berg and give the Bulls pair a break? Van den Berg is in need of game time, as is Bob Skinstad.

Why does Ashwin not get another 80 minutes and Bryan a rest?

And when will Ruan Pienaar start at No 9?

They are still 10 000 shy of a full house at Loftus. Looking to fill stadium? Play Derick Hougaard at flyhalf. Full house, guaranteed.

Whack Samoa

In addition, get the Luke saga over and done with. Pick him against England, see how he goes and plan from there.

It is much more important for us to whack Samoa next weekend.

They are arriving with their best team, are playing in the Pacific Cup at the moment and are one team capable of upsetting anyone at a World Cup.

If ever there were a psychological battle to be won, it would be next weekend, not this one.

I know it is easy to stand on the outside and make statements.

Fact is, I have spare change in my pocket, but do I give it to the blind man or do I give it to his guide? Who is leading who?

Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: Bad to worse for England

Thursday 31 May 2007

The challenge for England this Saturday will be fielding a full squad rather than combating the physical game of the Springboks.

Only eight backs are fit at present, with three of those being scrumhalves. Mike Brown, James Simpson-Daniel and Andy Farrell are reportedly too sick to play or even fly back to England. Andy Hazell has failed to recover from the knee injury incurred in Bloemfontein and has also been ruled out of the Test.

Skipper Jason Robinson has also been unable to train due to fluid on the knee and has been working feverishly in the swimming pool and on other exercises in an attempt to be fit for Saturday’s clash.

David Strettle (stomach virus) and Iain Balshaw (shin) were sent home earlier this week, while prop Nick Woods was ruled out of the tour ahead of last week’s game due to a pectoral tear.

The Poms were expected to come away from South Africa with a 2-0 series defeat, as the club competitions in Europe saw their top players omitted from the touring party. The English press hoped this would not be a repeat of the England tours to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand 1998, forever remembered as the ‘Tour of Hell’, but the truth is England may be in for even more humiliation at the weekend.

The England squad of 22 will only be announced on Friday afternoon. Coach Brian Ashton has confirmed he has no intention of issuing a request to the IRB that the Test be called off.

Posted by JC - keo.co.za

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: Bok scrum needs tune-up

Monday 28 May 2007

Front row veteran Ollie le Roux suggests the Springbok scrummaging display could be better in the second Test at Loftus Versfeld.

This area was a nightmare in Bloemfontein, and Steve Walsh had to blow his whistle to reset the set-piece on countless occasions. In the aftermath, Springbok captain John Smit had a dig at the English for illegal tactics geared towards disrupting the hosts’ dominance at scrum time.

Le Roux saw the situation differently, believing the match to be a good contest in this department where the visitors selected a strategy that worked in combating the overwhelming favourites in the South African pack.

“If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones,” he told Keo.co.za. “I don’t know if he [Smit] can complain too much, as the Sharks often employ illegal tactics whenever we [the Cheetahs] play them.

“It’s all about what you can get away with at scrumtime. If you can scrum illegally without being penalised, fair enough, but don’t go complaining about illegal tactics when the opposition decides to use it against you.”

Critics have already picked apart the Boks’ 58-10 hammering of the Poms, and although South Africa were brilliant in patches, it must be stressed just how poor England were on the day. Le Roux for one is not getting caught up in too much post-match analysis, and having witnessed a few defeats to England first-hand he was thrilled with Saturday’s result.

“The first Test of the season is never a pretty sight, and it’s more about getting your structures right and building confidence. I thought it was a good battle in the tight phases and South Africa didn’t fully dominate at the set piece, although when they did get the drive going they looked very hard to stop.

“It was nice to see the massacre over the weekend. Forget about the excuses of injuries and viruses. Any group of players who represents the country is the best group of available players.

“To see England go down like that was great. We owed them a beating like that.”

South Africa’s most capped first-class player wasn’t worried about the Boks’ below-par performance, as he views the first match as a mere stepping stone to greater things.

“This is the first game of the year and everyone needs to realise that it will only get better from here. If this is the standard of rugby we can expect up until the World Cup, then Springboks would be in trouble.

“But we will improve. Areas like the scrum and line-out just need a few games to settle. The scrum is a good example. The Sharks front row and Bulls lock pairing, as well as the mixed back row need to be pushing in sync. That will come with time and practice.”

Jake White confirmed the first phase was the major problem at Vodacom Park and stated he would be addressing this in training this week. The Boks still managed a massive win; a victory produced through some enterprising displays but mainly due to a few pieces of fine opportunism.

