‘Not just clowns, dangerous clowns’
27 Jul 2010
Sydney Morning Herald columnist Spiro Zavos has launched a vicious tirade against the Springboks.
Making reference to Fox Sports commentator Brendan Cannon’s ‘clown’ comment last week, Zavos writes: ‘Peter de Villiers and the Springboks are not just clowns, they are dangerous clowns.’
He also slams the Springboks for a range of issues from their ill-discipline to their apparent desire to return to a negative brand of rugby. He continues, accusing the Springboks of deliberately cheating at breakdowns.
Zavos writes: ‘The loose cannon of world rugby is not the gregarious Brendan Cannon, but the Springboks and their coach, Peter de Villiers.
‘It is now an infamous rugby incident that Cannon was required by the Springboks to apologise for calling De Villiers a ”clown”. Fox Sports was wrong to force Cannon to grovel.
‘De Villiers and the Springboks are not just clowns, they are dangerous clowns. Their attacks on referees, their refusal to accept the laws of the game or the just punishments handed their thuggish players, their abuse of other coaches and the absurd claim of a conspiracy against the Springboks are part of a sinister attempt to undermine the best elements of modern rugby.
‘This sinister attack is inflaming Springboks supporters to unacceptable levels of paranoia. Even more importantly, the attack is a direct challenge to changes in the way the tackled ball is refereed. These changes represent the best reform since the introduction of the ”use-it-or-lose-it” principle.
‘The Springboks want a return to the negative game that rewarded kicking sides and punished sides trying to run the ball.
‘From being the dominant side in world rugby, the Springboks have become [out of South Africa, at least] an ordinary side. On Saturday night they were decisively beaten on points (literally and metaphorically) by a Wallabies side that smashed them at the breakdown and refused to kick away the ball. The Wallabies kicked 11 times [which must be something of a record in minimalist kicking] and the Springboks 16 times. This high-octane, ball-in-play style was too fast for the monster pack and the ”might is right” system of the Springboks.
‘After the thrashing they complained about being unfairly penalised at the rucks. They have a policy of illegally diving across the ball at rucks. At Brisbane, it was noticeable how many times Springboks tacklers ended up at the back of the Wallaby ruck where they interfered with Will Genia’s clearances.
‘The yellow card given to BJ Botha was offered by the Springboks as proof the conspiracy exists. This is nonsense. Slow-motion vision shows Botha deliberately plonking his body over the ball to kill it before cynically raising his arms as if to suggest he had got there by accident.
‘The Springboks just don’t get it. They insist they won’t change their game to take into account the realities of rugby in 2010. So they are deliberately trying to undermine the new interpretations. The hope is, presumably, that the IRB might restore the kick/pressure/penalty game that was so favourable to them. The IRB must stand firm against this recalcitrance. In my view, if the Springboks get away with their Justice4Boks campaign, the cause of entertaining, skilful, running rugby will be put back years.
‘This brings us to the Wallabies-All Blacks matches in Melbourne and Christchurch in the next two weeks, to be refereed by South Africans. During the Super 14 tournament, South African referees sometimes were, in a word offered by a New Zealand rugby writer, ”generous” in their decisions in favour of South African sides. For these Tri Nations Tests, though, and the others in South Africa, we want the IRB standard that encourages open rugby, not the Springboks standard that thwarts it.’
353 Comments
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29 Jul 2010, 05:55 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-299:
I thinks the forwards are partly to blame as well as the outdated gameplan.
Steyn played good footie and swung the ball in the S14 and the Bulls were right up there as the top try scoring franchsie (And I’m not a Bulls supporter)
So, I don’t think it is the player but rather other factors IMHO
29 Jul 2010, 05:57 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-300:
Actually read your own post again.
Qouted for you ” You and your cousins were bitching non stop about the Bulls getting most of their games under South African refs for the super 14 ”
See the word YOU. So again,show me the post where i said this.
Another thing i see thats flawed in your useless posts is the difference between Carter and Morne. The game you have bought up is one game against france when Carter was injured. You should have been here after those last 3 games,i dont think you would have found one person saying Morne outplayed or was better than Carter in those two games.
