Higginbotham debuts for Rebels
12 Feb 2013
RICHARD FERGUSON updates Keo.co.za followers on latest Super Rugby news from Australia.
Scott’s a rebel with a cause
Welshman Gareth Delve will captain the Rebels in their Super Rugby opener against the Force with Kurtley Beale starting at flyhalf and James O’Connor at fullback.
Former Reds flanker Scott Higginbotham also makes his debut.
Rebels: 15. James O’Connor , 14. Lachlan Mitchell , 13. Mitch Inman , 12. Rory Sidey , 11. Richard Kingi , 10. Kurtley Beale , 9. Nick Phipps , 8. Gareth Delve (c) , 7. Scott Fuglistaller , 6. Scott Higginbotham , 5. Luke Jones , 4. Hugh Pyle , 3. Laurie Weeks , 2. Ged Robinson , 1. Nic Henderson
Replacements: 16. Shota Horie , 17. Paul Alo-Emile , 18. Cadeyrn Neville , 19. Jarrod Saffy , 20. Nic Stirzaker , 21. Alex Rokobaro , 22. Tom English
James slips into skip’s role
James Horwill won’t be rushed back to Super Rugby and in his continued absence the captaincy goes to James Slipper.
The young prop leads the Reds against the Brumbies as Horwill has been given an extra week and Will Genia has been given as much time as is needed to return after tearing knee ligaments during last year’s international season.
39 Comments
12 Feb 2013, 11:18 am
Higginbottom dragon!
One of the funniest surnames ever
12 Feb 2013, 11:29 am
Brumbies / Reds.
Tough call this one.
12 Feb 2013, 11:54 am
Hope beale and o’conner are ready for this year!
12 Feb 2013, 11:56 am
@bokfan1-1: I thought the Rebels would fall down the excellent-names rankings when Stirling Mortlock retired but they replace him with a Higginbotham and a fricking Fuglistaller. Imagine how jealous Luke Jones is, moping around wishing he had at least two syllables in his name
12 Feb 2013, 12:02 pm
head-butt scottie was on another level of aggro last year!
12 Feb 2013, 12:23 pm
Rebels look a decent team … p’haps good for a few upsets
12 Feb 2013, 12:32 pm
@bokfan1-1: well,
could have been worse…
like Featherstone-haugh = pronounced Fan-shaw
would the diminutive (as in a small scrumhalf of that surname) then be Fanny Shaw?
just wondering?
12 Feb 2013, 12:37 pm
@gonzo-4: He he. Don’t forget Stirzaker and s few others on the bench.
12 Feb 2013, 12:42 pm
Rebels have enough gamebreakers to be a real handful this year.
12 Feb 2013, 12:50 pm
@stormer in a teacup-8: I was a bit worried that Keo was suffering from epilepsy when he was typing out the names on the bench. They aren’t names, they’re just a collection of random letters!
12 Feb 2013, 13:06 pm
@gonzo-10: Yeah. It looks like a Bulgarian scrabble board.
12 Feb 2013, 13:17 pm
That Rebels might surprise a few sides this year but all in all i think they’ll battle in the tight exchanges.
Tight 5 are going to struggle I think.
12 Feb 2013, 13:19 pm
Here’s the difference between Saru S15 franchises and Aru or Nzru ones.
Rebels got enough clout to lure the likes of high profile wallabies such as Beale O’Connor Phipps and Higginbotham whereas here in this country EP Kings treatment like leppers where they have to beg borrow or steal some rugby credibility while the fraudulent mogul money marauding mercenary hunters from up the highway steal and thieve and siphon off all their home grown rugby talents which they’re unable to foster themselves.
12 Feb 2013, 13:22 pm
@skopdiekan-13: Rebels run by business people. Kings run by cadres. End of story.
12 Feb 2013, 13:30 pm
Balderdash here the rich unions siphon off the poor and it’s dogs of war intolerance the order of the day.
About 40% Sharkishits playing base is EP bred and the rest from FS and GP and WP with only a handful local KZN boys because in that province soccer is the sport of the ruling class.
So why the hell do EP have to try beg borrow or steal their own players back ?
Wouldn’t happen in NZ or OZ
12 Feb 2013, 13:32 pm
@stormer in a teacup-14: And the Lions & Cheetahs run by who? Tell us that story?
