White set to quit Springboks

Jake White stabbed in the back

On the eve of the most important Springbok match in the past 12 years, it has been learned that the sham that is the South African rugby administration continues to hover like a spectre in the background.

First SA Rugby advertised Springbok coach Jake White's post on the eve of a World Cup quarter-final, and now it has been learnt that Blue Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer was offered the job more than two months ago and has been speaking to management and playing members of the squad in an attempt to confirm their availability for 2008.

White has met with SA Rugby managing director Jonathan Stones and he told Stones pretty much what he has been spelling out to the media on tour for some time now: he just doesn't believe he can continue working for an administration that has no trust in him and continues to undermine him.

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Jake White is set to step down as South Africa's coach if the Springboks triumph in this Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against England.

In an interview with The Star newspaper, White said the title of world champions had been his ultimate ambition ever since he took over three years ago and he was cool on the idea of being moved upstairs after the tournament.

"What can I say? When I took over as coach, I said that I really wanted to win the World Cup," he said.

"That was part of my first speech to the guys in 2004 when I got the job. If this group wins, it is the most I can achieve."

White's contract is due to expire at the end of the year and SA Rugby has already advertised the position which is something of a political hot potato in the post-apartheid era.

The 43-year-old had been expected to reapply for the position but his latest comments are his strongest indication he will turn his back on the Springboks.

Asked about the idea of taking up a new position of director of rugby, White said: "I don't think so. At this point I don't even want to think about it."

White was close to being sacked at the turn of the year after a dismal run of results but his stock has soared in recent weeks and he has been widely linked by newspapers with the post of Australian coach.

White has been a frequent target of sniping by provincial rugby administrators and has been come under fire from central government over the continued dearth of black players in the team.

News24/AFP

NVDL: What it is in Sports Adminstrative Bodies all over South Africa is a skewed focus, preferring personal agendas to everything else - the promotion of the sport they represent, and the sportsmen, even when it's a sacrifice of the sport, and the national interest. They get away with it and then it becomes a vicious cycle of who can score the most loot (prestige, kickbacks etc.) for themselves. It's also not a black or white thing. It's about greed, gluttony and stroking ego's. It's human behaviour at its filthiest and most unsporting, and South African sport is choc full of them.

I've said this once and I've said this before. The people in these organisations - CSA (Cricket South Africa, Cycling South Africa), SSA (Swimming South Africa) and all the rest, who have no sense of what is good for sport, no sense of actual altruism, but instead constantly pursue some or other personal strategy at the expense of the actual sport - these should be named and shamed, and then booted out of not only these clubs, where they hold positions, but completely eviscerated out of communities. Kick them out of the churches, don't allow their children to participate in school sports, basically root out the spite.

I considered taking to court the CSA earlier this year. I think the answer is not to play word games or even to attempt a fair resolution of such gross misconduct. They're all about administration; that's their forte. They do hold power in the arena they represent, but in terms of the community, they don't. In termsw of the community they are a spindly David's facing a Goliath of public disapproval.

So it's far easier to punish these incredibly selfish pursuits by employing the highest levels of ostracism civil society can collectively bring about. Bloggers can actually play a vital and important role in spreading the consciousness around this cockroach excrement masquerading as officious human being. And the public at large can join hands to basically dissassociate themselves from these parasites of sport.

Read also SA Sport is a Disgrace

Cycling: A New Sport For the New Man

Fascinating. The sport that once elicited giggles and derisive comments has become the fastest growing sport in South Africa, and is moving up the charts of the world’s most popular sports. Have a look:

1. Soccer
2. Basketball
3. Tennis
4. Gymnastics
5. Swimming
6. Cycling
7. Rugby
8. Cricket
9. Baseball
10. Field Hockey

Cycling Sensibility

It’s no accident that cycling makes sense. Of the above sports, it is the only one that combines an almost seamless synergy between man and machine. Machines play an integral part of the daily grind; most people in the western world spend most of their working week hunched over computers, then drive home in machines.

Metaphor

What is the metaphor then, that cycling has for life in the New World? Firstly, and most obviously, it is a sport based on effiency. It is the world's most efficient transport mechanism - BY FAR. Cycling is a complicated sport requiring consistency and strategy in order to excel. Co-operation is one of the highest virtues in cycle. In cycling, the strongest rider doesn’t always win. This is a sport where brawn has to be matched by brains.

Brawn remains important. You need a strong, light rider (power to weight ratio) and a bicycle made with cutting edge technology, light and strong materials (carbon fibre, titanium, aluminum etc). Brains are required to drive innovation behind the brawn - the aerodynamics of the frame, the heart rate/lactate and power thresholds, also the most suitable cadence, for the brawn.
In life, knowing about tech, being able to use it easily, efficiently and intelligently - being able to outmsart, but also to express (sometimes to decieve or conceal information) and market oneself in a particular way, and having the confidence and wit to be competitive – these are the vital ingredients for the ambitious performer.

