The new face of Super Rugby
20 Dec 2010
Find out everything you need to know about the expanded competition in the bumper 156-page issue of SA Rugby magazine.
We kick off our Super Rugby preview section with an idiot’s guide to the new format (if you still don’t know how it works after reading this, we can’t help you). That’s followed by three pages on each South African team (how they are shaping up, player signings/losses, fixtures, previous log finishes, numbers that matter etc) and one page on each of the Kiwi and Aussie sides.
Also in the new issue:
– The Springboks failed to make any progress on their end-of-year tour
– Is Victor Matfield too conservative to be Bok captain?
– The All Blacks capped off an outstanding 2010 with their third Grand Slam in five years
– The Wallabies were frustratingly inconsistent on their end-of-year tour
– If England are to seriously challenge for the World Cup, they will have to stand up to the big beasts of the game
– Behind the swagger lies a secret diary that is driving England wing Chris Ashton to new heights
– Why the Barbarians are still relevant in the professional era
– Yet again the World Cup schedule helps the big nations and hinders the smaller ones. Why can’t the IRB make rugby’s showpiece event fair to all?
– Plus: Why Stuart Abbott is back in SA, Tim Noakes on the Boks ‘doping’ controversy, Heinrich Brussow’s injury battle, SA players in Europe
Click here to subscribe to print edition
Click here to subscribe to digital edition
2,264 Comments
Pages: « 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9 10 11 12 13 … 46 » Show All
21 Dec 2010, 14:47 pm
@gunther : 348 – Gunther, Rose is far too sweet for my taste buds…hahaha.
21 Dec 2010, 14:51 pm
@Puma :
that’s because you are drinking the wrong type of rose.
a rose worthy of the name should be as dry and astringent as any sauvignon blanc.
it’s not your fault.
21 Dec 2010, 14:51 pm
@Puma :
Gotta fly Puma, have a few things to do this afternoon.
If I don’t catch you before the weekend though, have a great Christmas mate.
21 Dec 2010, 14:53 pm
@JockBok : 353 – JockBok, Enjoy your Christmas and have a great New Year too, if I don’t see you about here.
21 Dec 2010, 14:56 pm
@gunther :
Yep, I’ve been surprised drinking this French Rose. I always thought it was too sweet and stayed away from it, but I’ve now learnt otherwise after taking a glass at dinner one night. I’m almost ashamed to say I’m quite ‘into’ it.
Any advice on good pink t-shirt brands where the collar won’t flop after an hour?
In for a penny……..
21 Dec 2010, 14:56 pm
@gunther : 352 – Gunther, Only ever had Rose twice and both times far too sweet for me. I mean sickly sweet, just put me off.
21 Dec 2010, 15:00 pm
@JockBok : 355 – Okay JockBok, You and Gunther have convinced me. I will try a Rose tonight just for the sake of it. Gunther which one should I buy? Going to the bottle store soon for beers.
21 Dec 2010, 15:01 pm
@>^..^< katman : Post 339.
As ever,
there ain’t no one……….,
quite like……
Katmandu.
No other Tongue with such a twist.
And no Razor Sharper.
21 Dec 2010, 15:04 pm
@Puma :
Hehe, you know it makes sense. No idea of the decent Saffer brands, as I said, I’ve steered clear of them. But I’ll check back later for a recommendation.
Who’d have thought it. Discussing Rose on a rugby forum
Anyway, really outta here.
Now where did I leave my moisturiser, this afternoon sun plays havoc with my crows feet….
21 Dec 2010, 15:08 pm
@Puma :
like I said Puma.
you have been drinking the wrong ones.
it must be DRY.
ask the man in the store nicely.
try for something french.
make it VERY cold.
@JockBok :
Turnbull & Asser in Jermyn Street.
Tell them Gunther sent you
21 Dec 2010, 15:11 pm
@JockBok : 359 – JockBok, It is the festive season after all.
No rugby or cricket we get bored and talk poop…hehehe 
Good fun all the same.
Now waiting for Gunther to recommend a good Rose. Have plenty red on stand by if I am not happy with the Rose..hehehe.
Okay talking a whole load of nonsense now. Going to pack up for the day too.
Cheers everyone. Catch up tomorrow.
21 Dec 2010, 15:13 pm
‘No, if anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am NOT drinking any f ucking Merlot!’