12 Feb 2013, 13:38 pm
@skopdiekan-15: if the people who run the Rebels ran the Kings, they would have had a Super rugby title already.
12 Feb 2013, 13:45 pm
@Angostura-16: Not by business people, that’s for sure. The largest city in Sanzar without a super team – do you know how incompetent people have to be to let that happen. The Cheetahs are an amateur pronvincial unit in terms if their management. The Kings are a flabby outfit who cannot compete in terms of business acumen or professional nous.
12 Feb 2013, 13:51 pm
@stormer in a teacup-17: well,
if that be true, then it would apply especially to the Stormers … yes?
& to the Sharks, & the Cheetahs as well … yes?
seeing all of them (especially the Stormers & Sharks) had ample fruitless opportunity to win that damn elusive Super Rugby trophy already … No?
BTW, who are these astute people running Rebels rugby?
12 Feb 2013, 14:16 pm
@Angostura-19: Yes. The stormers and Sharks are underachievers in this context too. Too many cooks in WP unfortunately. The Rebels are privately owned. They are backed by a media mogul.
12 Feb 2013, 14:30 pm
@stormer in a teacup-20:
They’re the only privately owned Franchise in Australia, and managed to finish last in 2011 and 13th in 2012. Unlike the Kings they don’t have to face the possibility of regulation, which allows them to attract players and offer a long term S15 future. They also don’t have the restriction of 2 foreign players, in order to help them get established. Now, what the hell has their performance got to do with their management compared to the Kings?
12 Feb 2013, 14:44 pm
OK, so I gather you would like to see rugby franchises privately owned (say, also by moguls such as the Oppenheimers, Motsepes, Sexwales, Ruperts, Dippenaars, Ackermans, Saads, Ramaphosas, Wieses, Royal Bafokengs, Ferreiras, Moutons, Gores, Joostes, Reddys & Guptas, etc. of our country) – as both you and Skop seem to agree to some extent – money (& in your case especially business acumen) counts.
I’m not so sure that that will go down well with rugby lovers at grass roots level, but I admire you for your consistency of argument.
I’ll watch the progress of the Rebels with interest.
12 Feb 2013, 14:50 pm
@David-21: Sure they finished last. They were a brand new team without the benefit of a century or more of provincial competition. They also have a very small player base. All Saffa teams face the prospect of relegation – ask the Lions. Rebels set about luring the most exciting players in Oz to Melbourne. Quality players will go where other star players are. Mortlock, o’connor, Beale, Cipriani. You know these guys are ambitious. You also know they will build on this team, market them well and maximize their chances, because it is their money on the line.
12 Feb 2013, 14:52 pm
@stormer in a teacup-17: you are seriously misguided…
the people running the ARU are astute when compared to the self-serving dumbfcuks running SARU…a little example…
ARU approve foreign player
concession for the Western
Force
7/13/2012
By ARU Media Unit
Australian Rugby Union today announced
the Emirates Western Force will have the
opportunity to recruit an additional
developing foreign player in 2013.
The announcement comes following a
request from the Perth based franchise
earlier in the year and the Foreign Player
Contracting Rule being revised and
approved by the ARU Board.
Prior to the change the Force, Brumbies,
Reds and Waratahs were provided the
option of recruiting two developing foreign
players, or one marquee and one
developing foreign player.
The Melbourne Rebels are the only
exception to the Foreign Player Concession
Rules, allowed to recruit a maximum of 10
foreign players.
ARU’s General Manager High Performance,
David Nucifora, said the decision was made
after considering the Force’s submission for
the concession.
“We have worked closely with the Force and
carefully considered their request to be
granted the ability to recruit an additional
developing foreign player in 2013,” Nucifora
said.
“The concession will allow them to have
either two developing foreign players and a
marquee foreign player, or three developing
foreign players.
“As with all submissions and requests from
our FxPro Super Rugby Franchises we have
worked closely with the Force, discussed
the request at the last Super Rugby
Commission meeting and considered all the
factors at play.
“The outcome of this process is that we
believe the best way to support the Force
moving forward is to provide this
concession.”
ARU also indicated that the Rebels will be
provided with the same foreign player
concessions as the Force in 2016 when their
current concessions fall back in line with
the other Australian Franchises.
do you see Stormer in a Koppie, a mother body that is there to “support” the franchises and not to disenfrachise them because of petty powermongery.
