I love me some rugby. I am really getting into the sport at the moment, with the Tri Nations heading for a final match thriller between the Blackness and the Criminal Element in Brisbane, Wellington dominating the Air New Zealand Cup and Wanganui asserting their dominance in the lower divisions with an 11 try thrashing of East Coast on the weekend. I love watching the contest on the international stage most of all – the All Blacks taking on the Wallabies and the Boks is the highlight of every years rugger, and this year has been one of the better ones. Watching the Blackness totally dominate the Crim’s in Auckland a couple of weeks ago was one of the best games of rugby from the AB’s I’ve watched in a long time, and it goes a long way to erasing the memory of last year’s World Cup.
But amongst this awesome spectacle of the oval ball, we have had politics intrude, and not for the betterment of sport or rugby in general. South Africa has struggled to strike an even keel between its post apartheid political climate and the fact that a national sports team should be representative of its best talent, and not its ethnic makeup. We have seen the World Cup winners of last year lose 4 of its last 5 matches against the AB’s and the Aussies in what can only be called one of the more crap displays of coaching we’ve seen since Buck Shelford was replaced by Zinzan Brooke.
Peter de Villiers has a reasonable pedigree with success in Under 19 and Under 21 SA Rugby but many have said that he lacks experience in the professional level of the game. His appointment last year after the Boks won the world cup came in a cloud of controversy and a few bent noses. Jake White, the previous coach who had led the Jarpies to victory on the world stage was sacked by SARU (South African Rugby Union) and Peter was put in his place, and many have wondered whether the placement was more motivated by politics than performance. And its precisely this that has led to the current crisis in the Bokkies camp, leading to a series of poor performances on the field that belies the turmoil in the changing sheds. Several sources inside the SA camp have said there is a disconnect between the senior players and the coaching staff, with some players wanting the coach to go, some players dictating the terms with which they train and play, and key figures undermining the coach.
Politics and sport do not mix – I understand the need of the South African government and ruling parties to move their country forward, but interfering with their national rugby team will only bring them pain. If they left it alone, allowed the best person for the job to be picked rather than the best person for an image, then they would reap a reward far greater than anything they could engineer themselves – national pride.
Peter is probably a very good coach, and as I said before he has had some success – but there were probably better candidates for the job. He is in a very difficult position and he is trying to forge a good team from an awkward circumstance – caught between politically motivated union officials, players who don’t agree with his coaching methods and the fans who just want them to win. In saying that he doesn’t seem to make it easy for himself, and he routinely makes verbal gaffes that must make the SA fans shake their head in bewilderment. Case in point is the recent loss to the Aussies – if you caught the game you would have made the same overall summary of the Boks game as me – it was crap. There was no cohesion, no apparent game plan, and none of the players seemed to know what the others were doing. They played so badly the crowd booed them off the park – not what I’d do as a fan of my national side personally, but the fans are probably very frustrated. What did Peter have to say?
"I know people are angry and rightfully so. I am prepared to take all that responsibility for the good of the team.”
Ok – that sounds fine. He sounds like he’s trotting out the old “we screwed it up, sorry my bad, back to the drawing board” line, but then he says the Boks were the better side (???) :
"We should have won, the opportunities were there but we just let them slip. I'm not going to panic because, having watched the video again, I saw how great we played.”
What video was he watching – last year’s cup final?
"Decision-making in split seconds is new to the guys and it has been a bit worrying. The onus is now on the player, but they want to be in a confined group where they are comfortable."
Ah – so what he’s said is “Its all my fault, but the players don’t know how to play professional footy so I’m blaming them”. He’s lost the plot, and this is what happens when you put an inexperienced coach in charge of a national team – he’s out of his depth, has no respect from the players and is deluding himself that it will all come right eventually. My prediction for the next few months? Aussie will beat them again this weekend, Peter will be sacked or step down within 1 month and hopefully (but not likely) someone who has actual experience and skill will be appointed as the coach. Come back Jake, all is forgiven!
Why do I care you may ask? I love watching the AB’s win more than anything, but it’s no fun when the opposition is not the best or playing to their full potential. The victory is sweetest when both teams play their guts out, and yours is the one that comes out on top. Its just no fun when the opposition is hobbled – it’s like playing indoor footy against 5 year olds. Sure you win, and easily, but its not really a contest and it strips the fun out of the game. Here’s hoping Saffa rugby sorts itself out for the end of year tour and next years Tri nations.
