Michalak boots Blues
19 Dec 2009
Freddie Michalak kicked 18 points in Toulouse’s 23-7 win over the Cardiff Blues at the Stade Municipale.
Michalak played at scrumhalf with Byron Kelleher and Jean-Baptiste Ellisalde injured, and his five penalties and a drop were the difference between the sides. Thierry Dusautoir scored Toulouse’s only try and his side are in control of pool five in the European Cup. Daan Human and Shaun Sowerby came off the bench for the French club.
Luke Watson and Michael Claassens’ Bath had to settle for a 9-6 loss to Edinburgh at Murrayfield, in a match where snow fell heavily in the opening half.
Biarritz convincingly defeated the Dragons 26-8 as Dimitri Yachvili scored 23 points. Eduard Coetzee came off the bench while Trevor Hall started at blindside flank.
20 Comments
19 Dec 2009, 18:15 pm
forward passing dragon
19 Dec 2009, 19:51 pm
He played really well.
19 Dec 2009, 22:43 pm
bru it was SNOWING in the Bath game
20 Dec 2009, 08:45 am
I se CJ vd Lindes Leinster also a big win in Heineken Cup…..and Gary Botha wanting to make the bok team as the preferred hooker.
Great for Bok rugby to have all the competetion for the team….Bismarck will be pushed hard by Smit and G Botha…..BJ, CJ AND WP NEL fighting for the 3 spot, Beast, Heinke and Wiaan for the 1 spot, not forgetting Wickus Blaauw there as well….
Seems a problem area may become a strength…
20 Dec 2009, 11:08 am
@SpringbokSarah: hehe, here in Europe (apart from very southern parts) snowing in December is AN ABSOLUTE NORM.
21 Dec 2009, 11:33 am
@Nils: bru… they were playing… and it was snowing… I didn’t know they actually continued play in the snow… Bath was wearing white, the ball was white… you couldn’t see anything at 1 point!
21 Dec 2009, 11:54 am
@SpringbokSarah: 6 – Sarah, They play rugby and football in all conditions up there. The only time games will be called off is if the ground has turned to black ice. That can be treacherous to play in.
21 Dec 2009, 13:44 pm
@SpringbokSarah: It happens frequently, especially in eastern and northern parts of Europe, more rarely in the UK.
For example, football players use an orange (or red) ball in that case, rugby players should do the same.
21 Dec 2009, 13:48 pm
@Puma: Exactly. And add thunderstorms or very heavy rain (I mean Very Heavy).
I remember 2 absolutely horrendous gales/rain lashings during the Heineken cup game recently. Ulster vs Scarlets in 2006 and Scarlets vs Munster in 2008, I guess. The first one had especially nasty weather in the end. Rain of biblical proportions and gale which made kicked ball fly way behind the kicker.
Strangely, referee enjoyed it, because he added a few minutes of play.
21 Dec 2009, 13:51 pm
I remember playing rugby at school during rainstorms.
Almost bloody drowned once at the bottom of a ruck.
21 Dec 2009, 14:12 pm
@Nils: 9 – Nils, Howzit mate,
Well that is terrible weather to play in. I often wonder what is the worst. Playing in the terrible heat of Durban with humidity in Feb (our hottest month) or the wind, rain and snow up there? Both conditions are terrible to play any sport in let alone rugby.
We get the most unbelieveable thunderstorms up in Joburg. Can be really frigthening. Must the worst thunderstorms I have seen in my life probably.
How is your weather there now Nils? Must be right into your winter for sure now. We are having a great day for a change. Full sun and very hot and humid. Have had so much rain days this December. More than I can remember this time of year.
21 Dec 2009, 14:16 pm
@WP Till I Die: Howzit WPTID, Had a laugh there but really it is no joke I know, it could happen. A storm really brings down so much rain in just a short time. Being at the bottom of ruck after that could be dangerous. I know I would never have wanted to be.
Remember that game against France in the semi of the 1995 world cup? I thought they could have drowned in that for sure. Was like a swimming pool the field…hahaha.
21 Dec 2009, 14:26 pm
@Puma:
It’s not so much of a problem if you’re playing on a decent pitch (like Newlands or King’s Park) which is level.
Much more of a problem if you’re playing on dodgy school fields that are just about as uneven as the Scottish highlands, then you start finding pools deep enough to swim in.
Fortunately the referees always used to be very mindful of such dangers, they’d usually blow up the ruck pretty quickly if they thought there was any risk.
21 Dec 2009, 14:34 pm
@WP Till I Die: 13 – Still remember the water was up to their calves almost in that game in the semi in 95. That was Kings Park. Don’t think it could hold any more water. It came down torrential that time.
Ja, Schools fields should actually be inspected more. It can really be dangerous to play in that kinda weather especially up in the highveld where you get a huge amount of rain that comes down in a storm. Even if refs and quick to watch out for the dangers.
Just pleased most of our rugby is played in the winter months when it is dry. Then Cape Town gets most of its rain in the winter months.
21 Dec 2009, 15:46 pm
@Puma: Hi, Puma!
In my teens, we used to play in some terrible conditions – rain pouring, mud everywhere and sometimes you not see who’s friend and who’s enemy.
Currently we have a lot of snow. Which is very good thing (except for traffic, of course, jams every morning/evening), as it reminds me the childhood days when it was snowing properly in winter and it wasn’t fall changing into spring skipping winter. In New Year’s time in those days it was a meter or so of snow.
21 Dec 2009, 16:28 pm
@Nils: 15 – Howzit Nils, A metre of snow!!! Jeepers that is a huge amount.
I have only ever seen snow in SA in Joburg 3 times in my life. The snow I have seen a lot of was of course when I done a lot of skiing in France. Also Scotland many times and one of the years I lived in Holland it snowed once. Though the canals there froze a few times and everyone skates on them when that happens. Kinda enjoyed that.
Your winters sound really harsh. Like our summer very hot. Both climates can be harsh actually.
LOL. No matter where you live in the world we always complain about the weather. LOL.
Our winter months in Durban is brilliant. Temps around 25 and full sun, we hardly have any rain that time of year. Also the nights are not too cold around 14.
21 Dec 2009, 16:28 pm
@Nils: 15 – Nils, In the highveld and in Durban during the winter it is perfect weather for rugby. Does not get better than that.
21 Dec 2009, 21:23 pm
@Puma: Agree. You are blessed with the rugby weather.
21 Dec 2009, 21:26 pm
@Puma: “Your winters sound really harsh.”
Actually not so bad. You’d enjoy proper winter when it’s just about 0 to -10oC with plentyof snow. Skiing, skating etc. -20oC and less is harsh but that does not happen very often.
22 Dec 2009, 00:31 am
@Puma: And summer here is pleasant. Of course, not so hot as in tropical Durban, thank heaven.
About 25 degrees usually and heat waves of 30+ degrees each summer for a few weeks. Much more sunny days than in the UK during the summer while, of course, winter is milder there than in my country.
The only months weather usually is unpleasant here are November (chilly and no snow yet, so everything is grey/brown and raining a lot) and February (just damn cold, the most possible time to get -30 or so).
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