Hhhhhmmmmm

I'm hearing this second hand so maybe I've got it wrong but did Peter Devilliers really tell the international press that this British & Irish Lions side wasn't as good as the 1974 touring side?! (or more specifically didn't show the same "character".)

Div are you nuts?!

Anyone ever tell you never to grab a tiger (or in this instance a Lion) by its tail?

You might believe that they are kak and you might know that you have the best players in the world at your disposal and available to take on some ordinary opposition - but remember that was exactly the attitude our media and players had to the last B&I Lions side that toured here and we know how that turned out.

Anyway the Boks have now put all the pressure on themselves - hope they know what they are doing...

Mils Muliaina

I have to tip my hat to Mils Muliaina - the captain of the Chiefs side which got thumped in Pretoria last night.

Everyone who was watching the final and listening to the speeches was very impressed by the way he spoke and to be able to cap it off with a "baie dankie" (thank you) to the Loftus crowd and the TV viewers was the mark of a world class sportsman and statesman.

The Bulls may have thumped the Chiefs on the field but Muliaina won more than a few supporters over yesterday.

Well done to the Chiefs and the Bulls for a hugely entertaining final.

Super 14 final tickets

Tickets for the Vodacom Super 14 final clash that is going to be contested next weekend at Loftus Versfeld between the Vodacom Bulls and the Chiefs will be available as from Monday, 25 May.

Tickets for the public:

The public can obtain tickets from Loftus’ Ticket Office from 8:00 on Monday morning. The Ticket Office is open on weekdays from 8:00 – 16:00.

Tickets will also be on sale at Computicket outlets from 9:00 on Monday morning as well as on Computicket’s website - www.computicket.co.za

Prices:
Main Pavilion: R300
East Pavilion: R250
North Pavilion: R150
Scholars – South behind the poles: R100

Credit card bookings:
Credit card bookings can be done for the east upper pavilion only, subject to availability of tickets. For credit card bookings phone 012 420 0700.

Season Ticket Holders:

Please note that your season ticket is NOT valid for the final.

However, season ticket holders have the first option to buy their seats and this can be done at Loftus’ Tickets Office on Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:00 – 16:00. You will be able to purchase your seat (s) by doing a credit card booking – 012 420 0700

Prices:
Main Pavilion Season Ticket: R260
East Pavilion Season Ticket: R220
Scholars – South behind the poles: R100

In order to buy your seat(s), you need to have the following information of you season ticket:

Name & surname of holder or the company’s name
Reference number

Top rugby

Geez how good was the Bulls vs. Crusaders semi-final?! It was probably one of the best Super 14 games I've watched in the whole time I've been following Super rugby.

One can't help but wonder how influential that sin-binning just before the half-tim break was in terms of getting the Bulls back in the game.

From a technical perspective I loved the way that both teams adjusted to the others playing style. The Crusaders mashed the Bulls up front in the early scrum exchanges and that bomber up-and-under that led to a Crusaders try was a perfect show of exploiting weaknesses / structures in the Bulls setup.

Even better than that though was the way the Bulls realised that their gameplan wasn't working and changed tactics. When they realised the Crusaders weren't committing men to the rucks they started to find ways to suck guys in and the Ndungane try proved the system worked.

On the strength of that performance Morne Steyn and Fourie Du Preez have to be the first choice scrumhalf and flyhalf combination for the Lions. Steyn has answered his critics with some solid performances and shown he's not just a kicker but he's prepared to make the tackles and attack the gain line when it is necessary.

I think Du Preez had a lot to do with changing the style of the game that the Bulls played and that highlights his value to the team. He kept his cool and didn't put any undue on the new centre combination which I thought showed a lot of intelligence. Good job

Pierre Spies was also good - he looked for work and every time he got the ball there was a feeling something was going to happen.

There is something different about the Bulls this year. They're not just a smash and bash type of team - they can adjust and THAT is a sign of class.

Well done Bulls - you cost me a few bucks on my Crusaders bet but it was worthwhile watching an SA team playing so well.

