Thanks a ton, Smitty
21 Aug 2010
MARK KEOHANE, in Business Day Sport Monthly, says that while the sprint of 2007 has been closer to a limp in 2010, the long serving Springbok captain is a deserving Test centurion.
At a time when all John Smit hears is condemnation of having stayed a season too long, comes the view of a 10-year-old who believes he can’t stick around long enough.
‘John Smit is the best, but at hooker. I don’t think of him as a prop,’ my son Oliver told me. The reason my son’s thoughts are more pertinent than mine is because of my initial struggle to write this piece. There was the celebration of the brilliant career, but there was also the reality of a season that has been a struggle for a player who put on 20kg to make the transition to playing prop and then has been asked to play hooker again.
It was unfair to ask that of Smit, as it would have been for any player, but nothing in Smit’s 10-year Bok career has been fair. Oliver wasn’t interested in that kind of detail.
‘He won us the World Cup,’ he said. ‘And he makes me want to be a Springbok because, Paps, after Kamp Staaldraad I don’t think anybody wanted to be a Springbok.’
Can Smit leave a greater legacy than inspiring the next generation of player to want to be Springboks? The World Cup, the Tri-Nations, winning against the All Blacks in New Zealand, beating the British & Irish Lions and being the second South African to play 100 Tests are monumental achievements. But inspiring younger generations to be like you, to play like you and to be winners (like you). That’s huge!
When I called Business Day Sport Monthly publisher Gary Lemke and told him this one’s going to read a bit different, as it’s not so much what I think of Smit’s career, it’s what my laaitie thinks of Smit, he said it was weird that I would have this conversation with my boy, as his seven-year-old boy (Mark) had traded being Bryan Habana for Smit in their backyard rugby games because ‘he’s our captain and he’s going to play 100 Tests for South Africa’.
In chatting about Smit to my boy he said the reader wouldn’t really be interested in my opinion about the Bok captain. ‘Why don’t you just write about what he has done and the way he has made us all smile?’ You can’t argue with the wisdom of the innocent and the young. They have no agenda, no complication and they somehow make it seem so simple.
Smit is a great of South African rugby – and among the greats of the game. To those who counter that by saying the greats know when to go, that’s a myth. Four of sport’s greatest – Muhammad Ali, Michael Schumacher, Lance Armstrong and Mark Spitz – all believed they had one victorious fight left in them. Smit is no different and while the popular view may be that he should have taken a first-class flight out of Test rugby after beating the All Blacks in New Zealand and winning the Tri-Nations last year, you can’t tell a champion when to go. It is the nature of a champion that someone has to retire him; and there is always a younger, bigger and more passionate challenger not interested in emotion and only interested in being the next champion.
Smit, regardless of whether he makes it to next year’s World Cup in New Zealand, is a champion who was the inspiration in turning the Springboks into the world-class side of the past six years.
With his prop’s waistline too tight a fit for a jersey made for the more athletic hookers, Smit has suffered this season, but the disappointment of 2010 can never detract from what he did for South African rugby, post-2003, the failed World Cup in Australia and the infamous Kamp Staaldraad.
Smit, asked to build a squad of youngsters and a sprinkling of survivors from the 2003 season, has never shirked the responsibility and never asked for a free ride in doing so.
He has survived five Bok coaches and resisted the challenge of so many good players with aspirations of wearing the Bok No 2 jersey. His leadership, more than his play, has influenced his longevity, is a popular retort from those who have and always will be anti-Smit.
There is an element of accuracy here, but Smit, between 2004 and 2009, justified his position on playing ability. He won the respect of the opposition and I recall Richie McCaw saying he was the toughest opponent he had faced as an All Black. There can’t be a greater compliment.
Over 10 years Smit has made the sacrifices and as an international player he has won every prize. The hunger, however misplaced the use of the word may appear given criticism of Smit’s conditioning this season, is not what it was 10 years ago, and if it were it would be freakish.
Only a handful of players can sustain the form needed to play for a country like South Africa for 10 successive years, and then there’s the complexity of captaining South Africa.
Two years ago Smit and McCaw shared a room while playing for the Barbarians. Smit tells the story of doing a telephonic media interview from the room while McCaw chilled. When it was over McCaw asked him whom he was talking to. When Smit said it was a standard media interview, McCaw laughed and said all he had to think about when captaining the All Blacks was rugby.
The politics of captaining South Africa continues to amaze Smit’s international counterparts. ‘Rather you than me, mate,’ is the standard response.
But Smit has gone on record saying he wouldn’t want it any other way because he appreciates the uniqueness of South Africa as a young democracy and the influence sport has on South Africans.
And having worked with Smit during a spell with the Springboks it isn’t a public relations line he uses. He believes in this country and he believes in the power of the Boks to expedite the search for normality.
His dignity in leading the Springboks in 2004 defined his leadership. Captaining the Boks requires special qualities. No Bok captain of the future will have it as tough as Smit had it in 2004 because he had to condemn Staaldraad (a camp he attended) and build a new image for South African rugby. He did so with honest reflection, spoke of his individual gains from the bush camp, but said a camp of that nature had no place in South African sport.
‘It taught every one of us about ourselves and what our bodies were capable of physically, but it was never going to be the reason we would win the World Cup. The intent was good, the execution was not,’ was how he summed it up to me a year later.
In his book Captain in the Cauldron he gave the most complete and unemotional account of the three days the 2003 World Cup squad endured in the bush. It left the reader with a feeling of sadness and sympathy, but also clarity about the leadership at the time. Smit was adamant there was never malice but a misguided belief among the squad’s leadership.
His book, a bestseller in South Africa, lacked the usual kiss and tell of what happens on tour. He gave an insight to the qualities of all five Bok coaches, what they added to the fabric of the Boks and coherently attempted to explain why some failed and others had triumphed.
He worked closely with Jake White between 2004 and 2007, and subsequently with Peter de Villiers. Not once has he ever compared the two. His loyalty, as a captain, is to the guy wearing the coach’s jacket.
