Springbokke next 4 years to 2027

[Bloutoria]

The scenes at OR Tambo are just incredible.

That's no lie. Rassie crying his heart out... Can't believe I hated the kant so much in that 2005 CC final. Now the whole world, especially Billy Beau' feels like I did that day. And I like it.

https://www.facebook.com/MrRugbySA/vide ... 451895184/

[Sards]

Vok I have had mixed emotions with Rassie. He got me at that breakfast with his vision. Then came the " boring rugby ". Then I couldn't stand him. Then I got glimpses of some really exciting rugby, which I put down to Nienaber because it was completely different to what Rassie was dishing out. And I got excited. Then came the RWC.....and Twickenham.

Seeing the Rassie boks show so much heart and passion and determination. That was noble and we own the RWC.

He is a genius

[OomStruisbaai]

Now that the dust settled over the WC its time for an update.

Lets start where it ended. The current squad and reserves with ages

Thirty and Older
Duane Vermeulen (37), Deon Fourie (37), Trevor Nyakane (34), Willie le Roux (34), Vincent Koch (33), Makazole Mapimpi (33), Cobus Reinach (33), Siya Kolisi (32), Bongi Mbonambi (32), Eben Etsebeth (32), Franco Mostert (32), Frans Malherbe (32), Faf de Klerk (32), Steven Kitshoff (31), PSdT (31), DDA (31) Jean Kleyn (30), Marvin Orie (30), Cheslin Kolbe (30), Kwagga Smith (30)

Younger then 30
Malcom Marx (29), Handre Pollard (29), Jesse Kriel (29), Lukhano Am (29), Andre Esterhuizen (29), Ox Nche (28), RG Snyman (28), Thomas du Toit (28), Joseph Dweba (28), Marco van Staden (28), Jasper Wiese (28), JL du Preez (28), KLA (27), Grant Williams (27), Herschel Jantjies (27), Manie Libbok (26), Gerhard Steenkamp (26) Damian Willemse (25), Evan Roos (23), Jaden Hendricks (23), Canan Moodie (21)

[bok_viking]

Now that the dust settled over the WC its time for an update.

Lets start where it ended. The current squad and reserves with ages

Thirty and Older
Duane Vermeulen (37), Deon Fourie (37), Trevor Nyakane (34), Willie le Roux (34), Vincent Koch (33), Makazole Mapimpi (33), Cobus Reinach (33), Siya Kolisi (32), Bongi Mbonambi (32), Eben Etsebeth (32), Franco Mostert (32), Frans Malherbe (32), Faf de Klerk (32), Steven Kitshoff (31), PSdT (31), DDA (31) Jean Kleyn (30), Marvin Orie (30), Cheslin Kolbe (30), Kwagga Smith (30)

Younger then 30
Malcom Marx (29), Handre Pollard (29), Jesse Kriel (29), Lukhano Am (29), Andre Esterhuizen (29), Ox Nche (28), RG Snyman (28), Thomas du Toit (28), Joseph Dweba (28), Marco van Staden (28), Jasper Wiese (28), JL du Preez (28), KLA (27), Grant Williams (27), Herschel Jantjies (27), Manie Libbok (26), Gerhard Steenkamp (26) Damian Willemse (25), Evan Roos (23), Jaden Hendricks (23), Canan Moodie (21)

I can imagine that half this squad will not be at the next WC. Even though players can play until their late 30's, not many players do it consistently at the top. So I think many of the 32+ crowd might not be there. We definitely need to give a lot of the younger players more play time in the next 4 years as well as see a few new faces come in. Guys like Evan Roos and Elrich Louw need to pull up their socks, Roos especially looks like a shadow of his break out season.

[OomStruisbaai]

I can imagine that half this squad will not be at the next WC. Even though players can play until their late 30's, not many players do it consistently at the top. So I think many of the 32+ crowd might not be there. We definitely need to give a lot of the younger players more play time in the next 4 years as well as see a few new faces come in. Guys like Evan Roos and Elrich Louw need to pull up their socks, Roos especially looks like a shadow of his break out season.

It depend on the positon. Your tight 5 is like red wine. The older the better. Vermeulen and Fourie looked in pretty good form and shape as 37 year olds.

