Kiwis rule in George
11 Dec 2010
Tomasi Cama kicked an injury-time penalty goal to secure New Zealand a 22-19 victory over England in the cup final while the Blitzboks claimed the plate prize at the George Sevens.
It was a thrilling finish to a highly-entertaining cup final. England and a six-man New Zealand side were deadlocked at 19-19 in the closing stages until the latter were awarded a penalty in a kickable position. Cama, who impressed with the boot throughout the tournament, stepped up and slotted the kick from the 22m line to claim the win.
England only have themselves to be blame as they were 14-5 up at half-time. Ben Gollings and James Rodwell crossed the chalk for the Dubai winners while Declan O’Donnell opened the scoring for New Zealand.
Then came the Kiwi comeback. DJ Forbes finished off a counter attack from New Zealand’s red zone before setting up Tim Mickleson in the corner for a 19-14 lead. Former Bishops and UCT student Matt Turner then came on as a super sub to score a great inidividual try to level the scores. New Zealand were dealt a further blow as Bryce Heem was sent off for punching. However, four minutes after the final hooter, Cama’s boot clinched victory and New Zealand’s fifth tournament win in George.
The Springbok Sevens had to settle for the plate title as they beat Argentina 10-5 in the final after a poor run on day two.
The Blitzboks lacked direction on attack without their talisman Cecil Afrika, who had to withdraw from the final clash because of injury. They had several opportunities early in the first half but poor decision-making denied them the lead. After the fifth visit to Argentina’s red zone, Bernado Botha eventually dived in at the corner as he gathered Branco du Preez’s chip ahead for a 5-0 lead at the break.
Argentina levelled the scores as Diego Palma exposed the Blitzboks’ defence out wide, but Franki Horn sealed the win for South Africa after finishing off a set piece move in the dying moments.
The win gave some joy for the home fans, who had to witness a poor day two for the Blitzboks in what should be the final sevens tournament hosted in George (Cape Town and PE are tipped to be the next hosts of the South African leg next season as George’s contract rights expire next year). However, head coach Paul Treu and his team shouldn’t celebrate this victory as it is just a consolation prize. All it confirms is fifth place. South Africa have a lot of work to do ahead of the next tournament, the Wellington Sevens in New Zealand, on 4 and 5 February if they want to improve.
Earlier in the day in the plate semi-final, Cecil Afrika scored a last-minute try to help the Springbok Sevens to a 24-21 win over Wales.
When Aaron Shingler crossed the chalk to put Wales 21-17 ahead with 30 seconds left in the match, it seemed that the Blitzboks would suffer their worst ever finish at a tournament on home soil. However, from the final kickoff, South Africa never gave up and an impressive team effort saw Afrika score in the corner to steal the win from the defending Sevens World Cup champions.
Afrika opened the scoring for the host team before Wales went ahead through a converted try. The Blitzboks had a 10-7 lead at break as Afrika grabbed a brace for the final move of the first half.
Wales were the better team in the second half as they had the upper hand at the tackle points and enjoyed most of the possession. This eventually saw Richard Pugh dive under the posts to put Wales ahead. The Blitzboks hit back through Kyle Brown but conceded a late try which almost cost them the game. However, Afrika completed his hat-trick and converted the final try for the win.
In their first match on day two, the Springbok Sevens were knocked out of the cup section after a 19-10 defeat against England.
The Blitzboks started the quarter-final clash well and led 10-5 at half-time, but a poor second half display saw them fail to score a point after the break as England rallied to victory through two late tries. Head coach Paul Treu will lament his player’s poor defence towards the end of the match as slipped tackles cost them the game while they became static with ball in hand and failed to convert their scoring opportunities.
This wasn’t the case in the first stanza as the Blitzboks delivered an impressive all-round performance. Cecil Afrika opened the scoring after sniping a gap out wide. England capitalised on South Africa’s only mistake in the first half, failing to retain possession at the tackle point on halfway, to see John Brake run clear down the touchline to level the scores.
From the resulting restart, Afrika almost fumbled the ball deep in his red zone but gathered possession and broke into England’s territory with 50m run. The Blitzboks spread play wide and Bernado Botha finished off a good piece of attacking play.
However, it was all England after the break. Speedster Dan Norton should’ve scored early but knocked on the ball with a clear path to the try line ahead of him. It didn’t matter though as Isoa Damu dotted down and Brake completed his brace in the last two minutes of the match to seal victory.
