She knows this, and she’s cool with it, as long as I don’t let it interfere with my duties here at home and my commitment to our daughter as a parent and a provider.

My mistress is South African rugby, and I love her unconditionally. No matter what she does, no matter how badly she screws up, I love her all the same. I might be a bit pissed off with her for a while on a Saturday night, but I’m guaranteed to still love her come Sunday morning because a bad day with her is still better than a good day without her.

Some days all I’ll need is a quickie with the Sevens team, and other days there’s nothing better than an extended holiday for two to a faraway destination like the United Kingdom on a year-end tour or to the Antipodes for a World Cup. As long as she continues to promise to do her best to make me happy, I’ll keep on loving her, and keep on wanting to go overseas on holiday with her. I know that she might not always be able to live up to my expectations (and those expectations are high – make no mistake, when you love her like I do, nothing short of the highest expectation is acceptable) but as long as she keeps trying her best, I’ll be there for her. Yes, sometimes I’ll be disappointed, and yes, sometimes I’ll say things about her that I might regret later, but at the same time I’ll defend her to the death. Because that’s what unconditional love is all about.

And it’s hard sometimes. It’s not always easy to continue being upbeat and looking for the positive in her, particularly when she falls short of my expectation of her. Sometimes it would seem much easier to rather be continually negative and expect the worst, and avoid dealing with the disappointment of having my hopes for her dashed, but it is in those times that I remind myself that South African rugby is not my trophy girlfriend, someone to get hauled out at appropriate social functions to bolster my own ego and convince those around me what a champion chap I must be to have a mistress like her.

You see, younger, vibrant and optimistic trophy mistresses are most often on the receiving end of a raw deal from their older, disillusioned boyfriends, in the throes of a midlife crisis centred on their own failed rugby ambitions, many of which are within the attainable grasp of their mistress. The love is conditional, and the relationship with them is mostly one-sided as she gets sucked dry of all she has to offer with nothing of substance in return, only criticism and verbal abuse. And it’s easy to treat her like a bastard, taking out the frustrations of your own particular short-comings and failings, being jealous because she can achieve things that you’re afraid to admit to yourself that you aren’t capable of, and not wishing her to succeed at all. But that’s not love, that’s possession: to truly love you need to learn how to hope for the best and sometimes cope with the worst, and give her the confidence that allows her to stand up after a fall and try to give her best for you again, no matter what.

Yes, I’ll admit, my South African rugby mistress is not as young as she used to be, and yes, she’s carrying a bit of extra, unnecessary weight in her team sheet that she didn’t have before, but this doesn’t embarrass me about her at all – I want her to succeed all the more for it.You see, she’s coming to the end of her relationship with me, and in all probability after the World Cup when the majority of the current Springboks drift away to Europe and Japan I’m going to get a new, younger mistress that I’m going to have to learn to love all over again with all her successes and failings, and even though over time I’ll learn to love this new mistress just as much, after a torrid 6 year affair I’m really going to miss the one I’ve got now.

A. von Molendorff

Pic: cgi.ebay.com

The 23-strong group includes 17 capped Springboks and 6 uncapped players. The uncapped players are Sharks flank Jean Deysel, Sharks lock Steven Sykes, Cheetahs prop Wian du Preez, Western Province centre Morgan Newman, Lions scrumhalf Jano Vermaak and Lions flyhalf Earl Rose.

Rose was in the Springbok squad at the end of last year but did not feature in the Tests, whilst Du Preez toured England and Wales at the end of 2007 but did not play. Vermaak was in the 2007 Emerging SA squad at the IRB Nations Cup, whilst Newman featured for the Emerging side in 2007 and 2008.

Players not considered due to injury are Sharks flyhalf Ruan Pienaar and prop Deon Carstens. Lions centre Jaque Fourie was not considered as he is getting married on Saturday 30 May.

The Bulls players could not be considered due to their involvement in the Super 14 playoffs.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said he was disappointed about Pienaar’s injury but that it was important for the player to focus on his recovery in advance of the British & Irish Lions tour.

“Ruan is expected to be out for about three weeks and we will closely monitor his progress,” said De Villiers. “I am hoping that he will be fit to play in the first Test against the Lions in Durban but we are fortunate in that we have adequate cover in the flyhalf position if it is required”.

De Villiers said that despite the absence of the Bulls players he was still able to assemble a strong squad. He added that the game against the Namibian XV would allow him to test systems and plays in preparation for the Lions Test series.

“Without the opportunity of a few warm-up games we must ensure that we get the most out of this match, regardless of the fact that some players are not in attendance. After this match we will assemble a Springbok squad that will have three weeks to prepare for the first Lions test and we have to maximise the time we have at our disposal,” de Villiers said.

