Tony McKeever

http://www.pmg.org.za/node/12721SA Rugby Super 14 franchise participation agreement: six franchises Last week Tuesday, SA Rugby’s president was caught on tape, flanked by his SA Rugby chairman, Mpumelelo Tshume, telling pork pies. Not one eeny-teeny porkie for which you might be inclined to say, “Oops, sorry,” but three whoppers and a most hurtful and disparaging remark on […]

South Africa is really quite a virile rugby playing nation. We have spread our rugby spawn everywhere, well, certainly in those places that count in rugby. More importantly, it shows how superior South Africa’s strategy of “naaiamama” is to that of the New Zealand’s “whakapapa”. At Newlands, we have Peter de Villiers’ Springbok team playing […]

In doing some research on New Zealand rugby, in advance of the Springboks playing the All Blacks on 5 July, I discovered that the New Zealand Maori rugby union team actually came about primarily as a result of those New Zealanders of Maori descent who could not tour South Africa because of the colour bar. […]

SA Rugby Super 14 Franchise Participation Agreement 1 January 2006 – 31 May 2010What a day it has been today. A real eye opener on the professionalism of the Danny Jordaan LOC FIFA unit, compared to the amateur hour of SA Rugby’s Mickey Mouse unit headed up by Hoskins. All of this took place in […]

The Italy rugby squad arrived in Cape Town this morning for their one-off Test against South Africa at Newlands on Saturday. The 24-man playing squad has been selected with a view to the future, so says head coach Nick Mallett some weeks ago. Mallett, a former Ikey, Western Province, Springbok and Springbok coach, has included […]

Being at Loftus on Saturday afternoon, one realised that the Springbok Team and Peter de Villiers’ management are being turned into some gaudy Vaudeville act, and it will lead to the demise of the performance of the Springboks. The emphasis on creating hype and a corny ‘big game build up’ is amateurishly reduced to loud […]

The latest Super 14 proposal to hit administrators suggests the Blues be split into two franchises, as well as changes made to the Chiefs’ partners. The New Zealand Herald reports that there is a push to have six New Zealand sides involved in the series, perhaps as early as next year but more likely 2010, […]

Warren Gatland told the BBC last week that “we had an inferiority complex against the southern-hemisphere sides”, adding: “We spoke about it and thought we’d addressed it but were proved wrong.” Wales last beat the Springboks back in 1999 at the Millennium Stadium, but they have never beaten the Boks in South Africa or anywhere […]

14 June: Wales – 21 June: Italy – 5 July: All Blacks – 12 July: All Blacks – 19 July: Australia We all know that the real adversary to the Springboks, are the All Blacks. Games in between serve as preparation for the clash of the two titans of international rugby. Peter de Villiers will […]

The line-up for Saturday’s global rugby fixtures are: New Zealand vs England, Australia vs Ireland, and on home turf in Pretoria — at 5 000 feet — it’s South Africa vs Wales. Appetisers of two portions of Wales and one of Italy, before the main course in the home of the All Blacks on the 5th […]

Warren Gatland has demanded that Wales make a swift recovery from their opening Test “humiliation” by restoring their damaged pride. Gatland and his coaching lieutenants on Sunday began the task of restoring the morale shattered by South Africa’s crushing 43-17 victory at Vodacom Park. The quiet confidence that emanated from the Welsh camp in the […]

Almost three years ago to the day, on June 8 2005, SA Rugby’s presidents’ council put in motion a unanimous council resolution — a transformation charter of sorts that was a groundbreaking plan to fast-track transformation and representativeness in rugby in South Africa. It has been declared that the game of rugby is in peril […]