Blitzbokke klap Kiwis
11 Feb 2013
The Springbok Sevens won their second Las Vegas title in three seasons after a record 40-21 win over New Zealand in the Cup final.
South Africa were in stunning form in the final with Branco du Preez, back in the side after missing three tournaments because of injury, putting in a stellar performance, scoring two tries and contributing a haul of 18 points.
The Blitzbokke not only registered their biggest ever Cup final win over New Zealand, but they also reclaimed second position on the Sevens World Series log.
It was the team’s first Cup success in two years after their win in Scotland in 2011.
152 Comments
11 Feb 2013, 08:27 am
nothing beats beating the kiwis
11 Feb 2013, 08:36 am
no tackler?
no surprises.
11 Feb 2013, 08:41 am
Kiwis were blitzed big time. Thuggery and forward passes saw them put respect on the scoreboard (cheating if you prefer).
These Blitzies better not get too comfortable with my Lions Whiteley, he is there only for a short time.
11 Feb 2013, 08:44 am
Good win.
11 Feb 2013, 08:44 am
This was match-fixing in its ugliest form. The half-hearted approach of the All Black team stood out like a sore thumb. The friends and relatives of the players are surely collecting big time since yesterday and what better city to place a few anonymous bets than Vegas. And we all know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. By the way, I did watch the match.
11 Feb 2013, 08:51 am
Only 4 and a bit days left…we hit 100 players las week:
Come join my Super Rugby prediction game on SuperBru! It’s free and loads of fun. Just click here:
http://www.superbru.com/superrugby/pool.php?p=11047241
Pool name: Hore set for hefty ban…
Pool code: busycoon
11 Feb 2013, 08:55 am
looks like the Sonny Boy fight hit them harder than we expected
11 Feb 2013, 09:07 am
@Lang Giel-5: Every match is fixed LG. you know that. Always had been – always will be.
11 Feb 2013, 09:08 am
Happy Birthday James Small – 44 today – does anybody know if he ever represented SA at Sevens – I reckon he would’ve made a great Sevens-boytjie!
11 Feb 2013, 09:12 am
@BrumbiesBoy-9:
he’s only 44?
jeesus, he looks 54
11 Feb 2013, 09:15 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-10: Christina amended his birth certificate when he as sleeping one night!
11 Feb 2013, 09:16 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-10:
Hard living.
All that coffee.
11 Feb 2013, 09:24 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-7: that whole fight was rigged and was a total scam! SBW and his people commited boxing fraud. Cheated the people out of two rounds and profited big time with scaly convict and chinese bookies. Now they say that the fatty was juiced on drugs (funny coming from them).
SBW will never box again in a ring – on the rugby field maybe but not in a ring again.
11 Feb 2013, 09:27 am
@BrumbiesBoy-11:
i think she’s amended a lot more than just his birth certificate over the years.
@gunther-12:
of course
its the coffee
@RL-13:
pateties RL… pateties …
11 Feb 2013, 09:28 am
@Lang Giel-5:
If u watched the match then you would know that the kiwis had 3 -4 of their
Top players injured. No match fixing at all……. bok 7s played a lot better than the kiwis.
11 Feb 2013, 09:34 am
@Hurricane-15: Respect Cane !!! Well said.
11 Feb 2013, 09:35 am
@RL-13:
Believe what you want. But blaming SBW on a rigged match but not blaming botha at all shows you have a huge chip on your shoulder.
11 Feb 2013, 09:39 am
Anyway this boxing match was a joke and is a pathetic mess.
It should be left and forgotten. SBW should leave the sport October boxing abducted do what he is better at.
11 Feb 2013, 09:42 am
@Hurricane-17: not blaming him, just saying he was heavily involved in the whole scam. The fatty too with that Oscar performance when he questioned the missing rounds. But it was a scam to enhance SBWs boxing reputation. Admit it.
11 Feb 2013, 09:43 am
@Hurricane-18:
October = of
Got a Samsung s3 and I fukn hate it.
Can’t wait to move back into my house…. no computer here, just my cell phone
11 Feb 2013, 09:44 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-14:
He needs to switch to decaf.
11 Feb 2013, 09:45 am
@RL-19:
What scam? I dont even know hiw anyone can come up with a theory on what happened with the amount of blaming going on. I am really over it
11 Feb 2013, 09:49 am
Picking a tournament winner this year is proving a challenge, as is backing up the win.
Australia – Fiji
Dubai – Samoa
South Africa – New Zealand
New Zealand – England
USA – South Africa
The odds on SA winning back to back in Hong Kong will be lucrative surely!
11 Feb 2013, 09:52 am
@Hurricane-18:
Abducted = and.
And samsung predictive text is ****
11 Feb 2013, 09:55 am
@Hurricane-22:
SBW is a **** boxer.
He is deluding himself if he thinks he can make it in that sport, and all the while he is tarnishing his image in the code he actually has talent.
11 Feb 2013, 09:56 am
@Hurricane-15: and the 2 or 3 missing Blitzies?
@Hurricane-22: theory
11 Feb 2013, 09:56 am
@Hurricane-22:
you have a problem accepting responsibility for your fellow countrymens actions.
you need to start there.
11 Feb 2013, 09:58 am
have they drug tested the blitzbok?
it is rife in SA sport
check their nasal spray
11 Feb 2013, 09:59 am
i call for a formal investigation and a Commission of Inquiry to be setup.
lets get to the bottom of this mess.
11 Feb 2013, 10:01 am
@the curse-28:
no, but you pfuckers will probably just make up bogus doping stories about them anyway.
11 Feb 2013, 10:02 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-29:
SA winning in Vegas was unexpected, I do agree.
11 Feb 2013, 10:04 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-30:
Making up reality on the fly is the norm here isn’t it?
