Here’s a little betting preview that I did for South African sports betting website GreatOdds.co.za

Crusaders - The return of Daniel Carter sees the Crusaders installed as pre-tournament favourites.  Tough to beat and boasting a star-studded line-up they will be tough to beat this season.

Bulls - The Bulls are the opposite of a box of chocolates - you know exactly what you are gonna get.  Tough, uncompromising forwards, a pinpoint kicking game and some lethal outside backs.  They’ll be there or thereabouts come the business end of the competition.

Brumbies - Installed as second favourites after signing Rocky Elsom and Matt Giteau during the off-season.  Two big name signings indeed and they will put the Canberra side in with a real chance of winning the competition.

Hurricanes - Notoriously inconsistent, but almost unstoppable when in the mood.  There are other sides I fancy more, but they’ve proved me wrong many times in the past.

Sharks - The Sharks have a star-studded side, but seem to have become their own worst enemies in the recent past.  If they can overcome a shaky pre-season their long odds will seem incredibly attractive come semi-final time as they have real Super 14 pedigree.

Stormers - Another side pinning their hopes on big name signings.  Habana and Fourie are down in Cape Town and when you put them with a hugely improved foward pack there’s no reason why they can’t go on to win.  Like the Sharks they start the competition with very attractive odds.

Chiefs - Last year’s losing finalists have arguably the most potent attacking side in the competition.  Lethal with ball in hand these guys love to score tries from all over the park.  Like the ‘Canes they are practically unstoppable when they are on form.

Waratahs - The signing of Berrick Barnes will ease their perennial flyhalf woes and could spark the ‘Tahs to life after a dour campaign in 2009.  You can’t write the men from Sydney off as they have a knack for grinding out results and making the play-offs.

Blues - The men from Auckland have signed Luke McAlister and Stephen Brett to give their undeniable attacking prowess some much needed direction.  Real dark horses.

Cheetahs - If you fancy a real long shot the Cheetahs are the team for you.   They’ll be looking to build on their Currie Cup form from last year to turn around some disappointing Super 14 form.  Unlikely to win the whole competition, but a good outside bet for a semi-final place.

Highlanders -  Serial underachievers and unlikely to feature. 

Western Force - Crippled by the loss of Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell.  The Perth based team are unlikely to be around come the semi-finals.

Lions - We’d all love to see the Lions back to their former glory, but it’s asking a lot of new coach Dick Muir and marquee signing Carlos Spencer.  They’ll surprise a few sides along the way, but won’t be consistent enough.

Reds - Traditionally tough to beat at home, but lacking the class to bother some of the better teams in the competition.

Vodacom Stormers captain Schalk Burger and Nashua Cape Cobra’s coach Shukri Conrad today announced their squads for the annual 20/20 style cricket match at Sahara Park Newlands on Sunday 17 January 2010. The match will start at 12h00.

Cricket and rugby fans can expect a fun filled family day, with Cape Town’s two soccer teams Ajax Cape Town and Santos forming part of the activities during the lunch time break, bringing together four of Cape Town’s big professional sporting teams.

The Nashua Cape Cobra’s, who have a fixture on Friday night, have put together a provisional squad featuring the likes of Justin Kemp, Justin Ontong and Charl Langeveldt to defend their home turf and the Pick ‘n Pay Newlands Challenge title.

The Vodacom Stormers have announced a provisional squad of 19 players. Hooker Tiaan Liebenberg, who turned heads the last time these two teams met in 2008, is once again expected to play an integral role in the Vodacom Stormers line-up. The Vodacom Stormers squad also features new recruits Fabian Juries, Lionel Cronje, Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie.  Coach Allister Coetzee and Fitness and Conditioning Coach Greg Hecther have also made the cut.

Both teams will announce their final match line-up’s on Sunday, when they take to the field.  The rugby side will be allowed to field 15 players, with 11 in the batting line-up.

