“a south african player can earn more from a two-month za... · a weekend of upsets in super...
TRANSCRIPT
Volume 19 Number 1823 May 2019
ldquoA South African player can earn more from a two-month contract in Japan than he can if he were to win the World Cup with the Springboks this year Thats the reality we have to face up tordquo - SA Rugby
Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at wwwleopardnewsletterscoza
The 2019 SA Player Exodus Begins
It has become a regular event in South African rugby that clubs from around the world send scouts in search of talent Lately it happens at the end of the PRO14 and about halfway through Super Rugby that local stars and some up-and-coming players are offered obscene amounts of cash
It began with European and Asian clubs targeting our off-season which meant those players would still be available in their off-season but as the global rugby calendar expanded that strategy ran into problems Now the gloves are off and players are signing two- three- and even five-year contracts
And as mere rugby fans we have no right to complain Itrsquos very simple most rugby players have at best a 15-year professional career Staying in South Africa for the duration will not generate enough to set a player up in a business or to start a new career after his playing days are over
As SA Rugby said itself in a recent media release ldquoA South African player can earn more from a two-month contract in Japan than he can if he were to win the World Cup with the Springboks this year Thats the reality we have to face up tordquo
[Note The original media release cannot be found because the mental midgets who created SA Rugbyrsquos new website didnrsquot bring across the historic content However news organisations such as Reuters reported on it at the time - Ed]
The only thing thatrsquos changing is that the exodus is getting larger as more players take the opportunities presented to them And those who feel that they have little chance of playing for the Springboks may use the opportunity to qualify to play for another nation ndash as so many have already
Names that spring to mind include WP Nel (Scotland) CJ Stander (Ireland) Braam Steyn (Italy) Josh Strauss (Scotland) Phillip Eloff (USA) Johan van Heerden (Romania) Wimpie van der Walt (Japan) DTH van der Merwe (Canada) and Jaco Otto (Germany) to name just a few
To find out who might be next on that outbound travelator check out the SA player exodus in SA Rugby mag
KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER
A Weekend of Upsets in Super RugbyThe PRO14 201819 Comes to a HeadThe 7s Circuit Arrives in London
The Role of Strategy in Modern RugbySA Players in the PRO14 Dream TeamDoes Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Page 1
Page 2
A Weekend of Upsets in Super Rugby
All but one of the matches this weekend could be called upsets in some way shape or form It began on Friday morning when the Jaguares beat the Hurricanesin Wellington New Zealand 20-28 But the superb performance was trumped a couple of hours later when the Bulls thumped the Rebels in Melbourne
The trend continued on Saturday when the Blues who were bottom of the New Zealand conference secured a bonus point win against the Chiefs effectively leapfrogging the Waikato side on the table And a couple of hours later the Reds lost at home to the Waratahs in a match that could have should have gone the other way
Later that afternoon the Lions nearly let it slip in Johannesburg but kept their heads despite having 23 handling errors (compared to the Highlandersrsquo 12) The final score was 38-29 but the home team could have and should have picked up a bonus point
The final match of the weekend was probably the biggest surprise of all when the the struggling Stormers burgled a draw against the champion Crusaders at Newlands The visitors had their moments but failed to capitalise on the 33 tackles they forced the Stormers to miss
Much of the press after the match was about the Crusaders try that was denied by an incorrect call of a ldquoforward passrdquo by one of South Africarsquos most notorious TMOs Marius Jonker All the replays show unequivocally that the pass was not forward and that abysmal call robbed the Crusaders of a deserved victory
The PRO14 201819 Comes to a Head
In the first of the PRO14 semifinals played last Friday night in Glasgow when the home-town Warriors hosted Ulster It was an interesting match considering the number of players with South African roots taking part some of whom have played international rugby for other countries
For Glasgow DTH van der Merwe (Canada) Kyle Steyn (Scotland) and Oliver Kebble made significant contributions On the part of Ulster Marcel Coetzee Louis Ludik and Rob Herring (Ireland) took the field
As the final scoreline suggests the Glasgow Warriors dominated the contest and simply wouldnrsquot let the Ulstermen into the match At half-time they were three tries to the good and 24-3 up Final score 50-20
In the second semifinal on Saturday the home team Leinster had no South African links that we could discern but the opponents Munster had three players with roots here Jean Kleyn (eligible for Ireland in September) CJ Stander (Ireland) and Arno Botha
This was a much tighter match with no tries scored in the first half at all as the teams went in with a scoreline of 9-6 to Leinster at half-time In the second stanza the home side scored two tries and a penalty to Munsterrsquos solitary penalty thereby sealing a place in the final with a 24-9 victory
These results will see the final played in Glasgow this Saturday (1930) as the Champions Cup runners up travel to Scotland to take on the Warriors While the Glaswegian team has twice defeated Leinster in PRO14 this season they did suffer a humiliating exit (55-19) from the Champions Cup at the hands of the Irish team in January Should be a fascinating match
Page 3
Page 4
Upsets Galore this Weekend in the SRC
Until this past weekend the 2019 SuperSport Rugby Challenge was largely devoid of upsets but that all changed on Friday night when the Boland Cavaliers went down to the Sharks (29-28) The trend continued on Saturday when the Golden Lions were thumped at home by the Pumas (33-51) and the Blue Bulls were hammered in Kimberley by Griquas (38-17)
The Free State Cheetahs restored some semblance of normality when they thrashed SWD Eagles (64-17) and Western Province followed that up by defeating the Zimbabwe Academy 33-13
In the Sunday derby at the Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg Griffons beat the Namibian Welwitchias (34-24) in what was a tight match until about the last quarter The later match at that venue saw a thriller in which the lead changed hands several times before the Valke suddenly had a 23-point lead with ten minutes to play
To their credit the Leopards fought back to score three converted tries to end a heart-breaking two points down (50-52) The final match of the weekend was at the Wolfson Stadium outside PE where the EP Elephants pummelled the Border Bulldogs (52-3) This weekend will see six matches on Saturday