21 Dec 2010, 15:13 pm
@Puma :
Cheap **** fashioned on the Yank ‘blush’ market in the 70′s and 80′s… most decent brands offer well priced, drier and more savoury varietals particularly with all the worldwide wine gluts…
Unfortunately RSA doesn’t have many of the Italian varietals now so predominant here in Aus being used for ‘meatier’ Rose’s (like Sangiovese)… but a good start would be any of the Shiraz or Syrah blends (usually with Merlot… even Pinotage Rose should be around in well priced quality brackets for a sampler away from what you have experienced… look for savoury strawberry/berry/watermelon notes…
21 Dec 2010, 15:16 pm
@gunther : 360 – Gunther will do.
Will let you know tomorrow the verdict.
Oh, I will have it CHILLED
Maybe throw in 10 ice cubes too..hehehe.
Okay just kidding.
Cheers buddy. Catch up tomorrow.
21 Dec 2010, 15:22 pm
@John Galt : @bryce_in_oz : We sure got everyone one the wine route here today…..hahahaha.
Bryce, What about Pinot Noir?
21 Dec 2010, 15:22 pm
Okay out of here now. Cheers all.
21 Dec 2010, 15:27 pm
@Puma :
Delaire
made from cabernet franc.
Diemersdal
made from cab sauvignon and sauvignon blanc.
later.
21 Dec 2010, 15:27 pm
@cane :
Turkey, gammon, roast potatoes, veggies, gravy.
With a nice sauvignon blanc or another white
Then some port just cause i like it
21 Dec 2010, 15:31 pm
How about a good old beer?
Got a few favourites:
Lager: Amstel, Heineken
Weissbier: Erdinger,Rothaus
Pilsener: Krombacher, Urquell or good ol’ Hansa
Ale, Bitter or any of that catpiss: Sweetfarkall
21 Dec 2010, 15:34 pm
@Puma : For a real bargain, try the Raka Rose (from the Stanford side of Hermanus) – I think the ’09 is on the shelves at the moment. Delightful little summer wine and at under R30 a bottle you can afford to knock it back like Fanta.
21 Dec 2010, 15:36 pm
The worst catspiss I have ever tasted is Spitfire and a Belgian excuse called Rodenbach Grand Cru (Yes, it is a beer)
21 Dec 2010, 15:37 pm
@Heavens Game : I seriously can’t understand why people drink anything else now that Windhoek Draft comes in bottles.
21 Dec 2010, 15:40 pm
@>^..^< katman : lol. Not a terrible quaff but contrary to the old propaganda they threw out – a nightmare hangover.
21 Dec 2010, 15:43 pm
@Heavens Game : 373. All Windhoeks bulldust about conforming to the “Reinheitsgebot” – making their beers “purer” was just that – bulldust. (German beers don’t conform)
But definitely drinkable.
21 Dec 2010, 16:08 pm
@Heavens Game : good day mate . glad to see ur back to normal ,
21 Dec 2010, 16:25 pm
@sharks_lover : 375. Hi SL. Yeah, it feels good not to have any association with WP or PdV whatsoever. Has to be said it was my fault and JB, especially had his wicked way but good on him.
I hope you’re having a good Christmas period and not too busy… Maybe leave and enjoying family time…
Either way I hope you have a good one…
21 Dec 2010, 16:44 pm
@cane :
Are you dissing our Christmas menus.
21 Dec 2010, 16:48 pm
@Dawn : He’s explaining how they have their loved ones for Christmas.
21 Dec 2010, 16:50 pm
@Dawn :
he’s confused.
up until very recently kiwis didn’t know that you could breed sheep for meat and wool.
21 Dec 2010, 16:53 pm
I will invite him to Christmas lunch.
Then we’ll see.
Biltong indeed.
21 Dec 2010, 16:54 pm
@Heavens Game :
Shame.
Vermin WP supporters are still here.
Feelgood is short-lived.
21 Dec 2010, 16:56 pm
@Dawn : 381. Yeah, ‘spose prawns are vermin of sorts…
Merry Xmas to you too
21 Dec 2010, 17:06 pm
@Heavens Game : hg….dawn….just a quick hi from me….if i dont catch you okes before the season really kicks in have a good one! Dawn….we must do a keo firemans in the new year….jinxs wake was a fitting reminder that life is short and should be enjoyed….fark me i arrived home past 2 am….what a session…now off to a friends 40 th…bloody liver hating me.
