The 2012 keo.co.za awards
3 Dec 2012
JON CARDINELLI and RYAN VREDE rate the real winners and losers of the 2012 season.
THE HEROES by Jon Cardinelli
McCAW THE MASTER
Come on, were there any real contenders beside Richie McCaw for the Player of the Year award? Fellow All Blacks Kieran Read and Dan Carter had a chance, but otherwise no player came close to McCaw in 2012. Before the Rugby Championship finale in Soweto, Bok coach Heyneke Meyer told a New Zealand reporter that McCaw’s presence was worth an extra 10 to 15 points for the All Blacks. Meyer’s prediction then came to pass when New Zealand thumped South Africa 32-16 at Soccer City. Tellingly, McCaw also excelled in the Tests where the All Blacks struggled for fluency. New Zealand were manhandled by the Boks in Dunedin, but McCaw (as well as some wayward Bok goal-kicking) kept them in the game through a superhuman breakdown effort. The 2012 season will have added to his legacy as one of the best forwards to have played the game.
EBEN THE YSTER
Eben Etzebeth was born to play Test rugby. From his first Super Rugby appearance, he displayed an appetite for destruction that had many tipping him to become the next Bakkies Botha. Fast-tracked into the Springbok starting side in the series against England, he lived up to the hype, and while there was the one incident where he went too far in the Rugby Championship (the headbutt on Nathan Sharpe), he continued to take giant strides in that enforcer’s role. His progress was evident in the latter stages of the Currie Cup and then on the Boks’ end-of-year tour, where powerful yet controlled performances at the lineout and at the collisions helped the respective teams to victory. Rumour has it that Western Province recently ordered Etzebeth a bigger set of dumbbells, as the older weights no longer presented a challenge. Etzebeth will only get stronger, and better, in 2013.
CLASSIC COMEBACK
In 2011, many people including this writer felt Bryan Habana was a spent force, and a mediocre performance at the World Cup seemed to signify the end of a great Test career. But Habana refused to give up. He got back on Dr Sherylle Calder’s EyeGym programme and adopted a more measured approach to training. The end result was a fantastic return to form, first in the 2012 Super Rugby competition, and then on the Test stage. The brilliant Bryan of old is back, and as much he will be praised for his game-breaking attacking skills, his perseverance cannot be commended enough.
JUNIOR JUBILATION
The biggest triumph for a South African team in 2012 was the winning of the IRB Junior World Championship. The fact that Dawie Theron’s charges defeated the Baby Blacks in the final made the victory that much sweeter, as these are the players that will be contesting the No 1 ranking at senior level in the years to come. The tournament highlighted the potential of Jan Serfontein and Steven Kitshoff, and also showcased several other superstars in the making such as Handre Pollard, Shaun Adendorff, Raymond Rhule and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
MYTH BUSTED: SOUTH AFRICA CAN ATTACK!
The Try of the Year Award goes to the Springboks, and no, I’m not being ironic. While the Boks delivered some brutally effective defensive displays, their attacking innovation and execution left a lot to be desired. There were a few instances, however, where the Boks showed their latent attacking potential, both as individuals and as a collective. There was the try that scooped the official IRPA award, but that try in Soweto ranked as a superior example. It began from a strong lineout, involved a smart interchange between all three loose forwards, and culminated with Bryan Habana rounding the poles. It was the highlight of that game if you were a Bok supporter, and one of the few highlights of the year as far as the Bok attack was concerned.
BREAKING THE DROUGHT
Many sneered when Western Province celebrated their Vodacom Cup success as if they had ended a 11-year trophy drought, and similarly discounted the Stormers’ winning of the South African Conference trophy. What couldn’t be denied, however, was WP’s triumph in the Currie Cup final, a win against all odds that definitively ended a decade-long period of pain and frustration. It was the stuff of fairytale, with WP given zero chance of winning against a Springbok-laden Sharks side in Durban. It will be remembered as one of the greatest title wins in WP history.
