Leading SA’s rugby revolution
26 Dec 2011
What do Francois Hougaard, Bismarck du Plessis, Gio Aplon, Johann Sadie, Andries Bekker, Pat Lambie and Juan de Jongh all have in common?
They all have the X factor, something that sets them apart from the rest.
If the Springboks are to achieve consistent success against the world champion All Blacks over the next four years, they will have to change their conservative mindset and play an expansive game when the situation demands it.
These seven players can lead South Africa’s rugby revolution and take our game to the next level.
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Also in the new issue:
– Many junior players have failed to make the transition to senior rugby over the years because of flaws in the Baby Boks set-up, but the situation seems to be improving
– Why rugby is ripe for a global rebel league
– SA Rugby magazine reveals how Solly Tyibilika wasn’t the only black player to be mismanaged over the past four years and how South Africa has regressed with regard to transformation at the highest levels
– Saracens flyhalf Derick Hougaard on suffering from depression, the ‘soul destroying’ experience of Kamp Staaldraad, and his desire to force his way back into Bok contention
– England’s shambolic World Cup campaign left Martin Johnson with no choice but to resign
– Victor Matfield speaks to SA Rugby magazine about his post-retirement plans, why players should be treated like adults, and his second-row partnership with Bakkies Botha
– Your ultimate guide to the 2012 Super Rugby season: Everything you need to know about the 15 teams
770 Comments
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4 Jan 2012, 07:12 am
And the lazy Africans are still asleep smelling their f arts and missing all the good cricket.
Yet they dare to behave like smartarses? Only in S.Africa can that be expected.
4 Jan 2012, 07:34 am
The great Arlott enjoyed using the word phlegmatic to describe the likes of Boycott, Barrington, Baily, Gavaskar and many more.
‘Karless’ is somewhere between Boycott and Baily despite the deliberate ‘fixing’ of the 2nd and 3rd tests against these unpaid(6 months) Sri Lankans with their 3rd tier bowlers- no Malinga, Mendis and more and an injured Matthews and retired Murali and Jayasuriya.
What better odds would you get for a ‘Karless’ pair, or a Sri Lankan win in the 2nd test or a 7 for on debut for De Lange, or double 50s for Chandimal on debut or the 9 wkts for Herath or a 150 in his 150th match for ‘Karless’ at Newlands.
The lack of pay for the Lankans is not a problem if you can make it with the huge odds for the things I name at the global ‘bookies’?
Now we just need Sanga., Jayawa. and Samara to scoe 100 plus each.
Amazing how few made a play on the ‘Karless’ pair or the fact that Welege. should have caught him with his score only 1, if he was not dreaming of those Boero boobs he kept seeing in the deep. It is all a big fix and Indian ten cricket posters say he had money on ‘Karless’ making a strong 100 plus.
4 Jan 2012, 08:10 am
May 2012 bring everyone al the success, health, happiness and love they deserve…!
You know ET… people often prescribe to others what they know within themselves…
you insist you are the honest one… and that all those you castigate are dishonest and racist… you are so keen to prove your ‘worthiness’ that you lump everyone into the same basket, as most bigots do, and tar everyone with the same brush… you’re too lazy and intellectually challenged to discern the differences of belief, attitude and perception of the individuals you throw together… it’s far easier simply to squeeze everyone into one little pigeonhole…
you go on about kallis and declare that anyone who offers support to him is some kind of heinous beast… you go on about barry richards as if this new-found revelation of yours is news to us…
several of us… in the thread to which you refer… offered our opinions that barry richards was indeed the best batsman (in our opinions) that south africa had ever produced… indeed i said at the time he was as much a victim of apartheid as was basil d’oliveira… (though obviously for diametrically opposed reasons…)
we didn’t need an article by telford vice to inform our opinions…
yet you only regurgitate what… in your opinion… demonstrates your belief that everyone on keo is limited in their thinking and racist in their beliefs… (neither of which is true…) but the fact that you squirrel away posts by bloggers for later use that only ‘reveal’ one perspective skews even your truth and certainly diminishes the credibility you so obviously crave…
how honest is that…? only presenting half the ‘facts’…?
and no… i’m not looking for your approval at all… i simply bring it up to show that, as stated above people see in others what they know within themselves… and your insistence that everyone here is dishonest and racist simply paints your own portrait…
and at the end of the day… this blog is a forum upon which people can express their opinions… believing kallis or richards is our best batsman… or smit or du pleases is/was our best hooker… is just each poster’s opinion… to which we are all entitled… trying to read more into that really just does demonstrate your own narrow outlook and bitter agenda…
4 Jan 2012, 08:18 am
and… oh yes…
may 2012 be the year of the stormers and wp…!!???
finally…!!
please…!!!
4 Jan 2012, 08:29 am
@ufo-553:
Great post.
