Cricket Test rankings, cricket One day rankings, Rugby rankings, rugby 7s rankings.... YEP SOUTH AFRICA ARE NUMBER 1 IN ALL OF THEM!
Australia's 2-1 Ashes defeat, confirmed with a heavy 197-run loss at The Oval on Sunday, has cost them their No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.
They have slipped to fourth, with South Africa now the No. 1 Test team in the world, followed by Sri Lanka and India.
It is the first time the Australians have lost their grip on the top spot since 2003, when the ICC introduced its current ranking system.
The defeat has cost them eight points but despite the series result they remain ahead of their arch rivals England, who are in fifth place.
England gained six points but are still 11 behind Australia.
Despite all the hype around the Ashes, the result confirms that the two teams are only rated the fourth and fifth best sides in the world.
23 Aug 2009
South Africa
Sri Lanka
India
Australia
England
Pakistan
New Zealand
West Indies
Bangladesh
As for the rugby, .....
Two wins against the All Blacks and 1 against Oz has seen us strengthen our possie at the top of the world....
IRB World Rankings
24 August 2009
(1) RSA
(2) NZL
(3) AUS
(4) IRE
(5) FRA
(6) ARG
(7) ENG
(8) WAL
(9) FJI
(10) SCO
It can't last. But oh, it's good at the moment.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Criticism of SA rugga
This was another column that appeared on supersport.co.za:
It follows the criticism of SA rugga by, who else, the Aussie media (in particular).
It has been interesting to note the criticism that has been put to the Boks by so many - yet any of these countries would give anything for our current success.
After the Boks had thumped the Kiwis twice and then Australia, both sides came out saying what crap rugby we played, and how when they played each other, it would be a spectacle!
Guess what... it wasn't.
Thing is, so many fans mistake a great game for a tense game. South Africas two world cup triumphs were tense games, but forgetable if it wasn't for the fact that they were the biggest games in rugby.
There haven't been too many great games lately really, rugby is so tight these days. But you can't blame us for playing to the rules and dominating.
Anyway, here's the article... (by Gavin Rich)
There are many myths in rugby union, but one of the biggest of them all is that it was William Webb Ellis who invented the sport.
Imagine for a moment that Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it – and no-one tackled him. What would he have been had the rest of the players in the soccer match just shrugged their shoulders, called for a new ball and let him run away with the one he had stolen? He would have amounted to at best a nondescript reprobate who didn’t play to the laws, and at worst a ball thief.
The first player who tackled him was actually the person who invented rugby. It was that act that gave rise to a new sport, which has never been about just running with the ball, but finding a way to break down the defensive system of the team of tacklers.
The suggestion that Usain Bolt would be a dynamite wing reckons without the obvious caveat that he would have to run through tacklers, and not around them. It is becoming a rare thing for wings to just use their pace to go around opponents into space. Repeatedly spectators get excited because they see what looks like an overlap developing, only for the cover to be across to force the play back inside.
The recent Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney was interesting because both coaches had taken the opportunity beforehand to criticise the Springbok approach. Both All Black coach Graham Henry and his Wallaby counterpart Robbie Deans decried the dominance of the kicking game in modern test rugby.
I am not sure they really have such a big view on it, however, as when they were in South Africa recently they said it was fair play to the Boks if they could win by playing to their strengths.
What they were really doing was playing to the media outcry in Australasia over the Springbok ability to dominate opposing teams with a mixture of strong, physical forward play and excellent kicking.
It is quite clear the Australians and New Zealanders are going to struggle to beat the Boks now that they have gone back to playing to their core strengths, and their best hope is that John Smit’s team will self-destruct by bowing to the pressure. It isn’t any fun seeing your team getting shut out, and as we saw in 2008, opposition teams have a much better chance of winning when the Boks depart from the usual script.
In that sense, part of me says the Aussie and Kiwi bleating probably conforms to the same mentality that inspired a drive to put limits on short-pitched bowling when the West Indies, with their quartet of awe-inspiring quick bowlers, were in their pomp and dominating world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s.
