Innholdsfortegnelse for 2023-09-13 i Star

David Hurwitz tries to alley fears that the announcement of his departure is not amicable TRANSACTION Capital’s share price slumped more than 20% on the JSE yesterday morning, a day during which long-serving CEO David Hurwitz sought to allay fears that his departure was not amicable. Yesterday, the share price closed 16.43% lower at R5.85 on the JSE. On Monday, the financially ailing group surprised the market with the announcement of Hurwitz’s resignation, forecasts of lower than anticipated earnings and a shift in strategic direction at the group. The group, which controls used-car sales company WeBuyCars, the SA Taxi vehicle financing business and business outsourcing solutions group Nutum, and which has seen its share price slump more than 80% over 12 months, said in a statement that Hurwitz, “after a…

AIRPORTS Company South Africa (Acsa) expects to return to profitability in the next financial year after narrowing its after-tax loss to R143 million in the 2022/23 financial year, down from a R1 billion loss in the previous year. The last time Acsa reported a profit was in the pre-Covid era when profit plunged by 58.9% to R227m in the 2018/19 financial year after making a R7.1bn revenue, weighed down by weak domestic economy. The State-owned airports operator yesterday delivered a steady recovery and significant improvement in performance for the year to March 31, 2023, as Covid-19 related travel restrictions were progressively lifted in all major air travel markets. The group reported a 55% surge in revenue to R6bn for the 12-month period. Acsa continued to tightly control operating…

LIBSTAR, the food manufacturer with brands including Lancewood, Denny, Goldcrest and Cook ’n Bake, yesterday reported that its profits were eroded amid inflation, load shedding and a drop in consumer demand. Management is now undertaking a review of its portfolio, among other strategies, as the company scrambles to find its running shoes to right its fortunes. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2023, Libstar said market conditions remained challenging as persistent high levels of input cost and selling price inflation, interest rate increases and load shedding increasingly constrained consumer demand. It reported headline earnings per share (Heps) of R19.6 million, down 44.9% on the previous year, while normalised earnings per share dropped 44.4% to R19.8m. Its revenue rose 4% to R5.7 billion from the previous comparable period.…

E-COMMERCE giant Amazon.com was making its first investment in direct air capture technology, which removed emissions from the atmosphere, by committing to purchase 250 000 tons of removal credits over 10 years, it said yesterday. Amazon would purchase the credits from the 1PointFive direct air capture (DAC) plant in Texas, which is being developed by oil company Occidental’s Oxy Low Carbon Ventures subsidiary and would use them to help meet its climate target of net zero carbon emissions by 2040. The company did not reveal any financial details of the deal, but developers of DAC technology have said removal credits cost in the mid-to-high-triple digits in dollars per metric ton. Many scientists believe extracting billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually, by using nature or technology,…

WORLD demand for oil, gas and coal is forecast to peak this decade for the first time as the use of cleaner energy and electric cars accelerates, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) chief wrote yesterday in the Financial Times (FT). The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook, due out next month, will show that “the world is on the cusp of a historic turning point,” executive director Fatih Birol wrote in an FT column. The shift would have implications for the battle against climate change as it would bring forward the peak in greenhouse gas emissions, Birol said. Based on government policies worldwide, demand for the three fossil fuels was “set to hit a peak in the coming years”, said Birol, whose Paris-based organisation advises developed nations. “This is the first…

THE PRESIDENCY yesterday said the government and organised labour had agreed to work much more closely to address the immediate challenges that confront South Africa’s economy. This comes after leaders of organised labour raised a number of issues facing the working class, particularly to poor South Africans, on the back of weak economic growth, high unemployment rate and the rising cost of living. In a virtual meeting with the government yesterday, representatives from organised labour raised concerns about the current fiscal situation, the structure of the economy, State-owned enterprises, strengthening the public services, tackling crime and corruption, local government and providing economic and social relief. The meeting discussed the immediate measures needed to unblock economic growth and create employment, and participants agreed that urgent steps must be taken to deal…