His biggest loyalty is to his players and he is a disciple of shared leadership within the squad. He never makes a decision alone, but once a decision is made he always takes the responsibility.
White, technically brilliant, had player management shortcomings. Step in Smit. De Villiers, his player management his strength, is technically not as strong as White. Step in Smit.
Show him any pity and he is quick to cut you short.
‘I have been privileged to play for and captain the Boks, but I know it isn’t the real world. We live in a bubble as international sportsmen and I live very much in the real world. If I didn’t, my wife, family and close friends would quickly set that right.’
At a very early age he understood the politics of rugby, the role of the media and the bias of South Africa’s provincial support base. He never wasted energy trying to win popularity and allowed the critics their platform and their view.
What mattered to him was that he was grounded, honest with himself and honest with his team-mates.
He delivered his most inspirational speech during the World Cup quarter-final against Fiji when he told his players he could see in their eyes they were on their way home and that he sure as hell wasn’t ready to leave France for another two weeks. They responded immediately.
That was just one example of his ability to inspire through honesty. Smit has always relied on telling it like it is. When asked what the difference was between the 2003 and 2007 World Cup campaigns he said in 2003 they went hoping they could win but never believed it to be possible. In 2007 he said they knew they could win. There was no need for hope or good luck – just hard work.
– This article first appeared in Business Day Sport Monthly magazine, which is distributed FREE with the newspaper on the second last Friday of the month.
173 Comments
21 Aug 2010, 06:02 am
First Dragon!..All you Sth Africans probably sleeping…4pm Saturday afternoon here in N.Z right now..
21 Aug 2010, 06:05 am
congrats John Smit…
quota or no quota
its a remarkable achievement..
21 Aug 2010, 06:08 am
Well ..as a born and bred kiwi I must still congratulate John Smit however on an awesome and illustrious career..let me see..a Tri-Nations winning captain,British and Irish Lions winning captain,2007 Rugby World Cup winning captain..etc(those are the main ones I can think of)…gotta respect that ..maybe if the sharks won the Super 15 next year that would be pretty much every cup worth winning..hats off to him..anyway…tonights game is the here and now …Go ABs!!!
21 Aug 2010, 06:11 am
@Diontnz(Diontnz)-3: may the best team on the night win…:-)
21 Aug 2010, 06:20 am
Read an article in the papers here in N.Z. about how the Boks came into the changing sheds after the game in Wellington to catch up and congratulate the ABs etc…must be difficult to play hard out against the ‘enemy’ team when in the subconscious mind they are all ‘friends’..maybe teams get too palsy with each other and should keep more of a ‘rival’ distance apart from each other so that they can have that ‘egde’ to the game with worrying about their ‘friends’ aftermatch..just a thought..what do you guys reckon..?
21 Aug 2010, 06:26 am
You gotta respect him and what he has done really.
Not many will have his record for trophys won,so well done
@Diontnz(Diontnz)-4:
Yep but i think if the ABs win tonight some will think that the best team didnt win but the lesser got help from the officials
21 Aug 2010, 06:50 am
@Diontnz(Diontnz)-5: Disagree. This camaraderie is exactly what should be encouraged in today’s pro era. There will still be Fights, don’t worry about that.
21 Aug 2010, 06:59 am
@Diontnz(Diontnz)-4: depends, if the bokke win it will be so, but if the ABs win it will be because of the ref, Paddy somehow sent him subliminal messages of conspiracy..
perhaps even a message to “declare war on SA’s”..
as for this comraderie BOKED talks of, it used to be that way… but now the precedent has been set with PDV and the rest of the circus, even talking about leaving SANZAR after agreeing to a new 5 year deal… still, it deflects from the coaching inadequacies..
guess the tik must be really kicking in huh?
21 Aug 2010, 07:04 am
I call BS on this
“‘He won us the World Cup,’ he said. ‘And he makes me want to be a Springbok because, Paps, after Kamp Staaldraad I don’t think anybody wanted to be a Springbok.”
Nice one, use your kid to ‘say’ what you think.
Nice try Keo, but i’m not buying it!
Go and sell some swamp land to somebody else!
21 Aug 2010, 07:12 am
@bloubulsd(bloubulsd)-9:
The luck of the draw won us the RWC 2007, not JS
Keo keeps saying it too.
21 Aug 2010, 07:14 am
@Hondo(Hondo)-10:
Agree with you, if he is 10 now, he would have been a baby during Kamp Staaldraad…
Congrats on reaching 100 JS, you can retire now…
21 Aug 2010, 07:17 am
its been a wonderful year to be a south african, with the swc. now for the rumble in the jungle. theres almost a mythical feeling to this game. i just hope that both teams are on top of their game and that it lives up to the hype.
21 Aug 2010, 07:18 am
@bloubulsd(bloubulsd)-9:
Haha yep agreed with that first quip, however Smit will go down as one of a kind, South Africa could do with many more of them.
What a legend!
21 Aug 2010, 07:20 am
The front page of the Sports mag above speaks of RSA’s current world leader in surfing Jordy Smith but shows a goofy footer in the pic. Amateurs!
21 Aug 2010, 07:23 am
Smit is a much better hooker than given credit for, however that all that ‘leadership’ accolades are nonsense, the Boks team since JW’s departure has no tactical and behavioral disciplines, they don’t revert to Plan B when called for.
Let’s all hope JS will last at leasst 65 minutes on the field today.
21 Aug 2010, 07:25 am
very well done…..indeed it is a wonderful accomplishment.
I watched E TV news last nite….saw Smit at training and an interview……have to say he is in absolute shocking coondition, no qiestions about it……..he simply does not look as if he is putting in the hard yards to get into shape.
IMO he will get nowhere near 2011 wc if he is not prepared to put in many hours of intense specialised training to reduce by at least 20 kgs…..
To compare Smit currently to any of the saffa provincial hookers is revealing….no matter what the conditioning coach will have us believe.