But there is another angle to it, and we must accept that rugby in Australia faces different challenges to what it faces in South Africa. Here the most important thing is that the Springboks must win, but in Australia the sport is competing against other codes.
The Boks are not the first team this year to be attacked by the Australian media for “winning ugly”. It was a charge laid against the Waratahs by the Sydney media even at a stage when the Waratahs were leading the Super 14. It prompted an adjustment to the Waratahs approach that saw them fall out of championship contention.
The drive to sell the sport for its entertainment value explains the at times quite mystifying statements by the Aussie commentators during the Sydney match. They seemed to think the rugby was a step-up in terms of product, but I did not see it.
In Sydney, like in the South African games, the pressure applied by the attacking teams was translated into points not through tries, but through penalty kicks. There was only one try in the match, and if the game missed something, it was the physical edge brought by the Boks.
There were periods in the game where the All Blacks and Wallabies threw a lot of effort into ball in hand rugby, but where did it get them? We waited until the 65th minute for the only try, and a supposedly great attacking team like New Zealand only scored once in a game where they dominated both possession and territory to a quite ridiculous degree.
This tells us that defensive systems are dominating, a trend that started when league ideas that arguably have done nothing to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the sport, started to be imported into rugby union. And guess which country was in the forefront of turning rugby into a cross-pollination of union and league. Yep, it was Australia.
--
Well said methinks.
I know it's hard to say 'Well done SA' but sometimes theses okes should give it a try.
New Zealand have been the best side in the world for most of the last decade - and I was the first to admit that. But now, we actually have earned our number one status.
I'll drink to that.
It follows the criticism of SA rugga by, who else, the Aussie media (in particular).
It has been interesting to note the criticism that has been put to the Boks by so many - yet any of these countries would give anything for our current success.
After the Boks had thumped the Kiwis twice and then Australia, both sides came out saying what crap rugby we played, and how when they played each other, it would be a spectacle!
Guess what... it wasn't.
Thing is, so many fans mistake a great game for a tense game. South Africas two world cup triumphs were tense games, but forgetable if it wasn't for the fact that they were the biggest games in rugby.
There haven't been too many great games lately really, rugby is so tight these days. But you can't blame us for playing to the rules and dominating.
Anyway, here's the article... (by Gavin Rich)
There are many myths in rugby union, but one of the biggest of them all is that it was William Webb Ellis who invented the sport.
Imagine for a moment that Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it – and no-one tackled him. What would he have been had the rest of the players in the soccer match just shrugged their shoulders, called for a new ball and let him run away with the one he had stolen? He would have amounted to at best a nondescript reprobate who didn’t play to the laws, and at worst a ball thief.
The first player who tackled him was actually the person who invented rugby. It was that act that gave rise to a new sport, which has never been about just running with the ball, but finding a way to break down the defensive system of the team of tacklers.
The suggestion that Usain Bolt would be a dynamite wing reckons without the obvious caveat that he would have to run through tacklers, and not around them. It is becoming a rare thing for wings to just use their pace to go around opponents into space. Repeatedly spectators get excited because they see what looks like an overlap developing, only for the cover to be across to force the play back inside.
The recent Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney was interesting because both coaches had taken the opportunity beforehand to criticise the Springbok approach. Both All Black coach Graham Henry and his Wallaby counterpart Robbie Deans decried the dominance of the kicking game in modern test rugby.
I am not sure they really have such a big view on it, however, as when they were in South Africa recently they said it was fair play to the Boks if they could win by playing to their strengths.
What they were really doing was playing to the media outcry in Australasia over the Springbok ability to dominate opposing teams with a mixture of strong, physical forward play and excellent kicking.
It is quite clear the Australians and New Zealanders are going to struggle to beat the Boks now that they have gone back to playing to their core strengths, and their best hope is that John Smit’s team will self-destruct by bowing to the pressure. It isn’t any fun seeing your team getting shut out, and as we saw in 2008, opposition teams have a much better chance of winning when the Boks depart from the usual script.