HG….we save the energy for next year….then we brawl again….till then…keep well my man!
Outta here
21 Dec 2010, 19:32 pm
@grant10 : Grant, thanks for that. I hope you have a great, merry Christmas and an excellent New Year… Good to see you back on Keo, but yeah we will fight good and proper next year
Have a good one. Cheers.
21 Dec 2010, 21:18 pm
For those –like the SA pseudo “scientist” and amateur pharmacologist, Rent-a-Quote Noakes and all who scoff at the effects of the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine as taken by Bjorn and Chiliboy — here’s a cautionary tale. (This substance is openly sold as a “legal high” party-pill in NZ.)
“A Canterbury man suffered a brain haemorrhage after taking legal party pills and was in a brain injury rehabilitation unit for 15 days.
The 21-year-old had severe memory problems along with impaired speech and right-hand co-ordination.
A new article in the New Zealand Medical Journal is the first in medical literature to detail a serious complication of the synthetic stimulant dimethylamylamine (DMAA).
Co-authored by Christchurch emergency specialist Paul Gee, it said the man bought legal party pills identified as 99.9 per cent pure DMAA.
DMAA mimics the effects of amphetamine and Ecstasy.
He took the recommended dose of two tablets about 11.30 pm along with a 150 milligram capsule of caffeine.
Within 30 minutes he had a severe headache and went home.
He later became confused, unable to control his bladder and vomited for two to three hours.”
(Methylhexaneamine and dimethylamylamine/DMAA are one and the same, identical, thing. Not only does it mimic the “upper” energy rush of amphetamines and the mellow love-me-drug, ecstacy, but it also masks the muscular exhaustion you get from gym workouts or hard partying.)
And, as you can see, it’s a dangerous drug. It’s not just a harmless placebo with a negligible effect as your rent-a-quote Noakes makes out.
21 Dec 2010, 21:24 pm
@TheTackler : How much longer are you going to smart from that time the prof slapped you down?
21 Dec 2010, 21:24 pm
To all bloggers on keo and the writers, Hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas, am doing this now as we celebrate on the 24th and i start with all the cooking tomorrow and guests arrive tomorrow as well so
H A P P Y C H R I S T M A S
21 Dec 2010, 21:33 pm
@>^..^< katman : In the last annual tri-nations of wine, NZ won the prize for the best red, the best white and the best overall wine. SA’s burnt-rubber reds fared as well as the Springbok team by coming last. Big, heavy, blunt, burnt-rubbery (again) and lacking any subtlety or nuance.
21 Dec 2010, 21:59 pm
@TheTackler :
Noakes has a superb international Sports Science reputation.
Naturally in all his years he may have made the odd mistake but his reputation is in tact.
21 Dec 2010, 22:05 pm
@TheTackler : Everyone knows SA wines are undone by their “good value” image. Snooty wine critics can’t take a $20 bottle of wine as seriously as their obscenely inflated new world cousins. And SA wine producers don’t believe in arbitrarily pegging prices at old world levels just for credibility. Their local markets are way too important for that. In blind tastings SA wines often come up trumps (remember Stellenzicht Shyrah famously beating Penfolds Grange when neither label nor price tag were known?) So enjoy your $50 bottle of Wooly Bum Pinot and I’ll stick to my R100 bottle of Raka Shiraz, safe in the knowledge that I wasn’t conned.
21 Dec 2010, 22:15 pm
I remember the Kiwi wines in East Timor, with their crew off tops…classy. Went straight for their richer cousins, the Aussie wines..with the corks..
Still nothing beats the ever popular South African wines…and that’s a worldwide fact. People I bump into overseas rave about our wines.
I just nod and smile…what can ya say. When you got it, you got it.
21 Dec 2010, 22:19 pm
A certain someone has to eventually face the Prof one day, as the challenge has be laid down….but one suspects that the day will never come.
Much safer to stay hidden and mouth off into cyberspace…
21 Dec 2010, 22:31 pm
SA wines are cheap. They’re sold in great quantity as a result — just like Chilean wine. People rave about the cheap price, not the good quality. Like a Tata car, really.
Screw-caps provide a superior seal to cork, and the wine is preserved infinitely better.
