“The All Blacks thought they knew what was coming but Rassie Erasmus’ team changed the picture.” - renowned Irish rugby journalist, Murray Kinsela. Volume 19, Number 28 01 August 2019 Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.rugbyrsa.co.za Drawing With All Blacks Feels Like A Win According to many news reports after the match on One such is on Sport24.co.za: it is basically a list of Saturday in Wellington between the All Blacks and statistics showing unequivocally that New Zealand Springboks, it was an uninspiring performance by won the game everywhere but on the scoreboard. both teams. But what those reports neglect to mention is that these two teams are what many consider to be That’s true. We recall one of the television the two best rugby teams in the world. commentators on Saturday saying words to the effect that one side will be happier with the draw than the And, as such, it was always going to be tough and it other. All Black captain Kieran Read’s words after was always going to come down to errors on defence. the match drive that point home: The Boks made such an error in the closing minutes of the first half and the All Blacks returned the favour "I think so. If you saw the reactions from the two in the dying moments of the second half. Both errors sides (a loss) is what it feels like." resulted in tries due to the quality of the players on the field. Rassie Erasmus, the national director of rugby, attributed the result to a heavy stroke of luck. For us, it was top-class rugby and the sort of rugby one should expect to see at the World Cup later this “Right at the end we could have lost it and we year. But all of that said, there were more than a few managed to draw the game, and Handré could have reports that offered interesting insight into the match missed that last kick so we could have lost that on Saturday. game.” Indeed. And the moment that allowed the Springboks to snatch the draw was provided by none other than the mercurial Herschel Jantjies. It’s a short clip but it’s worth watching over and over – unless you’re an All Black supporter or player. Another clip worth looking at is RG Snyman cleaning out Brodie Retallic when he went in the side of a ruck and interfered with the ball. That said, Retallic’s resulting injury was unfortunate but we can't help thinking: if his arm wasn't extended, illegally inhibiting the ball, the hit probably wouldn't have dislocated his shoulder. Karma? KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER Cream Rises to the Top in the Currie Cup PRO14 2019/2020 Begins During RWC2019 Jaguares March On; Challengers Slip Back When All You Need is a Minor Tweak... Next Generation of Stars in the Making Coach Rassie Erasmus Suddenly has Options Page 1 Cream Rises to the Top in the Currie Cup Jaguares March On; Challengers Slip Back Curie Cup Premier Division action kicked off in Over in the First Division, and as we suggested last Nelspruit last Friday night when Pumas hosted Blue week, Jaguares are looking like certainties for the Bulls at Mbombela Stadium. It began well for the title. They extended their unbeaten run to four by home team with a converted try in the third minute visiting the EP Elephants in Port Elizabeth and but then Rosco Specman struck twice for the visitors administering a comprehensive thrashing (15-54). to lead at half-time. Pumas took the lead again in the third quarter but it was that man Specman’s hat-trick try that took the game away in the end. The final score was 17-25, leaving Pumas scratching their heads after three loses on the trot. On the plus side, their next game is at home against the weakest side in the competition. Meanwhile, in Bloemfontein Free State Cheetahs Earlier in the weekend, Boland Cavaliers got back on continued to use the Currie Cup to build their season the winning trail by thumping SWD Eagles 3-32 at toward their opening PRO14 match in late September Outeniqua Park in George on Friday evening. (see page four). They blew away the previously unbeaten Griquas, in the process scoring the bonus The other results from this past weekend saw Valke point in the first half to lead 28-0 at the break. and Griffons fight to yet another draw (31-all) at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan. The weekend’s fourth However, it must be noted that visitors from fixture took place Olen Park in Potchefstroom, where Kimberley had many opportunities but managed to Leopards hosted Border Bulldogs and came away butcher every single visit to the Cheetahs red zone. In with a solid bonus point win (38-29). the end it was a ten-try demolition job that left the Griquas coaching staff shaking their heads: 68-14. All of this means that, after four rounds in the Currie Cup First Division, the Argentinian side now sits five By contrast, the final match of the weekend saw log points clear of second-place Valke while four Golden Lions travel to Cape Town to take on other sides are covered by three points: Cavaliers Western Province. It was a scrappy affair punctuated (12), Griffons (12), SWD Eagles (11) and Leopards by poor handling and abysmal refereeing but the (10). better team won in the end 28-30. And it did contain at least one piece of individual brilliance. With three rounds left before the knock phase begins, Jaguares are probably already in the semifinals but Cheetahs (on 10 points) now top the log ahead of the five teams below them on the table are fighting Griquas (10) and Golden Lions (9) and both for one of the three remaining semifinal spots. Cheetahs and Lions have a game in hand. That said, it’s difficult to see the Free Staters losing a game this And anything can happen: already there have been year. They just seem to be a cut above the rest as they three draws in this year’s competition.Valke, build for the PRO14. Griffons and SWD Eagles have all now drawn twice each, while the Valke remain the only other unbeaten team left in the competition. All four games of round five will be on Saturday (3rd Aug): Griffons will host Leopards, Cavaliers will entertain Valke, Jaguares will welcome SWD Eagles and Border Bulldogs will host EP Elephants. But none of it will be televised. Page 2 Page 3 Next Generation of Stars in the Making PRO14 2019/2020 Begins During RWC2019 SA Rugby’s youth championships continued this past A few weeks back we noted the announcement of the weekend and a bit of a shake-up happened in the U20 fixtures for the new season of Gallagher Premiership tournament. After three rounds, all nine teams have rugby and observed that it begins the weekend the played two matches and three of them are still World Cup reaches the quarter-final stage. unbeaten: Eastern Province, Pumas and Griffons. Well, the PRO14 organisation have gone one better: All three are on 10 points, separated only by points that competition is starting barely two weeks into the difference after Griffons edged past Leopards (26-22) global show-piece, on 27 September. What is more, at home and the other two secured commanding the opening game will be in South Africa for the first away wins. Eastern Province trounced SWD Eagles time when the Cheetahs take on the 2015 champions, (13-36) in George while Pumas got the better of Glasgow Warriors, in Bloemfontein. Valke (14-50) in Brakpan. The young men from the Eastern Cape travel to the Boland to take on the Cavaliers this Saturday, Griquas take on Leopards in Kimberley and the youngsters from Nelspruit face the Limpopo Blue Bulls away from home. Griffons have a bye. Meanwhile, the U21 Championship delivered a weekend of upsets. The first of these was last Friday in Durban when the home side beat a lacklustre Leopards outfit (73-28). On Saturday Free State Cheetahs dispatched Golden Lions (59-32), but it It’s just as well then that Springbok coach Rassie was less of a surprise because last year’s champions Erasmus hasn’t – at this stage anyway – called up any have been awful this year. Finally, Western Province current Cheetahs players to his World Cup squad. If scored an unlikely four points by edging the Blue that remains the case, the home team should be at full Bulls at Newlands (21-20). strength while their opponents will almost certainly have lost players to Scotland for the tournament in With four rounds left in the competition the race is Japan. now really on for a place in the semifinals. Blue Bulls and Cheetahs are in pole position and with only It should give them an advantage beyond playing in the Leopards completely out of it at this stage, the front of their home crowd. For the record, there are other two spots are still up for grabs. no World Cup games scheduled for that day but the Springboks will play Namibia at around midday on The fixtures this weekend will see Golden Lions the following day. expect to resurrect their season by filleting fish in Johannesburg; Leopards take on Western Province in That could lead very nicely into Southern Kings’ Potchefstroom; and Blue Bulls battle Cheetahs in kick-off (at 16:00) against Cardiff Blues, which is a Pretoria.