Babobski’s Blog: News and opinions from South Africa and around the world

Being an arm chair selector has in advantages. The Springbok team that you select will probably never end up playing together and you never have to justify yourself like Pieter De Villiers.

Selecting my team to play the British Lions got me thinking about 2011. All the talk right now is about the British Lions tour and rightly so. This is only their third visit to the shores of South Africa in the past 29 years with the other tours being in 1980 (won by the Springboks) and 1997 (won by the Lions).

Nobody can really think past 2010 Soccer World Cup and it is an honour for South Africa to be the host nation. But rugby people seem to be forgetting that 2009 marks the half way mark in the reign of the Springboks, the current rugby World Champions.

 In 1997, the last time the Springboks faced the British Lions, we were also two years off the 95 World Cup victory and South African rugby was in disarray. Kitch Christie, the world cup winning coach was gone, as was his successor Andre Markgraaf. Carel Du Plessis, who coached the Boks during the last Lions series, also got the boot before the 99 Rugby World Cup. 

 Are the Springboks that well prepared this time round, in their second defense of their crown? We felt let down by Nick Mallet in 1999 when the Boks last tried to defend their title and the question has to be asked whether history will repeat itself. Part of the problem at the 1999 World Cup was the issue of captaincy.

After Gary Teichman was dropped as skipper of the Boks, an uneasy vibe developed in a highly successful team. Players started feeling that if the skipper could be dropped, then everyone else was vulnerable as well.

By 2005 Jake White had a fair idea of who was going to be in his squad for the 07 World Cup and his faith was in John Smit as skipper. Victor Matfield, Os du Rand, Schalk Burger, Juan Smith, Fourie Du Preez and Percy Montgomery were all seasoned campaigners by the time Jake got his team to France.

Will John Smit be our captain in 2011? If he isn’t, then I suggest that we are already in trouble come crunch time in New Zealand.

There is little doubt that, barring injury or an alarming loss of form, Richie McCaw will be leading the All Blacks in a World Cup they will be desperate to win on home soil.

Smit’s position in the team may even be in doubt in 2009, let alone in two years time. He is already being played out of position and is not the world’s best tight head prop, although it must be said he has not done a bad job either.

Looking past Smit, who could possibly be the skipper for the Boks in 2011? Victor Matfield has been the stand in skipper when Smit has not been around but seems to play better for the Boks when he can just concentrate on his own game. He is also being pushed by a hungry Andries Bekker who may sense that he could force himself into the Boks starting line up over the next 2 seasons.

Jean De Villiers is a great player but has been injury prone over the years. The focus will be on whether De Villiers can last until 2011 and it will be a bonus for the Boks if he does. Building a team around De Villiers as captain would be a mistake however.

The Lions and the Sharks are both captained by players who are not part of the Bok set up. Cobus Grobbelaar and Johan Muller will probably not be part of the plans during the next three seasons and can probably be discounted.

That leaves Juan Smith, the tough as nails flanker from the Cheetahs, who is playing some fine rugby in the Super 14 as a possible Rugby World Cup 2011 captain. Smith will be turning 30 in 2011 and will be at the peak of his powers. Duane Vermeulen will also be knocking at the door and Smith will not have it all his own way.

 However, should he be selected as captain, then he must be backed by the coach, with Vermeulen being selected as part of the squad, based on his form in 2011.

One cannot write off John Smith either. He will be 33 at the next World Cup and could be aiming to make 2011 his swansong. Either way, the calls need to made now and the decisions backed by all the role players. The Boks have a title to defend.

One of the highlights in Super 14 rugby this past weekend was the welcome return to form of the big Springbok flank, Schalk Burger.

 Time and time again opposition players were hit back in defense during the Stormers vs Highlanders game and many of these tackles were made by Schalkie, without any help from his team mates.

 

 

It was Burger at his best defensively and it certainly contributed to the Stormers upset victory.  Andries Bekker made his presence felt and added the grunt to the Stormers pack, that has sadly been missing this Super 14 season.

So who is now in contention for a place in the Bok team?  Well since the days of Jake White, consistency has been part of the winning formula and Pieter De Villiers has wisely continued along that path.

Lets look at the last Springbok team that played. It was on 22 November 2008, in that crushing victory over England (something we shouldn’t let the British lions forget either).