“What was really great about that win was the instances of individual brilliance,” said Le Roux. “Guys like Bryan Habana and Jean de Villiers showed their worth in this respect. Rugby is a team game and you need a side to gel to win, but you also need the gamebreakers to win those big matches. We definitely have those players.”

By Jon Cardinelli - keo.co.za

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: Preview: South Africa v England

Friday 25th May 2007

Ashwin Willemse: Only he makes Jonny Wilkinson look fortunate

If your local club had 35 of its top players grounded by injuries or prior commitments, the end-of-season jolly across the border would undoubtedly be cancelled and the stragglers would decamp to the nearest pub, and rightly so. But those who do battle in the name of England do things differently.

In ludicrous homage to Lord Cardigan's Light Brigade, Brian Ashton's motley crew of "part-timers, plumbers and decorators" are to face the might of South Africa - provider of the two Super 14 finalists - in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The tourists will then have a week to lick their wounds before they do it all over again in Pretoria. Andrew Motion, Britain's current Poet Laureate, should prepare to dip his quill.

Say what you will about the dubious merits of these half-baked tours, but we'd wager you'll still tune in on Saturday. Don't feel bad about it, it's human nature - the rubber-necker in all of us will be craning for a view of the jack-knifed chariot on the plains of the Vrystaat.

Yes, these mismatches do tend to devalue Test rugby, but Saturday's game does actually carry a small measure of importance.

England's last appointment in South Africa, way back at the turn of the century, is widely regarded as the point at which these two sides parted in the yellow wood.

After losing the first Test in Pretoria, England managed to square the series with a famous 27-22 victory in Bloemfontein, with all 27 of the visitors' points supplied by Jonny Wilkinson.

That result set England on the path to greatness. They went on to win 39 of their next 42 Tests, a tally that included a clean sweep at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

South Africa, for their part, went on to develop a psychological block when it came to the English - they lost the next seven encounters, including that crucial Rugby World Cup meeting in Western Australia.

Jake White's troops finally broke their duck at Twickenham in November when they squared a two-Test series with a well-taken 25-14 win in the second meeting.

The Boks have now come full circle, they are back in Bloemfontein for a game against the English and have the chance to exorcise their demons once and for all and emphatically.

Not only that, a handsome series win over England will allow the South Africans to take a psychological advantage to Paris where the two sides met in the crunch Pool A clash of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup.

It is for this reason that White has chosen to signal the beginning of South Africa's international season not with a starter's pistol but with a bazooka.

Whilst England's 20-odd Heineken Cup finalists get to put their feet up this Saturday, South Africa's contingent of Bulls and Sharks go straight from the cauldron of the Super 14 Final to the fires of Test rugby.

White wouldn't have it any other way. He has been planning for France 2007 ever since he assumed the green and gold reins in 2004 and has remained fiercely loyal to the men who delivered the Tri-Nations title in that very year.

Players from outside White's inner circle have raised their hands to the heavens on occasions too numerous to mention, but the Bok boss is of the belief that proven class always trumps fleeting form.

To that end, the no-nonsense side that faces England at Vodacom Park on Saturday is nothing if not experienced.

White celebrates equalling Nick Mallett's record of 38 Test matches as head coach by selecting a XV that boasts a total of 418 caps.

John Smit will lead his country for a record 39th time and will be playing in his 43rd consecutive Test match (also a record). He will also improve on his record of 61 Tests as a hooker.

Percy Montgomery - 654 points in Tests and counting - will improve his record 66 Tests at full-back; he has 80 caps in total.

Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha will improve the record they shared with Mark Andrews and Krynauw Otto with their 26th Test match as a lock pairing.

By contrast, the England XV chasing a first away win in 15 months can only muster 198 caps between them. Wilkinson, Jason Robinson and Mark Regan account for 131 of those - the other 12 players share the remaining 67 caps.

That puny tally is significantly improved by the late inclusion of Iain Balshaw (29 caps) who surely rates as the jammiest man to have ever laced a boot. After being handed a ticket to South Africa after Ben Cohen opted out of the odyssey, the mercurial Gloucester star sneaked into the XV after David Strettle was laid low by illness.

Strettle is not the only English patient - Wilkinson, Andy Farrell and James Simpson-Daniel have also partaken in extra-curricular shuttle-runs to the toilets and back, but the news on Friday is that Wilko and Farrell remain solidly in the line-up for now.

One suspects the hand of 'Suzie' in all of this. She being the shadowy assassin who, according to New Zealand lore, nobbled the All Blacks on the eve of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final.

