Grant Khomo Week Rugby Day 2 featured Game.

The main game on the second day at Grant Khomo week featured Western Province who narrowly defeated the Lions on the first day, against the Blue Bulls.

The game ended 36 points to 5 in favour of the young men in blue and white stripes. As far as contests go, this game was like Floyd Mayweather with his quick hands and slick movement against an overweight woman. It really was that bad. The Bulls team offered nothing in the game. They pretended to be a good side in the first half and came undone in the second. The score was 15-5 at halftime but once the second half kicked off, WP ran riot over the young lads from Pretoria. Tries from lock Pieter Jordaan, hooker Rudolf Cornelius Brits who ran 45 metres down the touchline after a great turnover from lock Jaco Willemse and another from left winger Veranzo Pipers secured the victory for Province.

The impressive Tiaan Swanepoel, the man of the match in the first game, didn’t not feature much in this match and his place in the team was filled by Herschel Jantjes who produced a sterling performance with the ball in hand on attack, kicking and on defence and he was named Man of the Match. The fact that the Bulls were so poor in this game could perhaps suggest that WP weren’t that great but they were efficient. WP forwards must also be commended for the number of turnovers they forced in the rucks as well as winning several scrums and lineouts against their own feed which is something they also did well in their first game. Special mention must go to Brits, the captain and hooker as well the two locks from Province, Jordaan and Willemse and the outside backs who produced quality performances .The only Bulls player who played fairly well was their replacement flyhalf, Tristan Nel, who tried to ignite the Bulls backs and made a few mazy runs and opened up gaps that the team weren’t able to exploit fully.

Perhaps the game wasn’t the spectacle expected of a main game but the Province team did try to entertain. Watching this game made realize why the Bulls recruit so many youngsters from other regions, Handre Pollard most recently. Their junior sides aren’t all that great. It was a disappointing display of rugby from the Bulls but nonetheless a clinical performance from WP.

Grant Khomo Week Rugby Day 1 featured Game.

The Grant Khomo under 16 Rugby Week kicked off yesterday, Monday 2nd July, at the University of Johannesburg Stadium and runs through until the 5th of July.

I was privileged enough to watch the main game on the first day which featured hosts the Lions against Western Province.  The match was a well contested affair, with the young lads from the Cape edging out the Lions 21 points to 19, thanks largely to fullback Tiaan Swanepoel in the number 22 jersey who slotted a last minute penalty from inside his own half. Swanepoel's tally in the game was 16 points.

The game started tentatively with both sides not giving anything away. Deep into the second half, the score were tied at 6 points a piece until WP gave away two penalties in quick succession to give the Lions a 12-6 lead. Province replied with an uncoverted try through winger Edwill van der Merwe. Province gave away another penalty straight after the kick off which allowed Lions flyhalf Forrest Roos a shot at goal. The subsequent kick hit the post but lock Devon Hansen had the presence of mind to follow up the kick and caught the rebound, catching the WP defenders off guard to score under the posts. Roos slotted the conversion to give the Lions a 19-11 lead which seemed as though it would be enough to see them through.

Tiaan Swanepoel showed big match temperament in the last 5 minutes of the game to score a try which he converted himself and to kick over the high pressure kick at the end to win the game for Province. Nobody could begrudge the Lions a victory, they had majority of the possession and played well but fumbled the ball in the opposition 22 on a few occasions and were guilty of not taking all their opportunities. Western Province defended well for most of the game and did well on the counter attack and tried to run the ball at every chance they had. And in the end proved to have just enough to defeat the hosts.

The size of 16 year-old rugby players amazed me. I didnt rememeber them being that big when I was in school. In the main game quite a few players caught the eye but for the Lions lock Devon Hansen and flanker Jethro de Lange stood out amongst their peers and Tiaan Swanepoel was Western Province's best player on the day.

Be Careful What You Wish For?

Giving the fans what they want is not always a good idea.

