Rugby...

[JGR]

http://www.sportspun...uper-rugby/#oo1

 

there's only one company even offering odds - at 250-1. i think i'd be getting ripped off.

I think its best you stay away from betting on Super Rugby

['Dale]

!!!

 

Junior WC:

Baby Boks vs Baby Kiwis, this morning from 09h30

[Stretch]

!!!

 

Junior WC:

Baby Boks vs Baby Kiwis, this morning from 09h30

 

2 twin brothers from my old school playing this morning too...the folks must be super proud

[mon-goose]

i see SA beat NZ at the JRWC and I don't see any news on news24.... well done SA

[babse]

what a show by the baby boks

 

dominant performance specially from that forward pack.

Pollard again showing his worth behind a decent pack of forwards!

 

Lets hope the senior team can replicate that performance tomorrow

GO BOKKE

['Dale]

Dominant display of forward play and territorial advantage over the Kiwis.

To do that IN New Zealand is pretty special

[dev null]

i see SA beat NZ at the JRWC and I don't see any news on news24.... well done SA

 

Ja, leave it to the Kiwi news to be first, even though they lost.

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11269278

['Dale]

Bonus point tries too!!

['Dale]

Thoughtful article - I like most of it.

 

 

'So conservative from Meyer'

 

Tank Lanning, news24

 

So Frans Steyn is missing cartilage in his knee - a condition that will need to see his workload managed carefully for the rest of his career ... yet on Saturday the national coach is going to make him play 80 minutes at inside centre against a World XV side in a match that does not come with Test caps.

 

This while Juan de Jongh, S'bura Sithole, JJ Engelbrecht and Jan Serfontein watch on from outside the 23, and the likes of Johann Sadie, Paul Jordaan and even Rayno Benjamin watch on from outside the greater 36-man squad ...

 

Yet given this fairly extensive list of available centres, Bok coach Heyneke Meyer still sees the need to move JP Pietersen, outstanding at wing for the Boks for so long, to outside centre in order to give the only debutant, Cornal Hendricks, a run on the wing?

 

Of all the exciting young talent in South Africa, and players who have stuck up their hands in this year’s Super Rugby, Hendricks from the bottom of the log Cheetahs is the only player to have caught the coach’s eye?

 

Jannie du Plessis has started every single Super Rugby game this year, yet here he is again, starting for the Boks in this exhibition game, together with the misfiring project that sees Coenie Oosthuizen as his backup at tighthead. Why not give the man a break and let Marcel van der Merwe, who was brilliant for the Bulls in a rare start against the Lions, have a run?

 

The same could be said for Beast Mtawarira, who is also massively overplayed. And with so much loosehead talent in the country, why are we calling up Gurthro Steenkamp from France as Beast’s backup?

 

Why not give Trevor Nyakane or Morne Mellett a run with Beast on the bench?

 

Schalk Burger is being held together by Elastoplast, could not play for the Stormers last weekend because of injury, has chosen to spend his off season earning Yen rather than resting, yet there he is, benching for the Boks in the first game of the season. If Oupa Mohoje is next in line, why not give him a run? Or what about Warren Whiteley, Boom Prinsloo or Nizaam Carr, who will all be biting into tjoppie number 3 round the braai come kick off on Saturday given that they could not even make the 36 man squad?

 

Why are we so conservative?

 

I think it’s because of that damn “playbook” that Meyer holds so dear, selecting players who know the book and the calls, rather than the best players available. Perhaps we are selecting the players who can play a certain way, rather than the best players in the country?

 

For me it is about trusting the conveyer belt of talent coming through ... Instead of seeing the loss of a first choice player to injury or foreign currency as a mortal body blow, see it as an opportunity to give the next in line a chance to shine.

 

Be it Gert Smal, their position on the log, or the fact that they have no other choice, but the Stormers’ mid-season revival seems to have coincided with doing exactly this.

 

Next in line players like Ruan Botha, Alistair Vermaak, Stephan Coetzee, Sti Sithole, Martin Dreyer, Jean Kleyn and Dylon Frylinck have been given a chance, and not only survived, but in some cases, shone!

 

A reason they have lost so much talent in the past is because instead of doing exactly this, they have tended to look elsewhere and pay big money for journeyman stop-gap players, or massive money for Toulon type players. That money could have been better spent on keeping home grown players on the conveyer belt, but only if both coaches and players trust in the process.

 

Any Bok side selected would have too much in the tank for the end of season fun loving World XV to handle, but would it really have mattered if the Boks had lost, while at the same time building their squad depth?

[Guest EdEdEd]

Die twee duppies en beast word in hul moer in geskrym

[Guest EdEdEd]

Mooi sat die cheetahs biki afrond!

['Dale]

Never know what to think of festival rugby events

I fell asleep (well almost)

 

Game of the day was the likely draw between the Roses and the Kiwis with a few mins to go

 

THEN instead of kicking for posts with a relatively easy penalty, the All Blacks tapped and ran it to score!!

 

[Maximis]

Thoughtful article - I like most of it.

