Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2021 i SA RUGBY

The Springboks largely stuck with a tried and tested squad for the end- of-year tour, but coach Jacques Nienaber has laid down the challenge for franchise players to knock down the door to national selection by consistently impressing in the United Rugby Championship. South Africa’s four teams will head back into URC action towards the end of November, and in this issue we pick one player from each franchise who we believe could go on to earn higher honours. Although our latest magazine focuses on youngsters with talent to burn, we also pay homage to one of the greatest Springbok players of all time, Morne Steyn, who recently headed into Test retirement after adding another historic British & Irish Lions series victory to his list of illustrious achievements. Also keep…

Give us some background information on yourself... I’m a 25-year-old from Kylemore, a small town outside Stellenbosch. I studied at Maties and have a BA Sport Science degree. I’m also a businessman. I own Wolf clothing and we specialise in streetwear. So you’re from the same town as Herschel Jantjles? Yes, we’ve known each other for a long time and been friends from about the age of nine. We are very proud of each other. When we’re in different parts of the world, we are always messaging. It’s great that he opened a pathway for the people of Kylemore, including me, to see that everything is possible, even chasing the Springbok dream. How was your time at Western Province and the Stonners? Growing up, I was a big Stormers and…

Which team is the greatest in the history of Super Rugby? Was it the 2009 Bulls powered by Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez, the all-star Stormers side that contested the 2010 final, the Sharks outfit that coasted into the 2007 decider or the 2017 Lions who tripped at the final hurdle? Or how about Joeli Vidiri’s Auckland Blues of the mid-1990s, Sam Whitelock’s 2018 Crusaders or the masterful 2011 Reds steered by halfbacks Will Genia and Quade Cooper? The envy of northern hemsiphere rugby for the better part of two decades after the game turned professional. Super Rugby produced most of the talent that went on to win a World Cup between 1996 and 2019. SARugbymag.co.za readers have tackled the opportunity to participate in a unique 32-team knockout tournament…

Apart from being a Blitzbok, tell us a bit more about yourself. I’m originally from Swellendam, but I grew up in Cape Town. I have three sisters and two brothers. We lived in Cape Town with my dad’s side of the family. How good Is It to be playing rugby again after the Covid-19 Interruption? It’s a relief to be back with my rugby family. My feet were itching to be back on the field and to travel the world playing against the best teams on the sevens circuit. Covid-19 robbed us of a lot of experiences, so I think we’ll appreciate being able to travel and play more now. The Blitzboks’ missed out an an Olympic medal. How do you deal with that disappointment? It wasn’t the outcome we…

1. Who finished as top point-scorer at the 2007 World Cup? a) Dan Carter b) Percy Montgomery c) Filipe Contepomi d) Jonny Wilkinson 2. Bryan Habana equalled Jonah Lomu’s single-tournament try-scoring record at the World Cup. How many tries did he score? a) 8 b) 7 c) 6 d) 5 3. Who scored the try for France that ultimately knocked the All Blacks out of the tournament at the quarterfinal stage? a) Thierry Dusautoir b) Lionel Beauxis c) Yannick Jauzion d) Vincent Clerc 4. Which nation qualified for the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time in 2007? a) Scotland b) Argentina d) Ireland e) Wales 5. Which was the only team to finish without a point from the pool stage? a) Portugal b) Romania c) Canada d)…

At the top of his game, Carl Hayman was considered one of the world’s most effective tighthead props. He played 81 games for the Highlanders between 1999 and 2007 and represented the All Blacks, winning 46 Test caps, and the New Zealand Maori. Hayman’s international retirement effectively came in 2007, when he decided to join the Newcastle Falcons on a deal that reportedly made him the highest-paid player in the world – quite something for a prop. He was also part of a legendary Toulon team that won three successive European Cup titles between 2013 and 2015. Sadly, though, this is not a celebratory piece on what a good player Hayman was. Four years after stepping away from the game in 2017, he has revealed that he has been diagnosed…

The standout players from the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers through the first four rounds of the inaugural United Rugby Championship. MARCELL COETZEE Ball carries (ranking) 44 (5th) Offloads 6 (T5th) Tackles 80 (1st) Tracle success 91% Breakdown arrivals (defence) 31 (T3rd) VINCENT TSHITUKA Ball carries 38 (11th) Metres gained 199 (33rd) Tackles 72 (T4th) Tackle success 86% Dominant tackles 7 (T1st) DYLAN RICHARDSON Tackles 66 (9th) Tackle success 91% Dominant tackles 7 (T1st) Offloads allowed 1 Breakdown arrivals (defence) 40 (1st) WARRICK GELANT Ball carries 46 (4th) Metres gained 424 (1st) All breaks 5 (2nd) Offloads 8 (T1st) Defenders beaten 11 (T6th) Kicks 39 (6th)…