Next time someone says it cannot be done or it's just too hard show them this guy...
Don't have much time for this blog...got stuff to do
But sometimes you see something and have to share it with the world.
I caught this video of a grasshopper hitching a ride on a fighter jet on Bad Astronomy this morning and it reminded me of an incident I had. Check out the video after the jump.
James Cameron recently did an interview and discussed his newest film AVATAR and some of the groundbreaking new techniques used to get the film made. He also discussed some of his earlier films and the impact that they have had on the movie industry and popular culture. It is a somewhat laid back interview and Cameron appears relaxed and eager to talk. A nice chat, not setup like the Arnie one he did to promote T2. Check it out after the jump.
Officially confirmed to be back on the 2nd November this year. That is great news. JC, Fridge Magnet and Captain Slow will grace our screens for 8 episodes which is 2 more than last season. So get you torrents ready and have fun.
What kind of crazy oddball carnival has a manpowered ferris wheel. Well this one does. Check for the video after the jump.
This picture is quite amazing, and it is probably the last time that you may see this. Both Space Shuttle Atlantis and Space Shuttle Endeavour are out on launch pads together ready for an upcoming mission. Atlantis is the nearer of the two and is being prepped for the last mission to the Hubble telescope to do repairs and add additional hardware. This being the case if something is to go wrong with the spacecraft and it cannot return to Earth, Endeavour will be launched as a rescue vehicle.
I managed to catch the new Jason Statham film ‘The Bank Job’ the other day and I thought it good enough to make a mention.
A while ago we mentioned the new Keanu Reeves version of the Day the Earth Stood Still and just how skeptical we were. Today I came across a new trailer\feature that shows a good 7 minutes of the upcoming film and I have to say that I am getting quite interested in it. It has a dark ominous look to it that the original never had and Keanu seems to have the character worked out. I can only hope that they put an interesting spin on the re imaging of this film. Check after the jump for the new trailer.
If it does it will look like this.
Phil Plait the Bad Astronomer has frequently talked about the possibility of a major impact by an asteroid and now has a new book called 'Death From the Skies' which he goes into various scenarios that could cause the end of the World. I bet nothing he can describe looks as cool as the video that I found on Geekologie of a space station, sorry, small moon smashing into Earth. It is wickedly cool and destructive looking. Check out the video after the jump.
In keeping with the last post of aircraft and dangerous behaviour, check out the following 2 video's of aircraft doing what they do best.. Woo hoo...
I love me some rugby. I am really getting into the sport at the moment, with the Tri Nations heading for a final match thriller between the Blackness and the Criminal Element in Brisbane, Wellington dominating the Air New Zealand Cup and Wanganui asserting their dominance in the lower divisions with an 11 try thrashing of East Coast on the weekend. I love watching the contest on the international stage most of all – the All Blacks taking on the Wallabies and the Boks is the highlight of every years rugger, and this year has been one of the better ones. Watching the Blackness totally dominate the Crim’s in Auckland a couple of weeks ago was one of the best games of rugby from the AB’s I’ve watched in a long time, and it goes a long way to erasing the memory of last year’s World Cup.
Check out the video after the jump of the second place swimmer in 100m butterfly event.
Jamie Oliver is known all over the World as the Naked Chef and for his fresh food attitude too cooking. He has done a lot of good over the last five years or so by introducing healthy meals to kids at school and giving troublesome teenagers opportunities they might not have had through his Fifteen restaurant. He is now continuing that trend by having a dig at the average Brit’s diet and attitude to food.
It looks like he has made it his mission to rid the UK of the shitty attitude and get the country out of the rut that it has found itself in. I feel that I can comment on this what with being a staunch Brit myself, and living in NZ has given me a different perspective on the way British people live. Too many Brits are lazy and don’t care about anything other than wether they should go to the pub on Friday night or Saturday night or both. This attitude goes through to the way that people eat too. It is too easy these days to eat Fish and Chips, Takeaway curry or reheatable, microwaved, reconstituted stick thing that’s supposed to be fish, or chicken or something. Kids don’t even know what vegetables are these days.
When I grew up my Mum cooked us a proper meal every night and we knew what vegetables were and where they came from. Dad has a vegie patch that he grew a good portion of our greens. Even for those that don’t have gardens the supermarket does actually have a fresh vegetables section. I would like to think that my kids will grow up with a healthy diet and know what and were their food comes from. Fancy not knowing what a carrot is, or what a potato is.