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/ 9 February 2007
The conservative nature of the opening round of fixtures in the Super 14 suggests that we are in for a fascinating tournament. Not one bonus point for four tries was recorded in the seven games, but there were two for defeated sides finishing within a converted try of the winners.
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/ 12 January 2007
While the transfer market is in full swing and some big names are already in action on the field in this preposterously crowded season, there is no doubt that the most important news item of the new year is the appointment by the South African Rugby Union of an MD.
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/ 1 December 2006
Within the space of a few hours on Wednesday England coach Andy Robinson resigned, Springbok coach Jake White survived a vote of no confidence and Chiliboy Ralepelle became both the youngest (20) and the first black captain of the South African national side. It might be said that all three men are in invidious positions.
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/ 1 December 2006
Wise heads have prevailed and the edict that says ”if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” has been applied. This time last year the obituary writers were dusting down their eulogies for the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, the corporate bean feast that morphed out of the ”Million Dollar”.
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/ 17 November 2006
Jake White should have savoured the past six days. When he looks back on his career as Springbok coach it may turn out to have been the only time when the opposition coach was under more pressure than he. It is a nice irony, too, that White has spent the last week in the Georgian City of Bath, where England coach Andy Robinson once played his rugby.
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/ 10 November 2006
Two years ago Jake White’s Springboks arrived in Dublin as the holders of the Tri-Nations Trophy. They were in the second week of the so-called ”Grand Slam Tour” having narrowly beaten Wales at the Millennium stadium a week previously. The result may have favoured the Boks more had White not believed the stadium clock that read two minutes to go.
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/ 27 October 2006
It might seem that the politicians are dominating the headlines, but it’s an illusion created by the fact that the rugby season is over and the Springboks don’t play Ireland for another fortnight. The regular battleground of the Eastern Cape is hogging the domestic limelight, but over in the Antipodes even more Machiavellian forces are at work.
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/ 13 October 2006
Bloemfontein was in an odd mood last Sunday morning. On one side of town, rooftop parties were celebrating the Macufe soccer festival and the green and white colours of Bloemfontein Celtic were in evidence. Elsewhere, it was eerily quiet as the locals began to come to terms with the fact that the Cheetahs had qualified for a home final for the first time in 12 years.
Over the past 10 years there have been times when it seemed the Currie Cup was about to die. No one cared about the oldest provincial rugby competition in the world because it was at the wrong end of the season and either through injury or exclusion clauses it tended not to feature the best players in the country.
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/ 29 September 2006
The last round of the Currie Cup is upon us and the usual conundrums are in play. Forget the battle for home advantage in the semifinals and consider the overriding tussle for how our oldest competition should be played. For once again, despite the fact that this has been a vintage year, no one yet knows what format the 2007 competition will conform to.