4 Jan 2012, 08:31 am
@ufo-553:
a well said and thoroughly cogent counterargument, as well as a set of points.
however, i can only say that in my time spent here i have accepted that ‘all brick walls are equal’ and that no matter the approach, one still come off second best when running into it.
my point being, it’s usually almost always and without fail. futile. when this is my point of departure it’s then just a matter of deciding if i feel like running into one or two brick walls on any given day, or not.
i suspect you have today chosen too…
4 Jan 2012, 08:32 am
M Clarke – 251 (342) / not out.
What a knock!
4 Jan 2012, 08:33 am
@ufo-554:
that makes no sense..?…
every year is the stormers year…
4 Jan 2012, 08:40 am
@Mr Black-555:
thank you
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-556:
hehehe…
how you man…? had a good break…?
thing is… you really don’t have to run into any brick walls… (which is perhaps more than it deserves…) you can simply put your writing on the wall and walk on by leaving the immovable wall as you move forward onto other things…
i’m not trying to change the world or et or any thing or any one…
just putting in my tuppence worth…
et can take it or leave it… the weather outside will still be the same either way…!!
anyway outta here as work calls…
great day to everyone…!
congratulations to clarke… didn’t see it… but awesome innings…!!
4 Jan 2012, 08:43 am
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-558:
hehehe…
too true….!!!
we keep coming back like moths to a flame… are we the most loyal supporters…? or the most dof…??
hang on… don’t answer…
hopefully THIS year really is…!!
can feel it in ma bonez…!!
later…!!
4 Jan 2012, 08:48 am
oh and, et i’m calling you a brick wall in the nicest possible sense of the term and mean no offense. i know that in your heart of hearts you actually mean well or otherwise you would not be here.
my advice is that you need to work on your ‘madiba magic’ skills more as this imo is a far better way to reach people, as opposed to taking a ‘high falutin, dismissive while being deeply ensconced in ignorance and a tad of bigotry’ type of ‘his excellency the great president for life and first executive head of council his grace robert mugabe’ sort of attitude.
use it dont use it
just dont shoot the messenger
4 Jan 2012, 08:52 am
@ufo-560:
cheers
4 Jan 2012, 09:05 am
terrible story this:
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/7-appear-after-sangoma-s-murder-1.1207478
basically a two year old child goes missing. a security guard claiming to be a prophet then leads the family and members of the community in a search for the child and in the act implicates an arbitrary sangoma. the security guard however, then runs away as the child is not found.
the community and possibly the family as well then stone the sangoma to death and also severely assault the security guard to an inch of his life once they had found him.
a day or two later the child’s mother calls the cops to say that the child had been found and was apparently taken (for an outing perhaps? who knows) by another family member who had not informed the mother.
three men are arrested for the murder of the sangoma and four for the attempted murder of the security guard.
4 Jan 2012, 09:26 am
Finally I am unbanned/relogged or whatever.
The woes of trying to get in here whilst the midget and his two stooges are still sunning their ample bellies in Plett….
4 Jan 2012, 09:30 am
@Dawn-520:
New year and the same wrinkled old trolls on keo.
You haven’t drunk yourself into ICU yet you lonely old sow?
4 Jan 2012, 10:28 am
What is extraball blathering about now.
4 Jan 2012, 10:29 am
@Great White Oke-565:
Hey
Don’t blame me for your new-found mvk bromance.
Not my problem!
4 Jan 2012, 11:05 am
Seeing as this is a rugby blog.
I’m looking forward to seeing who is appointed as Springbok coach. Will be surprised if it isn’t Gert Smal – a choice I’d be satisfied with. You can argue that he’s not the best candidate, but I think he’s got it in him to take us back to the top. Seems the ideal candidate to make thought-out, mature decisions and has a lot of experience coaching at the top level.
Also looking forward to seeing how the Cheetahs and Lions perform. I’m thinking the Cheetahs will almost surely finish in the top 3 SA teams… while I don’t think the Lions can repeat what they did in the CC.
Battles for Springbok selections I’m looking forward to are:
1. Beast Mtawarira vs Coenie Oosthuizen vs (possibly Gurthro Steenkamp) – It should only be a matter of time before the jersey goes to Coenie for the long run, while the Beast will need to step up his role off the ball if he wants to maintain the jersey. Nice to see the other teams also all have good loose-heads.
4. Flip van der Merwe vs Rynhardt Elstadt – One I think Flip will probably win with some convincing performances, but if Elstadt keeps it up he might well convince the new coach to take 4 locks (with 4 loose-forwards & Elstadt) seeing as the loose-trio is pretty well established.
