The 2011 keo.co.za awards
6 Dec 2011
JON CARDINELLI and RYAN VREDE rate the real winners and losers of the 2011 season.
THE HEROES by Ryan Vrede
The Irresistible Force - To watch Schalk Burger live borders on a spiritual experience. His work-rate can only be fully appreciated when you watch him effect a tackle then spring from the ground as if it were strewn with scorpions, track across the field and make another, then another and yet another. There is nothing elegant about his ball carrying, but what it lacks in panache it makes up for in power which is fuelled by a deep determination to cross the gainline. He was outstanding at the World Cup and has yet to show signs of a drop-off in potency. Thank God. The Springboks are significantly less formidable without Schalla.
Rocking Rookie - Jaco Taute is an excellent prospect and has the makings of a Springbok. The Lions fullback plays with a healthy disregard of failure, a trait I last saw as strongly exhibited in a young Frans Steyn. He will be central to the Lions’ Super Rugby cause in 2012. Franchises with better prospects of Super Rugby success are sure to be suitors in the coming years. The Lions have to secure his short-term future if they are serious about significant advancement.
And now for something completely different - Israel Dagg plays Test rugby with the freedom of kid on a run out with mates in the local park. There are players I’d pay to see left on the team coach, then those, like Dagg, who somehow justify the mind-blowing ticket prices for Tests. He has a complete technical skills set and the temperament to amplify his threat. But, like the greats, he has something in reserve – that indefinable quality that ‘x-factor’ doesn’t completely do justice too. The try he crafted for Ma’a Nonu in the World Cup semi-final is a prime example and was the most sublime piece of individual play I’ve ever seen live. He will be, at least, as good as the great Christian Cullen. He is my Player of the Year.
Bloody Legend - Richie McCaw’s foot was held together by hope and steel during the World Cup. Doctors had advised him to miss the tournament, explaining that there was no way he could endure the pain the injury would cause. They said the strong pain killing injections being administered wouldn’t dull the sensation of him tramping on needles everytime he put pressure on it. They said he would cause further, potentially permanent, damage. He said ‘thanks’ and set about confirming his status as the most decorated captain in the game’s history by lifting the Webb Ellis trophy.
#thatawesomemoment - For those fans with an appreciation for the theatre of the game (as opposed to the morons who chant ole ole ole) the All Blacks’ Haka in their pool match against France at Eden Park was breathtaking. The stadium fell silent and Piri Weepu’s call to prepare for battle was clearly audible. Then the super-charged collective challenge put to France reverberated around the stadium in a way I’ve never experienced. ‘Wow’, best encapsulates the magnitude of that moment.
Ground breakers from broken ground - Many of the Crusaders players were affected directly and indirectly by the earthquake that ravaged Christchurch early in 2011. It destroyed the AMI Stadium, forcing the Crusaders to play the bulk of their home Super Rugby matches in Timaru and Nelson. They travelled more than any franchise in the tournament, spending time on the road while family and loved ones who were rebuilding their homes and indeed their lives. Few gave them a chance of making the semi-final given the gruelling travel schedule they endured to get to Cape Town. Yet they won and then came desperately close to what would have been one of the great sporting achievements in history. We always knew they were big on talent. Now we know their hearts are equally sizeable.
THE VILLAINS by Jon Cardinelli
In the category of Dimwits in Denial, there were some strong contenders: the Springbok supporters who said Bryce Lawrence was solely to blame for South Africa’s early World Cup exit, as well as the South African journalists who joined the ‘Blame It On Bryce’ campaign instead of facing up to a less parochial reality. In the end, there is only one King of Calamity and in his last year in charge he stood head and shoulders above all the other candidates. Peter de Villiers has refused to admit that the Boks have been in decline since late 2009. The senior players have enjoyed too much freedom which has contributed to the creation of an insular culture rather than a progressive one. Unsurprisingly, De Villiers has maintained his stance that nothing was ever wrong and will be reapplying for the head coach post. Denial thy name is Divvy.
The Immovable Object – John Smit will be remembered as one of the greats of the South African and international game. In the context of the 2011 World Cup, however, he will be remembered as the man who stood in the way of Bismarck du Plessis. The best hooker in the world was in a foul mood towards the end of the tournament, as promises that he would start in South Africa’s big matches were broken. Smit also broke a promise made to the Boks in 2010 when he said that he would stand aside when it was clear that his best days were done. That time came and went long before the global showpiece.
