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Ireland whinge, Boks 'ridiculed'
Tuesday, December 01
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The tense relationship between the Ireland and South African rugby teams were dealt another blow last night with Ireland complaining about the citing claim that was laid against number eight Jamie Heaslip.
The Irish Independent also claimed that 'South African rugby's international reputation was further ridiculed' following a statement from the IRFU last night.
The Springboks reported a claim of eye-gouging against Irish No 8 Jamie Heaslip for putting his fingers in the eye of flanker Heinrich Brussow to citing commissioner Douglas Hunter.
The citing commissioner could not find any video evidence of the incident and decided to throw out the report along with a number of reports allegedly made by the Springboks.
This didn't stop the IRU from having a parting shot at the Springboks for publicly questioning Heaslip.
"The Ireland management is very disappointed that the name of an Ireland player was subsequently associated with eye-gouging in the media as a result of one of these unsubstantiated referrals," said an IRFU statement.
"The Ireland management fully support and believe in the integrity of the citing process in place but believe that any referrals in this process should be made only when they are material and substantial. The Ireland management will be making no further comment and consider the matter closed."
The Irish media, once again, jumped on the bandwagon claiming that the IRFU had not stooped to such levels by not reporting JP Pietersen (high tackle) and Andries Bekker (striking with the knee).
The statement is the latest chapter in the ongoing saga between the two sides and is strange considering that Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll and Heaslip himself were outspoken on the Schalk Burger incident while the citing panel were making their decisions during the British & Irish Lions tour.
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bwahahahahah!!
Answer: A book on how to read!!!
OH and viva Thiery Henry !!!!!!! good one
Direspect to the Irish
We should just leave this alone like everything else and just win another world cup quietly -that would really shut everyone up about our strategy, gameplay, and everything else that the world complains about sa rugby for some bizarre reason - not entirely sure what we did to be so ostericized,bujt it seems that we always get on the tailends of everyone, be it other teams or the IRB itself -sad really.
I think it all started with smoke bombs on the pitch in Hamilton in the 80's.......and since then the rugby world has never subconsciously gotten past it, but the slandering from this team of leprechauns on their high horse from there misty little island has just got on top of me!!!
i just hope that we can thrash them the next time we get a chance
same goes for the IRB.
the IRB has become the nazi's of world sport.
I challenge any of you to go on any European wedsite or blog and find similar sentiments to yours coming from anyone Irish, even during the Lions tour. South Africans have proved to me in the last 6 months that they are not only the worst losers on this small planet but they are also the worst winners.
Remember, you are a country on 50 million people and your No. 1 sport is rugby. Ireland is a country of 4 million people and their No. 4 sport is rugby. This in particular gives them the right to celebrate when they beat you, but all you seem to want to do is act like the whingers you claim they are. They also have a particular distaste for eye gouging. Alan Quinlan's boyhood dream was to play for the Lions but he was cited for eye gouging in the Munster v Leinster game prior to the tour and he was suspended, a 12 week ban, and his incident was not nearly as malacious as Burger. So they do practice what they preach.
Shame on all you xenophobic bigots
Get your facts straight buddy, do you think most SA fans have nothing better then to diss the Irish, where do you think this animosity come from
You don’t see SA fans having a go at the French for beating us, it’s the nature of the animosity from the Irish national rugby team, for some reason
I don’t know, that is causing nasty comments from most fans on this site
BTW ive been to Ireland, good vibe and friendly atmosphere all round……….but the rugby team and your media are a crew of idiots
Oh and the fact that Mr Burger eye gouged Mr Fitzgerald does not make us Xenophobic, and with regard to visiting NZ rather, I hope
You like farms small towns and ugly woman !!!!!!
If you watch the Boks play regularly you will watch us get cheated week in week out. We are contiually made an example of by citing commissioners in the super 14 and international arena because we're a physical team and other teams can't handle it. lets see the Irish play New Zealand three times and Australia twice and see how they cope on an end of year tour.
Bakkies Botha is cited for rucking over just like any other person on the field but Andrew Sheridan gets off after punching Andries Bekker in the balls?
The same ref ruins our game against Leicster with his scrum calls and we are ridiculed but when he does it to NZ they get an apology from the head of the referee's?