In that sense, part of me says the Aussie and Kiwi bleating probably conforms to the same mentality that inspired a drive to put limits on short-pitched bowling when the West Indies, with their quartet of awe-inspiring quick bowlers, were in their pomp and dominating world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s.
But there is another angle to it, and we must accept that rugby in Australia faces different challenges to what it faces in South Africa. Here the most important thing is that the Springboks must win, but in Australia the sport is competing against other codes.
The Boks are not the first team this year to be attacked by the Australian media for “winning ugly”. It was a charge laid against the Waratahs by the Sydney media even at a stage when the Waratahs were leading the Super 14. It prompted an adjustment to the Waratahs approach that saw them fall out of championship contention.
The drive to sell the sport for its entertainment value explains the at times quite mystifying statements by the Aussie commentators during the Sydney match. They seemed to think the rugby was a step-up in terms of product, but I did not see it.
In Sydney, like in the South African games, the pressure applied by the attacking teams was translated into points not through tries, but through penalty kicks. There was only one try in the match, and if the game missed something, it was the physical edge brought by the Boks.
There were periods in the game where the All Blacks and Wallabies threw a lot of effort into ball in hand rugby, but where did it get them? We waited until the 65th minute for the only try, and a supposedly great attacking team like New Zealand only scored once in a game where they dominated both possession and territory to a quite ridiculous degree.
This tells us that defensive systems are dominating, a trend that started when league ideas that arguably have done nothing to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the sport, started to be imported into rugby union. And guess which country was in the forefront of turning rugby into a cross-pollination of union and league. Yep, it was Australia.
--
Well said methinks.
I know it's hard to say 'Well done SA' but sometimes theses okes should give it a try.
New Zealand have been the best side in the world for most of the last decade - and I was the first to admit that. But now, we actually have earned our number one status.
I'll drink to that.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Caster Semenya: She's a he- he, he's a she she...
The following article appeared in The Cape Argus....
It is to do with SA's latest champion athlete, and how she has been treated.
I can't understand how a part of the crowd at the world champs could boo her... what has she done? Been too good for a woman? Why was she guilty before being proved innocent?
The article
Caster Semenya might have become a global overnight sensation, but to South African athletics followers she has steadily been rising up the world rankings.
Rumours and snide comments about her gender have been doing the rounds for nearly a year, yet when she annihilated the opposition to become 800m world champion in Berlin it caught many off guard.
Athletics SA (ASA), the governing body of the sport in this country, have to take it on the chin for allowing the scandal to escalate. Gender tests might be complicated and take weeks to provide a definitive result based on DNA, but that’s exactly what they are – definitive.
Why ASA didn’t clear (or expose) the 18-year-old teenager before the IAAF World Championships is unforgiveable, given the way she has been publicly humiliated.
Three weeks ago, Semenya clocked a South African record 1min 56.72sec at the African Junior Championships in Mauritius.
That time alone made her the fastest woman over two laps this year, and by extension it made her the gold medal favourite on the biggest stage.
She should have been gender tested there and then, to silence the doubters who consider her features too “manly” to be that of a woman.
Instead, ASA arrived in Berlin and when confronted on the issue, the silence was deafening.
Initially, they allowed Semenya’s coach, Michael Seme, to face reporters: “I can give you the telephone numbers of her room-mates in Berlin. They have already seen her naked in the showers and she has nothing to hide,” he said.
That in itself shows Seme has little understanding of what a gender test involves, though he is an athletics coach, not a doctor. The blame must be squarely laid at the door of ASA, in not going to the World Championships prepared for the obvious storm that was about to break.
However, given that the body who allowed the fastest man in the country, Simon Magakwe, to arrive at the Nationals in Stellenbosch earlier this year with his borrowed kit in a Shoprite Checkers (Tescos) bag, perhaps we shouldn’t expect too much from them.
Even if gender tests prove that Semenya is eligible to compete in women’s races, there will be mental scarring.
There will also be a stigma, and because of the manner in which her gender wasn’t proved before the World Championships, there will be the cynics and critics.
The lesser charge levelled at ASA would be one of naivety.
After all, Semenya races in the colours of the University of Pretoria and attends the High Performance Centre.
As one high-ranking official told me during the week: “I would be very surprised if she is not a woman, and I would be disappointed and angry if the University hadn’t been completely satisfied that she’s eligible to race as a woman.”
All of which took some of the gloss off Semenya’s crowning glory, victory in the 800m final in a commanding 1:55.45.
The performance itself was staggering and it must be remembered it came in the third of her races at the World Championships, and twice she went under two minutes – and she won all her races.
But given all the rumours and grapevine gossip, it was obvious that the majority of people in the Berlin stadium felt that she was cheating the system. On her victory lap Semenya was booed by a section of the crowd, but the biggest injustice of the night was by the British TV commentators (and camera crew) providing the international feed.
As Semenya crossed the line with daylight to spare, the Brits were besides themselves. “(Jennifer) Meadows is going to be third, she’s going to win the bronze!” they screamed.
“As they get to the line it’s .... YESSSS ... Meadows has won bronze. What a fantastic performance by the British athlete.”
Whatever they might have thought about Semenya’s eligibility, the professional part in them should have been to applaud the South African. But they virtually ignored her performance, as if she wasn’t in the race.
Well, perhaps she wasn’t, for the teenager was in a race, and a class, all of her own.
It is to do with SA's latest champion athlete, and how she has been treated.
I can't understand how a part of the crowd at the world champs could boo her... what has she done? Been too good for a woman? Why was she guilty before being proved innocent?
The article
Caster Semenya might have become a global overnight sensation, but to South African athletics followers she has steadily been rising up the world rankings.
Rumours and snide comments about her gender have been doing the rounds for nearly a year, yet when she annihilated the opposition to become 800m world champion in Berlin it caught many off guard.
Athletics SA (ASA), the governing body of the sport in this country, have to take it on the chin for allowing the scandal to escalate. Gender tests might be complicated and take weeks to provide a definitive result based on DNA, but that’s exactly what they are – definitive.
Why ASA didn’t clear (or expose) the 18-year-old teenager before the IAAF World Championships is unforgiveable, given the way she has been publicly humiliated.
Three weeks ago, Semenya clocked a South African record 1min 56.72sec at the African Junior Championships in Mauritius.
That time alone made her the fastest woman over two laps this year, and by extension it made her the gold medal favourite on the biggest stage.
She should have been gender tested there and then, to silence the doubters who consider her features too “manly” to be that of a woman.
Instead, ASA arrived in Berlin and when confronted on the issue, the silence was deafening.
Initially, they allowed Semenya’s coach, Michael Seme, to face reporters: “I can give you the telephone numbers of her room-mates in Berlin. They have already seen her naked in the showers and she has nothing to hide,” he said.
That in itself shows Seme has little understanding of what a gender test involves, though he is an athletics coach, not a doctor. The blame must be squarely laid at the door of ASA, in not going to the World Championships prepared for the obvious storm that was about to break.
However, given that the body who allowed the fastest man in the country, Simon Magakwe, to arrive at the Nationals in Stellenbosch earlier this year with his borrowed kit in a Shoprite Checkers (Tescos) bag, perhaps we shouldn’t expect too much from them.
Even if gender tests prove that Semenya is eligible to compete in women’s races, there will be mental scarring.
There will also be a stigma, and because of the manner in which her gender wasn’t proved before the World Championships, there will be the cynics and critics.
The lesser charge levelled at ASA would be one of naivety.
After all, Semenya races in the colours of the University of Pretoria and attends the High Performance Centre.
As one high-ranking official told me during the week: “I would be very surprised if she is not a woman, and I would be disappointed and angry if the University hadn’t been completely satisfied that she’s eligible to race as a woman.”
