“You've got to give it to World Rugby, they've made a right mess with this World Test League. So many questions still unanswered – not just who is in and out – but what about travel, fatigue, watering down test rugby, etc.” - Brenden Nel Volume 19, Number 7 07 March 2019 Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.leopardnewsletters.co.za

Yesterday’s Heros are Today’s Also-Rans

A year ago, the Blitzbokke were on top of the world after round five of the HSBC World Series – literally. Sitting atop the standings 10 points clear of second-placed New Zealand and 13 points ahead of eventual runners-up, Fiji.

What a difference a year makes. This year they’re languishing in fifth on the table a full 31 points behind the leaders, USA. At the halfway mark, they already have virtually zero chance of winning the title for a third consecutive year. That together with untimely injuries to key playmakers and as So how did they fall so fast and so hard? Two well as to stalwart is, in the words of coach reasons, and injuries. First Super , testing the depth of the squad. It’s also Rugby: , Ruhan Nel, , instructive to hear what has to say about Dylan Sage, , and it in an interview with Brenden Nel. Rosco Specman were all key members of last year’s winning squad of 12. This year, all seven are trying But did it really have to be this way? Shouldn’t to make their way in Super Rugby. players wearing national colours in any discipline be contracted for fixed terms specifically to prevent this sort of mass exodus? It is, after all, much easier to maintain standards if you bring a few young players into a largely settled squad than when you only have a handful of veterans left behind to provide guidance.

This is particularly true in a fast-moving game like sevens rugby. So why is SA Rugby not putting in place all the mechanisms needed to assure the fanatical public of a consistent standard of play from our national sevens team?

Oh yes, they play again in Vancouver this weekend but fans won’t be expecting too much.

KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER

Another mostly dismal Super Rugby weekend 2019 Kicks Off This Weekend ’ and Kings’ Poor Runs Continue World Rugby League Booted into Touch Varsity Cup Rocks With Tries Galore Loses Headline Sponsor

Page 1 Another mostly dismal Super Rugby weekend

There’s a dark cloud hanging over the newsroom this week – again – following what our editor is calling another weekend of daylight robbery. To hear him tell it, the referee was either incompetent or crooked, and he’s leaning toward the latter.

Stripped of expletives – and there were many – he reckons the Lions were robbed of possession in the half of the field all day. The only way, he adds, the Bulls could have been onside at the breakdown Cheetahs’ and Kings’ Poor Runs Continue would have been if they too were wearing red and white. But Lions coach Swys de Bruyn says the Bulls Confession time, nobody in the newsroom were better on the day. remembered to watch the locally relevant PRO14 fixtures this past weekend so we’re completely reliant Looking back at the weekend as a whole, the on other reports this time. Hurricanes thrashing of the Brumbies came as no surprise but the Highlanders loss to the Rebels was According to the official tournament web site, unexpected. And, speaking of unexpected, the Leinster battled past a dogged Cheetahs outfit. Sunwolves comprehensively out playing the Chiefs on However, a cursory look at the match stats suggest that their own patch was a spectacular and well-deserved the reporter was being generous. And this impression result. is confirmed by a rather colourless report from a local news outlet. Another surprise was the Crusaders inability to put up a cricket score against the Reds but part of the reason could have been the typically poor officiating. Still, despite the visitors not getting anywhere near their share of the 50-50 calls, like the champions they are they pulled through to win.

Then came the match at Ellis Park, already discussed, followed by the other local derby, which was an arm- wrestle if the reports are to be believed. And to wrap up the weekend, the Jaguares hung on for a famous victory over Blues in Buenos Aires. Similarly, the official report suggests that the gave the Cardiff Blues a good run for their money. And while the stats appear to suggest this at first glance, a deeper dive considering metres made, defenders beaten and all the tackle numbers indicates otherwise. Furthermore, that the Kings were always chasing the game is clearly shown by the Ultimate Rugby commentary record. This view is also supported by the only local report we could find.