We are the victims here my friend and you just need to read then Irish Newspapers when the springboks arrived to see what Xenophibia is. What an ambush.
Trust me, we look forward to the irish team coming to play in our backyard. I know Bakkies and Pierre Spies certainly do. But after the game we'll still invite you for a round a beers, even if you turn us down (again).
however, i strongly disagree that you don't find similar one-eyed comments full of vitriol on other (european) websites. trust me, living in europe, i look at a fair number and - particularly during and after the world cup and lions series - some of what was spouted there easily matched the more puerile stuff we have here. as i've said before, these groups of supporters (on both sides) really do deserve each other...
as for the matter at hand, i must say that i don't think brussouw is a dishonest player at all so it surprised me that this stemmed from him... having said that, i thought heaslip had an outstanding game on the weekend and - regardless of who is innocent and who is guilty - at the end of the day this has just been another sorry incident for rugby between south africa and ireland rugby...
Oh ya and CM5000 if you knew anything about South Africa you would know that soccer is actually our number one sport but rugby is what we are most successful at. (Cricket is up and down)
Ya and watch out for the sheep when you're in New Zealand.
And it is quiet strange that the anamosity you are speaking about seems to be almost one way traffic. There is no anamosity from the Irish to South Africans but there is the reverse, again I direct you to the mature comments of your proud fellow countrymen above. Anamosity between rugby teams is a different issue. Do you really think that once they have hung up their boots they will look on it any differently than it all being part of the game. Slurring a nation is not part of rugby, but it seems, reading these comments and others on SA rugby websites, that it is acceptable practice
We're also repeatedly reminded about the Schalk Burger gouging incident every single time the camera goes anywhere near him. Gets rather irritating. It happened, he got banned, and he served his time (whether it was long enough or not). The mighty IRB made their decision. Let it go. Besides, how many other SA gouging incidents can you recall?
And just for the record... rugby is not the most popular sport in the country. Soccer is.
Perhaps a little lesson in history and commitment to our sport and your country could be learned by the above.
Any clarifications needed about the Constitutional battle held in this country to allow the team travel could be answered I’m sure by John Robbie.
Perhaps now would be a very good time to let sleeping dogs lie and commit Burger’s citing for contact with the face, BOD’s tackle on Brossow, Bekkers knees, JP high tackle, Jamie’s supposed gouge, lions non show for drinks and the SA’s team’s non show for the traditional clap- off all to bed and decide that we are all bigger than this whinging.
I’m in no doubt that the respective teams pay little or no heed to it and are above this irritating bickering.
but please bear in mind that not every SA player is a brutal rugby thug and SA is not a country rife with Xenophobic sentiment IE ..... (FIFA 2010 world cup)
Like i say you never saw SA fans having a go at any other team that beat us this year, so ask yourself why the Irish, do you research of your beloved media
rugby-man - did I brag? I dont believe in it as rugby is only a game. And funny that you call it a crappy little country. I think my original point is proving its merits.
MarkB - By your logic I would have to travel to every country in the world to meet your criteria. I suggest you read the previous comments from your fellow countrymen. I think I was quiet restrained in mine.
There is a very definite line between banter and insult and my comments were not directed at South Africans in general but at SA rugby fans posting here.
in the words of jack nicholson's president (brilliant as ever) from Mars Attacks!:
"can't we all just... get along?!"
Unfortunately some nations have an attached sigma in which they will never be able to shed.... as I bet that not all the Irish are breast fed Guinness either, I promise you that our Rugby team and SA fans do not double up as baby killers and Devil worshipers!!!!!
Seriously please, us bigots dont go onto your websites and start blurting out incorrect facts about your demographics and sport, so dont do it on ours.
Thanks for giving us an alternate opinion on this site - it is quite refreshing I must say. Even if I think some of what you say is slightly misguided.
Your press are notorious for stoking up animosity and personally I feel a lot of the tension started in 2004. Rightly or wrongly (and Jake White himself claims he was tricked or ambushed) the Springbok coach made belittling remarks about the strength of the Irish team. The Boks were beaten, but only by a BLATANT CHEAT (can you spell karma?) that day.
