SA Rocks

It appears that the new Bafana Bafana football jersey has been unveiled.

The photo’s appeared on Flickr today.

And here they are:

It appears that credit for the photos go to Shine2010

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Tsk tsk tsk. This is such a bad attitude to have.

There have been a fair amount of jokes going around, on the radio, in the halls, on the interweb about SA not having any medals. I think that’s absolute bollocks.

In my opinion the Olympics is the one event that one can truly say that it is an accomplishment just to participate.

Not to say that there isn’t a chance of us coming home with some medals. And not to say that those who don’t win medals suck. I just think it’s the same mentality as that of the Rugby World Cup, The World Cup in 2010, The Gautrain and anything else that we try to do.

If we don’t trump everyone all the time then someone thinks we suck. It frustrates me to no end that South Africans can be so fickle. That we can flip-flop so easily and effortlessly. It frustrates me that if we aren’t world champs then we are losers and not worthy of the support of our fellow citizens. I am proud of every athlete of ours over at the Olympics, whether they bring home a medal or not, they are over there, they have dedicated their lives to a sport and to us, South Africans and South Africa and that makes me proud.

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It seems as though the rumours had some truth to it a few months back. I just read on IOL that the ANC are planning to unite SA sports under one emblem, The Protea.

I am a bit torn over the issue. Should the Springbok die? Should the national emblem not be the Springbok over the Protea? I think the Protea is a tad bland and boring.

However the Kiwis are not actually represented by a kiwi. They have a freakin’ leaf, they aren’t represented by All Blacks, but are still called that. So who’s to say that our emblem can’t be a Protea and we still call the team the Bokke?

Only time will tell.

Here’s what Mr Oregan had to say:

My personal view is that the Springbok emblem should be retained, because it has the ability to unite the nation, as was demonstrated during and after the World Cup. I still see all South Africans, of all colours and creeds, wearing the Springbok shirt and jersey around me.

“So I’m shocked to hear about this now,” Hoskins said.

At least Oregan has something valuable to add. De Villiers on the other hand shows a bit of a yellow belly:

That’s a policy matter, and I don’t think I will ever comment on policy matters my bosses will do that.

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This is a bit delayed, sorry, I’ve been a bit lazy!

Myself, Carly, Justin and Jason tried our hardest to welcome the Boks in to Rosebank on Friday. What we got was soaking wet and some great footage and patriotic displays! Unfortunately we didn’t see the rugby players as we were too wet and mistimed the entire event!

Here are two videos from the event:

And here is one from Carly Wienberg at The Times:

Brought to you by: The Times Multimedia

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I am interested to know how everyone feels about New Zealand and Australia going out of the Rugby World Cup?

Personally, I feel a bit saddened that they went out. I am of the mind that it would have been incredible to have four teams from the Southern Hemisphere in the semi-finals.

It can also be argued that if we don’t beat Aus or NZ that we don’t really play the best teams. I am not sure about this logic. I firmly believe that when SA wins this final it will be by beating the best team simply by the fact that they are in the final.

NZ are renowned chokers and Aus simply lost their heads. So they went out to better teams on the day and thus deserved to leave the tournament. At least now we still have Argentina and SA in the final. It is a pity that the SA semi-final wont be the final, would be a cracker.

What do you think?

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Popular YFM DJ Sanza da Fanatik puts it all on the line in an interview with Carly Wiendberg from The Times. He says that he is all for development but rugby and cricket are terrible when it comes to politics.

Here’s the video:

It seems to me that Sanza is all for politicising sports. I am not so sure if Sanza has hit the spot here.

He states that rugby is all about “boerewors and Klipdrift”. Is this dude blind, deaf or just plain dumb? Can he read or has just chosen to ignore all the talk, debate, discussion on the topic of affirmative action in sports?

Sanza claims that he is a man of principles and that even when he loses he wins. But this dude has missed the point. I believe that AA in sports is much like AA in business, if it is done right then it will work for a period of time. If you are placing worse players or business people in a position for their colour then you have missed the point. The best players and business people need to get the job, Simple.

And on the point of representation, I am interested to know if Soccer is being fairly represented according to our demographics in SA and if white players are being placed in positions for the colour of their skin?

