leeubok

yeah, they are really annoying. Last year one of them threw a rock at me when I ignored them. They were lucky there was a big game fence between us... Other than that, great race and just a lekker relaxed vibe about it. I was in front of the ellie stoppage and didn't see much game. Oh the one thing I don't really understand is the reason for starting riders off in batches this year. It really isn't such a big field of riders, and almost no singletrack. I ended up riding 90% of the race completely alone with almost no-one in sight.

I also shaved an hour off my 2015 time. Was a really lekker ride, will definitely keep it in my yearly calendar!

That's the thing about this Lions team, and probably the biggest reason why they're so successful at the moment. The fact that they've kept most of the team together for the last few years. The core of this group went through some dark times together (2013), but they formed one big family and play for one another. They've been playing excellent rugby for the past 2 seasons now so many of their players have received offers from elsewhere. Even Franco Mostert who was going to France is now staying (although he hasn't re-signed at the Lions yet). And it all starts at the top where in Kevin de Klerk and Rudolf Straeuli we have excellent administrators. Then there's no better coaching team in SA than Ackers, Swys and Ferreira

Was a very lekker race this year! Weather was just perfect this time around. Didn't see much game myself, but I hear other riders saw rhino, ellies, wild dogs etc...

Not a bad view from the mountain above Louwsburg

I for one am really looking forward to the next 3 weeks. The weaker teams are now out and the top teams will slug it out for the trophy. I think the Lions have a good chance of beating the Saders if they play to their full potential. whether they can beat the top 3 NZ teams in 3 consecutive weekends is another story (I'm assuming the other NZ sides will win their games).

Nah, Lions have already signed most of their players. Losing only Mostert and boshoff permanently. Quite a few of them play in Japan during the cc but return again for Super rugby next year. Sharks are losing quite a few of their "star" players though. So as things stand now the Lions will play the Sharks AGAIN in the quarterfinal. This I don't like, as comprehensive as the Lion wins over the sharks have been, I just get this feeling they will trip us up come playoff time..

Those pics are definitely not from last year.. It was a mudfest! Will see you guys there, doing my 2nd Imfolozi race

He's been appointed captain for the rest of the year. AC prefers Duane ahead of WW so not sure if he really sees him as an option for long term captain. Sharks have suffered lots of injuries to key players, so could be a tough day at the office for them. Even with all their frontline players I'd say the Lions are the better team at the moment. But you never know, anything can happen.... The bokkies were supposed to be so much stronger than the Irish, and we all know what happened there.

Apparently his (Teletubbie) carries was even less: In 3 toetse:8 tackles 19 meter gemaak16 carries (so 19 / 16 = 1.1875 meter per carry)2 strafskoppe afgestaan2 missed tackles1 offload1 aanslaan1 loose ball collected12 passes1 skop gevang

Apparently bok captain teletubbie made 8 tackles during the 3 test series, and 27m with ball in hand. Factor in our scrums got bossed in the first 2 tests, and you really have to ask yourself, what the hell is he doing in the test side? And then AC goes and appoints him as captain for the rest of the year!?

1) Habana - Move on. All he's good at is shooting up out of the defensive line to go for intercept. 9/10 times it doesn't work and the other team scores 2) Bismarck - We don't need his vuilgat prima donna attitude in the team. Call up Marx if you want physical presence 3) Goosen. If Mr Glass can keep from breaking again, yes 4) Brussow - Always rated him, but we've got more than enough talent at loose forward 5) Burger. F*ck NOOOOOO! So flippen ineffective it's not actually funny. 100 carries and 2m gained, no thanks. And as you say, we have Jantjies and Lambie covering flyhalf already I'm really gutted for Warren Whiteley. Apparently he got hurt in the 2nd test already but pushed on. To still make so many tackles in the 3rd test with a sore shoulder demands respect. The lions are gonna miss him, but in Kriel we have another inspirational leader.

Over the weekend I just went from the reserve gate up a hill and back down again. 10km and 611m of climbing one way. First half has a 11% avg gradient, second half only 3%. Coming back down was a blast though!