I happened to be in the crowd and Lansdowne Road that day where we were spat on and jeered - not to mention the masturbation signs that Irish fans gave us on the long walk back to Temple Bar.
This coming from the so-called friendly nation.
Since then you've proved your whingeing ability in NZ (when O'Driscoll cried like a little schoolgirl when he was 'spear tackled') and in South Africa where you refused to join our team for drinks and an injured O'Driscoll once again shot his mouth off from the stands. Injured because he can't take the pace.
I grew up on stories of how wonderful Ireland's rugby people are with my father enjoying great times here in South Africa and in Dublin hosting and playing against touring teams and Old Crocks sides.
Now I'm through with them - they're no better than the English.
Give me a Welsh or Scottish rugby man anyday.
PS - i must admit that some South African fans' behaviour can leave something to be desired, but I'm sick and tired of us being made an example of by the IRB and all the other chops out there. Don't point fingers at us when you're just as guilty.
never have I experienced such bad loser-ship in a rugby game, not just by the whiney fans, but, by the team itself.
For the first time ever, I witnessed a rugby team waddling off the pitch WITHOUT offering the basic courtesy of applauding off the other team. i.e. The boks made off for the tunnel without returning the guard of honour which the Ireland team afforded them in one of rugby’s most cherished age-old customs.
not once have I heard a south african fan admit that their team had ZERO ambition and a boring, predictable game plan on saturday...which was to kick the ball to the opposing backs in the hope that they might make a mistake.
seriously guys. Some of you are even dredging up incidents involving the irish soccer team as an excuse to whinge and whine more about Ireland.
My advice would be to take off the tu-tu's, acknowledge that SA lost to better teams on their tour and be mature about it. in other words, act like men...not whiney whingeing petulant children.
gilbert, look at MANY of the comments above and i'm afraid you'll see the cm5000's points have been very much vindicated. i'm a very proud springbok supporter, but unfortunately i have to acknowledge that there are some incredibly narrow-minded (and i daresay bigoted) springbok fans out here. not all of them/us... but we won't change anyone's perceptions if we keep rolling out puerile comments along the lines of "your (edited)ty little island".
i completely agree with rickyrocket above in that the way much of the uk and irish press and public went on and on and on and on about schalk burger's eye-gouging/eye-contact incident was simply ridiculous... but overseas users shouldn't have to be apologetic either if they want to post on sarugby.com.
i welcome all foreigners to come to this website, it makes for a welcome change and we can hopefully all benefit from different perspectives.
I have read some of these comments and felt compelled to ask the question why our media and team, especially Brian O'Driscoll, seem to be hated by some people on this site. It seems to go beyond a simple dislike.
Like I said, I post in peace and am genuinely curious.
actually, i'll think you'll find that many sa supporters have said exactly that: we were beaten by a good irish team, while - tired as we may have been from relentless season - we clearly suffered from a lack of imagination. (mind you, not that the irish were overly creative themselves
i refer to one previous post (my own): "we played dumb, negative rugby".
you obviously never seen an English footbal team get knocked out of a tornament.....or a Kiwi's review on Wayne Barnes !!!!
leaving aside the obvious failings during the game...I was very disappointed with how the sa team went off the pitch on saturday without returning the courtesy and respect offered to them by the irish team with the guard of honour.
That's one of the traditions of rugby that I have always liked and I thought it was very sad to see a losing team not having the maturity, dignity and grace to return the courtesy.
Thanks - I completely understand that and was more embarrassed by old SA flag toting 'south africans' on that tour than I was with the Ireland reaction to be honest.
It was a fired up atmosphere and one that certainly helped motivate your team that day and helped them to three wins on the trot in Ireland.
I just don't particularly enjoy the sermonising on the mount that some of the media and Ireland players are involved in nor the demonising of the Springbok team and our fans.
Yes we are physical and tough and brutal (at times) - that's just the way it is.
I can't believe some of the stuff i was hearing in the build-up and wake of the Test match. No guard of honour, boring rugby (I mean if you win who cares how we play - if we win who cares what you think), and this outrage at us naming the player we accuse of eye-gouging.
The outrage was very real when Burger was involved in the incident with Fitzgerald and he was torn apart in the media and by opposing players without ever being foung guilty of eye-gouging.
