Volume 19 Number 3229 August 2019

ldquoWe set out with the goal of growing the depth of the squad and I am confident that any of this 31 can step into a play-off match at the Rugby World Cup and deliver an outstanding performancerdquo ndash Springbok director of rugby Rassie Erasmus

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Quietly Going About Transformation in Rugby

A Springbok team led by Siya Kolisi that combines the exuberance of youth with gnarled experience was announced last Monday The 31 players and back room staff head for Japan today (Friday 30th) to launch South Africarsquos seventh assault on the Rugby World Cup title

But perhaps more importantly the squad for RWC2019 in Japan shows that the transformation of the team is well underway of the 31 players selected for the global rugby show piece eleven are classified as black equating to a 354 representation

This is the highest black representation in any Springbok squad that has travelled to a World Cup Furthermore and perhaps most gratifyingly the likes of Elton Jantjies Sbu Nkosi and Trevor Nyakane are no longer considered lsquoquota playersrsquo Instead they are now simply accepted by most of the rugby watching public That they deserve their places purely on merit is no longer questioned at all

And the proof of this was perhaps most evident in the team selected to play Australia in The Rugby Championship this year Eight of the fifteen men who ran onto that field that day were classified as black players and yet when the team was announced a few days earlier few pundits remarked on it ndash thatrsquos if they even noticed

Why Because every player on that field deserved his place on it And the proof of that pudding was in the way our Springboks destroyed Australia (35-17) But thatrsquos now history and a new challenge begins Rugby World Cup 2019 Which brings us to the coach Rassie Erasmus whose plans and activities have resulted in this squad

ldquoWe set out with the goal of growing the depth of the squad and I am confident that any of this 31 can step into a play-off match at the Rugby World Cup and deliver an outstanding performancerdquo

And hersquos not alone If the bookmakers and the assembled punditry are to be believed this Springbok team has a very real chance of lifting the Webb Ellis Cup for a third time in the countryrsquos history come early November

KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER

Still the Surprises Keep Coming in CCPDThe Cream Rises Right to the Top in CCFDGriffons to Tackle Elephants in U20 Final

Springboks Qualify for Womenrsquos RWC2021Schools that Produced the RWC2019 BoksSpringboks Add Jones to Coaching Team

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Still the Surprises Keep Coming in CCPD

This past weekend featured three matches of what were effectively quarter-finals to decide the venue and participants in the Currie Cup Premier Division semifinals this weekend First up early Saturday afternoon was a top-of the table clash that would guarantee the winner a home semifinal ndash at least

Griquas hosted Golden Lions at a packed out Griquas Park in Kimberley and the fans got all the excitement they could handle but for most of them not the result they wanted The young Lions ran out to an early lead but then relaxed a bit on defence and allowed the home team back into the contest

The last 20 minutes was a topsy turvy affair as the advantage swung one way and then the other But eventually Lions held on for a well-deserved 26-27win to move top of the table and guarantee a home semifinal

The next match was equally definitive It featured then second-place Free State Cheetahs against fifth-placed Western Province in Bloemfontein The visitors needed a bonus point to have a shot at the last semifinal place and they came out hard

At one point Province had built up a massive 21-point lead but then the Cheetahs began the fight-back In the end the home side took it 38-33 and leapfrogged Griquas and Lions to the top of the log

The final game of the weekend was the surprise of the weekend Blue Bulls went down to Durban should have come away with an easy five points but ended up with bloodied noses That sets up the semifinals for this Saturday afternoon

Lions vs Griquas in JohannesburgCheetahs vs Sharks in Bloemfontein

The Cream Rises Right to the Top in CCFD

Meanwhile across in the Currie Cup First Division (CCFD) it was semifinal weekend and SA Rugby decided to schedule the two semifinals at exactly the same time this past Saturday In the match down in Welkom Griffons put Eastern Province to the sword running out 62-31 winners

Meanwhile not to far away from there in the university town of Potchefstroom which is the chosen home base of the Jaguares the Argentines hosted a Valke team that has been far from its best this season

But the men from Brakpan saved the best for last and had a full go at the team that has dominated this yearrsquos competition But Jaguares eventually downed Valke (37-27) to secure a place in the final

