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24/01/2008 10:06
JJ Harmse
The coverage of the Heineken Cup and the domestic competitions in France and England certainly helped to limit the withdrawal symptoms I've experienced since the Rugby World Cup finished towards the end of October last year.
You see, I need my fix of local rugby and with our teams almost back on the field, I can feel a rush of adrenalin!
The first warm-up game for the Super 14 sides normally starts the rugby feast and thanks to the Stormers and Boland last week, we will soon be swamped by rugby as played by the South Africans! Local is lekker!
There is much to be optimistic about, as we defend the Super 14 title and will take on the rest of the Test playing nations as World Cup holders.
Kick of their campaign
The reality is that, if you are number one, there is only one way to go - and that is down, even if it is only for brief periods. The All Blacks are good examples of that. We will probably begin that slide sooner rather than later with the schedule ahead for the Boks, but at least we should start well in June.
But back to the present.
This weekend the Cheetahs will play trials, the Bulls will start their warm-up campaign against Boland and the Sharks will kick off their campaign with a 'Fan Day'.
Supporters of those teams will all be very keen come Monday, with discussions on their team's chances, possible selections and injury updates taking up most conversations.
Drawcard
Soon rugby will take its number one spot back in conversations. Yes, I know it faces a stiff challenge from Eskom's load shedding, the two centres of power in government and the legal challenges against Jacob Zuma and Jackie Selebi, but still!
I sometimes wonder what the biggest drawcard is for the average rugby fan. I am talking about the person who spends his or her money on the game, whether it be a match ticket, a supporter's jersey, a season ticket or travel package.
The Springboks will play around 11 Tests this year while each Super 14 franchise will play at least 13 matches and possibly 15 should they reach the final. If you have to pick between the two, which would you choose. The Sharks or the Boks?
SA Rugby needs to be very careful in their attitude towards the regular fan. At times, I believe Super 14 offers spectators more than Test rugby. There were certainly more people watching the Bulls in their charge towards the title at Loftus last year than those watching the Boks play England a couple of weeks later.
Core group
The national team needs to be one that inspires. Remember, Jake White's team failed to fill stadiums in South Africa in 2006 and 2007 when the desired results weren't produced. The same happened with the Cats and Cheetahs in the latter stages of last year's Super 14 when they played to empty stadiums. The Bulls and Sharks had packed houses, week after week, because they were winning.
When White started his tenure as coach, the Boks played Ireland who were rated above them in 2004. We won both Tests and the foundations were laid for White's idea of a core group of players.
De Villiers will have a core of players as a precious inheritance from his predecessor and will play Wales and Italy, currently 10th and 11th in the world, in his first Tests in charge. That is a soft start.
Replacement
Incidentally, when White picked his World Cup squad early last year, 24 of the 30 players who played in the 2003 tournament were still playing rugby! Yet, he only used 10 of them to take to France.
De Villiers will need to find a replacement for Os du Randt. That is all. Realistically, he will probably have to do without Percy Montgomery and Butch James as well, while it is still up in the air whether John Smit will stay on as captain.
At loosehead, he has the luxury of Gurthro Steenkamp, and if needed, CJ van der Linde, both very experienced campaigners. Then there's Deon Carstens, Heinke van der Merwe, Wian du Preez and Jaco Engels waiting in the wings.
Expectations
The team that won the World Cup was perceived to be 'too white'. De Villiers, already under a transformation cloud, will inevitably replace more white players in the next season or so with black players.
Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen pick themselves, but what about the expectations of the likes of Conrad Jantjes, Waylon Murray, Isma-eel Dollie, Paul Delport, Hilton Lobberts, Enrico Januarie and Kabamba Floors, to name but a few?
Will the regular fan still feel the same about the national side if Murray replaces Jaque Fourie, if Dollie slots in at flyhalf, if Delport replaces Fourie du Preez and if the loose forwards consists of Floors, Lobberts and Luke Watson?
I don't think so. But then, who am I to say what the national team should look like? We leave that to government and its portfolio committee on sport to decide.
Confused
*Just finished watching our soccer boys play Angola in the Africa Cup of Nations.
But wait! This Bafana team is not representative! Or is it? I am confused now. What does representivity mean? Maybe Safa can guarantee that this will be the last time we field a national soccer team in an international competition without a white player in the starting line-up...
Or does transformation mean get rid of the whites?
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
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