Tournament assessors held a conference hookup last night where the performance of Australian official Paul Marks was likely to come under the heaviest scrutiny after a fractious end to the Waratahs and Sharks game.
Their Round One fixtures did not treat these two teams kindly. The Blues messed up a promising halftime lead as they lost 20-34 at home to the Hurricanes, and the final score did the Highlanders’ sterling efforts little justice in a 17-32 defeat to the Crusaders.
It has been eight years since the Lions (or Cats, as their predecessors were called) have beaten the Stormers. That was back in 2001 when the Laurie Mains-coached Cats won 29-24 in Cape Town and went on to reach the play-offs.
Let’s face it, it’s time to stop wasting time, says GREG GROWDEN.
Stop the clock. It’s as simple as that. To lure spectators back to rugby, don’t bore them with endless rewrites of the code’s law book – the most mind-sapping read since James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Auto and General Lions chief executive Manie Reyneke has issued a stern warning to the Sharks – play Willem Alberts and there will be consequences.
Rugby and cricket work, and because they work they get acclaim and publicity. But this then makes them an easy vehicle for bullying politicians to ride on in their quest for publicity and power.
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll has been voted as Rugby World magazine’s player of the decade.
ONLY TWO BOKS MAKE THE TEAM
South Africa’s leading sports science professor, Tim Noakes, insists the Springboks won’t be at their best for the 2011 Rugby World Cup after many of the top players were over-played in 2009.
John Smit in denial || Provinces the guilty ones || Kiwis train smarter
It’s that time of year when people are compiling wish lists for 2010. Here’s a few, but please ADD YOUR OWN.
It’s that time of year when the orchids and onions gets dished out. Gary Gold the unsung hero of the Bok’s coaching staff? GAVIN RICH thinks so. And the Bulls are the best team in the world.
THE most intriguing revelation from the Springbok tour of Europe was not Victor Matfield’s claim that the Irish players understand Afrikaans, but that their forwards coach, Gert Smal, still knew the Springbok lineout calls from when he last worked with them.
Paul Cully and Stephen Samuelson of the Sydney Morning Herald selects their Team of the Week. And yes, you’ve guessed correctly: There is not a Springbok in sight.
New Zealand’s inspirational captain Richie McCaw has been named the International Rugby Board Player of the Year for 2009.
Since just about all the games are on at the same time, we have created a match thread for all of them.
Springbok props and the state of South African scrummaging has been savagely lampooned by British rugby writer Stephen Jones.