Western Province vs EP ElephantsSWD Eagles vs Boland CavaliersNamibian Welwitchias vs LeopardsZimbabwe vs Free State CheetahsPumas vs GriquasSharks vs Border Bulldogs
And on Sunday at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Blue Bulls face Golden Lions and Valke take on Griffons Remember entrance is free-of-charge so make your way to Brakpan if yoursquore in the area
The 7s Circuit Arrives in London
This weekend will see the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series take place in London England The Blitzbokke lie in fourth on the series table (on 121 points) trailing the USA by 24 points and also behind Fiji (141) and New Zealand (130) This means that the chances of the reigning champions defending the title they won in each of the last two years are remote at best
Even if the teams ahead of the South Africans were to stumble badly that would probably not be enough All three would have to fall flat on their faces AND the Blitzbokke would have to win in London and a week later in Paris Thatrsquos highly unlikely
Nevertheless Neil Powellrsquos team will be relishing the contest and very keen to win two more gold medals to finish a challenging season on a high note While not at full strength the squad will welcome back two previously injured players both of whom have made a mark this year JC Pretorius and Muller du Plessis
Both last played in Vancouver and were named in that tournamentrsquos Dream Team after the Blitzbokke secured their first gold medal of the season in Canada More good news is that regular captain Philip Snyman will travel with the squad as the thirteenth player in both London and Paris and may be called upon if someone is injured
In London Powellrsquos charges are drawn to play in the pool stages on Saturday against Japan (1220) Canada (1526) and Argentina (1832) If they win all three encounters theyrsquoll emerge top of the table and then will probably face either Australia Spain or Wales in a Cup quarter-final But if they stumble and drop a game they could face USA in the last eight
Page 5
Page 6
The Role of Strategy in Modern Rugby
Therersquos a fascinating analysis by Ben Smith [the rugby writer not the All Black - Ed] on RugbyPasscom that exposes how Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter turned his team into regulars in the top two of the English Premiership
According to Smith Baxterrsquos machine keeps on moving forward with Exeter finishing as the Premiershiprsquos top side after the regular season ldquoThey have maintained their status as one of the Premiershiprsquos top two sides in part by continuing to innovate changing not only the parts in the system but the system itselfrdquo he adds
ldquoThe Chiefs have a roster largely still constructed around players from the 2016-17 Premiership side but have filtered in key pieces like Nic White Matt Kvesic Sam Simmonds and Santiago Cordero over the last couple of seasons
ldquoWhilst it would be tempting to plug those pieces into a system that has been proven the pace of change and copycat nature of professional sport means that widespread adoption becomes the norm pretty quickly What was unique yesterday is everywhere today Most teams employ the similar phase play structure the Chiefs have used with great success over the last few years although each team has varying degrees of execution
ldquoTo stay at the top you have to evolve be prepared to change before you become outdated So what have the Exeter Chiefs done to evolverdquo
The rest of Smithrsquos excellent piece unpacks exactly how Baxter and his team achieved their success and suggests some of what may still be to come Itrsquos long but a worthwhile read
SA Players in the PRO14 Dream Team
By the time you read this the announcement will have been made as thatrsquos due to happen on Thursday 23 May and we had to put the newsletter out on Wednesday night to meet our weekly deadline
At the time of writing a number of SA players had been nominated for the PRO14 Dream Team 201819 If you want to know if any of them made it we suggest going to the PRO14 website
The way the process works is that a panel of over 75 media members are invited to take part in voting The group includes many former players and coaches alongside some of the most trusted and respected rugby writers from across the UK Ireland Italy and South Africa
After the voting had closed three nominees had been identified for every position and one of them will make the Dream Team You can find a full list of the nominees on the PRO14 website but the ones in whom yoursquore most likely interested are those with roots in SA
Loosehead Prop Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh)Hooker Rob Herring (Ulster)Tighthead Prop WP Nel (Edinburgh)Openside Flanker Braam Steyn (Benetton)No 8 Marcel Coetzee (Ulster) amp CJ Stander (Munster)Scrum-Half Dewaldt Duvenage (Benetton)Fly-half Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh)Left Wing Rabz Maxwane (Toyota Cheetahs)
Does Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Regular readers will know that this newsroom has long argued for fewer simpler laws precisely because the individuals chosen to referee most rugby matches appear so completely unsuited to the task While our stand on the matter is quite clear those of two respected rugby columnists are not or rather were not
Tank Lanning and Zeliacutem Nel faced off in ldquoThe Big Debaterdquo on the subject last week on AllOutRugbycom The results and suggestions may surprise you as they did us
And while we urge you to click through to read their thoughts in full ndash along with the readerrsquos comments that follow many of which are extremely interesting Whatrsquos most interesting about the piece is that it appeared BEFORE the Crusaders were robbed of a win by an incompetent TMO call at Newlands
More than one rugby analyst has taken to social media to express their dismay at that error One only has to look at Oom Rugbyrsquos useful video clip with a line parallel to the half-way line superimposed to see the truth of that
But this is not the first and it certainly will not be the last this Super Rugby season nor indeed at the World Cup given the bunch selected to officiate at that tournament
Which brings up an interesting point complaints about the referees are most often heard in the southern hemisphere rather than the north Although it must be said that French match officials are the most common exception ndash and there are FOUR of them travelling to the World Cup in Japan and a fifth who will run touch lines as an assistant referee
To make matters worse the idiot who ruled that pass forward on Saturday at Newlands is one of four TMOs appointed for RWC 2019 When we last mused about the subject we wondered why the consistently excellent Rasta Rasivhenge had not been selected But in retrospect perhaps hersquoll be thankful not to have his stellar reputation tainted by what is sure to happen in Japan later this year
Getting back to the subject of The Big Debate which triggered this thought process readers may wonder if World Rugby will take any notice History reveals that the answer to any such question is almost certainly not There appears to be a reality-immune bubble around World Rugby headquarters in Dublin Ireland
