Will the Springboks still be the world champions or will the steady decline predicted after the break-up of John Smit’s 2007 World Cup winners have left South Africa among the also-rans?Â
Dan Retief, SuperRugbyÂ
Will there still be room for Lions tours or would the avaricious ambitions of the money men have assured the total control of every waking moment of every top player and made international competition obsolete?
By then, with the help of all kinds of medical aids and magical anti-inflammatories, I’ll hopefully be in my 70th year and probably not even be sitting in front of a keyboard.
Who knows I may even be hooked up to some little cellular gizmo by pods attached to the temples and the machine will interpret what it is I want to say and send a perfect piece of spell-checked copy to a million news sites contained within people’s wrist-watches!
One would probably have to get a quote or two from those who were there. John Smit, South Africa’s greatest captain, will be hard to get hold of on his game estate in Zumaland and loath to break the media silence he imposed on himself when he finally escaped from the fish bowl of Springbok rugby.
Peter de Villiers, looking for all the world like a grumpy old walrus with his snow-white moustache sitting on the stoep of his wine farm in Paarl, will let it be known that he doesn’t read the news media but nevertheless provide a quote along the lines of his having been a prophet without honour, other than among his own people, but that he knew his Springbok blazer was made of good material and that it fitted him well.
Ian McGeechan will decline to be quoted until his appointment to go on his 10th Lions tour as Head Coach had been officially confirmed!
Pardon my musings. What started out as a reflection on the Lions tour was diverted by the online discovery that the IRB is to charge SA Rugby or the Springboks, or both, with misconduct because the players wore white armbands to signal their dissatisfaction with a ludicrous banning handed down to Bakkies Botha in the build-up to the final test against the Lions.
Instant irritation
My irritation was instant. Week in and week out the players are subjected to odd and inconsistent refereeing, week in and week out they are forced to accept contradictory punishments from the so-called judiciary that affect their person and income.
Some of the incongruities visited upon the players are often absurdly unfair and incorrect but are these officials, match or otherwise, ever called to book? Are they ever even questioned about their role in bringing the game into disrepute?
Yet when the players, in their frustration, resort to a silent protest the IRB raises itself to action.
Out of touch
It speaks of an organisation out of touch with the needs of the players and those who support the game and it led me to wonder whether in 12 years time, when the next Lions are due in South Africa, the structure of the game will still be as we know it today.
And, having got that off my chest, here are some of my thoughts on the Lions tour:
Springbok player of the series: Morné Steyn; a close call over the only real find Heinrich Brüssow. The way history works Steyn will be immortalised for the 53.7 metre kick at Loftus that won the second yest and with it the series.
Lions player of the series: For me it was Brian O’Driscoll. I had always thought the Irish centre to be overrated but he rose above being stripped of the captaincy to be the Lions’ talisman; displaying an array of skills and the determination to fire up those alongside him. After him, in order, were Mike Phillips, Jamie Roberts, Stephen Jones, Tom Croft (who was not in the original party!) and Simon Shaw – when he was finally picked.
Selection dementia: Both sides suffered from it. The Boks nearly lost the first test by prematurely rushing on a raft of substitutes; needlessly tampered with the starting XV for the second test and again got their substitutions wrong; and gave away the third (Springbok coaches have been fired for less) by making too many changes and unnecessarily exposing inexperienced players.
Ian McGeechan also faltered. He should have picked Andrew Sheridan from the start to try to expose the Boks’ scrum experimentation; Martyn Williams to counter South Africa on the ball; Simon Shaw to provide grunt and believed that Shane Williams’s star quality would come to the fore on the big stage.
Newsmaker of the Tour: Peter de Villiers by a mile. Seldom in the annals of rugby tours have so many Pressmen owed so much to just one man.
Match of the Tour: The second test at Loftus Versfeld. In time Schalk Burger’s aberration will be forgotten, or perhaps the moment will add to it, but the match will go down as an all-time epic.
Reality check of the Tour: For Cheeky Watson and the Southern Kings. It’s one thing to demand a team in the Super 14 but quite another to field one – thus the Kings consisted of a good number of out-of-contract has-beens; a smattering of loan players and alarmingly few genuine Eastern Cape boys.