In an unexpected turn of events, Kylie Jenner again found herself in the internet spotlight, but this time it wasn’t due to her customary viral trends or daring photoshoots. Instead, it was a heart-warming reunion with her former bestie, Jordyn Woods. The reality star shared a touching moment on TikTok, showcasing her visit to Acne Studios alongside her long-time friend, Woods, who had become estranged from the Kardashian-Jenner clan. The reunion carried a sense of nostalgia as the friendship dates back to 2012. Jenner, 26 , captioned her TikTok post with: “hiiiii @acnestudiosofficial”. Woods, once a close confidante within the Kardashian-Jenner inner circle, found herself at the centre of a controversy when she allegedly locked lips with Tristan Thompson, the ex-partner of Khloé Kardashian. The incident led to a temporary…

The Moroccan Monarch, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has ordered a series of interventions aimed at bringing the effects of Friday’s earthquake under control. According to the latest media reports, the death toll has exceeded the 2 900 mark, with more than 5 000 people reported to be injured, their homes damaged or destroyed by the 6.8-magnitude earthquake, which left historic buildings in ruins. On Friday, King Mohammed VI, accompanied by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan, chaired a working session dedicated to examining the situation in the wake of the earthquake, the strongest to hit Morocco in over a century. During this working session, members of the government, the army, the fire department, and security clusters briefed King Mohammed on the latest developments in the affected prefectures and provinces, notably…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that the late Zulu Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi will be honoured with a special official funeral, category 1, at Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal. The Buthelezi family were due to have the funeral on Friday, but due to the announcement by Ramaphosa, they have moved the occasion to Saturday. IFP leader Mkhuleko Hlengwa said that the memorial service would be held today at the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Regional Stadium in Ulundi, starting at 9am. “All South Africans are welcome to come. It is an open service, and we are grateful to the family for acceding to our request to have that memorial,” said Hlengwa. Tributes continued to pour in, with various political leaders pouring in to kwaPhindangene royal residence to offer their condolences to the friends and family…

THE SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) has called out DA leader John Steenhuisen, accusing him of meddling in the City of Tshwane salary increment dispute. The union has been at loggerheads with the DA-led metro over a 5.4% wage increase for municipal employees. The workers claim to have not received an increase for the past three years. For seven weeks now the workers have downed tools owing to the salary dispute, while mayor Cilliers Brink is citing bankruptcy for not being able to pay salary increases, and has applied to the SA Local Bargaining Council for an exemption. However, the City’s bid to be exempted from paying increases to workers was recently dismissed. Addressing a press conference yesterday, Samwu general secretary Dumisane Magagula dismissed the DA’s assertions that the metro…

LYLE Foster scored Bafana Bafana’s solitary goal as they beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 in an international friendly at a cold Orlando Stadium in Soweto yesterday. It was a win that saw Bafana get back to winning ways after they drew their last match against Namibia at the same ground last Saturday. While Foster racked up his fourth international goal to continue with his form from club level for Burnley in the Premier League, Bafana are now unbeaten in their last nine games. That will augur well for South Africa’s Belgian coach Hugo Broos building up to the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in November and the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Ivory Coast January. Before those matches, however, Bafana will play two more friendly internationals…

THE KwaZulu-Natal contingent in the Premiership will place stability at the top of their priority lists when they return to action this weekend. Golden Arrows have made their best start to a league campaign for many years as part of the leading pack after the opening five rounds. Abafana Bes’thende are second on the standings, and are among the highest-scoring and most entertaining teams to watch. However, the club was dealt a huge blow during the international break, the Durban outfit losing Vusumuzi Vilakazi, was co-coach alongside Mabhuti Khenyeza. The departure of Vilakazi, who has since joined Chippa United as head technical director, may spell danger for Arrows who have Stellenbosch FC as their next opponents on Saturday at the Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammarsdale, which is about 50km west of…

AFTER their futile attempts to win the Champions League over the last seven years, Mamelodi Sundowns cannot afford to come up short this season. Sundowns have been the most dominant club in South Africa, winning six Premiership titles in succession – a record in the PSL era. While that talks of the results that come with blending the right playing personnel with the right coaching staff, Sundowns are not yet on song. One of their shortcomings is an inability to take their local dominance into Africa, the Brazilians having last won the Champions League in 2016. It’s not that they’re not taking the competition seriously – they are just like any other team, struggling to be lucky and consistent at times. Last season, they crashed out in the semi-finals after…

