Ken Borland

WorldRugby this week confirmed the hosts of their World Cup tournaments for men and women through to 2033 and proved again that, as the governing body for the sport, they are mainly concerned with making as much money as possible and not necessarily the good of the game or sporting principles like fairness and equity.

Of the nine men’s World Cup tournaments held, six have been won by New Zealand and South Africa, and yet they are the countries most unlikely to ever host rugby’s showpiece tournament again, purely for economic reasons.

New Zealand’s small population and time zone issues mean the 2011 tournament they won is likely to be the last one they ever host, while South Africa are mainly prejudiced by their weak economy. Although the exchange rate does make hosting the tournament cheaper, WorldRugby still demand a guarantee of about R2 billion from whoever stages a World Cup.

That sort of money can only really be stumped up by northern hemisphere nations and Australia.

But having put on some of the greatest sporting events ever held – Madiba’s 1995 Rugby World Cup at the dawn of democracy, the 2003 Cricket World Cup and the 2010 Football World Cup – there is no denying South African rugby fans feel tremendously hurt at being snubbed by WorldRugby.

That hurt is only made greater by the skullduggery that saw France snatching the hosting rights for next year’s World Cup, after WorldRugby’s own evaluation committee had recommended South Africa.

But when it came to the WorldRugby council voting on the issue, the powerful European bloc backed France. The worse betrayal of all came from Rugby Africa, the continental body which has its offices in Cape Town, paid for by SA Rugby, and who also voted for France.

Much like in African football, there is a growing sense of north African teams seizing power and aligning themselves with the old colonial power of France.

In a decision WorldRugby chairman Bill Beaumont, the former England captain, said would “accelerate the growth and impact of rugby globally”, Australia were awarded the 2027 World Cup and the USA the 2031 edition. The next three Women’s World Cups (2025, 2029 & 2033) will be hosted by England, Australia and the USA.

Apart from an obvious trend towards favouring the Anglosphere, the USA are hardly a rugby power. Their women may be ranked seventh in the world, but the men’s game is still taking baby steps.

Major League Rugby has been on the go in America since 2017 and the sport is growing in the world’s biggest commercial market. But the USA would be the weakest team to ever host the World Cup and they still only attract around 20 000 people to their home matches.

Sevens rugby is their most popular format, with nine million TV viewers for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco in 2018.

One can argue giving Australia a World Cup is also helping the development of the game because Rugby Union is perpetually fighting a battle for prominence in a country that prefers Aussie Rules and Rugby League. Especially with the Wallabies slowly drifting away from rock-bottom and their union admitting that hosting the World Cup will basically save them from going bankrupt.

Having been kind enough to help Australia out of their financial hole, one hopes WorldRugby will show the same generosity and offer the same opportunities to New Zealand and South Africa, historically the most important rugby nations.

But it will be at least 40 years between World Cups for South Africa, and New Zealand are lagging in the sporting arms race when it comes to the capacity of their stadiums, the size of their population and technological advancement.

Oh, and don’t forget that both these great nations cannot pour enough of that all-important cash into WorldRugby’s greedy coffers.

The opening of The President’s Links, a golf estate of world-class quality, based on the principles of eco-friendly sustainability and durability, is very good news for the community of Walvis Bay as a whole.

Comprised of over 745 luxurious residential units in about 148 hectares, the estate offers comfort, safety and high-class leisure and commercial amenities. Chief among these is Namibia’s first signature golf course, designed by the legendary Peter Matkovich and leading South African golfer Louis Oosthuizen, who has finished the year ranked inside the top-10 of the world golf rankings.

Matkovich and Oosthuizen chose the specific location of the course, on the edge of the Dorob National Park and on the fringes of Walvis Bay town. The distinctive dunes surrounding the course will be an added attraction and The President’s Links are hopeful of attracting thousands of golfing tourists. Aiming to be on the top-100 list of global courses, they are also optimistic that they can attract the Sunshine Tour back to Namibia and possibly even stage a DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) event in the future.