Conrad Jantjes

JP Pietersen

AD Jacobs

Jean de Villiers

Brian Habana

Ruan Pienaar

Ricky Januarie

Beast Mtawarira

John Smit

Jannie du Plessis

Bakkies Botha

Victor Matfield

Schalk Burger

Danie Rossouw

Pierre Spies

Reserves:

Jacques Fourie

Francois Steyn

Brian Mujati

Chilliboy Ralapella

Heinrich Brussouw

Andries Bekker

Ryan Kankowski

 

Who will make the 2009 Sprinbok XV?

Fullback:

 

Conrad Jantjes has not been in great form this season; admittedly he is part of a losing Stormers set up that is more set on defense than attack.

 

However, it is time to settle Francois Steyn in the team and with the abundance of centers in South Africa; Steyn is moved to the number 15 jersey for evermore.

 

Right Wing:

 

JP Pietersen has been a try magnet again this season and takes his rightful place in the team.

 

Left Wing:

 

Jongi Nokwe knows how to score tries.  The Free State flyer is no stranger to the try line and has scored some fine tries during the Super 14. 

 

The man wearing the number 11 jersey is Brian Habana who is also hitting form again and cannot be left out of the Bok XV.

 

Habana retains his place with Nokwe on standby.

 

Outside Center

 

Jacques Fourie has been devastating for the Lions but has been injury prone.  AD Jacobs was had a solid season but has not been helped by an indecisive Sharks backline with Francois Steyn at flyhalf.

 

It is always good to have a combination in midfield and with that in mind I am going for Fourie for the number 13 jersey.

 

Inside Center

 

Jean De Villiers made the number 12 jumber his last season but has also battled to strike form in 2009.  Wynand Olivier from the Bulls has been in great form and with the idea of hitting the Lions hard in midfield to open up the space for our wingers, a new combination will be given a chance.  Wyand Olivier and Jacques Fourie will be the new center pair.

 

Flyhalf

 

Ruan Pienaar is coming back from injury and is Pieter De Villiers’ first choice for the flyhalf position.  He will also be the goal kicker in the team.  Should he still be injured, Morne Steyn from the Bulls will start.

 

Scrumhalf

 

Fourie Du Preez remains world class and will regain his place in the starting line up.  Ricky Januarie has had an indifferent Super 14 and will lose his place, with Rory Kockett making the bench.

 

Loose Head Prop

 

The Beast is becoming a folk hero from the battlefields of Dunedin to the hard playing fields of Kimberly.  He has still not hit his peak yet and is still developing as a prop.  He will maintain his place. Guthro Steenkamp and Heinko Van Der Merwe have also played well this season.

 

Hooker

 

John Smit will start in the number 2 jersey and will captain the team.  Bismarck Du Plessis has been inaccurate in the line outs and needs to work on his discipline.  Chilliboy Ralapella is also in the mix and will make the bench should Du Plessis be injured.

 

Tight Head Prop

 

This position is a bit of a problem in SA rugby at present. Jannie Du Plessis will start and probably be replaced by John Smit at the 50 minute mark.

 

Locks

 

I don’t think there will be any arguments from the armchair critics about who should play lock for the Boks.  The old firm of Botha and Matfield will be critical to South Africa winning the series, with Botha adding the mongrel to the pack.

 

Andries Bekker will be the third choice lock.

 

Open Side Flank

 

Schalk Burger is starting to look like the Schalk of old and may do enough to make the starting line up.  Heinrich Brussouw has been in outstanding form for the Cheetahs and could even make the team ahead of Schalk on present form.

 

Blind Side Flank

 

Juan Smith has got guts and plenty of it too.  Playing in a losing team is not easy but the big Free State flank is always in the thick of things.  He will be pushed by Duane Vermeulen but regains his number 7 jersey.

 

Number 8

 

Who to leave out is the difficult question for the South African selectors.  Pierre Spies will retain the jersey, with Ryan Kankowski and Luke Watson breathing down his neck. 

 

The Springbok team to face the British Lions looks like this:

 

15: Francois Steyn

14: JP Pietersen

13: Jacques Fourie

12: Wynand Olivier

11: Brian Habana

10: Ruan Pienaar

9:  Fourie Du Preez

8:  Pierre Spies

7:  Juan Smith

6:  Schalk Burger

5:  Victor Matfield

4:  Bakkies Botha

3:  Jannie Du Plessis

2:  John Smit

1:  Beast Mtawarira

 

Reserves:

 

Rory Kockett

Jean De Villiers

Jongi Nokwe

Bismarck Du Plessis

Guthro Steenkamp

Andries Bekker

Heinrich Brussouw

 

Breakdown:

 

Bulls: 7

Sharks: 8

Lions: 1

Stormers: 3

Cheetahs: 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growing up in South Africa or the Rainbow Nation as the country has become known since the days of Nelson Mandela provided many defining moments.