11 Feb 2013, 10:06 am
every South African win in ANY sport is now tainted with the aroma of fresh roid abuse..
it is so endemic in their society that parents encourage their children to use them..
disgusting, the fact they still cant win when juiced up is hysterical though
11 Feb 2013, 10:08 am
Hundreds of schools across South Africa are subjecting pupils to drug and breathalyser tests in a desperate attempt to curb an alarming increase in drug abuse.
And, on the eve of schools’ annual Easter rugby festivals, which kick off this week, the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) has warned it will be testing players for anabolic steroids.
””
The anti-doping agency, which said doping in schools was now “beyond serious”, will tomorrow announce that two teenagers who took part in Craven Week last year have been banned from competitive sport for two years, starting February, after they tested positive for steroids.
From this month SAIDS will administer at least 1 000 tests for dagga, cocaine and anabolic steroids at 120 schools, at a cost of between R1.3-million and R1.4-million.
Shocking findings of pupils arriving drunk at school, smoking dagga and using illegal steroids have prompted the decision by school principals to conduct tests.
11 Feb 2013, 10:09 am
Last year Discovery Sharksmart anonymously surveyed 9824 male pupils attending 20 high schools in South Africa regarding various lifestyle behaviours. One section of the questionnaire related to the use of anabolic steroids, the results of which proved both interesting and somewhat surprising. The response rate to the survey was in excess of 85% meaning that the results could be seen as representative of the high school population surveyed. In the survey approximately 5% of the respondents acknowledged having tried steroids at some stage in their lives – this figure was lowest for grade 8’s (1.2%), as expected, and highest for grade 12’s (9.5%). It is possible that these figures are indeed an underestimation of the real situation as a result of under-reporting.
11 Feb 2013, 10:12 am
@Brads-31:
oh, so we’re on speaking terms now, are we…
11 Feb 2013, 10:13 am
@the curse-34:
Don’t crow too loudly at those snippets.
Aus have unearthed huge levels of drug abuse, I see no reason at all why that hasn’t spilled over to NZ.
I hate to think it has, but I would be naive to dismiss simply because it has been exposed yet.
11 Feb 2013, 10:14 am
@Brads-37:
“hasn’t been exposed”
11 Feb 2013, 10:17 am
@the curse-33:
@the curse-34:
@the curse-35:
you’re trying too hard, Pops.
you never rush head on into a troll session
the flame needs a spark
gently
gently
11 Feb 2013, 10:19 am
not trolling at all
just exposing the shocking levels SA will stoop to when it comes to sport..
disgusting, are ANY SA sportspersons clean?
how can we be sure?
11 Feb 2013, 10:20 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-36:
Why not, you seem to have mellowed out to a level I can accommodate.
11 Feb 2013, 10:21 am
so did Piet Van Zyl suffer from roid rage?
is that why he attacked a ref during an international match?
11 Feb 2013, 10:21 am
this from a NZ Herald blogger sums it nicely:
Fionn (New Zealand)
01:20 PM Monday, 11 Feb 2013
It looks like this whole fight was a rigged, brilliantly staged and promoted parody sanctioned by no boxing authority, and with a heavy criminal element involved on the gambling side of things. The best bit was that both fighters seem to have been unaware of this to some extent and so actually fought each other, providing a veneer of reality to a completely surreal event. Noteworthy facts are:
1- This was a 12 round fight promoted as such
2- The judges expected a 12 round fight
3- Minutes before the bout a dodgy deal between promoters was struck to limit it to 10 rounds without Botha’s corner, the judges, TV, gambling associations or anybody else being informed. This has occurred in 2 previous SBW fights.
4- WBA regulations state that a title fight must be contested over 12 rounds and that a boxer with less than 10 fights (SBW) cannot challenge for a title.
5- The WBA Oceania official has cast doubt on WBA sanctioning of this fight; no WBA official present ringside.
6- Queensland has no boxing commission and there was thus no sanctioning body capable of conducting any drugs testing.
7- Suspicious activity forced suspension of betting in lead-up and refunds after bout.
11 Feb 2013, 10:22 am
@the curse-34: @the curse-35: good work pops – that lazy dwarf Keohane is tight on the stories. He is looking for writers so if you want some pocket change send him a tweet.
11 Feb 2013, 10:23 am
@the curse-40: Mate, it’s rife in SA and Oz. We should break away from super rugby and trinations and just play against the Pacific Island teams. Less travel, less doping and the boys will enjoy some time on the beach when they go on tour.
Seriously though, it sounds like Manly might be getting investigated. Between the Storm’s salary cap blow out and possible Manly doping, we’re looking at a lost decade in the NRL.
11 Feb 2013, 10:23 am
@the curse-40:
The obvious question to be asked on that point, is this.
Exactly what deep tissue investigation have we applied to unearth our own cheats.
11 Feb 2013, 10:26 am
@gonzo-45: @gonzo-45: no no no, Bakkies assures us that SA is clean, transparent and that they have cleaned up their own backyard
well thats if you believe him..
personally, I think there are serious doubts to their U20 win in last years JWC, their cricket team is obviously corrupt and wouldnt surprise me if their “olympians” also are tainted..
the numbers in their schools highlight that it is widespread..
11 Feb 2013, 10:28 am
@Brads-41:
hahaha
no Brad, it doesn’t work that way.
you dont get to choose when i can speak to you or when and even if you will speak to me, on your say so, when your mood feels right.
its a two way street, boet
and you’re either on the road, or off it.
now, are we clear on this?
11 Feb 2013, 10:30 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-43:
Apart from SBW and Botha being involved, this was entirely an Aussie jamboree.
In my opinion both fighters (not boxers) were in on a scam run by the Aussie promoters.