What do you think? Is rugby all Wors and Klippies?

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The Spingboks have Eddie Jones and we think it’s fantastic that we have him controlling our backline and that we are getting one up on the Aussies.

I saw Alan Donald being interviewed when England was playing SA in the T20 World Cup on Sunday. Strangely though, he was not wearing SA kit. He was wearing England kit. My first reaction was to swear at him and call him a traitor. But then I thought about it and decided that he is doing what is best for him, his family and his career. His career is cricket. The job takes him wherever it takes him.

If he were a banker and he was promoted and asked to head up the British branch in London, we’d all applaud him, but because it is sport, our beloved sport, we berate people like Donald. And he isn’t alone. There are many SA sportsmen and women playing sports for other nations. Just look at the Rugby World Cup. Almost every team in the tournament has an ex-SA player playing for them.

I want to know what you think. Is Donald out of his mind? Is he simply earning a living and why is it that he isn’t the bowling coach for SA?

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SA was the cause of much of England’s grief this weekend. We pummeled them in rugby and gave them a little spanking in the cricket.

We won the Twenty20 game by 19 runs. It’s good to be South African today!

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Rugby

I don’t often blog about sports as I think many blogs write about the topic enough for everyone. But this is different. This made me proud.

The rugby was fantastic. We played a great game and most of the SA players were on form like never before. Percy’s place kicking was impeccable, Butch’s tactical kicks were top class, Habbana never ceases to amaze and Peterson ran in two tries. Our defense was so good that England couldn’t score a penalty to give them 3 points. That was all great.

But what made me proud was the camaraderie and sportsmanship shared be everyone where I watched the game. There were approximately 300 people at the pub and when our national anthem began all 300 of us instinctively stood up, gripped our chests and belted out the anthem. I was moved, I had goosebumps and a lump in my throat. All people from all walks of life were standing united against England and hell, against anyone who challenged us.

I must say that I haven’t felt that sense of proud in a long time for a sporting event, since the ’95 world cup win in fact.

Then what made things even better was Robinson leaving the field. Not because he left the field, but because everyone in the pub clapped him off. That is supreme sportsmanship. I have even heard reports of SA fans in the stadium standing and clapping him off the field. He had a fantastic game and it is thanks to his performance that SA didn’t pummel England by 60.

Some are heralding this Springbok team as the best we have seen in many a moon. I agree and will proudly proclaim that I believe we will win this world cup. I might be wrong, but I am standing by the Bokke!

Let me know if you had a similar or vastly different experience where you watched the game.

Other bloggers talking about the win:

Keo
Ruggaworld
SA Rugby Blog

Cricket

The Proteas took out yet another team in the T20 world cup. It seems as though SA is on a sporting roll. Destroying any opposition in any sport, anywhere in the world.

The Proteas took out Bangladesh by 7 wickets in a dazzling display of cricketing prowess. Pollock took 3 wickets in 3.3 overs at a cost of only 40 runs. Great statistics. While the SA batting line-up proved formidable as the runs were evenly distributed amongst the first five batsmen. Graeme Smith finally put on a good show as an opener with a knock of 41.

Today SA Takes on England as the battle of the hemispheres continues. I will blog about the outcome of that game tomorrow!

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I read an interesting letter in The Times today that spoke about Schalk Burger, the Springbok with the tendency to be sent off in rugby matches.

I think it’s really interesting that SA supporters of the Springboks are so die hard. They are so die hard in fact, that whenever a Springbok does something stupid (like Schalk’ tackle in the Samoa game) we all defend him blindly. Regardless of the game and the broader impact.

Billionaire Johann Rupert felt so strongly about this that he used his clout to send British representation across to France in Schalk’s defence.

Now on a serious note, there were many decisions that were questionable in that game, why is it that we are focusing on one guy (Schalk) to make a fuss about. His tackle was high, he was wrong and it wasn’t the first time.

He has been sent off before and must, in some way be considered a liability. He has the scare factor that makes opponents drop the ball and run in the opposite direction when they see him coming. But his lack of discipline is surely detrimental to our team?

Pass Schalk, pass, that’s all I have to say.

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