But why waste good salmonella on a bunch of no-hopers? Besides, England doctor Simon Kemp has stressed that the virus is airborne and not caught from food. (Perhaps Dr Kemp should check Balshaw's washbag for incriminating aerosols.)

Yet despite the desperate odds, the English tourists are refusing to let their heads drop, never mind anything else. It could be the stiff upper-lip routine, or it could be that the Boks have far more to lose.

The South Africa media has made a great deal of the tourists' shortcomings - the "part-timers, plumbers and decorators" jibe comes courtesy of one of the local Sunday papers - and nothing less than a winning margin of around 40 to 50 points will cloy the local rugby public's newly-acquired taste for all-out success.

In that respect, England could lose by 20-odd points and still deny the Boks the right to flaunt the psychological advantage. Make no mistake, keeping the cream of South African rugby even partially honest will be a definite moral victory for a rag-tag bunch of old soldiers and young bucks.

Furthermore, England's overwhelming anonymity could turn out to be their one strength. Even the most clued-up Bok would be hard pressed to pick Mike Brown out of a police line-up, whereas every English tourist will be acutely aware of which way Brian Habana likes to step and when and why.

But we are picking at straws. The top dogs of South African rugby simply crave pressure, just witness the Bulls' recent encounter with the Reds. Needing to score at least 72 points to ensure a home semi-final, the eventual champions bagged a 92-3 victory.

Indeed, giving England a 30-point head-start is unlikely to make one iota of difference to Saturday's result.

Bloemfontein is known as 'the city of roses', but the red English variety will surely wither and die here on Saturday. The tourists best hope is that they inflict one or two thorn-wounds that will mutate into festering clumps of doubt ahead of that reunion in Paris.

Ones to watch:

For South Africa: Jonny Wilkinson looks to have the shatterproof physique of a terminator when compared to South Africa's right-wing. The luckless Ashwin Willemse has spent the best part of the last three years strapped to a plinth. He is now back to full fitness and gets another chance at the big time despite having failed to complete a game this year. If there is a suspect link anywhere in the Bok line-up, it is here. Elsewhere, in a vivid indication of how the Boks will approach this game, the hulking Danie Rossouw wins a place at the expense of the more dexterous Pierre Spies. This is his chance to nail down a berth in the XV - expect the big man to take it with both shovel-like hands.

For England: Most debutants shy away from confrontation on the eve of their first cap, but Dean Schofield is not your average debutant. The former builder has been billed as England's 'enforcer' and has been tasked to take the game to the fabled Bok forwards, vowing to get "stuck into them". Elsewhere, Mike Brown - a budding referee - will have his mettle tested under the high ball, Andy Farrell will be looking to answer the critics who questioned his performance in England's defeat by Ireland in Dublin in February, and all eyes will be on Jonny Wilkinson for all the usual reasons.

Head to head: Schalk Burger (South Africa) v Andy Hazell (England): The battle between the two fetchers will be one of contrasting styles. Whilst the big South African is all boundless enthusiasm and powerful limbs, the diminutive (in South African rugby terms at least) Englishman is a technician of the game, in the style of Neil Back. Burger returns to Test rugby for the first time in 11 months having made a full recovery from a severe neck injury suffered against Scotland. Hazell make his first appearance in an England jersey since the Six Nations victory over Scotland in 2005; this will be his third start.

Prediction: The Boks are determined to lay down an out-sized marker in Bloemfontein, and this England team will be unable to stop them. South Africa by 35 points.

Recent results:

2006: South Africa won 25-14 at Twickenham, London
2006: England won 23-21 at Twickenham, London
2004: England won 32-16 at Twickenham, London
2003: England won 25-6 at Subiaco Oval, Perth (RWC)
2002: England won 53-3 at Twickenham, London
2001: England won 29-9 at Twickenham, London
2000: England won 25-17 at Twickenham, London
2000: England won 27-22 at Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
2000: South Africa won 18-13 at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
1999: South Africa won 44-21at Stade de France, Paris (RWC)
1998: England won 13-7 at Twickenham, London
1998: South Africa won 18-0 at Newlands, Cape Town
1997: South Africa won 29-11 at Twickenham, London

The teams:

South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Gurthro Steenkamp, 17 Gary Botha, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Francois Steyn.

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Iain Balshaw, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Jason Robinson (captain), 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Peter Richards, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Stuart Turner, 2 Mark Regan, 1 Nick Wood
Replacements: 16 Matt Cairns, 17 Darren Crompton, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Pat Sanderson, 20 Andy Gomarsall, 21 Toby Flood, 22 A N Other.