 

 

It was heady days in the early 1990’s in the cities and villages in South Africa.  FW De Klerk, the then Prime Minister had made a stunning announcement in parliament that he was unbanning all political parties and releasing all political prisoners.  The path towards democracy had been set and the helter skelter journey began.

 

There was a new buzz between people of all colours in the streets.  “Viva South Africa Viva” was in the air as we cautiously reached out over the colour barriers that had ruled life in our country for too long. 

 

They were hectic days as well as it was not certain that South Africa was safe from spiraling into a civil war.  Kwa Zulu-Natal (KZN) was already a war zone in which thousands of people would ultimately lose their lives.  The ANC and Inkatha fought a brutal war for control in the province while the AWB embarked on a wild raid into Bophuthatswana, one of the independent homelands that we have all forgotten about already.

 

Any one of these conflicts could have sparked chaos in South Africa but somehow Nelson Mandela steered the ship to still waters.  We were all proud to be South African.  We had pulled off the impossible and were proud that we had become a nation where all could live in peace together….the Rainbow Nation.

 

The New South Africa was hailed as an example to the world.  We had forgiven each other over the past and were birthing a new nation together.  And with Mandela at the helm we all believed it would work.

 

The Mandela era can be best summed up as the nation building part of South Africa’s fledging democratic history.  The coup he pulled off at the 1995 Rugby World Cup when he wore Francois Pienaar’s Number 6 jersey to the final won him the hearts of white South Africans.

 

Bafana Bafana the beleaguered national soccer team pulled off a similar feat in 1996 when they won the African Cup.  It felt great to be a South African and we were the “Proudly South African”.

 

South African entered a phase of economic growth and the JSE soared, as did the real estate market.  Houses were being built; people received electricity and running water for the first time in their lives.  We were the land of opportunity.

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However, all was not well in the powerhouse of Africa and the wheels probably started falling off around the time of the Arms Deal.  This was corruption on a grand scale and when the highly successful Heath Special Investigating Unit was ordered off the arms deal investigation, it was clear that there was major political involvement.

 

Problems have arisen that no political leader has been able to solve thus far.  Crime is out of control, the education system is on its knees, the justice system is being abused by those in power and public heath care is in shambles.

 

Can South Africa gain the high ground again?  Can the country become the catalyst for the African revival?  The next five years will be critical to the Rainbow Nation.

 

 

 Getting back onto Civvy Street after spending two years in the South African Defence Force was an exciting time. U2 had just released The Joshua Tree album and everybody was listening to Radio 5 all day long.

Friday nights were spend at the Grand Hotel in Central, Port Elizabeth drinking Castle Lager with the mates who were either finished their compulsory two year stint of national service, were still busy with it and were on pass, or still had to “klaar in”. Everybody used to feel sorry for the guys who still had to start their time in the “mag”.

There were adjustments to be made as well, when the day came to get back to real life and away from the “sam majoors” and getting up at ridiculous hours of the morning to iron your bed and get ready for inspection.

One of the major shocks was that somebody had decided to change the laws of pool. Suddenly for an ex “troepie” being confronted by mates who ask “Are we playing old rules or new rules?” it was like a “huh” moment. There were always beers on the games and down downs rules that applied so one had to sharp when playing pool, especially after a two year lay off. Instinctively a recently released “dienspligteger” choose old rules just to be on the safe side until you could sidle up to your drunkest mate and try hustle out of him just what the new rules were all about.

Watching rugby these days leaves one with the same quandary as the national servicemen of old faced. There are old rules and new rules in rugby. The new rules go by the name the ELV’s, or Experimental Law Variations. The poor rugby players could end up playing different rules every weekend, depending on what competition is being played Refs have tried to apply the bedazzling array of rules at their disposal consistently with little success while spectators are just getting fed up with the tinkering to their beloved game.

