The image that defined rugby in 2022

There were many memorable visuals in 2022…but the one I’d settle for occurred in the English test. The commentators were talking up Mostert and he ended up as the MOM, so the cameras swung onto him. Mostert was bleeding freely from a cut under the left eye. Kolisi spotted the cut and without asking wiped the blood off vigorously with his wrist band, which undoubtedly was pretty grimy by then.

Mostert never even flinched, just part of the game. Rugby remains a pretty basic activity, what with the blood, the snot, the sweat and the spit. But I have to admit the germaphobe in me flinched as Kolisi went to work.

Hahahaha….strike!

No, women's brach volleyball is, but it's not about beauty...

Three decades of Springbok rugby on Kyknet started 19 Dec is a good production. Shows 30 selected Boks.

Their career beginnings is especially interesting.Had Pieter sStef, Beast, Rolls Royce Joubert on lastnight. 

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Steph? What was there to show? 

"Steph? What was there to show? "

It's not funny, seems you suffer from crayfish syndrome...

Bob, that's a good vid...Mostert punches way above his weight and gives everything on the field...reminds me of Scalla...and is also prone to the odd brainfart...like Schulk...great player, we should be glad to have him...we are really lucky to have a number of exceptional test players...our whole front row + their bench replacements, Eben, DdA, Am and Kolbe.

"Steph? What was there to show" 

He was part of our 2012 Junior Bok winners. Him, Pollard and Kitsoff. Only Boks I noticed who have won junior and senior cups. 

They showed a few of his good runs,not slow at all. His smart link play has flattened many teams. 

Anomalies. 

The incredible ongoing delusion of Dud Toit. Other than frightening poor George Ford I can think of nothing this man has done other than the occasional pick and go. On the negative side I cite incidents like the Adams try in the semis, where he left his side of the scrum unmarked, numerous lineout botches, toothless runs, zero turnovers, crazy positioning on the wing, a red card in our biggest game this year, frequent injury absences…on and on. 

He looks like the classical Afrikaner prototype, I get that. Perhaps his image should be in the Voortrekker Monument. It should be nowhere near the Bok team.

Now I’m getting tired of schooling you chaps. Read this post and repeat it to yourself whenever you get the urge to Dud, Dud, Dud.

Anomaly, Voortrekker Monument, toothless, injury absences .... what a joke. 

Psdt has had serious injuries

Three ops on a leg that could have been amputated, huge shoulder injury in 21'.Must we get the X-rays to convince you. 

Of course he was seriously injured. The point is he is very injury prone….has been his whole career. So it’s hard to build a team around him, even if you are deluded enough to try to do that. Mostert by contrast could be run over by one of Putin’s tanks and he would be ready for the next game.

But convince me, tell me one single act Dud has pulled since the WC which was even vaguely important in winning a test.

Great players have great moments. I can cite dozens of references of such moments for Morné, Frans, Fourie, Bakkies, Smit et al. The likes of Damian and Steph... maybe a couple of incidents. There's a reason why Damian and Steph rank so very low for any statistical measure. Steph is statistically the worst South African defender in all the time that stats have been collected. His carries rank bottom of any list of players from any country. No great presence in the lineout, the breakdown. These fad junky favourites aren't good at anything. 

"He looks like the classical Afrikaner prototype, I get that. Perhaps his image should be in the Voortrekker Monument. It should be nowhere near the Bok team.

Now I’m getting tired of schooling you chaps. Read this post and repeat it to yourself whenever you get the urge to Dud, Dud, Dud."

You just don't get it...you're almost there, you get it with Eben, but you totally miss the boat on some of the other stuff...you call it laer mentality, it's not, it's just our fighting spirit...never say die...Rassie gets it and exploited it...he lit the spirit, shared it with the rest of the team...gave us grit...you don't see it because you don't want to accept that it's there because of your dislike of the man. 

Mostert would be my second forward choice after Eben for any Springbok team selection.

Not only is he durable but he is Springbok through and through both on and off the field..

He lays it all on the line as a lock or flank game after game,

I am more concerned about the 60 minute player on the other flank when it comes to durability and laying everything on the line each and every game.

But we the "Touchline Springboks" also know as "TV Springboks" are a difficult mob to please irrespective of team or players.

Bokke.

"Mostert would be my second forward choice after Eben for any Springbok team selection."

