Ken Borland

The SWD Eagles piled on the pressure in the second half to beat the Valke 45-11 (halftime 12-6) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at Outeniqua Park in George on Saturday.

The bonus-point win takes the Eagles to 43 log points and the men from the South-Western Districts will now face an anxious wait to see whether the Griffons or Leopards can earn a point from their matches tonight to deny them a semifinal place.

The weighty Valke pack caused the Eagles some problems in the first half and flyhalf Karlo Aspeling kicked two penalties in the first quarter to give the Gautengers a 6-0 lead.

The Eagles made life difficult for themselves with sloppy handling and trying to run ball off the back foot and they needed two dodgy yellow cards to the Valke before they could take the lead.

Flanks Wesley Kotze (high tackle) and Frederick Eksteen (alleged trip) were sent to the sin bin in the 27th and 41st minutes and the Eagles responded immediately with tries on both occasions.

In the 28th minute, the home side eventually got the ball wide from a series of rucks and quick hands by flyhalf Burton Francis sent fullback Elric van Vuuren over for the try.

With George delivering her famous cold-and-wet weather, handling and expansive play were tough and the Eagles began using the rolling maul to good effect. Just before halftime, flank Dumisane Meslane, who played with great energy throughout, burst from a maul and darted down on the blindside for the second try, which Van Vuuren converted.

Van Vuuren has wonderful hands as well as an accurate boot and his nifty back-flip sent Meslane racing clear two minutes after the break, the loose forward then showing good vision to draw three defenders and pass back inside for the fullback to score.

Van Vuuren’s second conversion increased the lead to 19-6 and that became 26-6 in the 49th minute with the bonus-point try by wing Alshaun Bock.

Rugby can be a tough mistress and she turned ugly on Valke flyhalf Karlo Aspeling, who had enjoyed a good first half. First he missed a penalty kick to touch and then, when he received the ball back from the Eagles, he tried a chip kick which was gathered by Bock.

The well-travelled 30-year-old wing swerved away from Aspeling and then burst down the right touchline to score, Van Vuuren converting.

The Valke were now chasing the game and captain and lock Johan de Bruin evaded the blindside defence to score from a ruck in the 54th minute, following on the good work of Eksteen and centre Hendrik Meyer in creating front-foot ball.

But the Eagles broke free again in the final quarter and soared to a strong finish with three more tries.

Captain and eighthman Wilhelm Koch took a tap penalty and darted over from a scrum close to the line, before replacement scrumhalf Mzo Dyanti broke blind and put a grubber through. Van Vuuren’s kick infield was a vital touch and it allowed wing Ghafoer Luckan to gather and speed over for the try.

Replacement flank Shaun Raubenheimer completed the scoring as he powered down the blindside following a strong drive by replacement hooker Sidney Tobias.

SCORERS

SWD Eagles – Tries: Elric van Vuuren (2), Dumisane Meslane, Alshaun Bock, Wilhelm Koch, Ghafoer Luckan, Shaun Raubenheimer. Conversions: Van Vuuren (5).
Valke – Try: Johan de Bruin. Penalties: Karlo Aspeling (2).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120928/Eagles_beat_Valke_with_bonus_point

There is no denying the hunger in the Springbok team as they take on Australia – against whom they have lost their last five matches – in a Rugby Championship Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

It is a run of defeats that South African captain Jean de Villiers has admitted rankles him, the veteran of 79 Tests having played against far better Wallabies teams since making his debut in 2002.

While the run of five straight wins is a record for Australia against South Africa, they have also won seven of the last eight meetings.

“We’ve only won one out of our last eight matches against Australia which is simply not good enough. That can never be acceptable and this team has now inherited that record, so it’s our job to rectify that,” De Villiers said on Friday.

De Villiers also added that the 2012 Springbok class is a distinct team to last year’s, pointing out that they were responsible for six of those seven defeats. But there was more than just a hint of mental block when South Africa thoroughly dominated the Wallabies in the first half in Perth but failed to put them away.

What sets Saturday’s Springbok side apart from the teams that have lost in previous years is the presence of Johan Goosen at flyhalf.

The 20-year-old has the all-round game to trouble the visitors with ball-in-hand, he engages the defence and seems to have a marvellous temperament for one so young. Plus he is in good form with the boot and a strong defender.

If the Springbok pack once again gives 100% and plays like they did in Dunedin against the All Blacks, then Goosen should have the platform to enjoy a successful debut start.

De Villiers admitted on Friday that the forwards were doing most of the hard work lately and that it was time for the backline to contribute.

“The forwards have really stood up, even though they are the less experienced players, they got us close in the last two Tests and the backs now need to catch up,” he said.

While the hunger of the team is not in doubt, they will obviously require more than that to beat a team with the smarts of Australia. The inexperience of the forwards suggests they could fall prey to the trap of trying too hard and making mistakes as a result.

“The forwards really need to step up again and make the job easier. You really want that hunger, but you also need calmness in your head. That was probably shown by Dean Greyling against the All Blacks. He really wanted the opportunity to show what he could do, he was so psyched up and he really got the guys going in the changeroom before the game. But then he came out and made one or two poor decisions,” De Villiers said.