WILSON Bailey Holmes-Ovcon Multi- Choice, the South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa, has come under fire for the company’s coverage of the Rugby World Cup. Business Report broke the news of the Restaurant Association of South Africa (Rasa) inviting DStv management for urgent talks about the television group almost tripling the prices of its packages to the hospitality sector at the start of the Rugby World Cup 2023. DStv had purchased the exclusive rights to broadcast the competition in the country, leaving many in the country with fears of not being able to watching a second of the Rugby World Cup, as it was reported that SABC which had failed to secure the rights, would not be allowed to broadcast any matches.…

MOMENTUM Metropolitan has reached agreement with OUTsurance Group (previously Rand Merchant Investment Holdings – RMIH), to acquire RMIH’s share in the RMI Investment Managers Group (IMG), a deal that will increase Momentum’s asset management market participation significantly. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Momentum, which is today ex- pected to report financial results for the 12 months to June 30, has been a minority shareholder in IMG alongside RMIH since 2015, when the multi- affiliate investment management model was launched. The transaction increases Momentum’s minority stake in a range of independent, owner-managed investment businesses “with good growth potential”, a statement said yesterday. Momentum’s directors have forecast normalised headline earnings per share to increase between 15% to 22% for the year from 287.2 cents per share the…

THE NIGERIAN Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday ap- proved the transfer and assignment of the 10MHz frequency division duplex (FDD) in the 2.6GHz spectrum band from OpenSkys Services to MTN Nigeria. Nigeria is MTN’s biggest mobile market, boasting more than 77.1 million subscribers, with 1.5 million new subscribers added in the first half of 2023. The company said in a statement yesterday that the effective date for the licence was September 7, 2023, and it ill be due for renewal on April 16, 2033. The additional spectrum would enable MTN Nigeria to enhance network capacity and improve customer experience, it said. Commenting on the acquisition, Karl Toriola, the CEO of MTN Nigeria, said: “The acquisition of an additional 10MHz FDD in the 2.6GHz spectrum band is an important milestone…

SOUTH African-owned Sola was in the phase of what is said to be Africa’s largest renewable energy project under a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA), in Lichtenburg, North-West, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition said in a statement this week. The project, which is being built by Sola Build and Wilson Bayly Holmes- Ovcon under a joint venture, is in the construction phase, and is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2024. Katherine Persson, the head of Sola Assets, said that so far, the construction phase had provided employment to 887 unskilled and 38 skilled workers directly and through small, medium and micro enterprises. Sola announced the R3.8 billion investment in the project at the fifth South African Investment Conference that was hosted by…

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, former entrepreneur Nelia Annandale paints a new chapter after a blaze forced her to close her business. Having handed over the reins of her beloved business earlier this year, Keedo’s founder, Annandale, announced the launch of her latest venture: a contemporary abstract art collection called Petrichor. As the founder of the highly successful kids’ clothing brand, her passion for investing in children and nurturing the planet over the last three decades has allowed her to channel her creativity through the popular designer clothing line for many years. The Cape Town visual artist’s path as an entrepreneur has always been driven by a belief in the power of education, care, and sustainability – particularly in relation to shaping a brighter future for the children…

Housewives fans can rejoice! The second season of The Real Housewives of Lagos is coming to Showmax soon. The streaming platform dropped the trailer of the next instalment on YouTube and, from the looks of it, the ladies are ready to bring a whole new level of shade to the show. The first season broke the first-day streaming record on Showmax in Nigeria and was the only African title to crack the top 10 most-watched shows on the streaming service in 2022 across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The season one reunion also scooped the award for Best Costume Designer at the 2023 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs), where the show was also competing for Best Television Series, among other categories. In season two, the OGs – Nollywood…

INDEPENDENT Media and 30 other companies in the Sekunjalo Group will hear on Friday if they are to avoid the “calamity” that would result if their business bank accounts were terminated. Yesterday, the group applied for an urgent interim interdict against Standard Bank in the Equality Court, sitting in the Western Cape High Court, to prevent the bank from closing its accounts on September 15. Judge Judith Cloete will deliver her ruling on Friday. The reasoning given by Standard Bank for the closure of the accounts was “reputational risk”, based on unfavourable reporting by rival media outlets. Sekunjalo Group’s counsel said the banking institution had also targeted the 31 applicants because of their affiliation to Dr Iqbal Survé. Survé is an entrepreneur, medical doctor, philanthropist and chairman of Sekunjalo Investment…