12 Feb 2013, 15:00 pm
@stormer in a teacup-23:
I doubt whether Mortlock, o’connor and Beale would have moved if the Rebels were subject to a relegation playoff at the end of the season.
12 Feb 2013, 15:02 pm
@Angostura-22: if you look around the world at the most successful sporting leagues you see this to be the case. Why do you think kids around the world wear Lakers, Yankees and Man U kit when they have never set foot outside their own district? They are run by people who know that fans identify with success and will reward hard work and smart strategies with their loyalty. The Kings have a century of tradition, a large player base and a beautiful new venue. But they can’t even find a way into the Currie Cup ahead of Griquas
12 Feb 2013, 15:04 pm
@stormer in a teacup-23: hmmm … Maybe the Kings can be really “cheeky” & offer the Emir of Abu Dhabi a controlling stake in their franchise? They sure would be able to afford all of the All Black team – and make short shrift of winning the trophy (but, oh s_hit that damn max 2 foreign players restriction that applies to the Kings, but not to the Rebels?)
OK, out
ciao, stormer in a teacup & David – just some fun
12 Feb 2013, 15:12 pm
@Transformation-24: the difference being that Melbourne has a small player base and are not keeping another Aussie team out. The Kings apparently represent SA and therefore Sanzars largest player base and another SA team is sitting out while the remaining five (not just the Kings) compete. The Kings should not need foreign players – they probably have more registered players than any Aussie franchise.
But I do agree SARU are cr.ap.
12 Feb 2013, 15:14 pm
@Angostura-27: if they do they will win the comp. Ciao. Good to chat.
12 Feb 2013, 15:22 pm
@gonzo-4: Hahahaha those are some classics too. “Higginbotham” just reminds me of this victorian english gentleman or something. Something like “Reginald Percival Higgenbotham the 3rd”
Stirling Mortlock must be one of the most unusual but awesome names ever – sounds like a Superhero from Black Adder.
Percy Montgomery also ranks up there, while a lot of my non-SA friends LOVE the name Bismark Du Plessis (which is pretty awesome).
12 Feb 2013, 15:23 pm
@Transformation-24: A GREAT example of pragmatism and doing the best for the country there Transie.
If SARU tried to do that for the Kings, the other unions would all complain about it being “unfair”.
If Kings requested it (as they have) SARU wouldnt even think about it (as they showed).
as Prof Noakes said – our players play with 1 hand tied behind their backs
12 Feb 2013, 15:28 pm
@stormer in a teacup-26: last one afore I browse elsewhere: maybe the Kings will also get into the Currie Cup via Board Room decision like Natal Rugby did in the 80s, & just look where them banana-chompin Sharks are now! Way to go?
Hahaha, the Banana Boys battled year after year to beat The Purple People Eaters (a phrase coined I think by the legendary Wallaby & Natal player, **** *****), & mind you, T P P E was a team/province quite a bit weaker than present day Griquas. They left me exasperated when I was one of very few Natal fans that took the trouble to support their provincial team in the B Leagues those days. Haha, I used to be able to arrive at Kings Park at 15h10, park my car, buy a ticket, dash to my seat & still be on time for the 15h15 kick off. But such is life … plenty Sharks fans on this blog shouting theirs mouths off about the inequity of the Kings … lol, farken double standards.
A Lot of ***** & Bull, as the man would’ve said
12 Feb 2013, 15:34 pm
@Angostura-32: I should’ve realised:
**** ***** = D_ick C_ocks
&
**** & Bull = C_ocks & Bull
12 Feb 2013, 15:37 pm
@Angostura-32:
They had a great goal kicker in Herbert though.
12 Feb 2013, 15:43 pm
@David-34: YES
12 Feb 2013, 16:39 pm
@stormer: can you explain to me why the ARU is aiding THE FORCE who at one point had Gits, Sharpey, Pocock, o’Connor in their books?!
you want the Kings to be like ManU & the Lakers, which franchise in SA is ANYWHERE near those organisations?!
12 Feb 2013, 18:58 pm
@Transformation-36:
the Bulls.
13 Feb 2013, 03:31 am
@Transformation-36: none of them because none have the necessary management.
13 Feb 2013, 12:47 pm
Can anyone confirm whether Beale or O’Conner are kicking for posts?
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