Page 7
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 2
A Weekend of Upsets in Super Rugby
All but one of the matches this weekend could be called upsets in some way shape or form It began on Friday morning when the Jaguares beat the Hurricanesin Wellington New Zealand 20-28 But the superb performance was trumped a couple of hours later when the Bulls thumped the Rebels in Melbourne
The trend continued on Saturday when the Blues who were bottom of the New Zealand conference secured a bonus point win against the Chiefs effectively leapfrogging the Waikato side on the table And a couple of hours later the Reds lost at home to the Waratahs in a match that could have should have gone the other way
Later that afternoon the Lions nearly let it slip in Johannesburg but kept their heads despite having 23 handling errors (compared to the Highlandersrsquo 12) The final score was 38-29 but the home team could have and should have picked up a bonus point
The final match of the weekend was probably the biggest surprise of all when the the struggling Stormers burgled a draw against the champion Crusaders at Newlands The visitors had their moments but failed to capitalise on the 33 tackles they forced the Stormers to miss
Much of the press after the match was about the Crusaders try that was denied by an incorrect call of a ldquoforward passrdquo by one of South Africarsquos most notorious TMOs Marius Jonker All the replays show unequivocally that the pass was not forward and that abysmal call robbed the Crusaders of a deserved victory
The PRO14 201819 Comes to a Head
In the first of the PRO14 semifinals played last Friday night in Glasgow when the home-town Warriors hosted Ulster It was an interesting match considering the number of players with South African roots taking part some of whom have played international rugby for other countries
For Glasgow DTH van der Merwe (Canada) Kyle Steyn (Scotland) and Oliver Kebble made significant contributions On the part of Ulster Marcel Coetzee Louis Ludik and Rob Herring (Ireland) took the field
As the final scoreline suggests the Glasgow Warriors dominated the contest and simply wouldnrsquot let the Ulstermen into the match At half-time they were three tries to the good and 24-3 up Final score 50-20
In the second semifinal on Saturday the home team Leinster had no South African links that we could discern but the opponents Munster had three players with roots here Jean Kleyn (eligible for Ireland in September) CJ Stander (Ireland) and Arno Botha
This was a much tighter match with no tries scored in the first half at all as the teams went in with a scoreline of 9-6 to Leinster at half-time In the second stanza the home side scored two tries and a penalty to Munsterrsquos solitary penalty thereby sealing a place in the final with a 24-9 victory
These results will see the final played in Glasgow this Saturday (1930) as the Champions Cup runners up travel to Scotland to take on the Warriors While the Glaswegian team has twice defeated Leinster in PRO14 this season they did suffer a humiliating exit (55-19) from the Champions Cup at the hands of the Irish team in January Should be a fascinating match
Page 3
Page 4
Upsets Galore this Weekend in the SRC
Until this past weekend the 2019 SuperSport Rugby Challenge was largely devoid of upsets but that all changed on Friday night when the Boland Cavaliers went down to the Sharks (29-28) The trend continued on Saturday when the Golden Lions were thumped at home by the Pumas (33-51) and the Blue Bulls were hammered in Kimberley by Griquas (38-17)
The Free State Cheetahs restored some semblance of normality when they thrashed SWD Eagles (64-17) and Western Province followed that up by defeating the Zimbabwe Academy 33-13
In the Sunday derby at the Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg Griffons beat the Namibian Welwitchias (34-24) in what was a tight match until about the last quarter The later match at that venue saw a thriller in which the lead changed hands several times before the Valke suddenly had a 23-point lead with ten minutes to play
To their credit the Leopards fought back to score three converted tries to end a heart-breaking two points down (50-52) The final match of the weekend was at the Wolfson Stadium outside PE where the EP Elephants pummelled the Border Bulldogs (52-3) This weekend will see six matches on Saturday
Western Province vs EP ElephantsSWD Eagles vs Boland CavaliersNamibian Welwitchias vs LeopardsZimbabwe vs Free State CheetahsPumas vs GriquasSharks vs Border Bulldogs
And on Sunday at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Blue Bulls face Golden Lions and Valke take on Griffons Remember entrance is free-of-charge so make your way to Brakpan if yoursquore in the area
The 7s Circuit Arrives in London
This weekend will see the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series take place in London England The Blitzbokke lie in fourth on the series table (on 121 points) trailing the USA by 24 points and also behind Fiji (141) and New Zealand (130) This means that the chances of the reigning champions defending the title they won in each of the last two years are remote at best
Even if the teams ahead of the South Africans were to stumble badly that would probably not be enough All three would have to fall flat on their faces AND the Blitzbokke would have to win in London and a week later in Paris Thatrsquos highly unlikely
Nevertheless Neil Powellrsquos team will be relishing the contest and very keen to win two more gold medals to finish a challenging season on a high note While not at full strength the squad will welcome back two previously injured players both of whom have made a mark this year JC Pretorius and Muller du Plessis
Both last played in Vancouver and were named in that tournamentrsquos Dream Team after the Blitzbokke secured their first gold medal of the season in Canada More good news is that regular captain Philip Snyman will travel with the squad as the thirteenth player in both London and Paris and may be called upon if someone is injured
In London Powellrsquos charges are drawn to play in the pool stages on Saturday against Japan (1220) Canada (1526) and Argentina (1832) If they win all three encounters theyrsquoll emerge top of the table and then will probably face either Australia Spain or Wales in a Cup quarter-final But if they stumble and drop a game they could face USA in the last eight
Page 5
Page 6
The Role of Strategy in Modern Rugby
Therersquos a fascinating analysis by Ben Smith [the rugby writer not the All Black - Ed] on RugbyPasscom that exposes how Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter turned his team into regulars in the top two of the English Premiership
According to Smith Baxterrsquos machine keeps on moving forward with Exeter finishing as the Premiershiprsquos top side after the regular season ldquoThey have maintained their status as one of the Premiershiprsquos top two sides in part by continuing to innovate changing not only the parts in the system but the system itselfrdquo he adds