29 Jul 2010, 06:00 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-302: You won’t win this, he thinks he is from a superior people
29 Jul 2010, 06:00 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-298:
No not specifically the Wc, I have seen some seriously wayward drop attempts by Carter. Just not consistant in that dept, but I’m not saying he can’t cause every now and again he does crack one over
tsk tsk , sounds like an old 60 year old teacher of mine….lift ya game Popps
29 Jul 2010, 06:01 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-302:
Last sentence should read
You should have been here after those last 3NATION games,i dont think you would have found one person saying Morne outplayed or was better than Carter in those two games.
29 Jul 2010, 06:03 am
@Waster(Waster)-303:
Legend in his own lunchtime…I think he is family of Tackles!
29 Jul 2010, 06:03 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-300: now youve gone the “we’re missing players” rubbish ? bwahahaha but didnt seem to notice that aspect of NZs team LAST year huh?
the bulls scored the most tries because they had the most SA refs… admit it now kobus, them same players with neutral refs have been shown for the truth… can you see the light now?
or is it karma for throwing the last round game and making SA’s rugby “strength” appear stronger then it is? so then the tired excuse gets used, but didnt they rest players for that game?
as for thumping chests, it must pain you that you cant anymore huh? just answer me one last question
who do you support now?
29 Jul 2010, 06:05 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-306: He just referred to Januarie as an animal if I read that right and have read where he refered to others as lesser people from lesser countries, that is absolute bigotry and he is exactly the kind of person who gives south africans a bad rep
29 Jul 2010, 06:08 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-302:
No, Henry saw that Carter was cracking and subbed him for Evans, who threatened the French line far more than Carter and only little Elissalde prevented him from scoring.
Steyn was playing with prehistoric man at scrumhalf against the All Blacks. Let’s rather look at the semifinal Bulls v Crusaders 2010/2009.
29 Jul 2010, 06:09 am
@Waster(Waster)-308:
The unfortunate drawback of a public forum, you can’t really pick who you want on here. You do however have free choice on who to ignore and who not. He is just one name on a list I have…really simple!
29 Jul 2010, 06:10 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-310: Yeah fair enough, I find it hard but you are right
29 Jul 2010, 06:10 am
@whatever(whatever)-301:
Ok so forwards and outdated game plan.
Wouldnt you think then as a #10 and i must admit Morne is a good #10,he would see its not working and play the game that he thinks might work. After all he is the one running the backline. And according to Kobus,Morne is the best in the world after his 1st year of international games.
Morne did play well in the super 14,but this is international level,it is a step up. I know Morne played excellent in 2009 but how many times have we seen a player excel in there first year and not the rest.
29 Jul 2010, 06:14 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-309: why not look at both players last games versus Ireland? will that do? no, because Morne was shown up as the one trick, lets not run, lets kick pony
I still pity the workers on your farm Kobus, it must be awfully hard working for such a one eyed bigot..
29 Jul 2010, 06:15 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-307:
Who the **** were you missing last year? Carter, Heymans and Ali the injured Williams? Hardly anything as bad as what we’re going through.
The Bulls lost 2 out of their 3 games under Craig Joubert, what’s your point? Trying to argue that they don’t deserve to be the Super 14 champs? See Hurricane, your fellow New Zealander is complaining about the refs.
29 Jul 2010, 06:16 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-309:
Wrong Carter was injured and was under an injury cloud before the game. I remember cos i wanted Evans to play as i rated Evans really high that year.
So you want to pick the games where steyn looked good and thats at super 14 level? Sorry sunshine but this is international level
29 Jul 2010, 06:19 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-312:
True, but I think it’s more of a situation where no-one, including the coach knew what the game plan was and as such it all went pear shaped.
Time will tell with Morne…….
29 Jul 2010, 06:20 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-315:
Hamilton, last year.
29 Jul 2010, 06:21 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-314:
Where did i complain about refs??
Help me out here?
I havnt said anything here about the refs
29 Jul 2010, 06:21 am
@Waster(Waster)-308:
Just like wet pantie gives you guys a bad rep?