Flop of the Year – In another example of the Bok selection shambles, De Villiers announced two weeks before the start of the World Cup that Morne Steyn would be his No 1 flyhalf. It came as a shock to many, including Butch James who had been told by the coach that he would start the big matches in New Zealand. Predictably, Steyn’s limitations on attack and frailty on defence cost the Boks, and his supposedly dependable goal-kicking game was anything but flawless.
Dinosaurs must die – Tobie Titus and the other freemasons at the Western Province compound have had the final say on the Cape Town Stadium issue, and woe betide anybody that brings this topic up again. When it was announced that Saracens would be playing Biarritz in a historic European Cup game at the Cape Town Stadium in January, Titus blew a fuse, stating that Newlands is the home of rugby in the Western Cape. Eventually Saracens decided to move the game back to England, and so Capetonians will miss out on the chance to watch the best of Europe slugging it out. Bizarrely, the Saracens team will still be coming to Cape Town in January for some R&R and to conduct a few coaching clinics. God, we have some useless administrators in this country.
…and while we’re talking about WP, a special mention must be made of the player management at the union. Peter Grant will enjoy a second stint in the Japanese league and miss the Stormers’ pre-season yet again. Just a couple of months after Lionel Cronje had been snapped up by the Bulls, the Stormers started targeting other young flyhalves like Burton Francis. The biggest management bungle, however, relates to a promising centre and an established international midfielder. Johann Sadie left Cape Town because Jaque Fourie was expected to hold a monopoly on the No 13 jersey in 2012, but just last week Fourie confirmed that he would be moving to Japan for the next two seasons. D’oh!
Daai’s (Nie) ‘n Try – Ahead of the 2011 league match between the Stormers and Crusaders, a mass contingent of Cape-based Crusaders fans mobbed the open training sessions. Some of the fans claimed to be connoisseurs who favoured the Crusaders because of their brand of rugby. Others said that their reasons for supporting a Kiwi team were rooted in South Africa’s segregated past. What escaped both groups of supporters was the fact that the Crusaders held a reputation as one of the more pragmatic teams in the tournament, and that the Crusaders were a predominantly white side. Fortunately we will enjoy a break from this deluded bunch next year, as the 2012 league match will take place in Christchurch.
Daai’s Nie ‘n Ref – Did Bryce Lawrence take one two many relaxants before the World Cup quarter-final match between Australia and South Africa? Lawrence adopted an ‘anything goes’ attitude towards managing the breakdown, and consistently avoided penalising either side in this facet of play. In the end, it was the Aussies that adapted best. Last week, Lawrence was honoured with a referee award in New Zealand. Perhaps there aren’t too many professional referees to choose from in Kiwiland, or Lawrence is in fact, as once suggested by Peter de Villiers himself, the son of IRB referee chief Paddy O’Brien.
Union in Turmoil – The chain of controversial events that characterised England’s World Cup campaign read like the script of a Will Ferrell movie. Dwarf-tossing, hotel-staff harassment, senior team members cavorting with mystery blondes, drunk junior players diving off moving ferries… all that was missing was a KY jelly wrestling match and Lewis Moody streaking through the quad en route to KFC. The rugby was also beyond ordinary, and unsurprisingly some important changes have since been instigated at RFU headquarters.
The Frank the Tank award – The colourful behaviour of the England squad paled in comparison to that of Zac Guildford post the World Cup. Bleeding from the head and naked, the All Blacks winger stumbled into a family restaurant in the Cook Islands and proceeded to clout a couple of patrons. Reports of this incident were succeeded by news that Guildford had verbally harassed a Cook Islands athlete, also while he was heavily intoxicated. Will Ferrell and co do come up with some madcap characters, but would struggle to dream up a fighting nude rugby player who also cruises the streets on a hired scooter shouting obscenities at young women. Crazy.
By Jon Cardinelli and Ryan Vrede
313 Comments
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6 Dec 2011, 14:08 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-77:
OZ team for the future?? next 18 months??