The competition is on a two-week break this weekend with action resuming with yet another away fixture for both teams on Saturday 23 March. But the good news is that both teams will be back for a string of home games in April.

Page 2 Page 3 Varsity Cup Rocks With Tries Galore Gold Cup 2019 Kicks Off This Weekend

We hang our heads in shame in the newsroom this The new-look 16-team strength-versus-strength week. We completely forgot to watch “Rugby the format of the local Gold Cup non-university club Rocks” this past Monday and have to rely on whatever rugby competition will kick off on Saturday with the reports we can find on the interwebs. first round of eight matches scheduled for venues around the country. The first match in the FNB Varsity Cup this week was the Joburg derby in which UJ triumphed over Wits – In the way of the modern world, the venerable and by quite a margin: 39-16 in the end after leading competition has given its new sponsors naming rights 17-0 at half-time. The Varsity Sports App offers and will now be known as the SSG Gold Cup, interesting match statistics if you dig a little by drilling Presented by Blu Approved & M4Jam. down on the results of each match. Traditionalists may be a bit taken aback by the unwieldy name but hey, as long as these companies The match in was a high scoring affair are planning to support local club rugby by funding that was fairly evenly balanced until about the 33rd this competition for a decent period of time, who minute, after which Shimlas ran in four unanswered really cares what they call it? tries to finish with a commanding 51-40 victory over UCT-Ikeys. On the longevity issue, some comfort can be taken by the fact the former Springbok hooker and world cup- But down in Bellville a hapless UWC was on the end winning captain, John Smit is the Acting CEO of of a 11-try thrashing by a resurgent UP-Tuks. The stats SSG Holdings. The first round of matches om reveal that the home team conceded a lot of penalties Satirday are: (16 to Tuks’ 4) and kicked the ball away a lot in general play. It clearly wasn’t a successful strategy. POOL A Stiles Progress George v Durbanville-Bellville Meanwhile, in , Maties set about ending (Rosemoor Stadium, George, 16:00) the unbeaten run of NWU-Pukke unceremoniously. OneLogix United Bulk Villagers Worcester v The 43-15 victory included a hat-trick of tries by Northam Platinum Rhinos (Boland Park, Worcester, Maties speedster , which had 16:00) Oom Rugby salivating on Twitter. POOL B The mouth-watering fixtures for next Monday’s Rugby Multisure Gardens v Sasol Digi Mag Secunda that Rocks can be found on the last page of this (Derrick Ferreira Stadium, Uitenhage, 15:30) newsletter as well as on the official web site. College Rovers v Phakisa Holdings East Rand United (KP3, Kings Park, , 15:30)

POOL C ABE Midas Naka Bulls v CT Hydraulics Sishen (Loftus Versfeld, , 14:40 — c/raiser to Vodacom Super Rugby between Vodacom Bulls and Cell C ) v Recall Security Bloemfontein Police ( Stadium B Field, Welkom, 15:30)

POOL D RotoTank Roodepoort v Newrak Rustenburg Impala (Ruimsig Athletics Stadium, Roodepoort, 15:00) KWV Springs v Hollywoodbets Swallows (Olympia Park Sports Ground, Springs, 16:00)

Page 4 Page 5 World Rugby League Booted into Touch

News emerged last week of a proposed new international rugby calendar, apparently conceived in a boardroom at World Rugby head-quarters in Dublin. The proposal apparently involves a 12-nation competition involving the teams competing in both the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship along with Japan and USA, both of which will be added to the latter competition.

The plan, if that’s what it is, is for the competition to begin in 2020 and require all 12 nations to play each other once in the calendar year, with a semi-final and final to be played in late November, possibly early On the same day Ultimate Rugby reported the first December. denials from New Zealand Rugby CE Steve Tew, who said no decisions have been made about the future Significantly, it makes no provision for promotion or format for international rugby. The web portal also relegation from either the Six Nations or Rugby quoted a similar comment from Rugby Australia CE Championship. This means that the likes of Canada, Raelene Castle. Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and many other aspiring nations have been left out in the cold for at least a decade.