I remember in December 2010, the Anfield faithful belted out the name of a club legend. Nothing untoward there. The fans chanted Kenny Dalglish’s name, calling for him to replace Roy Hodgson as Liverpool manager. The suits at Liverpool gave in to the fans demands and Hodgson promptly walked alone out of the club to give way for the second coming of King Kenny. Reds’ fans probably saw the return of the good times to Anfield in their heads. Dalglish was given a huge wad of cash for new players and signed Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez early on for a combined 55 million pounds. Liverpool went on to finish the 2010/2011 season in 6th place, with King Kenny being hailed for his rescue job. Riiiight. Anyhow, in the last European summer, Dalglish was given more cash to spend on new players which he chose to spend on recruiting Jordan Henderson, Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing and Craig Bellamy who came in on a fee transfer. The wave of optimism continued at Anfield. For all it seemed that the club was serious about reclaiming its position at the top of English football. the club went on to win the Carling Cup and made it to the FA Cup Final but finished in a dismal 8th in the league, a result that ultimately led to King Kenny’s second coming being cut very short. The fans got what they wanted in the end, but it wasn’t as good as they thought it would be.

Arsenal suffered their worst start to a league season and were hovering just above the relegation places last season following an 8-2 defeat to Manchester United. Fans were humiliated by that result and were frustrated that Arsene Wenger let go of star players Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri and didn’t seem to have replacements for them or a back-up plan lined up. There was growing discontent amongst the club’s supporters and some were questioning whether Wenger had done all he could with the club for the first time. Well, the Arsenal board didn’t yield to the fans anger and kept Wenger. Who honestly thought he’d get axed anyways? Long story short, Arsenal had a remarkable run in the league and finished comfortably in third place above Tottenham who at one point were 13 points above their North London neighbours.

Chelsea fans endured a torrid time whilst Andree Villa-Boas was in charge of their club. AVB was always under scrutiny last season, though he felt he was pretty safe in his job, considering the investment the club had made in him. Chelsea fans don’t care much for stuff like that. Theirs is a club backed by a super-rich owner who is prone to petulant streaks and fires managers on a whim. AVB was promptly shown the door after a dreadful run that saw Chelsea winless in six matches. The fans wanted change and they got it. Roberto di Matteo, a Chelsea legend as a player assumed the manager’s mantle and more than any Chelsea fan could have expected and led the club to a first ever Champions league triumph. You might or might not remember that Chelsea fans called on Roman Abramovich to hire Di Matteo as manager when Luis Felipe Scolari was in charge of the side. Well they got what they want, eventually, and it turned out pretty well for them. But only time will tell and a full season in charge of the club might raise different opinions on RDM.

Miracle Man

This all brings me to Gordon Igesund and Bafana Bafana. He has been tasked with perhaps an unenviable job of taking Bafana to the semi-finals of next year’s AFCON tournament on home soil and qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It has been reported that Steve Khompela was the man who was preferred for the job by the suits at SAFA, but public opinion demanded Igesund and whether or not they caved it to this pressure, we will not know. What we do know is that Bafana fans expect a miracle from Igesund and I do think we are well within our rights to expect miracles of him. His pedigree as a coach in the PSL gives us this right. Not only has he won the league four times, but he has won the league with some highly unglamorous sides such as Manning Rangers and Santos and he turned around Moroka Swallows’ fortunes dramatically, from a club fighting relegation one season to a league contender right up until the last day of the next season. Unfortunately, he starts his job on the back foot somewhat. Pitso Mosimane left behind a side low on morale and without a win in the World Cup Qualifiers. The whole nation has pinned its hope on a man who has been regarded as the best coach in South Africa for a long time and many will be hoping he delivers excellent performances and results and none of the arrogance and blame shifting that plagued the Mosimane era.

It is a new dawn for South African football, perhaps this is said all too often considering the number of false dawns that have been experienced, but the nation finally has a coach that it wants.