Big clash at Anfield

Sundays clash between arch rivals Liverpool and Manchester United will be a fiery one as there has been a lot of drama leading up to this game including the racial incident involving Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra. Suarez was accused of racially abusing Evra and when they met again at Old Trafford refused to shake his hand. He will be forced to shake Evra’s hand when they meet at Anfield on Sunday. Manchester United fans chanted “you’re always the victim; it’s never your fault”. Ferguson has asked for the fans to be well behaved when they travel to Mersey Side. Will they listen or will it spill over into something which neither side want? This will be the first game at Anfield since the fans were declared innocent after the Hillsborough incident in 1989.

Liverpool will be looking to redeem their poor start to the season with no wins from their first 4 games. They will face tough opposition as Robin van Persie is in fine form which can’t be said for Liverpool’s front man Suarez who has failed to impress thus far in the competition. A lot can be expected from this game as well as a lot of drama, right from when the teams shake hands you can expect fireworks to go off.  

(dailymail.co.uk)

A weekend of madness

It seems that South African rugby players lost their minds this past weekend with a few bizarre situations occurring. Apart from the fact that the Springboks went down to a less than best All Black team in Dunedin on Saturday. They employed the same game plan even in the face of defeat, kicking with no aim to allow their back 3 an opportunity to run it back at us which they did to good effect. Heyneke Meyer has been criticised for his persistence with this style of play and of his persistence with Morne Steyn. Many including myself are calling for the promotion of Johan Goosen to the starting position as well as that of Patrick Lambie. Putting in Goosen with his natural style will add greatly to this Springbok side but if Meyer tries to force him into his style of kick, kick and more kick then it will be pointless. The inclusion of Lambie would be purely because he offers more in terms of attacking flare. The game plan which Meyer is implementing is clearly not working and will continue to not work unless he changes something or someone. Albert Einstein classified insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting the same result.

 

The insanity that incurred during the Springbok game was almost unbelievable to watch as replacement prop Dean Greyling came on to make the worst appearance in a Springbok jersey in a long time, giving away a penalty in his first 5 minutes followed by a yellow card for hitting Richie McCaw in the jaw with his Elbow. Common sense was not so common for Mr Greyling who I rate as one of the worst props in South Africa. The madness did not stop there however, in a water logged game between the Sharks and Western Province drama continued. A game where Province seemed to be keeping with their new expansive style of play was frustrated by the Sharks as well as the officials who were poor at best. Jebb Sinclair a Canadian international was red carded after he punched Jean Deysal after he provoked him. Now you would think they would have learnt from this, well you would be wrong, flank Tyrone Holmes was too red carded for punching Jacques Botes. That was not the end of the madness however as Wilhelm van der Sluys was yellow carded for a late hit which I believe was unjust. These cardings put a bad tint on the game and the game as a whole.

 

Watching a video the other day of Naas Botha being knocked lights out by an opposing player and receiving only a penalty really made me think about how the game has changed. Another incident was the 1995 world cup where a full on brawl broke out between South Africa and Canada and not one player was sent off. Some people of the old breed would say that they have gone soft  and back in the day it was all part of the game.

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Out with the old and in with the new

I’ve always believed in young talent and the wealth of young talent in South Africa is huge. From winning the u20 World Championships to having a great school rugby and varsity cup season our future looks bright. These are some of the guys that caught my eye this year and I think will become stars in the not so distant future.

Clayton Blommetjies

One of the stars of this years varsity cup, he was instrumental in his teams victory, currently with the Bulls his talent at either wing or fullback is one that we should see in a Springbok jersey soon.

Shaun Thomas

A star in the baby Boks winning team, at hooker he provides speed and power similar to the likes of Deon Fourie and Schalk Brits.

Steven Kitshoff

He’s been playing for the Stomers regularly and has been given the starting roll at prop on most occasions, his power and work rate and excellent tackling ability make him the complete prop.

Shaun Adendorff

For me one of the stand out players in the baby Bok team, a work rate second to none and a never say die attitude make him an asset to any team, his power and explosive speed give him the edge over other flankers.

Handre Pollard

A fly half with all the qualities you need, a deadly accurate boot and the will to move the ball quickly to the outside backs. An integral part of the World champion baby Boks.

Jan Serfontein

A centre with a deadly side step and electrifying speed can break any defensive line and can tackle like his life depends on it. Winning the u20 player of the year just shows his worth as a player.

William Small-Smith

A Springbok sevens player who can step like nobody’s business, don’t let his slight stature fool you, when you blink he will be past you in a flash and can tackle players twice his size.

Paul Jordaan

For me the complete player, he can play wing or centre, electric pace and enough power to break any line, a deceptive side step will leave you on your backside wondering what happened. A player that could be in the Springbok setup now rather than later.

There are many more players that can be mentioned and the talent is very impressive but these are players that have particularly impressed me and I hope they carry on impressing and make it to the highest level.

(pictures taken from Google images) 

Where do the youth go?

There is a wealth of young rugby talent in South Africa at the moment. The school boy rugby is particularly strong but what happens when they leave school? They could play age group rugby at provincial level but what about furthering their education. It’s possible for them to study at a university as well as playing at age group level. The introduction of the varsity cup was an outstanding concept which gives players the opportunity to play to level rugby as well as get an education. The Sharks realized this long ago with their Sharks academy which allows them to nurture players of their choice as well as affording them an education. This allowed them the ability to pick and choose the youngsters they wanted giving the Sharks union a never ending supply of youngsters. They have exploited the Eastern Cape taking players such as Keegan Daniel and Chris Cloete.