Not surprisingly, the reaction was swift, widespread and highly critical of the world rugby governing body. CNN ran a piece last Thursday by George Ramsay entitled “World Rugby criticized for 'out of touch' calendar shake-up”, which is representative of most of the reporting around the issue.

A day later and a bit closer to home, Wynona Louw pulled no punches when she wrote: “This proposed rugby World League series is ridiculous ...” It should be noted that no official communique from World Rugby on the subject could be found before our deadline but after the organisation took a hammering in the press, chairman Bill Beaumont came out on Sunday to echo Tew in saying that no decision has been made.

He explained that he is convening a meeting of Chairmen and CEOs from tier one unions, Fiji and Japan, and player representatives in Dublin later this month to consider the way forward for an annual international competition.

Our own Brenden Nel summed up the situation perfectly when he tweeted: “You've got to give it to World Rugby, they've made a right mess with this World Test League. So many questions still unanswered - not just who is in and out - but what about travel, fatigue, watering down test rugby etc.”

Your move World Rugby.

Page 6 Craven Week Loses Headline Sponsor

We learned last week that the iconic schools rugby competition, Craven Week and its associated tournaments, are without a headline sponsor since the end of last year, when Coca-Cola and SA Rugby could not agree to terms for a new contract.

A spokesperson for SA Rugby said the organisation is in the process of signing up new sponsors for the junior tournaments. Noel Ingle, chairperson of the South African Schools Rugby Association (SASRA), is reported to have said that the tournaments will go ahead as planned in 2019. One suggestion that was repeated several times was to drop the Under-13 week entirely while others felt For the record, ’s national junior that the category should be policed by player tournaments, in chronological order are: size/weight to prevent the unreasonable mismatches that do occur. June 17-20: Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) - Grey College in Bloemfontein While it’s certainly food for thought, our feeling is that SA Rugby should be trying to broaden the base as June 17-21: National Girls Under-16 and Under-18 much as possible. The Under 13 week provides an Weeks - Jeppe High School in opportunity for big rugby schools’ talent scouts to earn their keep. June 24-28: Under-13 Craven Week and Under-16 Grant Khomo Week - Hoërskool Rob Ferreira in Mpumalanga

July 1-6: Under-18 Craven Week and Academy Week - Grey College in Bloemfontein.

The news of the lost sponsor sparked a vigorous debate on Twitter, one thread of which was started by Brenden Nel when he asked: “With Coca Cola no longer sponsoring the Craven Week, should a new sponsor also bring in a new format for the Schools week?”

,

Page 7 For your weekend viewing pleasure

It’s another busy weekend of rugby for the committed rugby fan. Apart from Super Rugby there is local Gold Cup club rugby (page 4), Six Nations, American MLR and English Premiership action. There is also round six of the World Rugby Sevens Series being played in Vancouver, in the wee hours again.

As usual, we’ll focus on Super Rugby and Sevens. Again, there are only two fixtures featuring local teams: Lions host Jaguares (3pm Saturday) at Emirates Park and Bulls entertain Sharks at Loftus (5pm). have a bye.

Should you be interested in any of the other games you can consult the fixtures lists for Super Rugby. And if you want information about fixtures in Six Nations, Premiership, or MLR, just click through to those links above.

And the Vancouver Sevens schedule can be found here. But that’s not all. While the Sevens finishes in the wee hours of Monday, our time, that afternoon and evening will see another round of FNB Varsity Cup (schedule alongside).

Thanks for reading our newsletter. We need feedback to improve The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters. it – and only you can give us that feedback. Please take the time to send us an email. We want to hear from you – good, bad or ugly, a pat on the back or a kick in the butt. Remember to look us up on Twitter, where you'll find many of our contributors on our timeline.

Page 8