Blitzboks’ results:
Cup quarter-final – SA 10 England 19
Plate semi-final – SA 24 Wales 21
Plate final – SA 10 Argentina 5
167 Comments
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11 Dec 2010, 11:29 am
tried to do a wc 30 squad….damn dificult….
11 Dec 2010, 12:29 pm
@grant10 :
Hoezit Grant10?
11 Dec 2010, 12:37 pm
Whatsup with the Poms and their orange (7s) and purple (15s) jerseys?
They look Ridiculous! Wannabees!
11 Dec 2010, 13:04 pm
@Mighty Horua : howzit my man….
Let me have a go at a wc 2011 bok squad before heading out for the day …
Subjext to form and full fitness….if i was the oke tasked to do the job….my squad would be ….and heavens above it is so damn tough ….but here goes.
First….i am a firm believer in specialists…..
second i am a firm believer in balanced loose trios…..and always believe a fetcher is non negotiable.
Okay….here goes .
15….F Steyn…..15 P Lambie
14 JP Pietersen….Gio Aplon
13 J Fourie….A Jacobs
12 J De Villiers…J De Jongh
11 B Habana…L Mvovo
10 B James….M Steyn
9 FDP….r pIENAAR
8 p spies…w alberts
7 j smith…s burger
6 brussel sprout …steggmann
5 matfield [ capt ] …A Bekker
4 bakkies…D Rossouw
3 Jannie Dup….CJ VD LINDE
2 king bissy….chilliboy
1 guthro….beast…
Of course there is plenty of rugby to be played still….and not sure about the doping charge with Chilliboy. If he goes down i would look at Maku or Gary Botha.
Why not Smit?
Well he doesent make the starting line up…..and i do not fancy the complications of entrusting the captaincy to matfield with smit staring over his shoulder.
I have learned a long time ago….as in the Highlander tv series….’ there can only be 1 ‘….and matfield would need that confidence shown in him.
Really tough on players like BJ BOtha, F Hougaard, R Januarie, the young flip vd merwe, ….but the players chosen are experienced, specialists and even the couple of youngsters like mvovo and lambie have shown they are capable of standing up to the big time.
Okay….
outta here
11 Dec 2010, 13:12 pm
Im orait
I would rather include FLO instead of Stegman, cause Steggies went missing on the Tour
FLO had to play against the two top fetcher (Richie and Pocock)
He wouldve improved if Pdivvy just selected him
11 Dec 2010, 13:44 pm
wow could actually agree with grant for once…
except no room for stegman, flo,potgieter,vermeulen,deysel,burger all ahead of him, he did nothing on this end of year tour and got thrown around…
also your bias against smit is ridiculous, he would surely be a better safety net than chilli
11 Dec 2010, 13:49 pm
@Seven : actually no grant…
bj should be there ahead of jannie if not definately
hougard should probably be in the top 30 albeit for jacobs
11 Dec 2010, 13:58 pm
The team has bulked up a bit by bringing in a few boertjies. The quotas however still can`t tackle. Get rid of the useless lot ie. Delport, etc.
11 Dec 2010, 14:08 pm
@Seven :
Jannie has improved tremendously this year. No doubt he was the no. 1 TH in SA in 2010. That doesn’t mean that he is great, it just says a lot about the quality, or lack thereof, of the TH’s we have in the country.
BJ has done nothing in the chances he got this year to warrant a place in the squad for the WC next year.
11 Dec 2010, 14:08 pm
Lot’s of Maoris in the crowd today They must have chartered a few 747′s from er, Cape Town…
11 Dec 2010, 14:14 pm
Ya. The quarterfinals are the highest level the Blitzbokke will reach for the next while. Everyone else seems able to surge when one is needed, while our boys seem to not have that killer gear.
11 Dec 2010, 14:18 pm
@Seven : #7
Jannie was the best TH in SA this year. He improved tremendously compared to last year. That does not mean that he is great. It says more about the quality, or lack thereof, of the TH’s we have in the country.
BJ has done nothing this year in the chances he got to warrant a place in the squad for the WC next year.
11 Dec 2010, 14:24 pm
Gremlins at work wrt post 9 & 12.
Sorry.
Time for a new 7′s coach. I don’t think Treu can take this team much further.