[OomStruisbaai]

Playing in Japan is good for test rugby. Season Dec-May.

[assfly]

What's really exciting is that I don't think we have even seen the benefits from our 2019 win yet. To think of how many kids must have been inspired to start playing rugby then, and now again in 2023. In 5-10 years we'll see even more talent coming through.

[average joe]

What's really exciting is that I don't think we have even seen the benefits from our 2019 win yet. To think of how many kids must have been inspired to start playing rugby then, and now again in 2023. In 5-10 years we'll see even more talent coming through.

2019 didn't have enough exposure. This one was big, people that never had the privilege to see the Boks play witnessed them winning a World Cup for the first time. The SABC deal is going to create a whole new following. The black guys I work with who never really showed an interest was abuzz with Bok fever every Monday, even the ladies were joining in the discussions and asking questions. I hope that the broadcasters learn from this and continue to air some games on free to view or at least cheaper rates. Surely, they can make a deal with the Curry Cup. Provincial allegiance could just be the muti that binds these potential new supporters.

[OomStruisbaai]

Rassie didn't join the victory tour. Planning the road ahead without Nienber.

[OomStruisbaai]

Rassie mentioned Curwin Bosch have me all excited for the future.

Losing Felix Jones and Nienaber will be big losses.

[assfly]

That celebration tour seemed to go on for a couple of days longer than it should have.

Awful to see the politicians trying to get their free PR with it.

Anyway, let's give the lads their rest. I don't think we'll hear anything from the Bok camp until the new year.

[LoveOfTheGame]

That celebration tour seemed to go on for a couple of days longer than it should have.

Awful to see the politicians trying to get their free PR with it.

Anyway, let's give the lads their rest. I don't think we'll hear anything from the Bok camp until the new year.

I have no doubt the politicians would have annoyed the Boks and management to no end, they sure irritated the crap out of me. I agree with your post. Let them now have their rest, I can only imagine how exhausted they must all be.

[OomStruisbaai]

Malema still want to ban the apartheid symbol Springbok.

https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/spr ... 1ff416f8af

[Chilli]

Rassie mentioned Curwin Bosch have me all excited for the future.

Rassie out!

[troglodiet]

Malema still want to ban the apartheid symbol Springbok.

https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/spr ... 1ff416f8af

Not too long ago.....

https://twitter.com/EFFSouthAfrica/stat ... 2844403040


I think this time he might actually lose support over his anti-Bok rhetoric, even more so because of this about-turn within a week.

Sorry Julius. Not this time.

[assfly]

That speech by Malema is a PR disaster, even by the EFF's low standards.

[_Os_]

That speech by Malema is a PR disaster, even by the EFF's low standards.

Not that he cares but it's historic nonsense too.

Emblem

The Springbok pre-dates apartheid, it even predates South Africa as a country. It's a stretch to say it has nothing to do with apartheid, but it was definitely around long before that. It's always been political though, the first time it was used on the 1906 tour was part of trying to reconcile Afrikaners and English speakers after the Second Boer War. Using the Springboks to try and foster reconciliation after some extremely bad history isn't a new thing.

This will be complicated and get too long if I go into detail explaining other emblems used by national rugby sides, but a summary gives the important information. SA rugby Board was the governing body that controlled white rugby, their national team was obviously the Springboks a team which hasn't been a white side since the 1970s. The reason it hasn't been a white side since long before apartheid ended, was because the SA Rugby Football Federation which was the governing body of coloured rugby and SA African Rugby Board the governing body of black rugby, both decided to affiliate with SARB. Meaning the governing body of white rugby, integrated with the governing bodies of coloured and black rugby in the 1970s, it was normal by the 1980s for SARB provincial comps (the top level being Currie Cup) to be racially mixed. This is how players like John Noble, Errol Tobias, Charles Williams, Avril Williams either played for the Boks in the 1980s or got very close to doing so. The "national" team of the SARFF was the Proteas, their emblem was the Protea. The "national" side of the SAARB was the Leopards the emblem was a Leopard. Both the Proteas and the Leopards would use white players (often from WP but sometimes other provinces) especially in the forwards, they both played touring test sides. There were also some other "national" sides which appeared, a South African XV played the French in 1975 at Newlands, it was the first multi racial side to represent SA, from memory they played in Bok away jerseys (score was interesting they destroyed the French, which wasn't at all like the other non-tests on that tour, from memory the French won all the others and lost the tests).