ldquoThe Chiefs have a roster largely still constructed around players from the 2016-17 Premiership side but have filtered in key pieces like Nic White Matt Kvesic Sam Simmonds and Santiago Cordero over the last couple of seasons
ldquoWhilst it would be tempting to plug those pieces into a system that has been proven the pace of change and copycat nature of professional sport means that widespread adoption becomes the norm pretty quickly What was unique yesterday is everywhere today Most teams employ the similar phase play structure the Chiefs have used with great success over the last few years although each team has varying degrees of execution
ldquoTo stay at the top you have to evolve be prepared to change before you become outdated So what have the Exeter Chiefs done to evolverdquo
The rest of Smithrsquos excellent piece unpacks exactly how Baxter and his team achieved their success and suggests some of what may still be to come Itrsquos long but a worthwhile read
SA Players in the PRO14 Dream Team
By the time you read this the announcement will have been made as thatrsquos due to happen on Thursday 23 May and we had to put the newsletter out on Wednesday night to meet our weekly deadline
At the time of writing a number of SA players had been nominated for the PRO14 Dream Team 201819 If you want to know if any of them made it we suggest going to the PRO14 website
The way the process works is that a panel of over 75 media members are invited to take part in voting The group includes many former players and coaches alongside some of the most trusted and respected rugby writers from across the UK Ireland Italy and South Africa
After the voting had closed three nominees had been identified for every position and one of them will make the Dream Team You can find a full list of the nominees on the PRO14 website but the ones in whom yoursquore most likely interested are those with roots in SA
Loosehead Prop Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh)Hooker Rob Herring (Ulster)Tighthead Prop WP Nel (Edinburgh)Openside Flanker Braam Steyn (Benetton)No 8 Marcel Coetzee (Ulster) amp CJ Stander (Munster)Scrum-Half Dewaldt Duvenage (Benetton)Fly-half Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh)Left Wing Rabz Maxwane (Toyota Cheetahs)
Does Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Regular readers will know that this newsroom has long argued for fewer simpler laws precisely because the individuals chosen to referee most rugby matches appear so completely unsuited to the task While our stand on the matter is quite clear those of two respected rugby columnists are not or rather were not
Tank Lanning and Zeliacutem Nel faced off in ldquoThe Big Debaterdquo on the subject last week on AllOutRugbycom The results and suggestions may surprise you as they did us
And while we urge you to click through to read their thoughts in full ndash along with the readerrsquos comments that follow many of which are extremely interesting Whatrsquos most interesting about the piece is that it appeared BEFORE the Crusaders were robbed of a win by an incompetent TMO call at Newlands
More than one rugby analyst has taken to social media to express their dismay at that error One only has to look at Oom Rugbyrsquos useful video clip with a line parallel to the half-way line superimposed to see the truth of that
But this is not the first and it certainly will not be the last this Super Rugby season nor indeed at the World Cup given the bunch selected to officiate at that tournament
Which brings up an interesting point complaints about the referees are most often heard in the southern hemisphere rather than the north Although it must be said that French match officials are the most common exception ndash and there are FOUR of them travelling to the World Cup in Japan and a fifth who will run touch lines as an assistant referee
To make matters worse the idiot who ruled that pass forward on Saturday at Newlands is one of four TMOs appointed for RWC 2019 When we last mused about the subject we wondered why the consistently excellent Rasta Rasivhenge had not been selected But in retrospect perhaps hersquoll be thankful not to have his stellar reputation tainted by what is sure to happen in Japan later this year
Getting back to the subject of The Big Debate which triggered this thought process readers may wonder if World Rugby will take any notice History reveals that the answer to any such question is almost certainly not There appears to be a reality-immune bubble around World Rugby headquarters in Dublin Ireland
Page 7
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 3
Page 4
Upsets Galore this Weekend in the SRC
Until this past weekend the 2019 SuperSport Rugby Challenge was largely devoid of upsets but that all changed on Friday night when the Boland Cavaliers went down to the Sharks (29-28) The trend continued on Saturday when the Golden Lions were thumped at home by the Pumas (33-51) and the Blue Bulls were hammered in Kimberley by Griquas (38-17)
The Free State Cheetahs restored some semblance of normality when they thrashed SWD Eagles (64-17) and Western Province followed that up by defeating the Zimbabwe Academy 33-13
In the Sunday derby at the Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg Griffons beat the Namibian Welwitchias (34-24) in what was a tight match until about the last quarter The later match at that venue saw a thriller in which the lead changed hands several times before the Valke suddenly had a 23-point lead with ten minutes to play
To their credit the Leopards fought back to score three converted tries to end a heart-breaking two points down (50-52) The final match of the weekend was at the Wolfson Stadium outside PE where the EP Elephants pummelled the Border Bulldogs (52-3) This weekend will see six matches on Saturday
Western Province vs EP ElephantsSWD Eagles vs Boland CavaliersNamibian Welwitchias vs LeopardsZimbabwe vs Free State CheetahsPumas vs GriquasSharks vs Border Bulldogs
And on Sunday at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Blue Bulls face Golden Lions and Valke take on Griffons Remember entrance is free-of-charge so make your way to Brakpan if yoursquore in the area
The 7s Circuit Arrives in London
This weekend will see the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series take place in London England The Blitzbokke lie in fourth on the series table (on 121 points) trailing the USA by 24 points and also behind Fiji (141) and New Zealand (130) This means that the chances of the reigning champions defending the title they won in each of the last two years are remote at best
Even if the teams ahead of the South Africans were to stumble badly that would probably not be enough All three would have to fall flat on their faces AND the Blitzbokke would have to win in London and a week later in Paris Thatrsquos highly unlikely
Nevertheless Neil Powellrsquos team will be relishing the contest and very keen to win two more gold medals to finish a challenging season on a high note While not at full strength the squad will welcome back two previously injured players both of whom have made a mark this year JC Pretorius and Muller du Plessis
