He has also said he should consider coaching his team into cheating on purpose cause it would seem New Zealand have been cheating and winning in the process. SANZAR refuse to be sitting ducks though this time and there are ramifications for the Springbok coach theatrics as investigations are being done and he is being charged of bringing the game into disrepute. If found guilty he wont be the first to be castigated by the body this year as Brumbies flyhalf was earlier in the year for his criticism of Steve Walsh. Not one to be short of words De Villiers in the same time of the year last year was saying rugby was a contact sport and how it is becoming ballet after Schalk Burger had inflicted yet another one of his belligerent tackles in a previous game.
Australian Hooker Brendan Cannon has also come into fore for touting De Villiers a puppet and how he cannot comprehend senior players such as Victor Matfield can be coached by a clown like De Villiers. This perhaps was mind games in the part of Cannon as they were to be playing the Boks during the weekend this would have been a way to cause more tension in their rival’s camp. A must win game to a team that haven’t been having a good Tri-Nations as it is began in a hoodoo stadium for the Boks. The Eden Park jinx would perpetuate and Wellington didn’t prove any better.
South Africa’s discipline has been on the spotlight and disputes are just being the order of the day as SARU is also doing investigations on the referees’ bias. Boks also feel hard done by the decision against Jean De Villiers’ suspension for 2 weeks for his infringement on Rene Ranger. The sentence should have been more severe but his exemplary discipline on the pitch of one yellow card in almost 10 years gave him favour in the mitigation process.
All this drama preceded a must win game for the Boks in Brisbane which brought about 9 changes of the 22 man to try to bring about more stern opposition for the Wallabies perhaps a team that could bring some dignity to the world champions’ plight. Ricky Januarie who has carried lots of onus from the fans for the recent losses was no surprise exclusion and he was surrogated by Ruan Pienaar. Others who were ousted include CJ Van Der Linde by BJ Botha and Francois Louw made way for Ryan Kankowski while Gio Aplon replaced suspended De Villiers.
This outfit though got served as vehement a wallop as the previous one as they went down 30-13 to ensure that the Tri-Nations is not getting retained. The Wallabies scored two tries and got a lot of penalties to finish off any Bok hopes of last year’s heroics. South Africa managed to get two yellow cards in the game alas as kicking coach Percy Montgomery said you can’t win games overseas when you not on top of your game and you playing with 14 men on the crucial stages of the game.
The Tri-Nations is now set for two games between the All Blacks and Wallabies to determine who could come out victor and snatch this trophy from the Boks’ clutches. Melbourne and Christchurch respectively could see the Wallabies perhaps at an advantage as the first game is in their backyard and a win could guarantee them an advantage into the second game but we will have to wait and see. Richie Mccaw was hoping for a more unyielding Bok side in Brisbane as he predicted a Bok backlash but now New Zealand will have to face an Australian side that will have their tales up.
Back home the oldest rugby tournament has gotten underway and Western Province have managed to clutch on to pole position and in the process they have managed to bag yet another Lions’ scalp as they have not failed to do so since 2005. Cheetahs have also managed to circumvent Blue Bulls who lost to Sharks in the previous week and this perhaps could be signs that the Blue Bulls juggernaut could have yet another hiatus in winning the Currie Cup this year. Can we be that lucky again this year as Cheetahs afforded us that opportunity some years back. Everyone else should strike while the iron is hot cause the backlash of Blue Bulls national team representatives will soon be felt but in the mean time Bulls languish in fifth position 6 points after Province.