21 Aug 2010, 07:27 am
@money_man(money_man)-14:
Maybe got the neg the wrong way round??
Good one John. Give it heaps tonight boet.
21 Aug 2010, 07:28 am
@grant10(grant10)-16:
So would you struggle to lose 20kg’s after having just been told to put it on……..blame the polooka coach. Does not know his a rse from his elbow!
21 Aug 2010, 07:32 am
@whatever(whatever)-18:
He does know where to buy his whisky at a good value for money price
Got to give it to that guy
21 Aug 2010, 07:34 am
@whatever(whatever)-18: agreed….but it has been a good few months now….and seriously, i am not being unkind, but Smit is looking really terrible, bloated and i cannot see any sign of weight loss at all….surely by now , after 3 months, some sort of improvement should be visible?
21 Aug 2010, 07:37 am
Smit’s fighting weight at hooker has always been 115-120kgs, you’re f@cking delusional if you think he is even 10kgs on top of that!
21 Aug 2010, 07:38 am
@whatever(whatever)-17:
Exactly, poor form from a magazine.
Suppose it is a South African one at that!
21 Aug 2010, 07:38 am
@grant10(grant10)-20: More like 8 months.
21 Aug 2010, 07:47 am
Not sure about a ton, but close, 130kgs plus?
21 Aug 2010, 07:53 am
At least he’s a million times more articulate that the moustachioed moron who pretends to be the coach.
21 Aug 2010, 07:53 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-24: seriously i was a bit shocked seeing him last nite…..in the training he looked so immobile….there is no way he is remotely match fit for a hooker….no way.
21 Aug 2010, 07:54 am
@grant10(grant10)-26: Saw him last Sunday in his restaurant, eating pasta of course.
He’s not small.
21 Aug 2010, 07:55 am
Hope the Boks can win it for him later today, a great rugby man, congrats JS.
21 Aug 2010, 07:55 am
@grant10(grant10)-26: And I never thought it would get so bad I actually want us to lose so we can get a new ‘coach’.
21 Aug 2010, 08:00 am
Keo how does your boy know so much about kamp staaldraad? He was only 3 when it happend. Me thinks you told him inappropriate bed time stories.
21 Aug 2010, 08:03 am
Smit’s 100th cap will at least be played at home. Unlike Percy’s at Newlands. No one is going to rain on this parade.
21 Aug 2010, 08:04 am
Keo what a load of cr*p you are really adrift if you need some misty eyed input from your kid. Load of nonsense, JS has done a great job for SA but he has also been well paid for his services and after tonight there needs to be a focus on who will perform next year at the RWC.
Frankly JS has to go as prop now as he cannot keep out a fit Biz, a scary prospect but who else in SA can pack down TH and perform any better ?????
21 Aug 2010, 08:04 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-29: to be honest if we get a hiding i think the whole pack of cards may come tumbling down….
Including the curtain on Smit.
Hoping for the bst….but have reservations, especially after seeing the terrible condition Smit is in.
things to do….cheers
21 Aug 2010, 08:05 am
The greatest Captain of all time.
21 Aug 2010, 08:06 am
@bananas(bananas)-32: Mr Bananas….if your solution with Smit is to accomodate Smit back at prop…..
well then your nick is pretty much descriptive about your rugby acumen.
Outta here
21 Aug 2010, 08:10 am
@grant10(grant10)-35: Read the last para G10, whats your solution ? Facts are that JS will be carried to RWC .. make lemonade if you have lemons. Analogy clear enough ..?
21 Aug 2010, 08:15 am
@bananas(bananas)-36: Smit has to retire, along with Vic and the coach.
21 Aug 2010, 08:21 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-37: Hey I agree but it isnt going to happen, we have a cosy set up with PdV/Gold/Muir all relying on the past glories of mentioned JS/VM. Who has the balls to fire the first representative coach in SA ?? Not anyone at SARU that i have seen.
The real brain seems to be FdP and VM, JS is a superb man and capt but is not fit enough anymore to play the current rules.
Sorry but we need to face reality that PdV is going nowhere and he does not have the confidence or ability to start again and build a team and tactic on his own. I say the same about Gold or the useless pr*ck Muir.
Better SARU sacks DM/GG and brings in the BBulls/Stormers team as an interim RWC measure.
21 Aug 2010, 08:23 am
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-34: Sean Fitzy? John Eales? Martin Johnson? Philip Nel? Willie-John McBride?
21 Aug 2010, 08:25 am
@bananas(bananas)-38: SARU has no balls at all. Between the new main man and the President they won’t make any decisions..
Especially the new main man, heard odd things about him already.
Anyway, the only course of action is hoping for a massive thrashing, it is the only way forward.
Agree about DM and GGlitter, they should never have been there in the 1st place and highlight the stupidity and naievity of the coach.
According to players, he has bought not ONE new idea to the camp in 2 years and I believe that.
21 Aug 2010, 08:32 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-39: All great captains but NONE have had to handle the political issues surrounding SA rugby and team selections. I doubt many teams would have had the success that JS/Boks have enjoyed.
21 Aug 2010, 08:37 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-40: It is the gravy train and no one will demand results lest they are judged on the same basis. I have my fears about the next crop of Boks as they will not be selecting the successful S14/15 players nor achieving the same success … havnt we seen that already ?
21 Aug 2010, 08:42 am
@bananas(bananas)-42: We have, it’s a slippery slope.
We can all see it coming and have for years. The Boks’ glory days are over.
21 Aug 2010, 08:43 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-37: JS will be back.KM was out of the AB team for ? 2 years. Look where he is today1
WELL DONE John Smit!!Most South Africans wish you the best for this game and the future.
21 Aug 2010, 08:48 am
@optiplay(optiplay)-44: I hope so, I have huge respect for JS but he needs to be conditioned for Hooker OR prop.
