to win The Rugby Championship, the first time the Boks had won the vaunted southern hemisphere championship in ten years, since then-coach Peter De Villiers’ Boks had won the Tri-Nations in 2009.
But in World Cup years, The Rugby Championship, because of when it is played, is a shadow of its usual self. Where Six Nations, played in the first months of the year far from the World Cup, maintains its structure, status, and quality during World Cup years, the Championship is a truncated shadow of its usual self. The teams are the same and the quality is unquestionable.
Thus the peculiarities of the 2019 Rugby Championship… and also the latest in an endless line of allegedly politics-fuelled selection decisions by Bok management.Initially Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus effectively created two Springbok squads. One group faced off against Australia. It would be unfair to call that squad a B-side, as some tried to do in the week leading up to the contest.
The two teams will meet up in the second match of the World Cup in Japan where the two giants of world rugby are in the same pool and neither wanted to yield psychological advantage to the other. South Africa had perhaps more to prove as the country‘s national team continues to recover from the depths they hit in 2016-2017.
Yet the reality is that the Springboks, because of the pressure brought to bear on them from the government and elsewhere, have actually done a better job of bringing in black players than maybe they have been given credit for. The main reason for this is less virtue than it is the simple reality that the Springboks want and need to win. To ignore a vast swathe of the population that can help them do so would be suicide.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »
All Blacks say World Cup more important than top rankingAll Blacks coach Steve Hansen dismissed concerns about losing their number one world ranking Sunday as he concentrated on a World Cup selection conundrum after demolishing Australia.
Source: TimesLIVE - 🏆 28. / 59 Read more »
Source: eNCA - 🏆 49. / 51 Read more »
Argentina coach Ledesma doubts southern hemisphere teams will all make World Cup semisNorthern teams have upped their game since last Rugby World Cup, says Argentina coach Mario Ledesma
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »
Siya Kolisi is good to go for the World Cup‚ says Bok coachRassie Erasmus confirms Bok captain and try scorer Sbu Nkosi for Japan
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »
GAVIN RICH: Rassie faces tough decisions in picking World Cup squadThe biggest headache is over right wing, where brilliant Cheslin Kolbe vies with block-busting runner Sbu Nkosi
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »