Sports Illustrated» Rugby

Rugby Old Boys To Sing Australian Anthem

denver — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:59:52 +0000

Advance Australia Fair: The Wallabies belt out their national anthem with gusto... Well, some of them.

Thanks to Facebook, a choir of former rugby players will sing the Australian national anthem when the Wallabies face New Zealand in a Tri-Nations match.

The choir will take over the field at a Tri-nations rugby test in Sydney next month to sing the Australian national anthem after successfully accumulating more than 10,000 supporters. The Old Boys Rugby Choir will belt out a no-frills version of Advance Australia Fair when the Wallabies play the All Blacks at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on 11 September after winning a challenge to gather 10,000 fans on www.facebook.com/rugbychoir.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) agreed to let the choir lead the singing if they won enough support and, helped by television appearances, they confirmed on Tuesday that they passed the mark and would join country singer John Williamson before kickoff. Choir captain Michael Garnett said he had approached the ARU because he and his rugby-playing friends felt renditions of the anthem contained “vocal gymnastics” that stopped the players singing along.

“We believe that the anthem should be delivered straight and free from vocal gymnastics,” Garnett said. “When you have people do vibrato and layers of harmonics through it, that’s not what we believe in and we believe the players don’t want it either.”

He said current Wallabies Drew Mitchell and James O’Connor had been very supportive of their campaign. “Both tweeted our cause because they said they can’t sing along with those vocal harmonics either,” he said. “They want it sung straight and that’s our premise. We don’t have all the trills along with it.”

REUTERS

Pumas Stun Defending Champs

schalkj — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:16:47 +0000

The Pumas achieved only their second victory in this season’s Currie Cup by securing a 22-21 victory over the Blue Bulls at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Friday.

The defeat for the defending champions was their fourth loss of the 2010 competition and ensured that they ended the weekend in fourth position on the log with 24 points.

The Blue Bulls were overtaken on the Currie Cup log by the Free State Cheetahs who handed Western Province their first home defeat of the season during their 29-24 victory at Newlands on Friday evening.

The Bloemfontein outfit and the defending champions are both on 24 points. However the Free State side’s superior points differential (+25) over their Pretoria counterparts ensured that they ended week eight in third place.

WP flyhalf Willem de Waal who added nine points for the Cape side is still the leading points’ scorer in this season’s competition with 115. He is however only two points clear of Sharks flyhalf Patrick Lambie who is on 113.

The Cape side still currently occupies second place on the log, but their second defeat in the 2010 Currie Cup has meant that they are now seven points behind the log-leading Sharks who secured their seventh consecutive win in competition following their 48-30 victory over the Griquas on Friday.

The defeat for the Kimberley side in Durban relegated them to fifth position on the 2010 Currie Cup standings. They are on 23 points, but only five points behind the second positioned WP.

The victory for the Sharks ensured that they opened up a healthy points’ gap between the rest of the Currie Cup Premier Division chasing pack and themselves.

Griquas winger Bjorn Basson scored four tries in this match and strengthens his lead at the top of the Currie Cup leading try-scorers list with 13. Sharks’ winger Lwazi Mvovo who has scored seven five-pointers, is in second position after his eight games.

In Johannesburg, the Lions kept their semi-final aspirations alive after they recorded their fourth victory in the Currie Cup following their 45-22 win over the Leopards in Johannesburg on Friday.

The Lions though still occupies sixth position on the log with 20 points. However the defeat for the Leopards ensured that they continued their winless run in this season’s competition. The Leopards are at the bottom of the Currie Cup log with four points.

Pumas 22 – Tries: Elgar Watts, Doppies le Roux, Ashwin Scott, Tiaan Meyer; Conversion: Watts. Blue Bulls 21 – Tries: Dean Greyling, Dewald Potgieter; Conversion: Jacques-Louis Potgieter; Penalties: Francois Brummer (2), Potgieter.

Western Province 24 – Tries: Adriaan Fondse, Gio Aplon, Duane Vermeulen; Conversions: Willem de Waal (3); Penalty: De Waal. Free State Cheetahs 29 – Tries: Kabamba Floors, Jongi Nokwe; Conversions: Louis Strydom (2); Penalties: Strydom (5).

The Sharks 48 – Tries: Odwa Ndungane, Monty Dumond, Craig Burden, Stefan Terblanche, Tendai Mtawarira; Conversions: Patrick Lambie (4); Penalties: Lambie (5). Griquas 30 – Tries: Bjorn Basson (4); Conversions: Naas Olivier (2); Penalties: Riaan Viljoen, Olivier.

Lions 45 – Tries: Renaldo Bothma (2), Johan Snyman (2), Warren Whiteley, Michael Killian, Jano Vermaak; Conversions: Elton Jantjies (3), Burton Francis (2). Leopards 22 – Tries: Michael Bondesio, Jan van Zyl, RW Kember; Conversions: Clayton Durand (2); Penalty: Neill Jacobs.

Smit Demands Springboks Kick On

jaya — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:03:47 +0000

Matt Giteau of Australia tackled by Jaque Fourie of South Africa.

South Africa captain John Smit refused to get carried away with his side’s 44-31 Tri-Nations victory over Australia and accepts his side still have plenty to work on.

The Springboks ended a run of four defeats to clinch a first win in the competition and while Smit was relieved to have finally turned the corner he conceded it will be difficult to defend the World Cup next year on the same form.

“The second half was a little bit closer to what we want,” he said. “But after the start we had, we know we definitely need to tighten up – that really complicated matters. We wanted a lot more accuracy and it came after the first 15 minutes, but that is not the type of rugby that will win you the World Cup. We want to show patience and play on our own terms.”

The start he was referring to was the Wallabies snatching a 14-0 lead inside the first five minutes and then retaining that margin after 10 minutes. It was a dreadful start and one that Smit was not proud of, but he felt happy with the spirit shown by his players.

“Coming back from being 14-0 down and the game had barely started is something we can be proud of, but it’s obviously not something we wanted to do,” he said. “I told the guys that we still had 70 minutes left and there was plenty of time to win this game, and we started to do things better.

“We held on to the ball more, kept it in hand and got the set-pieces working. In the four weeks since we got back (from Australia and New Zealand), we worked on correcting the errors that had crept into our game and got back to basics.”

Smit, who saw his 100th cap spoiled by the All Blacks seven days earlier when the Springboks were beaten in Johannesburg, also heaped praise on his deputy Victor Matfield after he marked his own century appearance with a win.

“It’s a huge testimony to the type of guy Victor is – he didn’t make a big thing about it and the only time we would have known it is an occasion was when we saw the 100 on his jersey,” he added. “We didn’t say we wanted to do it for Victor, but rather that we do it for each other, so that Victor could have a celebration tonight.”

Australia skipper Rocky Elsom, who said in the build-up that he expected the hosts to start with a bang, was left surprised by the proceedings at Loftus Versfeld. “Although we got off to a flier, the Boks retaliated just as fast,” he said. “It ended up being a fast game for the full 80 (minutes).”

And the Waratahs flanker felt they lost the game in the second half when the visitors scored only three points to the 20 by the world champions. “We took our chance early on, but just came up short in the end. In the second half we did not retain possession enough to win. We needed to hold onto the ball at the end, and we didn’t do that.”

Courtesy of Scrum

VIDEO: Toks Does The Anthem

gareth rosslee — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:08:45 +0000

Victor Matfield’s 100th Test tomorrow will be special for a number of reasons. It’s at his beloved Loftus Versveld, there are going to be 30 000 Matfield lookalikes wearing masks in the crowd and the Boks are going to thump the Wallabies to arrest their losing streak.

Okay, we’re not actually sure about the last one just yet.

What you might not know, however, is that it will also be a special anthem laid on at Loftus with former Springbok and Western Province prop Toks van der Linde putting his opera skills to good use by singing the anthem.

If you want to know what to expect have a look at Toks singing the anthem with those jokers from OvertoHugh in this brilliant little skit.

Looking Ahead To The Four Nations

jaya — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:58:40 +0000

Nicolas Bergallo of Argentina

Argentina are expected to join the Springboks, Wallabies and All Blacks in 2012 to create the Four Nations Championships, but how will this affect the dynamics of rugby and the Tri Nations?

They may only enter into the Four Nations Championship in two years, but it is good to look ahead and assess the situation, provided the situation with Sanzar and Saru is sorted out.

Inclusion into the Four Nations Championships has a host of benefits for the Argentineans, including new investments and developments for the neglected game of rugby in the South American country, but there are both advantages and disadvantages for the other teams too.

One great advantage for the Boks is that they will play fewer games. The proposed format will see the four teams playing on a home and away basis, meaning six matches per team and a total of 12 matches overall.

The Four Nations would be played from mid-August, following the end of the new Super Rugby competition, for an eight- or nine-week period. In a Rugby World Cup year, an abbreviated format would be played through July and August.

South Africa’s dislike of the existing Sanzar schedule is another factor in Argentina’s favour. The Springboks have long considered it to be lopsided, requiring them to tour for a month every season, whereas their Australian and New Zealand opponents fly in and out of South Africa in a week. Having Argentina on the schedule would even up the tour commitments.

Former Springbok coach Jake White was strongly in favour, saying: “If we are honest about making it a global game, we must try to accommodate Argentina. They have shown they are competitive in every way, against us, New Zealand, England and the Lions. The Tri Nations does need something fresh.”

That was in 2007. Now, three years later, we can say we need something to invigorate the game. Perhaps the Argentines are just what the Tri Nations need.

For audiences, less rugby will mean more competitive games.

Argentina may be more of a soccer nation, but in the rugby world they have not done too badly.

They secured third place in the last Rugby World Cup, showing that they are strong contenders. The Pumas ranked fourth in the world in 2007 and rank eighth at the moment.

Los Pumas achieved a lot in France in 2007 without the Tri Nations or the Six Nations. It is quite outstanding that they have done it without the technical and financial resources and training facilities that the Springboks, the All Blacks or the Aussies have.

It is even more remarkable that the Pumas had just three months to prepare for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. Imagine what they can achieve when given equal opportunities and a chance to play with the best?

This will surely keep the Boks, Wallabies and All Blacks on their toes and improve the game of rugby altogether.

Disadvantages
While this might look rosy, there are some challenges ahead of their inclusion. First of all, Sanzar needs to be careful not to start diluting the game. Although there might only be four teams participating, the future might see more and more nations wanting to join.

Sanzar proposed that Argentina take up residence in South Africa during the tournament, to cut down on travel. Bad luck for the Down Under players as flight times between Auckland and Buenos Aires of just over 14 hours compare favourably with 14 hours between Sydney and Johannesburg, while Buenos Aires is a seven-hour flight from Cape Town.

Adding another team from another continent just adds the pressure of travelling.

For a mention, the other issue is how Argentina’s involvement will affect the division of broadcast revenue, which is currently split equally.

Argentinean Playing Style

How will they fare against the rest?

We don’t expect them to reach the top going against former Rugby World Cup winners like the Springboks, Wallabies and All Blacks but, at the same time, it is not wise to underestimate the Pumas.

With many of their players playing for overseas leagues, they are not ignorant to the going-ons of rugby outside of Argentina.

Felipe Contepomi and Juan Martin Hernandez

Here are some players to look out for:

Juan Martín Hernández
Hernández, who played for the Sharks in the Super 14 this year, was one of the outstanding players in the 2007 World Cup, playing for his native Argentina. He will be in the vanguard of sweeping changes coming to the competitions organised by South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

Felipe Contepomi
Contepomi joined Leinster in 2003 on a four-year contract following Bristol’s relegation from the Zurich Premiership. He played a major role in Leinster’s run in the 2006 Heineken Cup, helping his team to a 41-35 win over holders Toulouse, scoring 21 points in the process and winning the Man of the Match award. That year he was top scorer in both the Celtic League and Heineken Cup.

Players such as fullback Juan-Martin Hernandez, prop Marcos Ayerza, scrumhalf Agustin Pichot and flanker Juan Fernandez Lobbe are regarded as among the best in their positions in the world, and the growing depth of the Pumas was shown recently when a young touring side beat Northampton and Leicester.

They might not be playing in 2012, but it shows that there is plenty of talent in Argentine Rugby.

Let’s see how the Pumas play in next year’s World Cup and how the situation.

Courtesy of The TimesOnline

HAVE YOUR SAY: What do you think of the Four Nations?