Disappointment of the Tour: The failure to draw a single sell-out crowd to any one of the ten matches. A bloke walking around a function on the Friday night before the last Test rifling a pack of tickets at R400.00 a pop said it all – SA Rugby got it wrong, the tickets were too expensive. (Remember when Nick Mallett was fired for saying that?)
Best feature of the tour: The travelling “Larney Army.� What a great bunch the Lions’ fans were; colourfully dressed, in good spirits (in more ways than one!), unfailingly good humoured and sporting and plastering the place with pounds! The red blotches in all the stadiums said only one thing – Lions tours have to be preserved.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Newsmaker of the Tour:
Peter de Villiers by a mile. Seldom in the annals of rugby tours have so many Pressmen owed so much to just one man.
==========
This has a Chruchillian sound
to it, yes?
Makes a few very good points.
July 8th, 2009 at 7:54 am
I just don’t get the opening line though.
I thought this would be a piece examining if we will again go through a slump once the senior pro’s of this team retires.
So on that subject, I believe yes.
So many on this site has discussed the failings in structures and continuity in SA rugby, and of course the fact that coaches and administrators work against one another rather than with one another.
As always, a coach will be fired under some dubious or aggrevated circumstances leaving the Bok team in tatters and some other guy will have to come along and start rebuilding again.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:16 am
JUST FOR BRAND:
Here’s a question for budding sporting buffs in South Africa. Os du Randt aside, which other South African has tasted success at two Rugby World Cup tournaments?
Okay, here’s a clue; firstly, she’s a she – and not a he – and, secondly, she is the only person in the world to have claimed back-to-back RWC titles… Her name, of course, is Sherylle Calder, herself a former sporting international – but, currently, a worldwide pioneer in the game of ‘eye coaching’.
“Eye coaching?” you might be half-saying aloud. Yes, eye coaching…
“In simple, simple terms,” explains Calder, “I am a fitness trainer for the eyes.
“Remember, your eyes are also a muscle and they also need regular training in order to get stronger and better. At the same time, however, whilst I am a fitness trainer for the eyes, it’s not the eyes alone; but also the brain and your motor responses that thereby require work.
“So, what you see, and how you process that and then respond – that is what we work on and it involves everything you do on the field; from skills right through to decision-making.”
The common mistake that people make, according to Calder, is to compare her to an optometrist, but she adds: “There is visual therapy (done by optometrists), but that is not what I do. I am not an optom, I’m a sports scientist because I believe, irrespective of your eye-sight, I can improve your skills
“As a child, I always challenged myself to see the bigger picture… to me it was normal and I always presumed that all kids were like that!
“When I played hockey for South Africa, I wasn’t happy just staying here and playing against the same opposition all the time, so in the off-seasons (during isolation) I went overseas five times to play there.
“People always used to say to me, ‘Have you got eyes in the back of your head?’. I just presumed everyone saw what I could see, but then I realised that it wasn’t like that and I had something different.
“I stopped playing international hockey in 1996 to pursue what was inside me, and which I thought was special, as I wanted to find out why.
“Of course, in no work can you go out there and train with top sportsmen without researching it properly, or at least that’s what I believe,” explains Sherylle. “If it was research-based and it worked for me, then I knew, if applied correctly for other people, it would work too. I just started writing up what was in my head and put it into a research project and then proved it.”
Well, she has more than just “proved it”.
Calder – who played over 50 hockey internationals for South Africa – has achieved a lot of her success in the rugby world, in particular, and South Africans will no doubt recognise her from watching the Springboks at the 2007 World Cup.
“So many things break down in a rugby match because of bad skills,” she says. “Unfortunately, you don’t have enough time in rugby to train enough skills, so the best way to deal with this is to train your eyes.”
Of course, being part of the Bok World Cup triumph in France in 2007 was Sherylle’s second taste of World Cup glory; her first RWC ‘triumph’ having come in 2003 when she was part of Clive Woodward’s England squad.
“I’ve been called a lot of things,” she says with a grin when asked about working for one of SA’s biggest sporting rivals. “But if I cared about what people said or thought I’d be nowhere right now.”
But how did Sherylle find her way into the ‘enemy’s – England’s – camp’?
“It’s quite funny really,” she explains. “Clive (Woodward) had actually heard about me because of the work I had done with the All Blacks.