The Vodacom Stormers squad is as follows:

1.       Tiaan Liebenberg

2.       Brok Harris

3.       Wicus Blaauw

4.       Andries Bekker

5.       De Kock Steenkamp

6.       Schalk Burger

7.       Dewaldt Duvenage

8.       Willem De Waal

9.       Duane Vermeulen

10.   Lionel Cronjé

11.   Fabian Juries

12.   Gio Aplon

13.   Frikkie Welsh

14.   Bryan Habana

15.   Jaque Fourie

16.   Allister Coetzee

17.   Greg Hechter

18.   Joe Pietersen

19.   Anton van Zyl

The Nashua Cape Cobras squad is as follows:

1.       Andrew Puttick

2.       Stiaan Van Zyl

3.       Justin Kemp

4.       Richard Levi

5.       Justin Ontong

6.       Sybrand Engelbrecht

7.       Charl Langeveldt

8.       Vernon Philander

9.       Robin Peterson

10.   Rory Kleinveldt

11.   Neil Carter

12.   Francios Plaatjies

13.   Monde Zondeki

Umpires:  Jonathan Kaplan and Shukri Conrad

Tickets for the match are available from Computicket outlets nationwide or from the Sahara Park Ticket office (021 657 2049/89).  Prices are R30 for adults and R15 for children under 16.  Gates open at 9h30, with the match starting at 12h00.

Peter de Villiers and his Springbok selectors have picked an intimidating looking matchday 22 for the game against Ireland at Croke Park tomorrow.

The selection of John Smit at hooker and BJ Botha at prop gives them a solidity up front that has been missing for some time.  Against an Ireland front row that aren’t known as the most commanding scrummaging outfit the Springboks should have plenty of firepower to get themselves onto the front foot.

With wet and windy conditions expected at Croke Park it’s also no surprise to see Danie Rossouw selected at the back of the scrum in place of Ryan Kankowski.  Rossouw has his detractors, but time and time again proves that he is a formidable force at number eight in the Northern Hemisphere.   Saturday’s Test is going to be war and Rossouw is some of the Boks’ heaviest artillery.  His partnership with Burger and Brussow is also a fascinating one with both of the ‘fetchers’ keen to make an impact with ball in hand.  It’s a loose trio that will be giving rookie flyhalf Jonny Sexton and the Irish backrow sleepless nights.

With Adrian Jacobs out injured there’s a well deserved chance for Wynand Olivier to start at inside centre.  Olivier should have no problems slotting in outside provincial teammate Morne Steyn and will have every chance to make a big impact with the in-form Jaque Fourie on his outside.

Then there’s the back three - JP Pietersen and Zane Kirchner in particular - need a huge game tomorrow to help the Springbok cause.  I’m a huge fan of Pietersen, but he’s been largely anonymous on this tour and needs to put some average performances in the past with a big game up against Keith Earls.  Habana up against Tommy Bowe should also be a treat to watch.

Much has been made of the amount of kicking in the game at the moment and this means Kirchner will need to be on top of his game too.  He’s shown flashes of the form that got him into the side in the Green and Gold, but still has plenty to do to convince everyone that he’s the man for the job.   At least in the absence of Frans Steyn!

Finally the bench is also an interesting one - and one that I feel gives the Boks some great options.  Running through the list of names on the bench - du Plessis, van der Linde, Bekker, Deysel, Potgieter, Pienaar and de Villiers - you are struck both by the class on offer as well as the many options available as the game goes on.

If the Boks come out and dish up the sort of disinterested dross that they did against France they’ll get beaten, but I don’t believe that will be the case with the side selected, the hype around the game and the will of this side to end the season on high. 

I hope I’m right.

Regular SARugby.com commentor and contributor - Modjo - contacted me with a well written and thought provoking piece on the Beast Mtawarira saga.  Have a look and have your say…
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Yet another government official criticizing South African rugby, YAWN! Its all getting a bit old now isn’t it?

Khompela wants to puke on the jersey and Stofle does not want to insult other players by giving Beast his residence. Why government continues to try and push their agenda on our rugby team remains a mystery. So I had to ask myself the question: “Why is soccer free of criticism from our politicians?” Bafana Bafana have basic immunity compared to the Springbok team. There have been no controversial statements, there have been no threats of confiscation of passports, NOTHING! So should this lead us to believe that all is well with SAFA and all is unwell at SARU. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lets examine the facts!