1.Robinson 2.Moore 3.Alexander 4.Horwill(c) 5.Simmons 6.Higginbotham 7.Pocock 8.McAlman
9.Genia 10.Cooper 11.Ioane 12.O’Connor 13.Ashley-Cooper 14.Mitchell 15.Beale
Boks -next 12-18 months
1.Beast 2.Bismark 3.Oosthuizen 4.Smith 5.Bekker 6.Brussow 7.Burger(c) 8.Alberts
9,Hougaard 10.Jantjes 11.Mvovo 12.F.Steyn 13.de Jongh 14.JP 15.Lambie
All Blacks -next 12-18 months
1.B.Franks 2.Mealamu/Hore?? 3.O.Franks 4.Whitelock 5.Boric 6.Kaino 7.McCaw(c) 8.Read
9.Weepu 10.Carter 11.SBW/Gear 12.Nonu 13.Kahui/Smith 14.Jane 15.Dagg
6 Dec 2011, 14:31 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-69: Man, you’re so full of **** it’s not funny. You’re trying to make some point about the limitations of this “aging” backline, but it seems you don’t know your disadvantaged arse from your disenfranchised elbow. Let me fill you in on the ages of all the players mentioned on this thread:
Taute: 20
Jantjies: 21
Mapoe: 23
Murray: 25
Bondesio: 26
Hollenbach: 26
Des Fountain: 26
Kamana: 26
Killian: 28
Rensburg: 29
La Grange: 30
That’s an average age of 25.4 with only one player hitting 30, and only just. Add to this the Cronje twins (22) and the Moolman brothers (21 and 20), and your argument starts looking a little thin, wouldn’t you say?
6 Dec 2011, 14:36 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-96:
when you say coach do you mean ludeke?
because he is the coach.
or do you mean meyer?
because he is the dor and not the coach.
anyway i dont think meyer will take an assistant job, why should he?
and ludeke is not going to be let go from the bulls now imo.
also, it was stated here earlier about an article stating that saru said the coach was not going to be one of the super rugby coaches.
6 Dec 2011, 14:41 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-96:
or are you perhaps referring to rossouw?
because he is an assistant coach.
6 Dec 2011, 14:51 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-104: Smal head coach, Ludeke assistant + AN Other with Meyer taking charge of the Bulls again temporarily. That’s one potential scenario.
6 Dec 2011, 14:55 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-102:
Not at all
More than half of that backline is over the age of 25 & as i said in Murray,Mapoe,Hollenbach,Des Fountain,Kamana you have a core which is very injury prone thus is unlikely to go season without reasonable amount of time in sidelines.Some of them have played so sporadically over the last 2-3 years they are unlikely to shake off such major injuries completely. For one Murray isnt the player he was at the Sharks-lost speed aplenty.Same with Hollenbach from the 20 year old who won CC with Cheetahs.Injuries mate.
And then in Killian.van Rensburg,La Grange-an ageing core.At over 28 one is entering downside of their career-barring a few special players.These guys arent special players.
Bandesio is an average player,much in the JP Joubert mould.A try hard but lacks real quality
That leaves Taute & Jantjies-Those 2 are the prized posessions at the Lions.Real quality and also age is on their side. Hopefully Mapoe shakes off the injury bug then he will be able to reach his full potential maybe.
The quality & depth of squad is questionable include as i said to prospensity of a reasonable portion of squad to injury & ageing backbone of average quality then you have my point.
Add the fact that the Lions have the smallest squad contracted in comparison to other teams then you also maybe would get what im saying.
(Cronje twins-ex Michaelhouse boys are dead average,dont know abot Moolman’s will keep an eye out)
DIsadvantage/disenfranchise that.
6 Dec 2011, 15:04 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-106: No amount of spin and weaseling will make you look credible here. That backline, in terms of age and experience, is probably about as well balanced as you could possibly hope for.
“And then in Killian.van Rensburg,La Grange-an ageing core” – What does that even mean? You’ve just cherry picked the three oldest guys in the backline and now you’re trying to pass off some half-arsed “core” theory.
Or are you saying that every team with a backline that has one 30 year old and two guys in their late 20′s has no chance? Because that’s what it sounds like from here.
You’re just clutching at straws in the hope of sounding like some kind of “rugby expert”. Not really working though, is it?
6 Dec 2011, 15:06 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-106: Oh, and first the “core” consists of Murray, Mapoe, Hollenbach, Des Fountain and Kamana, and it’s an injury prone core.
Then the “core” consists of Killian, van Rensburg and La Grange, and it’s an aging core.
Do you even know what you mean?
6 Dec 2011, 15:14 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-108:
Rugby expert or not
The evidence is there.
How much rugby have Murray,Mapoe,Hollenbach,Des Fountain,Kamana played over the last 2 years? Are they not injury prone?
Killian,van Rensburg,Doppies are have probably been the most consistent playing wise thus have played majority of the games.They are in the late 20′s,1 is 30
That is your 2/3rds of the backline,thus the core of Lions backline(slection & otherwise)
That backline you call balance? age & experience…how about in terms of quality? Not so much
6 Dec 2011, 15:17 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-109: Why don’t you save it for next year, bud, No one likes a know-it-all so close to Christmas.