“He asked me to go over to England for a week and to give some presentations. I flew over on the Sunday night, I did a presentation to the 30-odd players and the management team on the Monday morning and I did some work with the backline in the afternoon.
“That evening,” she continues, “Clive came to me and told me to go back to SA and to pack my bag properly – they wanted me to work for them!”
Her time with England and the Springboks aside, the rest of Sherylle’s CV reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of world sport.
She worked with Australia’s 2003 Cricket World Cup squad, as well as the Pakistani cricket team before that. She is in Canada this week where she is working with an ice-hockey team, whilst she also consults for an Aussie Rules team, as well as having worked with Team Prada in the America’s Cup and also cricket umpires Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden.
“To be absolutely honest, I’ve lost count of all the teams and people I have worked with – I’d have to check my computer to remember everyone,” she says modestly, although her office wall is a timely reminder; with pictures of World Cup trophies, Jake White, Bowden, the SA Davis Cup tennis team – to name just a few – hard to ignore.
“I’m a South African and a proud one at that, and my heart will always be here, but I’ve been travelling abroad since my hockey days and I think part of my success has been from learning from experience, a lot of which I have picked up from playing sport and working abroad. I always want to learn and my eyes see a lot, too.
“A large part of what I do is not just about vision but also the experience of working with elite teams – it’s about experience, many of which I’ve picked up through all my years of work and travel.”
Calder is a qualified Sports Scientist and her journey began many years ago in Bloemfontein – where she was born, schooled and first attended university – to Stellenbosch (post-grad) and, finally, to the University of Cape Town where she obtained her PhD.
“I came into contact with Tim Noakes at UCT,” she reveals, “and I did my PhD under him.
“Tim always said to me, ‘I will teach you about research, you teach me about vision’. We’ve always had a great understanding since I joined the Sports Science Institute here in Cape Town.”
Despite her obvious success in the sporting world – at various levels and with numerous codes – Calder is at pains to explain that her work would also flourish in the academic world; much like successful sporting teams are able to build similar business plans to profitable business organisations – and vice versa.
“I spent last year working in London, with British Olympics, and that’s when I made the decision to come home and attempt to make a difference in some kids’ lives,” says Sherylle, who in the past six months has been to Bethlehem, Windhoek and Paarl – to name just a few – in order to do some work with South African schoolkids.
“I have no doubt that my work can make a positive impact on learning skills. When I was in the UK last year, I did a research project on 60 kids – all of whom came from different performance levels and some who had behavioural and/or attention problems.
“We examined all the kids via a cognitive test, put them on a programme and re-rested them after six weeks… Although I’m still writing this up, already one could see an improvement amongst the children.
“I have also developed programmes, some of which are not that in-depth and focus, instead, on core skills and hopefully we can make a difference here when it comes to the children.”
The beauty of Sherylle’s job is that her office – as she puts it – “is my laptop and the world”, although it does mean that she hardly seems to take any proper time off.
“I actually wish I had an ‘off switch’ because my eyes are looking for things all the time; even on a Saturday when I’m sitting at home watching sport and trying to relax!
“A lot of the time, just from watching people on TV, I can pick up things and a lot of the time those errors I can spot are simply down to the players’ eyes.
“Mistiming the ball is a common error in sport… People assume that mistiming in sport is down to bad skills; mistiming is down to your eyes. It’s really logical, simple stuff that I do, but it makes a huge difference.”
One could chat to Sherylle Calder for hours and hours. She says people have offered to write books for her – either about her or with her – and she reckons she could tell a few good stories. Although, she quickly asks with a huge smile, “But who would buy my book?”.
“Sometimes,” she says, pausing briefly, “I don’t have enough hours in the day.
“But I’m a pioneer and even though I’ve had to prove myself to many, and I also find people trying to copy my work – or pass it off as theirs – without coming to me first; I would never be doing this if I didn’t love it.”
The good news is that Calder will continue to reach new frontiers with her unique work and insight – only it’s not just the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and Bryan Habana that will be benefiting from it. Anybody can. Sure, it’s hard work, but one gets the feeling that she would not want it any other way.