21 Aug 2010, 08:48 am
@bananas(bananas)-41: Agree!!Compare him to the joke Corne Krige is. Making a spectacle of himself .Arguable the dirtiest player to ever captain a bok side.Now he wants to tell us we are cry babies. He is one of the big reasons we got branded as dirty players. The idiot!
21 Aug 2010, 08:49 am
@bananas(bananas)-45: Agree Bananas. But he can be back.Although it should be done on merit.A few games in the clubhouse did wonders for Mealamu
21 Aug 2010, 08:50 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-40: does these players have names?
21 Aug 2010, 08:51 am
Well done John Smit a respected leader and a great player
Good luck Bokke and good luck ABs,it will be great match in front of that 90 000 people
21 Aug 2010, 08:53 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-48: yep, just not going to reveal on here.
21 Aug 2010, 08:54 am
@JL1(JL1)-49: butterflies in the tummy already cant wait
21 Aug 2010, 08:54 am
@bananas(bananas)-45: Everyone talks about his weight, rugby365 there is a photo of him next to Richie and Smit does not look out of shape
21 Aug 2010, 08:55 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-50: or anywhere else i suspect
21 Aug 2010, 08:57 am
As for Francois Pienaar,
John Smit:
Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It’s too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came,
and he pushed,
and they flew.
Some Bok supporters are still behind our Captain Barney.
Go Centurion! Make us proud!
21 Aug 2010, 08:57 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-53: well you know I can’t, players can’t say things about the coach
21 Aug 2010, 08:57 am
the sickening angle of using Keos son to ‘ghost write’ this article aside….
Well done Smit. Excellent Capt, and even better After-dinner speaker. Can’t lie and say “brilliant player” albeit you’ve had your moments (late scrum shove in Hamilton ’09). Best moment ? Subbed back on (HOW ?!) for Lions 2nd Test and turning the tide.
Salute !
21 Aug 2010, 08:58 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-51: Good for rugby to have 90 000 fans crammed into a stadium
Just a matter of the team holding their nerve, Boks lost when they lost their nerve
Cool heads today, I am worried about old Flip
Maybe have a early beer to calm the nerves, just to take the edge of
My body is in aches and pains when I sit and watch a test,I take and perform every tackle
21 Aug 2010, 08:59 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-56: That was corny.I agree.
21 Aug 2010, 09:00 am
@bloubulsd(bloubulsd)-9: Yeah, that is BS, Grant10 wanted to be a bok after Kamp Staaldraad, now he resent Smit for not being able to crawl naked with other men through the mud.
21 Aug 2010, 09:00 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-55: whatever
21 Aug 2010, 09:01 am
@coma(coma)-59: Bwhahhaha
21 Aug 2010, 09:03 am
Any news on Tom Donnelly and his mechanical ankle?
21 Aug 2010, 09:05 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-27:
27. goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)Reply to this comment :
August 21st, 2010 at 7:54 am
@grant10(grant10)-26: Saw him last Sunday in his restaurant, eating pasta of course.
He’s not small.
Yep, he may have made sacrifices, but never at the table.
21 Aug 2010, 09:05 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-60: What has Twakkie brought to the team then? He’s a joke, a big Moustached BEE political joke.
21 Aug 2010, 09:05 am
@JL1(JL1)-57: yeah echo your sentiments especially bout flip. bit early for a pint
21 Aug 2010, 09:06 am
@Auntie Mavis(Auntie Mavis)-63: Not on the SmitFit diet.
Eat and eat and eat and deny.
21 Aug 2010, 09:07 am
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-39:
There is a reason why he is the most test capped Captain of all time. Smit doesn’t only deal with rugby, his duty goes much further than that.
21 Aug 2010, 09:10 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-64: all im asking is verification of what you claim, but you are unable to do that
21 Aug 2010, 09:11 am
@coma(coma)-59: bwhahaha
21 Aug 2010, 09:15 am
And a welcome back to you, KKK. How many hours do we have the pleasure of your company today ? Exactly when is the final whistle…
21 Aug 2010, 09:22 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-70: leave the poor man alone, hes still hurting from the fact his showpony Spies has had his @rse handed to him by a player I said would (K. Read)..
vindication is its own reward..
hows the farm KKK, seems many of your Bokke boys sold theres the last 3 games didnt they?
21 Aug 2010, 09:22 am
20 kilograms???
what the hell! Mark this is one of your weaker articles, tell us Mark since you seem to always know these things, if the all blacks beat the springboks for the 3rd time this year, what kind of pyschological blow will that be on the south africans considering that the world cup is just a year and bit away?
21 Aug 2010, 09:24 am
Poppa
excuse the grammatical correction
“how are the farmS”
21 Aug 2010, 09:26 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-73: farms as in plural?
oh my goodness, I forgot how much better KKK was because he has more then one farm? just means more manure really doesnt it though?
21 Aug 2010, 09:26 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-68: No worries, verification will come at about 5pm today when we get another pasting.
21 Aug 2010, 09:27 am
New Bok team so anything can happen, we need parity in the tight five stakes and Mauvis is your aunty
21 Aug 2010, 09:32 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-75: even if the boks lose 10 in a row, still wouldnt verify your claim which is sounding more like a fantasy after every post you make
21 Aug 2010, 09:34 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-71: As opposed to “bought the farm” we geddit … boom boom !
21 Aug 2010, 09:34 am
Poppa
I was universally mocked here once for saying I had “2 computers”, as if I was trying to prove I was better than the next man. And they all piled in, every last desperado….
Guess how many replies I got to the following question:-
“hands up who has use of 1 computer at work and 1 at home ?”
Zero.
21 Aug 2010, 09:38 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-77: Living in a dreamworld you are. Twakkie hasn’t a clue, just admit it. He’s a joke for all the world to see.