The Springbok rugby team is currently ranked Number 1 in the world. The team has won 2 World Cups and three Tri-Nations trophies. In the four world cups they have played in, they have
won two, been semi-finalists (winning the 3rd place playoff) and quarter finalists.

Bafana Bafana are currently ranked number 85 in the world (below teams such as Mozambique, Oman, Panama and Benin). The team has won only one major trophy which was the 1996 African Cup of Nations.

In their last 5 matches they have managed only one win, a 1 – 0 victory over Madagascar a team ranked 154th in the World.

Since re-admission there have been 4 World Cups. Bafana Bafana have only qualified for two of these, and in the two World Cups they did qualify they did not progress through to the second round.

Their results in the African Cup of Nations since readmission shows the steady decline:
1996 - Winners
1998 - Runners Up
2000 - Third Place
2002 - Quarter Finalists

From 2004 - 2008 the team never progressed to the second round of the tournament and in 2010 they never even qualified. Their coach, Carlos Alberto Perreria is not South African but Brazilian.

Since re-admission the Springboks have had 10 coaches, all of them being South African. Bafana have had 16 coaches, with 6 of them being foreign.

The Bafana Bafana squad for the upcoming game against Japan contains a squad of 24 players. Only two of these players are white players. This makes the racial composition of the squad 92% to 8%. Both the white players are goalkeepers, so only one could start. This would mean one white player out of a team of 11. But are South Africans up in arms about the racial composition of the Bafana squad? Do you hear the D.A. accusing SAFA of being racist? No, because if this is the team the coach feels is the best then we must accept it as the best.

Lets take a look at the Springbok touring squad to Europe. 37 players were selected. 22 of these players were white. This makes the racial composition of the squad 59% to 41%. Now imagine the two statistics were reversed as in 92% white players, there sure would be hell to pay, and Khompela and Stofile would have a field day. In fact this team is still getting government agendas pushed onto it because one of the black players is not a South African citizen. And yet they chose to remain silent about the fact that the national coach of our soccer team is not even an African!

Take a look at individual players as well. Springbok players have won the IRB player of the year twice since its inception in 2001. No Bafana player has ever won the World Player of the year or African footballer of the year award.

So what would Stofile and co make of these facts? They would put it all down to poverty caused by apartheid and racism. So lets dispel those myths as well.

SAFA was readmitted into international football 17 years ago. This has been plenty of time to sort problems out and get a generation of great players coming to the fore.

If anything the results have declined quite significantly over time. So in other words the further away from apartheid we go the worse the results have become.

The PSL is one of the richest, if not the richest league in Africa. That pretty much takes poverty out of the equation. If they still want to plead poverty how come African countries have produced players such as the Toure brothers, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Samuel Eto, Emmanuel Adebayor and Sulley Muntari? These players come from far poorer countries than South Africa. And what does South Africa have to show for itself? We do not have one player at a major European club, the best we have is Pienaar at Everton, Benni at Blackburn who is hardly playing and Aaron Moekena at Portsmouth.

The problem must lie with the administrators. If the department of sports and recreation is claiming that the problem does not lie with our administrators then they are saying there is simply no talent in South Africa. So what is it boys? No talent, or bad administrators? If you claim its no talent then surely that is more insulting to South Africans than granting The Beast a work permit based on his skills? If you are saying its about bad administrators then why are you not going after them? Why are there no political interferences and probes into SAFA? Why are you always knocking at the door of SARU? I know why, because you sirs are in fact racist.

If something is not broken why try and fix it? By pushing your political agendas on sports and making them about race you make whites resent soccer and blacks resent rugby, and that sirs is a real crime. Politics and sports has never been a happy marriage, keep colour out of sport so we may one day support our teams, not as blacks and whites, but as South Africans!

Written by MODJO

It’s one of the toughest questions I’ve had to answer all season. 

‘Can Western Province win the Currie Cup this year?’

The answer is - I simply don’t know.  Working as a rugby journalist many people you meet along the way expect you to be the definitive expert on the matter.  For doctors or accountants it’s entirely conceivable that you have a better understanding of your subject than the layman.  Everybody that watches rugby in this country, however, is already an expert.  And knowledgeable ones too!