By Howard Kahn
* To find out more about Sherylle Calder’s work, visit her website: http://www.drsheryllecalder.com
July 8th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Reply to Morné @ 7:54 am:
“As always, a coach will be fired under some dubious or aggrevated circumstances ”
Now why would a coach be fired under ANY other circumstances?
The act of “firing” somebody is an act of last resort, and of agression.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I like Dan Retief, very level headed.
His comments on the Justice 4 and citing farce are completely accurate.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Reply to Cosa @ 8:17 am:
any firing not to do directly with the teams performance is dubious. ie: Mallet and White.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Reply to Cosa @ 8:17 am:
I think the point is he will be fired…
That is one thing any coach in SA has in common with one another.
July 8th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Reply to Cosa @ 8:17 am:
And the real point is not actually getting fired.
It is that there, as always, will be no hand-over and no continuity.
Which is so vital in rugby.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Reply to Morné @ 8:27 am:
Yes, that is true.
Do you have access to information of other international and S14 coaches’ tenure?
What is the average period of coaching a specific team?
I believe Deans at the Crusaders was there for some 8 years, which is exeptional.
Is it not so that any coach will stay on as long as possible, and that a coach gets stale after 5-6 years at any team? If so, that explains why coaches get fired!
Even Mallet got stale after just 3 years, and was involved in a lot of tussles and non rugby related crap when his “winning ways” disappeared.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Reply to middles @ 8:16 am:
Middles !!!
Brilliant – thanks.
The aspect I like/appreciate most is that she is doing “baan-brekers-werk” and this is the beauty
“It’s really logical, simple stuff that I do, but it makes a huge difference.â€?”
That is also both my challenge and success.
How do you present something soooo logical soooo simple
that people will add sufficient value to it
without thinking that if it is sooo logical and simple they can do it themselves and don’t need you on the one side
and on the other how can somthing soooo logical and simple really make such a big difference.
In my case – I am mostly stumped
I have tried what I do by presenting it as simple and logical and normal humanness
I have tried explaining what I do by breaking it down into all it’s complicated details.
I have tried to “dress it up” and make it sound formal/intellectual
I have challenged individuals and teams referencing their worst moments
I have enticed individual and team referencing their best moments
I have nearly “niks hare oor nie”
That is what I admire Sherylle most for – she did and is doing it at the highest-level
she is indeed able to – convince – people of the value she adds
July 8th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Reply to Morné @ 8:28 am:
That is the sickest saddest FACT in SA Rugby history
July 8th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Reply to Cosa @ 8:17 am:
More Cosa
goed om jou weer hier te ‘sien’ – groetnis :thumbup:
July 8th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Reply to Cosa @ 9:35 am:
Ian Foster is another coach which the Chiefs stuck with for about 6 years now I think.
He made a comment after beating the Stormers at Newlands that SA shows little faith in their coaches (trial by media) and that if the same applied to him he would have been sacked in 2005 already – but now, he took his team to a home semi and a final in Super rugby.
I dont know what it is with our coaches in SA that we simply find them boring after a while – maybe we are right and they hit a ceiling where they as coaches, should improve their skills set on a continued basis and they are not.
July 8th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Reply to Cosa @ 9:35 am:
What I found with NZ coaches and Aus to an extent too is that if the head coach is fired or retires, the assistance more often than not remain and even take over so there is some continuity.
In SA its a package deal, if the coach is fired his whole management joins him.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Reply to middles @ 8:16 am:
Something else Sherylle said resonated with me
““I actually wish I had an ‘off switch’ because my eyes are looking for things all the time; even on a Saturday when I’m sitting at home watching sport and trying to relax!
“A lot of the time, just from watching people on TV, I can pick up things and a lot of the time those errors I can spot are simply down to the players’ eyes.”
replace her last word “eyes” with “states” and you will see what I mean
July 8th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Reply to Morné @ 9:40 am:
And now he is being touted to replace the Head-Master
July 8th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Reply to Morné @ 9:42 am:
I think you are talking kak
If you look at the Kiwi coaches, let’s say just the pro era
Laurie Mains got fired and sent to the Gulag of coaching the Hurricanes and then here to coach the Cats / Lions – nobody in NZ missed him..
John Hart got fired under similar circumstances. His whole crew got fired with him. That was JUST for not winning 3N and the sin of losing to England there. Hell he All Black management was so angry they even fired one Robbie Deans who was part of his setup.