21 Aug 2010, 09:39 am
ITM cup news Makos feasted on lamb!MMMMMAAAAKKKKOOooooooooooooooosssss
21 Aug 2010, 09:41 am
@JL1(JL1)-76: what the ab’s did well was to disrupt our first phase possession, so we were put under severe pressure and couldnt get any go forward putting us under more pressure at the breakdowns. and so the cycle cotinued. so for me we need to improve our setpieces and protect our own ball otherwise it will be a long day
21 Aug 2010, 09:41 am
@bananas(bananas)-78:
all in jest, as you SA’s would say, its just banter…
seems that has been lost on quite a few people the last few weeks, apparently its only ever been vindictive..
funny how vindictiveness really translates to what side of the win/loss ledger you sit..
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-79: hey, I have a pc at home and at work… its what happens living in a 1st world country
watch the effluence now flow in my direction…
lmao… its only banter boys, not a declaration of anything untoward, like war for example..
peace out…
21 Aug 2010, 09:44 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-79: Hey I have access to loads of Macs at work, I have 3 macs lap tops at home, one tower, 1 pc and 2 pc laptops.
I also work with web design.
21 Aug 2010, 09:46 am
@mamma_lou(mamma_lou)-82: Our ball recycling was very slow, due to obvious reasons
This had a ripple effect, pods were slow and ineffective and there was now angle running.The scrummie never looked for players running onto the ball
So I agree, protect the breakdown, obviously going off your feet is allowed and falling over the ball seems to be allowed,so we should do it and drive players away.Entry from the side is also allowed
21 Aug 2010, 09:46 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-80: i didnt agree or disagree with your statement all i asked for is verification which you agree you cant give, so lets move on
21 Aug 2010, 09:49 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-84: I have 2 double garages full, maybe around 800.
I refirbish them,
21 Aug 2010, 09:51 am
@coma(coma)-87:
I am Steve Jobs.
21 Aug 2010, 09:52 am
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-84: “I also work with web design…”
A little rock-spider in my toolshed does this too.
21 Aug 2010, 09:53 am
damn, this julian savea is a BEAST!
21 Aug 2010, 09:53 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-90: where you watching him trans?
21 Aug 2010, 09:56 am
@JL1(JL1)-85: its difficult to look for runners with the opposition all over you, but i take your point that there was not many options. all i ask for from a ref is consistancy, so i agree with richie that teams should adapt to the refs interpretation.
21 Aug 2010, 10:03 am
howdy crackers!
just thought i would pop in and say CONGRATS SMITTY YOU LEGEND!!!!!!!!
and BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
on our way to glasgow where we will be watching the test.
may the orcs be sent back to isengard (good one HG!)
tjorts!
21 Aug 2010, 10:07 am
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-91: on supersport, wellington lions vs waikato ITM Cup…
Good game
21 Aug 2010, 10:13 am
wow, this kid is something else! Try julian savea…19yrs old…irb u20 player of the year – another robbie fruean
21 Aug 2010, 10:15 am
Well done John Smit. The greatest Springbok Captain ever.
Good luck to both teams tonight should be a cracker.
Go Bokke.
21 Aug 2010, 10:19 am
@rangerman(rangerman)-93: Hey Ranter, You enjoying Scotland buddy? I am going there in November.
Enjoy, hope you got some fishing done there.
21 Aug 2010, 10:19 am
@Puma(Puma)-97: Sorry, Ranter meant Ranger. Typo sorry Ranger.
21 Aug 2010, 10:34 am
@Puma(Puma)-97: Howzit Puma, will you be going to the game in November? Scotland vs. SA that is.
21 Aug 2010, 10:59 am
100?
21 Aug 2010, 10:59 am
gotcha
21 Aug 2010, 11:03 am
Puma
no less than a Freudian, that one.
21 Aug 2010, 11:19 am
Goodluck John,
I think today you’re gonna need it.
21 Aug 2010, 11:36 am
What time is KO ?
21 Aug 2010, 11:57 am
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-104: beeb’s giving it at 2pm BST (which I think is 3pm CET)
21 Aug 2010, 12:02 pm
BH
cheers. Just found a bar down here that has Canal+ and the barman (whose English is worse than my Spanish) says coverage is from 1:15 til 4, which didn’t quite add up. And my wife is issuing strict non-parental duties conditions….
21 Aug 2010, 12:19 pm
@Hondo(Hondo)-10: Gary Player famously remarked when someone said he was lucky – “Its funny the harder I practice the luckier I get.”
Yes it may appear that the Springboks had the luck of the draw but it was down to the meticulous preparation and hard work put in from 2004 right up to the event.
The fact that the All Blacks kept on messing around with two teams leading up to the event and then didn’t know who to pick was down to poor preparation.
The fact Australia couldn’t match up to England up front meant they weren’t good enough.
France were not good enough to beat England ,who we beat twice, or Argentina who we beat in the semi-final meant they weren’t good enough.
So you see the best prepared team won the 2007 World Cup because the harder they practiced the luckier they got.
Well done Jake White, John Smit and the rest of the 2007 World Cup coaching and playing squads, you understood a number of things the ignorant don’t about what it takes to be winners. And they still think you were lucky!
21 Aug 2010, 12:31 pm
Ark
some fair points, partic re ABs rotation. But the ‘luck’ analogy is irrelevant given it applies not to the Boks but to the DRAW. You can practise all you like but Im sure they could turn up 100 times and still beat Fiji with 1 hand behind their back. SA have never ever lost to Fiji or Argie. Spin all you like but that’s a lucky draw which no team can practise for.
21 Aug 2010, 12:32 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-43: I don’t entirely agree with the glory days been over although the slippery slope has been obvious for all to see for a few years.
The coaching units at the Bulls, Stormers and even Sharks could turn things around in a heartbeat. The problems right now are down to an absolutely clueless coaching team who have no idea how to take this team forward.
21 Aug 2010, 12:47 pm
I think perhaps, the sooner Keo Junior takes over the Family Business, the better.
21 Aug 2010, 12:52 pm
@ARK(ARK)-109: Yep I agree. It is the coach, the assistant coaches and clearly the conditioning staff are not up to it.
