Congratulations to the Blue Bulls on an excellent win in the 2009 Currie Cup final. What a great contest between the two teams who have dominated Currie Cup finals over the last 5 or so years. There where one or two instances where I felt that the Cheetahs were unlucky in calls not going their way, Habana’s try in the 14th minute was clearly forward, but it was a hard fought contest all around and a great game. Pity about the unnecessary argy bargy after the final whislte. I definately think Bakkies would have dominated that one… A special mention should go to Jonathan “JK” Kaplan for letting the game flow.

Enjoy the highlights: [Rugbydump]

2009 Currie Cup final – Blue Bulls VS Freestate Cheetahs

Get off of me you fly...

In a heavy blow to the Springboks, Pierre Spies has been ruled out of the Springbok end of year tour with a surgery requiring finger injury. Spies apparently injured his finger in the Currie Cup final this past Saturday an had to have surgery on Monday night. Spies’ athleticism will no doubt be missed by many of the Springbok fans, but all is not lost. In a country where we are currently blessed with a whole host of extremely talented loose forwards, as the door closed for Spies last night, it opened for Sharks loose forward, Jean Deysel.

Many rugby fans around the country were disappointed to see Deysel originally left out of the Springbok end of year tour squad, whilst a host of shock selections, some unwarranted, were included. Deysel has been knocking on the door for Springbok selection, or there andthere abouts, for some time now. Diesel Deysel as he is called by many of his fans has what it takes to make the step up an should do us proud in the Green and Gold strip. He is a player who relishes in the physical contact, enjoys running with the ball, and shows good interplay. My only gripe with him is that from time  to time his handling is a bit kak, but I’m sure he will be working on this. All in all, I think it is not a bad call at all.

In other news, Fourie Du Preez has been rewarded for his sublime form this season Read More >>

What a weekend of upsets, who would have seen that double whammy coming? I’m still speechless! Here are the highlights: [WRN]

Currie Cup 2009 – Semi Final 1 – Sharks VS Free State:

What you missed just before the opening shot in the clip above is that just prior to The Beast lifting his hands in complete and utter ”innocence”, he had already illegally scooped the ball through to the Sharks’ side… 5 points.

Currie Cup 2009 – Semi Final 2 – Western Province VS Blue Bulls: Read More >>

Take that you "bliksemse bal"...!

Naas Botha is quite simply the face of rugby as far as South Africa is concerned. Naas is still baas [boss] as far as tactical rugby knowledge goes, and love him or hate him, his opinion is generally respected across the rugby playing fraternity. At times during his playing days he was criticised for not getting involved in too much contact, nor keen on having a go himself. Whilst the first part of the above might be true, I definately don’t believe the second part is. Perhaps the view that his running game was below par is due to the fact that his kicking game was so far ahead of anyone else at the time.

Naas was devastating with both his left and right boot, earning him the nickname, “Nasty Booter” from the British press during the 1980 British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa. They found out just how nasty he could be in the third test in Port Elizabeth when Botha, under immense pressure, put a touchline conversion between the uprights in wet conditions to give the Springboks a 12-10 victory and an unbeatable three-nil series lead.

As well as being a devastating kicker of the ball, whether it be drop kicking, punting or place kicking, Naas had impeccable handling skills and was able to get his backline moving very quickly at any given moment with his accurate long and short range passing. He had an eye for a gap and was a deceptively quick runner.  This coupled together with his handling and superb passing skills resulted in countless tries for the players outside of him.

Naas controlling the 1986 rebel New Zealand Cavaliers test:

Naas had a tactical reading of the game that was second to none. Read More >>

Don't give me lip #4, I'll snot klap you...!

Jonathan Kaplan is the most experienced international test referee of all time, this year becoming the first referee ever to take control of over 50 test matches (53 to date). He began refereeing in 1984 and took charge of his 1st international test between Namibia and Zimbabwe, in Harare, in 1996.  Kaplan doesn’t take kak on the field, once telling Bob Skinstad, “You talk on the radio, I’ll ref the game…”. At 174cm and 79kg, he isn’t scared to take charge, putting the often towering players around him in their place.

Who better to chat to in a year which has highlighted so many law changes and clear problems at the scrum and breakdown areas. BlogSpotRugby caught up with Jonathan Kaplan and asked him a few quick questions.

Here Goes:

• Dooley: Read More >>

Things are certainly heating up at the business end of the 2009 Currie Cup competition. The gap between the larger unions an the smaller ones certainly seems to have grown this year with only the Griquas able to hold their own in the top half of the log.

