Nie oud of koud nie
Dan Carter speel hierdie naweek in sy 100ste wedstryd vir die All Blacks.
Daar was al spelers wat hierdie mylpaal bereik het, maar na my mening is hy en Richie McCaw die twee spelers wat wêreldwyd agting afdwing, en dit volkome gegun word, ongeag watter land jy ondersteun.
Dis interessant dat die ander Kiwi’s wat ook die mylpaal behaal het, almal deel is van die onlangse suksesverhaal wat All Black rugby is: behalwe McCaw het Mils Muliaina, Keven Mealamu en Tony Woodcock ook al 100 of meer toetse op hul kerfstok.
The big match for me this coming weekend will be the England/All Blacks encounter.
The English are talking self-belief, and overtaking South Africa in the world rankings. They also won nine of their last ten tests, but statistics can be very deceiving.
The All Blacks are undefeated this season, with their last loss being in the corresponding match last year. If ever there was a reason to play out of their skins, this is it for the All Blacks. They do not take kindly to losing.
I predict that their experience will far outweigh the potential in the English side; in fact, I already see in my mind’s eye a few drooped shoulders as the All Blacks score a few tries against the run of play.
This is one test where I look forward to listening to the English commentary.
Oom Bakkies en die Seuns
Daar het jy dit – ons Afrikaanse seuns word mos met mooi maniere grootgemaak. As jou van Etzebeth is, het jou ooms seker gemaak dat jy hulle respekteer.
Jokes aside, I think Heyneke needs to blend experience and youthful promise carefully. We saw last week that Jacque Fourie and JP Pietersen did not just take up where they left off, and despite the reported good form of Bakkies as part of the French foreign legion (and the popularity of his boerewors), test rugby is a different kettle of fish, if you will excuse the mixed metaphor.
The Bok team is yet to be announced at the time of writing, but the Scots made six changes, including leaving out their captain of last week. There will be more passion and pride than potential in the Scottish side, but that has surprised many a team in the past.
It seems that Scottish rugby suffers the same fate as the Aussies – a lack of sustainable feeder sources for the national side. Allan Solomons is currently in Edinburgh to try to unblock the logjam that prevents more Scottish players coming to the fore. Until they follow the All Black and South African example of rugby academies, they will be forced to hunt foreign players with potential as well as Scottish ancestry.
I will be wiping my eyes before the kick-off – Flower of Scotland does that to me, as does Ireland’s Call and Bread of Heaven.
Blooming Proteas
Bobby raised an interesting point earlier this week. Is it just coincidence, or did the involvement of Gary Kirsten play a part in the resurgence of the Proteas against Pakistan? Moving Duminy to number 5 in the batting line-up, and Faf down to three, improved the performance of both players. This was possibly as a result of Kirsten’s suggestion.
I certainly hope for Russell Domingo’s sake that the previous coach’s involvement does not undermine his authority in the side. We are currently performing well in all three forms of the game, and most of the youngsters are fulfilling their potential.
The last thing we need now is a palace revolt from the players, although this is difficult to foresee. Domingo has been with the team long enough – if there was a problem, it would have surfaced long before now.