MONEYBALL MEN
Read the book? Seen the movie? Okay, so it’s not exactly the same as Moneyball, but the Chiefs embraced similar principles ahead of what would be a Super Rugby-winning campaign. Coach Dave Rennie installed a healthy work ethic and initiated a culture that championed the collective over the individual. They may not have boasted as many international stars as the other teams in the competition, but the Chiefs were the best collective unit. They played some exciting rugby at times, but they never de-prioritised the basics of territory and defence.
UPSETTING THE STATUS QUO… ISLAND STYLE!
Scotland deserve recognition for their first win on Australian soil in 30 years, as do England for their surprisingly dominant performance against New Zealand. But the results that came as more of a shock were the victories for the Pacific island nations in Cardiff and Edinburgh. First Samoa rocked the Six Nations champions, and then Tonga rattled Scotland a week later. They are results that come less than a year after Samoa beat the Wallabies in Australia, and Tonga shocked France at the World Cup in New Zealand. They are also results that must send a message to the IRB that the Pacific island nations can be more than also-rans in world rugby. They deserve more opportunities against top-flight teams, as well as the same resources and leeway to ensure that they can be competitive.
THE VILLAINS by Ryan Vrede
HOW TO LOSE A TEST CAREER … IN 20 MINUTES
Most of us have willed the memory of Dean Greyling’s horror show in Dunedin against the All Blacks to the darkest depths of our subconscious. He is a cult hero in some parts of Pretoria, I’m guessing, but for the vast majority of us he will be the prime example of how to completely destroy your international future. He squandered a scoring chance, was out of position for one of the Blacks’ tries and, most pertinently, was sent off for a cowardly and highly dangerous forearm smash on a defenceless Richie McCaw. I have it on good authority that he will never see a Springbok jersey for as long as Heyneke Meyer is coach. He should never have in the first place, but that knowledge is comforting nonetheless. The guy is named after the famously intelligent ’80s television character MacGuyver. They share a name, but not intellectual capacity. The guy can’t even get his face framed for his Twitter avatar. On your marks, go check.
COACH’S PET
Morne Steyn was always going to have the inside lane to the No 10 shirt when Heyneke Meyer became Springbok coach. The two have a professional relationship going back more than a decade and in the context of Meyer’s game plan, Steyn was viewed as central to success. The signs were there in Super Rugby, where Steyn’s general play was uninspiring, and, tellingly, his goal-kicking fell well below the standard he has set in recent years. That form carried into the Test season, and calls steadily grew for his axing. Meyer cupped his hands, put them over his ears and defied the unbelievers. That was until Steyn’s diabolical goal-kicking cost Meyer a victory on New Zealand soil. It should have seen him cut loose, but for Meyer’s inability to end his poisonous love affair, and Steyn was again involved for the year-end tour. Only a brave man would bet against him resurfacing in 2013.
ALL THE KINGS’ MEN
Everyone, and I mean everyone (including the Kings themselves), involved in the messy Kings saga deserves whatever criticism has come their way. There are varying degrees of culpability, but that doesn’t matter, they all contributed to a national embarrassment. And after all that they still failed to reach a solution that was even remotely close to satisfying or sensible. That the Kings will be hammered in 2013 is a given, but that’s not the point. There has been so little planning around their introduction and their own vision for the future is weak.
LAME LIONS
The Lions won three of their 16 matches, continuing their Super Rugby ineptitude. Only this year their problems deepened, with boardroom chaos culminating in the already broke franchise being successfully sued for millions by the Pumas and Leopards. As if they didn’t have a bad enough year, they then suspended coach John Mitchell (on full pay) after a player revolt, only to reinstate him a couple of months later after he refused to resign. They simply didn’t have the cash to pay him out for the remainder of his contract and palmed him off to the Sale Sharks. Poor Sharks.