COMMUTERS were left stranded in the City of Tshwane yesterday as the metro’s bus services failed to resume due to the ongoing strike action. The municipality, through its MMC for roads and transport, Katlego Mathebe, had announced at the weekend that buses would resume from yesterday, to no avail. Bus users going to work and school waited at their stops, but the buses never came. A video shared by Mathebe on social media yesterday morning confirms that the ongoing strike action disrupted the resumption of services. “My name is Katlego Mathebe, MMC for Roads and Transport in Tshwane, and I’m currently at one of the bus depots of the city,” she said in the video. “We have three bus depots in the municipality and I can confirm that of the…

PRETORIA’s Maslow Time Square hotel has made history by receiving three different gradings under one roof. As a novel concept in hospitality, it is now offering a unique choice of three-star, four-star and five-star graded rooms under one roof to suit all budgets. The Sun International property is the group’s biggest gaming, entertainment and leisure destination in Gauteng, boasting a casino, hotel, multi- purpose arena and top retail tenants. The restaurants, lounges and bars offer a diversity of experiences. Located opposite Menlyn Mall, it is ideal for not only those who love to shop, but also for those who want to satisfy their culinary palate by sampling a variety of cuisine. With summer knocking, a “food meander” or “gourmet gallivant” across Time Square is a must, as the…

American media personality and comedian Steve Harvey has spoken out against malicious rumours surrounding his marriage after claims of infidelity. Harvey also addressed the misconceptions spread about his wife, Marjorie Harvey, who reports claimed had an affair with a bodyguard and one of their chefs. This was followed by more reports that their marriage was on the rocks and Harvey was also divorcing his wife. During a Monday broadcast of the Steve Harvey Morning Show, he also shut down rumours that the failure of his first marriage had something to do with his current wife. “Quit talking about how she was in my other marriage and ruined it. She didn’t,” said Harvey. “The woman I married is a good woman; she is the best thing that ever happened to me.…

This week should be one of relative respite for the Springboks at the World Cup but that doesn’t mean they will take their foot off the gas against Romania in Bordeaux on Sunday (kick-off 3pm). Pool B is quite rightly referred to as the ‘Group of Death’, with Ireland and Scotland rivalling the Boks for top honours in the group, while a Tonga side boosted by some former All Blacks and Wallabies will be no pushovers. That means the poor Romanians are the whipping boys of the pool and after Ireland put 80 points past them at the weekend, the confidence of the eastern Europeans will be shot. And they can expect no mercy from the South Africans – Bok bosses Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber will ensure their players…

AIDEN Markram smashed a sparkling century as the Proteas bounce back from two consecutive defeats in the series with a much-needed 111-run victory over Australia in the third one-day international in Potchefstroom yesterday. The Proteas are slowly but surely starting to gel as a team after a frightening start to the international season, where they lost five consecutive games to Australia (three T20s and two ODIs). Yesterday’s triumph means that Temba Bavuma’s team are still alive in the five-match ODI series at 2-1, and are turning the corner at just the right time as the 50-over World Cup is only a few weeks away. The hosts posted an imposing total of 338/6, while the visitors were bowled out for 227 in the 35th over. The most positive signs from yesterday…

Once the most expensive footballer in the world, France star Paul Pogba has sunk to a new low after being provisionally suspended for a doping violation. Injuries and a bizarre blackmail plot involving his own brother have dominated his second spell at Juventus and the latest revelations came just as the midfielder looked ready to get back to his best. Italy’s anti-doping authority Nado revealed on Monday that Pogba, who is still only 30, showed elevated levels of testosterone in a test taken after Juve’s season-opening win at Udinese – a match in which he did not even play. Pogba has since been a substitute in Juve’s other two Serie A matches and despite picking up a thigh knock against Empoli earlier this month, he could well have featured in…