6 Dec 2011, 15:18 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-105:
what makes him in any way better placed to be the head coach of the boks?
he was an ASSISTANT with the boks during which time they won 1 tri nations on points difference and 1 wc that featured fiji, england and argentina in the knockouts.
won two measly cc’s with wp.
barely made a super semi with the stormers
and is now a forwards coach (does he still have that job? or has he moved on?).
what qualifies him to be head coach and ludeke and meyer to be his assistants?
.
6 Dec 2011, 15:24 pm
Wazup swamp donkeys!!
Ryan, I’d have Victor up there alongside Richie as a true legend of the game.
6 Dec 2011, 15:27 pm
@mshiniwami(mshiniwami)-109:
Hmmmm……. mr smartie pants, don’t seem so sure of your facts if they are really just opinions.
Yes, it is a free country and you are entitled to your wrong opinion.
6 Dec 2011, 15:29 pm
“disenfranchised elbow” LOL
6 Dec 2011, 15:31 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-111: No man. Get Meyer out of your head. In the scenario I envisaged Meyer would resume head coach role at the Bulls. He’s not interested in working with the Boks.
On whether Smal is good enough. Listen, they’re not exactly queueing up for this one.
6 Dec 2011, 15:32 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-115:
You can write that on your fat hairy tummy, James Small will never coach the Boks. Ever. Get over it.
6 Dec 2011, 15:32 pm
@Helen(Helen)-112: hello Dahlink!
6 Dec 2011, 15:35 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-117:
Helllooooo sweetie…. whats been happening on keo lately. I feel like a stranger here. Have there been any meltdowns worth mentioning?
6 Dec 2011, 15:37 pm
@Helen(Helen)-118: Just the usual. Where you been?
6 Dec 2011, 15:39 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-119:
Thailand, Ukraine and Philipines if you have to know.
Do Lnagers, ET and Poopface still visit here?
6 Dec 2011, 15:42 pm
@Helen(Helen)-116: Gert Smal lovey.
6 Dec 2011, 15:45 pm
@Helen(Helen)-120: I don’t have to know. Just being polite really.
Poops has been around, ET made a brief appearance but we ignored him and Shaunie hasn’t been by. I think he may be in jail.
I hope you got Virgin air miles for those trips.
6 Dec 2011, 15:55 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-122:
you are very snaaks.
helly belly doesnt fly lala class on beardy business.
6 Dec 2011, 15:56 pm
okay….
This is my take…
rather Smal than AC…
rATHER ac THAN hEYNEKE [ SORRY, I CANT GET OVER THAT SPIES AS CAPITANO MOVE
AND RATHER MITCHELL OR MALLET OVER THEM BOTH BUT SEEMS IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN.
SO THERE
Fark…sorry caps HELEN
6 Dec 2011, 16:05 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-122: are you saying helen gropes male flight attendants?
6 Dec 2011, 16:06 pm
@grant10(grant10)-124:
6 Dec 2011, 16:08 pm
so….in order of preference……for me
Mitchell
Mallet
Smal
AC
meyer.
6 Dec 2011, 16:10 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-115:
fair enough, but i was under the impression that saru were not interested in a queue forming, this time round?
yes meyer is in my head but i also dont think he can be completely ruled out, regardless.
if this is the case and saru don’t want a queue then why not headhunt him as coach and smal as assistant (if heyneke wanst him, which i dont think he does)?
i’m just trying to say that smal gets far more ‘aura’ than he deserves.
6 Dec 2011, 16:12 pm
@Yetirat(Yetirat)-121:
Yusslaaik tart, now you changing your tune and want Gert Smal in the job!!!! make up your mind, blowfish!
6 Dec 2011, 16:13 pm
@grant10(grant10)-127:
how many losses does it take in the super 15 before a hero becomes a zero for you grant?
just out of interest?
is it 5 or 10 or 15 in a row?
6 Dec 2011, 16:13 pm
@stormersboy(stormersboy)-122:
fARK SORRY CAPS………
If JAMES SMall COCHES THe Boks, I Will SUPPPOrt Gambia!!
Howzit Grantie? Still twisting your knickers?
6 Dec 2011, 16:20 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-125:
nice one…
about that chick, i would give her one, or maybe two, solid roll around sessions given the opportunity. shame, we’re all human and have needs, man
6 Dec 2011, 16:23 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-125:
Yes, but I am a lady, so I always allow them to grope back.