The SA Training Squad will assemble in Pretoria on Monday 25 May and travel to Windhoek on Thursday 28 May.

The Springbok squad for the Lions series will be named on Monday 1 June.

SA Training Squad: Andries Bekker, Heinrich Brüssow, Schalk Burger, Jean de Villiers, Jean Deysel, Bismarck du Plessis, Wian du Preez, Peter Grant, Adi Jacobs, Ricky Januarie, Ryan Kankowski, Tendai Mtawarira, Johann Muller, Odwa Ndungane, Morgan Newman, Jongi Nokwe, JP Pietersen, Earl Rose, John Smit (capt), Juan Smith, Adriaan Strauss, Steven Sykes, Jano Vermaak.

Source: sarugby.co.za

The Sunday Times reports that the former SA Rugby Union (Saru) deputy president is an unopposed candidate for the position of independent director at Friday’s Saru AGM.

Stofile hasn’t been involved in rugby since failing in his attempt to become president in 2008, however, it is widely believed he still has ambitions on the presidency.

One of two independent directors (the other being either the Griffons’ Dr Jan Marais or incumbent Keith Parkinson) will hold the influential position of chairman, as they will sit on the Presidents Council.

However, it is believed that neither Stofile or Marais are hugely popular with the presidents of the big five unions, who think they lack the aptitude for the role.

‘They are supposed to have strong business and rugby acumen but I don’t think either of them has,” a leading member of the big five unions told the Sunday Times. “They’ve both only worked with small businesses and unions. Also, when Stofile left the last time he suggested his exit was racial. I wonder what’s changed.’

Source: keo.co.za

The Springbok Sevens collected eight valuable points for their effort, enough to keep them on top of the IRB World Sevens Series log with 48 points after three tournaments. England joined New Zealand in second spot with 44 point after their success in the Cup final.

England beat New Zealand 19-17 in a thrilling final to capture their first Wellington Sevens title.

South Africa, who lost to Kenya in the pool stages and New Zealand in Cup quarter-final, made a bright start when Frankie Horne collected a loose pass from Wales to run straight through (7-0). Wales hit back a minute later through a try by Craig Hill (7-5). Lee Williams then beat the cover defence to score Wales’ second try (12-7).

After the restart Vuyo Zangqa dotted down in the corner after a patient build-up from a set-piece to level the scores at 12-all. South Africa then produced probably their best second half performance of the tournament, keeping possession and displaying clinical finishing when needed. Renfred Dazel and Paul Delport scored in quick succession to secure the Plate for the Springbok Sevens.

Next week the teams will compete for the USA title in San Diego.

Source + Pic: sarugby.co.za

Ryno Benjamin ran in the first and the last try. Gio Aplan and Renford Dazel added to the four try victory by scoring one each. Renford Dazel and Mzwandile Stick each converted one try.

The tournament is being played at the Westpac Stadium, in Wellington, in fair weather.

In their second game the Springbok Sevens beat Tonga 22-5 after leading 17-5 at the break.

Renford Dazel, Paul Delport, Howard Noble and Philip Snyman each scored a try, while Renford Dazel was successful with a conversion.

South Africa plays Kenya in the last match of the Pool stage.

Source + Pic: sarugby.co.za

If Robert Ebersohn, who first represented South Africa with his talented twin brother, Sias (a flyhalf) at under-19 level, were to receive a call from Springbok Rugby Coach Peter de Villiers tomorrow asking him to join the ’Boks, he would choose to remain with the SA Sevens Team.

This talented young Free State centre, who was recently named the SA Young Player of the Year, was also crowned best player of the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens Tournament in George on Saturday.

Not only was he one of the leading try scorers, but also defended like a man possessed, and on numerous occasions won turn over ball for his team.

The 19-year old took the decision not to make himself available for Super 14 rugby next year, and rather remain on the sevens circuit for another year, because he felt this would be best for his rugby career.

The Springbok coach, who attended the Sevens Tournament in George, said if he felt that if a player was good and mature enough, he wouldn’t hesitate to call him up from the Sevens side to the Springboks.

Ebersohn still dreams of one day becoming a Springbok, but feels Sevens is probably the best way for a young player to find his feet at an international level.

“It’s obviously very easy to say that I have made the right decision now, but if we had not done as well in these two tournaments, some people would have said I had made the wrong decision, but I believe my time will come,” Ebersohn explained.

He reckons he couldn’t have asked for a better coach than Paul Treu.

“Paul really is an excellent coach. I don’t think there is a better foundation for one’s career than the Sevens Team.

“Paul teaches us so much — not only as player, but also as person. He really is someone to look up to. We work very hard and the team’s success should be attributed to him. But the other members of the management team also deserve a lot of credit,” said Ebersohn.

Ebersohn reckons the Player of the Tournament award in George could have easily gone to anyone in the team and he attributes the tries he scored to the hard work of his teammates.

Source:

supersport.co.za

Pic: sarugby.com

“It was the first time South Africa had won the IRB tournament at home and also the first time that they had put two successive wins together. The Springboks beat England in Dubai last weekend.

It was a victory against all the odds, with South Africa weakened by the Super 14 call-ups of a number of stalwarts like Schalk van der Merwe, Fabian Juries, Jonothan Mokueana and the non-availability of Stefan Basson and the injured Marius Schoeman and captain Neil Powell.

Built on a solid defence and an unbelievable camaraderie and team spirit, the relatively inexperienced Springboks, lighter than their opponents in virtually every match defied all the odds — and are now clear leaders in the eight-tournament series.

Mzwandile Stick, who led the team in the absence of the injured Powell, was again outstanding in the final and scored the try that put the Boks ahead with less than two minutes remaining.

But hats off to every one of the players in this and the Dubai tournaments.

Robert Ebersohn received the Player of the Tournament award on saturday, but it might just as well have gone to any of Frankie Horn, Mpho Mbyozo, Stick or Renfred Dazel.

New Zealand started off in a frenzy after kicking off and scored the first try through their captain DJ Forbes after three minutes following huge pressure on the Boks line (7-0).

The Kiwis, with their bigger players, initially played confrontational rugby in an effort to neutralise the Boks’ speed and to draw them into the breakdowns. They often made contact with the Springboks forced uncharacteristically to kick to relieve pressure.

With two and a half minutes of the first half’s 10 minutes remaining Gio Aplon broke the line with good stepping and Dazel won the 40 metres race against the pursuing New Zealanders to score far out (7-5).

It was a tactical battle with speed and aggression thrown into it, although it wasn’t always the free-running stuff wanted by so many.

The tension before the biggest Sevens crowd in South African history was nevertheless unbearable and a near-try by the Boks, preceded by a knock-on, gave the Kiwis some reprieve as the home side hammered their goal line.

But the Springboks who had climbed into the rucks got that elusive tighthead from the ensuing scrum, , and Stick went over from a good break, converted and put the Boks 12-7 up with less than two minutes to play. A drop from Robert Ebersohn was just wide, and with less than 50 seconds New Zealand had it all to do but couldn’t.

** England won the Plate final against a well-coached and gutsy Portugal, who showed great improvement from last year despite a rather average second day following their three wins to head their pool on Friday.

Turnover-mistakes by Portugal helped England to a deserved 24-7 win.

** In the Bowl final an average France side, after a vastly better tournament than Dubai, outscored a poor semblance of an Australian national team 21-12. Australia have a young team and a new coach, but are not doing justice to their country’s rugby or the IRB Sevens World Series with their below-par performances.

** In the Shield final Zimbabwe annihilated a woeful and disinterested Scotland 26-0. This was Zimbabwe’s third big win over Scotland in the two 2008/09 tournaments to date and left the Scots with only three wins from 11 matches so far.“

Source: sarugby.co.za

“The decision was taken to accommodate the application of the National Sports Emblem – the King Protea – and to bring SA Rugby in line with other South African sports federations and planned legislation.

As a consequence of the change the Protea that is currently displayed above the leaping Springbok, will be removed from the Springbok logo.

“The Council took cognisance of the advice they received from the Sports Minister on pending national legislation and a consensus was reached,” said Mr Oregan Hoskins, SARU President.

“The possibility of retaining the Springbok on the left-hand side was discussed, as council had not taken a decision on the positioning and legislation remains to be promulgated. However, it was the decision of council to avoid confusion by making the move now and to prevent a future necessity of making a second change in due course.”

The timing of the change will be confirmed once logistical considerations have been finalised.“

Source: sarugby.co.za

“Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis came into the front row in place of his injured brother Bismarck, with John Smit moving inside to hooker. There was also a change in the back row where Danie Rossouw is promoted from the bench to replace Juan Smith who took a blow to the head against Scotland and has not fully recovered.

The back division is unchanged – with Fourie du Preez still not fully recovered from a quadriceps injury – while there were two changes on the bench.

Flanker Heinrich Brussow could make his Test debut if he is called into action while Chiliboy Ralepelle covers for John Smit. They replace Rossouw and the injured Gurthro Steenkamp.

