India tour of South Africa, 3rd Test: South Africa v India at Cape Town, Jan 2-6, 2011
South Africa 361 & 341
India 364 & 166/3 (82 ov)
Match Drawn
India won the toss and elected to field
Australia 280 & 281
England 644
England won by a Innings and 83 runs and wins the Ashes Series 3-1
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here’s a hand, my trusty friend
And gie’s a hand o’ thine
We’ll tak’A cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG3afAIi6IQ&feature=related
Not surprising there are no South African back line players chosen. Continue reading
Some weird, wild and wonderful snippits from 2010:
49 48 47 46 45…. Days to Go
Once again New Zealand have been the all-conquering, supremely dominant force in world rugby yet even a Tri-Nations clean sweep and a European grand slam are viewed as a mere warm-up for the ultimate validation in 2011.
Former Blue Bulls flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter says that the Sharks have the right mix of playing style which will help them in the upcoming Super Rugby season.
The former Free State Cheetah left the Bulls earlier this year to join the Sharks and is fitting in well in Durban and says that the Sharks are similar to the Bulls in their set up.
All Blacks lock Ali Williams has been familiarising himself with his new temporary home in England, the Nottingham Rugby Club.
According to the allblacks.com website, Williams, who is recovering from a second Achilles tendon rupture, is to play up to four games for the side as he attempts his recovery ahead of the Super 15 season in New Zealand.
WP has a new sponsor in the freight company DHL. They have just displayed the 2011 Currie Cup jersey, and it looks like an amateur designed it.
DHL / WP
4 August 1976 – South African Universities 9 / All Blacks 21
Terry McLean in his book “goodbye to glory” starts his piece on this match with the following paragraph:
June 25. Jan Smuts Airport. All Blacks arrive. Big crowd. Much cheering (but crowd neither as big nor cheering as loud as it used to be). Danie Craven. Jannie le Roux. Handshaking. “Welcome. Glad you could make it boys. Season wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
Craven again. “South African Rugby is much better than it was when the Lions were here two years ago. You will see. Much, much better. The new Currie Cup competition has stirred everything up. You will see. We will be waiting for you. And don’t forget – there are five tests. Ja, man, five. South African Universities. A great team. You will find them very hard.” Continue reading
The fixtures for the fourth-ever FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International have been announced; with the 2011 tournament kicking-off in Bloemfontein in February when Shimlas play host to UCT in a repeat of one of last season’s semifinals.
2nd Test: South Africa vs India
India 205 & 228
South Africa 131 & 215
India wins the Test by 87 runs
It is Christmas Eve, time for the usual… the Christmas message from the Main Monster, the Big Induna who Smiles…
Former All Black Doug Howlett was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly at the Munster Christmas party in the Irish city of Kilkenny.
Danré Gerber, son of the great Springbok centre Danie Gerber, is off to ambitious Bayonne as a ‘medical joker’ – a replacement allowed in a Top 14 squad, in France, in the case of injury.
Fewer home Tests, a shortened Tri-Nations and no end of year tours in a Rugby World Cup year means that the three big Southern Hemisphere powers will as a consequence earn less money in 2011.
James broke back into the Springbok squad last season but was injured playing for them in the TriNations.
Now that he is back in the fold for South Africa he stands a chance of playing in the Rugby world cup next year.
Cardiff Blues eighthman Xavier Rush has beeen suspended for one week for a dangerous tackle on Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes.
During the Durban Test, a photo exhibition will be on display to mark 150 years of Indians in South Africa. It is a wonderful look at a history that began when the Truro, a British ship, arrived with 339 indentured migrants from Madras (as the city of Chennai was then known) on November 16, 1860.
31 July 1976 – Transvaal 10 / All Blacks 12
In the end it was the five crocks which cost Transvaal the match. Transvaal started the match with five players not fully fit and that contributed to 1) running out of puff in the last 5 minutes 2) losing a vital line-out in the last minute and 3) Bosch –one of the crocks- botching it up by missing a penalty kick in the last minute. Continue reading
Have a look at these two video clips. It is the highlights of the Australian backline players. If you look at them you will find that there are mostly backs in the back line.
Firm favourites they will probably be to win the second Test against India from Boxing Day, but the Proteas need to break a recent Kingsmead mini-hoodoo if they are to clinch the three-match series ahead of schedule.
28 July 1976 – Western Transvaal 3 / All Blacks 42
Oliën Park, Potchefstroom.
Fine, cool, light north-east breeze.
Crowd: 24 000.
Referee: Mike Kessel (Natal). Continue reading
It took South Africa years of humiliation to become a title contenders in Super Rugby.
During those dark days, New Zealanders and Australians even suggested South African teams should be kicked out of the Super 12 because its teams couldn’t cut it at that level.
There were some hard words spoken in the Sharks rugby camp after their defeat in the first Currie Cup match of the season against Griquas in Kimberley.
Statistics are like a lamppost to a drunk man. It does not serve to illuminate but rather, to keep him upright. Continue reading
Springbok captain John Smit has been given the all clear to return to the playing field and has already been training for a month.
The Lions and Sharks have both upped the ante as the tug-of-war for the services of iconic Springbok prop Tendai Mtawarira drags on into the festive season.
Richie McCaw looks unlikely to join the expected exodus of top New Zealand players to cash-flush European clubs after next year’s World Cup on home soil.
Speaking to the Sunday Star Times, McCaw revealed that he is in talks with the New Zealand Rugby Union about extending his contract beyond 2011.
On a weekend when even the English Premiership’s headline fixture between Chelsea v Manchester United was postponed due to arctic conditions, it was perhaps no surprise that two Heineken Cup Round Four fixtures also fell victim to the incredibly cold weather.
The widespread adverse weather that has swept across Europe in recent days has played havoc with all sporting events and rugby union has suffered with the rest.
Frozen pitches, heavy snow storms and travel difficulties – for both club squads and their equipment – have all played significant parts in four ERC matches having to be rescheduled.
South Africa have been drawn against Fiji, France and Canada in the third leg of the 2010/11 IRB World Sevens Series in Wellington, New Zealand, in February, the International Rugby Board announced on Friday.
South Africa vs India
India 136 & 459 all out
South Africa 620/4d
South Africa win by an innings and 25 runs.
Australia vs England
Australia 268 & 309
England 187 & 123
Australia won by 267 runs, Ashes series level 1-1 Continue reading
Some people are reluctant to call him the best Cricketer ever. Others swear he has no equals and is by far the best. The fact is Sachin Tendulkar is on every Cricket lovers lips now, for what he did in the last 20 years.
In my previous post I’ve stated that I came to the conclusion that the Springboks are not that far of the pace. In that post I’ve argued that the primary reason why the wheels came off in 2010 is because they’ve lost the plot psychologically.
I also said that some curative work needs to be done in three main areas but after pondering a bit about it I realized there is a bit more to it. So here is what I think need to receive attention in the Springbok team. Continue reading