SBW as a boxer brought no kudos to NZ prior to the fight. He is now well in the debit column.
11 Feb 2013, 10:30 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-48:
Okay, I will ignore you again, seeing as that is your wish.
11 Feb 2013, 10:30 am
@gonzo-45: I read that the juiced up convicts tried to force kiwis into taking drugs, but they refused saying they do not need juice and prefered to stick with alcohol.
11 Feb 2013, 10:32 am
@Brads-37:
on this i agree.
its probably been a little more prevalent than the good folks would like to believe and if anything this will either push it further into secret, clandestine efforts by individuals, or lead to a lot of people easing up on any of it in a big way, for the foreseeable future at least.
11 Feb 2013, 10:37 am
@Brads-49:
i will agree to an extent.
i do believe though that Botha genuinely wanted to knock him out but was prevented from doing so. if this is the case then why would he have ‘been in on it’ ?
and this unseemly and false news report on Botha testing positive for drugs, is just low.
11 Feb 2013, 10:37 am
@RL-51: I hear Lions supporters willo be doing a lot of shopping on the weekends now and that their intake of alcohol has come down sharply..
apparently they dont need to drown their sorrows every weekend now..
11 Feb 2013, 10:38 am
@RL-51: Imagine if Zac had a few beers before each game – he’d be a little slower on attack but an aggressive madman on defence!
11 Feb 2013, 10:39 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-53: hes a known drug cheat, shouldnt even be allowed to participate in the “sport”
has been doping for years..
11 Feb 2013, 10:40 am
Hehehe I miss JC and Vrede so much. I went to Simons new blog and grabbed this.
“THE BIG READ: Set up for a fall
11Feb
JON CARDINELLI chats to Professor Tim Noakes about the counter-productive South African system and why it will continue to cripple the Springboks in 2013.
Professor Tim Noakes paints a bleak picture. Many of the top South African players won’t be available for the 2013 Rugby Championship, as the number of fatigue-induced injuries is set to escalate in the coming year. The 2014 season, says the acclaimed sports scientist, will be even worse, and in the long term elite players will be forced to retire sooner than expected.
Noakes is patently frustrated with a system that prevents South Africa’s top players from peaking at international level, and at the southern hemisphere tournament that matters most. It’s a drum he’s been beating for years, and when the question is put to him for the umpteenth time, a verbal answer is evidently not good enough.
He places one hand behind his back, as if it’s tied.
‘This is how a South African player operates in today’s game,’ he says, with obvious concern.
The difference between the world champion All Blacks and the Springboks was highlighted before the final Test of the 2012 Rugby Championship. Ten months into the season, and the All Blacks still managed to field a full-strength team. By contrast, the injury-hit Boks were forced to make do with what was available at the time.
This called into question the way the game was run in South Africa, and if Saru could do better to centrally contract its top players as New Zealand has done for so many years. Bok coach Heyneke Meyer made the point in the build-up to that Test, that central contracting would see top players managed in the national interest rather than for the good of their respective provinces. It seemed as if Meyer and Noakes were on the same page when the Bok coach said that South Africans are at a disadvantage.
The question was put to Saru CEO Jurie Roux by SA Rugby magazine shortly after that tournament had concluded. ‘There is no scientific data to indicate the amount of games an elite rugby player should be playing in one year,’ Roux responded. He also reasoned that injuries in a high-speed collision sport were inevitable, and suggested that the franchises were doing an adequate job of managing their players.
But Noakes shakes his head when he is told of Roux’s assertion.
‘That is an unfortunate analysis,’ he says. ‘It’s like the tobacco industry telling you that there’s no scientific evidence that tobacco harms you, but that’s misleading, isn’t it?
‘Jurie is technically correct, because there’s been no study where we have systematically evaluated rugby players over 20 years and shown that after you’ve played a certain number of minutes, you are going to break down. It is, of course, not as simple as that, because there has never been the funding to do such a study.
‘I applaud Jurie and Saru for what they have done over the past few years, and for a BokSmart programme that has proved hugely successful, but hopefully Saru will come to realise that it’s important that we get an answer to this question pertaining to game time and injuries.’
For the past two years, the Sports Science Institute (SSI) has been collecting the relevant data. Working in collaboration with Saru, a SSI research team headed up by Dr Martin Schwellnus will now conduct a study in the coming Super Rugby competition, monitoring injuries and game time across the board. What will be missing, however, is the actual time in contact, how many contacts each player experiences while they’re on the field. This is information that cannot be monitored until the necessary funding is provided.
Nevertheless, Noakes hopes that the 2013 study will supply some sort of answer to a crucial question. He believes it may confirm what many suspect – that top players are conditioned to peak mid-year for their respective franchises rather than for the Boks in the Rugby Championship.
And having followed a few players closely over the course of their careers, he has already noticed a trend that may be related to burnout. At the moment, Noakes believes that 2,000 minutes of rugby during a season (25 games) is too much.
‘It may not sound that much, but you’ve also got to consider when exactly they play these games, and how much time they have, or don’t have, to recuperate,’ Noakes clarifies. ‘If those games are scattered over 11 months, then that’s no good. It’s got to be focused in a period of seven months. The ideal season, and this is how human beings function, would see two months of complete rest [an off-season], then a three-month pre-season, and then a seven-month season. If players did that, they would cut down injuries, and their careers would be longer.’
Noakes cites other sports where player management is considered a priority rather than an afterthought.
‘In Aussie rules they limit the amount of playing time. In Australian rugby [union], they have nine weeks off completely. I can tell you that the great athletes, the tri-athletes, once they do adopt the pattern of two months off, a three-month pre-season, and a seven-month season, they can go on for careers of 20 years. American football is the ultimate model, because it’s completely commercially driven, and they have a shorter season. They obviously get it right; everything is geared towards the players peaking at the right time, at the Super Bowl.’