TOP SOUTH African companies, including the JSE’s Top 40, have gender disparities on representation of women in top leadership positions, painting a skewed economic transformation picture within the corporate sector. The JSE is one of Africa’s most competent stock exchanges and a major driver of investment on the continent, but women remain largely excluded from top leadership positions. Across South Africa, women comprise nearly half of the economically active population at 46%, findings by Just Share’s Women in leadership: Assessing gender equality in the JSE Top 40 report released yesterday. However, South African women only hold 35% of board positions, on average, or 180 out of 515 board positions among JSE Top 40 companies, while their representation in executive roles is a paltry 25% or 115 out of 468…

DISCOVERY said yesterday that it would deliver a robust financial performance for the year to June 30 after its three business composites, South Africa, UK and Vitality Global, performed well. “High levels of engagement in the Vitality Shared-value model, together with the efficacy of the model, underpinned the group’s performance, despite a challenging and volatile macro-economic environment,” the group’s board said in a trading statement yesterday. Normalised profit from operations was expected to increase by between 22% and 27%, while normalised headline earnings was expected to increase by between 30% and 35%. The share price closed 2.47% higher at R149.24 on the JSE yesterday, a level that was 38% higher than a year ago. Normalised profit from operations in the SA Composite was expected to increase between 20% and 25%.…

LOAD SHEDDING on steroids is the flavour of the week. Even Minister of Electricity Dr Sputla Ramokgopa is somehow left confused. The road to ending load shedding was coming along fairly too easily. In the few months that he has been at the helm of leading Eskom, he has managed to reduce the severity of load shedding and power cuts by three stages in just more than three months. He even managed to escape the existential threat of grid collapse facing Eskom. But were we too early to celebrate his successes? Just last week, Eskom power generation capacity under his leadership dipped below 54% Energy Availability Factor (EAF), coming down from 60% EAF just a month ago during winter. Electricity demand during winter was peaking at 33 000MW. Since…

AS NEWS COVERAGE surrounding the deadly fire in the Johannesburg CBD is lessening, we should all remember that 77 people, including 12 children, lost their lives. The tragedy has stunned everyone, and should continue to stun us. It came weeks after a gas explosion ripped up Lilian Ngoyi (Bree) Street. Collapsed road infrastructure from the blast continues to paralyse daily traffic and movement. During the recent BRICS Summit, an improved few Sandton blocks gave some residents of our city an example of what should be possible as a bare minimum throughout Johannesburg: secure spaces, safe buildings, repaired potholes, functioning traffic intersections, repainted street lines, and clean streets. But as Joburg residents know all too well, just down the road from Sandton, the once-glittering Jozi CBD lies in near ruin. It…

GOOGLE began a marathon battle in a fed- eral court yesterday to fight accusations from the US government that it acted unlawfully to become the world’s pre- eminent search engine. Over the course of 10 weeks of testimony involving more than 100 witnesses, Google will try to persuade Judge Amit P Mehta that the landmark case brought by the Department of Justice is without merit. Held in a Wash- ington courtroom, the trial is the biggest US antitrust case against a big tech com- pany since the same department took on Microsoft more than two decades ago over the dominance of its Windows oper- ating system. The Google case centres on the government’s contention that the tech titan unfairly forged its domination of online search by entering into exclusivity contracts…

Mamela Nyamza’s Hatched Ensemble is an innovative project that challenges the traditional norms of ballet. Inspired by her original solo dance project in 2007, Hatched Ensemble, is a thought-provoking performance that speaks to the complexity of identity, belonging, gender, tradition and artistic expression, in the context of contemporary dance. “Hatched Ensemble is not a typical ballet because I’m not following the norm,” said Nyamza. “It is more like a classical installation on stage, a classical performance of art on stage. “And already that is breaking the boundaries because people don’t go to a ballet show to see an installation of bare-chested dancers, wooden pegs, romantic tutu skirts and hanging pointy shoes. “In Hatched Ensemble, I have dancers speak on stage and sing African music that is infused with classical tunes…

The City of Joburg has begun collecting unpaid rates and services bills from indebted ratepayers at Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) roadblocks. The crackdown began last week when city officials, armed with laptops and the data of residents who are in arrears, accompanied JMPD officers at roadblocks. Residents caught in the roadblocks were either made to pay their debt, or sign an acknowledgement of debt. Tebogo Moraka, the CFO of the City of Joburg, speaking on Newzroom Afrika said that city officials were not imposing themselves on residents or threatening them with arrest, but were merely trying to recoup the R48 billion owed to the city. “These roadblocks are part of our efforts to take our services to the residents of the city,” Moraka said. “They are also…