John Mitchell got plastered for his flat attack system and eventually fired in 2004 because the Boks “knocked ‘em over like nine pins using their rush” What happened to him? Was he kept on? Nope… banished… couldn’t even get a coaching job in NZ! Had to end up with the Force. To this day his surname is like a swearword in NZ rugby and nobody dares touch him.
Henry is the only coach who escaped a “Don’t come home with the Bill” firing and he is SO on thin ice with the NZ public that his public humiliation is not far off, whereupon he’ll be banished back to Wales.
Not sure about Rod McQueen or Bob Dwyer,
but, Eddie Jones was not really given much of an option about the outcome of his career choices in 2005. He arrived in Aus after an EOYT and got “The Fax” in a board meeting with ARU and was immediately banished.
Knuckles was the same.
Neither of them are even mentioned in any decent Australian rugby circles anymore. Neither their assistants….
See what I’m saying?
July 8th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Reply to The Brand @ 10:07 am:
Well the fools did let Deans go…
I recall at the Start of S14 2007 RW had a chat to deans and he as much as advertised that his career “needed to go somehwere else and advance” in his interview.
All the signs were out there for Deans….
All of them.
NZ Rugby just to stupid to actually do the right thing…
And keeping Henry was NOT the right thing
July 8th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Reply to DavidS @ 10:16 am:
Nah Dawie I am not seeing what you are saying…
You see, as far as I read it I see a lot of what NZ produced as coaches retained through their structures even if it is years later or in other capacities.
I also see a lot of their coaches honoured within their rugby annals.
And oh, btw, Mitchell was not critted for the flat defense, that was Henry…
Brian Lochore – 1985 to 1987
Lochore became an All Black selector in 1983 before taking the side to victory in the inaugural World Cup during his coaching tenure from 1985 to 1987. Lochore continues to be involved in All Black rugby, firstly managing the team in the 1995 World Cup and now again as one of the All Black selectors.
Alex Wylie – 1988 to 1991
Wyllie became a national selector in 1986 and he and his Auckland rival John Hart had significant roles as assistant coaches to Brian Lochore when the All Blacks won the 1987 Rugby World Cup. In 1988 Wyllie succeeded Lochore as coach, much to the annoyance of many, especially in Auckland, who favoured Hart.
Laurie Mains – 1992 to 1995
Mains’ coaching career started with Otago, whom he coached for eight years. He was appointed All Blacks coach in 1992, and coached them to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final; where they lost to South Africa.
In 1998, Mains was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby in the annual New Zealand Honours List.
John Hart – 1996 to 1999
Despite initial success as All Black coach, a decline starting in the 1991 season led to the NZRFU appointing Hart as joint coach for the 1991 World Cup. After the unsuccessful campaign, both coaches were overlooked when Laurie Mains was selected as All Black coach.
Hart, together with Alex Wyllie, was an assistant coach under Brian Lochore when the All Blacks won the first Rugby World Cup in 1987.
For his services to rugby, John Hart was appointed an Officer of The New Zealand Order of Merit in The Queen’s Birthday Honours 1997.
Wayne Smith – 2000 to 2001
His first major coaching position was for the Crusaders in the Super 12 in 1997. He coached them to two titles in 1998 and 1999 before being appointed All Blacks coach after the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
After losing his position as head coach of the All Blacks in late 2001 he went to coach the Northampton Saints in England. He coached there until being appointed backs coach in early 2004 by current All Blacks coach Graham Henry.
John Mitchell – 2002 to 2003
Coached in England, including a stint as England’s assistant coach. Appointed coach of the Chiefs’ Super 12 side for 2001, and on 3 October 2001 was appointed as All Black coach through to the 2003 World Cup.
The All Blacks disappointing results in the 2003 World Cup played a part in Mitchell not regaining the All Blacks coaching position when the NZRFU called for candidates for the position.
Mitchell has since taken up the position of the Waikato NPC coach, which he held for the 2004 season, and in mid 2005 was successful in taking up the role of coach for the Australian expansion side, The Western Force, for the 2006 Super 14 competition.
