Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2021 i SA RUGBY

The wait is nearly over. The British & Irish Lions squad – led by Alun Wyn Jones and Warren Gatland – will soon touch down in South Africa. For a Springbok side that has been out of action since the 2019 World Cup, it doesn’t get any bigger or better than this. In the cover feature for this issue, we caught up with Faf de Klerk, who we believe will play an integral role in this all-important series. The dynamic scrumhalf has banked a meaningful amount of game time for the Sale Sharks in England, but reveals how excited he is to return to South Africa after more than a year in the UK, and he assesses what it will take for the Boks to beat the Lions. Of course,…

‘THEY’LL WEAR THEIR CLUB SOCKS ONCE A WEEK AT TRAINING, THEY’LL WEAR THEIR CLUB KIT ONCE A MONTH. THEY’LL BE EXPECTED TO GET TO THEIR CLUB AT LEAST ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK, MAYBE TUESDAY TO WATCH TRAINING OR THURSDAY TO HELP OUT’– Jake Whitt on how he’s looking to integrate his Bulls players into the club rugby set-up. 11 The number of Bulls players released to make their Carlton League debut on 8 May ‘THE OLD FORMAT WAS BETTER. I MISS TOURING. IT WAS THE TIME YOU REALLY GOT TIGHT AS A TEAM. PLUS IT’S MOT MUCH FUN BASHING YOUR MATES UP EVERY WEEK’– Aaron Smith on why he preferred the old format of Super Rugby ‘He’s not got any smaller that’s for sure. He looks fit, looks big, looks scary!’–…

STEFAN TERBLANCHE ‘A tee-riffic start to the weekend!’ joked the ex-Springbok wing, who enjoyed a day on the golf course with former Sharks teammate Steven Sykes and Bok legend Moaner van Heerden. LIONEL CRONJE ‘If our golf balls could talk,’ smiled the Toyota Verblitz fly half with teammates Kieran Read, Willie le Roux and Jason Jenkins. EDWILL VAN DER MERWE ‘Early mornings, late nights. Missed classes, missed trainings and endless sacrifices. Thankful for it all,’ said the Stormers and former Maties wing, after celebrating his graduation with Dr Danie Craven in Stellenbosch. COBUS REINACH ‘Aaaaand he’s back!’ exclaimed the Springbok and Montpellier scrumhalf after teammate Handre Pollard made his return from a long-term knee injury. SIYA KOLISI ‘Morning made! Legend!’ cheered the Springbok captain after meeting up with former Sharks…

The Springboks went into the 2009 season with a good mix of World Cup winners and exciting youngsters. After producing an influential performance for the Cheetahs against the British & Irish Lions, flank Heinrich Brussow was called up to replace the injured Schalk Burger before the first Test in Durban. Meanwhile, Lions coach Ian McGeechan made several interesting selections up front. At the time, Bok forwards coach Gary Gold felt the tourists had made a mistake. ‘I had coached in the UK before the Lions series, so Bok coach Peter de Villiers asked me for my predictions regarding the Lions selections,’ Gold recalls. ‘I was convinced that Andrew Sheridan, Matthew Rees and Adam Jones would start in the front row. I made sure we prepared our guys for that specific…

BACKS (16) Josh Adams (Cardiff Blues, Wales) – Wing Bundee Aki (Connacht, Ireland) – Centre Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, Vitales) – Flyhalf Elliot Daly (Saracens, England) – Centre Gareth Davies (Scarlets, Vitales) – Scrumhalf Owen Farrell (Saracens, England) – Flyhalf Chris Harris (Gloucester, Scotland) – Centre Robbie Henshaw (Leinster, Ireland) – Centre Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, Scotland) – Fullback Conor Murray (Munster, Ireland) – Scrumhalf Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, Scotland) – Scrumhalf Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester, Wales) – Wing Finn Russell (Racing 92, Scotland) – Flyhalf Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh, Scotland) -Wing Anthony Watson (Bath, England) – Wing Liam Williams (Scarlets, Wales) – Fullback FORWARDS (21) Tadhg Beirne (Munster, Ireland) – Second row Jack Conan (Leinster, Ireland) – Back row Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, England) – Hooker Tom Curry (Sale…