Roux also told SA Rugby magazine last year that while the possibility of central contracting has already been discussed within the corridors of Saru, it is a proposal that may not be accepted by the players themselves. Form and money will come into consideration. A player in form will be reluctant to rest, because that form is not going to last forever. Some players would also lose money if they played fewer matches every year.
And yet, if one considers how much money a top player could potentially earn in an extended career that is not hampered by injuries, it seems a smart sacrifice to make.
‘The problem in South African rugby is that the player plays as hard as he can until he collapses,’ says Noakes. ‘The players are accountable, because they do overplay themselves; they’re addicted to the “Saturday Afternoon Syndrome” and like to be out there. And of course, there is the money. I’m not here to judge that, but is it the right attitude if you look at the bigger picture?
‘There are very few players who can make enough money during their careers to last them a lifetime, but most will be looking to set themselves up. Surely it makes more sense then to sit out a few games every year and perhaps give up R500,000 so that you can make much more in a lengthy career?’
In January 2010, Noakes was asked by then coach Peter de Villiers to explain the realistic dangers of burnout to a group of Springbok players. Noakes took each individual through the roadmap of their careers, through their game time and through their injuries, and showed them exactly where they tended to break down.
‘From that, I drew a conclusion,’ he says. ‘It’s not science, but a judgement call on how much each player could play. Typically in the first year as a Bok, they play about 500 minutes, the next year could be as much as 2,000, but in the following year it came down again because they got injured. I showed them this pattern and said, “maybe you should bring the amount of playing time down to about 1,600 or 1,800 minutes”, and then I predicted how much each should play in the following year.’
It was at this point where captain John Smit, who had sat angry and cross-armed throughout the presentation, interrupted.
‘It’s pointless talking to us, because we’re just doing a job,’ Smit said. ‘You’ve got to talk to the people who employ us.’
The year 2009 had been a golden one for South African rugby. The Bulls won the Super 14, the Boks went on to beat the British & Irish Lions, and subsequently claim the Tri-Nations crown. It was on the end-of-year tour to Europe, however, where fatigue caught up with them, and they lost Tests to France and Ireland, not to mention midweek games to Leicester and Saracens. It is something De Villiers himself made note of, and why he brought Noakes into the mix.
A few months later at that same presentation in Cape Town, Noakes confronted Smit and his charges about the issue.
‘I asked, “If you guys were so tired on that tour, why didn’t you admit it?” Eventually, one of the players said that the public would never accept it, and that making the excuse of fatigue was “not what Springboks do”. The players felt that would send the wrong message. Finally, another player stood up and admitted that he had been completely exhausted on that 2009 tour. So obviously it was an issue.’
Player management and the dangers of fatigue are issues that only ever come into focus when the Boks are losing. It is typically at the end of each season where Noakes is inundated with phone calls from journalists wanting to know if there is indeed a link between the high injury toll and the amount of rugby being played in a calendar year.
It is not a question that’s asked too often after a Bok victory, or even now, at the start of the rugby year. Indeed, many will wonder how the Boks still manage to perform relatively well and push top teams like the All Blacks if they are, as Noakes claims, at such a disadvantage.
Noakes has worked regularly with the Boks since Jake White brought him into the environment in 2007, and is thus well placed to provide an answer. Pride may be what stops players from admitting that they need to rest, but it is also pride that drives them to perform regardless of the threat of burnout.
‘South African rugby players are the best behaved players on the planet,’ says Noakes. ‘They are so disciplined, so committed, and there is a real culture of “we don’t complain”. That’s why it’s such a privilege to work with them and know them. They’re an astonishing group of young men, but unfortunately they get exploited by that.
‘Our players are 20% off where they should be,’ Noakes continues. ‘The only reason they perform as well as they do is because these guys are clever people, they’re helluva passionate and they’re wonderful athletes. They work hard and they want to be successful. Everything is against them, and yet, they can almost still do it! If we freed them and allowed them to really play to their potential, they’d klap the All Blacks. That’s the problem. That’s the frustration. I’ve always said to Saru, “Do you want the Boks to be the best in the world? If you do, then you need to make a change.”’
With Super Rugby having expanded to a 15-team competition, and the recently formed Rugby Championship having been pushed to start in August, Noakes believes that top players will be exhausted by the time that latter competition commences.
‘I think you can play 10 to 12 consecutive games before you’re buggered, and that is something that happens all too often in Super Rugby. It’s unfair to Heyneke and the Boks.
‘We saw it happen last year when New Zealand played South Africa in Soweto. It didn’t surprise me that New Zealand had all their top players available for that game. The point is that they don’t know anything that we don’t know, or that we couldn’t implement. We could do what they do, but the key is that the coaches buy in, and the central contracting allows them to rest players with the national interest in mind. As soon as a player shows signs of tiring, they must stop playing him.’
Unfortunately, with the current system still in place and the provinces holding more power than Saru itself, the respective franchises will continue to manage players as they see fit. This will again impact on the Boks’ performance and success. It is a system that needs to be changed, and sooner rather than later.
For according to Noakes, 2012 was just the start of a horror run of injuries. The nightmare will continue into 2013 and will only reach it’s nadir a year out from the 2015 World Cup.
‘The best time for injuries is usually after a World Cup year, because that’s when guys get their eight-week off-season and are granted the necessary rest. So 2012 was not as bad as 2013 will be – 2014 will be even worse. Fortunately, when 2015 comes along you can start to build a team again because most players will have been forced to have a break because of injury. That’s the irony, You almost want your players to be injured in 2014 so they can get the necessary break before the 2015 World Cup.”