Thing is, I live in NZ and know that wet pantie is one in …..well not quite 4 mil, but close
29 Jul 2010, 06:21 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-317:
Hamilton last year when Ricky won the game in the last minute,yeah i remember,so what?
29 Jul 2010, 06:24 am
Kobus once again you have out done yourself.
Keep up the fight for Morne,someone needs to
OK i am out of here,need to go home,been working hard
29 Jul 2010, 06:25 am
@whatever(whatever)-319: Probably, but calling someone an animal and prehistoric man is probably the most bigotted thing I have read on here. But like Slartibartfast said we can ignore fools like that
29 Jul 2010, 06:25 am
ohhh fu king yawn…………………………
29 Jul 2010, 06:25 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-317: Ireland and France on the EOYT? Morne didnt look so flash then did he?
he should go to NFL mate, hed make a fortune utilising the one skill hes good at..
29 Jul 2010, 06:25 am
@Waster(Waster)-322:
I’ve seen worse mate, stick around awhile…………
29 Jul 2010, 06:27 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-318:
“By the way is that the last time you can find us complaining about refs?”
It’s not only about you, you said ‘us’, which includes your fellow cousins. Poppa is currently complaining about the South African refs cheating for the Bulls. So no, Wayne Barnes is not the last time we can find you complaining about refs.
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-320:
What? No, I don’t think Januarie was even on the bench in that game. It’s a game where Steyn dominated Carter.
29 Jul 2010, 06:27 am
@whatever(whatever)-325: I been here a few years, he makes me sick, on that note I am off to training
29 Jul 2010, 06:29 am
@whatever(whatever)-325:
People have short memories, but it is fine…
29 Jul 2010, 06:34 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-326: Steyn dominated Carter?
bwahahaha
take your hand of it Kobus… if it wasnt for Steyns other equally inept brother (lets face it, until he decides on a position hes going to be another Pienaar) kicking 3 50+ metre penalties, you would have lost in Hamilton..
how does that show Morne playing all over Carter..
the precipice your reaching out from to clutch at straws is getting ever more treacherous..
the only Steyn is the one on your hands after you hung his poster on your wall wasnt it?
29 Jul 2010, 06:38 am
Mornes’ problem is that he’s never had to run the backline. FdP has always done that, at the Bulls and Boks. In the past he was guilty of folding under pressure, something he’s corrected, we now have to find out whether he has the ability to take control. Until then, he rates far lower than Carter.
29 Jul 2010, 06:41 am
@David(David)-330: you know it, I know it…
just dont tell Kobus though, lets see if he can figure it out for himself too..
29 Jul 2010, 06:45 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-328:
Yeah, that would be right………geez there have been some serious stand up fights and some excellent comedy…….
29 Jul 2010, 06:48 am
@whatever(whatever)-332: @Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-328: all part of the banter..
and we (us kiwis) are reminding those with short memories
29 Jul 2010, 06:48 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-329:
We had a comfortable 15+ point lead until the reserves started to come on. Carter was the one that attempted a cross field kick after the fulltime siren had sounded when you were 10 meters from the Bok line, wasn’t he? That kick went into the grandstand and the Boks won the game. Composure would have been key there, he tried to be the flashy hero and failed.
Morne kicked superbly all game and even snatched himself a drop goal from 40 out.
29 Jul 2010, 06:48 am
Gotta say, this biggest di ckest thing gets a little boring ……..outaya
29 Jul 2010, 06:54 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-334: now youre blaming reserves?
I noticed you said Morne kicked superbly? but you dont mention where he ran well, where he showed vision to release his backline…
cause he himself doesnt know when too..
and I thought the position of clown had already been filled… your late application is a strong one…
29 Jul 2010, 07:18 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-336:
That’s not in the gameplan. Why spread the ball when your island imports weren’t able to catch the ball? Morne Steyn is a running flyhalf who has trained on his kicking to become the complete flyhalf. Don’t try and deny his God given talent.
@poppa69(poppa69)-307:
Oh and that’s bullshit, the Bulls were the top try scorers this season with Morne at flyhalf and instead of giving credit you rather try and point out that the Bulls had too many “cheating” South African refs. Cheating refs giving away penalties and 3 points, maybe? But I never knew refs could score tries.