Players seem fine at S14 level and CC looking hot with all sorts of style being played (Div says his problems are the Bulls and Sharks play the same but the Stormers don’t – I don’t know if he’s watched the Sharks these last 7 weeks, they have managed to adapt so he clearly talks hogwash.
THe only solution is a thorough beating and a firing of the coach. The guy is such a doooos he actually said if it wasn’t for apartheid he’d have been a bok!!! WTF? Delusions he has…
21 Aug 2010, 12:56 pm
@ARK(ARK)-109:
I think the slippery slope has more to with:
-15 Test Matches in the last yr.
-15 Super games for many of the Bulls and Stormers Boks.
-Curry Cup games for the Boks.
-A Barbarian game.
-Etc…….
There is only so much fuel in a tank.
21 Aug 2010, 12:57 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-71:
Your All Blacks beat a Springbok team. They didn’t beat THE Springbok team. A Springbok team for example, can often have Ricky Januarie starting. The Springbok team on the other hand has Fourie du Preez starting.
Keep that in mind, and remember we will have all of our players back come World Cup semi finals time. I wonder if Graham Henry’s fate will be similar to that of John Mitchell’s? Suppose he’ll be coaching the Lions under 11s side, seeing as he’d be twice the failure of Mitchell.
21 Aug 2010, 12:59 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-112: It would certainly help if the Coach brought something new to the table. He doesn’t, ask the players.
21 Aug 2010, 13:02 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-108: Sorry, I don’t get the luck of the draw thing. To win the world cup the best teams have to be beaten at some stage. We should have played Wales and not Fiji in the quarters like NZ and Aus played NH teams. The fact Fiji won had nothing to do with the luck of the draw.
The fact NZ and Aus lost to France and England had nothing to do with the luck of the draw, they were beaten. We played Argentina in the semis because they beat France not because of the luck of the draw.
You see the luck of the draw had nothing to do with it if you face the facts. No spin on it at all.
21 Aug 2010, 13:06 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-112: For sure, but how is that significantly different for the All Blacks and Wallabies that they are so up for it and we are not?
21 Aug 2010, 13:08 pm
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-113: Im sorry, I thought the national springbok team was in fact
THE Springboks?
youve been to the BH school of injury excuses… shame then you didnt afford the same luxury last year huh? McCaw back from injury, Carter playing one game in the 3Ns versus SA, also coming back from injury… having to use players like Ross, a novice at the top level.. sounds like SA this year… so not too many kiwis getting ahead of themselves, we know you have endured what we did last year..
something you miss when you are full of bravado..
21 Aug 2010, 13:09 pm
KKK
We do not distinguish between teams, if they have the Silver Fern on their chests, they are playing for the All Blacks and representing all of NZ.
I don’t like to see Donald Duck in that jersey but he earned the right. No excuses, either, when “non Bok” teams with Januarie score historic wins at my beloved House of Pain. But, then, I’m guessing you had no problem with that either.
21 Aug 2010, 13:11 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-117: Don’t pay attention. We lost. The guys on our field are just a small part of the problem that starts where everyone except south africans can see.
I am already embarrassed, please don’t make it worse, I am expecting a proper hiding again today, and also expecting excuses, whining, gnashing of teeth, civil war and general expulsion of all white people because of it.
21 Aug 2010, 13:13 pm
@Kobus Kitty(Kobus Kitty)-113:
FdP is injured, is he not Kobie?
If so, then your post……………….in a word………………is……………………..craap.
Ali Williams is not playing for NZ. But this is STILL the All Blacks.
And this Springbok Team is very experienced.
21 Aug 2010, 13:24 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-119:
Todays Test will be a Titanic clash Goodie.
Whoever wins.
I just hope the Officials, don’t reduce the game to a farce like some of the previous 3N Tests this year.
The Paying Public deserve some consideration when “cards” are dished out.
21 Aug 2010, 13:24 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-119: I dont envision a hiding at all.. the ABs have experience playing in front of such a big crowd, an advantage I think because players like JDJ may just be overawed at the start, or over psyched (which can happen to any player)… the Bokke also have had time to stew on all the negativity they have copped, so expecting it to be very fiery..
The atmosphere will be amazing, have sat in a 90000 strong crowd before (first ever State of Origin at the olympic stadium in Sydney)..
think the ABs will pip the Bokke by 9 points… 3 tries to one.. though would not be upset with a Bokke win…might just help us stay on track for next year..
21 Aug 2010, 13:34 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-121: Yep, we can all agree on that, I hope the ref steps up and it’s a good game, won by rugby.
Enjoy it chaps and good luck to you and Poppa
21 Aug 2010, 13:38 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-123: cheers GYGT2… good luck to your team too..will miss the game, working early morning and cant record the thing… so farkin annoyed
21 Aug 2010, 14:05 pm
Yes Poppa hope it`s a great contest today,cheers mate
21 Aug 2010, 14:07 pm
If SARU had any brains(ok I know I am asking the impossible as there are too many Neanderthals ‘van die noorde’ in the exec.)they could help sort out the jelly like ATTITUDE of the ‘Boks by firing up their soft backsides with the demand that thet captain and vice-captain hand over the TN trophy for they have defintely lost it.
Forget about what any mathematician miight claim for the reality is that these ABs have definetly won it.
With this instruction te ‘Boks will hae both ALTITUDE and now ATTITUDE working for them. All they then need to attend to is execution. There very smartly and quickly I have sorted 80% of their huge problem.
21 Aug 2010, 14:07 pm
-Boks have won 8 from 11 against NZ in J/burg.
-They are well rested, (or should be).
-They have motivation.
-They have experienced and seasoned players.
-They will have perhaps the largest Rugby Crowd ever, in SA, to support Them.
-They have ALTITUDE.
-Their Media, and Coaching Staff, will have done their best to poison the Neutral Match Officials, “balance of judgement” at the breakdown.
-Susan Dawn Von Dronkelaar will be on stand-by.
-Solid Gold Watches polished.
-Pieter van Zyll will have been crash tacking Referee dumbies.