11 Feb 2013, 10:42 am
Apparently the ADA has claimed it never tested Botha for drugs, and Botha claims that he supplied a urine sample before the fight to some dubious individual who claimed it was an official test.
11 Feb 2013, 10:42 am
@gonzo-55: True but we’d have to put up with him doing it all naked. Not something you can “unsee”……
11 Feb 2013, 10:43 am
@RL-51:
It is always a good discipline to have that – proof reading your own writing.
Logic lapses, reality leaps and general credibility gaps is a real issue with fiction writers.
You need to get what you are putting out their appear at least a bit plausible.
11 Feb 2013, 10:46 am
@Brads-50:
cheers
11 Feb 2013, 10:50 am
@David-58:
Pooper?
11 Feb 2013, 10:51 am
@Brads-60: indeed.
Here are those fiction writers – I’m going to register!
“Welcome to SARugbymag.co.za
11Feb
It’s the website you’ve been waiting for. Highbury Safika Media is proud to bring you SARugbymag.co.za, your one-stop shop when it comes to all things rugby.
Blessed with incredible talent that includes SA Rugby magazine editor Simon Borchardt and writers of the calibre of Jon Cardinelli, Ryan Vrede and Gareth Duncan, among others, SARugbymag.co.za has been launched to add a new dimension to the way you follow the game that’s played in heaven.
We have award-winning writers and experts in the field and will leave no stone unturned to add to your rugby experience. We are also looking to engage with the most important person out there – YOU – and appreciate all your feedback as we build the ultimate winning team.
Among the many unique attractions of the site will be the opportunity for YOU, the reader, to interact with our writers at least once a week, while we’ll be encouraging you to ask a rugby personality the questions you’d like answered. We’ll then get hold of the person and post the answers.
Apart from news, opinion and analysis, we’ll also be bringing you the occasional ‘Big Read’ (in the first, Cardinelli talks to Prof Tim Noakes about player management), SAR Video clips, ‘Faceoff’ debates between two of our team members, detailed match previews and betting tips from Highbury Safika Media sports editorial director Gary Lemke.
You can also stand the chance to win one of two Oude Molen brandy hampers every week for seven weeks by entering the competition on our home page. And join our SuperBru pool for Super Rugby and make your score predictions (pool name: SA Rugby magazine, pool code: reedoral). The top three finishers in the pool will win great prizes!
OUR TEAM (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT): Gary Lemke (Highbury Safika Media editorial sports director), Jon Cardinelli (senior staff writer), Gareth Duncan (junior staff writer), Ryan Vrede (senior staff writer) and Simon Borchardt (SA Rugby magazine and SARugbymag.co.za editor)”
P.S I read the term and conditions – no dogs, no tik kops and no kiwis allowed
11 Feb 2013, 10:51 am
@the curse-56:
that is not how it works, you dunderhead.
his bout was reclassified as a ‘No Contest’ and he is not recognised as an IBF champ because of it.
11 Feb 2013, 10:53 am
@David-58:
i’ll give this much to that scumbag Nasser, he’s good.
SBW i think is a willing participant by association and tacit acceptance of Nasser’s actions.
11 Feb 2013, 10:54 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-64: link?
he kept his title when tested positive and beating Axel Schultz..
go figure… he is a dope cheat, plain and simple
11 Feb 2013, 10:54 am
@gunther-62:
bwahahahahaha
classic
11 Feb 2013, 11:00 am
@the curse-66:
NO, HE DID NOT KEEP THE TITLE.
HE WAS STRIPPED OF IT SHORTLY AFTER AND ATTEMPTED TO WIN IT BACK FROM A DIFFERENT FIGHTER
HE IS NOT RECOGNISED AS AN IBF Champion EVER
do you read through any of the stuff you cherry pick when attempting to slag us off?
do your homework, man
you have been a right mess over the last few days.
11 Feb 2013, 11:01 am
Ryan Vrede
Senior Staff Writer
NOT
11 Feb 2013, 11:01 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-68: wheres your proof?
11 Feb 2013, 11:03 am
Top South African cyclist, David George, has admitted taking the banned drug EPO and is prepared to face the consequences.
“I returned an out of competition positive test for Erythropoietin (EPO). I will not be asking for a B sample to be tested as I know the result will ultimately be the same. This decision will be communicated to Cycling South Africa (CSA) and Drug Free Sport shortly and according to protocol,” George said in a statement.
“I fully understand the consequences of my admission and will bear the results of this,” George said.
“The blood test showed suspicious activity with regard to possible manipulation of the blood profile and a subsequent urine test came back positive for the banned EPO [Erythropoietin] drug,” the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS) chief executive, Khalid Galant said.
11 Feb 2013, 11:03 am
@the curse-70:
wikipedia for crying out loud.
but if you want i can look for referenced articles?
11 Feb 2013, 11:05 am
@Brads-60:
You should try it sometime.
11 Feb 2013, 11:06 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-72:
wikipedia?
hahahahaahahahahahahaaha
11 Feb 2013, 11:07 am
A shocking survey has revealed that schoolboy rugby players are using illegal anabolic steroids.
This follows tests conducted on pupils at 18 of the country’s top schools in which 21 out of 130 pupils – or roughly one in six – tested positive for a variety of illegal steroids .
One school has now set aside R100000 for more tests while a doctor said he was treating at least 12 schoolboys a month to wean them off steroids.
11 Feb 2013, 11:09 am
@grant10-1: Because it only happens once in a blue moon, I suppose?
11 Feb 2013, 11:10 am
@RL-63: the Mills and Boon of SA rugby writers.
11 Feb 2013, 11:11 am
@the curse-66:
Yeah”, the Jelly Buffalo has “previous form”.
My understanding was that he was stripped of his IBF Title after the “positive” steriod result.
11 Feb 2013, 11:13 am
@the curse-74:
oy vey..!….