The rebels who refused to have anything to do with this and saw it all as selling out to apartheid were SA Rugby Union, this was a governing body for rugby without any racial barriers. Without getting too much into their history, if you go back through their predecessors their founding governing body was the SA Coloured Rugby Football Board, that started in the 1890s, their version of the Currie Cup was the Rhodes Cup, they asked Rhodes for a cup so he donated one for their provincial comp. Some of the oldest rugby clubs in SA are coloured clubs in the Cape. Peter de Villiers and Alister Coetzee were famous players in this governing body. Cheeky Watson also played in these structures (but was in fact shit, he didn't make the rep sides). I cannot recall what their national team was called, but the emblem was a Bok and Proteas. SARU players were giving up the chance to be a Bok (unlike SARFF and SAARB players who were part of the white/SARB structure), someone like Alister Coetzee would've had a decent chance of playing scrumhalf for the Boks in the 1980s, he was a regular in SARU rep sides and was first choice scrumhalf for EP in the 1990s when he was old.

By the 1980s there's four national teams all multi racial in some shape or form. Two using the Bok and two using the Protea. One used the Leopard, but that team is the side which affiliated with the SARB (ie the whites), the same governing body SARU (which was the most ANC aligned) opposed and basically regarded anyone not opposing it like they did as sell outs at best.

In 1992 all four governing bodies are collapsed into one entity called SARU. The first combined emblem was a Bok and four Proteas (representing the four combined governing bodies), for awhile after the Bok and Protea is combined into one emblem (similar to past SARU emblems). The Protea then becomes the national sporting emblem every team must wear in a standard format, and each sport is also allowed their own commercial emblem (not our fault if cricket is too dumb to think something up, and soccer comes up with a name at least but an awful commercial emblem). Which takes us up to the present of having two emblems, a Protea and a Bok.

Colours.

This one is much easier and shorter. Every side that acted as a "national" team played in green and gold. Green and gold are the colours of South African rugby, and then became the colours of South African sport. If the Boks don't play in green and gold then they'll be the only national team not doing so.


... I think a more welcome change would be going back to a single emblem, which has to be a remake of the all time classic Bok and four Proteas. If anyone wanted to do something for black and coloured players, they would sort out club rugby by making a strong national club league that goes the full season, black and coloured rugby has always been more about clubs than schools. Kolisi and Kolbe talk about clubs when they talk about how they started.

[OomStruisbaai]

Kolbe played for Brakkies the WP youth teams since u16.

[_Os_]

Kolbe played for Brakkies the WP youth teams since u16.

When he talks about where his interest in rugby comes from, he says it's from his father being at the rugby club and playing for the rugby club and going along with him. Never does he mention his interest coming from school. Same as Kolisi, always the rugby club never his school.

Not realistic at all to expect a schools rugby to get anywhere in schools which struggle to even give a basic education to kids. Far more realistic to expect to get something out of the already existing clubs if they had a meaningful competition to play in.

[OomStruisbaai]

Kolbe played for Brakkies the WP youth teams since u16.

When he talks about where his interest in rugby comes from, he says it's from his father being at the rugby club and playing for the rugby club and going along with him. Never does he mention his interest coming from school. Same as Kolisi, always the rugby club never his school.

Not realistic at all to expect a schools rugby to get anywhere in schools which struggle to even give a basic education to kids. Far more realistic to expect to get something out of the already existing clubs if they had a meaningful competition to play in.

Oh well , thats where most got interest in rugby. Club rugby in my days was totally different to these days. Boland have the most clubs in SA.

[assfly]

Cheers Ox, very interesting.

After the last few weeks, I think it's clear that the Springboks have become the most unifying symbol in South Africa's modern history. Quite the opposite about what Malema is implying.

[_Os_]

Kolbe played for Brakkies the WP youth teams since u16.

When he talks about where his interest in rugby comes from, he says it's from his father being at the rugby club and playing for the rugby club and going along with him. Never does he mention his interest coming from school. Same as Kolisi, always the rugby club never his school.

Not realistic at all to expect a schools rugby to get anywhere in schools which struggle to even give a basic education to kids. Far more realistic to expect to get something out of the already existing clubs if they had a meaningful competition to play in.

Oh well , thats where most got interest in rugby. Club rugby in my days was totally different to these days. Boland have the most clubs in SA.

People who go to a school which doesn't have a rugby team, cannot get their interest in rugby from school. There's zero chance most schools will ever be able to have a rugby team.

Why does Boland have the most clubs? Would it have something to do with coloured rugby being based around clubs and not schools by any chance?

Not having a national full season long club competition, with some proper investment, proper conditioning and coaching, televised matches. Is waving goodbye to about a third to half of our player base before we even know how good they are. It would be Varsity Cup on steroids.

[OomStruisbaai]

Why does Boland have the most clubs? Would it have something to do with coloured rugby being based around clubs and not schools by any chance?

Coloured and white rugby based around clubs. Its a dangerous sport in Boland.

[_Os_]

Why does Boland have the most clubs? Would it have something to do with coloured rugby being based around clubs and not schools by any chance?

Coloured and white rugby based around clubs. Its a dangerous sport in Boland.

You were the one who told me for years it was all about schools! Now you're saying it's based around clubs?

It's normal enough in Durban club rugby to settle disputes after the match in the car park, I have some stories. Coloured clubs in the Cape are a whole different level though. It's crazy. Sometimes Durban clubs get to play some of those sides, so I know their fields are surrounded with Euro soccer style cages to stop the fans getting at the oppo players and/or ref. 100s or 1000s rocking up to watch amateur club games, wit kant would be mild sledging in those places.

[OomStruisbaai]

Why does Boland have the most clubs? Would it have something to do with coloured rugby being based around clubs and not schools by any chance?

Coloured and white rugby based around clubs. Its a dangerous sport in Boland.

You were the one who told me for years it was all about schools! Now you're saying it's based around clubs?

It's normal enough in Durban club rugby to settle disputes after the match in the car park, I have some stories. Coloured clubs in the Cape are a whole different level though. It's crazy. Sometimes Durban clubs get to play some of those sides, so I know their fields are surrounded with Euro soccer style cages to stop the fans getting at the oppo players and/or ref. 100s or 1000s rocking up to watch amateur club games, wit kant would be mild sledging in those places.

Struisbaai rugby club. This is Boland. From Vredendal ro Heidelbeg. The smallest towns have their rugby club. A lot of All Blacks supporters.

[assfly]

Yea, being double world cup champions is cool.

But I'd really like it if the Boks could win the Rugby Championship next year. It's been a while.

Or even a Grand Slam tour of the NH.

[OomStruisbaai]

Yea, being double world cup champions is cool.

But I'd really like it if the Boks could win the Rugby Championship next year. It's been a while.

Or even a Grand Slam tour of the NH.

We have two tests in NZ next year in the RC.

[Gumboot]

Or a proper tour with provincial games and three or more tests?

An idea that has never been discussed anywhere ever...

[OomStruisbaai]

Or a proper tour with provincial games and three or more tests?

An idea that has never been discussed anywhere ever...

I was also hoping for that. Pretty sure they can squeeze in another test. Surely they can do provincial games included with a squad of 40. July-Sept is our rest period.

[OomStruisbaai]

Not sure if its been official
Fixtures for 2024
6/7/2024 Ireland at Loftus
13/7/2024 Ireland at Durban
20/7/2024 Georgia at ?
31/8/2024 All Blacks at Ellispark
7/9/2024 All Blacks at CT Stadium
28/9/2024 Pumas at Mbombela

17/11/2024 England at Twickenham

[TheNatalShark]

Wobblies relegated from TRC?

About time

(I know, I know)

[OomStruisbaai]

Wobblies relegated from TRC?

About time

(I know, I know)

Will be our 2 away games.

[OomStruisbaai]

The Springboks’ home Test schedule for 2024 is:
Saturday, 6 July: SA vs. Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday, 13 July: SA vs. Ireland (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)
Saturday, 20 July: SA vs. Portugal (venue TBC)
Saturday, 31 August: SA vs. New Zealand (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)
Saturday, 7 September: SA vs. New Zealand (DHL Stadium, Cape Town)
Saturday, 28 September: SA vs. Argentina (Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)