Watson inspires Bath victory
Luke Watson picked up the Man of the Match award for his efforts in Bath’s 16-9 win over Edinburgh.
The former Stormers and Springbok loose forward was irrepressible at the breakdown, while another former Cape player in hooker Pieter Dixon crossed for a try in the third minute of the match. Michael Claassens’ side have now picked up their first win since 18 September.
Other European Cup fixtures saw Clermont score five tries in their 40-30 victory over Leicester on Sunday.The French club were without South African Brent Russell for this fixture, but Aussie-born flyhalf Brock James provided the spark they needed. Wing Napolioni Nalaga scored a brace in the first half as Clermont went to the break 25-9 ahead.
Other matches on Sunday saw Sale beat Harlequins 29-19 while Biarritz smashed Newport 49-13. In the latter match, former Lions lock Trevor Hall played off the bench for Biarritz, while ex-Sharks prop Eduard Coetzee was an unused substitute.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:26 am
@ufo: 43 – ufo, He is only there on loan for about a month or so until the S14 starts. He will be back for WP then.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:26 am
@kesbok:
Mmm, I’ll give the guy his due, if he wasn’t such a tool he would be in my squad of 30 players.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:30 am
@SodaJoe: 11 – Joe, That is a huge pity. W. Claasen son going to play for France next year. He only has about 10 months to qualify to play for them.
Hear he is playing brilliant rugby. Only went there cause he never got game time here. Had a back injury (think it was a back injury) Now is firmly a French oke. Loves living there and playing his rugby and wants to play for France. Pity.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:38 am
He is still a poephol! I hope he does well in England and stays there for a very long time.
The only reason he makes his statements is to curry favour with government for his dads BEE deals.Money grabbing ******** the lot of them cheap dockside whores!!!
December 14th, 2009 at 11:41 am
December 14th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
GO LUKE WATSON !!!!! THE BEST SA number 8 by far !
December 14th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
So Luke said some pretty stupid things in the past!
So what…
Peter De Villiers makes stupid statements, every time he opens his cake-hole.
And most of “US” type worse.
December 14th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
best no.8 in south africa?
not even close chaps.
best opensider?
not even close.
best team man?
dont make me laugh.
a very talented player?
undoubtedly.
he had his chance and didnt fit in. let me be more clear, he simply didnt find himself accepted by senior players in the squad. now all you lefties squealing that this is a poor reflection on the senior players should just take a moment to think about what life is all about.
at times, you have to suck hind *** in life and bite your tongue when a person higher than you in the hierachy tells you how things should be done.
as you go through life, you may rise on the hierachy but one thing is for sure, if you dont accept the hierachy, or that life and society has certain non-negotiables, you will struggle. every victory you think you make, will probably be pyrhhic, and you will beat your head against a wall until you realise this.
different people have different timelines on this growth towards maturity. one thing is for sure, if you dont set boundaries for your kids, their growth will be stunted and their lives will be harder than is neccescary.
just like the cave dweller 100 000 years ago who ate more than his share and was cast out, or the cack at high school who did not respect the rules, a person who does not respect the rule set of any society he joins, will not last long.
from what i have seen, luke has toned down his rhetoric and taken a step back from the cauldron that is south african rugby and i wish him well on his personal path.
time will tell if he finds his way back into the inner fold of the springbok team but that will depend on him, no one else.
December 14th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
@rangerman: for a guy that’s piss-poor in your eyes you actually wrote a very long post!
December 14th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
@Valkyrie: i never used the words piss poor mate.
in fact i said he is undoubtedly a very talented player.
just not THE BEST at no. 8 or at no. 6 imo.
the abscence of emotion in my post should be all the clue you need as to my intentions.