87 Comments
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3 Dec 2012, 15:26 pm
@Heavens Game-48: Do you ever stop making predictions? I thought the CC would’ve stopped you. King Keagan might (improbable) win a super rugby medal. There’ s not a hope in hell he’ll win a RWC medal though. What happens when Kanko returns? He returns to a pretender,never quite was player. Accept it HG, your cullen analogy is way off. Anyways, I’d rather have myself compared to a Zinzan if i were a loosie.
3 Dec 2012, 15:38 pm
The Real KEO Awards:
The Village Idiot
This one goes to Skop for his persistence to the cause. His unrivaled ability to turn one insult into a 5 line Haiku decorated with multiple adjectives regardless of whether or not they make sense has earned him this year’s title. Substance and reason are not words synonymous with Skop’s repertoire and it is this failing that sees scoop the coveted award.
Best comment
Many strong contenders for this one, but overall the award must go to Bakkies for his comment to Skop during the recent Vegetarian debate wherein he promised to eat meat more furiously than ever due to Skop’s incessant ranting.
Ownership award:
Another tough one to call as many contenders raised their hands. One could have easily given it to WNBB for his ownership of Heavens Game or Daddy for his ownership of Poppa, but in the end there can be no argument that Katman’s ownership of Skop was unrivaled. Never before has there been a more comprehensive ownership of another blogger. Truly inspiring stuff. And if there are any young kids watching who may be interested in blogging, Katman’s handling of Skop is the perfect example of text-book ownership.
The Racist
No surprises here, Poppa wins this one with flying colours. His ability to judge individuals from one nation based on his experience with others from the same nation ensures there is no doubt. Credit must be given to Heavens Game for his few racist rants about transformation, but they were dwarfed in comparison to the consistent flow of racism uttered by Poppa.
The Doos
I don’t think there will be any arguments here. Heavens Game is the clear winner. From general arrogance and racism to using his alter-ego known as Poltergeist to attack people’s families, no one is in the same league as our very own Heavens Game. One of the only people ever to have been owned by Skop on a regular basis and still never short of an opinion, there can be no other winner of this award.
Well done to all.
3 Dec 2012, 15:41 pm
@pompies2-51: One word… Rubbish. You forget, Kanko returned… Kanko was awesome, yet Keegan was not dropped, because he was farken too good to be dropped… The result: Alberts to No 4 and Sharks to the S15 final after rogering the Reds and unbeaten at home Conference “holders” on the way there…
Easy Peasy, and King Keagan was at the forefront…
Looking forward to seeing him embarrass you fatty lovers next year…
Like Cullen, Keegan is a very unique player… So unique that those “kenners” without imagination will never appreciate his talent – unfortunately this means about 80% of Bok rugby fans… Meaning they are about as imaginative as the average North Korean hair stylist….
However, Keegan is appreciated by those in the real know – including team mates and coach at the one Franchise with the biggest depth and highest standard of loosies in Super Rugby…
BOOM!
3 Dec 2012, 15:44 pm
@SIumtown-52: And you Sir (or madam) are a Cu.nt…
Plain and simple. Without doubt…
No racism required because at the end of the day race not relevant because all are pink inside…
(Except for the exceptionally dirty though…Like Doggy Pedigree)
3 Dec 2012, 15:48 pm
@SIumtown-52: Nevertheless, I do commend you for the attempt at literate prose… Obviously not your fault – Queens English not being your mother tongue and all, I gather?
3 Dec 2012, 15:53 pm
@Heavens Game-54: Don’t bring me into your domination of the Tardo Awards.
Just sit back and appreciate the fact that a jury of your peers find you guilty of being a fckadillyrntface.
3 Dec 2012, 15:57 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-56:
. I see he lost his marbles again.
3 Dec 2012, 16:00 pm
@wnbb-57: He has been declared outright winner or received an honourable mention in every unflattering award dished out thus far.
If it were me, I would also be throwing a wobbly
3 Dec 2012, 16:01 pm
@pompies2-51: He had quite a few predictions blew up in his face in the year 2012.