South Africa have played well enough to beat both Australia and New Zealand away from home, but it is the decision-making of the Springboks (and missed kicks) that has prevented them from turning their dominance into points on the scoreboard.

“We need to step up for 80 minutes, some soft moments cost us in the other games. The margins are very small in Test rugby, one or two mistakes and you find yourself 10 points behind.

“We’ve definitely created opportunities to score, but I believe playing for 80 minutes is the problem. We need to improve on those small mistakes,” the captain said.

Lady Luck will also no doubt have her say in what is expected to be a fast-paced game that will test the bodies of the Springboks to the full.

The Australian pack has shown the ability to absorb the physicality of the Springboks and then up the pace and spread the ball in the latter stages, and nobody will be surprised if their new starting flyhalf, Kurtley Beale, dashes and darts from the outset in an effort to move the home side around as much as possible.

“Beale is a classy player and it’s quite a tantalising prospect to see him and Johan Goosen against each other in their first starts at flyhalf. Kurtley has shown what he can do at Test level and he’s also shown what he can do at flyhalf in SuperRugby. We need to be up for it defensively because he’s definitely going to test us,” De Villiers admitted.

Teams

South Africa – 15-Zane Kirchner, 14-Bryan Habana, 13-Jaco Taute, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Francois Hougaard, 10-Johan Goosen, 9-Ruan Pienaar, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Andries Bekker, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Adriaan Strauss, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: 16-Tiaan Liebenberg, 17-Pat Cilliers, 18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Marcell Coetzee, 20-Elton Jantjies, 21-Juan de Jongh, 22-Pat Lambie.
Australia – 15-Berrick Barnes, 14-Dominic Shipperley, 13-Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12-Pat McCabe, 11-Digby Ioane, 10-Kurtley Beale, 9-Nick Phipps, 8-Radike Samo, 7-Michael Hooper, 6-Dave Dennis, 5-Nathan Sharpe, 4-Kane Douglas, 3-Ben Alexander, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16-Saia Fainga’a, 17-James Slipper, 18-Rob Simmons, 19-Scott Higginbotham/Mike Harris, 20-Liam Gill, 21-Brett Sheehan, 22-Anthony Fainga’a.

Both South Africa and Australia will be looking to make amends for past defeats when they square up in their Rugby Championship Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Springboks will be looking to end a record five-match losing streak against the Wallabies, which captain Jean de Villiers admitted rankled him, while Australia will be aiming to win at Loftus for the first time in six attempts.
“We’ve only won one out of our last eight matches against Australia which is simply not good enough. That can never be acceptable and this team has now inherited that record so it’s our job to rectify that,” De Villiers told a news conference in Johannesburg on Friday.
The Wallabies, having won their last two matches in South Africa, including a 41-39 triumph in Bloemfontein on the highveld in 2010, have set their sights firmly on winning again at altitude at Loftus Versfeld.
“Every Rugby Championship match is a big weekend but the context of this game is that it’s a great opportunity to change history. We’ve waited a long time to win in Pretoria and that’s something we look forward to,” Australia captain Nathan Sharpe said.
Both teams have endured a troubled year, with new Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer boasting two wins over England but just a solitary Rugby Championship victory, against debutants Argentina in Cape Town.
Wallaby coach Robbie Deans, at the helm of the team for a fifth year, has two Rugby Championship wins over Argentina and South Africa at home to his credit, but his continued failure to engineer victory over his home nation New Zealand has seen him come under fire in Australia.
De Villiers said the Springboks were desperate to go out and win the Test for Meyer.
“We really believe we’ve improved over the last two matches, we just haven’t been able to get the result we wanted. We really believe we’re on the right track and we want to win more than anything for the coach, to take pressure off him and the rest of the management,” the centre said.
Both under-performing teams have boldly chosen flyhalves who will start for the first time in the number 10 jersey at Test level.
Deans is hoping former fullback Kurtley Beale will spark the Wallabies on attack in the absence of the injured Quade Cooper, whose social media attacks on the coach have provided an unnecessary distraction that Australian players have privately admitted they have had enough of hearing about.
“Kurtley is one of the better kickers in our side and I have no concerns over his capacity to do what we want him to do. He’s played a lot of flyhalf alongside scrumhalf Nick Phipps at the Melbourne Rebels, so it’s an established combination.
“If you look at both backlines, the match should clearly be a good spectacle, I expect both sides to be positive and because of the conditions, it’s likely to be pretty expansive,” Deans said.
Meyer has chosen 20-year-old Johan Goosen, who has shown a willingness to attack with ball-in-hand during his two appearances off the bench, in place of the experienced Morne Steyn, who has suffered a dramatic loss of form with the boot.
Francois Steyn has been withdrawn from the Springbok team after rolling his ankle earlier in the week and De Villiers will replace him at inside centre, with debutant Jaco Taute wearing the number 13 jersey.
Both teams look likely to make late changes to their bench. Wallaby loose forward Scott Higginbotham has tweaked his back and, if there is not a dramatic improvement in his condition on Saturday, will be replaced by flyhalf Mike Harris as the visitors revert back to a 4-3 split amongst the reserves.
Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen, who has played just 35 minutes of rugby since injuring his neck on his test debut against England on June 9, has been withdrawn due to stiffness in his upper body. Pat Cilliers, who has just 3 caps, is the replacement.
Teams
South Africa – 15-Zane Kirchner, 14-Bryan Habana, 13-Jaco Taute, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Francois Hougaard, 10-Johan Goosen, 9-Ruan Pienaar, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Andries Bekker, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Adriaan Strauss, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: 16-Tiaan Liebenberg, 17-Pat Cilliers, 18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Marcell Coetzee, 20-Elton Jantjies, 21-Juan de Jongh, 22-Pat Lambie.
Australia – 15-Berrick Barnes, 14-Dominic Shipperley, 13-Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12-Pat McCabe, 11-Digby Ioane, 10-Kurtley Beale, 9-Nick Phipps, 8-Radike Samo, 7-Michael Hooper, 6-Dave Dennis, 5-Nathan Sharpe, 4-Kane Douglas, 3-Ben Alexander, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16-Saia Fainga’a, 17-James Slipper, 18-Rob Simmons, 19-Scott Higginbotham/Mike Harris, 20-Liam Gill, 21-Brett Sheehan, 22-Anthony Fainga’a.