Generally a good understanding of the game combined with some Naas Botha-esque fench sitting gets me through even the most gruelling braai questioning and this season has been pretty good to me thus far.  No, I don’t think the Stormers will make the semi-finals.  The Bulls look a great bet to clinch the Super 14.  The Springboks are too strong for the Lions.  The Boks should win the Tri-Nations, but it’s hard to see them winning all three games overseas.

It was all going so well - until now.  Now I’m a bit lost.

The question of just how good this Western Province side is and whether they’ll be able to go on and win has as much to do with their own progress and form as it does with the strength of the Sharks and the Blue Bulls.  Western Province have done exceptionally to already have already qualified for the semi-finals.  However, they sit below the Sharks on the log.  A Sharks side that has played the entire campaign without their Springboks.

And let’s not even get started on the Blue Bulls and what they are bringing to the tail end of the competition!

Province have a young squad brimming with talent and swagger.  A well balanced side with the hunger to prove themselves.  An organised coaching staff is putting the right men out to do the job and giving them the plan to go and do it. 

Unfortunately for them they are now going to run up against experience and class. The two things you can’t really buy in Rugby.  The Bulls and the Sharks are going to gain some fearless players who don’t believe that they can lose.  Where the Sharks are getting back Smit, Du Plessis and Pienaar (to name a few) and the Bulls are getting back Matfield and Steyn (amongst others) it’s not quite the same for Province.  They get back a crocked Burger and Bekker and a patently out of form Januarie whilst losing de Villiers to Munster. 

You just have to look at the effect that Chris Jack had on the WP team to understand the value of experience.   And his loss combined with the gains made by the other teams makes me doubt Province’s chances this season.

If you were to ask me right now who think will win I’d have to go for the Sharks.  I know that’s not a very controversial call with them leading the log at the moment, but I fancy them as more of their returning Boks are ready for Currie Cup action.  The Bulls are still waiting for Botha and du Preez to recover and without them I don’t think they quite match up the squad of the Sharks.  If they get up and running and Steyn’s boot keeps ticking - well then who knows what might happen.

Can Province pull off an unlikely surprise?  Can the Sharks win it back to back?  Or will the Bulls get Botha and du Preez back into action and regain their Super 14 supremacy?

I can’t tell - but I can tell you it’s going to make for some great viewing.

Let me know your expert views!

Like the time I scored 10ft Pipeline all by myself, got out the water to a warm embrace from Whitney Port, found a winning lottery ticket in the sand, discovered a way to eat as much McDonalds as I like without getting fat and then stumbled into a leprechaun who showed me the way to a pot of gold, the last two weeks of Bok rugby seem to be something out of a dream. We’ve been good in the past, but never this good. Even during the World Cup it always felt like the rugby gods were shining pretty brightly on us. But during the last two matches we have been absolutely rampant. Solid gameplan, killer pack and hungry backs, no Jaco van der Westhuizen. It really seems too good to be true, but considering the path we’ve taken to get here, is it?

Any arsehole with half a brain in their heads can tell you that the foundation left behind by Jake White was incredible. A World Cup winning squad with more talent in it than the Terrace on Wednesday night, a captain to end all captains and a nice and shiny trophy in the cabinet illustrate that Pieter de Villiers really did land with his bum in the butter. For a few hairy months, we thought that he may just metaphor the Springboks back into the dark days of Straeuli and Co. There was the booing at Kings Park, the sex in the Car Park and the unbelievable slew of nonsensical ramblings that had us all cringing in our Teesavs. But strewn amongst all that were a few little gems; the win in Dunedin, pumping bullets into the Wallabies at Ellis Park, running riot over the International Invitational Xv Formerly Known as England and more recently, a Lions series triumph. But these were all a bit too haphazardly spaced for my liking. A good half here, a terrible 80 there. But these last two fixtures have been 160 minutes of pure, unadulterated heat. And here’s why.