I still prefer sharing a drink and a yarn with rugby folk - and I don't see that changing. I just think Ireland should pull their head in a little and remember who they are and what this game is all about.
Were you very dissapointed when Paul O'Connel and co. refused to have a beer with the Boks after the Lions game? That is one of the traditions of rugby too.
Stop being such a hypocrite!
Here we play rugby not clap each other on the back. I think, perhaps, that the Springboks 'declined' to join Ireland in their little post match ceremony. Reminds me of somebody not respecting the age-old tradition of accepting another team's invitation for a drink.
My word they are actually pathetic.
yeah, i'm very disappointed with that. i will say that i regard john smit as one of the great men of rugby (his credentials as an international tighthead prop notwithstanding
@youliedtometappa and cm5000
fair points on both sides and a decent apology to boot. are we making progress??
@murr
for god's sakes man... here we are trying to mend fences and you won't let it go! read the posts above, see that not all of us are completely biased w@nkers and then head over to http://www.munsterfans.com/ to see some biased viewpoints from the irish side... not all, mind you - but's the point isn't it
@bosklosborat
it's the recession baby!
jokes... yes, i've got to back to work
(well exam studies to be precise, but who's counting...)
This is SARugby.com...i come onto this site to talk about anything that has to do with South African Rugby...but im not prepared to sit back and read comments by some Irish supporters calling us xenophobic bigots that are quickly becoming the most hated supporters in world rugby...and quite frankly im surprised that there hasn't been many other users on this site standing up for your fellow Springbok supporter. How can you let some stuck up bitter (for i dont know what!) Irish supporters come on here and ridicule and insult us...
POC didn't refuse to have a beer with the BOKs after ANY lions game. During the planning for the tour the idea was raised and never followed through. As The SA captain John Smit put it: "There was a bit of miscommunication and uneasiness to it so we never go the chance. In fairness, after the third test, our management decided to leave the official function early. If it had been planned better we could have worked something out." quote from this article
quite frankly, I think it's very childish and disingenuous to twist that into a suggestion that the lions refused a beer after losing a game. It was during the planning stages for the tour, as your captain points out, that it didn't come together.
that said...there is NO excuse for the Boks refusing to return the courtesy of a guard of honour at croke park on saturday. It's one of Rugbys most cherished age-old customs and while the Irish team had the graciousness not to even mention it post-match...the only reason I bring it up is to illustrate how blinkered and hypocritical the comments are on here.
I'm sure BOD will just include it in his next autobiography
Then we'll be back here to hear the Bokke whinge about it.
It is also believed they also asked for three Irish players to be investigated. One hour after that request they had reduced that number to two and then half an hour later it became one."
Sorry Guys, High tackles and knees in the back that went without any punishment whatsoever.2 blatant yellow card incidents! If the ref had been up to the task at all Ireland would have won by a far greater margin than the french did.
There is a big difference between playing tough and playing dirty, SA prefer the latter. And what puts the icing on the cake is that fact SA then attempted one the most vague allegations in the history of sport.
"Emmmmm, We're not sure when it happened, but we think it might have been in the first half... maybe, I'm not really sure, I think it was just before we took out Bowe with a dangerously high tackle"
The only thing worse than a bad loser is a hypocritical bad loser....
Neither the Irish nor the South Africans are completely innocent of contributing to this mud-slinging contest. Mistakes were made by both sides.
The media have done their best to fuel the fire. And we have all fallen for their hype - players included. Let's rise above it.
At the end of the day, Ireland won the game. There are several contributing factors, but the fact remains: history will show that the final score was in favour of Ireland.
As a Springbok supporter, I am disappointed we lost. However, let's give credit where credit is due... well played Ireland.
In my one post all I asked was why some of the comments seemed to be against Irish media and BOD in particular. I do love the idea of a BOD statue though, maybe on top of Table Mountain would be a good spot
I believe if the Boks had shown more ambition i.e. kept the ball in hand, they could and maybe even would have beaten us. When you did keep the ball, you looked dangerous. This is why we Irish were delighted/mystified when the game plan seemed to be kick the ball to the guy with the safest pair of hands, playing fullback, anywhere in the world.
