“I really thought he went down and the player ducked into the tackle. It was a great tackle. Nobody was injured or anything.” Blue Bulls coach Pote Human describing events which led to a yellow card for Burger Odendaal. Volume 20, Number 5 28 February 2020 Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.rugbyrsa.co.za Upsets Galore in Super Rugby Round Four Readers will remember our dip into the predictions Then came what was undoubtedly the upset of the day, game a fortnight ago and we’re pleased to report that when Brumbies visited Hamilton and knocked Chiefs we only had one result wrong in that round: we picked off the top of the combined table with a stunning the visiting Waratahs over Rebels but the home team victory (14-26). did the job. Thankfully, due to load shedding, we were unable to crow about our achievement or to dabble in Waratahs scored all the points in the first half, and the game again because this past weekend was upset continued with the first movement of the second half. after upset. Chiefs took their turn to score after that but fell well short of the mark. It was an unbelievable result helped It began last Friday with a typically belligerent by plenty of typically questionable officiating. performance by Crusaders in crushing Highlanders’ hopes (33-13) in Christchurch. That result put last The match in Brisbane followed that and saw the home- season’s champions on top of the New Zealand town Reds entertain Sunwolves, leading to the third conference – but the apparently smart money was upset of the day – nobody expected the Japanese saying it wouldn’t be for long. The smart money was franchise to take such a hammering from such lowly wrong. opposition. The final score was a completely unbelievable 64-5. Saturday seemed to go from one upset to the next. It began in Melbourne, where the visiting Sharks won a But the upsets weren’t over, not by a long shot. match they had no right to win (24-36). That result Jaguares visited Cape Town and simply couldn’t speaks to one of two things: the abysmally poor overcome the home town Stormers (17-7). This was standard of refereeing seen in the competition so far despite the best referee in the competition – if not the this year; and the poor standard of rugby in the South world right now – being in charge of the fixture. Pacific penitentiary these days. The final match of the weekend saw a lacklustre Bulls outfit lose the plot and the match (albeit in the final minutes) against Blues from New Zealand (21-23). As it was two weeks ago, Pote Human’s typical domkrag battle plan did the home team no favours whatsoever. KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER Two More Terrible Rounds of PRO14 Rugby Werner Kok Still Smiling As He Hits 50 Six Nations: French Clean Sweep is Possible Is There Anything Cheslin Kolbe Can’t Do? Rugby That Rocks Deserves to be on TV Sarries Scandal Exposes Complex Problem Page 1 Two More Terrible Rounds of PRO14 Rugby Six Nations: French Clean Sweep is Possible Given that we missed reporting on PRO14 last week, As the only undefeated side in Six Nations 2020, we’re casting our eyes back a fortnight to assess the France is still in with a shot at a clean sweep in the last two rounds on PRO14 rugby. But we’re not sure tournament. So far, the cockerels have defeated the why we’re doing it because it was absolutely horrible: despicable whingers (24-17), Italy (35-22) and Wales four matches played; four matches lost. (27-23) and they have two matches left: Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend and Ireland at home on the In round 11, a fortnight ago, the first match of outskirts of Paris a week later. significant local interest saw Southern Kings travel to Cork to face Munster. And it set a terrible precedent when the home side thrashed the visitors 68-3. To add salt to the wounds, a fellow South African and former Bulls player, Arno Botha, was destroyer-in-chief, scoring a hat-trick of tries for his new team on the night. The next day saw six-time PRO14 champions, Leinster, absolutely eviscerate Cheetahs in Dublin. When the boys from Bloemfontein wiped out their eyes in the third quarter, they were trailing 36-0. To their credit, however, they fought back and managed to But looking back on the competition so far, round score twice before the final whistle to bring some two took place a fortnight ago and we missed respectability to the final score: 36-12. reporting on that due to load shedding and a subsequent outage (we had no power for over nine Of the pair of South African franchises, it was hours last Thursday from 12pm). But if you still want Cheetahs who played first last weekend and the match to go back and assess the results, one of the places took on a similar shape to that of the week before – you can go is ruck.co.uk. Ulster scored all their points in the first sixty minutes while the visitors could only add a solitary penalty It features extended video highlights of the fixtures kick for three points. A Clayton Blommetjies try that week: Wales vs England, France vs Scotland, restored some pride but try as they might, Cheetahs Italy vs Ireland. We do admit to having been as could not secure even a losing bonus point. Final bitterly disappointed in Wales two weeks ago as we score: 20-10. were with Ireland this past weekend. That brings us to the last of four forgettable matches, Both teams have recently appointed new coaches and which saw Scarlets take on Kings in Llanelli. This one it appears to have brought some uncertainty into the was at least competitive for sixty minutes, at which performances of their teams. Wayne Pivac is a New point the score was 19-17. But then Scarlets scored Zealander who replaced his compatriot Warren three tries for a final score of 36-17. Gatland in Cardiff after last year’s World Cup while Andy Farrell took over as Ireland head coach after Joe Schmidt stepped down at more or less the same time. Both have very big shoes to fill. Specialist website, sixnationsrugby.com, is featuring five key statistical insights from round three of the tournament and it's worth a read if you're so inclined. Florugby.com looks to establish what lessons can be taken from the third round while Gareth Mason recaps it in his inimitable style. Page 2 Page 3 Rugby That Rocks Deserves to be on TV Werner Kok Still Smiling As He Hits 50 We have an admission to make: until this past Monday Blitzbok and 2015 World Rugby Sevens Player of the night, we have avoided watching FNB Varsity Cup Year, Werner Kok, will have a broad smile on his face rugby this year. The memory of the horrible noise in when he joins a very illustrious group of Springbok stadia during the matches last year was just too Sevens players in Los Angeles this weekend. He will distressing. And before we took the plunge this week, take the field in his 50th HSBC World Rugby Sevens we fully expected to have to mute the sound, again. Series tournament – the eighth Blitzbok to achieve the milestone. For the popular Nelspruit native, it will be a special feeling that he will treasure and something he did not think of when he debuted as a Blitzbok for the very first time way back in London in 2013. “It was not something I ever thought would happen, so it is going to be a great feeling, no doubt,” said Kok. “It will be pretty amazing I am sure. I still recall my very first match... I came off the bench against France in London and my first act was to defend, but the guy stepped me blind,” Kok recalls with a laugh. But we were pleasantly surprised: presumably as a But looking ahead to the tournament this weekend, result of the diminished crowds, there is now a far there are some matches scheduled to be played at greater focus on the rugby being played. Hallelujah. If awkward times here in South Africa. Blitzboks are we can offer a word of advice to the sponsors, FNB, drawn against Kenya (21:35 Saturday night), Canada forget about trying to get crowds to the game. Rather (00:53 Sunday morning) and Ireland (05:05, also capitalise on the hordes of television viewers who Sunday morning). would love to see every game on television. Play two matches on Sunday and the other two on Monday, staggered so that all can be broadcast. And get SABC involved: they’ll give greater coverage and be far more flexible than the sharks in Randburg. Here ends the lesson. The match we saw on Monday was Tuks vs Shimlas where the visitors came out of the blocks fast and had the score at 0-14 inside the first ten minutes. Of course, the home team fought back and, in the end triumphed (43-33) but along the way, eleven tries were scored and some fantastic rugby was played. It really was rugby that rocks. The good news is that there are quarter-finals this weekend so one slip-up will not end Blitzboks chances Meanwhile, three other matches were being played. In of a tournament victory.