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
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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.)
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