I'm with you on this one. I'd even go as far as to say AC isn't the right man for the job. I'll admit, it's still early days and probably unfair to judge him after only 3 games at the helm. BUT... Since when does the Springboks struggle to beat Ireland? At home nogals? A very injury depleted Ireland side nogals. A very tired Ireland side after a long season. And we scraped through by the hair on our teeth. Thanks to 2 try saving tackles by faf (how jpp got motm I don't know..). This series could so easily have gone to Ireland, and they probably deserved it more. So what worries me is that we have an incredibly talented squad of players. Here and there are a few passengers that shouldn't be there, but overall AC has awarded super rugby form. So why were we so dreadful? I blame the coaches. AC and his wp comrades were not exactly known for coaching an exciting attacking brand of rugby at wp. So why now expect anything different from them? And then there's stick. I probably don't need to say much more than that. There are already too many cooks in the kitchen but they need an external someone to help out. Preferably a nz coach. Or at the very least ackers or swys to help with the backline play

She swears I came close to taking her out, but I say she over reacted

You don't take rugby seriously!? What type of south African male are you! ????

I've seen kolbe bumped off too many times to be convinced that he's a good defender. Also seen players pick him up and carry him back a lot too. If they can catch him that is... I also wouldn't try to convert him into a 9 when we have other good scrummies like faf around

Surely it should be: 1.Beast 2. Strauss 3. Julian 4. Etzebeth 5. PSDT 6. Kriel 7. Kolisi 8. WW (Also picked up an injury, hope he's ok) 9. Faf 10. Jantjies 11. JPP/Mvovo 12. DDA (unless he's injured, I'd like to see someone else there. Perhaps F. Venter?) 13. Mapoe (Deserves a chance with a 12 who actually passes the ball to him) 14. Combrinck 15 Willie Bench: Kitshoff, Bongi (but would prefer Marx), Nyakane, Mostert, Kolisi/Notshe, Paige, MS, Jesse Kriel/Francois Venter. Pity we don't have anyone else who can cover 10, so that we can add another utility back to the bench instead of MS. We don't need Steyn for his kicking, Combrinck can also kick if something happens to Jantjies

Holy sh.. 1900m climbing in 23km?

Kolbe: I'm not one who likes to say a certain player is too small. Too often brilliant players were overlooked because some of our coaches thought they were too small, AKA Heineke and Brussow. Someone like brussow was short, but had bucketloads of power, and the role he played he was perfect. But Kolbe's size doesn't help him in his position at all, so I disagree with you Puncheur on those points you made. In my opinion he doesn't have a good boot, he cannot compete for the high ball and his defense is terrible. I recall the lions 9 bumping him off in the CC final last year. So 1 on 1 against the likes of Nadolo, Savea or most international wings he doesn't stand a chance. Like Mntboy said, his strength is his running in broken play. For the PE test AC doesn't have to think too much. Start with the team that ended the EP test, and include Jaco Kriel either starting at 6 or on the bench at least. I would drop Duane and Louw completely and include someone like Notshe or Carr on the bench. It's a real pity Strauss is captain because I would drop him too. Apparently he didn't make 1 tackle in the first test!? DDA is too one dimensional and should be replaced later in the game. His try at the end of the last test was purely luck, because the Irish were out on their feet. Bring in jesse kriel or Francois Venter.

Nooooooo! Rather put jesse kriel at fullback. Or even lambie. Or give willie another chance with more lions players on the field (he seemed to play a lot better the last 20minste). Anybody but kolbe!

I think the ww vs duane argument has now been settled. Thanks for trying duane,but time to step aside now. Redelinghuys, combrinck, ww and kriel must start next weekend!

So, here we go again with the same team expecting different results. The difference between us and AB's? The AB's left out Julian Savea because he's not on form. Can you imagine that? Most other international teams would give their left nut to have a player like him. But their coach is sending out a strong message, if you don't perform you're out. Us? We hang onto players who are out of form and out of shape because they have EXPERIENCE. Yip, there's been a lot of talk about AC not rating Jantjies. Blaming him and Faf for last weekends result was also a low blow from the coach. Why doesn't he blame his captain or the rest of his WP pack for doing absolutely nothing? Most important question of all: WHERE IS JACO KRIEL???????

Why didn't you just bunny hop it?

Is he making a DUCKFACE? WTF