Get Carel Dup or even Slaptjips in. I think either of them will do well as 7′s coach
11 Dec 2010, 14:39 pm
@BishopsOD : average players, the majority who will never really make it in super 15
11 Dec 2010, 14:42 pm
@nama1 : lol ok, not much competition in tightheads, all average but bj is special with mobility and strength and ability at rucks and most importantly scrumming like a rock.
jannie is always got something else on his mind and cj is good without being consistent
11 Dec 2010, 14:53 pm
Well no one listens do they. Why don’t The men in power install Wikus van de merwe as captain, find The most athletic prawns in district 9 and get them in The team,The blitzboks Are going nowhere at The moment and Wikus will add some much needed nouse to the set up….. But no The bigoted men in power can’t get passed there racist outlook on The prawn community…anyway i will keep championing The cause
11 Dec 2010, 14:56 pm
You can only afford maybe one light arse in your 7`s team.
11 Dec 2010, 15:01 pm
@Seven : 15
I think Jannie’s problem is that he wants to play like his brother. Probably a bit jealous that his laaitie boet gets all the limelight.
If he just concentrate on the basics of TH play, and leave the other stuff for his brother who is obviously more talented than him, he can become even better.
11 Dec 2010, 15:18 pm
possibly…i mean he’s certainly good enough, just needs to become a dominating force at th and not just an average building block
11 Dec 2010, 16:12 pm
a decent blitznok team
kyle brown
francois louw
ryan kankowski
conrad hoffman
elton jantjies
fabian juries
cecil afrika
11 Dec 2010, 16:19 pm
maybe that mjekevu who moved from the lions, my soul there are better rugby players in south africa, at least for the first few rounds…
11 Dec 2010, 16:39 pm
If sevens was taken seriously eg If sevens were in the next Olympics 2012. I would pick a big and fast sevens side.
Prime Selection criteria: Speed + Size (exception being Juries + Sithole + Afrika + Horne + Delport – best of the sevens bunch)
Spies
Horne
Kankowski
Hougaard
Afrika
Juries
Mapoe
JPP
Andries Bekker
Sithole
Van der Heever
Delport
Then you would see action!
11 Dec 2010, 16:48 pm
This Paul Treu has done his time. Sevens needs another chap in charge. Treu is SA’s Mr 7′s but clearly his vision is limited…
11 Dec 2010, 16:50 pm
@bokke baiter : 16. Classy, Poppa…
11 Dec 2010, 17:34 pm
@WESTERN PROVINCE – SOUTH AFRICA’S BENCHMARK SINCE 1883 : you know sibusiso sithole is my nephew?
11 Dec 2010, 18:21 pm
@Transformation : 25. He runs fast, so that makes sense
In all seriousness, I think he’s a good player. Seems to have faded out of the limelight. Was he injured?
11 Dec 2010, 18:40 pm
Those SA All Black supporters are a classy bunch (not) .
Our guys were makeing their way off the field after the pom game when the SA AB supports started shouting insults and swearing at them.
11 Dec 2010, 19:39 pm
Love the poms new rugby kit, them and Stade France (sp) have best looking kit.
11 Dec 2010, 19:40 pm
Hey Guys…
I haven’t posted in a while… but must do so to pass on some sad news…
poet and musician Michael Copley… better known to you all as Jinx… had just died…
He was a gentle and deeply, profoundly talented and caring soul…
May he rest in peace…!
Cheers Mick
11 Dec 2010, 19:51 pm
@ufo :
That is just sad. Never met the guy.
But his posts were always upbeat and entertaining.
RIP, my friend.
11 Dec 2010, 19:56 pm
@WESTERN PROVINCE – SOUTH AFRICA’S BENCHMARK SINCE 1883 : he is a rookie to sevens…he is at the sharks academy *damn it*…plays wing 4 their u21
11 Dec 2010, 20:07 pm
@ufo : 29 – ufo, VERY, very sad to hear that. Jinx was one of the nicest bloggers here ever. His poems was brilliant. So really sad to read this.
To all his family out thoughts and prayers are with them.
11 Dec 2010, 20:13 pm
@ufo : 29 – Always remember the beautiful poem Jinx wrote when we won the cricket in Oz two years back. Think he wrote something about KP but it was moving. Felt like a piece of a Alan Paton novel. Transie buddy look it up mate and post it here in honour of Jinx. I have no idea how to go back and look for old posts. You are the best at that.
