There’s a good in every bad

Peter De Villiers only managed to win two games out of a possible six during this year’s Tri-nations. A bad feat considering that we are the current World Champions. His starting record does not look very alluring especially if you consider that his predecessor has an incredible record start when he took over the Springboks in 2004.

However, there are some positives that have come out during his mixed tenure as Bok coach. First of all he has been able to foresee talent that was overlooked by other previous coaches and he has also unearthed some incredible ammunition. The first name that quickly erupts from my lips is the BEAST. This young man has been the greatest revelation for the Boks in the just ended international season. Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira has had an implausible 2008 season. He has grown immensely in just over a year to become one of the greatest loose-head props in world rugby, having effortlessly out-scrummed some of the biggest tighties in world rugby circles (Sommerville and Mat Dunning). Mobility and loose play has always been his strength, but he was often criticised for his scrimmaging last year. He has worked on his conditioning and scrum techniques under the guidance of John Plumtree at the Sharks and this year he came back with a BANG. Big up to the BEAST and he surely looks set to fill up Os’s BIG boots.

Another eye-opener comes in the wake of Adi Jacobs, a player that has been overlooked for the past 6 years ever since his Bok debut in 2002. He has managed to silence his critics (including myself) about his worthiness for the Bok no13 jersey. With his diminutive size (as compared to Steyn), I openly doubted his defensive abilities in the 12/13 channel but have since been proved wrong. This guy is a marvel to watch on attack and has broken lots of opposition defensive channels many a times. His try scoring rate is probably the highest at the moment for the springboks. Hats off to DiV for having faith in the player that he had once coached at junior level.

Other revelations of the current international season include Conrad Janjies who gone to stake his claim on the no15 jersey (away from the legendary Percival). Great under the high ball and consistent attacking capabilities, Conrad has grown to be confident and composed at the back. Andries Bekker has also been one of the findings of the season. Superb on the line-outs (dah…..he’s 2.08m tall) and equipped with great hands and ball skills, this consistent grafter has given us a raison d'être to stop licking Matfield’s feet (he can very much contest the “Moemish of the season” award alone). Sorry Big Vic, you’re no more the National Treasure, gone are those days, you better go back to Saint-Denis and look for that “Mighty-King-Matfield-Status” tiara as well as that work-rate that you dropped after the world cup final against England.

Besides these revelations, other players have also been exposed (Frans, Butch, Percy, Matfield, Schalla, Juan just to mention a few)......Not for good reasons, but on the SHOCKING part. Nonetheless, I believe the POSITIVES out-weigh the negatives overall. So at least there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.

Breaking the Silence.......

A very good morning to you all ladies and gentleman. It's been quite sometime since the Coach posted an article on this much preferred blog and i must say the past few weeks have been rather abysmal to some extent, with all sorts of untimely events proceeding. Nonetheless, I would like to send a deferred "SHOUT OUT" to the Boks for plummeting the Wallabies pretentious ship at the Coca Cola stadium last weekend. I must say the 'Wobbles' were beginning to grow big-heads after overwhelming the Boks at the Shark tank in their previous fixture, only to be brought down to earth by the Nokwelishas stirred 'Bhoko-bhoko'.

Amazingly enough, the Bok mentor is still being taunted and ridiculled by the the so called 'ragga-bloggers' after that emphatic victory. I wont dwell much on this issue. If we truelly are proudly Bok followers, the least we can do is to congradulate DiV and his side for a job well done. Let the 'anti' and 'pro' DiV factions settle this on their own. The tri- nations is gone.

Nevertheless, one appealing MANIA that was brought t0 light by the recently ended tri-nations was the DOMINANCY and SUPREMACY of Cape rugby. The Bok team had on average at least 5 players on the run-on XV (Conrad, Jean, Ricky, Schalla, Luke, Mujati, ) on most times. To quote one of the WP's die-hard followers and 'rugby GURU's statement, " At least two sets of qualifiers for the Boks in the Currie Cup.....(Percy and Monty, Ricky and Bolla, Schalla and Luke) alongside other familiar bok faces in Andries, Mujati, Grant, Tondie and Brits......SIYASHISA Madala"

On paper, I believe we have the best BEST SIDE in the world... the only side or team that i see maybe trying give us a tussle or good run for our money is perhaps the JAMAICAN 4X100m relay team that broke the olympic world record (BOLT, ASAFA, Frater,Carter). Otherwise no other rugby side would look this good on paper. Well, all we need to do is to translate this on the field, like we did in the Super14, and we'll be completely untouchable.

We also are privileged to have the GOLDEN-BOY of South African Rugby in NIC KOSTER. For him to be in the match squad despite a number of Springboks coming down is surely an indication that the technical team has got MAMMOTH plans for him in next years Super 14. The Cheetahs must look forward to some serious battering this weekend.

Go WP..........jou lekker ding!!!!!!

This article was inspired by the "rugby GURU", CoachTJ.