The first time SA wore the myrtle green shirts they wear today was during the last Test against the Lions in 1896. Desperate to avoid a 4-0 whitewash In their white shirts, having lost the first three Tests, captain for the day Barry ‘Fairy’ Heatlie decided a break with tradition was needed. The only alternative kit available was that of the defunct old boys’ dub of his school, Diocesan College (Bishops) In Cape Town. Playing in the all-new green, SA won the Test 5-0. But the move was only temporary and the Boks were back In white for the first two Tests of the 1903 tour. Heat lie’s WP were the host province for the third international and he again chose to play in myrtle. The Boks won 8-0, a…

There are a number of ways to interpret the Bulls’ ‘back to the future’ innovation of having its players have an active affiliation with their clubs. For years the understanding has been that for a player to sign with a provincial union he had to represent a club in the same region, but as relationships go it was a pretty long distance one as there was almost no contact between the player and ‘his club’. The Bulls – who along with the Sharks have upped the local franchises’ content game via their social media presence – have decided to make that association meaningful again, recently seconding some of their peripheral squad members (for want of a better word) to represent their clubs. Always big on the bells and whistles these…

The captain’s challenge – a new law variation that is being trialled – will only lead to a fairer and better game. I believe it’s been a great addition to tournaments like Super Rugby Aotearoa and the Rainbow Cup. I look back to a few of the big games staged over the course of my own career – games that were swung or decided by one or two controversial decisions. I often wonder how those matches might have panned out if we had the power to challenge an official’s call. In April World Rugby approved the introduction of three new innovative law variations in South Africa. The law trials – red-card replacements, the captain’s challenge and goalline drop-outs – are geared towards more positive play and enhanced decision-making outcomes. Some…

The Heineken Cup (now known as the Champions Cup) is often referred to as the ‘Super Rugby’ competition of the northern hemisphere, and arguably the toughest rugby competition in the world to win, for reasons I will share with you. After the 2003 World Cup in Australia – a tough Kamp Staaldraad in the buildup to the tournament and a quarter-final exit at the hands of the All Blacks in Melbourne – it was time for me to head overseas after five years at the Sharks and as many with the Boks. My newly adopted team for the next four years would be the new regional Welsh team, the Ospreys, based out of Swansea and Neath. Not only did they play in the Celtic League, which is now the Prol6,…

In the opening round of the Rainbow Cup, Damian de Allende produced a Man of the Match performance for Irish club Munster. A week later Handre Pollard returned to action for Montpellier. That same weekend, Pieter-Steph du Toit made his long-awaited comeback from a career-threatening injury layoff, with the loose forward completing an 80-minute performance for the Stormers. Around the same time, Cheslin Kolbe inspired Toulouse to another Champions Cup final. With all this in mind, you could have forgiven Springbok head honchos Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus if they quietly had a little moment to thank the rugby gods. They are sure to be feeling a lot more reassured than a few months ago – when most of their key players were either sidelined with injuries or had barely…

CRAIG LEWIS SAYS YES The decision on who would captain the British & Irish Lions always looked likely to be a three-way race between Alun Wyn Jones, Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell. In the end, I am not the least bit surprised that Jones cracked the nod. Forget his age; he is only 35 years old (Victor Matfield was 38 at the 2015 World Cup), and in this year’s Six Nations Jones proved he is not lacking any motivation or impact as a player. As a leader, there are very few other captains who are so highly regarded in world rugby. Factor in his long-standing relationship with Warren Gatland and his experience of what it takes to tour with and captain the Lions, and it increasingly becomes a no-brainer. Then…