As for this xenophobic/bad sportsmanship/whingeing rubbish that both sides are spouting I say ENOUGH. Lets talk rugby.
Sir I'd applaud you but there's no applause smilie so this is all I can manage
hmmm just wish there was some Rugby to look forward to this weekend...
And you're quite right... Kearney is excellent under the high ball. He must've thought it was manner from heaven. You would've thought we'd learnt our lesson from the Lions series.
quick question for you: Are you proud of the south african team for not showing some dignity and grace after the game on saturday by not returning the courtesy of a guard of honour in croke park?
quite frankly, I think it is disgraceful and it's a sad day for rugby to see that sort of behaviour. The rest of the comments on can be put down to petulant, childish, whiney whingeing that is becoming synonymous with SA fans but the guard of honour thing is simply unacceptable.
Gilbert I feel your pain every June as that's the end of our season. Try to enjoy the Heineken Cup especially watching Leinster with your very own CJ Van Der Linde
Not if you were Irish it wasn't
If you were a neutral? God it must have been pretty tedious at times!
.....mind you Paul O'Connel looks like he could be bit of a tool to get along with
Ye are carrying on like a whinging bunch of Marys!
I was at the game and I don’t blame the players for not staying on the field I have been too many many international and I have never see such disrespect given to international players. The noise and shouting during the national anthem and the Booing when we scored a try. The Irish have shown SA no respect so why do you think we should show them any respect? Ask yourself why SA has never done this before?
It’s always the same if someone beats us a whole load of there country men come on our sight and start bashing but we never hear anything from them when we are kicking there @sses.
@cm500 GET OVER YOURSELF!!
this site is for SA rugby supporters.
overseas people are welcome if they can handle it.
you clearly can't.
tha boks played bad and thats that!
the irish won and thats that!
however , next year we will be gunning the irish to get some pride back.
and after we have succesfully defended our world-cup title, you and all your irish will not even be worthy of a mention.
i am a proud springbok ,whether my team wins , loses or get cheated and branded by people like YOU.
if you don't like me us or our country or our beloved team then TOUGH SH$T.
Thank you for admitting I was right it takes a big man to do that, now go back to your own blog you Muppet.
what an entertaining day, I love these Irish Bloggers, i realy do !!!!!!!!!!!!!
If burger is still smarting for being reprimanded over the eye gouging incident, that's his problem. Everyone has seen the footage. He should grow up and get over it. In the same way the SA fans should grow up and take the loss with some dignity and grace, rather than making up ridiculous claims and whiney whingeing like children.
And I would repeat again...there is NO EXCUSE for the south african team failing to return the age-old traditional courtesy of a guard of honour at the final whistle and show some dignity and decency after a defeat. I think it's a sad day for rugby when behaviour like that takes place. It's totally unacceptable.
I was also at the game and I can promise you there was shouting during the anthems and this was the second time I have been to watch SA play in Ireland, the first time I went we lost but I loved being there because I found the people amazing but this time the Irish crowed were just bitter I even got shouted at when I stood up to cheer for SA when we were in the lead I was told to “sit down”.
I will ask the question again why do you think SA has never failed to return the age-old traditional courtesy of a guard of honour to any other team? Maybe that should tell you something about you team???
victories over the Lions this century-indicated that the enemy was not worthy of being honoured. I agree.Paddy
I can promise you that there was no heckling in the crowd during the south african national anthem. The shouting you heard was probably south africans trying to sing!
re: guard of honour. There can be NO excuse for the south african team to behave in the way they did at the final whistle. Like I said, it's a sad day for rugby when behaviour like that happens and if the south africans can't stand up and show a bit of grace and dignity when losing, that's their problem. I wouldn't try and blame it on the irish.
I hope it's not too embarrassing for me to point out that the south africans are whingeing because they can't handle losing. Scroll up and you can see the whiney whingeing from sa fans for all to see. it's embarrassing to read some of the whingeing excuses.
I imagine the sale of tutu's must have skyrocketed in south africa since saturday.