Anyone investing in The President’s Links will automatically contribute to The Living Desert Fund. Twenty percent of every house sold will go into this sustainability fund, which will enable community development initiatives as well as maintaining the golf course and clubhouse.

The President’s Links will undoubtedly boost the local economy, creating jobs and adding to the sense that Walvis Bay is a centre of growth, especially since the construction of the new container terminal at the port which has a capacity of at least 750 000 standard 20-foot equivalent units per annum.

The estate is a big investment in Namibia as a whole and the Walvis Bay community will benefit through the presence of multinational technology retailers such as iStore, a new state-of-the-art hospital, a hotel and casino operated by an international group, and other retailers of global brands such as Starbucks.

In an extremely arid country like Namibia, water conservation is always a priority and The President’s Links will be using electrocoagulation technology to convert water that was formerly effluent exiting the Walvis Bay municipality into an odourless source of irrigation water for use out on the golf course. The municipality has granted the estate three million litres a day of water that is currently not fit for human consumption and cannot be purified to potable drinking water. All water not used on the estate will then be sent back to the surrounding community for their use.

The President’s Links is complying fully with the Edge (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) Certification system of the International Finance Corporation. Edge certification gives owners the assurance that their homes are built to be resource efficient. By focusing on energy and water saving initiatives, as well as ensuring the maximum use of raw materials in their most natural state, the estate has made a minimum of 20% savings across the board.

For the non-golfers, there will be plenty of other amenities for the amusement of residents, including pet-friendly recreational parks, a sports education centre, restaurants and coffee shops, gym, bowling alley, swimming pool, tennis courts, running and cycling tracks.

The President’s Links offer the ultimate in style and luxury and the ideal opportunity to live, work and retire in Walvis Bay. Investing in this eco-friendly, sustainable and yet modern and sophisticated estate includes free golf membership.

Set in the beauty of nature in its raw form, the President’s Links mixed development offers spacious living and incredible amenities.

South Africa levelled their three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Saturday, winning the second ODI by 67 runs in a rain-affected match, victory being achieved through the medium of the traditional principles of winning 50-over cricket.

They won the toss and batted first, opener Janneman Malan getting a masterful 121 and the rest of the top-order supporting him in successive partnerships of 43, 96, 38 and 86.

With Heinrich Klaasen providing the explosive finish with his impressive 43 off 27 balls, South Africa were able to post a commanding 283 for six in 47 overs, the match being shortened due to a wet outfield after showers in the morning.

Ace fast bowler Kagiso Rabada then struck twice in the fifth over and, with medium-pacer Wiaan Mulder also chipping in with the new ball, Sri Lanka were rocked early on as they struggled to 19 for three.

And then the South African spinners took over, Keshav Maharaj, on his Proteas captaincy debut, squeezing the batsmen hard with one for 32 in eight overs, and Tabraiz Shamsi bringing his wicket-taking ability to the fore with a career-best five for 49 in 7.4 overs.

It was in impressive all-round display by the Proteas and there were several important contributors who supported the main stars.

Aiden Markram (21) helped ensure a solid start with the bat, before Reeza Hendricks came in and batted with beautiful fluency to stroke 51 off 54 balls and ensure the Proteas took momentum into the middle overs.

Malan went through tough times against spin, but his maturity and class were evident as he battled through and also overcame painful cramp attacks. He has now scored three centuries already in the eight ODIs he has played and he boasts the ridiculous, Bradmanesque average of 104.50.

Klaasen came in at 177 for three in the 36^th over and showed intent from the outset and his glovework was also sharp.

Rabada had taken two for 16 in six excellent overs up front, but then sprained his ankle and had to leave the field, but Mulder and Andile Phehlukwayo produced tidy seam bowling as well.

Charith Asalanka threatened to chase down Sri Lanka’s revised target of 265 in 41 overs after another rain delay when they were already four down, as he struck a dangerous 77 off just 69 balls. He and Dasun Shanaka (30) added 64 for the fifth wicket and Chamika Karunatne caused problems as well with his 36 off 23 deliveries before he was outfoxed by Maharaj.