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clifford-etienne-francois-botha-brawl-to-exciting-10-round-draw-on-showtime-championship-boxing-from-new-orleans-arena-in-new-orleans-louisiana-76426097.html
NEW ORLEANS, July 28 /PRNewswire/ — In a crowd-pleasing slugfest that more than lived up to its “Call Of The Wild” billing, International Boxing Association (IBA) Continental Americas Heavyweight Champion Clifford “The Black Rhino” Etienne and three-time world championship challenger Francois “The White Buffalo” Botha slugged their way to a 10-round majority draw Saturday on SHOWTIME. Botha, who scored two knockdowns, led on one of the judges’ scorecards, 95-93, but the other judges had the bout even at 94- apiece.
The thrilling fight, promoted by Rhino Promotions, was televised by SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT, from the New Orleans Arena. Botha (44-4-2, 1 NC, 28 KOs), of Newport Beach, Calif., by way of Witbank, South Africa, decked Etienne in the fifth and sixth rounds. Botha, who felt he was victim of a hometown decision, almost finished Etienne after a series of right hands put down Etienne the first time. An overhand right floored Etienne the second time. Botha captured the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) title on Dec. 9, 1995, when he defeated Axel Schulz in Germany. However, a month later, Botha was stripped of his title and the fight was ruled a no contest.
On Jan. 16, 1999, Botha led Mike Tyson on all scorecards entering the fifth round. When he became over-confident, Tyson caught him with a picture-perfect right hand that sent him to the canvas, ending the fight. In his previous eight fights, Botha had posted a 5-2-1 record with his two losses coming to World Boxing Council (WBC)/International Boxing Federation (IBF) Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis in 2000 and World Boxing Organization (WBO) Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko on March 16, 2002.
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1zwlv)
11 Feb 2013, 11:14 am
@stormer in a teacup-77:
No mention of “The Hot Babes” in the SA Rugby Mag Team?
11 Feb 2013, 11:15 am
@the curse-74:
are you being deliberately obtuse?
———————–
Botha (44-4-2, 1 NC, 28 KOs), of Newport Beach, Calif., by way of Witbank, South Africa, decked Etienne in the fifth and sixth rounds. Botha, who felt he was victim of a hometown decision, almost finished Etienne after a series of right hands put down Etienne the first time.
An overhand right floored Etienne the second time. Botha captured the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) title on Dec. 9, 1995, when he defeated Axel Schulz in Germany. However, a month later, Botha was stripped of his title and the fight was ruled a no contest.
On Jan. 16, 1999, Botha led Mike Tyson on all scorecards entering the fifth round. When he became over-confident, Tyson caught him with a picture-perfect right hand that sent him to the canvas, ending the fight.
In his previous eight fights, Botha had posted a 5-2-1 record with his two losses coming to World Boxing Council (WBC)/International Boxing Federation (IBF) Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis in 2000 and World Boxing Organization (WBO) Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko on March 16, 2002.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Clifford+Etienne,+Francois+Botha+Brawl+to+Exciting+10-Round+Draw+On…-a089811800
11 Feb 2013, 11:17 am
you really havn’t been yourself lately, Poeps
you are not as sharp as you usually are.
are you tired?
11 Feb 2013, 11:18 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-79:
Paragraph one of your post.
“Buffalo” Botha slugged their way to a 10-round majority draw Saturday on SHOWTIME”.
So 10 round matches are not so unusual after all.
I smell a rat…………………………………a Fat Rat.
11 Feb 2013, 11:21 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-82:
Pops knows a lot about boxing.
He has a bit of first hand experience. Amatuer sure, but he knows where to put them.
11 Feb 2013, 11:23 am
@cane-83:
no Cane,
it was not an IBA title fight hence a 10 rounder.
have a cup of coffee before getting stuck in, bud.
11 Feb 2013, 11:23 am
Well done to the Blitzboks.
I hope that shuts up all their Keo Critics.
11 Feb 2013, 11:23 am
Morning Kiwis!
11 Feb 2013, 11:24 am
@cane-84:
ok, but he’s been way off his game over the last few days.
11 Feb 2013, 11:25 am
@Dawn-87: more Dawn…
11 Feb 2013, 11:25 am
@cane-86:
its not the players, its the coach most of us have problems with.
11 Feb 2013, 11:30 am
@Dawn-87:
Good morning to you too Dawn.
Sonny Bill wants a rematch in Cape Town.
Says he has lots of support there.
11 Feb 2013, 11:32 am
@cane-83:
Have another Sauvignon Plonk.
11 Feb 2013, 11:33 am
@cane-83:
Ingredients
——————————————————————————–
butter cake Or 12 eggs cake
1 pound Land O Lakes salted butter
4 cups sugar
12 eggs
4 cups Pillsbury all-purpose flour
1 ounce bottle lemon extract
(10 eggs won’t do….)
11 Feb 2013, 11:34 am
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-90:
Why doesn’t the Fat Rat, just show us all,
his copy of The Match Contract?
That surely, is how simple this whole thing is.
11 Feb 2013, 11:37 am
@shooter-93:
Turkey eggs perhaps.
11 Feb 2013, 11:38 am
Is there lots of white trash like Botha in SA?
11 Feb 2013, 11:41 am
@NZINCHINA-96:
I don’t think so NZC.
Most of it moved to Aucklands North Shore about 5 yrs ago.
11 Feb 2013, 11:43 am
@cane-95: or kiwi eggs
11 Feb 2013, 11:44 am
Amazing thing is that the Buffalo allegedly tested positive for an appetite supressant.
Old Fransie certainly doesnt look like he’s missed any meals. Ever.
11 Feb 2013, 11:44 am
@cane-97:
Should any former SA resident, now living on the North Shore, read the above.