December 14th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Well said Ranger
December 14th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
@rangerman: respect a hierachy that repulses you & that you wish to raze…
December 14th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I hate the guy. I hate anyone who sucks up to the ANC just to get ahead. However, I think at the moment he’s the best performing no 8 in SA. You guys are probably gonna eat me alive for this, but Pierre Spies pisses me off with the way he can never play well in the Springbok jersey. He’s always one of the best players in the CC and S14 but whenever it comes to the Boks, he’s completely annonymous. Why I get so mad is because he is a freak of nature and has the ability to be one of the most destructive rugby players on the planet, but just doesn’t do it. I think Spies should play wing. We’ll have a paceman like Habana on the one wing, and a quick and incredibly strong wing on the other side. Then PDV must just drop the whole over-seas policy thing and put Watson at no. 8 and JDV at centre and Frans Steyn at fullback.
December 14th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
@rugbywriter: He doesn’t suck up to the ANC to get ahead. They all support the ANC because they truly believe in their message…
personally I don’t know who I would vote for… think they’d all stuff it up eventually
December 14th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
@rugbywriter: In defence of Spies he did operate behind a pack that was piss poor at the scrums….and not easy at 8 when the scrum in turbo reverse.
Dont hate so much…its unhealthy.
Watson. Joe V Niekerk and Dewalt Potgieter are more natural 8th men than Spies…..
But Spies has that explosive ability…..first see him behind a better scrum before judging i reckon…
December 14th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
@grant10: I tellin Luke you don’t like him no more…lol jk
December 14th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
@grant10:lmao @ “turbo reverse” the wp scrum made luke shine in the cc
@rugbywriter: i also hate uninformed people!
December 14th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Lots of Grinches here I see.
December 14th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
@grant10:
Does the UK rugby gives us a real measure of Watson’s ability and skills?
At the Top of the Guinness Premiership League are Sarecens, they have a bunch of good S African forwards but they aren’t the best, Van Heerden, Ernest Joubert are over the hill, while Brits, Melk and Reynecke are very good players but were not in the starting line up at their SAs teams.
No disrespect to Watson whom do I rate, and I don’t forget it was him and another 6 forwards who held against the ABs in Dunedin among them Mujati and Steenkamp who faked tackle after tackle last 10 minutes
December 14th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
@rugbywriter:
It’s a loose forwards combo and weakness of the front row that let the Spies of the Super14 & CC down.
Spies ideally is combined with SB and J Smith, when the combo included Brussow, he has many other assignments that sapped his power and energy, thus he is invisible, but IMO he did his share rather satisfactory in the Boks’ tests this year
December 14th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
@Hondo: #70
Spies played with SB ans JS most of his games as a Bok. He was anonymous in most.
Did he also have other assignments then?
December 14th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
@nama1:
I thought he was very good against the BILs.
He is prominent on the hard surface, but I’ll take JvN, Duan Vermulen or Albert anywhere else ahead of Spies
Maybe an impact player off the bench is his best position at Test level?
December 15th, 2009 at 4:18 am
Without doubt Luke is a very good player but if we ignore the politics, note that Luke had a game for the Boks (Fiji, Tonga?) and did not impress at all – nothing about team mates etc etc.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
@Transformation: Trans, the ‘hierarchy’ was actually very positive about Like until he started ordering people to put him in the bok team to reward his dad for supposedly being part of the ‘resistance’.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Many people make a good career by stepping on stones, and staying in the spotlight. That’s fine. Problem is you should be able to live with the consequences. When there were a backlash he kicked back by playing the ‘discrimination’ card. Heck… nobody even cares what Cheeky supposedly did or didn’t do. I don’t think anyone even heard his name (much less remember it) until Luke made an *** of himself in the media.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
@Bouts:
Pretty much summed it up
Luke is a talent no doubt, but the controversies he created since his started playing super12 rugby affected his developement.
He almost always takes the wrong option with ball in hand, that’s because he always tries to prove people wrong, this aspect of his gane hiders his upgrade from a very good forward to a Test rated player
simple
December 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
@CenturionShark (aka LondonShark):
How did you see the game in London? I read it was only screening here on 5th Feb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!which I thought was as retarded as it gets!