The result means that the top two teams (on the log) in this yearrsquos CCFD are through to the final this weekend And by virtue of finishing unbeaten with a full-house of four-try bonus points the team from Argentina has ldquohome-ground advantagerdquo

So if you happen to be in the vicinity of Potchefstroom on Saturday and you donrsquot plan to be at Emirates Airlines Park to watch the Golden Lions you may want to pop down to the Fanie du Toit Sports Ground as North-West University to catch the CCFD final

It promises to be a real humdinger because not only is the CCFD trophy on the line but the winner books a shot at Pumas for the right to play in the Premier Division next year Therersquos still a considerable amount for which to play in CCFD this year

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Griffons to Tackle Elephants in U20 Final

As mentioned last week the SA Rugby U20 Championship semifinals took place over this past weekend when Griffons entertained Boland Cavaliers in Welkom and EP Elephants battled it out with Pumas in Despatch

Griffons scrumhalf Max Williamson scored a brace in the semi-final while flyhalf Jan Strydom scored a try and kicked four conversions and centre Franco Smith contributed a try conversion and two penalty goals which proved vital as they outscored Boland seven tries to four Final score 51-33

A fine kicking display EP Elephants flyhalf Johan Lombaard ndash who slotted over three conversions and four penalty goals ndash steered them to victory against Pumas (31-26) as they scored three tries to the visitorsrsquo four

That sets up a final between the two remaining unbeaten teams in this yearrsquos competition ndash until Saturday Pumas were also unbeaten But significantly neither team will have home ground advantage in the final

This is because it is being played in Potchefstroom on Friday as a curtain-raiser to the Currie Cup First Division final between Jaguares and Griffonsrsquo senior team (see page two)

Last Saturdayrsquos results however will have little significance on Friday because it is well knock-out rugby EP Elephants in particular may draw inspiration from the fact that their defensive statistics have been better than Griffons this season while their attacking stats have been close as well

But due to the format of the competition neither team has faced the other yet this season so the result could go either way The U20 final kicks off at 1530

U21 Champs Semifinals Kick Off this Afternoon

Meanwhile the other youth competition of the moment reached the semi final stage after the final round of pool matches last weekend The first match of this round of the SA Rugby U21 Championshipsaw Western Province hosting Golden Lions and going in the team from Joburg knew that they needed a bonus point win to make the semifinals

Their hosts meanwhile needed to collect more points from the round than Free State in order to achieve their goal of a home semifinal against the self-same team from Bloemfontein The result was a tough match in which the defending champions came out on top (32-33) but then both teams had to wait for the outcome in Bloemfontein where Free State were playing Sharks

Lions fans rightly expected the men from Bloemfontein to slaughter the kids from Durban but Province fans wanted the opposite result Unfortunately for the Lions the unthinkable is what happened and as a result Province hung on to the home semifinal position

Blue Bulls meanwhile continued the rampaging run of good results with a (75-7) thrashing of Leopards ending the season nine points clear at the top of the log That sets up what should be a very easy semifinal at Loftus this afternoon against Sharks who finished 18 points behind them

Meanwhile on Saturday in the Western Cape [a venue had yet to be announced as we were getting ready to publish ndash Ed] Western Province will host Free State Since both teams ended the pool rounds on 33 points and each took a win when playing the other at home the odds are marginally in favour of Western Province But as wersquove said before this is knock-out rugby

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Springboks Qualify for Womenrsquos RWC2021

The Springbok Women booked their place in the 2021 Womenrsquos Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with victory against Kenya (39-0) in Brakpan The win marked a clean sweep for the Springboks in the qualifying competition and delivered maximum points from their three matches after they had also beaten Uganda (89-5) and Madagascar (73-0)

However it has to be noted that the teams that the Springboks faced in this competition were relatively weak Looking ahead to RWC2021 the other teams already qualified for the tournament are Australia Canada England France New Zealand United States and Wales

As far as we can tell the Springbok Women have only ever beaten one of those teams Wales at the 2010 World Cup Then again opportunities to play and hone their skills in tough matches have been few and far between for rugby-playing women in South Africa ndash but thatrsquos changing as womenrsquos rugby attracts more interest from the public and consequently more sponsorship

With the Womenrsquos Rugby World Cup still two years away we hope that the local rugby powers that be will work hard to schedule a challenging build-up that will give these women the best chance to do our country proud