Date: Saturday, 26 May
Venue: Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 15:00 (13:00 GMT)
Conditions: Sunny, dry, light north-easterly winds - max 17°C, min -5°C
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Joël Jutge (France), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)

By Andy Jackson - Planet Rugby

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: Naas highlights home display

Thursday 24 May 2007

Naas Botha believes the Boks need to worry about their own performance instead of the significantly weakened England outfit.

Expectations are rising as we edge closer to the first Test of the season, and the fact that England have sent out what is effectively a ‘C’ team has lifted that expectation even further. The South African rugby community want their side to beat England by a record score and to lose is at this moment, inconceivable.

Botha told Keo.co.za it would be foolish for the side to get caught up in this hype, and he has suggested the team concentrates on perfecting their own structures and laying a good platform.

“The Boks must not worry about the England team and their apparent shortcomings,” he said. “Everybody is talking about what a walkover this England side will be, but no international match is ever easy.”

The Boks will take some time to gel and may opt to play closer to their forwards in the early stages. If they can exercise some patience they may wear down the Pommie resistance to the point where a more free-flowing display will be possible.

“How this game will go also depends on the England effort,” said Botha. “If South Africa go well and completely dominate England, then there is no reason to keep it close the whole time. I’m sure the plan will be to assess the situation in the first 15 minutes and work form there.”

The last time England played in Bloemfontein, they beat the Boks by 27-22 with 21-year-old Jonny Wilkinson sinking the hosts with a flawless kicking display. England will look to Wilkinson once again, although even his brilliance may not be enough to save England on this occasion.

“Everybody is well aware of what Jonny Wilkinson is capable of, but it really does depend on the performance of the team around him. We saw it when England played Ireland in the Six Nations. If he doesn’t receive support he is vulnerable just like everyone else.”

South Africa’s performance may also be effected by the dramatic events of last week, where the Bulls beat the Sharks in the dying seconds of the Super 14 final. The Sharks players will need to forget the disappointment of that day and there are many players from both sides who have to improve from their showing at the Absa Stadium.

“I don’t have a problem with the team Jake [White] has selected,” said Botha. “How they will perform is another question. Some of those players from last week’s Super 14 final will need to put the bad day at the office behind them and focus on the task at hand.”

By Jon Cardinelli

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: 'I don't want to play anymore'

Is it possibly that I am not the only member of the cricket fraternity unable to supress my giggles at the righteous indignation spewing forth from our colleagues in the rugby world over the Luke Watson affair?

The fact that a board president saw fit to include an extra player in a squad big enough to include half of South Africa's registered professional cricketers so incensed some rugby people that one would have thought Regan Hoskins had commited manslaughter, or worse.

Depending on on your viewpoint, the fact that the cricket family has become completely blasé about political interference in the selection of all of it's teams means either that we are approximately a decade ahead of rugby in embracing and, indeed, pioneering the sporting future of our country, or that we have been kicked around for so long by our politicians that, like a stray dog, we have become immune to the beatings.

Sure, there were a few terse words and strained emotions when Ray Mali supplanted Mark Boucher with Thami Tsolekile in the test team three years ago, but we soon got over it and besides, Boucher returned a much stronger and enriched cricketer. Tsolekile, meanwhile, having perhaps been promoted ahead of his time, has disappeared from the Cobras set-up, let alone the international scene.

Sporting presidents hold the right of veto for a reason and it seems to me that in the case of Luke Watson and Jake White, the reason was justified.

It was obvious that the schoolmaster in White didn't like the 'bighead' in Watson when he refused to select him for the national under-21 side when he was already a regular member of the Sharks Super-12 team. But personality clashes should never affect the selection of a team.

It is hard to imagine the uproar that would have been caused if White and the selectors had been told to include Watson on the bench for Saturday's test match, or - heaven forbid - a place in the starting XV. If he been given such orders, he could have done worse than call Mickey Arthur for a word of advice on how to handle it.

The Queen of England is the head of that country's armed forces but she isn't going to declare war or make any other military decisions without being told what to do by her admirals and generals. The same applies to Thabo Mbeki, for that matter. So why on earth do rugby people assume that Regan Hoskins, an intelligent lawyer not given to pursuing the limelight, acted unilaterally in creating 'Watsongate'? He did not.

The major difference between rugby and cricket, however, is the calibre and moral fortitude of those unfortunates to be slung with the label 'political pawn.' Whereas cricket's victims are often left to fend for themselves and end up sinking, Watson is undeniably having the time of his life.

While the Luke Watson 'thing' has amused the cricket family, of more concern must be the extreme reluctance of many of our national cricketers to take part in the forthcoming Afro-Asia Cup in Bangalore.

