Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2022 i SA RUGBY

From the highs of the British & Irish Lions series win to the lows of successive losses against the Wallabies, 2021 was one hell of a rollercoaster ride for Springbok supporters. The unfashionable world champions ruined the Lions narrative when they dusted themselves off after a 600-day layoff, first to salvage and then to win a bitter series by kicking and tackling the best of Britain into submission. The reaction to ‘Rassiegate’ almost dwarfed the series, deepening the divide between northern and southern hemisphere rugby but also galvanising the Boks and their die-hard supporters with an us-against-the-world mentality. Mental fortitude was what carried South Africa through the season as they absorbed the injury-withdrawal of stalwarts such as Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cheslin Kolbe amid the challenge of life in what…

If you’re a head coach, who’s the first player you pick in your team? Cheslin Kolbe. No explanation needed. Which of your teammates is the best to follow on social media and why? Embrose Papier. He posts the best influencer content. Who would win an arm-wrestling competition on your team? Arno Botha. What sport would be the funniest to add a mandatory amount of alcohol to? Beach volleyball. What is your spirit animal? Sloth. Who would win a fight between Batman and Superman? I thought Superman, but according to comic experts Batman can apparently beat anyone with prep time. If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on? Jim Carrey. If you could be any character in any movie, who would you…

On 24 November, the World Rugby council voted to amend its eligibility rules to allow players to change Test teams during their career after a three-year stand-down period and providing they have ‘a genuine, close, credible and established national link’ to the country they now wish to represent (such as having a parent or grandparent who was born there). Under the previous regulations, a Test player could change allegiance only through an unintended Olympic sevens loophole. The revised eligibility regulations will apply from I January. To pass, the proposal needed 75% of the council members to vote yes, and with tier-one nations having more votes than those in tier two, many thought it was unlikely to happen. Why? Well, this amendment will strengthen the Pacific Island nations, who will soon…

Imagine university dorm buddies ending up at the same professional rugby outfit all the way out east, on the other side of the planet. For hooker Willie Britz, now with the Houston SaberCats, and his back-row pal Lappies Labuschagne, that is exactly how it panned out. Patching together some phone signal from his farm in South Africa, Britz tells us about his friend Lappies. ‘I never played under him when he was captain, he always played under me when I was captain when we played together in university and at the Sunwolves. He is a great guy. ‘THE PLAYERS LOVE WHAT HE DOES ON THE FIELD AND LOVE THAT HE POTS HIS BODY ON THE LINE EVERY TIME HE STEPS ON TO THE TRAINING AND PLAYING FIELD’– TONY BROWN ‘He…

TENDAI MTAWARIRA ‘I am so proud of myself,’ said the former Bok prop. ‘First big academic achievement in my life since A-Levels. On my way to being called Doctor Beast.’ ‘Roc Nations Sports family. Great to meet you yesterday brother,’ said Mtawarira, referring to Belgium and Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku. RONALD BROWN The Blitzbok and cancer survivor was named the University of Johannesburg’s Sportsman of the Year for 2021. ‘I didn’t see this one coming, nevertheless, I am grateful,’ he said. ‘It is never about the result but the process. As I say goodbye, I would like to inspire and be a role model for the upcoming and next king.’ AKKER VAN DER MERWE ‘Special to finally watch you . Will always be in your comer’, said the former Bok…

Eben Etzebeth continued to prove himself as one of the world’s outstanding players with three excellent performances for the Springboks during the tour of the United Kingdom, earning him the readers’ vote as the world champions’ most valuable player for 2021. The most experienced player in the Bok squad, Etzebeth underlined his importance to the team in the Tests against Wales, Scotland and England. Etzebeth started in all three Test matches, playing 82 minutes against Wales, 81 against Scotland and 81 against England for a total of 245 minutes, showing that he still plays with the energy of a youngster on debut. The 30-year-old made a total of 23 carries on tour, including a memorable linebreak against England at Twickenham and beating four defenders in the three games, but his…

When I called Jake White to thank him for inspiring the Bulls to successive Currie Cup titles, both of which were played in 2021, he said the recognition was always appreciated but that the reality was that no one individual was responsible for the Bulls success in 2020 and 2021. White lauded the Bulls president Willem Strauss, CEO Edgar Rathbone, his coaching and management team and naturally spoke about the contribution of his players, who endured a year like no other in rugby history. White spoke of the club coaches in the Bulls area, the junior set-up at the Bulls and the working liaison between himself, his coaches, the club coaches and the schools coaches. ‘Rugby is a religion in Bulls country,’ said White. ‘It has been a privilege for…