And is offended in any way.
Sorry.
(the above apology does not apply to the keo poster known as Whatever.)
11 Feb 2013, 11:45 am
@John Galt-99:
LOL.
11 Feb 2013, 11:47 am
Happy Chinese New Year Caner, the year of the snake and there are plenty around here.
11 Feb 2013, 11:49 am
Well done Blitzbokke.
About time.
Sorry to all my Kiwi mates (who don’t blog here, by the way) – I am sure New Zealand will win another 7s title shortly though!
11 Feb 2013, 11:53 am
Willie has kiwi mates
hahaha.
yeah right.
11 Feb 2013, 11:58 am
@NZINCHINA-102:
And Happy Year to You and Yours NZC.
Let me guess fireworks was it?
LOL.
11 Feb 2013, 11:59 am
@the curse-104: They always say that,don’t they? It’t like saying …I am no racist,I have black friends.
11 Feb 2013, 12:00 pm
@cane-97:
I’m sure they fit in well there.
11 Feb 2013, 12:00 pm
@S_K-106: it’s
11 Feb 2013, 12:02 pm
teaser on news24…
Botha v SBW to be probed
the aliens have landed…!!
11 Feb 2013, 12:03 pm
This from Sir Bob Jones:
Sonny Bill Williams is an “idiot adrift on a float of publicity” and his fight with Francois Botha was like playing tennis against “elderly women and fat chaps”, boxing enthusiast Sir Robert Jones says.
“This sort of thing was quite predictable, and who’s to blame? The media are to blame,” Jones told RadioLive.
“Right from the time that Williams has decided he wanted to take up boxing he has been given an absurd amount of attention, bogus opponents have been set up.”
Jones said everything about Friday’s fight was “seedy and nasty”.
“It’s an invasion of a pure sport … by impure people,” he said.
“I exclude Williams from that.
“He just seems to be an idiot adrift on a float of publicity, but it should never be given this attention and … it wouldn’t once. I mean, what’s going on in the world?”
The event gave boxing a bad image, when it had nothing to do with the sport.
Jones said Williams “seems to be a very unsettled person, changing countries and sport on an annual basis”.
He also said the WBA was a “nonsense” and a “ratbag” organisation, and described South African Botha, 44, as a geriatric in boxing terms who reached his zenith last century and was “knocked out by everybody”.
The championship belt Botha and Williams were supposedly fighting for was “bogus”.
“There’s no such championship,” Jones said.
“Imagine if he [Williams] suddenly decided he wanted to take up tennis, and so he’s matched with elderly women and fat chaps who’ve never held a tennis racket.
“This is the equivalent of what happened with boxing with massive publicity. I mean, it’s absurd.
“Then they dig up some tennis player who’s actually dying of cancer, or something, who won Wimbledon, or who was a Wimbledon player in 1966, or something, and give it all this hype. This is not a bad analogy.”
Jones said genuine boxing was doing well around the world.
“This is the thing that hurts,” he said.
“This sort of stuff is commanding the publicity. That’s probably because we don’t have any prominent boxers here at the moment.
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11 Feb 2013, 12:03 pm
@ufo-109:
Grantie will be called in as an expert witness.
11 Feb 2013, 12:06 pm
dear lord in heaven….when we thought they couldnt get cheesier
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=cYRRAvi3cpw&feature=share
11 Feb 2013, 12:08 pm
@ufo-109: .
That should make Granties day.
11 Feb 2013, 12:09 pm
@cane-94:
because back here a verbal agreement and a handshake is good enough.
11 Feb 2013, 12:14 pm
Don’t miss the beautiful leather journal that’s so easy to make and looks like a million bucks! … Monogrammed Boxer Shorts – BHG; Knit Chunky Sweater – Yarn Forward; Dad Frame – Martha Stewart; Tread Belt – Instructables; Golf Towel … Thank you for providing such an extensive DIY collection of ideas.
and here’s one for the belt…….
In two parts. The whole thing may take a day. the vid. is only about 12 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx7R-Igqoe4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDVDKwKCIGM
who needs a Nassar??
11 Feb 2013, 12:14 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-114:
Yeah right.
In NZ they used to say,
” After shaking hands with Dannie Craven, count your fingers, because you’ve just lost something”.
11 Feb 2013, 12:18 pm
@gunther-111:
11 Feb 2013, 12:20 pm
@cane-116: surely sbw can do the same…. seeing he claims to be the vindicated one?
11 Feb 2013, 12:28 pm
“Francois said the way it was done was very unprofessional, nothing was sealed, nothing was done properly. It gets shadier by the moment.”
Goldberg admitted Botha regularly took a sleeping pill on the eve of a fight and used “a lot of supplements” but was surprised Phentermine was detected.
However, Williams’ manager Khoder Nasser insisted the findings were accurate.
Nasser said the WBA required a blood test and Botha volunteered a urine sample.
“The blood test came back clean, the urine came back not clean,” he told Fairfax Media.
Botha claimed on Campbell Live that Nasser’s brother, or a family member, had administered the drug test.
Nasser would not confirm who collected and processed the samples saying it was “the same people that conduct all the tests that we use”. He said it was a “reputable pathology company”.
11 Feb 2013, 12:29 pm
The Australian National Boxing Federation was sceptical about the validity of the tests.
National vice president Alan Moore – one of three judges who scored the bout in the Kiwi’s favour – was mystified as to why Botha would even provide a urine sample when it was not legally required.
Botha arrived in Australia with a chequered medical history – he tested positive for the steroid nandrolone after beating Germany’s Axel Schulz to claim the IBF heavyweight title in 1995. The fight was eventually deemed a no contest and the organisation does not recognise him as a former champion.