1. Fetcher. Jake White said the only fetcher he needed was his kid to grip him a frosty out of the fridge. Well, if Heinrich Brussouw served this purpose Jake would have a pile of 37 frothing Castles at his feet in about 15 minutes. To say that the man from Bloem has taken the opportunity granted to him by Schalk’s combination of injury and idiocy is to understate in the highest degree. Our loose trio, after so many years of being made of of terrifically strong and intimidating carriers, is finally a complete package. Brussouw’s combination of incredible strength (ask Fanta Williams), superb technique and unbelievable commitment to the cause means that the other two can put all their focus on their own jobs. And have you noticed that Spies has played two titanic games? Coincidence? I think not. Long may Heinrich last, a man who plays with that much heart and drive deserves to go down in Bok lore as one of the true legends and if he continues his career as he’s started it, I am absolutely certainly will.

2. Flyhalf. For so long we have searched and searched for someone to wear the 10 jersey with pride. Butch James, as terrific as he was, was unfortunately plagued by too many injuries for his true talent to shine through. Jaco van der Westhuizen was a finger in the dyke at best and a crazed lunatic climbing poles at the worst. Nobody else has been there long enough in the last decade to earn a mention. And now we have two flyhalves of great talent, both of whom have performed in their most recent outings. Ruan Pienaar the gifted natural ballplayer and Morne Steyn the cool-headed picture of perfect motion. While Pienaar may offer a little more in terms of defence and open play, Steyn gets his line away well and he can kick pretty decently as well. The pundits have said for as long as I’ve cared to listen that you cannot play a test match without a first-rate kicker, and the universe has finally answered our prayers with a man who missed kicks as often as Graeme Smith misses a buffet. At the moment, my leanings are towards Steyn with Pienaar providing double cover on the bench, purely because you cannot fault a man who scores 31 points against the All Blacks, missing only one from nine kicks at goal. With a little more experience he’ll start taking the ball a little flatter (about my only complaint in his game), the team will build around him and we will have all the ingredients of one of the great teams of all time. Heat.

3. Gameplan. Rugby coaches have, for years, found difficulty in striking a balance between an exciting running game and a grinding, rumbling game that wins matches. The only teams that I can think of that have truly done this are the Wallabies of 1999 and the Crusaders of Robbie Deans. It takes a startling mix of talent in the right positions and a smart strategy for this to work, and I think we may just have it. Deans’ ‘Saders were renowned for their kick-and-chase, which enabled them to win key ball in opposition territory. Marshall, Merhtens (and later that man Dan) and MacDonald all had impeccable boots and hungry chasers backed up by a master at the breakdown. Looking at the Boks ‘09, there seem to be some parallels. Furthermore, the venom that Messers de Villiers, Fourie, Habana and Pietersen offer on the fly give us the option to sting out wide when necessary (please refer to all the tries from the Loftus Lions test). With a little refinement and a little bit more variety, we’ll be able to adapt to the counterplays that Deans is almost certain to come up with. But with the great minds we have littered all over the park in key positions, I certainly believe that we can do it.

4. Captain. “O Captain, My Captain” wrote Walt Whitman back in 1865. This handsome blogger is saying the same thing in 2009. Say what you will about his logs, or the fact that he’s a tighthead convert, but John Smit has everything to do with our dominance. When he’s off the field we lose focus. He drives the team and binds them together. When he speaks off the field, the world listens and takes notes. He’d take a bullet for the Springboks and you, me and every man playing underneath him knows it. And that’s why he’s so great. He doesn’t need to try and make us believe in him, we do simply by looking at him. And his tighthead game improves weekly, but if it means keeping him on the park, I’ll have him there no matter what his form’s like.

While this may be a rather curtailed list, I think it highlights most of the important changes that have taken place. There are many other positives; our lineouts, our scrums, our centers, Fourie du Preez. All of these, combined with what I’ve said above, give this Bok side the ability to become one of the greatest of all time. A loss this weekend, heaven forbid, could bring this all tumbling down and it’s for that exact reason that I didn’t write this post last week, but I hope that what I’ve said above shows that regardless of what does happen, the foundation is there. Personally, I’d like to think that this side has the talent and the composure to keep the winning wheels rolling despite what will be a sterner test from a very wily and talented Australian outfit, and I’ll be wearing the hell out of my green underpants on Saturday. Shit, I’ll probably bust them on Friday for good measure and do the ol’ inside-out trick to get the extra mileage I need out of them for a Bok weekend to remember.

