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JJ Harmse
The Rugby World Cup is upon us and here in Wellington, where the Boks take on Wales in a couple of days, things are slowly getting into gear for the action.
To be honest with you, there is not much going on in the capital city, but according to some hotels, they are expecting a good weekend of business.
Good on them. It is very clear that New Zealand will be making a massive loss on hosting the event, as well the New Zealand Rugby Union and indeed, the IRB.
Those losses will hurt the country in the future, but for now, everything is focused on the "now and here" of the event.
It is time to support the Boks despite preferences on who should or should not play and it is time to support New Zealand and its effort to host the tournament. The "if's" and "but's" can wait till later.
It was interesting to see our newish Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, in action for the first time last night, where he hosted a function.
His speech has been well reported by now and he echoed sentiments of support about the World Cup and the Springboks participation in it. His insistence that issues like transformation in rugby and the origin of the fan gear should be kept on the backburner for now until after the World Cup certainly is a logical and a patriotic one, but patience has never been a good trait of South Africans!
So we will wait and see whether those ‘aggressors’ will listen to their comrade and back the Boks or whether they will continue to address those issues in the coming weeks.
Mbalula certainly is a passionate man and understands the psyche of team sports. It is a good thing to know that the man really cares about the team and admits their ability to heal the nation.
The minister is of course a very important man in South Africa, but not necessarily so over here, where his presence will soon be diminished by the arrival of the wives and girlfriends of the players, or indeed, other dignitaries and statesmen.
The so-called ‘WAGS’ will hit New Zealand very soon, with a lot of speculation about the possibility of Zara Philips visiting her rugby playing husband, Mike Tindall.
The eldest granddaughter of the Queen of England is off course married to the England midfielder.
England fullback, Ben Foden, is dating Irish singer Una Healy, while Irish fullback, Rob Kearney, is dating former Footballer’s Wives actress, Susie Amy.
The relationship between the Australian flyhalf, Quade Cooper, and swimming star multiple Olympic gold medal winner Stephanie Rice is well-known and reports have it that she would link up with her boyfriend soon.
Italian captain, Sergio Parisse, is married to a former Miss France, Alexandra Rosenfeld, and should she join him, she could talk cosmetics with the current Miss Russia, Natalia Gantimurova. According to the local New Plymouth paper, where Russia are due to play the USA on Saturday, Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko plans to bring Gantimurova to the rugby, his PR company reportedly said. He is scheduled to fly into New Plymouth in his private jet.
The newspaper has reported that either Russian President Dmitry Medvedev or Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were also being lined up to attend the game, but with the tragic plane crash back home, those plans might be shelved to attend to those in real pain.
I have deliberately not mentioned any South African ‘WAGS’, because I don’t want to leave anyone out! Who am I to comment on which of the player’s wives deserves mentioning? So let me welcome all of them, whenever they arrive!
Ok, so back to the rugby. What will this edition deliver? A South African win? Not according to the TAB, where you can still get the Boks at 7/1 and colleague Louis de Villiers and I decided to put our money where our mouths are and have put some money on the Boks.
One of the reasons why the Boks are still at such a good price is undoubtedly because of the way the local media are writing the Boks off.
They are seen as outdated in their playing style, ageing as a squad and on the slide as a unit.
These are the same guys who describe Heinrich Brüssow as ‘a mountain of a man!
Anyway, I am sure my money is safe. The Boks will win and it is not only because Mister Mbalula says so!
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
The Rugby World Cup is upon us and here in Wellington, where the Boks take on Wales in a couple of days, things are slowly getting into gear for the action.
To be honest with you, there is not much going on in the capital city, but according to some hotels, they are expecting a good weekend of business.
Good on them. It is very clear that New Zealand will be making a massive loss on hosting the event, as well the New Zealand Rugby Union and indeed, the IRB.
Those losses will hurt the country in the future, but for now, everything is focused on the "now and here" of the event.
It is time to support the Boks despite preferences on who should or should not play and it is time to support New Zealand and its effort to host the tournament. The "if's" and "but's" can wait till later.
It was interesting to see our newish Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, in action for the first time last night, where he hosted a function.
His speech has been well reported by now and he echoed sentiments of support about the World Cup and the Springboks participation in it. His insistence that issues like transformation in rugby and the origin of the fan gear should be kept on the backburner for now until after the World Cup certainly is a logical and a patriotic one, but patience has never been a good trait of South Africans!
So we will wait and see whether those ‘aggressors’ will listen to their comrade and back the Boks or whether they will continue to address those issues in the coming weeks.
Mbalula certainly is a passionate man and understands the psyche of team sports. It is a good thing to know that the man really cares about the team and admits their ability to heal the nation.
The minister is of course a very important man in South Africa, but not necessarily so over here, where his presence will soon be diminished by the arrival of the wives and girlfriends of the players, or indeed, other dignitaries and statesmen.
The so-called ‘WAGS’ will hit New Zealand very soon, with a lot of speculation about the possibility of Zara Philips visiting her rugby playing husband, Mike Tindall.
The eldest granddaughter of the Queen of England is off course married to the England midfielder.
England fullback, Ben Foden, is dating Irish singer Una Healy, while Irish fullback, Rob Kearney, is dating former Footballer’s Wives actress, Susie Amy.
The relationship between the Australian flyhalf, Quade Cooper, and swimming star multiple Olympic gold medal winner Stephanie Rice is well-known and reports have it that she would link up with her boyfriend soon.
Italian captain, Sergio Parisse, is married to a former Miss France, Alexandra Rosenfeld, and should she join him, she could talk cosmetics with the current Miss Russia, Natalia Gantimurova. According to the local New Plymouth paper, where Russia are due to play the USA on Saturday, Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko plans to bring Gantimurova to the rugby, his PR company reportedly said. He is scheduled to fly into New Plymouth in his private jet.
The newspaper has reported that either Russian President Dmitry Medvedev or Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were also being lined up to attend the game, but with the tragic plane crash back home, those plans might be shelved to attend to those in real pain.
I have deliberately not mentioned any South African ‘WAGS’, because I don’t want to leave anyone out! Who am I to comment on which of the player’s wives deserves mentioning? So let me welcome all of them, whenever they arrive!
Ok, so back to the rugby. What will this edition deliver? A South African win? Not according to the TAB, where you can still get the Boks at 7/1 and colleague Louis de Villiers and I decided to put our money where our mouths are and have put some money on the Boks.
One of the reasons why the Boks are still at such a good price is undoubtedly because of the way the local media are writing the Boks off.
They are seen as outdated in their playing style, ageing as a squad and on the slide as a unit.
These are the same guys who describe Heinrich Brüssow as ‘a mountain of a man!
Anyway, I am sure my money is safe. The Boks will win and it is not only because Mister Mbalula says so!
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