It all fell apart with the changes to the ruck and maul, which to be fair, started before the ELV’s came into being. In the old days of national service and army camps, rugby was quite a simple game. If you had the ball and got tackled you tried to stay on your feet. As supporting and defending players joined the skirmish, a maul was formed. The rolling maul was an integral part of the game and it was illegal for defenders to stop the maul by deliberately collapsing it.

Once the maul went to ground it became a ruck. The purpose of the ruck was to go over the ball and players used to bind together to hit the ruck and secure the ball. This thing of clearing out defending players who are nowhere near the ball would have earned a huge snotklap from Kobus Wiese, Balie Swart, Vleis Visage, Schalk Burger and the likes.

And before the sanitization of rugby began, players trying to slow the ball down by falling over it, ran the risk of being rucked. Hands could be stamped upon, bodies could be rolled out the way with the boot if necessary and that’s how rugby was played. Teams that could ruck well secured good, quick ball. That lay behind the success of the great Northern Transvaal teams in the 1970’s and 1980’s and with the abundance of good possession, Naas Botha became a big name in world rugby.

The All Blacks had a fearsome reputation for rucking and the Springboks were never far behind. If you got caught on the wrong side of a ruck, you took your punishment like a man. It was that straightforward. If a player was stupid enough to get rucked by Colin Meads or Frik Du Preez, you could bet your bottom dollar, it wouldn’t happen again in the game to the same player. Should the IRB (International Rugby Board) change the rules again, it might be in the best interest of rugby to bring back what worked. The breakdown is still a mess and we want it fixed. Ummmm…..old rules please bru………

 

Let’s face it, rugby union is a hard game and not played by the faint of heart.  The professional game has had many advantages with rugby becoming a faster game played by bigger and probably more skillful players.

 

Gone are the days when rugby players going to the gym as part of rugby training were unheard of.  They got all the conditioning they needed at practice twice a week and in the pub afterwards, the players believed in those days.  Rob Louw the great South African flank even got dropped for a test match in New Zealand for jolling too much at the pubs.

 

Through the generations however, rugby has had the hard man. This oke would be one of the big forwards and most of them over the years have been locks.  England was at their most dominant when Martin Johnson ran the show from up front.  Johnson took no nonsense and in 2002 was the man who sorted out Springbok captain Corne Krige in the ‘Tangle at Twickenham”.   England went on to win the Rugby World Cup the following year.

 

Kevin De Klerk was a tough man in the heyday of strong Transvaal teams.  There is an old legend in SA rugby folklore that De Klerk would say to an opposition lock that “My ball is my ball…..your ball we can talk about” and woe betide any lightie lock that didn’t get the message.

 

Great teams over the years always seem to have had an enforcer in the mix.  New Zealand has produced Colin Meads, Andy Haden and Mark Shaw who were never afraid to take a step forward.  The 1976 All Black Ian Kirkpatrick fought pitched battles with Moaner Van Heerden, both drawing blood though gaping head wounds in the four test matches that South Africa won 3-1.  There were no blood bins and neither man would have even considered leaving the field.  They were playing rugby and it didn’t get any better than the old rivals sorting each other out.

 

 In the good old days Eastern Province were given the first match when an international team visited South Africa.  The 1980 British Lions faced up to EP at the infamous Boet Erasmus stadium in Port Elizabeth.  There had been many battles of the Boet over the years and EP was a feared and respected outfit who had been given the task to soften the Lions and giving them a traditional South African welcoming.

 

They breed them tough in that neck of the woods.  Schalk Burger was born in Port Elizabeth.  Mark Andrews and Os Du Rand, two of the all time great Springboks come from farming stock and grew up in the hinterlands of the province. Even a few of the Watson brothers were big okes that could take care of themselves.

 

There was a saying in South African rugby that if EP lost the game, they would always win the fight.  And the 1980 EP team had some hard men in its ranks.  Fronted up by Schalk Burger Snr in his prime and backed by his sidekick George Rautenbach the pack was a tough unit.  And in the backline was the suicidal crash tackler Dennis Campher.

 

The Lions went on to win the encounter but the 1980 British Lions injury count started at the Boet when Stuart Lane, the highly rated flanker limped off the field.  Schalk Burger would go on to win Springbok colours and become the enforcer of the Bok pack together with Vleis Visage in the mid 1980’s.

 

The 1995 World Cup winning Boks also had some hard men in the team.  James “Bullet” Dalton was always in opponents faces and he had back up from the likes of the man mountain Kobus Wiese and Hannes Strydom.