Cyclists are typified as follows:

Perfectionists
Highly competitive
Intelligent
Disciplined
Integrated mindset

The last implies the ability to manage a number of things at once. When cycling, you are juggling road hazards with momentum, with slipstreaming, with strategy and ability, and factoring in the performances of those around you, the route and the weather.

It’s the holistic approach that wins, and a sound, cogent strategy allows for the most vital adaptation of the bike: the ability to be efficient. Teamwork is implicit.

Speed, Efficiency and Collaboration

In the New World, speed and efficiency are crucial keywords. The New Man will need to be a lightweight tightrope walker, able to adapt strategies, and quickly find and adjust to new alternatives (based on a co-operative/collabortive mindset). The winners will be able to maintain a consistent pace while things fall apart around them, whatever the weather. Here a last skill becomes important: anticipation. Cyclists, unlike many other athletes, can outwit their rivals by making accurate predictions not only while they are on the road, but beforehand.

It’s possible that if things pan out really badly, we’ll all be cyclists. Would that really be so bad?

More Cycling Articles written by NVDL:

Read The Psychology of Cycling here.
Read The Best Driver's Are Also Cyclists here.
Read The Cycling Conundrum here.
Read The Secret of Lance Armstrong's Success here.
Read Simon and the Cyclopede - A New Film For Pixar here.

Habana Vs Australia (VIDEO)

Bryan Habana Against Australia - Click here for more amazing videos

Tri-Nations Rugby: South Africa beats Australia

After trailing 10-16 in a bruising first half the Springboks dug deep to overwhelm a very intelligent tactical Australian opposition 22-19.

The South African Captain, John Smit, was injured early on; he left the field in the opening sortie. Springbok Pierre Spies was yellow carded after 36 minutes and his team had to make do without his power and might for a vital 10 minutes spent in the sin bin. Australian stars George Gregan and Stephen Larkham were in top form, but both made some rare unforced errors, particularly in the second half.

The Springboks were also missing match winner Brian Habana (who has an injured knee), the Springboks put the first penalty (Montgomery) and first try (Jaques Fourie) on the scoreboard. Matt Giteau made a determined surge to score beside the posts for the Aussies. Then it came down to a series of penalities between Percy Montgomery (3)for the Boks, and Stirling Mortlock (4) for the Wallabies.

Compulsive Tackling

After plenty of intensity and tension, the Boks found themselves in the second half trailing 16-19, with only 15 minutes of match time remaining. Wave upon wave of green fell against the Australian back line, but the desperate attacks were pinned down or held back each time, despite being so deep in Aussie territory. The Australians tackled compulsively to stem the tide.

Match Winner

At this stage 20 year old ex Grey College match winner Frans Steyn came onto the field. An impact player, the big young man was on the field for only a few minutes before launching a drop goal to level the scores. With very little match time remaining tempers flared; both sides continued to thump and test one another. Then the winger, Steyn, received a deepish kick, turned on his heel and hoofed the winning drop kick.

Deserved Victory

But it was a win the home team earned. The South Africans had dominated play in the second half forcing the Aussies to defend, and making their opponents tackle at a ratio of 1:3. The Aussie tackle quota at full time exceeded 150 (while the South Africans were around 50). Australian David Campese made the comment that South Africa had been perhaps too inclined to kick away possession at vital turns of play, but the innovative Butch James couldn't be blamed when there were often few other options to choose from on the table.

Consistency

It has to be said that going into the next game (South Africa vs New Zealand) the Boks will need to raise their game even more. Consistency is crucial, and to beat the All Blacks they will need passion and character. Beyond the Tri-Nations, with their sights on the Rugby World Cup in September, the Boks will need to learn and maintain consistency with a few to developing momentum. The South Africans have now won 4 consecutive matches, but every successful team needs a strong foundation, and this means a stable management family.

In South African rugby, cricket, swimming and other sports, what undermines the performance of athletes and players is the background of squabbling officials, politics and overall pressure brought to bear directly on managers. Sprinbbok coach Jake White has had a difficult and distracting week, having recently had a scuffle with a pony newspaper journalist in a bar, aswell as the commotion involved in the on-again-off-again meeting with the President. This meeting never materialised thanks to the intervention of the South African Rugby Union (who felt White had not arranged the meeting through the proper channels).

Additional instability is created in South African sport when players are expected to accomodate protocols designed by outsiders, where officials expect the artificial insertion of players in teams to represent a preconceived racial composition. This is unsettling, and at a high level, can mean that small difference in confidence, consistency, self belief and coming through in the end to win.

In the end it was a gutsy win. Now the Boks have a week to regroup and advance along the steep gradient of their learning curve. They must learn from this game, because their opponents in the next crunching Tri-Nations encounter will be the mighty All Blacks.