I wasn't his biggest fan, but he won me over...we need consistency in selection and Lood and RG can't stay fit...100% Mostert ahead of Orie or Moerat...I  like Moerat, but Franco should start ahead of him.

Perhaps I don’t get it Draad…..you chaps are so in love with suffering. History’s original victims….better to be smart and win. That’s what I like about Eben. You won’t see him bawling on the sidelines because he took a swan dive into a player’s head and broke his cheekbone. He thinks he is the best and takes a step back for no man.

As for Harrassmiss, he may be able to motivate the tribe, you guys have always been suckers for the Afrikaner intellectuals, the dominees and slim Jannie types.  Dis ‘n slim man, how often did I hear that about some mediocre sociology professor type.

Personally I think it’s this very attitude that holds you back, that drives you inwards….that produced a bound to fail solution like apartheid.

Actually you chaps are a bit like the Germans, dominant or dominated…at the throat or at the feet. I don’t know how many Afrikaner intellectuals told me how great things were going to be after the change. You couldn’t reason with them, they knew.

Like most South Africans I have Afrikaner in the gene pool…makes one more athletic, but you have to watch the victim tendencies.

Your image ain't showing on my side.

Sorry, can’t get the image to post.

It happens...

"As for Harrassmiss, he may be able to motivate the tribe, you guys have always been suckers for the Afrikaner intellectuals, the dominees and slim Jannie types.  Dis ‘n slim man, how often did I hear that about some mediocre sociology professor type."

It's not only about motivation...it's about understanding adversity...nothing to do with victimhood...it's about fighting on against all odds...never giving up, no matter who's telling us how futile the fight is. It's not holding us back, it's keeping us where we're supposed to be, not only surviving but coming out on top, more often than the odds would suggest we should....ons koppigheid made us who we are...irritates the hell out of my wife but it also gives good returns...

Rugby is the beautiful game, 

I cannot understand why soccer is the most popular sport,  it's bloody boring compared to rugby, league and dare I say it NFL.

I know it's just my opinion but fuck me soccer is like watching tiddlywinks played by a bunch of effeminate men.

How they let all the Hollywood's and  the abuse of the refs be part of their game is beyond me

"How they let all the Hollywood's and  the abuse of the refs be part of their game is beyond me"

There's no abuse of refs, that's  hirse sh!t, but they aren't above criticism and should be held accountable just as any other professional profession...this notion that rugby refs should be beyond critique is total BS.

Nothing in sports like a fast wing trying to beat the cover. Although I will admit walking through the gates at the London Olympics and seeing the flame was pretty cool.

Eben running through Bismarck was awesome too!

There is plenty of abuse to the ref in soccer, just watch every penalty given, you get 5 or 6 screaming banshees surrounding the ref and he wipes his pussie while he takes it.

Bloody appalling, time to question refs is after the match. Just hope this BS never slips into a rugby game.

I think you will find yourself in the minority that thinks thi s type of behavior on a sports field is Ok

No. I agree with you, players should not be allowed to question refereeing decisions during the game....any sort of misbehavior towards the ref should be harshly delt with during and after the match...I"m just saying that referees should be subjeced to performance review like any other profession....and should be open to critique if needed....over protection of reffs is daft...we all need pressure to perform better.

Glad Ole Mozie has someone he compares du Toit to,however wasn't it Bakkies who said that Eben is off injured too much. 

I would state categorically that Eben has been off more often than Stef for minor injuries. 

Eben is more available than Steph. He also applies himself in games. Why should a player who missed 60% of his tackles and who imposes very small carries be injured so often? Eben ploughs into defenders and drags then around, he is involved in very physical confrontations. The two cannot be compared. A bull and a gnat have nothing in common. 

But I regret that he only shows his best face(Eben) with the Springboks. In Toulon, he is still a little injured, concussed and in the end, never plays-(-(Bakkies tweet. 

The same for the Stormers... Can't remember how many times he didn't pitch. Sharks are gonna have the same problem.

Amongst other injuries in 2021 it was his calf. He 2022 his finger.2020 concussion as Bakkies mentioned. 2018.. 8 months off shoulder.... must I carry on

Sad to see Bakkies succumb to the green monster...

Bakkies has been very supportive of the years. I highly doubt he is envious. Besides, as good as Eben is, Bakkies is the premier enforcer of South African rugby. Behind him? Danie Rossouw. 

Mostert eats nails for breakfast, lunch and dinner.....ever ready for the task @ hand....Pieter,s favourite song is " Cry me a River " from Julie Londen