The team is as follow (test caps in brackets):

1. Beast Mtawarira (9)
2. John Smit (capt) (80)
3. Jannie du Plessis (6)
4. Bakkies Botha (54)
5. Victor Matfield (79)
6. Schalk Burger (48)
7. Danie Rossouw (35)
8. Pierre Spies (18)
9. Ricky Januaries (33)
10. Ruan Pienaar (26)
11. Bryan Habana (45)
12. Jean de Villiers (45)
13. Adi Jacobs (20)
14. JP Pietersen (23)
15. Conrad Jantjes (23)

Reserves:

16. Chiliboy Ralepelle (2)
17. Brian Mujati (11)
18. Andries Bekker (12)
19. Ryan Kankowski (6)
20. Heinrich Brussow (-)
21. Frans Steyn (26)
22. Jaque Fourie (35)

Source: sarugby.co.za

“For the second successive week it was the home coach who felt his team had played the better rugby and deserved to win, and Scotland’s Frank Hadden had even more right to do that here than Wales’ Warren Gatland did a week ago.

Scotland led 10-0 at half-time and were pressing for a try in the final minutes as they launched wave after wave of attack at a tired Bok defence. On a day where both kickers missed attempts at goal, it was Scotland who conspired most against themselves by fluffing no less than four shots at the posts.

It was not supposed to be this close against a Scottish team that now drops to ninth on the world rankings after this defeat, and which is at a low ebb at present. Just seven days ago the same Scotland team played the All Black second stringers and lost by 30 points, and much was made before this game of the fact the Scots had not crossed for a try at home in 14 months.

They got one this time through lock Nathan Hines, who went over on the stroke of half-time after a period of sustained pressure. The Scots had earlier slotted a penalty after Schalk Burger had been tackled trying to run the ball near his own 22 metre line.

Sadly it was that sort of performance again from the Boks, with far too much rugby being played in their own half, particularly before half-time. The inclement weather that was anticipated did not materialise, and instead the sky was clear and the field firm, but this might have worked against the Boks in that it duped them into thinking they could run the ball from all positions on the field.

Their attempts to play a quick-paced game, and their lack of respect for territory when running with the ball, was too reminiscent for comfort of the sequence we saw developing in the southern hemisphere season – the Boks win with a high emphasis on structure one week, and then dish up dross trying to play quick tempo, loose rugby the next.

The Boks were far too loose, and the occasion when Burger was caught in possession inside his own half was not the only time the Boks had to pay for not playing for field position. Loose rugby leads to mistakes, and there were too many of those in a first half where referee Paul Pearson also played a role in keeping the Boks from attaining momentum through his interpretations at the breakdown.

After half-time Pearson seemed to see it differently, and suddenly all the penalties seemed to go in the Bok direction. This helped them whittle away at the Scotland lead through two Ruan Pienaar penalties that would have steadied the nerves before the Boks produced a perfect example of the type of rugby they should have been playing all along in the creation of replacement Jaque Fourie’s try.

It came through a series of hits as the Boks, playing controlled rugby, engaged the direct route, and then the ball was spun quickly down the line for long-time partners Jean de Villiers and Fourie to combine for a superbly finished try.

Fourie was on for wing Bryan Habana, who limped off after suffering a knock but who again was in poor form. His chances of playing next week against England, even if he is declared fit, cannot be that great, and Fourie showed that he is worthy of a place in the starting team, be it at centre alongside De Villiers or on the wing.

While Habana struggled, one of the other players to come in for a bit of stick lately, Pierre Spies, delivered one of his more solid performances after an indifferent international season, carrying the ball well as well as making some massive hits on defence.

The big problem area though for the Boks building up to Twickenham could well be the front-row, for Bismarck du Plessis was injured early in the test and could be in doubt due to a hamstring strain. This necessitated John Smit ending his experimental switch to tighthead, with Brian Mujati coming on as his replacement.

The Boks struggled in this phase, and with no experienced back-up in the current squad, that should be a cause for alarm as scrumming is one of the England strengths.

Ricky Januarie, in the team for Fourie du Preez, who pulled out late in the week with a quadriceps injury, played well around the fringes, but the calmness Du Preez brings with his tactical kicking boot was missed. Perhaps this was one of the reasons that Ruan Pienaar did not play with the authority of the previous week, although it is also true that he can hardly be helped by the constantly changing emphasis when it comes to game strategy.

Whereas a week ago the Boks seemed programmed to kick every ball, this week they ran too much of it. Earlier this week Du Preez spoke about the period of adjustment under the new coach – that period of adjustment is clearly far from over.

Scorers were:

Scotland (10) 10: Try by Nathan Hines (38 min). Phil Godman kicked a conversion and a penalty.

South Africa (0) 14: Try by Jaque Fourie (57 min). Ruan Pienaar kicked three penalties.“

Source: saruby.co.za