All of which took some of the gloss off Semenya’s crowning glory, victory in the 800m final in a commanding 1:55.45.
The performance itself was staggering and it must be remembered it came in the third of her races at the World Championships, and twice she went under two minutes – and she won all her races.
But given all the rumours and grapevine gossip, it was obvious that the majority of people in the Berlin stadium felt that she was cheating the system. On her victory lap Semenya was booed by a section of the crowd, but the biggest injustice of the night was by the British TV commentators (and camera crew) providing the international feed.
As Semenya crossed the line with daylight to spare, the Brits were besides themselves. “(Jennifer) Meadows is going to be third, she’s going to win the bronze!” they screamed.
“As they get to the line it’s .... YESSSS ... Meadows has won bronze. What a fantastic performance by the British athlete.”
Whatever they might have thought about Semenya’s eligibility, the professional part in them should have been to applaud the South African. But they virtually ignored her performance, as if she wasn’t in the race.
Well, perhaps she wasn’t, for the teenager was in a race, and a class, all of her own.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Clijsters making a comeback
Nice girls don't have to finish last, and now they don't have to stay out of the game...
Kim Clijsters is back! Woohoo.
For those of you that don't know, Clijsters is the missing link... No, not THAT missing link, I'm talking about the link between godsend Amanda Coetzer and current top of the gorgeous charts Caroline Wozniacki.
But Clijsters was not only gorgeous, she was sweet, which is an unheard-of-attribute of the women's tennis tour!
Personally, I think the reason she didn't ever reach her full potential was because she was too nice. Sportsmen (and women) have to be ruthless and have to believe they are the best. It means the top ones are often pains in the ass.
I love this Belgian girl. She left the tour after getting married and maybe had a kid, I don't know.
But now she's back - and in her first tournament back, beat two seeded players in her first two matches - Marion Bartoli and Patty Schnyder.
Go Kimmy. Win the US Open (again).
A double baptism
Oh dear, here comes one of those blog posts with a million photos.
My sister Janet and her husband Louis and Cath and I had a double baptism.
Dominique has waited around quite a few months for Emma to be ready but finally the day arrived and the two young ladies, Dominique dressed casually, Emma in a glorious christening dress, took their turn under the water.
Emma waits patiently. A rare photo of her NOT crying.
Emma actually cried from about the beginning to the end. It was all looking so good when we walked in, but then I passed her to Cath... and boy did she scream.
Diminique goes under the H2O.
The thing is, normally I would feel a bit kak having my child cry like that. But we were there, after all, for HER. So if she wanted to cry, let her cry.
Although, having said that, I did have to worry a bit. I've been telling people that she becomes Satan at 5pm each day (won't sleep, cries her ass off) and then we get her into a church and she starts going wild. Did she fear an exorcism?
Cath readies Emma.
And Emma takes the plunge, so to speak.
Cath and I were Dominiques godparents, and Emma, Janet and Louis were Emma jnr's.
Ag sweet man.
Lining up while Fr Charles prattles on, and on, and on. Honestly. There was food to be eaten.
Fr Charles was awesome actually. His mom died last week and there he was, doing our baptism. And doing it really nicely.
Us with our baptism candle (thanks Jan).
We had the after-baptism rave in the hall next to the church. Janet had made us make like, four loaves worth of saamies, of which we had about two and a bit left over. There was so much food!
A few photies outside:
Aunty Emma holds her godchild.
The ladies... all the ladies...
That's my girl(s).
Family portrait number 1 (of many, please God).
My sister Janet and her husband Louis and Cath and I had a double baptism.
Dominique has waited around quite a few months for Emma to be ready but finally the day arrived and the two young ladies, Dominique dressed casually, Emma in a glorious christening dress, took their turn under the water.
Emma waits patiently. A rare photo of her NOT crying.
Emma actually cried from about the beginning to the end. It was all looking so good when we walked in, but then I passed her to Cath... and boy did she scream.
Diminique goes under the H2O.