As for the males, not a chance!
6 Dec 2011, 16:23 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-132:
You’ll give me one!! Really?
Are you talking inches?
6 Dec 2011, 16:38 pm
@Helen(Helen)-134:
sorry no, i was referring to that poor girl who got into trouble for groping a male steward while drunk
its been in the papers and is what transie was hinting at.
6 Dec 2011, 16:38 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-123: who is this Don “corleone: Mcintonsh chap? last week he told us Gerald knows fokkol about corporate governance so he wasn’t “dishonest” in taking a bonus, now Gerald tells us Don came up with the numbers!
Cricket SA (CSA) chief executive Gerald Majola says his contentious bonus after the IPL series in 2009 was determined by CSA operations officer Don McIntosh.
“Mr McIntosh [determined my bonus], and his own bonus as well,” Majola told a ministerial inquiry into CSA’s affairs in Pretoria.
“Mr McIntosh did a full schedule, including his [bonus] which I accepted as well. I never discussed mine as it’s very difficult to discuss your own bonus.” Majola took the stand for the first time in the inquiry into bonuses paid to staff after the CSA hosted the Indian Premier League.
He said the contract signed for the event was exactly the same as the one used for hosting other ICC events.
Don McIntosh, CSA’s operations officer, was the tournament director for the IPL, Majola said.
He fulfilled the same role in the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa and, given the short notice for the IPL, they agreed to apply the same terms and conditions.
Majola said they used the same principle for determining bonuses as the one applied in previous tournaments.
“The tournament director is more senior when it comes to that [bonuses] and depending on work done he uses a ‘multiples’ guide,” said Majola.
“He got more than me on other tournaments but on this one [IPL], I did more work than him.”
Committee chairman Judge Chris Nicholson pushed Majola on why he had written a letter to McIntosh on July 16, 2009 telling him, “we have managed to negotiate with the IPL to pay you a special discretionary bonus for your contribution” to the IPL.
Majola said he had no recollection of the letter but each member of staff would have received the same letter if they received a bonus.
6 Dec 2011, 16:41 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-135: hehehe
now you’re retreating hahahaha
6 Dec 2011, 16:42 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-136:
don’t you love it.
the “operations officer” decided what his bonsella would be.
“it’s very difficult to discuss your own bonus”
that’s because a renumeration committee is supposed to do that.
WTF does mshinishini write his press releases?
6 Dec 2011, 16:43 pm
@Helen(Helen)-134:
holihah.
poor boy is going to have to sit down for a while.
that didn’t go well at all.
6 Dec 2011, 16:44 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-136: In a nutshell, Don told Gerald and Gerald told Don that they were divvying up the loot. As far as they were concerned, they had told people. Can’t understand the outcry now.
6 Dec 2011, 16:54 pm
Gert Smal has served his apprenticeships, been head coach and has good results. He deserves the post.
6 Dec 2011, 16:54 pm
@Helen(Helen)-131: If James coached the boks he’d get over-excited with all those lovely white lines on the field.
He wouldn’t know where to start…..
6 Dec 2011, 16:56 pm
Ah James Smal. An ar-se of a person and one helluva rugby player. He combined wonderfully with Joubie.
6 Dec 2011, 16:58 pm
@Gunther(gunther)-138: ja nee, one would think the fact that the “re” in remco stands for “remuneration” would be a dead giveaway that they are tasked to oversee issues of compensation nc nc nc.
these okes need to be fired, i mean, relieved of their duties, ALL OF THEM.
6 Dec 2011, 17:02 pm
Smal or AC i reckon….
6 Dec 2011, 17:03 pm
@Michael(mikeybrass)-143: That’s not all of Jouba’s that he combined well with if rumours are to be believed,….
6 Dec 2011, 17:03 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-144: agreed
farkem
6 Dec 2011, 17:04 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-144: You mean suspended? On full pay of course….
6 Dec 2011, 17:04 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-144:
indeed.
firing squad.
at dawn.
with the arms deal dudes.
6 Dec 2011, 17:05 pm
@grant10(grant10)-145: I’ve warmed up to Smal. AC is doing a good job with the Stormers, Meyer & Ludeke with the Bulls, Naka with the Cheetahs, Solomons with the Kings, and Kiwi bullet head with the Lions. Plum is well Plum. We have good coaches at provincial level amongst most provinces for the first time in a couple of decades. Bringing in a good coach like Smal at national level provides continuity below and gives us a stronger base from which to work in the future.
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