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SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, will take charge of the Barbarians for the first time when the famous club returns to action later this season.
Just days after the Springboks recorded a superb first win in New Zealand in nine years when they beat the All Blacks by 36-34 in Wellington last weekend in a Castle Lager Rugby Championship Test match, Erasmus has a confirmed Twickenham date with the Barbarians when they take on Argentina in the Killik Cup match on Saturday, 1 December.
The Barbarians side pulled off a record-breaking win over England earlier this year when the famous invitational side won 63-45.
“It’s a terrific honour to be invited to coach the Barbarians later this year and it should be a great occasion at Twickenham,” said Erasmus.
“The Barbarians are renowned for bringing together great individuals and the challenge for coaches is moulding them into a team that plays wonderful rugby, which they certainly showed earlier this year against England.
“There’s a lot of important games for South Africa between now and then but the chance to work with a new group and take on Argentina once more will be a great end to the year.”
The Pumas, who won the last fixture between the sides in 2015, made history of their own last weekend with a 23-19 win over the Wallabies in Australia — their first there in 35 years.
Erasmus will coach a squad full of international greats and three Springboks have already accepted invitations to line up against the Pumas – Handré Pollard (flyhalf), Eben Etzebeth (lock) and Tendai Mtawarira (prop) will join the Baa-baas in London after South Africa’s November internationals against England, France, Scotland and Wales.
They will be joined by Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia, who will be in Europe with Australia for their Tests against Wales, Italy and England. More big name acquisitions will be announced in due course.
SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, and Springbok captain Siya Kolisi lauded the self-belief and courage of the team after the South Africans scored an epic victory over the All Blacks on Saturday morning (SA time) in Wellington.
The Boks rallied back from 12-0 down to beat the world champions by 36-34 in front of a capacity crowd at the Westpac Stadium in the Kiwi capital. It was the most points the All Blacks have ever conceded in New Zealand and South Africa’s first win in New Zealand since 2009.
Erasmus said the players deserve special praise for their courage on defence and execution of the game plan. The home team dominated possession and territory and forced the Boks to make more than 200 tackles during the game.
“The boys showed guts and I’m so glad for them,” said Erasmus.
“We will take this win over the best team in the world and enjoy it, but we will keep our feet firmly on the ground. We will not get ahead of ourselves. We still have a lot of work to do and the All Blacks will be fuming when they come to Pretoria (on 6 October).”
Kolisi said the win was special, given the many in game challenges the team had to face during the match. Both starting centres, Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am, left the field with shoulder injuries, while Willie le Roux (fullback) spent 10 minutes in the sin bin after he was yellow carded.
“We kept our focus and we really had belief,” said Kolisi.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi spoke of the great rivalry between the Springboks and the All Blacks on Friday in Wellington and how the South Africans aim to improve every time they run out in a Test.
Even though the New Zealanders have ruled recent meetings between the two countries, Kolisi described each fixture between the two sides as something special.
The two sides meet on Saturday at 19h35 (09h35 SA time) at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. The All Blacks will clinch the Castle Lager Rugby Championship if they record a bonus-point victory. The match will be televised live on SuperSport 1.
Looking forward to Saturday’s huge battle, Kolisi said it’s important that the Boks grab their chances against the New Zealanders.
“We want to make sure we improve every week and with every outing,” said Kolisi.
“We have to limit the individual mistakes and make sure we perform over the 80 minutes because they will punish you for those errors.
“There’s no better Test for you as a player, than to play against the best in the world. I know the guys are excited for this game and we are going to give it our best shot on Saturday. Playing the All Blacks is always something special. ”
Kolisi and his Springbok team mates completed their match preparations with the captains run on Friday morning at the Westpac Stadium, under clear skies and bright sunshine.
Handré Pollard will start at flyhalf for the Springboks on Saturday when they take on the All Blacks in Wellington, while Malcolm Marx and Lukhanyo Am are also back in the starting line-up for the Boks’ final away match in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
Rassie Erasmus, SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby, announced his Springbok match-23 on Thursday afternoon in the New Zealand capital, with three changes and one positional switched confirmed in the starting line-up.
Three of those changes are in the backline, while Erasmus also made some tweaks to the bench.
Pollard comes into the starting line-up and Elton Jantjies is set to play off the bench. Jesse Kriel is picked on the right wing as a result of the injury to Makazole Mapimpi, who has returned to South Africa to undergo further scans on his right knee.
As a result, Am takes Kriel’s position at outside centre and partners Damian de Allende in a new-look midfield combination.
The only change to the pack sees Marx rotating starting places with Bongi Mbonambi in the No 2 jersey and amongst the reserves, Ross Cronje swaps places with Embrose Papier as the backup scrumhalf.
Erasmus emphasised that the Springboks will have to reduce the amount of costly errors against New Zealand.
“We have to deliver a much improved performance against the All Blacks,” said Erasmus.