 

Mark Andrews became the Bok enforcer after them with guys like Os Du rand and Andre Venter adding the grunt when necessary in the late 1990’s.

 

Then Bakkies Botha came along.  The man is huge at over 2m tall and 116 kg of prime beef .  He already is a legend in SA rugby.  There is a story that Pieter De Villiers told at a dinner in Jeffreys Bay recently about the time Bakkies saw another hard man, AJ Venter lying at the bottom of a ruck.  “AJ come closer”, said Bakkies and when asked why, Bakkies retorted “So that I can moer your properly”.

 

 

Fourie Du Preez when asked about funny moments on a rugby field came up with this one.  ‘The Bulls were playing the Sharks and during the second half, one of the Natal Sharks forwards said to Bakkies that he thought Botha always got substituted at half time so why is he still on the field.  Bakkies replied that he plays the full 80 minutes against the smaller unions only………..

 

John Smit tells of the tense minutes in the changing room before the kickoff.  ‘I look around the changing room and then I see Bakkies.  The sheer size of the man would intimidate anybody.  That when I know everything will be all right on the field.  With Bakkies there, the Boks are going to be ok”.  The team went on to win the 2007 rugby World Cup.

 

During 2009 Super 14 rugby, Botha made his presence felt in every game he played.  When pesky Phil Waugh stole one ball too many and needed to be put into his place, Bakkies helped him right with an elbow.  One of the most classic moments in modern rugby happened right after the incident when Bakkies was caught on camera blowing a kiss to Waugh.  Absolutely classic stuff from the big man of SA rugby.

 

And no, the incident certainly did not deserve a three week suspension.  After all, this is rugby we playing and watching, not netball or tennis or tiddlywinks.

 

Who are the future hard men of the game in South Africa?  Well Duane Vermeulen, Bismark Du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Beast, and Pierre Spies will all be sure to put up their hands…..ummmmmm elbows…….. in time to come.  The future of South African rugby is sound.

 

  

 

 

 

The Obama administration’s foreign policy is about to be defined. Who would have thought that the War in Iraq and Afghanistan would end up dominating the Bush Years? Now Somalia, a lawless country in the Horn of Africa and not far from Barack Obama’s ancestral roots could end having a significant impact on his presidency.

 

America will be out of Iraq by 2011 but already new battlefields are looming. The dramatic sea rescue of Captain Richard Phillips who had been captured by Somalian pirates is going to change and shape United States foreign policy during the Obama tenure.

 

President Obama did not fool around as the situation unfolded and ordered US Special Forces to engage the pirates should the life of Capt Phillips be in imminent danger. It took three exceptional shots from a distance by the Navy Seal snipers, using night vision scopes to kill all thee pirates on the raft without endangering the life of the trussed up Capt Phillips.

 

Earlier another pirate, who had been wounded in the hand when crew took back the hijacked Maersk Alabama, had left the life raft to seek medical attention from the Americans for his wounds. He remains in US custody.

 

Ship owners have been quite happy to pay ransom money to pirates for the safe return of hijacked ships and unharmed sailors in the Gulf of Aden. However, French Special Forces stormed a hijacked French yacht and killed the pirates as well the owner of the yacht in the beginning of April. The assassination of the Somalian pirates by the US Navy has upped the stakes considerably.

 

The Somalians have not taken long to carry out their promise for revenge against the Americans for killing their countrymen. An attempt to kill United States congressman, Donald Payne was made in Mogadishu on Easter Monday when mortars where fired at his airplane.

 

Payne had told reporters he met with Somalia’s president and prime minister during his one-day visit to Mogadishu to discuss piracy, security and cooperation between Somalia and the United States

 

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by al Shabaab, a hard line Islamic insurgent group. Al Shabaab has been fighting in an Iraq style civil war in Somalia since the Islamic Courts Union was thrown out of power by the opposition, backed by Ethiopia in December 2006.

 

By December 2008 al Shabaab has taken hold of south and central Somalia in a two-year insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian military allies.

 

The mortar attack on the US congressman, presumably on behalf of the pirates, is being used by Islamic fighters to entice the United States onto another battlefield.

 

The decision by Barack Obama to use force against the pirates will see retaliation against America, partly from the pirates themselves but also from insurgency forces who will rouse the masses by saying they are defending sovereign soil against the foreign invader.