My blood is green.

Peace.

There was something almost comical about the All Blacks during the second Test in Durban.

The funny part wasn’t that they couldn’t catch a cold in Durban’s wet conditions or the shambles of a game-plan that they continue to dish up under Graham ‘Cat-’o-nine-lives’ Henry.    No, the joke was what has become to the Haka.  Nobody noticed as it slowly eroded into a dance routine while Carter and McCaw were keeping together a rather tidy rugby side.  Without a good rugby side it’s just become a rather laughable pantomime.

The Haka that this team did was always respected and was known as the preamble to a bloody hard game of rugby.  The ‘war challenge’ or whatever a trademark of a mighty rugby side.

What I’m going to say here is not meant as disrespect to the Haka or to Maori people.  But who the hell are the All Blacks kidding these days?  Not only do they have two Haka’s now it’s become a syncronised dance move that is more of a joke than a challenge.

For the Springboks to know that their opposition spend hours coming up with new ideas for the little rigmarole must be a source of great amusement.  You could see it on Bakkies face.  Bismarck couldn’t keep his smile to himself.  The All Blacks in front of the mirror trying to make the veins in their necks stick out a little further or seeing how far they can stick their tongues out.  It’s a bloody joke.

Piri Weepu couldn’t scare my grandmother in a dark alley.  Seriously guys.  Do you really think Fourie du Preez is frightened of a guy who plays flyhalf and scrumhalf equally badly just because he walks around screaming before the game?  Or do you think that perhaps he’s actually finding the whole thing quite amusing?  I’m going for the latter.

Maybe the forwards should get together and spend some of the time they waste on the haka rather working on their lineouts - which are diabolical.

Alternatively they could watch a tape of the All Blacks of the nineties and see what a truly fearsome Haka looked like.  It looked like a bunch of rugby players going through a tradition.  It certainly didn’t looked like the amateur dramatics society putting on their Christmas performance of the Lord of the Rings.

Or they could just wait for Ali Williams to come back from injury to make the joke complete.

It’s that time of the year again. While we’ve all been engrossed in the heady heights of top-flight international rugby the oft-neglected yet terrifically important apogee of domestic rugby has snuck up on us like a sex tape sneaks up on an unsuspecting Hollywood starlet. The Super 14, the Inbound Tours and the great return of the British and Irish Lions has kept us occupied over the first six months of 2009, and it’s time that we leave the flash and flicker of international commercialism and take a step backwards to the hard-fought, less televised civil war that is about to commence.

The Currie Cup has taken a lot of flack over the last few years. Declining attendances, low TV viewerships and sides that look like they’re strung to together from the boys still living their glory days of the Eerste Span at the local watering hole have all contributed to a rather dull tournament. Like haggard 50 year old pornstars we went through the motions of the preliminary rounds, biding our time until the gratuitous big-light return of the main actors for the climax in October.

But I think this year’s going to be a little different. While it may seem abstract, the William Webb Ellis trophy sitting in our cabinet has given South African rugby a little boost, and this new sheen that an opportunity to play for the best side in world rugby has meant that competition is fierce for those 22-odd places alongside Snorman. One only has to look at the wealth of depth that last year’s tournament helped to uncover, from Dewald Pretorious’ continued rise to Jean Deysel’s meteoric impact on anyone in his way to men like Colin Lloyd and Vuyo Sangqwa, whose exploits in the B-division have seen their stakes rise. Even the slow puncture of overseas-bound players has been somewhat reversed, with the likes of Chris Jack and Juan Martin Hernandez set for their Currie Cup debuts.

All in all, this has served to pique the interest of rugby pundits the country over. While I usually approach the earky stages Currie Cup with the same enthusiasm as I do my bowl of ProNutro in the morning, I now find myself actually excited to see my beloved Sharks take the field in the black-and-white hoops and to see what talent Plumtree and the boys have unearthed. I know for a fact that the likes of the Cronje twins, Luzuko Vulindlu and Patrick Lambie represent the future of Natal and possibly Bok rugby, and that their induction into the Sharks lineup will be the first step in the creation of a dynasty of fine talent that should continue for years to come.