7. Battle for the 5th loose-forward spot, if there is one.
9. Morne Steyn vs Elton Jantjies vs Johan Goosen vs (maybe even Pat Lambie). Something tells me Morne will take the Bulls far enough in Super Rugby to force his inclusion. I don’t think Jantjies will ever be a long-term option for the Boks in the 10 jersey, but another who may deserve it if he performs in SR – I’m not holding my breath. And if Johan Goosen is anything as good as I reckon he will be, he will be the incumbent sooner or later. With Pat, it really depends on how the Sharks manage him you’d think.
11. Gio Aplon vs Bryan Habana vs Lwazi Mvovo – I’d go for the first two, but heck if Mvovo scored 8+ tries in Super Rugby it’d be hard for them not to give him a decent run.
13. Johann Sadie vs Juan de Jongh – Sadie another who I think will shine. He’ll be a huge reason why Steyn will maintain his spot in the Springbok squad… having more weapons outside him will only make him look better. Will be an interesting battle between the two.
15. Patrick Lambie vs Jaco Taute – Think Taute still has a lot of work to do, especially his decision making at the back, picking his opportunities better etc. At the moment he just seems a bit too much offense, and needs to be reigned in just a tad. I understand that argument for him being a better attacking player then Lambie, but also think the correct game-plan will give Lambie more opportunities with ball in hand and a few more good performances at the back (and how the Sharks handle him) will mean him establishing himself in the position.
4 Jan 2012, 11:18 am
@hendrikp-568:
I think you should take over website from those lardasses still using a full bottle of suntan lotion each application on their 6 chins down at Plett.
I have one small question for you. Why Gert Smal? Why is everyone rating him? What has he ever done on the management side to even remotely justify the appointment to the position?? Is the forward coaching role of moderate lil ol Ireland a benchmark?
Personally, I remain confused about the fact that his name is even MENTIONED under the circumstances
4 Jan 2012, 11:37 am
@Bod-569:
Bod, I think most people support the one they they can best relate to, or think the players can best relate to.
Gert has a good record as a head coach – not outstanding like Heyneke Meyer, but he didn’t have the same tools to work with either.
You’d really need a thorough debate with him to better understand what he would do to take the Boks forward, but I enjoyed what he did with WP & the Stormers at the time and think his experience will make him all the better.
In the ideal world I’d hand the job to a Nick Mallett who isn’t holding a grudge… who comes into the job with the right attitude, but I think that’s unrealistic.
4 Jan 2012, 11:47 am
so skittle sticks once again proves what an outright abysmal boring waste of time of a game it is, 400 boring runs later 2 entire boring days of nothing happening like mad dogs baying for dry bones out in the midday sun, and this skittish non event of absolute boredom winds out to a boring draw, which was probably a fixed result before any calls were bowled in anger on day one
4 Jan 2012, 11:49 am
King Kallis gives his detractors the middle finger ‘again’!
4 Jan 2012, 11:51 am
@ashampoopaloo-571:
So why are you watching it then and not popping on a roof or two??
4 Jan 2012, 11:52 am
@Bod-569: apparently gert authored a development program for black forward players in the eastern cape
how successful it would’ve been nobody knows.
apparently outsmarting the boks in ’09 eoyt, winning the grand slam & an improved performance @ the world cup qualify gert to take over the Bok job.
4 Jan 2012, 11:55 am
@hendrikp-570:
I am not just convinced with him at all, bearing in mind he always had Carel working with and providing the real spark with him at Province.
I still think he should always be remembered for the finest punch ever throen on a rugby field and not for another abysmal failure on the Bok coaching front
But thats just my humble opinion.
4 Jan 2012, 12:00 pm
@Bod-575:
hehehe…
not sure gary knight would agree with you….
maybe if gert was chosen… he’d bring back carel as his 2IC…
now THAT’s as ticket that would get my vote…!
congratulations to kallis on number 2 number 200 too….!!
4 Jan 2012, 12:00 pm
@Transformation-574:
Exactomundo… I dont know why I even bother to comment or even think when it comes to Bok rugby.
Even the goings on at Levante make more sense
4 Jan 2012, 12:03 pm
@ufo-576:
Yip, I can still picture it like it happened yesterday
Gary Knight went down like the Bismarck…
4 Jan 2012, 12:05 pm
I’m sitting having coffee in the wimpy bar and just watched this mammoth performance of outright guts and character skittling away his gimme easy peasy nothing doing fixed boring double century as if it was such a tough arduous task against perhaps the most toothless bowling attack anyone could ever have dreamt up. Now watch AB De Villiers do the same and this non eventful non dimensional boring nonentity of an old mans excuse for a sport wind out to a boring draw
4 Jan 2012, 12:06 pm
@Transformation-574:
wow!
you make him sound like woodward.
a coach with a few highlights on his cv in an otherwise lengthy career spanning from the time of the groot krokodil to the days of the groot poligame leier.
when you filter out the signal you are left with the noise…
4 Jan 2012, 12:07 pm
Congrats Jacques on your second double ton!
