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Boots and All kicked into touch

Cape Town - SuperSport’s own rugby revamp will take place this week with long-standing Boots and All making way for two-part TMO and Phaka, a show dedicated to celebrating black rugby, making its bow.

TMO, a half-hour show on Tuesday and Thursday nights (19:00, SS1), begins this week and will kick off with a review show, followed two days later by a preview of the weekend’s action.

Boots and All, which ran to almost 1 000 episodes over exactly 20 years, has been packed away in the name of progress, although the show’s stalwarts remain.

Familiar analysts like Nick Mallett, Naas Botha, Bobby Skinstad, Ashwin Willemse and Breyton Paulse will continue to offer their insights.

Xola Ntshinga will host Tuesday’s TMO while Thursday’s TMO will be hosted by Elma Smit, who will throw things forward to weekend action.

Top guests will continue to do duty in both shows.

Boots and All was a wonderful programme for a long time,” explained Louwrens Rensburg, SuperSport’s executive rugby producer.

“But the immediacy of news and the nature of social media made us question the relevance of reviewing rugby on a Thursday, many days after the action. We’re moving with the times and looking for something fresh and exciting.”

Part of the rugby overhaul is the introduction of Phaka, a Xhosa term for “dish up” (as in rugby).

Kaunda Ntunja, the first black captain of SA Schoolboys and a prominent isiXhosa commentator, will host the show in partnership with Makhaya Jack, one of the patriarchs of black rugby.

Phaka debuts on Tuesday (18:00, SS1) and will also feature on SS Select (channel 210, Tuesday 22:30) and SS4 (Wednesday, 05:00 and Thursday, 17:10).

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