The thing is, normally I would feel a bit kak having my child cry like that. But we were there, after all, for HER. So if she wanted to cry, let her cry.
Although, having said that, I did have to worry a bit. I've been telling people that she becomes Satan at 5pm each day (won't sleep, cries her ass off) and then we get her into a church and she starts going wild. Did she fear an exorcism?
Cath readies Emma.
And Emma takes the plunge, so to speak.
Cath and I were Dominiques godparents, and Emma, Janet and Louis were Emma jnr's.
Ag sweet man.
Fr Charles was awesome actually. His mom died last week and there he was, doing our baptism. And doing it really nicely.
Us with our baptism candle (thanks Jan).
We had the after-baptism rave in the hall next to the church. Janet had made us make like, four loaves worth of saamies, of which we had about two and a bit left over. There was so much food!
A few photies outside:
Aunty Emma holds her godchild.
The ladies... all the ladies...
That's my girl(s).
Family portrait number 1 (of many, please God).
Kate and Cath
Our ante-natal class saw us make friends with cool 'ol Kate, and not too long after our babies were born, we caught up for a cuppa at her place.
This is Cath and Kate and Emma and Daniel.
Both moms no-doubt struggling with all that goes with having a newborn 100% dependent on you, but doing bloody well if I say so myself.
This is Cath and Kate and Emma and Daniel.
Both moms no-doubt struggling with all that goes with having a newborn 100% dependent on you, but doing bloody well if I say so myself.
Meet the Kaffers - and Jean heads to Munster
Oh boy.
The word that we dare not say, not now, not ever.
Then a newspaper comes out and runs this headline...
This paper is not quite the SA version of England's 'The Sun' - but it gives it a good try. Sometimes I think they just want to have a laugh (see earlier post - Moffie bergie robs strip club kaal).
You have to laugh. Race is a sensitive issue in SA still, understandably. But this type of story shows that we're getting there... we're learning to laugh at ourselves.
Less funny though is the front page (nogal) story that another South African has been poached by the bloody northern hemisphere - and again, it's Munster.
Clearly this paper thought it important enough to make the front page. There are a host of Saffas plying their trade in Europe - most in the UK but quite a few in France and Ireland too. Money talks and the rand can't compete with the euro and the pound.
Inevitably these okes head over, say some nice things about the standard of the game there (like anyone's gonna say "No the game here is crap, they're all a bunch of sissies" and cash their cheques before returning to SA to live in mansions.
But very few european players head here. Too tough?
The word that we dare not say, not now, not ever.
Then a newspaper comes out and runs this headline...
This paper is not quite the SA version of England's 'The Sun' - but it gives it a good try. Sometimes I think they just want to have a laugh (see earlier post - Moffie bergie robs strip club kaal).
You have to laugh. Race is a sensitive issue in SA still, understandably. But this type of story shows that we're getting there... we're learning to laugh at ourselves.
Less funny though is the front page (nogal) story that another South African has been poached by the bloody northern hemisphere - and again, it's Munster.
Clearly this paper thought it important enough to make the front page. There are a host of Saffas plying their trade in Europe - most in the UK but quite a few in France and Ireland too. Money talks and the rand can't compete with the euro and the pound.
Inevitably these okes head over, say some nice things about the standard of the game there (like anyone's gonna say "No the game here is crap, they're all a bunch of sissies" and cash their cheques before returning to SA to live in mansions.
But very few european players head here. Too tough?
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Nala Heany
What the...
Yes, we have a dog.
We adopted her actually, from the Heanys.
She's still a Heany because she didn't actually marry into our family, otherwise she would have become Nala Valkenburg of course.
She seems quite happy with us but when we move up to the Heany household, she'll be reunited with her brother and sister.
Yes, we have a dog.
We adopted her actually, from the Heanys.
She's still a Heany because she didn't actually marry into our family, otherwise she would have become Nala Valkenburg of course.
She seems quite happy with us but when we move up to the Heany household, she'll be reunited with her brother and sister.