-Nelson will be wearing his #7 Springbok Jersey.
-Hansie will be placing bets in Hades.
-Bishop Desmond will be putting his feet up, in front of the tellie………..chuckling to himself…………..knowing a Bokke with his back to wall, is a Bokke worth watching.
-The Irish, Oz, Kiwi Conspiracy Pact will hold no water in the Republic.
-Victor will NOT have had a shave.
-Previous Greats from the Republic of Eye Gougers, will do their bit, to motivate the current crop of Gougers. Naas, Dannie, Jan, Breton, Dawie.
-And most importantly……….Bakkies will not be playing, so the Team may get through 80 minutes without a card.
28-28.
no bonus points for either team.
21 Aug 2010, 14:10 pm
@goyougoodthing2(goyougoodthing2)-123:
Thank You Goodie.
Likewise to you.
21 Aug 2010, 14:11 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-127:
You seem to be hitting the flask hard already,hope you dont pass out in a drunken stupor and miss the game.
21 Aug 2010, 14:13 pm
@wpforever(wpforever)-125: as much as I dish out the rubbish, nothing excites me more in rugby parlance as an AB/Bokke clash..
always has, always will…
21 Aug 2010, 14:26 pm
@Fern(Fernly)-129:
Game is too late for me Fernly. I’ll get the replay tomorrow.
Since we only need 1 poxy bonus point, I don’t see the point of staying up.
Your Mob on the other hand need:
-To win.
-To win by more than 7.
-To score 4 or more tries.
-To stop NZ scoring 4 or more tries.
And what do you fools do……………………put Aplon at fullback.
Your Lot may have had Christian Barnard do the 1st heart transplant,
but you ain’t exactly got Brain Surgeons running the SARU, now have you Fernly?
21 Aug 2010, 14:30 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-131:
Fully agree with the last sentence.
We also have quata’s to deal with and we are not surrounded by heaps of islands where we can poach talent from.
vodacom is setting up a camera at halftime that takes 900 000 photos per min and creates a 3d photo you will be able to see on their website in due course,you can even zoom in on people’s faces.
there is gonna be lot’s of eyecandy for you there to look at.
21 Aug 2010, 14:46 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-124: Convenient excuse, eh, Soixant-neuf.
Or just a subtle hiding away…
Typical multiface Kiwi…
21 Aug 2010, 14:47 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-130: You don’t “dish out” rubbish, it comes naturally for abullshitter…
21 Aug 2010, 14:47 pm
Amid all this thoroughly entertaining drivel, can someone please confirm kick-off SA time, so I can figure out what time it starts this side of the pond?
21 Aug 2010, 14:50 pm
@KeyserSoze(KeyserSoze)-135: 5pm SA time.
21 Aug 2010, 14:50 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-133: now now mate, youre the last one to be talking about hanging around surely?
remind me of that place you disappeared to?
karma karma karma chameleon aye boy george..
anyways, good luck tonight… may the best team win… will be back in 8 hours time, not three weeks chump..
kia kaha black…
21 Aug 2010, 14:50 pm
@Heavens Game(Heathens Game)-133:
With fans like you HG,
this game would be banned in heaven.
21 Aug 2010, 14:50 pm
@KeyserSoze(KeyserSoze)-135: Coverage at 3:30pm GMT
21 Aug 2010, 14:51 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-137: Run away now, like many a Kiwi with tail between legs after an encounter with a bit of Bok beef…
21 Aug 2010, 14:54 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-138: Should be banned in middle earth too – with your tyranny of helter-skelter league style cr.ap that you antipodeans try and impose on the World of Rugby Union with all your law changes and interpretation tweaks…
21 Aug 2010, 14:55 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-140: hahaha ..mate take your pills
how was France after the bokke loss at Eden park? must have been a dampener… lucky there was no internet access for you to
“man up” huh
but keep going, its fun to see your neurosis in full flight..
21 Aug 2010, 14:58 pm
@Puma(Puma)-136: Merci beaucoup, much obliged, mate! Should be a cracking atmosphere in front of a record crowd with plenty on the line, so it seems!
21 Aug 2010, 14:59 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-142: The only neurosis I’m going to see is the typical kiwi “what the fark happened” type when the ref can’t help out your vuilgat players…
21 Aug 2010, 15:01 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-144: that well may be the case, but if the ABs do lose, it will only be a phyrric victory..
but Im sure you will be in full voice, however duplicitous we are, youve been the epitome of revenge ever since returning from that convenient trip to “France”
loving it!!
21 Aug 2010, 15:03 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-145: No revenge, but for kiwis the truth is hard to take when you unwrap the outward ab “awesomeness” and all that remains is nothing more than helter-skelter rabbit rugger…
21 Aug 2010, 15:06 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-146: puh-lease… your posts are full of the R word (and no, not the R word everyone falls back upon lol)
you just cant admit the kiwis play a style that is capable of testing and beating you guys, and the fact your physicality doesnt deter us..
deep down, you admire that about them pesky south sea islanders, your fascination with the place is evident
21 Aug 2010, 15:08 pm
@poppa69(poppa69)-147: helter-skelter rabbit rugger with a good dose of blatant cheating overlooked by those ever friendly paddies-in-the-pocket refs…
21 Aug 2010, 15:10 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-148: It is actually so bad that prediction of games can now be based on who the ref is. Thank you Paddy O Brien…
21 Aug 2010, 15:13 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-149:
Who do you think we can retire to take Paddy’s position?
