Bring on the Poms!

So we’re in the final. Who would have guessed that we would be facing England there, for the second time in the World Cup? The Bokke played well on Sunday. The forwards were fierce, led by great performances by Juan Smith, Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha. Os once again played out of his boots, even pulling off a steal or two; way to go, big man!

The only concern was up front, where CJ van der Linde got a solid working over by Argentina’s loosehead. We are going to have to work on this before the England clash, because Sheridan is a monster at loosehead for England; we have already seen what he did to the Aussies and the French.

The other concern I have at the moment is Francois Steyn. Don’t get me wrong, Steyn is a gifted young rugby player and he can turn a game. Unfortunately his enthusiasm and ability sometime get him into kak when he tries something at the wrong time. He will learn to pick his times better, I just hope that he doesn’t cost us in the final. Against Fiji he consistently went against the game plan and allowed them back into the game, and then again versus Argentina he tried to run from our 22. This is not Super 14, china; this is World Cup rugby.

Another thing I would like to get off of my chest is hearty congratulations to Eddie Jones. Eddie, I was never your greatest fan; I thought you were a whingeing Aussie, but you have proven in the little time that you have been with the Boks that you know a thing or two about rugby and you can get a back line running great lines. Glad to have you on board; wish your stay could be longer. Oh, and will someone please give this man a Springbok blazer?

There were two other semifinals played this week, although it seems like hardly anyone noticed. The Cheetahs beat a depleted Bulls side, which was to be expected, but the Sharks losing to the Lions was a travesty. The Lions are a pack of scavenging mongrels who can scrap with the best of them, but when it comes to great rugby, the Sharks are the better side by a mile.

I really thought the Sharks would do it this year, even with all those Springboks missing. Alas, they bottled it at the second-to-last hurdle and that’s life. Let’s hope that some of these junior players at the Sharks make the step up to become valuable Super 14 squad members next year.

Oh, and finally will someone please take out Steve Walsh? The man is a menace to society and a crap referee to boot. Once again he showed why we dislike him so much. Just watch the Argentinians at the rucks and see how much he let them get away with. That’s all I have to say.