The Bulls are threatening as always, with a wealth of talent brought forward from their successful S14 campaign and a very solid Currie Cup ‘08. With Derick Kuun, the awesomely-named Burton Francis and loosies Stegmann and Potgieter, they will pose a very big threat to anyone traveling up to Jacarandaland. And that’s without their Springboks.

A little further down, we have the real journeymen of the Currie Cup, the likes of the Leopards, the Kavaliers and the Griquas. With names like Bom Samaai, Ligtoring Landman and Draad Linde making appearances on the teamsheet, they provide some fodder for our bumbling commentators to stumble over. But I think that this year they will be more than just mild entertainment, and may just seek to upset the apple (onion) cart a little when the bigger unions swing into dorp for a fixture. The promise of free boerie from the plaastal and every blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pertly-built and Daisy Duke-wearing farmgirl tending to their every need is motivation enough to get them pumped for the big games. Hell, for that kind of a deal I’d even go live in Potch.

So, Currie Cup 2009 is upon us. Can the Sharks defend their title? Are Province going to threaten greatness but ultimately disappoint, again? Will the Bulls be able to bounce back from defeat at the hands of the Banana Boys to triumph again? Will Andy Capastagno ever stop telling us exactly where every player was educated? Will Hugh Bladen finally get that Firstwatch sponsorship? The answers to those questions, and all the dry-field, hot-cheerleader, boerie and chips action will unfold over the upcoming 5 months.

Ho yessa.

Peace.

In the interests of writing more and giving you, the loyal reader, an inside shot at making some money off of the greedy bookies I have employed the services of my good friend Nostradamus Chris Ferguson to give you weekly betting tips so you know exactly where you should be placing your hard earned Rands.

Now for a little background on our tip-giver. Chris is, hands down, the worst gambler I know. I’ve been to Vegas and have seen senile old women piling their pensions into 5c slots while eating catfood out of the tin who know more about placing a wager than our dear Chris. If he bets one way, you can be sure the result will go the other. My statisticians tell me that they can say with 98% confidence that he alone caused the Sharks to drop out of the Super 14 bet by placing just two bets, Sharks over the Reds by 7 or more and Sharks to just beat the Cheetahs. If Chris put money on me living out my three score and ten years, I’d spend the rest of my days looking over my shoulder for my impending early exit.

So how will this help you, in an age of spread bets and online gambling and identity fraud? Well, each week I’ll get Chris to give me his hot tips on what he thinks are good bets, and then you have a look and if you like what you see then bet the other way. Who knows, you might just make some money.

So, without further ado, here are Chris’ picks for this weekend’s sports action (Due to the lack of rugby this weekend I’ve included some others):

Wimbledon: Mens: R. Federer (Can you spell upset?)
Womens: V. Williams

Golf (Congressional): T. Woods (Go Anthony Kim)

Vodacom Durban July: Win: Pocket Power
Trifecta: Pocket Power; River Jetez; Our  Giant

Rugby: Boks – 10

So there you have it. He’s gone a little conservative this week, I think his allowance must be wearing a little thin so there’s money to be had.

Peace.

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See what I did with the heading? You know, the whole eye-gouging thing. And there’s been somewhat of a media “storm” over the whole debacle. Pretty smart hey? My gran always said I was a cunning linguist. Pity Pieter de Villiers isn’t, although the lady from the car in the parking lot may beg to differ. The whole saga has highlighted something with which I, for one, have had a huge problem for a very long time.

Our beleaguered helmsman has taken a lot of flack for his comment, and considering the circumstances under which it was made, some might say he deserved it. But to say that Pieter de Villiers actually condones eye-gouging is taking it a little far. As we have all seen over the last year or so, English is certainly not one of The Moustachioed One’s strengths. It’s not his mother tongue for a start. So perhaps he misunderstood the question asked to him, and that he maybe thought it was more general in nature, pertaining to the whole air of thuggery that pervaded the game at Loftus and not just to Schalk’s horrific act. Which it certainly was, and I’ll get to it later.