The chairperson of the National Informal Traders Alliance of South Africa (Nitasa), Rosheda Muller, said she was worried that the Portfolio Committee on Health would simply follow the directives of its political leaders and ignore the many constructive comments, inputs and suggestions it had received. This is despite the issues raised by informal traders and other affected parties about the Tobacco Bill. Nitasa is a coalition of informal microbusinesses that represents thousands of the estimated 2.2 million hard-working tabletop traders, hawkers, spaza shop owners and home-based operators in the country. “It’s for this reason that we continue to raise our concerns in the media, to whom we are very grateful for providing a platform for Nitasa and many other affected parties. “South Africans have a right to know what the…

Ingredients 3 cups water 1 tsp salt 1 cup maize meal 2 tbs butter 1 tbs parsley, chopped ¼ cup Cheddar cheese, grated 2 egg yolks For the Pilchard filling: 2 onions, chopped 1 x 425g can pilchards in tomato sauce, drained and flaked 1 tsp dried mixed herbs salt and pepper, to taste 4 tomatoes, thinly sliced ¼ cup Cheddar cheese, grated 3 eggs 1 cup milk Method Preheat oven to 200ºC. Grease a 22cm pie dish. To make the crust, bring the water to a boil, add salt, stir in the maize meal and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes until it thickens. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter, parsley, cheese and egg. Spoon the mixture into the pie dish, lining…

ABOUT two weeks ago, I had a heated discussion about the legacy of Nelson Mandela, in my Opinion and Specialist Writing class. The debate was ignited by two articles on the first democratically elected president. The first was penned by Zelda La Grange, who was Mandela’s secretary, and had only praise for him. On the other hand, Joseph Farah, who described Mandela’s heroics as nothing but a myth that was meant to sell a bill of goods about the late statesman. Some of my students agreed with Farah, lamenting how Mandela had “sold out” the Struggle, and that had benefited him and those close to him. At the weekend when the news about the passing of Mangosuthu Buthelezi was broadcast, we saw similar debates about the legacy of the founding…

ENGLAND flank Tom Curry has been handed an effective two-game suspension and will miss the World Cup Pool D matches against Japan and Chile, following his red card inside three minutes against Argentina on Saturday. Curry clashed heads with Argentina fullback Juan Cruz Mallia as he attempted to make a tackle from an upright position, and was initially given a yellow card by referee Mathieu Raynal, which was upgraded to red after a bunker review. The 25-year-old attended an independent disciplinary committee hearing in Paris yesterday and was handed a three-match ban, although he will be free to face Samoa on October 7 if he completes a coaching intervention programme – World Rugby’s “tackle school” – which he says he plans to do. A statement from World Rugby said: “The…

When last have Springbok fans genuinely been excited about their team’s attacking play? The South Africans have traditionally been cast as behemoths who only know how to scrum, maul, win their line-outs and win games through penalties. But that is no longer the case, and it’s mainly due to one player: Manie Libbok. It has been disrespectful – in fact, nauseating – to see how much criticism the Bok No 10 has had to endure over the last few days after missing three shots at goal in the 18-3 World Cup opening win over Scotland at the weekend. There is no doubt that the man himself would have been hugely disappointed with two of those misses, which he should have slotted any day of the week. The third, a long-range…

THE task of succeeding Irish talisman Johnny Sexton has been beyond some, but in Jack Crowley, Ireland may have at last found their man. Joey Carbery and Billy Burns have in recent years been touted as potential successors, without managing to dislodge the 38-year-old from the No 10 jersey. With 23-year-old Crowley, things could be different. Even Ireland great Ronan O’Gara, who is not known for doling out compliments, has long tipped him to shine. “Jesus, what a hope for Irish rugby,” O’Gara told Irish website 42.ie three years ago after watching Crowley score an astonishing try against Scotland Under-20s. Crowley has yet to produce such a moment at senior level, but his glorious dink-kick that set up Ireland’s 12th try in the dying moments of their 82-8 mauling of…