Both last played in Vancouver and were named in that tournamentrsquos Dream Team after the Blitzbokke secured their first gold medal of the season in Canada More good news is that regular captain Philip Snyman will travel with the squad as the thirteenth player in both London and Paris and may be called upon if someone is injured
In London Powellrsquos charges are drawn to play in the pool stages on Saturday against Japan (1220) Canada (1526) and Argentina (1832) If they win all three encounters theyrsquoll emerge top of the table and then will probably face either Australia Spain or Wales in a Cup quarter-final But if they stumble and drop a game they could face USA in the last eight
Page 5
Page 6
The Role of Strategy in Modern Rugby
Therersquos a fascinating analysis by Ben Smith [the rugby writer not the All Black - Ed] on RugbyPasscom that exposes how Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter turned his team into regulars in the top two of the English Premiership
According to Smith Baxterrsquos machine keeps on moving forward with Exeter finishing as the Premiershiprsquos top side after the regular season ldquoThey have maintained their status as one of the Premiershiprsquos top two sides in part by continuing to innovate changing not only the parts in the system but the system itselfrdquo he adds
ldquoThe Chiefs have a roster largely still constructed around players from the 2016-17 Premiership side but have filtered in key pieces like Nic White Matt Kvesic Sam Simmonds and Santiago Cordero over the last couple of seasons
ldquoWhilst it would be tempting to plug those pieces into a system that has been proven the pace of change and copycat nature of professional sport means that widespread adoption becomes the norm pretty quickly What was unique yesterday is everywhere today Most teams employ the similar phase play structure the Chiefs have used with great success over the last few years although each team has varying degrees of execution
ldquoTo stay at the top you have to evolve be prepared to change before you become outdated So what have the Exeter Chiefs done to evolverdquo
The rest of Smithrsquos excellent piece unpacks exactly how Baxter and his team achieved their success and suggests some of what may still be to come Itrsquos long but a worthwhile read
SA Players in the PRO14 Dream Team
By the time you read this the announcement will have been made as thatrsquos due to happen on Thursday 23 May and we had to put the newsletter out on Wednesday night to meet our weekly deadline
At the time of writing a number of SA players had been nominated for the PRO14 Dream Team 201819 If you want to know if any of them made it we suggest going to the PRO14 website
The way the process works is that a panel of over 75 media members are invited to take part in voting The group includes many former players and coaches alongside some of the most trusted and respected rugby writers from across the UK Ireland Italy and South Africa
After the voting had closed three nominees had been identified for every position and one of them will make the Dream Team You can find a full list of the nominees on the PRO14 website but the ones in whom yoursquore most likely interested are those with roots in SA
Loosehead Prop Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh)Hooker Rob Herring (Ulster)Tighthead Prop WP Nel (Edinburgh)Openside Flanker Braam Steyn (Benetton)No 8 Marcel Coetzee (Ulster) amp CJ Stander (Munster)Scrum-Half Dewaldt Duvenage (Benetton)Fly-half Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh)Left Wing Rabz Maxwane (Toyota Cheetahs)
Does Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Regular readers will know that this newsroom has long argued for fewer simpler laws precisely because the individuals chosen to referee most rugby matches appear so completely unsuited to the task While our stand on the matter is quite clear those of two respected rugby columnists are not or rather were not
Tank Lanning and Zeliacutem Nel faced off in ldquoThe Big Debaterdquo on the subject last week on AllOutRugbycom The results and suggestions may surprise you as they did us
And while we urge you to click through to read their thoughts in full ndash along with the readerrsquos comments that follow many of which are extremely interesting Whatrsquos most interesting about the piece is that it appeared BEFORE the Crusaders were robbed of a win by an incompetent TMO call at Newlands
More than one rugby analyst has taken to social media to express their dismay at that error One only has to look at Oom Rugbyrsquos useful video clip with a line parallel to the half-way line superimposed to see the truth of that
But this is not the first and it certainly will not be the last this Super Rugby season nor indeed at the World Cup given the bunch selected to officiate at that tournament
Which brings up an interesting point complaints about the referees are most often heard in the southern hemisphere rather than the north Although it must be said that French match officials are the most common exception ndash and there are FOUR of them travelling to the World Cup in Japan and a fifth who will run touch lines as an assistant referee
To make matters worse the idiot who ruled that pass forward on Saturday at Newlands is one of four TMOs appointed for RWC 2019 When we last mused about the subject we wondered why the consistently excellent Rasta Rasivhenge had not been selected But in retrospect perhaps hersquoll be thankful not to have his stellar reputation tainted by what is sure to happen in Japan later this year
Getting back to the subject of The Big Debate which triggered this thought process readers may wonder if World Rugby will take any notice History reveals that the answer to any such question is almost certainly not There appears to be a reality-immune bubble around World Rugby headquarters in Dublin Ireland
Page 7
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 4
Upsets Galore this Weekend in the SRC
Until this past weekend the 2019 SuperSport Rugby Challenge was largely devoid of upsets but that all changed on Friday night when the Boland Cavaliers went down to the Sharks (29-28) The trend continued on Saturday when the Golden Lions were thumped at home by the Pumas (33-51) and the Blue Bulls were hammered in Kimberley by Griquas (38-17)
The Free State Cheetahs restored some semblance of normality when they thrashed SWD Eagles (64-17) and Western Province followed that up by defeating the Zimbabwe Academy 33-13
In the Sunday derby at the Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg Griffons beat the Namibian Welwitchias (34-24) in what was a tight match until about the last quarter The later match at that venue saw a thriller in which the lead changed hands several times before the Valke suddenly had a 23-point lead with ten minutes to play
To their credit the Leopards fought back to score three converted tries to end a heart-breaking two points down (50-52) The final match of the weekend was at the Wolfson Stadium outside PE where the EP Elephants pummelled the Border Bulldogs (52-3) This weekend will see six matches on Saturday