29 Jul 2010, 07:30 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-337: god given talent, the blond hair and blue eyes is it?
bwahahaha
hes not better then Carter by a long shot..
as for the bulls, theyre a good side, but as the Blues showed without the help of the ref they are ordinary…
finish and klaar!
29 Jul 2010, 07:32 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-337: the man who cant give credit outside his own skin type accusing me of not giving credit?
bwahahahahaaha
correction: you now ARE the clown, PDV is just your assistant..
29 Jul 2010, 08:10 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-338:
Without the help of the ref… that ref was South Africa’s own Craig Joubert. So much for your conspiracy theory that the Bulls are only winning Super 14 titles because of South African refs, hey? They’re not only a good side, they’re a championship side. 22 games undefeated at home.
29 Jul 2010, 08:42 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-300:
There is a Massive difference between complaining about a referee, as I have done with Joubert, and calling him “a cheat”. I listed specific reasons why I thought he was hopeless and will happily open that to scrutiny in the wake of another performance from him. I’ll be surprised if Im wrong. But in no way can whatever Ive said here or previously be in any way interpreted as me calling Joubert “a cheat” because I simply dont think that he is. None of them are.
I might add that BEFORE the Eden Park Test I called Alain Rolland “a hometown ref” and, again, listed reasons why. Again, I did not call him “a cheat” because I dont think he, or any other referees, are. They are merely Human Beings, subject to making mistakes as a result of human behaviour. Nothing more, nothing less. Some of them are better at controlling emotion/behaviour and therefore get a higher percentage of decisions right (eg J.Kaplan, M.Lawrence) whilst others are not and therefore tend to make mistakes (C.Joubert, S.Walsh, A.Rolland). And quite why a ’1-eyed fan’ – like me, allegedly – would suggest that there would be ‘hometown’ decisions that would inevitably favour his own team, well…….maybe you can apply your twisted logic to that one to come up with an answer. But I was proved right after Eden Park and my objectivity unquestioned in to the process. And objectivity is hardly something anyone has accused you of being now, have they KKK ?
29 Jul 2010, 10:11 am
Objective & Bokpower, you guys are dangerously sane for keow muppets. On Spiros, I’ve engaged in some email jousts with him and it came home to me that we must never forget that our antipodean cousins essentially come from criminal stock. Such people have the cunning mindset that drives the rule manipulation and change that will confine rugby as a limited sport forever. Of course robbing the PI’s of talent helps.
Against simple SA farming folk with a dash of cinnamon here and there it’s no contest. Hopefully the migration of saffers down south will help dilute convict stock but chances are they’ll go native and adopt local ways.
A bad business for SA Rugby.
29 Jul 2010, 10:17 am
@husky(husky)-342: plod still your champion 2 that gonna lead us to wxc glory?
Or are you having 2 nd thoughts….like over 50 % of fans??
29 Jul 2010, 11:07 am
McCaw admits to ‘cheating’
2010-07-28 22:30Email | Print
Richie McCaw (Gallo Images)
Hendrik Cronjé
Bloemfontein – Richie McCaw admitted on Wednesday that he had operated outside the laws of the game against the Springboks on several occasions, but said that it’s all part of rugby.
The All Black captain was penalised five times against the Springboks in Wellington according to website ruggastats.com. This infuriated coach Peter de Villiers and a number of his senior players.
Irishman Alain Rolland was the referee who failed to punish McCaw with a yellow card for his transgressions at the breakdown and will again be the referee when the Boks play the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld on August 28.
“I made a few mistakes. I think the important thing is to know what you will get away with. But I undoubtedly made mistakes,” said McCaw.
He says he will continue playing his way as long as it does not place pressure on the team.
McCaw also admitted prior to Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne that he was fortunate not to concede more penalties in Wellington.
He said he would be wary of South African referee Craig Joubert in the weekend’s match against Australia.
McCaw and his counterpart from the Wallabies, David Pocock, nevertheless showed that there is still place for fetching flanks in the mould of Heinrich Brüssow in Test rugby irrespective of law changes.