VIBRANT AND COLOURFUL MARATHON PROMISES GREAT SPECTATOR ACTION: Sanlam Cape Town Marathon promises nailbiting action on both the course and the sidelines
Cape Town, 13 September 2018 – With Africa’s only IAAF Gold Label-status marathon less than two weeks away, Capetonians have added reason to celebrate the start of spring. This year’s iconic African city marathon, which weaves its way along the Atlantic Seaboard, and through the CBD and Southern Suburbs, before looping back into town, will play host to over 10 000 marathoners. It will feature runners from as far afield as Australia, with South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka, Desmond Mokgobu and Nolene Conrad also competing for this year’s title in an elite athlete field.
“What makes this year’s marathon so unique, aside from it being a beautiful and fast race, is the growing spectator and charitable interest in the event,” says Olympian and race ambassador Elana van Zyl-Meyer. “We have over 50 charities represented, with some runners doing the full course in fancy dress as a means of bringing attention to their charitable cause.”
Nineteen spectator zones have been carefully set up along the route, some of which will be co-hosted by local charities. These offer prime visibility of all the colourful action on the route, and enable supporters to also enjoy live musical entertainment, food and drinks, as well as a chance to meet local celebrities.
The Baxter Dance Festival, the Western Cape’s premier dance platform, returns to the Baxter for its 14th annual instalment with 32 works by 54 choreographers being performed over 10 days, from Thursday 4 October until Saturday 13 October 2018. Opening this year’s festival is Rolex Mentor and Protégé Laureate (2004) Junaid Jemal Sendi and Addisu Demissie Kifle from Destino Dance Company based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Sendi and Kifle will kick off the festival with Ene Man Negn (Who am I), a duet about identity, choices and fate, as well as A Holding Space, a duet by London-based choreographers Russell Meliphant and Adam Benjamin that highlights the themes of trust and a dialogue between two people who share the same space and history. The opening night programme will also include a short film about the process of creating A Holding Space. The two performers share a powerful history as youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, who found their way to the Saddler’s Well stage, with the guidance of Dance United in Ethiopia. The Baxter Dance Festival will therefore, start with a powerful message about how dance can be a positive catalyst in the lives of young dancers.
After an absence of more than 30 years, South African music legend Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse and his band, return to the Baxter Concert Hall, for a one-night only celebration, on Friday, 26 October, at 8pm.
As one of South Africa’s stateliest musical treasures who loves his country as much as he does performing live, Sipho promises Cape Town a show well worth the wait. “I can’t believe where the time has gone,” says Mabuse, whom we have come to love for hit songs like Burn Out and Shikisha.
He continues, “The Baxter holds many fond memories for me. We would like honour this iconic venue with a stunning once-off show, pulling out all the stops by playing all the hits and throwing in a few surprises along the way.”
Hot on the heels of his keynote address at Music Exchange 2018 (MEX18) conference, earlier this month, Sipho’s promise to return to the Mother City for a full concert is about to be honoured, much to the excitement of fans across the peninsula.
Sipho has also selected three artists from the MEX18 conference, to be showcased on the line-up. They are singer and songwriter Roeshdien Jaz, Siphokazi Jonas and Afro-fusion band Mmino who regularly perform at the V&A Waterfront.
“Look at Siphokazi Jonas,” Sipho says. “Four years ago she performed at Music Exchange and today she is working full-time in the entertainment industry. Roeshdien has enjoyed a string of radio hits and he is now ready to draw larger audience. Mmino is an amazing band that had such fresh ideas musically and now also deserve to be seen by a wider audience. I want to give these immensely talented Cape Town artists a chance and in this way help to build and support the next generation of artists in our country,”
Pic: saha.org.za
11 September 2018
Today, the Standing Committee on Human Settlements adopted its previous minutes from Tuesday, 21 August 2018. These minutes acknowledged the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s commitment to transferring Phase 3 of District Six’s human settlement construction mandate to the Provincial Department of Human Settlements. It is unfortunate that the ANC remains indifferent to the people of District Six as it did not support the motion to adopt these minutes.
The ANC’s objection to this motion shows the party’s true colours as putting its own political interests before the rights of the District Six land claimants. This follows after the ANC-led National Government appointed a shoddy tender, namely, Fikile Construction, which abandoned Phase 3 of the District Six Land Restitution Program.
I am counting on Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to make herself available for the Standing Committee on 25 September 2018. The Minister has so far failed to attend the past three Standing Committees, and I trust that she will finally come to terms with her duty, as outlined by the Constitution, to deliver to the people of District Six in our province. It is evident that this is a mandate the Minister continues to grapple with while the lives of our residents hang worryingly in the balance.
It is upsetting to see that after over 20 years of waiting the ANC will stop at no end to deny District Six claimants of their dream of returning back to their beloved community.
The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape will continue to fight for the beneficiaries of District Six, waiting to be returned to their beloved community.
