The South African men’s hockey team’s road to the Athens Olympic Games has — to put it mildly — been a rocky one. The inability to gain automatic access via the All Africa Games last October was followed closely by the controversial omissions of the experienced Mike Cullen and Justin King.
The defeated Springbok rugby team returned home from their tour down under to a lukewarm reception at Johannesburg International airport on Sunday night. The Boks were greeted by a mere handful of fans in the arrivals hall, despite registering what many had considered ”positive” results over the past three weekends.
A try in the dying seconds by Blue Bulls replacement loose forward Frans van Schouwenburg sealed a thrilling 33-32 win for the Absa Currie Cup champions over the Pumas at Loftus on Friday night. The Bulls led 9-8 at half-time. That late score kept the Bulls’ unbeaten record this season intact — but only just.
The Free State Cheetahs got their Absa Currie Cup campaign off to a perfect start with a comfortable 38-19 win over the Golden Lions at Vodacom Park on Saturday afternoon. The Cheetahs led 21-5 at half-time after dominating all aspects of the game against a disappointing Lions outfit.
Despite a jittery performance the Springboks eventually ran out comfortable 53-18 victors over the touring Welsh in a rugby Test at Loftus in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon. It was not an entirely convincing display ahead of more pressing engagements against New Zealand and Australia in next month’s Tri-Nations series.
Springbok coach Jake White has made two changes to his starting XV for the one-off Test against Wales at the Loftus stadium in Pretoria on Saturday. Coming into the starting line-up are Brent ”Pocket Rocket” Russell in place of the injured Jacque Fourie, while Eddie Andrews drops to the replacements bench to accommodate a fit-again Faan
Rautenbach.
Jake White’s triumphant Springbok squad is set to be bolstered by the return of three fit-again players for the one-off Test against Wales in Pretoria next Saturday. After securing a stunning 2-0 series win over the Irish with an emphatic 26-17 win in the second Test at Newlands on Saturday, White is to reacquire the services of utility forward Joe van Niekerk, centre Jean de Villiers and prop Faan Rautenbach.
Former World Cup-winning Springbok captain Francois Pienaar was on Friday revealed as the chief executive of South Africa’s 2011 Rugby World Cup Bid Committee. Pienaar (37) will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Soccer Bid chief Danny Jordaan, who successfully bid to bring the Soccer World Cup to SA in 2010, and bring the rugby showpiece to these shores for the second time, a year after the football showpiece.
Jake White was officially recognised as the Springbok rugby coach on Wednesday evening when he finally put pen to paper to sign his long-awaited contract. White’s contract has been extended to May 31 2006 and contains a performance clause — the first Bok coach to have such a clause inserted in his contract.
After naming a new-look Springbok team in Bloemfontein on Monday, coach Jake White conceded that Ireland are the favourites heading into the first Test at Vodacom Park on Saturday. ”Ireland must be favourites. They … have a more settled combination and some truly world-class stars,” admitted White at the team hotel.