Graham Henry – 2004 to —-
Following the All Blacks’ semi-final loss to Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup the All Blacks coaching job was advertised. Apart from incumbent coach John Mitchell, Henry was the only applicant.
Henry appointed his former Wales assistant Steve Hansen as forwards coach, Wayne Smith as attack coach, and having himself responsible for defense.
Henry also recruited Sir Brian Lochore as a selector. The coaching team was often referred to by rugby commentators as a dream team due to their collective experience and success.
His first Test match as coach was against the 2003 World Cup winners England team in New Zealand in 2004. England, coached by Sir Clive Woodward were decisively defeated in both Tests. The success did not carry on into the 2004 Tri-Nations where the All Blacks won two, and lost two Tests – they eventually finished last in the tournament. Henry and his assistants were criticized in the New Zealand media for their insistence on using a flat backline approach in attack – which they blamed for a low number of tries. The 2004 end of year Tests where they played Northern Hemisphere opponents was more successful and culminated in a 45-6 defeat of France in Paris.
You see what I am saying???
July 8th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Reply to DavidS @ 10:18 am:
He he he – that is one of my private little sadistic pleasures lying in waiting – when Deans’s Aussies klap the All Blacks
July 8th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Been a bit busy but now that I have a wee bit of time here are my views on PdV so far:
So where do I stand regarding Pdivvie so far – this is not a rant against supporters or detractors but my personal view on some aspects of his reign as coach.
Here are a few thoughts on what PdV can influence directly negatively and positively.
Negatives:
- Too much snortalk is at times an embarrassment.
- Inconsistency in performance by team & players.
- Sticking with players regardless (Ricky, Burger, Nokwe)
- Passion/loyalty for his players gets in the way at times ie. Burger incident.
Positives:
- His record is not bad but this will be tested in the 3N
- Giving players opportunity after good performances (Morne Steyn, Brussouw, WO, Zane etc.)
- Not going all the way with the likes of Rose (YET!)
- Passion/loyalty for his players – double edged sword.
- Getting Frans Steyn to buy into the FB idea!
I left out stuff that are fueled by perception like senior players coaching the team etc. This may be true but also may be the way he does things for example when Matfield has something to add to Line-out training then only a useless coach will not allow Matfield giving his input! I also left out the last Lions test – I also believe that giving those players a go was the right thing at the time, they did not perform on the day but the series was won and there was not much to lose and a lot to gain. I also left out the sub debacle in test 1 which IMO was not too bad with a 26-7 lead I would have done the same, you live and learn…
At the end of the day many of you are not convinced and to be fair I am not sold completely either. You may have other perceptions from my comments on here at times but that is mainly given to keep the balance
The 3N will be a big test and if PdV can come away with a better than 50% record he would have gone that step closer to getting me on his side. If we only end up with a 50% from this 3N then the status quo stays. If we end up with less than 50% then I will lose more confidence in him.
Just IMHO – make of it what you will.
July 8th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Reply to JT – http://www.rugby-innsbruck.at @ 11:11 am:
Ja that’s my issue too.
Not totally sold on the oke but judgment reserved.
However, he is one weird SOB when he opens his mouth to the media
July 8th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Reply to JT – http://www.rugby-innsbruck.at @ 11:11 am:
Agreed.
I said I give him 2 years which will come to end following this 3N.
We will not accept another spoon.
July 8th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Reply to Morné @ 11:18 am:
You striving to win… or just not come last?
July 8th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Reply to DavidS @ 11:16 am:
at least he ain’t boring
July 8th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 11:21 am:
A 50% record won it for us once, it might just again.
Nothing less than that will do.
July 8th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Neither is a drunk friend dry heaving in the backseat of your new car after a long night out…. but that does not mean you enjoy him…
July 8th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Reply to DavidS @ 11:29 am:
Thais was in response to
Reply to JT – http://www.rugby-innsbruck.at @ 11:24 am:
this
July 8th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Reply to Morné @ 11:26 am:
I’ll take that…
July 8th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Reply to bryce_in_oz @ 11:33 am:
What I really… really… reallllyyyyy want, is a series win over NZ…
July 8th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Reply to Morné @ 11:35 am:
2005 we were 5 minutes away from that but we were ‘carrying’ a not up to standard hooker… here’s hoping that doesn’t happen again…