Goldberg accompanied Botha to a doctor’s surgery in Brisbane and said: “There are a lot of strange things that happened.
“This has all come out very quickly, it’s bizarre.
“He’s very upset, he doesn’t believe it and wants to be tested in a lab in South Africa to see if it’s bullshit or not.
11 Feb 2013, 12:30 pm
@cane-116:
And you obviously took it literally..probably still trying to count those ten digits…
11 Feb 2013, 12:32 pm
Jaywriter24 minutes ago
SBW is a nice guy – he has got to get away from this Nasser guy. He needs a real manager who is above board and who actually cares about the people who he manages. Nasser had something to do with the testing of Botha’s urine samples?
Shadier by the minute. I think that Botha should be SBW’s manager. He obviously really cares about the boy, seeing as he was offering some much needed advice to him during the fight and was also giving him a spanking for not listening.
11 Feb 2013, 12:35 pm
@cane-91:
Indeed he will have a lot of support from me.
11 Feb 2013, 12:38 pm
Sunni Bin is welcome on my couch.
Anytime
I live near the mosque
No problems
11 Feb 2013, 12:39 pm
Yeesh what a disastrous Monday morning I have had
11 Feb 2013, 12:41 pm
The Bakkies Poeps stoush is longer, sadder, more dubious and ultimately more futile than the SBW Botha affair.
11 Feb 2013, 12:44 pm
Cape Town – New Zealand’s referees will be stepping out in pink in this year’s Super Rugby tournament thanks to a three-year sponsorship deal with Pink® Batts®.
According to the allblacks.com website, the deal means a new strip for referees with their pink socks, shorts and shirt uniform making a debut next weekend in Round 2 of Super Rugby when the Highlanders host the reigning champion Chiefs in Dunedin, and the Hurricanes host the Blues in Wellington.
NZRU High Performance Referees Manager Rod Hill said: “We’re looking forward to raising the visibility of referees to rugby followers and if the colour gets people talking then that’s fantastic. What’s really important is that Pink® Batts®’ support will help increase awareness and interest in what referees do, while helping us to retain the current crop of referees.”
New Zealand referee Chris Pollock said: “If wearing pink means we can encourage more people to be involved in refereeing at all levels of the game, and that more people recognise that refereeing can be great fun, then I’m all for it.”
11 Feb 2013, 12:45 pm
@Dawn-124:
Do you do a good Halaal poitje?
11 Feb 2013, 12:46 pm
@stormer in a teacup-126:
Bakkies is trying to wear down Popps……………………………………….but Popps is still jabbing.
11 Feb 2013, 12:47 pm
@gunther-128:
No but I have a cousin who is a killer Halaal cook
11 Feb 2013, 12:48 pm
@gunther-128:
All Hal will break lose on that couch of hers, if she get SB on it.
11 Feb 2013, 12:49 pm
@cane-129: If only they could shorten it to 10 rounds.
11 Feb 2013, 12:52 pm
@cane-131:
No doubt.
Lets hope they shorten the bout to ten rounds otherwise Dawnies going to be walking like the Duke.
11 Feb 2013, 12:52 pm
@cane-131: Couch, pause , engage. Sonny better watch his tackle.
11 Feb 2013, 12:54 pm
@cane-131:
Twelve rounds, no stopping for breaks
11 Feb 2013, 12:55 pm
Sunni Bin will have staring time first
I will stare at all the muscles
11 Feb 2013, 12:56 pm
@gunther-133:
Ha
As if
He will be walking like The Duke
11 Feb 2013, 12:57 pm
@cane-131:
He’s fly for a kiwi guy
11 Feb 2013, 13:06 pm
@Dawn-137:
Take it easy there pilgrim.
11 Feb 2013, 13:08 pm
the funny thing is popps and bakks are so alike it’s surreal…
they be peas in a pod… mirror images… siamese twins… dance partners…
both tenacious, argumentative and always wanna get in the last word…
this could go on for years…!!
but…
both are also good, stand-up guys…
if you can see passed the whirling dervish of flailing fists, knees to the groin, elbows to the eye and boots in the back… and the kapPOW, WHAM, SMACK, THUD, SCHPROING of their comic-like engagements…
11 Feb 2013, 13:13 pm
@ufo-140:
BubbaGump.
11 Feb 2013, 13:13 pm
@stormer in a teacup-126:
11 Feb 2013, 13:15 pm
@ufo-140:
I think,
you could well be right ufo.
11 Feb 2013, 13:17 pm
@gunther-141:
@cane-143:
but neither will ever admit it…!
11 Feb 2013, 13:18 pm
@cane-129:
he’s tough, Caner
like a bag full of rattlesnakes
@ufo-140:
and the thing is, he’s convinced he’s right
geddafuckouttahere
whad i gotta do
whad i gotta do
11 Feb 2013, 13:20 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-145:
hahaha
11 Feb 2013, 13:22 pm
@ufo-109: They’ve been around some time already……..
See HG and Skop for reference.
11 Feb 2013, 13:26 pm
Well done Blitzies.
We won the Las Vegas tournament in 2011 as well. The venue appears to be a happy hunting ground.
So the moral of the story is “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”.
11 Feb 2013, 13:29 pm
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-147:
hehehe…
come to teach us the errors of our ways…
11 Feb 2013, 13:54 pm
@grant10-127: I love going home to watch the rugby. Watching Sky Sports UK, it’s all telcos and banks and flash ads at half time. In NZ, we have ads for pink bats, tractors and various cow sprays. Very rural and down to earth
11 Feb 2013, 13:54 pm
http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15/NZ-referees-step-out-in-pink-20130211
Oh dear. This should be worth 20 posts at least?
11 Feb 2013, 18:49 pm
@Hurricane Stop using Swype, use the Samsung keyboard.
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