Snooty wine critics — of the seriously-taken and respected persuasion — perform blind-tastings, where they have no idea of the price or provenance of the various products they are comparing. And, while these tasting may occasionally produce an outlier surprise, the general tendencies of preferences are the norm.
And that’s why some countries earn a reputation for wine of top quality at any price while others have a reputation for making burnt-rubbery Chateau la Cardonnay plonk. And have a Tata under the lean-to.
21 Dec 2010, 22:37 pm
@Biscuit : Noakes is a laughing stock outside SA where, indeed, hardly anyone has ever heard of him and where nobody bothers to cite his decaying old theory.
And he’s a joke even inside SA, where hardly anyone ever pays any heed to his supposedly “expert” advice, much to his annoyance.
Legend in his own lunchtime, poor sod.
21 Dec 2010, 22:38 pm
@TheTackler :
it’s le chardonnay you horrible little pseud.
21 Dec 2010, 22:44 pm
@TheTackler : Either he is a laughing stock or he’s unknown. Can’t be both. Jy probeer te hard.
21 Dec 2010, 22:50 pm
Evidence of the dramatic upsurge in the quality of South African wine emerged with the release of the full results of the 2010 Tri-Nations Challenge, judged in Sydney Australia in early August.
At the awards function held on Friday night at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, South Africa’s successes were celebrated with those of New Zealand (this year’s Tri-Nations Winner) and Australia.
South Africa won two class trophies – where the Kaapzicht Steytler Vision (a Cape blend) pipped all the Rhone-style and Cabernet Shiraz blends to finish top of class. In the dessert wine section Nederburg repeated its performance of a few years back taking the Trophy (for the Edelkeur 2005) and the runner-up slot with the 2008 Eminence.
As important as the top-of-class trophies was the wealth of medals garnered by the Cape’s producers. The Desiderius Pongracz and the J. C. Le Roux Pinot Noir Rose both won gold medals for South Africa in the sparkling wine class, while in the Chardonnay category Paul Cluver’s 2009 finished as runner-up with a double gold, and the Hamilton Russell 2009, the Tokara 2008 Reserve and the Jordan Nine Yards 2006 each took gold, beating such legendary Australian wines as Penfold’s Yattarna. Paul Cluver’s Weisser Riesling 2009 also picked up a gold in the aromatic class, while the De Grendel Koetshuis 2010, the Reyneke Reserve 2009 and the Quoin Rock Nicobar 2009 achieved gold in the Sauvignon category.
South Africa also pretty much dominated the other white wine class, with Beaumont’s Hope Marguerite 2009 Chenin Blanc, the Vergelegen Estate white 2008, the Tokara Director’s Reserve 2008, and the Strandveld Adamastor 2008 all getting golds. In the closely contested Shiraz class the 2008 Raka Biography and the 2007 Waterford Kevin Arnold were both gold medal winners, with Raka repeating its success in the Cabernet class with its 2008 joining the Glenelly The Glass Collection 2008, the Fleur du Cap 2007 and the Neil Ellis 2007 among the gold medallists.
In the Bordeaux blend class the 2006 Tokara Director’s Reserve was a double gold winner – and runner-up for the class trophy – while the KWV The Mentor’s Orchestra 2008 and the Vilafonte Series M 2007 also took gold. In the other red blend class, Waterford’s The Jem 2006 was runner-up to the Kaapzicht trophy winner, earning a double gold on the way, while Glenelly’s 2007 and Fleur du Cap’s Laszlo 2006 both took gold. The Anthonij Rupert Cabernet Franc 2006 was the only South African gold medal winner in the other red varieties class – and in fact the only Cabernet franc to win a gold medal. In the dessert wine class, Chris Mullineux’s 2009 Chenin Blanc Straw Wine won a gold medal, to share with Nederburg in South Africa’s domination of that category.
A more even spread of class winners and more double gold and gold medal winners than in any Tri-Nations competition in the past provides compelling evidence of South Africa’s 2010 Tri-Nations achievement.
21 Dec 2010, 22:52 pm
Speaking of wines…
Apparently it’s not that hard to make a Zimbabwean white whine.
You just take his farm away.
21 Dec 2010, 22:55 pm
@>^..^< katman :
ahem…
21 Dec 2010, 22:56 pm
@gunther : I can just imagine Tackler, beset with panic, thinking: “my god, they’re also on the google!”
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