Aaron Mauger has a bit to prove. As head coach of a start-up franchise he needs Moana Pasifika to do well in Super Rugby’s revamped Pacific competition, but not just for the sake of the franchise. Mauger needs to succeed as a head coach too, after being let go by the Highlanders and having been sacked by England club Leicester. So there is a bit resting on this new gig with Super Rugby’s new boys, not that Mauger is worried. ‘Moana Pasifika is the only head coaching job I would have taken on at this stage,’ he says. ‘I’ve been involved in rugby all my adult life and it is demanding. The game has been awesome to me and I owe everything to it. It’s provided many opportunities for me…

‘I’VE NEVER LOST HERE’– MAN OF THE MATCH FRANS STEYN WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE SPRINGBOKS’ FIRST WIN IN CARDIFF SINCE 2013 ‘WE DIDN’T PLAY NEGATIVE FOOTY, LIKE THE STEREOTYPE SOUTH AFRICA THEY’RE NOT PLAYING THE GAME THE WAY IT SHOULD BE PLAYED WHEN THEY WIN’– NEWZEALAND-BORN IRELAND WING JAMES LOWE AFTER THEIR 29-20 WIN AGAINST THE ALL BLACKS IN DUBLIN ‘THE BIG THING FOR GOOD YOUNG PLAYERS IS DISTRACTIONS ... THERE’S A REASON THE YOUNG GIRL WHO WON THE US OPEN HASN’T DONE SO WELL AFTERWARDS’– EDDIE JONES WHEN DISCUSSING THE NEED FOR FLYHALF MARCUS SMITH TO REMAIN FOCUSED. THE ENGLAND COACH WAS REFERRING TO EMMA RADUCANU ‘CHOCOLATE CARAMEL WOULD BE GREAT BUT I’LL SETTLE FOR VANILLA’– OX NCHE WHEN ASKED WHAT KIND OF CAKES HE WOULD BE LOOKING FOR WHILE IN EDINBURGH. THE BOK PROP…

At the beginning of 2021, Siya Kolisi’s claim to a place in the Springbok starting XV was widely questioned; by the end of the season most of his critics were furious he hadn’t made the cut for World Rugby Player of the Year. South Africa’s results this year under Kolisi’s captaincy speak for themselves – a series victory against the British & Irish Lions, ambushing the All Blacks on the Gold Coast and then an end-of-year tour to the United Kingdom which included victories against Scotland and reigning Six Nations champions Wales. On the surface, the Boks merely carried on where they’d left off in Japan, but the reality is that Kolisi completed an arduous personal journey through injury, sickness and the uncharted territory of bio-bubbles and travel restrictions, and…

Jake White has worked wonders with the Bulls, but there should be no discussion when it comes to who wins the award for South Africa’s Team of the Year in 2021. The Springboks are the world’s No 1-ranked Test team and deserve to be crowned the best team in South Africa, despite being snubbed for the World Rugby Awards. The best World Rugby was willing to do for South Africa was to nominate Lukhanyo Am’s try, scored in the South Africa A game against the British & Irish Lions, for Try of the Year. Not one Bok player was nominated for Player of the Year and head coach Jacques Nienaber was not considered for Coach of the Year despite winning the Lions series, beating the All Blacks in the Rugby…

GONE ARE THE DAYS where people spent five hours banging away on a treadmill every day. And if you’d told those treadmill bangers that they could get just as good of a workout in only four minutes, they probably would’ve chucked their sweatbands at you. These days, a new wave of workout is dominating the scene in the form of Tabata training. It’s simple: Four minutes; eight exercises; 20 seconds of high intensity, high endurance, pure burn; then 10 seconds rest. What’s more, putting together a Tabata workout is fun, as there is an endless variety of exercises to choose from, plus many different ways to structure those exercises. The following workout has been specially structured with moves that will help build up isolation in your muscles, as well as…

The world champion Springboks were two minutes away from an A-grade season, but they can still take pride from an exceptional international return in 2021 because they started the year as the No 1-ranked team in the world and after 13 Tests finished as the No 1-ranked team in the world. In an international season that seemed to take forever to start and then to finish, it took an 80th-minute penalty by England to deny the Boks a third successive Test win on their end-of-year tour. Fair play, England. Fair play, Eddie Jones. Congratulations, England. The Springboks had opportunities to win comfortably with a dominant second- half display, but two missed penalties and a missed conversion proved costly. There were also three other kickable opportunities from which the Boks sought…