The Springboks are currently 11th in World Rugbyrsquos womenrsquos rankings ndash but looking at the points there is a vast chasm (about 25 points) between them and New Zealand at the top of the tree Three matches are scheduled for September and October ndash one against Spain (9th) and two against Scotland (12th) but the fixtures beyond that are murky Hopefully matches are planned before 2021 against sterner opposition higher in the world rankings We live in hope

Schools that Produced the RWC2019 Boks

There was a time in not too many years gone by when a high percentage of the players selected for Springbok duty would have come from just a handful of schools The likes of Paarl Gymnasium Paul Roos Gymnasium and Grey College (Bloemfontein) would have loomed large contributing a significant number of the players

But not so much any more Well OK Paul Roos is still up there with four of the 2019 World Cup squad having attended that school Schalk Brits Steven Kitshoff Willie le Roux and Herschel Jantjies Grey College had only two former pupils in the squad (Cobus Reinach and Francois Steyn) but then so did Hoeumlrskool Hugenote in Springs (Vincent Koch and Lood de Jager)

For the rest of the squad everyone comes from a different school Importantly there are a number of schools on the list who will be celebrating their first Springbok ever

That is both refreshing and welcomed because it suggests growth of the game at true grass roots level You can find the full list of schools and players on Sport24coza

Springboks Add Jones to Coaching Team

News a couple of weeks back would have placed Lionsrsquo supporters in a bit of a quandary Swys de Bruin advised Springbok management that he wished to be released from his role as an attack consultant with the team Lions supporters also support the Springboks and while they may have been pleased for their provincial franchise theyrsquod have been perturbed for the national team

But news this week would have been great relief for those Lions supporters as they can now be happy that Swys is free to consult at Emirates Airlines Park while secure in the knowledge that his replacement will bring great value to the Springbok camp

But who exactly is Felix Jones Well he has been on Springbok coach Rassie Erasmusrsquo shopping list for some time

The pair worked together a few years back after Erasmus joined Irish provincial side Munster as the Director of Rugby And while Jones has only been a coach since 2016 Erasmus clearly values his contribution Before that and as a player the 32-year-old was part of Irelandrsquos famed U20s Six Nations Grand Slammers in 2007 and earned thirteen Test caps for Ireland

Unfortunately for him his playing days were curtailed prematurely by a serious neck injury four years ago when he was forced to retire Since he was playing for Munster at the time it was no surprise to see his services retained by the club ndash originally under the title of technical coach

Working initially under Anthony Foley the Munster great who had named Jones team captain on a handful of occasions Erasmus would arrive as director of rugby and ultimately took on a greater level of authority following Foleyrsquos shock passing in Paris on the eve of a Champions Cup clash with Racing 92

That the partnership was instrumental in the success enjoyed by the Irish provincial side in the years following is no secret Clearly the pair built a good rapport and Jonesrsquo addition to the Springbok coaching staff can only be seen as a good thing

It may even come in handy at the World Cup if the potential World Cup quarter-final between the Springboks and Ireland comes to pass But that probably wasnrsquot part of Erasmusrsquo calculus when he identified Jones as someone to bring on board

Page 7

For your weekend viewing pleasure

The friendly rugby continues on the international front this weekend (see alongside) as teams continues to test out combinations and try new players ahead of RWC2019 Unfortunately only France vs Italy will be seen on local screens ndash unless yoursquore a subscriber to one of the many television streaming services that are popping up these days

Locally we also have a lot to which we can look forward ndash and it begins today (Friday) with the SA Rugby U20 Championship final (see page four) which kicks off at about 1530 It will be the first (and only) match from that competition to be televised this year ndash as far as we know A little after 1800 the final of Currie Cup First Division will be contested (see page two) and televised ndash this is another competition that has seen zero television coverage this year After that you can catch France vs Italy

Then on Saturday the Currie Cup Premier Division semifinals will be decided first Golden Lions vs Griquas (1400) and then Free State Cheetahs vs Sharks (1700) [We fully expect to see a Lions vs Cheetahs final in Bloemfontein next week - Ed]

The SA Rugby U21 Championship is at the semifinal stage this weekend as is the B section of the Womenrsquos IPL ndash but neither will be televised sadly

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The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters

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