North should learn from south

Its very very annoying when in sport someone claims to be better than the other but that person can rarely prove to be better than you or at least come close to beating you. That's it I am done with the big debate on North vs South, I am so tired of listening to theses people from Dublin and the odd Englishman telling me how lucky the Springboks were to beat the lions and that they beat us convincingly in the third test.

I mean really now, the other day some guy over heard me and my mates talking about general rugby and so forth  at a pub, so he then came over and said to me that if it was not for the incident of Burger in the first minute of that second test they would have gone on and won not only that test but the series as well, hearing this kind of bullocks had me a bit annoyed and very perturbed, for the fact that this guy was so narrow minded and did not actually mean that, so i asked if he was serious about that and he replied  hell yeah I am, my response to this I think made him open his eyes a little bit because over here in the North if the media says A the world should agree and its people over here go by what ever Greenwood (sky rugby analyst) or Stuart Barnes (sky rugby expert} says, well I am from the south and I dont sorry.

If the B@I Lions were really good enough to beat us then they would have, in sport if you win by two points its a win nevertheless, or would they have needed the springboks to play with a almost second string team as was the case in the third test in all the matches to be able to beat them. The sprinboks did not evan play well or at the potential best and they still beat them, lets say the springboks were playing with the current form that they have against the lions would it still be the same if we would beat them comfortably, or would they now actually make an estimate to how far the rugby up north has gone by judging their poor form to the springboks winning in New Zealand.

Knowing them yes they actually would make an argument on that, by saying that they alomost beat the springboks and now the springboks beat the Kiwis in Kiwiland so i guess we are almost just as good as the guys in the South Just a little more attitude for Cipriani so he can become better than Giteau or Steyn, more flare for Monye so that he can run around Habana and dont forget the handling skills we need to send him to a handling skills centre for the rugby players with handling skills problem, and maybe next time we shall walk the walk and not the talk by saying Victor Matfield will be bossed around, no one in world rugby has achieved that accolade as yet and hey lets not turn our heads away from Matfield and friends bossing the Tri Nation as recently seen.

I just wish that the North could for once stop this whole debate on how much better they are in terms of the rugby they play and the great rugby they produce and that they are the world leaders in rugby as far as development is concerned. Money is not the issue for them they have the financial systems in place to support them immensely, they just dont have the rugby brain that we have in the South.

The Guiness premiership with all its Southern Hemisphere players would not be so attractive without these players, just think about it 35% of the players in this league is overseas Based born and bread players. English rugby is the same as English football, all the money but no brains.

Cant wait for the end of year tour, we shall then really see how far the north have gone with all the talking

Rugby Round up

I must admit that its been a very interesting end to the Tri nations and a much more interesting boost to the currie cup this weekend, With all the springboks lurking back to play for their local clubs is seems like the battle for semi final spots are going to get closer and more nail bitting than in the past few seasons. Besides the Boks being back playing for there local clubs its the battles that some of these matches are going to produce and have produced this past weekend.

Australia did not make life easy for coach Deans and surely have got alot to answere to the big boys, I feel for them because not only do they have a brilliant coach but they have a good affective game plan that works if they apply it and if they work hard on getting the small things right and doing the basics first, and not to mention getting rid of  their we are the best no matter what attitude.  On the other hand after New Zealand's close loss to South Africa  last weekend we could have expected them to give the awful at times wallabies a drubbing to remember, but despite the ups and downs this Tri Nations was surely one to remember not only for the boks who came away with the silverware at the end but for the way in which the Boks applied themselves to the challenges it faced. Its as if from the word go the Boks had the faith and belief that they will win the Tri Nations, i take my hat of to the management of this team on a job well done and getting the small things right.

Not only have we proved the rugby world that we are most definitely a force to be reckoned with  but that we are serious about our rugby in terms of the pride we carry for the Bok jersey and that if we do get things right over the next year or two that we will be serious contenders for a world cup in New Zealand, so to all them Irb bosses who are closely watching South African rugby all i can say is watch the space...