 

 

'So conservative from Meyer'

 

Tank Lanning, news24

 

So Frans Steyn is missing cartilage in his knee - a condition that will need to see his workload managed carefully for the rest of his career ... yet on Saturday the national coach is going to make him play 80 minutes at inside centre against a World XV side in a match that does not come with Test caps.

 

This while Juan de Jongh, S'bura Sithole, JJ Engelbrecht and Jan Serfontein watch on from outside the 23, and the likes of Johann Sadie, Paul Jordaan and even Rayno Benjamin watch on from outside the greater 36-man squad ...

 

Yet given this fairly extensive list of available centres, Bok coach Heyneke Meyer still sees the need to move JP Pietersen, outstanding at wing for the Boks for so long, to outside centre in order to give the only debutant, Cornal Hendricks, a run on the wing?

 

Of all the exciting young talent in South Africa, and players who have stuck up their hands in this year’s Super Rugby, Hendricks from the bottom of the log Cheetahs is the only player to have caught the coach’s eye?

 

Jannie du Plessis has started every single Super Rugby game this year, yet here he is again, starting for the Boks in this exhibition game, together with the misfiring project that sees Coenie Oosthuizen as his backup at tighthead. Why not give the man a break and let Marcel van der Merwe, who was brilliant for the Bulls in a rare start against the Lions, have a run?

 

The same could be said for Beast Mtawarira, who is also massively overplayed. And with so much loosehead talent in the country, why are we calling up Gurthro Steenkamp from France as Beast’s backup?

 

Why not give Trevor Nyakane or Morne Mellett a run with Beast on the bench?

 

Schalk Burger is being held together by Elastoplast, could not play for the Stormers last weekend because of injury, has chosen to spend his off season earning Yen rather than resting, yet there he is, benching for the Boks in the first game of the season. If Oupa Mohoje is next in line, why not give him a run? Or what about Warren Whiteley, Boom Prinsloo or Nizaam Carr, who will all be biting into tjoppie number 3 round the braai come kick off on Saturday given that they could not even make the 36 man squad?

 

Why are we so conservative?

 

I think it’s because of that damn “playbook” that Meyer holds so dear, selecting players who know the book and the calls, rather than the best players available. Perhaps we are selecting the players who can play a certain way, rather than the best players in the country?

 

For me it is about trusting the conveyer belt of talent coming through ... Instead of seeing the loss of a first choice player to injury or foreign currency as a mortal body blow, see it as an opportunity to give the next in line a chance to shine.

 

Be it Gert Smal, their position on the log, or the fact that they have no other choice, but the Stormers’ mid-season revival seems to have coincided with doing exactly this.

 

Next in line players like Ruan Botha, Alistair Vermaak, Stephan Coetzee, Sti Sithole, Martin Dreyer, Jean Kleyn and Dylon Frylinck have been given a chance, and not only survived, but in some cases, shone!

 

A reason they have lost so much talent in the past is because instead of doing exactly this, they have tended to look elsewhere and pay big money for journeyman stop-gap players, or massive money for Toulon type players. That money could have been better spent on keeping home grown players on the conveyer belt, but only if both coaches and players trust in the process.

 

Any Bok side selected would have too much in the tank for the end of season fun loving World XV to handle, but would it really have mattered if the Boks had lost, while at the same time building their squad depth?

 

Great post/ article

 

You would think that with the World Cup around the corner, new players oozing with fesh talent would be given the opportunities to play not only in terms of experience but new combinations. Not to mention our lock combination. We run the risk of one day putting an inexperienced, fresh young team in a tough test situation unprepared.

 

What ever happened to the mix of youth and experience?! We should be building a squad of 36, not 23... Bottom line

[flymango]

:eek: Wonder what this is all about then .... real shame. I rate him highly at 12 in the Bok team.

 

 

Durban - Frans Steyn was released from the Springbok squad at his own request on Tuesday and will not appear in Saturday’s match against Wales at Kings Park in Durban.

 

The player advised SARU officials that that he did not wish to be considered for the Incoming series.

 

"The environment in the Springbok squad is fantastic and I would like to state categorically that my relationship withHeyneke Meyer, the rest of the management and my team-mates is very good," said Steyn.

 

Steyn – who is expected to take up a contract in Japan at the end of the Super Rugby season – said that he wished for time to reflect on his Springbok future.

 

He indicated he would be available for the Cell C Sharks once the June internationals are completed.

 

"I have spoken at length to Frans and we are happy to accede to his request," said Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU.

 

"He has asked for some time to consider his international playing future and we must respect that.

 

"Let me make it clear that he has not retired from international rugby, but he has requested a break from it."

 

Roux added that Steyn had asked for privacy at this time.

 

"This is not an ideal situation, but, in other instances, sudden player absences through injury are not uncommon and I’m sure Heyneke and the selectors will adapt to his unavailability.

 

"Frans is now out of the squad and team management will respect his wish for privacy by not speculating on his decision or his likely return."

[Stretch]

maybe he just realises he could actually destroy his career with all this non stop rugby and he knows he needs a break (especially with his cartilage problem in his knee). Maybe his focus is on the world cup next year - rather play it than be up lame.

['Dale]

Saw that about Fran's Steyn.

Seems like a personal matter, not professional matter.

 

Hmmm

 

What a talent.