Guy says that you could make a bunch of Springbok teams that could be competitive at test level.
Eggchasers and Dave will get along just fine.
Guy says that you could make a bunch of Springbok teams that could be competitive at test level.
Eggchasers and Dave will get along just fine.
Perversely leaving Super Rugby may have helped us. We now know the NH players better. Our props have scrummed against their props.
And it would seem the NZ club teams not playing against top class opposition is degrading their forward play more than SA teams not playing against NZ backs. Perhaps because so many big Island backs are playing up north these days.
We are invested in two laboratories, in terms of team play….every other nation is stuck in one.
Is that right - LOL
Who is the Egg Chasers? And if we are really learning from two Laboratories, why is our game still very much stuck in Stampkar Mode?
Yes that’s right Red or Black.
"Who is the EggChasers?"
14,165 posts
I see EggChasers is in SA for the Rugby.
He was up the road from me yesterday covering some Craven Week.
Guy says that you could make a bunch of Springbok teams that could be competitive at test level.
He echoed what I said here before, our school system is the reason our rugby is at the top. Apparently, Craven Week is crawling with agents from all over. Good stuff. As long as there is incentive, the schools will keep churning out players, and as long as that happens our franchise and national sides will remain near the top.
As much as some of you miss SR, the benefits of being in the URC are really massive. Euro media attention, and simply just being involved there, has so many run-off positives...it's as though everywhere I look there is another benefit.
Let's look at a guy like D Willemse. A Bok and the best player at the Stormers. During SR years, he'd have been popular in NZ and SA. Now, top SA players, representing SA franchises, have a much larger profile...meaning more money..meaning more incentive...meaning more interest....meaning more kids wanting to play...meaning more dominance for SA Rugby.
The English Premier League has long held sway in SA. It's followed by more people here than rugby is. And while we were playing against the Kiwis in SR, rugby was somehow less respected by the masses in SA. Now that we're competing in Europe, it feels as though people understand that our sides compete and dominate at the highest level. If the stats relating to the URC are to be believed, then both in Europe and SA, viewership is growing and breaking records year on year. Sure, not everyone is suddenly watching rugby, but it does feel as though a lot of sports fans are saying to themselves "I support Arsenal, yet I've never been there and know nothing about the place. I see (enter SA rugby franchise here) are playing against a European team this afternoon, maybe I should tune in and see if we win."
I'm not arguing that URC rugby is superior to what SR was. It's just that the Premier League football, and Euros command respect in SA, and now that we're in Europe, even though it's a totally different sport...some of that credibility seems to be spilling over into brains that it never would have during the SR years. I understand that it's a tenuous link...but you know me, nothing if not tenuous. This is just the feeling I get lately and would like to know if anyone else sees something similar happening or i f they totally disagree.
To me, winning the WC is great, but watching the above fall into place is way sweeter.
With Razor as AB coach and the Boks on the up and up, I feel like the next 8 years are gonna be riddled with epic matches between the two.
Pretty much good times all around.