With WP, the Sharks and Blue Bulls already having secured spots in the top 3, this weekend’s games will decide the final spot, which will be battled out between the Cheetahs and the Griquas.

The top 3 can by no means rest on their laurels though, with home semi finals still up for grabs, as wel as trying to secure a home final.

The Sharks, who will face the Griquas, have what should be an easier game this weekend, when comparing to the match-up between WP and the Lions in Johannesburg. Both teams will want to secure a 5 points from their respective games, in the process raking up as much points as possible to grab the number one spot by means of points difference. Either WP or the Sharks could end up in the number one spot, either of the two could also slip to the number 2 spot, but no lower.

The bottom two spots will be shared by the Blue Bulls and either the Griquas or the Cheetahs. The Blue Bulls have secured an away semi final and cannot finish lower than 4th on the log, but are still able to finish in 3rd place. The last place on the log will be decided by the Griquas performance against the Sharks this weekend, only needing 2 points to secure the final spot in the top 4, but can mathematically still push their way into third place.

The log as it stands: Read More >>

Flouw rips through the blue...

I managed to catch up with another mate of ours here at BlogSpotRugby this week, Francois Louw, or ‘Flo’ as he is more commonly known here in the Western Cape. Flo has had a strong season so far in this years Currie Cup, after coming back from a mid-term injury, picked up in the later stages of the Super 14.

Francois Louw is perhaps one of the most underrated loose forwards in the country, often not getting enough credit for his high work rate on the field. Standing at 190 cm tall, and weighing in at 109 Kgs, Flo is by no means a small man. He has exceptional handling skills, is a strong ball carrier and contests extremely well at the breakdown. He is quite simply the complete package as far as loose forwards go.

Here it goes: Read More >>

A better shade of blue?

I really don’t understand the big fuss about where a player chooses to ply his trade. The best example of this is no doubt the move of Bryan Habana from the Bulls to Western Province. I do understand that some fans are more enthusiastic than others, but I think they are missing the point totally.

What people must understand is that this is a professional era, where rugby is a profession to these players, much the same as being an accountant, architect, or second hand car salesman might be to you. What stops you from choosing to take a job in a city other than the one you currently reside in?

Then there is the fact that these players are often originally not from the union they are now leaving, but were bought from another union in the first place. Brent Russell for example was schooled at Selborne College in East London, he then went on to play rugby for Maties in Stellenbosch. Russell made his provincial debut for the Pumas, was bought up by the Sharks, where he saw little game time, forcing a move to Western Province.

Now what I don’t understand is how far does this thing go? Read More >>

Bryan Habana, the 'darling' of Newlands?

It’s official, Bryan Habana has signed with WP, and will be departing from Pretoria, to the dismay of his many “true blue” fans country wide. This move comes after Habana flew into Cape Town last week to meet with Rassie Erasmus, to have a chat about how many “buffalo’s” WP where willing to offer him. After making what must be huge savings over the past few years by not making any substantial big money deals, WP were able to outbid the Blue Bulls to win the services of the Springbok flyer.

This latest big name move comes after the initial hype of fellow Springboks Jaque Fourie and Wynand Olivier being linked to deals with WP. Fourie is currently having problems being released from the GLRU, but is still adamant to join the Cape side, whilst Olivier opted to remain with the Blue Bulls.

I’ve been hearing whispers around Cape Town that more “big name players” can be expected to be linked to a possible move with WP. Apparently WP still have brothers, Bismark and Jannie Du Plessis on their shopping list for next season.

At the moment, these are just rumours, but last time I heard a rumor, there turned out to be quite a bit of substance in it. As with the last rumor, that panned out to be true, remember you heard it here at BlogspotRugby 1st.

My good mate and co-founder of BlogspotRugby, Adrian Myburgh did a quick mock-up of what Habana will look like in the Stormers strip come next year’s Super 14. Visit his site at www.adrianmyburgh.com.

What do you think of Habana’s move to the Stormers?

Our mates over at RugbyDump have followed our good example in bringing you, the fan, some more eye candy, in the form of South African Super 14 cheerleaders.

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted the pics and footage of the Currie Cup cheerleaders, asking you to vote on who you thought was top of the log? You don’t….? Never mind, you can view the lovely Currie Cup cheerleaders here.

This time around, they are dressed in their Super 14 outfits, and I have to say, the Stormers Vodababes, as well as the WP Vodababes have gone up a notch or two in my book since they ditched that whole army outfit vibe. The sailerbabe look is a winner.

Oh ya, theres also some rugby in there somewhere if anyone is interested… Another tough day in Africa