In the final Rugby Championship clash between the Springboks and All Blacks in early October, Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende featured in one of the most memorable moments of the 2021 season. Am, in particular, stole the headlines with a stunning behind-the-back offload to S’bu Nkosi, who made the final pass to De Allende to finish off one of the tries of the tournament. It just so happened that it was also in this Test match that De Allende and Am started as a midfield pair for the 18th time, drawing them level with the legendary duo of De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert. Now, consider that as a combination, De Allende (who turns 30 on 25 November) and Am (who turns 28 a few days after his teammate)…

Moving house is rarely, if ever, without stress. Even for top rugby stars. For Scotland’s Rory Sutherland and Duhan van der Merwe, their relocation from Edinburgh to Worcester had the added complication of them being away for two months over the UK summer with the British & Irish Lions. ‘I had a bit of trouble getting a house,’ says Sutherland, who played in the first two Lions Tests against South Africa. ‘In England you have to view the property to buy it or rent it, so I was trying to explain the situation that I was in South Africa and my family were in Scotland, and that I wouldn’t be back for two months.’ The prop ended up staying with Warriors’ head of strength and conditioning David Drake for a…

15. WARRICK GELANT (STORMERS) The 26-year-old put a knee ligament injury firmly behind him with an excellent tour for the Stormers. He starred in their historic 24-10 win against the Dragons in Newport, controlling play well from the back and kicking a clever grubber that resulted in the first of wing Leolin Zas’ two tries. Gelant beat more defenders (five) than any other player and also made the most offloads (three). The fullback was one of the unluckiest players to miss out on Springbok selection for the end-of-year tour but if he maintains this kind of form and stays fit, his opportunity will come in 2022. 14. MADOSH TAMBWE (BULLS) Tambwe scored a 60th-minute try for the Bulls as they overcame a 16-3 half-time deficit against Cardiff to claim a…

BUTCH JAMES ‘Another fantastic Golf Shootout with my partner Jean de Villiers, twinning all the way down to our shoes,’ said the former Springbok flyhalf after SA’s premier celebrity golf event. SAM CANE ‘Congrats on reaching 100 tests Baz! Champion player and bloke. Awesome to see our old mate Gaz back on the footy field too, one heck of a journey.’ The fit-again Ranker with All Blacks teammate Beauden Barrett and Wales flyhalf Gareth Anscombe at the Principality Stadium. STEVEN KITSHOFF ‘Good to see my old friend.’ The loosehead prop was beaming after being reunited with his Bok bestie Malcolm Marx at a 2023 World Cup media event in Bordeaux, France. DAMIAN WILLEMSE ‘Fantastic morning out cleaning our beaches with such amazing people and sponsors #leavingonlyfootprints,’ said the Bok utility…

Elrigh Louw is projected to make the Springbok squad that travels to France for the 2023 World Cup. Born in Pretoria, Louw attended Hoërskool Transvalia, played Craven Week for the Falcons and junior rugby for the Cheetahs where he caught the eye of Southern Kings interim head coach Robbi Kempson and then Junior Boks coach Chean Roux. When the Kings were put into liquidation in 2020, Louw immediately signed for the Bulls and it is under Jake White at Loftus Versfeld where the highly-rated 22-year-old adamantine loose forward has emerged as a potential world-beater. The three coaches share more about him... ROBBI KEMPSON [FORMER SOUTHERN KINGS INTERIM HEAD COACH] ‘When I was about to take over at the Southern Kings from a recruitment point of view, I saw this big,…

Thank you Morne Steyn for inspiring this rugby-mad young boy with your blue kicking tee and mercurial boots. I was a nine-year-old Bulls supporter and Steyn, with his blue Gilbert kicking tee and blue-and-green Nike Mercurial boots, was one of my first rugby heroes. Twelve years later the sponsorship was from Puma but the kicking tee remained the same, as did that winning feeling whenever he took aim. My early love for rugby and for wanting to kick for goal was because of Morne Steyn. He will always be an inspiration to me and he is one of the reasons I love rugby so much. Steyn, now 37 years old, has been a servant of South African rugby in the biggest moments, and he has always delivered, seemingly nerveless and…

How did you get into coaching? I had a brief playing career with the Bulls junior teams while I was studying towards a marketing degree. In 2008, I worked for the Bulls in marketing for a year and then for Vodacom for two years. The high performance manager at the lions at that time was Nico Serfontein, who coached me as a junior. The U19 team manager post opened at the Lions so I took that role, but I realised nobody there was really focusing on defence. I used to watch Lions head coach John Mitchell do exercises with the senior team and would ask him questions, trying to understand the ‘why’ of each exercise. I started to get my head around it and asked Hans Coetzee, the U19 head…

During a week off in Queensland before heading out to tour the US and Europe, several All Blacks played what they would describe as a Ryder Cupstyle golf tournament. The teams were selected as a playground football match would be, with the two captains, Jordie and Beauden Barrett, taking turns to choose. No one wanted to be picked last. In possession of one of the better handicaps in the group. Brad Weber could relax, knowing he was safe from ignominy. In fact, he watched on with glee as Luke Jacobson was one of the last men chosen. And as he considers himself ‘unflappable’ on the course, Weber was prepared for the endless chirps, the ultra-competitiveness from lightning rods like TJ Perenara and the ‘head noise’ emanating from Will Jordan. The…