Western Province vs EP ElephantsSWD Eagles vs Boland CavaliersNamibian Welwitchias vs LeopardsZimbabwe vs Free State CheetahsPumas vs GriquasSharks vs Border Bulldogs
And on Sunday at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Blue Bulls face Golden Lions and Valke take on Griffons Remember entrance is free-of-charge so make your way to Brakpan if yoursquore in the area
The 7s Circuit Arrives in London
This weekend will see the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series take place in London England The Blitzbokke lie in fourth on the series table (on 121 points) trailing the USA by 24 points and also behind Fiji (141) and New Zealand (130) This means that the chances of the reigning champions defending the title they won in each of the last two years are remote at best
Even if the teams ahead of the South Africans were to stumble badly that would probably not be enough All three would have to fall flat on their faces AND the Blitzbokke would have to win in London and a week later in Paris Thatrsquos highly unlikely
Nevertheless Neil Powellrsquos team will be relishing the contest and very keen to win two more gold medals to finish a challenging season on a high note While not at full strength the squad will welcome back two previously injured players both of whom have made a mark this year JC Pretorius and Muller du Plessis
Both last played in Vancouver and were named in that tournamentrsquos Dream Team after the Blitzbokke secured their first gold medal of the season in Canada More good news is that regular captain Philip Snyman will travel with the squad as the thirteenth player in both London and Paris and may be called upon if someone is injured
In London Powellrsquos charges are drawn to play in the pool stages on Saturday against Japan (1220) Canada (1526) and Argentina (1832) If they win all three encounters theyrsquoll emerge top of the table and then will probably face either Australia Spain or Wales in a Cup quarter-final But if they stumble and drop a game they could face USA in the last eight
Page 5
Page 6
The Role of Strategy in Modern Rugby
Therersquos a fascinating analysis by Ben Smith [the rugby writer not the All Black - Ed] on RugbyPasscom that exposes how Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter turned his team into regulars in the top two of the English Premiership
According to Smith Baxterrsquos machine keeps on moving forward with Exeter finishing as the Premiershiprsquos top side after the regular season ldquoThey have maintained their status as one of the Premiershiprsquos top two sides in part by continuing to innovate changing not only the parts in the system but the system itselfrdquo he adds
ldquoThe Chiefs have a roster largely still constructed around players from the 2016-17 Premiership side but have filtered in key pieces like Nic White Matt Kvesic Sam Simmonds and Santiago Cordero over the last couple of seasons
ldquoWhilst it would be tempting to plug those pieces into a system that has been proven the pace of change and copycat nature of professional sport means that widespread adoption becomes the norm pretty quickly What was unique yesterday is everywhere today Most teams employ the similar phase play structure the Chiefs have used with great success over the last few years although each team has varying degrees of execution
ldquoTo stay at the top you have to evolve be prepared to change before you become outdated So what have the Exeter Chiefs done to evolverdquo
The rest of Smithrsquos excellent piece unpacks exactly how Baxter and his team achieved their success and suggests some of what may still be to come Itrsquos long but a worthwhile read
SA Players in the PRO14 Dream Team
By the time you read this the announcement will have been made as thatrsquos due to happen on Thursday 23 May and we had to put the newsletter out on Wednesday night to meet our weekly deadline
At the time of writing a number of SA players had been nominated for the PRO14 Dream Team 201819 If you want to know if any of them made it we suggest going to the PRO14 website
The way the process works is that a panel of over 75 media members are invited to take part in voting The group includes many former players and coaches alongside some of the most trusted and respected rugby writers from across the UK Ireland Italy and South Africa
After the voting had closed three nominees had been identified for every position and one of them will make the Dream Team You can find a full list of the nominees on the PRO14 website but the ones in whom yoursquore most likely interested are those with roots in SA
Loosehead Prop Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh)Hooker Rob Herring (Ulster)Tighthead Prop WP Nel (Edinburgh)Openside Flanker Braam Steyn (Benetton)No 8 Marcel Coetzee (Ulster) amp CJ Stander (Munster)Scrum-Half Dewaldt Duvenage (Benetton)Fly-half Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh)Left Wing Rabz Maxwane (Toyota Cheetahs)
Does Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Regular readers will know that this newsroom has long argued for fewer simpler laws precisely because the individuals chosen to referee most rugby matches appear so completely unsuited to the task While our stand on the matter is quite clear those of two respected rugby columnists are not or rather were not
Tank Lanning and Zeliacutem Nel faced off in ldquoThe Big Debaterdquo on the subject last week on AllOutRugbycom The results and suggestions may surprise you as they did us
And while we urge you to click through to read their thoughts in full ndash along with the readerrsquos comments that follow many of which are extremely interesting Whatrsquos most interesting about the piece is that it appeared BEFORE the Crusaders were robbed of a win by an incompetent TMO call at Newlands
More than one rugby analyst has taken to social media to express their dismay at that error One only has to look at Oom Rugbyrsquos useful video clip with a line parallel to the half-way line superimposed to see the truth of that
But this is not the first and it certainly will not be the last this Super Rugby season nor indeed at the World Cup given the bunch selected to officiate at that tournament
Which brings up an interesting point complaints about the referees are most often heard in the southern hemisphere rather than the north Although it must be said that French match officials are the most common exception ndash and there are FOUR of them travelling to the World Cup in Japan and a fifth who will run touch lines as an assistant referee
To make matters worse the idiot who ruled that pass forward on Saturday at Newlands is one of four TMOs appointed for RWC 2019 When we last mused about the subject we wondered why the consistently excellent Rasta Rasivhenge had not been selected But in retrospect perhaps hersquoll be thankful not to have his stellar reputation tainted by what is sure to happen in Japan later this year
Getting back to the subject of The Big Debate which triggered this thought process readers may wonder if World Rugby will take any notice History reveals that the answer to any such question is almost certainly not There appears to be a reality-immune bubble around World Rugby headquarters in Dublin Ireland