But what would I know, I'm just a thuggish South African
So I take it you just can answer the question???? Maybe because you know the south Africans are right. we in SA show respect when respect is earned we don’t just give it to people who THINK they deserve it.
are you proud that your team couldn't return the respect and courtesy given by the irish team with their guard of honour after the final whistle on saturday?
@Ricky I think players are entitled to celebrate but Burger was always going to receive a special welcome (rightly or wrongly) after what happened from the Summer. What he did after his try was clearly seen by many to be unnecessarily provocative towards the Irish fans. Personally, I didn't care much for the celebration (very early in the match for that sort of celebration) but that's just me.The photo taken was after the final whistle and of course our players were delighted, we just beat the world champions and the best team in the world right now. Surely our players were entitled to celebrate?
I have to say, I was at the game and heard no booing of either anthem. Anyone who boos another country's anthem is, for me, an absolute disgrace and I'm disgusted at the thought of Irish supporters doing that. Another thing I can't stand is booing the kicker as he's taking a shot at goal. BOTH sets of fans were at it and I hate it. What do you guys think of it?
From the Boks point of view, who is the better no 10 to pass the ball to the back line? When you decide to spread the ball, you're next to impossible to stop.
of course there was no booing of the anthems. The sa fans are just making up stuff to whinge about now.
I agree that heckling kickers is not good and I also agree with your points about Burgers try thing. The irish didn't boo his try, but, they did voice their opinion when he celebrated in the way he did. watch the highlights for those who disagree.
I also agree about the SA game plan. When they shifted the ball out wide, they looked very dangerous almost every time. I thought steyn was the better number 10, for what it's worth.
We've had MylesNaGapoleen repeatedly going on and on about grace and dignity. We've had constant reminders of Burger's stupid act earlier this year... and yes, he did receive a 'special' welcome on Saturday, which more than likely fuelled his celebration. He chose to express his opinion in that way - it's certainly nowhere near some of the extreme celebrations I've seen before.
And yes, the photo shows the elation of a well-deserved victory... but then maybe it's just my opinion that it may have also been rather provocative.
Anyway, my soapbox is about to break
"Boks Worlds Best in 2009"
Even the Paddys will get the message. Paddy
oh well, each to their own.
@cianostays
appreciate the sentiments mate, but i can see we're fighting a losing battle here!
ps - in attempt to answer your earlier question about BOD, i think anybody seriously questions his credentials as an amazing player. what people over here did take umbrage to was how he kept going on and on and on about the umaga tackle and then the burger eye incident. (of course, he had some fair points and his bitterness over the latter wasn't helped by peter de villiers' feeble and embarrassing attempts to defend his man.) having said all that, i reckon most saffas would bracket him as the top outside centre of the last fifteen odd years when the emotions cool (maybe alongside umaga and mortlock - who incidentally, i'm reliably informed is a real d1ck!)
pps - personally, i very much agree with you about booing during kicks etc being against the "ethos" of rugby... i've some good friends playing rugby up north right now (including irish teams in the heineken cup and magners league) and all have been very complementary about the irish crowds and the observation of silence during penalties/conversions. however, as someone on this website pointed out to me a while ago, that's part of the reason why winning at certain hostile grounds is so special. loftus wouldn't loftus if the locals weren't quite so bipartisan
I agree 150% with Gilbert that this website is SARUGBY.com!
They (the Irish) are the ones that must have respect when they come to this website-at the moment that is not happening. They beat the world champions and they are still (edited)ing and moaning about stuff. They don’t have one good word for us and all of this on our site? Have a look at some of the Kiwis on this site; at least they still have respect.
If the Springboks are the one's playing a boring kind of rugby then why are they the ones who scored the only try on Saturday? According to me the Irish that are coming to this website are like their media, just fueling a fire that was never there and I am sorry, if you play with the lion’s balls...
To the Irish - take this win and go and celebrate it with your mates don’t come to this website and post things that you know will result in conflict. Do you really think we are going to lie down and take it?
Put on a Springbok jersey and go to any of your Irish stadiums - it will shut you up.
What is worse than a bad looser - a bad winner...
while I agree that the springboks do play a very boring style of rugby, I did point out earlier that almost every time the sa team ran with the ball, instead of kicking it straight into kearneys grateful arms, they looked very potent. It's a shame the sa team didn't show more ambition.