Kaplan perhaps
21 Aug 2010, 15:13 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-108:
Fiji on the day played a far superior game than New Zealand put together all year (remember the near loss to Canada?). If Fiji rolled over, then you could have a fair point, but they didn’t, so you are wrong. In fact, they were the most difficult side to prepare for given that they had nothing to lose and all the ability to tear you to shreds. Lucky to face them? Not a chance. Then there’s the fact that SA had the most physixally demanding fixtures in RWC history, all NZ had was a single hurdle and flopped. new Zealand had the easier draw, in teams that couldn’t hurt them, Romania, Italy and Scotland are some of the most blunt teams out there. And France hardly set the world alight now did they? You try to tell me the Boks had it easy, but NZ fell at the FIRST hurdle!! What a chop you are. And Argentina finished third, which is far ahead of New Zealand old chap. In fact they were one of the form teams in the tournament. get your facts straight next time. Added to these things the injuries the Boks suffered and diabolical banning of Schalk (Hayman got off for two punches a few feet away from the ref on the same day against Romania).
21 Aug 2010, 15:15 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-149: so your prediction on Piets mate?
and that helter skelter rugby, does it show 44-33? thought so… seems your boys just cant figure out how to stop it huh? got lucky once, had to call in your mates from France to do the job properly, along with their english mate.. (an oxymoron I know)
anyways, again, hope your team lives up to your expectations, mine will perform to a level that has been consistent since inception..
as a passionate supporter, one cant ask any more..
21 Aug 2010, 15:18 pm
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-150: Fark that. Kaplan is a weak kneed idjit…
Mark Lawrence has too many years to go as the top ref: A big gulf between him and the other Saffer refs.
Bryce Lawrence is not too bad, to be fair…
Neither can ref the big game though…
To take over – anyone but a blatant biased prat like POB
21 Aug 2010, 15:18 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-140:
Lets see now:
” tail between legs after an encounter with a bit of Bok beef…
………..”
Team P W D L BP Pts
All Blacks 4 4 0 0 3 19
Wallabies 3 1 0 2 0 4
Springboks 3 0 0 3 0 0
Not a lot of substance in the your Steak at present.
Played….. 3.
Won……… Nil.
(for our International Readers……….this is Nada, Zilch, Zero, Nothing, Naught, Nought, less than any number than can register on any graph ………a big fat donut.)
Heaven…………………………………………if there is one………(and I’m sure there is)………………….you ain’t there yet sunshine.
21 Aug 2010, 15:19 pm
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-150: Barnesy would take the hit but world rugby needs him on the pitch
21 Aug 2010, 15:22 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-154: are u staying up then cane? all that sleep deprivation can’t be easy on a man of your umm…advanced years
21 Aug 2010, 15:23 pm
What time is KO ????
21 Aug 2010, 15:26 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-154: Nothing like little bit of 2bit TV tourny perversions to beef up your “stats”.
On a level playing field sans POB and paddiesinapocket – a little bit different…
Would love to see Bok-AB stats sans Oirish refs
21 Aug 2010, 15:28 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-157: 3:30 pm coverage starts GMT
4:00pm kick off GMT
21 Aug 2010, 15:30 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-156:
Too late for me Bigglies.
Took in a Wellington vs Waikato game earlier in the day. Some good form shown by fringe AB’s.
21 Aug 2010, 15:32 pm
Alucard
Perhaps you’re right. After all, the Boks made Tonga look World class and Fiji sometimes beat them.
JWs Bokke has losing records vs NZ and France and Australia.
Phew, aye.
Phew !
21 Aug 2010, 15:39 pm
@Big Hit(Big Hit)-155:
Actualy, Barnsey, was on a Charm School Tour of NZ Clubs a month or two back.
Did a marvelous job too.
We now only consider him, “inept ät the time”.
Rather than a corrupt biased pommy arrse-holle…………….much like yourself Bigglies.
21 Aug 2010, 15:45 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-162: ‘We now only consider him, “inept ät the time”.’
sooner or later some of the more begrudging NZers will have to accept him as a world class ref and indeed one who put in a world class performance that night in Cardiff.
Perhaps another early AB exit next year will convince that perhaps it wasn’t all Barnesy’s doing?
21 Aug 2010, 15:46 pm
Cane
I say we let it go re Barnesy.
He was totally inept at the time. This much is true. But blame the idiots who asked a pimply 20-something hanky-wearing failed barrister with 7 months International Test experience to control the match between the Favourites and the Hosts, not Our Wayne.
Let’s move on.
Gotta say tho. This lot complain if they don’t get enough pens and YCs awarded against the opposition. Can you imagine I’d they went a whole HALF of a knockout match with 1 solitary blow of the whistle in their favour ?!
21 Aug 2010, 15:47 pm
Too any English, or British, readers offended by my Post above (162).
My heartfelt, honest and most genuine apologies.
Tis a personal thing between Big Hit and myself.
I loved England…………..as long as I was not in London.
Bath and York…………..my personal favourites.
21 Aug 2010, 15:49 pm
BLACKPANTHER
20 OCTOBER 2007
21 Aug 2010, 15:50 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-165: nothing personal at all caner, I consider you keo royalty, we go back a whole three years now!
21 Aug 2010, 15:54 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-164: mate, I have to correct you..
he blew the whistle two times against France… in a WC 1/4 final, imagine how deep the conspiracy would be if it was SA on the receiving end..
21 Aug 2010, 15:57 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-164:
Give me a chance meeting with Barnsey…
and………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I would not be polite.
.
.
.
..
still.
.
.
.
.
There are few Human Beings I would gladely see rot in Hell. But Wayne is one.
Bakkies another.
21 Aug 2010, 16:13 pm
Poor barnesey, he’s been stitched up and will never be the same again
good luck to the kiwi faithful tho I think it’s the boks who going to need it with that pack – bliksem let’s hope the crowd works wonders
21 Aug 2010, 16:21 pm
@Panzer Chief(cane)-169: Cowan got all he deserved…
Should have been a yellow for the little twerp and his obstruction…
Instead Bakkies gets many weeks on the side of the pitch – justice, kiwi+oirish style…
21 Aug 2010, 16:21 pm
@Black Panther(Black Panther)-161:
And de Villiers Boks have had only a 2 and a half months blip of success in three years. Still ready to draw a comparison?
21 Aug 2010, 16:23 pm
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-171: Who has Paddy got earmarked for todays yellows and reds…?
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