Brüssow looks set to be available to join the Boks on their end-of-season tour to Europe.
McCaw also noted that Pocock had frustrated the Boks a lot at the breakdowns.
“He had a big impact there. The Springboks were also not as accurate as they would have liked to be,” said McCaw.
Pocock was penalised three times according to ruggastats.com.
29 Jul 2010, 14:37 pm
Have to say, Poppa – you are one seriously fucked up lunatic! The **** you have posted on this thread is laughable, especially considering your bitter winging and insulting comments on all things South African last year after the AB’s were well beaten in SA. So what if you apologised later, you showed your true class then & you’re showing it again now
Your team have beaten us twice now & played excellent rugby, well done to them – try and enjoy it ffs instead of acting like a 3 year old and trying to rub everyones noses in it, and on a SA rugby site too. Grow the **** up!
29 Jul 2010, 23:36 pm
@Rugby-1(Rugby-1)-345:
Well said sir………
29 Jul 2010, 23:39 pm
It never fails to amaze me why we have so many Kiwi’s on a South African rugby blog. Don’t ge me wrong, I really do enjoy a good rugby debate with Kiwis and Aussies, but some of you lot are only here to stir.
Grow up lads.
30 Jul 2010, 05:13 am
@chappy(chappy)-347:
What’s more they are doing it on their bosses time here in Australia… typical Kiwi work ethic!
30 Jul 2010, 09:01 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-186: Sorry o jump in but have to disagree with you…Transformation and I had our differences, but he is one of the most level-headed bloggers here, and also the fairest…sees things with two eyes.
He was merely pointing out that contrary to a lot of your and other kiwi’s posts, Saffas are not the only ones who complain about refs after losses or reactly badly after being beaten. It burns, I know, but Transie and his archives have hit a lot of sore nerves in the past, and showed up a lot of hypocritical posting, you guys aren’t the first! Instead of calling him unhinged, maybe just stand up to the fact that you guys also change your tune from time to time? No shame in it, it happens to all of us!
30 Jul 2010, 09:33 am
@Atreides(Atreides)-349:
Then youve ‘jumped in’ on the 1 post without reference to the ones that matter.
I simply observed a seismic shift in attitude in the past 3 weeks and called it as such. Yes, Ive had many decent and reasonable ‘chats’ here with the likes of Transformation and have acknowledged that and complimented him accordingly. And not without the odd spark flying either, but that is to be encouraged. Certainly I have respect for any signs of objectivity here and am hardly going to jump’n'shout at the first speedbump in the road. For eg, Im hardly going to forget your reasonableness over the years and discard that just because of one sickening attempt to label McCaw a cheat and a whole nation of people as ‘cheat lovers’. Hell no.
But this is exactly what I noticed from Transformation and Cab. Suddenly the ‘relationship’ changed, and the nasty streak overwhelmed what was left of the objective one. Where once there was a begrudging respect, now was naked animosity. Transformation even tried to follow through with a rather bizarre attempt to show me up here as a “liar” and expose me as a “fraud” by the genius route of hauling up some specific posts from the past and print them here again this week. Big effort to hunt down the Panther ! Well unfortunately he also left a large trail of crumbs that lead me straight back to the same spot and what did I find there but an even bigger sortie of entries that he had chosen to ignore that, shall we say, blew rather LARGE holes in the message he was preaching. He’s kept his distance since.
I have no problem with the likes of yourself, and a host of others, trying to brandish my team as cheats or whatever. Your team is hardly perfect, they are no choirboys Atreides. They, too, cheat. So it has very little effect. But when all is well in the Land of Milk & Honey when the results are going your way – TriN’09 and TriN’10 – only to turn bitter and nasty when the results dont – TriN’10 – then all I can assume that these people were never objective at all but, instead are nothing greater than Fair Weather Fans and, frankly, there is no label I would rather avoid. I’ll stick by my teams – Counties, Highlanders, ABs – and my behaviour wont change. I’ll turn up here and genuinely praise the opposition in victory. How many bloggers here have suddenly disappeared “to France” when the results didnt quite match their odious pre-match predictions ?
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