But unfortunately scandal sells more tabloids than uplifting stories of victory (which I guess the British media are a little short of at the moment so I’ll cut them a little slack) and so Pieter had to come out with his tail between his legs and issue an apology. Which was necessary, because his comment was hectic taken in the context that it was and we cannot have our coach speaking like that. Furthermore, someone needs to put a stop to his nonsensical ramblings at every press meeting. He (and Springbok rugby) are becoming the butt of every joke in the foreign press. Talk of tutus, mechanics and taunting wild animals no longer make him sound pleasantly eccentric, but rather like a fool who doesn’t have anything of value to add. Which isn’t the truth, and steps must be taken to get his public face matching the obviously excellent work he’s doing with the team.

In the end, the whole saga should have been left at his apology, and the fact that Brian O’Driscoll felt it necessary to fire a parting shot as he boarded his plane back to Ireland was a little pathetic. Very brave to start calling names from the comfort of the First Class lounge, unlike me of course. I’m brave and chivalrous and never shy away from danger. Just ask that kid who tried to jump in front of me in the queue for Transformers 2 tickets. This is not the first time that O’Driscoll has been involved in bad blood on a Lions tour, and this fact makes me question my previously very tender feelings for the Irishman. But that’s news for another day, and some research will have to be one before I really question one of the greats of our time.

On to Schalkie, and I would like to say that having briefly met the big man, the sight of him sticking his fingers into Luke Fitzerald’s skull was shocking to say the least. It was completely out of character from someone who has always impressed me with the way he carries himself both on and off the field. Nevertheless, it was an act of severe brutality and one which had to be punished. The fact that he got eight weeks is pretty fortunate in my view, and his personality and character must have weighed in on the decision because I can’t see how it differs from incidents like Johan le Roux’s ear-biting. Hopefully Burger learns that he needs to keep a lid on that aggression and put the energy into more positive endeavours like improving his game. Or crocheting. Or maybe scrap-booking.

And finally, on to this weekend’s game. The Boks have fielded a pretty experimental side for the weekend, and I think that it’s been done pretty well. It would certainly have been safer to stick with forced changes, but the coaching staff have managed to field a whole new side without actually weakening it in any way. What this will do will help to create further depth and still give us more than a decent shot at whitewashing the Lions. Kirchner at fullback is cool, Steyn’s not a natural there and it’s good to have someone else competing to make sure he keeps on his toes. I think Zane has the class to make a brilliant Bok 15, and hopefully he seizes the opportunity with gusto. Twelve and thirteen are arguably the form centre pairing at the moment. Olivier had a blinder of a Super 14 and Fourie has proven just how special a player he is, even with very limited game time. Nobody can doubt Morne Steyn at 10, and I really feel that we are entering an era where the Bok team is picked around a solid 9-10 combo, something we’ve craved for so long. Kankowski deserves a run and I look forward to his battle with the less mobile but more physical Jamie Heaslip. All in all, a rock-solid-if-unconventional side but one that I think will do the job.

Graham Rowntree said that the Lions do not deserve to be whitewashed. Nonsense. If they couldn’t scrape a win against a Bok side that only really played maybe 40 minutes of quality rugby across two tests then they should go home 0 and 3. Bottom line. Until the Northern hemisphere learns that rugby talent is grown at home, and not picked from obscurity to play in positions normally taken up by foreigners in their home leagues, they will not compete with us. That’s not to say that the tour has been disappointing, far from it. The two tests were hard and physical like those of old, and the climax to the Battle of Loftus was one that I will remember and tell my grandkids over and over with verve and wonder. The spirit and strength of the Lions has meant that the 2 wins have been so close I’ve had to check my pants for skidmarks at least three times. So maybe, as far as that goes, they don’t deserve the whitewash. At the end of the day it’s been a tremendous two tests and I hope that this weekend produces a similarly ferocious encounter, as it will make that whitewash all the more worthwhile.

Boerie, green jocks, chips, dip. You know the drill.

Go Bokke.
Peace.