Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i SA RUGBY

If you were wondering what may have possessed Bernard Lemaitre to stump up for the R30-million transfer fee required to acquire Cheslin Kolbe last year, look no further than the Springbok attack in 2021. In August, the temperamental owner of Toulon was rumoured to be in the final stages of talks to pay Top 14 rivals Toulouse €1.8-million to buy Kolbe out of the remaining two years on his contract. Days later, Kolbe suffered a training ground accident and missed the remainder of the Test season. The Boks fell into a three-game slump and went 3-4 in the remaining seven matches of the season. The world champs are masters of pummelling the body to bring down their opponent’s hands, but without Kolbe they struggled to land the crucial knockout blows.…

WHEN YOU LOOK AT MAPIMPI, YOU’VE GOT TO THINK HE’S THE BEST LEFT WING IN THE WORLD’– SHARKS COACH SEAN EVERITT AFTER THE WORLD CUP WINNER SCORED A HAT-TRICK AGAINST THE LIONS AT ELLIS PARK I’D LOST THE PASSION OF PLAYING GAMES. THEY SAY YOU KNOW WHEN ITS TIME, AND I THINK ITS TIME FOR ME TO LET GO’– FORMER SHARKS CAPTAIN TERA MTEMBU ANNOUNCES HlS RETIREMENT AFTER A STINT WITH THE NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS IN THE USA ‘MY WIFE BIANCA HAS CHANGED HER LIFE TO SUIT ME MANY TIMES BUT WHEN SHE WAS KEEN AND THE KIDS WERE PUMPED FOR MORE OF LA, IT MADE THE DECISION AN EASY ONE’– FORMER WALLABY MATT GITEAU OPTS FOR ONE MORE SEASON WITH THE LOS ANGELES GILTINIS ‘THE CHARACTER OF THIS TEAM... THEY NEVER GET FLUSTERED, EVEN IF…

Cheslln Kolbe says France scrumhalf Antoine Dupont was a deserved winner of the 2021 World Rugby Player of the Year award. Dupont became the first Frenchman to win the prestigious award since former France captain and loose forward Thierry Dusautoir in 2011. The 25-year-old has been at the heart of a fest-developing young France team capturing the imagination ahead of a home World Cup in 2023. Dupont fended off competition from Australian duo Samu Kerevi and Michael Hooper, as well as England’s Maro Itoje, to win the award. SA Rugby magazine asked Kolbe about Dupont, with whom he won the Top 14 and European Champions Cup at Toulouse last season. ‘He is an unbelievable and gifted talent,’ says the Bok wing. ‘He is a player who can basically do anything…

It is perhaps fitting that hulking No 8 Willie Engelbrecht has rediscovered his best form at the Pumas in Nelspruit, the union and city where he received a rugby lifeline. The story of Engelbrecht’s success is one of lost hope... and unexpected second chances. A talented player at Hoerskool Die Wilgers in Pretoria, Engelbrecht – like so many others – harboured hopes of going pro. And for a little while it seemed that he was well on track to turn that dream into a reality. Engelbrecht went to Tuks and after performing admirably in the Varsity Cup, he was firmly on the Bulls’ radar and included in several extended squads. But the big break never materialised. Tve played rugby since I was a young boy,’ he tells SA Rugby magazine.…

Brave people, the Glaswegians. Some of them, it seems, think nothing about going up to a 1.91m, 124kg international prop in the street and commenting on the colour of his hair in less than flattering terms. ‘They’re pretty direct,’ laughs Oli Kebble, the Glasgow and Scotland loose head who can turn his hand to tighthead. ‘I’ve had people coming up to me and looking at my hair, whatever colour it might have been at the time, and going, “Nah, not sure about that, pal” but you’ll have others, total strangers, saying, “I like it”. I don’t even know what shade my hair is now. It’s something I started to mess around with during the first lockdown, out of boredom really. It went from polar bear white to caramel orange and…

15. Christian Cullen (Hurricanes) There have been some wonderful fullbacks in Super Rugby – including Matt Burke, Percy Montgomery, Andre Joubert, Israel Folau, Mils Muliaina, Chris Latham and Ben Smith – but Cullen at his peak had no equal in Super Rugby. He was just a freak of nature with ball in hand. 14. Brvan Habana (Bulls/Stormers) Habana, who would have been equally brilliant on either wing, was integral to the Bulls’ success and his 2007 title-winning try against the Sharks in Durban, for individual brilliance, is only matched by what he produced at Loftus in the 61-17 final win in 2009 against the Chiefs in Pretoria. 13. Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies) Mortlock is among the biggest names in Super Rugby history. He was so good, with ball in hand, goal-kicking…

BLITZBOK MULLER DU PLESSIS Which former Blitzbok who is playing fifteens would you want to rejoin your team immediately? Cheslin Kolbe. What’s the most bizarre fan request you’ve received? In my first tournament for the SA Sevens Academy we played in Chile and one of the fans asked me for my strapping on my wrist. Seeing how passionate they are about rugby is something I’ll never forget. What’s your spirit animal? I don’t have one, but the horse I grew up with was named Spirit. If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on? All the top business people’s conversations. Name a sport you think shouldn’t be classified as a sport. Chess. After seeing the strategies, rules and focus a player needs…