 

This war will be a bit different to Iraq and Afghanistan as sea warfare will be involved on the Somalian front.

 

“Foreign powers want to divide the country (Somalia] and the pirates are protecting the coast against the enemies of Allah,” Abu Mansur, an al Shabaab spokesman said on Radio Garowe. .

 

Just how far Obama must go down the pirate fighting route is a difficult question. It may be in the interests of America to allow leadership of a multi national force to go the French and to take a bit of a back seat in the War on Piracy.

 

Should ground forces be used to attack pirate lairs along the Somalian coastline, Al Queda aligned fighters from Africa and abroad could flock to Somalia to engage the enemy on a new front.

 

George Bush did not think of the consequences when he invaded a backwater country like Afghanistan and now America finds itself bogged down in a brutal guerilla war that has no end in sight.

 

President Obama must not make the same mistake in Somalia. The only losers should hostilities escalate, will be the people of Somalia who have suffered enough already.

 

Obama has signaled his intention to continue with the new American foreign policy of constructive engagement by sending an envoy to Mogadishu to engage with the Somalian government. An attempt on the life of Donald Payne must not cloud the judgment now.

 

Diplomacy is the answer to the pirate problem along the east coast of Africa. Nobody can fault America or France for looking after their citizens. Somalia must not be allowed to become the next Iraq either.

 

 

 

 

 

http://english.aljazeera.net/
http://www.reuters.com
http://www.garoweonline.com

Well, after a bit of a break it is time to start blogging again. The jolt that the Cheetahs gave the Sharks in their Super 14 rugby clash is probably just what I needed to get off the couch and behind the keyboard.

 The boys from Bloemfontein really took it to the Sharks and were well rewarded for their efforts. So what have been the outstanding moments of the Super 14 so far in 2009?

 

Well, the ELV’s haven’t helped in the slightest at the breakdown. Each week we see different interpretations and to be honest I do not actually even know what the rules are anymore. What the IRB needs to do is to reintroduce rucking at the breakdown.

 

A bit of good, old fashioned mountaineering will soon sort out players falling over the ball, players being on the wrong side of the ruck and players with hands on the ball much quicker than the ELV’s will ever be able to do. Give the ref’s a bit of discretion about what is dangerous rucking and what is “legal rucking”.

 

Then we will see teams like the Bulls get good, quick ball that Wynand Olivier could play with and with deadly finishers like Brian Habana lurking, the Bulls would be difficult to beat.  Imagine Bakkies and Danie Roussouw cleaning out the ruck by going over anybody lying on the wrong side. 

New Zealand rugby has also suffered from the sanitisation of the ruck under the new laws.  Touring teams of the past knew that when touring New Zealand they would be taken out on the ground if preventing the ball from coming out by lying on the All Black side of a ruck. 

The hard men of the game would again take their righful place.  Brad Thorn from the Crudaders, All Black Ali Williams and other big men like Schalk Burger and Juan Smith would flourish under the old rules.

Too many times this past weekend we had to witness cynical play as teams are prepared to sacrifice a free kick to give their defensive lines time to settle.

 

Adam Thomson from the Highlanders impressed as a stealer of the ball who stayed on his feet and competed well. Juan Smith stood out but I wonder what has happened to Schalk Burger this season?  One hardly notices Burger on the field but in fairness the Stormers pack is soft up front, forcing the loose forwards to tighten up.  Maybe Schalk feels “whistle whipped” under the new rules.  It would be interesting to know how many of the yellow cards Schalkie has picked up over his career relate to the breakdown.  Too many, one would imagine. 

 

Jonathan Kaplan had a bit of a shocker in his game over the weekend, but was not helped by his over exhuberent touch judge who made some odd calls. But the Aussie and Kiwi commentators made up for bad refereeing in no small measure.

 

Stu Wilson calls a spade a spade and we really need to hear more from the former All Black winger. From dissing a New Zealander for not having the guts to take a high ball to asking if there is a mould in South Africa that enables us to churn out monster packs, the Kiwi is a class act.

 

Phil Kearns and co also have their moments and are not as bias as the Aussie commentators of the past.

 

Can the Sharks and the Bulls go all the way? Hopefully the Sharks got their wake up call and will march onto the semi finals, while the Bulls just need some consistency to their game.

 

MOMENT OF THE WEEKEND: Bakkies Botha blowing kisses to Phil Waugh after the big man dealt out a bit of medicine……….