Lets just Hope the Irish are ready for what is  coming their way...and I hope Mr O'gara will be playing , who could forget the way they cheated themselves to victory the last time the Boks played at Landsdown Road, and best of all ill 

The future is bright

A bright future is surely very clear after only two of the current springbok team members will be leaving to further their careers in the Northern Hemisphere, as this is good news for the boks because not only does the core group of forwards that dominated the tri nations stay to represent the boks at the end of the year but they also get to compete in our local competion for a while and will definately be running the tri nation fields next season.

Is it because peter de villiers is a good coach? or is it because the players just love representing there conutry, i mean considering the financial situation in south africa at the moment i would not have been surprised if the bulk of the squad had taken the latter option of making big money before the world cup.

Most of these guys would easily secure big maney making contracts from the likes of the french top 14 clubs and the clubs represented in the Guiness Premiership.

Peter De Villiers has done very well in keeping all the players in south africa, one thng i can garantee is that Peter De Villiers will be tweaking his policy as for the players that are based abroad, I mean with the way Francois Styen hanialated those penalties this weekned i dont see any coach not finding a way to keep him in any set up. Jean De Villiers on the other hand is just pure class and for a guy like him not to be involved in the springbok setup again will be a major loss to the Boks. At the end of the day he is in a league alongside guys like Brian O'Drisscol, Tana Omaga, Just to name a few so why would you keep a player of this calibre out of your team just because he plays his rugby in a new country.

So overall everything seems to be on a positive trail for South African rugby atleatst for the next season. Let hope that Peter De Villiers will start using his head and not his heart with regards to out two inform backline players

David and golliath

Is the air new zealand cup better than the currie cup or what.....just a question as i have read alot about this specific topic over the past few weeks....on the south african websites most of the saffas believe that the currie cup is not as entertaining as the npc or the air new zealand cup but that the currie cup offers much more in terms of crowd attendances match day entertainment such as the dancers ect.

Well from my point of view i dont really follow the npc or anzc but from what i have seen so far this year i am well impressed and inclined to state that the new zealand leagues are producing much better rugby in terms of excitment and good running rugby.

The formats of the leagues is a very strong point we should take a view at. The currie cup has two divisions A & B and they work on a promotion demotion process every year, now i am very worried about this as the smaller unions do not really get exposed to the high level of compettion in the A devision and for rugby to grow and develope to a point where we can clearly sa that the new zealand leagues are ahead of us in terms of the quality of rugby is quite worrying

I would like to make a point of the standings in the new zealand cup at the moment, Tasmin, Bay of Plenty and Southland are right on top of the league at the moment sharing 2ND 3RD and 4TH and yet they are not known to us that dont know much about the nz rugby leagues as the big boys like Auckland,Waikato,Otago,and Wellington but they are competing at this high level amongst the big boys very well....Well done to the nz administrators because i believe that in a way not only does this give the smaller unions exposure to the highest level of rugby in nz but it breeds the younger players coming through the systems and helps them get the relevant exposure needed to becaome the next Dan Carter or the next Tana Omaga.

I think that SA rugby administrators should start thinking outside the box, start investing more into the smaller unions giving them the financial backing to buy big names to help them compete in the big leagues. I mean I am currently playing rugby in Ireland and over here Ulster and Connaught get loads of money every year from the irfu, more than what leinster and munster are given...and its all in the best interests of the unions and its players. The greater picture is what matters at the end of the day not how many time the Sharks or the Bulls can lift the currie cup

But on the one side what i do love about sa rugby is the development with all the plating provinces, i mean how big does it get when you are 17 years old playing our first televised game in the colours of your province in craven week, cant we just do the same in the professinal leagues and have all provinces playing each other and exposing the weaker unions to a grwater level of rugby, because i truly believe that if you are weak team playing against strong opposition week in and week out it only helps the cuase because you will do whatever it take to to get better and it only puts you in a position to get better

So yes admidtingly the NZ leagues are better in terms of the rugby being played as well as the brand of rugby new zealand are trying to promote. This is just my view of things let me know what you think.