@ashampoopaloo-579:
4 Jan 2012, 12:27 pm
‘Old men’ don’t run a half marathon a day for five like test bowlers do… ‘old men’ do however comment on topics they have no clue about though…
4 Jan 2012, 12:28 pm
@Bod-578:
yeah man… me too… agree with you… one of the best punches ever thrown… period… let alone on a rugby field…!!
i really rated gert as a player… hard man in the bakkies, brad throne mold… took no prisoners…
remember in the one test against the cavaliers when he scored a try… craig greene (i think… good player too) (or could’ve been kieren crowley) ran around to stop gert scoring close to the posts… most players wouldn’t dice with karma and just dot down… gert dismissively barrels into and over greene and dots the ball down…
enjoyed that…
as far as coaching goes… i know it’s not at top level… but he also did really well with border and took a bunch of no-names and made them into a fairly good competitive unit that did okay in the lower section… that’s what got him the province appointment…
point being… he was recognized then as having the ability and know-how to guide, direct and lead players to achieve above their expectations… imagine if he could do that with the boks…
also met him a couple of times (when he was still playing… and he really is a good guy… uncomplicated, honest, straight forward, no-nonsense no bullshit guy…
is he the best for the job…? i dunno…
but we could do a lot worse than gert…
4 Jan 2012, 12:36 pm
This is SUCH bulls.hit!
I cant get myself to buy this magazine, and I have been for 5 years.
APLON is 30 years old!
You just lost credibility BIG TIME.
4 Jan 2012, 12:48 pm
skill my foot, tennis takes skill, ping pong takes skill, badminton takes skill, lawn bowls takes skill even that other boring excuse of an old mans sport golf takes some skill. Skittle sticks takes a missed nick here a squint umpire there, a dropped catch or two and an ego the size of king kong not to mention some mad dog genetic disorder and some serious affliction of insanity to be standing out in the midday sun for 5 whole entire days without a result to show for your trouble
4 Jan 2012, 12:53 pm
578 what about the b itch slap that dropped Brussow at the WC that was a mighty blow?
4 Jan 2012, 13:04 pm
@NZINCHINA-586:
My name is Bod, not 578….. geddit China?
Thats the problem with you Kiwi pooftahs… you hail a ***** slap and not a proper punch.
Brussow was ***** slapped and laughed about it. Knight was punched and woke up in Cloud Cukooland 5 minutes later…. man down, starry eyed, dizzy Kiwi…. bewtiful!
4 Jan 2012, 13:07 pm
It was one of the finest b itch slaps to ever drop a Bokke.
4 Jan 2012, 13:08 pm
@ufo-583:
Still not convinced about Gert. As much as it pains me, we have to go for Tacs gatgabba Meyer…. the best of a bad bunch.
How we are reduced to such an awful shortlist is still beyond me, but lets move on
4 Jan 2012, 13:13 pm
@Bod-589:
you’re quite right…
said a while ago meyer would most probably be the best guy for the job…
i’m really not fussed about who eventually gets it… don’t feel that strongly about any particular prospects…
my first choice would’ve been john kirwan… but realize obviously it would never happen…
4 Jan 2012, 13:14 pm
4 Jan 2012, 13:23 pm
@NZINCHINA-588:
you know we’re not allowed to hit back, so whats your point?
we have to play you with our hands tied because its a fix.
‘get the japies’..?…
how we manage to moer you the times that we do is the amazing thing.
4 Jan 2012, 13:23 pm
best acting on rugby field ever….SBW… when he dived up in2 the air and fell on the ground. the day he lost credability.
4 Jan 2012, 13:25 pm
@ufo-590:
Ja, I see you have had this lone crusade for Kirwan… Interesting idea.
I reckon the Bulls need him more than anyone else right now. Now theres an idea for you…
4 Jan 2012, 13:27 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-592:
There again, Brussow could have b itch slapped him back…. but thats a Kiwi thang.
Lets leave that to them
4 Jan 2012, 13:28 pm
@NZINCHINA-588: whats wong china, you have tooooooo muchee anger?
why you no go do some tai chi in the park?
is it still legal?
4 Jan 2012, 13:29 pm
where is poppa?
he must be on leave.
4 Jan 2012, 13:31 pm
@NZINCHINA-588: horse walks into a bar in china and says…..why the wong face….badish!
ok that was in poor taste, not all wongs look alike.
4 Jan 2012, 13:31 pm
I’m waiting for ” get the Japies II” to be released Paddy and Joubert are drafting it now, Bryce is proof reading it.
4 Jan 2012, 13:34 pm
598 thats not bad taste around here you’ll get plenty of laughs i’m sure
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