That poem Jinx (Michael Copley) wrote was around Dec early Jan.
11 Dec 2010, 20:13 pm
Very sad, my condolences 2 his friends and family.
11 Dec 2010, 20:14 pm
@Puma : Dec 2008 Jan 2009. Meant to put that up there.
11 Dec 2010, 20:18 pm
@Transformation : Transie buddy, read my post 31.
11 Dec 2010, 20:19 pm
Just logged on to say. Congrats to All Blacks 7′s
11 Dec 2010, 20:22 pm
Silly end to a great final. I don`t think kicks at goal for penalties should be allowed in 7`s. Just does not seem to be right.
11 Dec 2010, 20:24 pm
Hey Puma & Stormer…
Yeah… He was a special human being… And a MASSIVE Bok and WP fan…
Here’s a poem he wrote last month:
The awakening stirring in you too
In the star mansions of the sky millions
The watchful moon drops one tear,
To splash on your sown seeds
For that dream to become clear.
In the dark soil of patience and perseverance,
Where the process is sure and slow,
Through the nights of alone toil
Intent is trusting even though doesn’t know.
Heart petals flower and become open
To the possibilities of universal love,
Strength shakes off the cobwebs
As truth reveals an understated presence of the Dove.
Duality loosens its chains
At the entrance to the fifth gate,
There’s an honouring that emboldens
As it transfigures you in that space.
There’s a holy fire in the pulse
Of Mother Earth blessing you,
There’s a new vision piercing the silence,
The awakening stirring in you too.
Michael Copley
12/11/2010
11 Dec 2010, 20:24 pm
@Treehugger : 34 – Treehugs, Very sad to read about Jinx passing. He was one of the nicest bloggers on keo.
11 Dec 2010, 20:26 pm
@ufo : 39 – UFO, Thanks for that buddy. Jinxie’s poems were always touching and beautiful to read. So really sad to hear of his passing.
11 Dec 2010, 20:28 pm
@Springbokvel : 38 – Good point there.
11 Dec 2010, 20:30 pm
Also, time should stop from the moment a line-out has been ruled until the line-out has formed. Same could be done for scrums (especially resets). The official timekeeper`s role should be expanded in this regard and the latter should be the sole judge of time.
11 Dec 2010, 20:31 pm
@ufo : 39 – I had a lot of fun posting with Jinx during the IPL tourney. We had some good laughs there together. He had a good out look on life, well that was the impression I got reading his posts here.
11 Dec 2010, 20:37 pm
@Puma : hi puma, hope u well and keeping safe, watch out 4 all the vaalie holiday makers in your neck of the woods, they drive more aggressively than us
11 Dec 2010, 20:39 pm
@Treehugger : Too many of them here already..hehe
Me I am just staying put right here in the estate 
Had all the impla sleeping again right outside my garden around 6am this morning. Rather be here than the beach this time of year
11 Dec 2010, 20:41 pm
@ufo : 39 – UFO, Just looked up Michael Copley on the net. There are plenty of his poems there. Some really brilliant ones. Hope all the bloggers here that knew him take a look at some of (Jinx) as he was known here poems there.
11 Dec 2010, 20:42 pm
@Puma : 41
You’re welcome bud… Yes, a sad day indeed.
Here’s another from Jinx. A little insight into how he saw things…
Made from poetry
The poet’s words are dancing,
Making soul contact and impact,
The sweet fire burning through,
Getting through the cracks.
The beat is sweating
Inside the rhythm of love,
Questions have surrendered,
This answer is enough.
Words bend through colour
As they rain on your path,
Evoking mysterious nuances
From way back they find your heart,
Sorrow may sting and hurt,
Joy may intoxicate,
But with words strung together
Understanding takes its shape.
Feel the river of the cosmos
Winding its way to you,
On the tip of a tongue
A voice can transform you.
In what ever way you feel,
In what ever way you see,
The universe is a secret
Made from poetry.
Michael Copley
21/10/2010
11 Dec 2010, 20:43 pm
Normal service has resumed.
11 Dec 2010, 20:45 pm
@Puma : 47
yes Puma… he’s well known in poetry and muso circles in Cape Town.
What I’ve posted were a couple of the poems he shared with me…
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