CHALLENGING TIMES The first round of the Rainbow Cup SA had no shortage of talking points. No fewer than three Bulls tries were disallowed after Lions captain Dan Kriel called a captain’s challenge under the new laws for the tournament. Looking on, former Springbok captain John Smit slyly tweeted: ‘I would have loved this Captain’s Challenge’. Smit had an unfortunate history of being on the receiving end of some refereeing howlers, but after being goaded into elaborating by his former teammate Brad Barritt, he eventually said what all Bok fans were thinking: ‘Bryce’. Of course, this was in reference to referee Bryce Lawrence, who had a nightmare performance in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final. THE SUPERMOON One of the talking points in Europe in April was the emergence of a…

Alun Wyn Jones launches himself into the air. The Principality Stadium clock has ticked beyond 80 minutes and the match is won. A late try wouldn’t even give England a losing bonus point, such is Wales’ advantage at 40-24. Yet still there is that determination, that focus, from Jones to win the restart, to secure possession so that his side can close out the victory on their terms. He rises higher than Maro Itoje and gets both hands on the ball. Game over. It’s a moment from the Six Nations that epitomises Jones, as are his three tackles in 30 seconds in the 78th minute of the crazy Test in Paris that ultimately ended hopes of another Grand Slam. Relentless, consistent, driven... these are all words that have been used…

The Sharks are involving legendary former players Dick Muir. JP Pietersen and Lwazi Mvovo in coaching so the culture of the Sharks flows all the way from the senior team to the junior and Academy players, says CEO Ed Coetzee. ‘When we brought JP back from Toulon two years ago, we signed him as a player/future coach – he is now in year three of a four-year contract. I believe he can be a future Bok coach; he is a very experienced rugby man and knows the game really well. For him to plug into the juniors and learn from the likes of Dick, Sean Everitt and Brent Janse van Rensburg will really help him a lot. ‘Lwazi only recently decided he wanted to Join the coaching ranks, which Is…

Following in the footsteps of Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Aotearoa, - the European and SA Rainbow Cup competitions have implemented new law trials in their 2021 tournaments. The one generating the most debate is the red-card replacement law, which allows teams to replace a red-carded player after 20 minutes. Having seen the law trial in action and fully considering the benefits and drawbacks, I don’t think it will have a positive impact on the game, especially in terms of making it safer. The major issue is that allowing a team to bring on a replacement for a red-carded player lessens the impact of the punishment and deterrent for foul play. Granted, there is the ‘fair contest view that it keeps games at 15 vs 15 (unless the player…

Dan Carter knew it was time. But that moment of clarity did not come in the sheds after helping his Southbridge to the Ellesmere premier club title last September. That turned out to be his last game of rugby, but he didn’t know it was time just then to call it quits on one of the most storied careers rugby has seen. No, that came later, but he still enjoyed an ‘amazing moment’ to close out his sixth senior game for his childhood club, where he and his father Nev are life members; for Carter junior, it was not so much for his on-field contribution but for the enormous amount of memorabilia he has donated, which is housed in pride of place at the rural club. ‘Even then I didn’t…

1. TENDAI MTAWARIRA An excellent Springbok and extremely versatile and mobile loosehead. Just as humble and hardworking off the pitch as on it. 2. BISMARCK DU PLESSIS An easy choice, powerful and aggressive. Carried and dominated collisions and in the scrum. Also threw beautifully at lineout. 3. CENSUS JOHNSTON The man mountain, all raw power and athleticism. Great scrummaging tighthead and a strong ball-carrier 4. PAUL WILLEMSE Another big man, all power and athletic ability. Great work rate and I can’t ever remember seeing him lose a contact situation. 5. ANDRIES BEKKER So much talent and athletic ability. Could run like the wind and steal lineouts at will. 6. GEORGE SMITH There wasn’t anything Georgie couldn’t do. Great to have in your side and a nightmare to play against. (Honourable…