Amid the at times indigestion-causing diet of almost never-ending top-level rugby that fills our TV screens from February to November, it was most enjoyable to spend some time at the grassroots level, watching the Jozi Tens at the Pirates Club a couple of weeks ago.

The Jozi Tens is a social 10-a-side rugby tournament combined with top musical entertainment and more than a little beer drinking. It is a wonderful reminder that the vast majority of people who play rugby do it for the fun and camaraderie. Those stars we follow and criticise on our television screens at SuperRugby, Currie Cup or Springbok level really are the upper percentile.

It is common sense that if you don’t nurture the levels at which the vast majority of rugby players participate, then you’re not going to be as successful in finding that top 1% that carries the hopes of the nation in the Green and Gold.

While the Jozi Tens was tremendous fun and a great new addition to the local club rugby calendar, two things, one before the tournament and one in the aftermath, took some of the shine off the event.

The latter was the unreasonable reaction of some people living near the Pirates club in Greenside. The club had notified its neighbours and obtained all the necessary police approval, and never went beyond agreed times during the weekend. In fact, the bad weather meant the music and noise generally stopped before the midnight deadline.

But some neighbours were still unhappy and subjected the club administrator to unnecessary abuse. They should instead have applauded a club for doing something uplifting for the local community in these tough times.

Before the tournament, I was saddened by the untimely death earlier in the week of Peter Maimane, the former Springbok technical analyst.

The 41-year-old Maimane served under Peter de Villiers from 2008 to 2011 and the South African Rugby Union (Saru) has said the Springboks would wear black armbands to mourn his passing back home “in front of our own people”. It is believed that this will happen on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld during the Rugby Championship Test against Australia, but there has been no confirmation.

In its statement mourning his death, Saru said Maimane, apart from his technical expertise, brought “great humour and positivity to brighten the team environment”. Springbok captain Jean de Villiers said Maimane was “an integral part of the team”.

Peter Maimane was a good friend of the media too; always cheerful with a wonderful smile and passionate about the game. He was only too happy to discuss the finer details of rugby. He was a man that epitomised the very ethos of the game and its values. And yet the reward for all this hard work and positivity he brought was to find himself in the rugby wilderness at the time of his death.

As a black man with valuable experience at the highest level, Maimane had so much to offer, but at the end of his term with the Springboks he was forced to involve himself with other business projects.

Having obtained his first coaching qualification at the age of 23, Maimane went on to coach various age group teams before leading the Blue Bulls Merit A side to their championship title in 2003. He also worked as a technical adviser to both the Bulls and Lions SuperRugby teams – whom he also managed, as well as the SA U19 and Emerging South Africa teams before joining the Springboks.

No one from Saru or any representative from the team he was allegedly such an “integral” part of bothered to attend his funeral.

When the Springboks hopefully stand for a moment’s silence on the Loftus Versfeld field to honour Maimane, perhaps they should reflect on how people like him, the rank and file of the club structures, make the game great and provide the foundation for the stars to shine on the biggest stages.

Saru are working hard on club rugby and last week announced the Community Cup, which will kick off in 2013 and will feature 20 of the top open, non-varsity clubs in the country in a tournament that will culminate in a grand final between the winners of their tournament and the Varsity Cup.

The 20 clubs will be divided into four pools of five, with the top two teams from each pool then playing in the knockout stages in the same format that is used in the World Cup. The knockout stages will be played over the Easter Weekend and should recapture the atmosphere of the old club championships in Durban.

But the big gesture is not always the one that has the most enduring impact.

Maimane represented the hopes of so many of the black rugby community but the powers that be merely closed the door on his career, showing the same lack of appreciation as those miserable complainers living near Pirates.

The overwhelming feeling is a sense of waste and the game, with all the transformation challenges it faces, cannot afford that.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2012-09-28-up-and-down-days-on-the-rugby-circuit