Page 7
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 5
Page 6
The Role of Strategy in Modern Rugby
Therersquos a fascinating analysis by Ben Smith [the rugby writer not the All Black - Ed] on RugbyPasscom that exposes how Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter turned his team into regulars in the top two of the English Premiership
According to Smith Baxterrsquos machine keeps on moving forward with Exeter finishing as the Premiershiprsquos top side after the regular season ldquoThey have maintained their status as one of the Premiershiprsquos top two sides in part by continuing to innovate changing not only the parts in the system but the system itselfrdquo he adds
ldquoThe Chiefs have a roster largely still constructed around players from the 2016-17 Premiership side but have filtered in key pieces like Nic White Matt Kvesic Sam Simmonds and Santiago Cordero over the last couple of seasons
ldquoWhilst it would be tempting to plug those pieces into a system that has been proven the pace of change and copycat nature of professional sport means that widespread adoption becomes the norm pretty quickly What was unique yesterday is everywhere today Most teams employ the similar phase play structure the Chiefs have used with great success over the last few years although each team has varying degrees of execution
ldquoTo stay at the top you have to evolve be prepared to change before you become outdated So what have the Exeter Chiefs done to evolverdquo
The rest of Smithrsquos excellent piece unpacks exactly how Baxter and his team achieved their success and suggests some of what may still be to come Itrsquos long but a worthwhile read
SA Players in the PRO14 Dream Team
By the time you read this the announcement will have been made as thatrsquos due to happen on Thursday 23 May and we had to put the newsletter out on Wednesday night to meet our weekly deadline
At the time of writing a number of SA players had been nominated for the PRO14 Dream Team 201819 If you want to know if any of them made it we suggest going to the PRO14 website
The way the process works is that a panel of over 75 media members are invited to take part in voting The group includes many former players and coaches alongside some of the most trusted and respected rugby writers from across the UK Ireland Italy and South Africa
After the voting had closed three nominees had been identified for every position and one of them will make the Dream Team You can find a full list of the nominees on the PRO14 website but the ones in whom yoursquore most likely interested are those with roots in SA
Loosehead Prop Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh)Hooker Rob Herring (Ulster)Tighthead Prop WP Nel (Edinburgh)Openside Flanker Braam Steyn (Benetton)No 8 Marcel Coetzee (Ulster) amp CJ Stander (Munster)Scrum-Half Dewaldt Duvenage (Benetton)Fly-half Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh)Left Wing Rabz Maxwane (Toyota Cheetahs)
Does Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Regular readers will know that this newsroom has long argued for fewer simpler laws precisely because the individuals chosen to referee most rugby matches appear so completely unsuited to the task While our stand on the matter is quite clear those of two respected rugby columnists are not or rather were not
Tank Lanning and Zeliacutem Nel faced off in ldquoThe Big Debaterdquo on the subject last week on AllOutRugbycom The results and suggestions may surprise you as they did us
And while we urge you to click through to read their thoughts in full ndash along with the readerrsquos comments that follow many of which are extremely interesting Whatrsquos most interesting about the piece is that it appeared BEFORE the Crusaders were robbed of a win by an incompetent TMO call at Newlands
More than one rugby analyst has taken to social media to express their dismay at that error One only has to look at Oom Rugbyrsquos useful video clip with a line parallel to the half-way line superimposed to see the truth of that
But this is not the first and it certainly will not be the last this Super Rugby season nor indeed at the World Cup given the bunch selected to officiate at that tournament
Which brings up an interesting point complaints about the referees are most often heard in the southern hemisphere rather than the north Although it must be said that French match officials are the most common exception ndash and there are FOUR of them travelling to the World Cup in Japan and a fifth who will run touch lines as an assistant referee
To make matters worse the idiot who ruled that pass forward on Saturday at Newlands is one of four TMOs appointed for RWC 2019 When we last mused about the subject we wondered why the consistently excellent Rasta Rasivhenge had not been selected But in retrospect perhaps hersquoll be thankful not to have his stellar reputation tainted by what is sure to happen in Japan later this year
Getting back to the subject of The Big Debate which triggered this thought process readers may wonder if World Rugby will take any notice History reveals that the answer to any such question is almost certainly not There appears to be a reality-immune bubble around World Rugby headquarters in Dublin Ireland
Page 7
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Page 6
The Role of Strategy in Modern Rugby
Therersquos a fascinating analysis by Ben Smith [the rugby writer not the All Black - Ed] on RugbyPasscom that exposes how Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter turned his team into regulars in the top two of the English Premiership
According to Smith Baxterrsquos machine keeps on moving forward with Exeter finishing as the Premiershiprsquos top side after the regular season ldquoThey have maintained their status as one of the Premiershiprsquos top two sides in part by continuing to innovate changing not only the parts in the system but the system itselfrdquo he adds
ldquoThe Chiefs have a roster largely still constructed around players from the 2016-17 Premiership side but have filtered in key pieces like Nic White Matt Kvesic Sam Simmonds and Santiago Cordero over the last couple of seasons
ldquoWhilst it would be tempting to plug those pieces into a system that has been proven the pace of change and copycat nature of professional sport means that widespread adoption becomes the norm pretty quickly What was unique yesterday is everywhere today Most teams employ the similar phase play structure the Chiefs have used with great success over the last few years although each team has varying degrees of execution
ldquoTo stay at the top you have to evolve be prepared to change before you become outdated So what have the Exeter Chiefs done to evolverdquo
The rest of Smithrsquos excellent piece unpacks exactly how Baxter and his team achieved their success and suggests some of what may still be to come Itrsquos long but a worthwhile read
SA Players in the PRO14 Dream Team