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…

SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO GET CREATIVE and think outside of the box in order to plan a workout using, well, just a single box. If you think the only reason those boxes are sitting around your gym is for box jumps, think again! They can be used for many things – the two main reasons I use a box is to regress or progress a specific movement. When regressing a movement, the box works well with assisting in mobility and stability, because the movements are slowed down and more controlled. This is referred to as plyo training. Plyo training can be performed as a progression to most movements, where you force your muscles to exert maximum force in short intervals, making your body stronger and more powerful over time. Just…

As Marcus Smith makes the short walk from a makeshift outdoor photo studio to the warmth of the coffee shop at Harlequins’ Surrey Sports Park base in Guildford, he is approached by a group of girls, not much younger than him, and asked for an autograph, a programme from the England-South Africa match thrust in his direction. He is happy to oblige and share in a brief exchange on the excitement of that game. Smith has been well known in rugby circles for a few years now but the past six months have catapulted him to a new stratosphere and the wider public consciousness. After all, he has won the English Premiership with Harlequins, made his England debut, been called up to the British & Irish Lions tour in South…

Kris Totenhosen Great year of rugby, well deserved. Ro Cronje Without a doubt. He gave his all in every single game last year. Hanro Oosthuizen 2021 was by far the best season of his career. Rob Campbell Congratulations, Siya. You make Gqeberha and Grey High proud. Bayeka Malunga He had an amazing season but this award belonged to Etzebeth. Siyakha Mabeezy Congratulations, Siya. My money was on Eben but you were great too, so proud of you. John Olivier Bulls, please make more videos. Jakes Johann Pretorius From a Bulls supporter, that video was a bit windgat and way too soon! Rugby is a very unpredictable sport! Stay humble Bulls. Zaid Abrahams That video was moer arrogant! Glad we brought the Bulls back down to earth. Barry O’Donoghue Definitely backfired…

The year 2021 saw Cheslin Kolbe climb to the summit of rugby, achieving what most players only dream about, before he plummeted down due to injury. The speedster went from winning the Top 14 and European Champions Cup with Toulouse, to helping the Springboks claim a 2-1 series victory over the British & Irish Lions. He then switched clubs to Toulon in a much-hyped move that saw him unveiled in front of thousands of fans at the Stade Mayol. However, he had to wait until December to make his debut for his new team due to a troublesome leg injury, which also kept him out of the Rugby Championship and end-of-year tour of the UK. During Kolbe’s absence, the Springbok attack suffered. There were the victories over New Zealand and…

The Blitzboks’ 2021 Olympic Games disappointment must feel like a distant memory for them. Since then, they have won six consecutive World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments and 34 matches in a row (breaking their record of 16 set during the 2008-09 season). Yes, they have done so in the absence of New Zealand, who have not played since the Olympics due to their country’s Covid-19 border restrictions. Fiji missed the only two tournaments of the 2021 Sevens Series in Canada and the two-tournament Spanish leg this season due to Covid-positive tests among players and staff. Meanwhile, Great Britain competed in the two Dubai tournaments this season, with England, Scotland and Wales returning as separate teams for the two tournaments in Spain. THE BLITZBOKS COULD ONLY PLAY – AND BEAT –…

2007 Sharks 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Frans Steyn, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Butch James, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 AJ Venter, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Johan Ackermann, 3 Deon Carstens, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Beast Mtawarira. Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Warren Britz, 20 Bob Skinstad, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Adrian Jacobs. Coach: Dick Muir. 2002 Crusaders 15 Leon MacDonald. 14 Marika Vunibaka, 13 Mark Robinson. 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Caleb Ralph, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 9 Justin Marshall, 8 Scott Robertson, 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Chris Jack, 5 Norm Maxwell, 4 Reuben Thome (c), 3 Greg Feek, 2 Mark Hammett, 1 Greg Somerville. Subs: 16 David Hewett, 17 Corey…

ON CAPE TOWN AND SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY FANS As far as the rugby went, playing with the Crusaders in 2011 made for another great year, though obviously we were all affected by the earthquake. The city was full of broken streets, thousands of houses destroyed or red-zoned as too dangerous to enter. There’s no question we had the Crusaders fans in mind every time we ran out on to a field. Playing-wise, it felt I could hardly put a foot wrong. Even when we were up against the tougher South African sides on their home soil - the Stormers, the Sharks, the Cheetahs, the Bulls - me and my Crusaders teammates were in the zone, and I was doing some crazy offloads having an absolute ball. Something else was crazy…

‘It was so good to see a message starting with “Howzit” and not “Bonjour"!’ quipped Dillyn Leyds after agreeing to be interviewed by SA Rugby magazine. The former Springbok now plays for French giants La Rochelle, but remains every inch the man who thrilled the Newlands faithful. Like so many others, Leyds hasn’t looked back since making his move to France. In a sparkling debut season, he was a standout in a La Rochelle side that contested the Top 14 and European Champions Cup finals. Despite the whirlwind success of the previous season (and the ultimate heartbreak of falling at the final hurdle) Leyds is not dwelling on the past. He is fully focused on this season’s campaign and another title opportunity. ‘Last year went well, personally, but as a…