3 Dec 2012, 16:05 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-56: Peers? I have none…
This poster is pure Box Office…
Multiple Award winning Eloquence… and Originality.
And no Getalong Gang Fap Tapping needed…
I Alone.
3 Dec 2012, 16:05 pm
@Heavens Game-60: “I alone”
Not out of choice….
3 Dec 2012, 16:05 pm
The ‘wait and see how Romey is going to turn around the American economy’ was pure class….worthy of an award all on its own!A pity he forgot the little detail that his hero first had to win.
3 Dec 2012, 16:07 pm
@wnbb-62: Romney I guess..but dopey could not be far off.
3 Dec 2012, 16:09 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-61: No…
As in…
“it’s easier not to be wise
and measure these things by your brains….
I alone tempt you”
Ed Kowalczyk
3 Dec 2012, 16:09 pm
@wnbb-62: “Romey”… Irish spelling?
3 Dec 2012, 16:10 pm
@Heavens Game-64: Oh dear….. I actually hear ET (jackingoff stage left) applaud loudly.
3 Dec 2012, 16:12 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-66: Still dirty…?
Tap tap
3 Dec 2012, 16:23 pm
@SIumtown-52:
Best comment by Bakkies?
C’mon……dig deeper.
3 Dec 2012, 16:44 pm
@ 52
Hehe,nice work
3 Dec 2012, 17:05 pm
@SIumtown-52:
hehehe
you’re too kind, sir
i personally wouldn’t say i deserve it considering some of the quality comments thats been dished up consistently over the course of the season.
i suppose you could say i feel like an owen farrel nominee to the many richie macaw’s who’ve been posting consistently this year
3 Dec 2012, 17:09 pm
HOW TO LOSE A TEST CAREER … IN 20 MINUTES
Most of us have willed the memory of Dean Greyling’s horror show in Dunedin against the All Blacks to the darkest depths of our subconscious. He is a cult hero in some parts of Pretoria, I’m guessing, but for the vast majority of us he will be the prime example of how to completely destroy your international future. He squandered a scoring chance, was out of position for one of the Blacks’ tries and, most pertinently, was sent off for a cowardly and highly dangerous forearm smash on a defenceless Richie McCaw. I have it on good authority that he will never see a Springbok jersey for as long as Heyneke Meyer is coach. He should never have in the first place, but that knowledge is comforting nonetheless. The guy is named after the famously intelligent ’80s television character MacGuyver. They share a name, but not intellectual capacity. The guy can’t even get his face framed for his Twitter avatar. On your marks, go check. Now,with this statement,I totally agree!!
3 Dec 2012, 18:41 pm
Dammittohellandback
I didn’t win anything
3 Dec 2012, 18:51 pm
@SIumtown-52:
The racist – my money is on suffer-guy
3 Dec 2012, 23:01 pm
@Brigadier Van Zyl-21:
You can always hope,sir.
3 Dec 2012, 23:06 pm
@BishopsOD-49:
Well done,Mr Tautology.
4 Dec 2012, 06:03 am
Stupid and provincial, Look only at Greyling. Ok, he had a brain **** of note and maybe he ain’t such a great player. But McCaw was only ruffled and played on. Let him serve his suspension and, if he’s a good player, come back with better discipline. It’s incredibly childish and counter-productive to join all the NZ howls for him to be “banned for life” etc etc. Etzebeth’s head butt, Flo’s indiscretion at Bath etc etc were all losses of self control. Why single out Greyling. If it helped the Boks beat the AB’s (not to a pulp; illegally) I’d put Bees Roux in the team.