Selection grumble

I have a grumble .... Was just reading on Sport24 that Brad Barritt has flown in to fill in for the Sharks at centre. This follows injuries to Frans Steyn, Waylon Murray and Adi Jacobs have robbed them of their experienced players in midfield.

Remember that Barritt was lured overseas earlier this year with promises of a big money contract at Saracens.

Now suddenly injuries are hitting the Sharks' setup and instead of going through their existing structures they are going to pull a player from another club to fill in.

The Stormers did a similar thing earlier this year when they called up their old hooker Tiaan Liebenberg from France to come fill in.

Now I don't argue that either Liebenberg or Barritt add value - hell anybody to save the Stormers from Schalk Brits - but it does make a mockery of selection policies and talent development within your own setup.

Yes they will probably know many of the calls and moves, but surely they've made their bed and picked which side they want to play for?

• Is the player motivated to play for you considering he is been treated as little more than a hired-gun for a few weeks?
• What message does it send to other players in your setup? Something like you can train as hard as you like, put in all the extra hours etc... but at the end of the day if we need somebody we're going to pull from outside ranks

Any thoughts on the subject?

Sports - changing world order

I believe quite strongly that a combination of the IPL and the economic (financial) crisis will fundamentally change sport across the globe. I'm probably going to say a few things that are going to be considered a little controversial but it's something I've been intrigued by for quite a while now.

Broadly speaking up until a few years ago the financial power of world sport remained in two major power centres - the US and Europe (Specifically the UK).

Even now the big money in rugby, soccer, motorsport and golf still emanates from these parts... but I don't expect that to last.

Some predictions:

• I expect in five years time that Bangladeshi cricket will have overtaken English cricket in the test and One Day International rankings
• Argentina rugby will be stronger than the European nations within seven years
• In less than a decade I don't believe that the English premiership will be regarded as the leading football league in the world
• Clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea will be competing with clubs from places like South America, the US and Asia in a global league in the not too distant future as opposed to the UEFA tournaments.
• Bit of a wild one but I believe that South Africa will have one competitive football team in this tournament in ten years
• I believe that the premier rugby competition - which will usurp the Super 14 - will be played out of either South Africa or Japan inside the next seven years and will work along the same lines as the IPL cricket system with either a bid or draft offering to pick sides.
• Motorsport will be dominated by Chinese and Indian manufacturers and representatives and the Middle East and mainstream Asia will host most of the glamour races
• Support for international brands such as the Springboks, All Blacks, Proteas, Wallabies etc will decline over the next ten years with cross-border franchises attracting greater support.

Obviously there are a lot of people who don't want to hear about the changing global world order but at the end of the day it is a numbers game - China, India, the rest of Asia and Brazil to some extent are growing rapidly at all levels...

1. Look at what China achieved at the last world Olympics
2. Look at the support the IPL has attracted - it's HUGE money and prestige that far outweighs what the international cricket boards can afford to pay their players.
3. F1 used to be the domain of the European manufacturers... suddenly the likes of Toyota are coming in and the Middle East is pouring money into development of tracks and teams - things are going to look very different in a few years time...

Does it sound like lunatic fringe stuff or do you think there is some merit to it all? Would love your input?

Grrrr .... it was good while it lasted....

Hhhhmmmm and so the Stormers are back on the losing side of the scoreboard and on top of that they've picked up injuries to Schalk Burger, Conrad Jantjes and JD Moller to go with the host of other walking wounded.

The season has been a disaster in general and injuries have robbed the side of experienced and promising young players.

We've now got three games left and personally if I was Rassie Erasmus I would rather give the younger players a bit more of a run just to see who steps up to the plate and who doesn't.

In my last post I touched on the age of players like AJ Venter, Willem De Waal etc. Where are the new players coming through for the 2010 season? By persisting with the older players you don't create a healthy feeder channel for the following year and then you have this inevitable dip in form when the new guys come into the system 'en masse...

Tiger Bax didn't exactly cover himself in glory when he came on for Jantjes yesterday against the Chiefs but you can't judge the guy on a single performance.

Give guys like Morgan Newman (pictured), Des Fontain and Bax a chance to play the rest of the season with little pressure on them and if they step up to the plate then you have a base
from which to build on next year.