I think it's the article headline that deserved some come back.
normally I would ignore such whiney whinging as standard far for south africans, but, some of the whingey comments on here were so far over the top it warranted some form response from true rugby fans.
I for one thought the behaviour of the south african rugby team at the final whistle was disgraceful, disrespectful, lacking in dignity and completely devoid of grace. Nobody likes a bad loser, but, what the south african team did was unacceptable. For me it's a sad sad day for rugby when teams behave like that.
If I were in your shoes I would suck it up...take the loss like men...not like children in tutu's....and for petes sake, stop the whiney whingeing...it's embarrasing to think that rugby fans could be so whiney.
Dude MylesNaGapoleen, do you realise every comment of yours is exactly the same; just the sentences are in different order.
Wait a minute perhaps its a virus...
@ Rickytherocket, I agree best to just give up, and only respond to the posts that make sense.
From an SA point of view I don't think there is too much to worry about, Ashley johnson and Juan De Jongh, are both two little gems for the future. SA has played three more tests than everyone not to mention that all the bulls players played a further super 14 game than most. So I think it is fair to say that they were jadded. Nice long break now for them to come back fresh next year.
It's not that much of a big deal we didn't clap for u guys as we rarely see it from any team these days.
It's not that much of a big deal we didn't clap for u guys as we rarely see it from any team these days so stop whinging
Go Bokke
(oh im sorry, you thought i was gonna get all uptight on the internet)
Bokke
They dont call the Irish stupid for nothing...
Ofcourse you would have smashed us with your teams great try scoring abilities as shown against us on saturday hahaha honestly I would feel very embarrassed bragging about my teams win had we not came close to scoring a single try
1. we lost on saturday, we were outplayed. fair dues to ireland - they've been good all year & were better on the day. well done. most of the comments on this site have echoed similar sentiments (see the article with the match report).
2. rugby is a physical game. at times players cross the line. i'm not condoning foul play whatsoever, but all teams have done so. so to point fingers calling players thugs is a bit hypocritical. name me a team, & i'll name you an instance of foul player.
3. mylesnagapoleen - we get it. you're (edited)ed there was "no guard of honour". i did see players shaking hands & congratulating each other after the whistle, so i doubt there was a lack of respect. incidentally, rarely have i seen the guard of honour during games in south africa, australia or new zealand. handshakes all round though.
4. the internet is without borders, so irish fans on here have to be welcomed (as do nzers & aussies). i think it provides a fresh perspective & is to be encouraged. a bit of banter is fine - we're all adults.
5. to the irish fans - fantastic performance saturday, BUT do you really believe you would've beat the boks in july / august? be honest, this bok side has been the best in the world this year. but we've been playing pretty much non-stop since february. a fresh (& very good) irish side at their peak vs a jaded bok team at the end of a long tough season.
6. realistically, at the moment there are still only 2 teams capable of winning the world cup - the boks & the all blacks. maybe that'll change by 2011, who knows. but i for one doubt it.
Thank you for answering my question. Very fair and balanced answer. Thinking about it, I understand how he may have come across as whingeing about the tackle from Umaga, but how many times was he asked about it? About the Burger incident, it happened to not only a national but a club team mate as well (both play for Leinster) so, naturally, he'd be especially upset and angry about it but again, seeing it from a Boks perspective, it might have been viewed about giving his opinion when it wasn't asked. Thanks again.
@ Ricky
Burger's celebration was far from the worst I've ever seen, you're absoloutley right about that! It's like I said earlier, Burger was always going to be in for a special welcome
The Irish teams reaction after the final whistle, perhaps a bit OTT but again, as I said earlier, we had just beaten the best team in the world and the result meant we were unbeaten for the calender year. This was a first for us. The players were possibly celebrating the year as a whole (the best in Irish rugby history, bar none). Having said that, if it was just celebrating beating you guys, it probably was OTT.
I should be in the UN with diplomatic posts like that
Emotions were running extremely high before, during and after the game... so some OTT reactions were bound to happen. Perhaps we are all just over-reacting and reading too much into them.
Again, fair play to the Irish. A fitting end to a great (and unbeaten) year...
And yes, your diplomacy is most impressive!