The varsity cup hindered them slightly because now there is another option but the Sharks do one better by offering the players they choose a bursary. The varsity cup has one other disadvantage in that players aren’t guaranteed a place in a top union where as the Sharks academy players are almost guaranteed a place in one of the teams. If each union had their own academy it would be a battle between local talent instead of the Sharks getting their pick of the bunch and then everyone else gets a go. Western Province and the Free State are known for producing great rugby talent but they just go to the Sharks for example u20 Springbok fly half Handre Pollard is going to the Sharks academy next year. Another loss to WP.  

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Springboks still not getting it

The Springboks suffered their first defeat in the rugby championship this year when they went down 26-19 to Australia. The Springboks seemed to have the game under control at half time with a superior kicking game, pinning Australia in their half for most of the period. The game changed however when Australia decided to keep the ball in hand which was a good plan seeing as though you cant score tries without the ball. Australia not in the best form of late still managed to beat us, what will happen against the All Blacks?

A great kicking performance from Morne Steyn, Zane Kirchner and Frans Steyn which counted for nil as we just gave them possession to run it back at us. Watching an interview with Naas Botha who had always been criticized for always kicking the ball, his reply was “have you heard of Danie Gerber?” Danie Gerber is known as one of if not the greatest Springbok centers of all time. Al though Naas was exceptionally good at kicking, he still needed to pass in order for the players around him to be so good which he did. In my mind a player that emulates Botha the most would be Johan Goosen, he has a great kicking game and can kick it from a mile away but at the same time likes to run with the ball and create chances for the players around him. You would have seen this when he made his Springbok Debut against Australia, he may only have played for 10 minutes but that was enough to see that he has heaps of talent and may be in line for a start sooner than we think.

The Springboks are under the impression that without the likes of Sonny Bill Williams and Daniel Carter New Zealand will be less of a threat, think again. They may be very influential players but let’s not forget they won the world cup without Dan Carter and at the time SBW on the bench. They have enough fire power in their current squad to embarrass us further. We shouldn’t be looking at them and who’s missing. We should be looking at ourselves and what we can do to improve from our poor performance against the Wallabies.

They have blamed inexperience for our poor performance and saying that we can’t expect them to perform with so many players that have left. I agree it is tough to have mostly a new team and perform. The question I ask is if you are forced to have a new squad why not put younger players in, that way they will play for longer and you won’t sit in the same position we’re in now in 4 years time. Robbie Deans did this when he became coach playing young players to build hid squad for the future. We should do the same before our wealth of young players decide to move overseas or get too old.

Reds still not living up to expectation

Liverpool hasn’t had the start to the season they would have hoped for. Suffering a 3-0 defeat to West Bromich Albion, a 2-2 draw with champions Machester City and a 2-0 loss to Arsenal last week. With only a single point from the last 3 games it doesn’t look good for new coach Brendan Rogers. A lot was expected from him as he did an outstanding job with Swansea last season. It is still early days and he has said many times that it will take time to get Liverpool back to their best. This is understandable but for most fans, they have been without a major trophy since 2005. A lot has been promised over the last few years and nobody has produced the goods so fans could be excused for being upset with the last 3 results not going their way. Brendan Rogers has a good plan in place, which is evident by the style they are playing. In all honesty I haven’t seen Liverpool play so well in a long time which bodes well for the future. You would however notice by watching them play that some of the players are still not up to speed with this new style of play. This could be due to the fact that Rogers is not using his players to the best of their ability.

It was a rather quiet transfer window for Rogers only being able to lure 3 players to the first team as well as 2 younger players for the future. The main players Rogers has brought in are Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Nuri Sahin. Good buys seeing as though they were not able to offer European football. The way they set up in the midfield is Steven Gerrard, Nuri Sahin and Joe Allen, Sahin and Gerrard being the more attacking players with Allen sitting in front of the centre backs and controlling play. It is apparent that Gerrard is not up to the standard we have expected of him throughout his career, could it be time for him to reinvent himself under Rogers? When Fernando Torres and Gerrard played so successfully together it was because their style suited so well, Torres wanted the ball played in front of him so he could run onto it and Gerrard’s passing would suit that. Now with Luis Suarez who likes the ball played early so he can run with it coupled with the Rogers style of play it seems that Gerrard is lost. There is however a solution for this problem, Joe Allen who has been dubbed the king of the short pass whose style resembles that of a Spanish player and who naturally plays the early ball could possibly be a perfect partner for Suarez. By no means am I saying its time for Gerrard to pack it in but merely to become that holding player who controls the midfield like Xabi Alonso used to do when him and Gerrard played together. This would leave Sahin and Allen to be the more attacking players and with quick ball to the forwards with like likes of Sterling with his speed and Suarez with his skill, it could lead to a lot more goals.

The right hand side of the pitch has been of slight concern as Borini has not impressed thus far and neither has Downing. Borini could be used as a player to cut in field and drag defenders which will allow Johnson to overlap and provide better ball from the wing. With Borini cutting in it will provide more options in the box for the cross. I think the results will come, jut need to have patience while Rogers sorts out the fine details

picture from www.supersport.com