4 Dec 2012, 07:10 am
Just Realised that the Stormers team will look like this next year:
15.) Jaco Taute/Joe Pietersen
14.) Damian De Allende/Gio Aplon
13.) Juan de Jongh/JP Du Plessis
12.) Jean de Villiers
11.) Bryan Habana/Gerhard van der Heever
10.) Elton Jantjies/Peter Grant/Gary van Aswegen
9.) Nic Groom/Dewald Duvenage/Louis Schroeder
8.) Duane Vemeulen/Nizaam Carr
7.) Siya Kolisi/Don Armand
6.) Schalk Burger/Michael Rhodes
5.) Andries Bekker/Ruan Botha/De Kock Steenkamp
4.) Eben Etzebeth/Rynhardt Elstadt/
3.) Pat Cilliers/Brok Harris/Frans Malherbe
2.) Tiaan Liebenberg/Deon Fourie/Siya Ntobeni
1.) Steven Kitshoff/Deon Carstens
If they play
Taute, De Allende, JP du Plessis, de Jongh, Habana, Jantjies and Groom they will probably have the strongest running backline in the competition.
4 Dec 2012, 07:41 am
@RugbyStudent-77:
And hopefully we don’t suffer the same run of injuries like this year.
Very good squad that.
4 Dec 2012, 08:20 am
@RugbyStudent-77: Strongest running backline in the competition?
No.
Here’s a stronger one:
9 Reinach/McLeod
10 Lambie
11 Mvovo
12 Steyn
13 Jordaan
14 JPP
15 Ludik
Eat your heart out – its stronger than the Bok backline, not difficult I know, but still “stronger running”
4 Dec 2012, 08:50 am
@Heavens Game-79:
Besides Steyn, this is the same backline that got creamed by the WP backline in the Currie Cup final?
4 Dec 2012, 08:54 am
@RugbyStudent-80: Creamed? I wouldnt say that… What I will say it is the same backline that creamed the Stormer and WP backline what, 4 or 5 times this season, including the S15 Semi… at “Fortress Newlands” too…
4 Dec 2012, 09:18 am
@Heavens Game-81:
Should be interesting then. Your halfbacks were totally outplayed on the day. Freddie Michalak who was instrumental in the semi-final is not there anymore. I think there are a lot of questions to be answered. Can Pat Lambie be the flyhalf the Sharks masturbate about? Is Frans Steyn fit? The Juan de Jongh in the Currie Cup final came from a scrum where Juan smashed Jordaan and he knocked the ball on. Can Jordaan cope when there’s Springboks around? I think Taute/Ludik and Habana/JP cancel each other outh.
4 Dec 2012, 09:22 am
@Heavens Game-81:
That I have to agree with.
The Sharks had it over us in 2012, no disputing the results
4 Dec 2012, 09:25 am
@RugbyStudent-82: Once game doesn’t make a swallow…
Sharks against WP in the CC final was like the ABs versus England at Twickers just last Sat…
With Sharks pretty much on a level with ABs in terms of comparative superiority to their opposing sides…
I am sure you wouldn’t bet against the ABs winning 4 out of 6 games against England in a season as I am sure you wouldnt bet against the Sharks winning less than 4 out of 6 against WP/Stormers in a season, which actually happened last year, no?…
Like the AB’s, the Sharks were a bit too overconfident and a bit flat… A good win for WP however but still rather lucky and against the flow of results the whole season…
But carry on thinking dreams of superiority – hope your team does too. Because next year I suspect you may be disappointed.
4 Dec 2012, 09:42 am
@Heavens Game-84:
If your team can play the way they did during Super rugby playoffs right from the start next year you’ll stand a great chance to win the thing. Sharks have not started well in Super Rugby for the last 2 , 3 years despite often being the strongest SA side on paper.
5 Dec 2012, 13:20 pm
Province’s win in the CC-final was poetic justice after Mad Mark Lawrence engineered the Sharks into the final.
5 Dec 2012, 15:25 pm
The only way the Sharks can be compared to the All Blacks is in their kit and their chokers tag…and even that’s a stretch.
Sharks Super Rugby Performance
Super Rugby Runners-up: 1996, 2001, 2007, 2012
Semi-finalists: 1997, 1998, 2008
Play-offs: 2011
Stormers Super Rugby Performance
South African Conference: 2011,2012
Semi-finalists: 1999, 2004, 2011, 2012
Runners Up: 2010
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