Graeme Smith has had a knee operation so he's not going for legitimate reasons. Jacques Kallis, apparently, will be rested - which is exactly the intention of many of those who have been named in the African squad.

The players' contracts with CSA oblige them to be available for every series and fixture covered by the ICC's Future Tours Programme - which does not include the Afro-Asia Cup. So, technically, they do not have to be available for selection.

The tournament is a mere eight days long, however, including the travel days to India and back. And for those eight days, the chosen players will be guaranteed over R100 000 each. More if they win.

For Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini and a couple of others, the money is irrelevant when weighed up against the time spent away from home and the chance to live a 'normal' life.

Having spent almost as much time as them 'on road' over the last eight months, I must admit that the prospect of leaving again in three weeks' time would not appeal. But with R120 000 at stake, my wife and children would be packing my suitcase and waving me out of the door, especially for a mere eight days.

So, why are the senior players so reluctant? I can't be sure of this, but I suspect it is because they are being treated like 'political pawns' on an international scale, and they know it.

The organisers of this spurious event, which is 'justified' by the money it raises for the development of the game in both regions and by a donation to charity, need the 'big names' in order to give the series credibility and therefore convince the television producers to pay top dollar.

What CSA should be doing with an event like this, of course, is sending Alviro Peterson, Thandi Tshabalala, Dale Steyn, Albie Morkel and - just to be mischievous - Vaughn van Jaarsveld, to give them full exposure to subcontinental conditions in full colours.

Instead, unless they can find a convenient injury soon, Pollock and Ntini will be forced to leave the kids behind once again, just when everyone was getting used to the routine of Dad being at home.

Me? I'll be going out for dinner with my wife, playing a little winter golf and watching James Stewart perform live at the Suikerbossie.

Unless anybody is prepared to offer me R120 000 to cover the tournament, in which case I'll drop everything. Actually, I'll do it for a quarter of that.

by Neil Manthorp Super Sport

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog

RUGBY: Somebody muzzle Mike

Tuesday 22 May 2007

Mike Stofile continues to embarrass the SARU administration. Somebody please keep him quiet.

There’s a test match to be played against England and Bok coach Jake White has accepted the Luke Watson issue. White doesn’t want Watson and doesn’t rate him, but he has agreed to lose this battle to ultimately win the war, which is to prepared for the World Cup without further political interference.

White has been big enough to agree to playing Watson, in a starting role, in the next month. And by all accounts Watson has been treated as fairly as every other player at the camp. If the player proves him wrong and excels the Bok coach is prepared to acknowledge that.

The principle of how wrong it was in the manner in which Watson was selected remains. White, like so many others (including myself), won’t relent on that. But it is an extraordinary situation that has to be tolerated because of the extraordinary manner in which things are done in South African rugby.

While the game’s administration has made fools of themselves in the last week, there was sanity in the form of SA Rugby Managing Director Jonathan Stones, who facilitated Sunday’s meeting between White, the selectors and SARU president Oregan Hoskins. Stones is all about common sense and the bigger picture of a achieving success at the World Cup without compromising the ideals of SARU.

White, at the meeting, took the Watson saga on the chin. He did not agree with it, but there was a compromise. He would accept the Watson situation if they accepted his authority to make decisions as a rugby coach. We move on.

Apparently not. Stofile, in his usual correspondence with Die Burger’s rugby writer Stephen Nell, lambasted White when he was told that Watson would be given one of the first three tests and perhaps one of the first two Tri Nations. Stofile said if this was the situation then White should be fired, claiming selections have to be made on merit.

What a bloody contradiction. Watson’s selection is not on merit. It has been forced on White by Stofile and Hoskins.

Stofile mouths off before having contacted Hoskins. Having told Nell White should be sent packing, he contacts Hoskins, who calms his deputy down by saying there is no such arrangement. Again we sit with a situation of economical truths. There was an arrangement and in the context of this most outrageous situation it was the most sensible and logical. Everyone wins, White and the Watsons.

Given that the Bok selection has been turned into a charity in the last year (read Solly Tyibilika and now Watson), a degree of common sense has prevailed.

For it to remain somebody at SARU should be bold enough to get on the blower to the deputy president and to tell him to shut up.

He continues to threaten the coach. He bad mouths the national captain at every turn, he plays selector every second week and he seeks the attention of the front page of the newspaper every second day. Springbok rugby does not need this kind of presidential bumbling and South African rugby does not need this kind of leadership.

Stones, in his short time, has brought calmness, but it doesn’t help when a voice of reason is drowned out by the Stofile storm every week.

Written by keo

*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog