If I had a Rand for every promising rugby talent that left Cape Town to pursue a career elsewhere in SA, I would certainly not be blogging on a cramped economy class flight to Jozi. No Siree Bob, I would have bought that property on the beachfront in De Kelders, the missus has had her eye on since who knows when. If for some reason this comparison escapes you, I’m attempting to explain that a huge amount of players leave Western Province and excel at other unions! I’m well aware that this scenario has been flogged to death on social media platforms, in rugby circles and around braais for ages, but I don’t care, I’m a staunch Province supporter and I want to rant and rave some more. So now you know what I’m about to ramble on about and I know that navigating away from this blog becomes an option, but I would urge you not to, as you might read something interesting after all.

If we allow ourselves to think back to 1995 when we secured our first RWC trophy, we are filled with elation, but this is not the case for Dr Louis Luyt, unfortunately. He might have been as exuberant immediately after the Stransky drop-goal, but nothing prepared him for what Francois Pienaar and Hennie Le Roux (amongst others) were cooking up for him and the entire amateur rugby world. That’s right folks rugga was an amateur sport, with players still largely holding down 9am-5pm jobs to bring home the bacon. (more…)

It was Currie Cup Semi final day last year in South Africa, as the Sharks hosted the Cheetahs in Durban, and the Bulls travelled to Cape Town to challenge Western Province.
The Bulls won 21-19, thanks to a late Morne Steyn penalty. But do you remember that infamous tackle on Fourie du Preez by Schalk Burger?

Enjoy…

According to statistics the Cheetahs have the recipe to take the excellent penalty kicking of Morne Steyn out of the equation – excellent discipline.

The simple recipe, which none of the All Blacks, Wallabies, British and Irish Lions or other Currie Cup teams could come up with this year, is outstanding discipline.

The Cheetahs have conceded only 129 penalties to date in this year’s Currie Cup, which is fewer than any other team. The Blue Bulls have been penalised 23 more times than the Free Staters.

In fact, the Bulls have conceded the third most penalties in the competition.

Western Province, who ironically lost their semifinal against the Bulls by conceding a late penalty at Newlands, conceded the fewest penalties after the Cheetahs with 135.

The Lions (141), Sharks (157) and Griquas (165) all conceded more penalties than the Cheetahs.

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In an ill-tempered Currie Cup semi-final match which at times almost reached boiling point, the Cheetahs shocked the Sharks in the dying seconds to beat them 23-21 in their Absa Currie Cup semifinal in Durban on Saturday. The standout player was undoubtedly Cheetahs flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter who scored the winning drop goal on the stroke of full-time, with the Sharks desperately defending their one-point lead, and scored one of the visitors’ two tries. Potgieter secured 18 of the Cheetahs’ 23 points.

The unerring boot of flyhalf Morne Steyn condemned Western Province to also-rans when he landed seven match-winning penalties in the Bulls 21-19 win in their semi-final at Newlands on Saturday evening. Province enjoyed the distinction of scoring the only try of the match and, late in the second half, they looked like they could score an upset win over the highly-fancied Bulls but the Springbok marksman landed the decider three minutes from the end.

The match marked the end of a woeful day for Province who saw their age-grade sides taste defeat in the Under-19 and Under-21 divisions as well.

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Western Province lock Andries Bekker must prove on Saturday that he truly belongs with the best locks in the world if the Blue Bulls are to be stopped from reaching their second consecutive ABSA Currie Cup final.

The Western Province Springbok, although contributing hugely in general play, looked well short of his best in the lineouts in the last two WP matches against the Lions and the Boland Cavaliers. They were Bekker’s first full matches in a while following a long injury layoff which preceded the Springbok international season.

But if the Bulls think that Bekker’s average showing in the lineouts in those games was a reason for optimism, they could be in for a surprise. While WP coach Allister Coetzee stopped short of describing the system used by WP in the last two games as a ruse, he left little to the imagination when asked about it this week.

“Let’s just say that there were reasons for that and it is related to Saturday’s game but I don’t want to talk about it,” said Coetzee.

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The Cheetahs again had the Leopards‘ number when they ran in a convincing 60-17 victory over their North Western neighbours in their Currie Cup match in a wet Bloemfontein on Friday night. The Leopards started and finished with a bang, but the fireworks were delivered by a slick Cheetahs side who ran the Leopards ragged in difficult conditions.

Western Province secured a 2009 Currie Cup home semifinal berth in superb fashion with an emphatic 50-7 win over neighbours the Boland Kavaliers in the Absa Currie Cup derby at a sun-drenched Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Admittedly, the Boland side never at any stage looked like posing a threat to the vastly superior Province side, but they provided the ‘soft’ sort of opposition that was ideal preparation for the Newlands-based outfit ahead of the semifinal in a fortnight’s time. Province served notice at the outset that they were there to play open rugby, and conditions at Newlands were ideal. At the end of it all, Province matched the sizzling hot weather with seven well-taken tries, against one from Boland.

The Blue Bulls moved to third place on the Currie Cup log when they beat Griquas 61-27 at Loftus on Saturday, and with the win dented their opposition’s hopes of playing in the semifinals. The Blue Bulls ran in eight tries to Griquas’ four, and were in complete control from just after midway through the first half, with Griquas getting little possession. The reality, however, is that the Blue Bulls did not look like possible Currie Cup champions except in spurts, when they were really impressive.

The Sharks were stretched all the way but killed off a determined Lions team to reach the Currie Cup playoffs after a rusty display by narrowly beating them 19-17 in the Absa Stadium on Saturday.

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Naka Drotske was not allowed to speak to Australian referee Ian Smith following the match between the Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs on Saturday.

An unhappy Drotské said he had ventured to the dressing room after his side’s 27-30 defeat to quiz Smith about some of his decisions but he was prevented from doing so by touch judge Cobus Wessels.

“I walked to the referee and asked him ‘Ian, may I please ask you a question’, after which he said ‘yes, sure’.

“When I started talking to him about the high kick in which Lionel Mapoe had been involved, Cobus Wessels intervened and said I was not allowed to speak to Smith.”

Wessels said that Drotské should give Smith a chance to shower and return later.

“When I returned 10 minutes later, the door was locked and nobody was there.”

South African referees boss André Watson said it was not correct protocol to go to the referee’s dressing room after the game.

“The unwritten protocol is that teams and referees shower first and thereafter speak on neutral territory. That also allows time for emotion to subside,” he said.

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