By the time you read this the announcement will have been made as thatrsquos due to happen on Thursday 23 May and we had to put the newsletter out on Wednesday night to meet our weekly deadline
At the time of writing a number of SA players had been nominated for the PRO14 Dream Team 201819 If you want to know if any of them made it we suggest going to the PRO14 website
The way the process works is that a panel of over 75 media members are invited to take part in voting The group includes many former players and coaches alongside some of the most trusted and respected rugby writers from across the UK Ireland Italy and South Africa
After the voting had closed three nominees had been identified for every position and one of them will make the Dream Team You can find a full list of the nominees on the PRO14 website but the ones in whom yoursquore most likely interested are those with roots in SA
Loosehead Prop Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh)Hooker Rob Herring (Ulster)Tighthead Prop WP Nel (Edinburgh)Openside Flanker Braam Steyn (Benetton)No 8 Marcel Coetzee (Ulster) amp CJ Stander (Munster)Scrum-Half Dewaldt Duvenage (Benetton)Fly-half Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh)Left Wing Rabz Maxwane (Toyota Cheetahs)
Does Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Regular readers will know that this newsroom has long argued for fewer simpler laws precisely because the individuals chosen to referee most rugby matches appear so completely unsuited to the task While our stand on the matter is quite clear those of two respected rugby columnists are not or rather were not
Tank Lanning and Zeliacutem Nel faced off in ldquoThe Big Debaterdquo on the subject last week on AllOutRugbycom The results and suggestions may surprise you as they did us
And while we urge you to click through to read their thoughts in full ndash along with the readerrsquos comments that follow many of which are extremely interesting Whatrsquos most interesting about the piece is that it appeared BEFORE the Crusaders were robbed of a win by an incompetent TMO call at Newlands
More than one rugby analyst has taken to social media to express their dismay at that error One only has to look at Oom Rugbyrsquos useful video clip with a line parallel to the half-way line superimposed to see the truth of that
But this is not the first and it certainly will not be the last this Super Rugby season nor indeed at the World Cup given the bunch selected to officiate at that tournament
Which brings up an interesting point complaints about the referees are most often heard in the southern hemisphere rather than the north Although it must be said that French match officials are the most common exception ndash and there are FOUR of them travelling to the World Cup in Japan and a fifth who will run touch lines as an assistant referee
To make matters worse the idiot who ruled that pass forward on Saturday at Newlands is one of four TMOs appointed for RWC 2019 When we last mused about the subject we wondered why the consistently excellent Rasta Rasivhenge had not been selected But in retrospect perhaps hersquoll be thankful not to have his stellar reputation tainted by what is sure to happen in Japan later this year
Getting back to the subject of The Big Debate which triggered this thought process readers may wonder if World Rugby will take any notice History reveals that the answer to any such question is almost certainly not There appears to be a reality-immune bubble around World Rugby headquarters in Dublin Ireland
Page 7
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
Does Rugby Need More Refs or Fewer Laws
Regular readers will know that this newsroom has long argued for fewer simpler laws precisely because the individuals chosen to referee most rugby matches appear so completely unsuited to the task While our stand on the matter is quite clear those of two respected rugby columnists are not or rather were not
Tank Lanning and Zeliacutem Nel faced off in ldquoThe Big Debaterdquo on the subject last week on AllOutRugbycom The results and suggestions may surprise you as they did us
And while we urge you to click through to read their thoughts in full ndash along with the readerrsquos comments that follow many of which are extremely interesting Whatrsquos most interesting about the piece is that it appeared BEFORE the Crusaders were robbed of a win by an incompetent TMO call at Newlands
More than one rugby analyst has taken to social media to express their dismay at that error One only has to look at Oom Rugbyrsquos useful video clip with a line parallel to the half-way line superimposed to see the truth of that
But this is not the first and it certainly will not be the last this Super Rugby season nor indeed at the World Cup given the bunch selected to officiate at that tournament
Which brings up an interesting point complaints about the referees are most often heard in the southern hemisphere rather than the north Although it must be said that French match officials are the most common exception ndash and there are FOUR of them travelling to the World Cup in Japan and a fifth who will run touch lines as an assistant referee
To make matters worse the idiot who ruled that pass forward on Saturday at Newlands is one of four TMOs appointed for RWC 2019 When we last mused about the subject we wondered why the consistently excellent Rasta Rasivhenge had not been selected But in retrospect perhaps hersquoll be thankful not to have his stellar reputation tainted by what is sure to happen in Japan later this year
Getting back to the subject of The Big Debate which triggered this thought process readers may wonder if World Rugby will take any notice History reveals that the answer to any such question is almost certainly not There appears to be a reality-immune bubble around World Rugby headquarters in Dublin Ireland
Page 7
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8
For your weekend viewing pleasure
As we note on page four this weekend is the penultimate round of the World Rugby Sevens Series in London All the pool games are on Saturday during the day while the knockout rounds are on Sunday
There is also the usual Super Rugby (schedule alongside) fare with seven matches taking place ndash only the Hurricanes have a bye
Elsewhere there are only two matches in the English Premiership on Saturday but the full seven clashes in the French Top 14 all kicking off at 1615 on that day Later that night is also the PRO14 final in which Glasgow Warriors entertain Leinster (see page two) And on Sunday there are three US MLR matches
And back home therersquos a full house of SuperSport Rugby Challenge matches planned for the weekend ending another double-header on Sunday this time at Bosman Stadium in Brakpan Entrance is free so if yoursquore in Joburg the East Rand is calling you
Thanks for reading our newsletter We need feedback to improve it ndash and only you can give us that feedback Please take the time to send us an email We want to hear from you ndash good bad or ugly a pat on the back or a kick in the butt Remember to look us up on Twitter where youll find many of our contributors on our timeline
The Rugby Team at Leopard Newsletters
Page 8