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In an interview on the eve of the historic Bledisloe Cup Test in Hong Kong, O’Neill also urged stubborn South Africa to get its act together for the sake of SANZAR rugby.

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South African incompetence wins the day
THE MAUL: By JIM KAYES - Thursday, 30 October 2008

The South Africans wanted a finals system that saw the top finishing side from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa host a playoff. Sanity has prevailed.

The decision to scrap plans for an extended Super 14 finals series next year is hardly surprising. After all, South Africa were involved.

The South African Rugby Union is so incompetent it is still staggering that Jake White was able to keep things together long enough for the Springboks to win last year’s World Cup.

But their demands over next year’s finals were ridiculous and sanity has prevailed with the expanded series delayed till 2010 when a bigger competition will probably be played in conferences.

So what was the fuss? Well, fed up with their poor track record in the Super 14, the South Africans had wanted a top-six finals system that saw the top finishing side from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa host a playoff.

Their opponents would be the next best qualifying teams.

The blatant unfairness of such a system, which could have seen a team finish outside the top six but still host a playoff, seemed lost on South Africa.

Perhaps given their history of discrimination such a stupid system is simply second nature.

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Cowardly South Africa

“South Africa is a wonderful country and a wonderful rugby nation and the average Springbok fan has never been backward in coming forward to tell you how marvellous their team is.

It is therefore incredible how muted the voice of South African rugby is on the world stage. When was the last time we heard a South African rugby administrator prognosticating on anything of global significance or anything bar the problem of cleaning up the mess in his own backyard?

When was the last time that South Africa took a lead or brought a fresh idea to the rugby party? Indeed, when was the last time they allowed themselves an independent thought that did not represent the express wishes or even orders of their two Sanzar partners, New Zealand and Australia, who clearly expect South Africa to vote with them on every big issue even though in terms of culture and rugby imperatives, it is a totally different place? “We tend to drift along and do what they say,” as one of South Africa’s best rugby writers wrote to me recently.

They do. Last week, South Africa, after expressing opposition to many of the laws experiments, largely but not exclusively in private, lamely went along with the incredible Sanzar decision to extend the trial of the dreaded “sanctions” ELVs, which give the game a breathless, deathless, tap-and-go structure, and provide a cheats’ charter that puts the whole onus of the breakdown phases totally at the individual whim of a referee.

What a shame that a great rugby nation lacked the courage to stand up for itself.”

How does that make one feel? Are we a wimpy spineless lot?

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Two question:

the violence in rugby you talk about, is is because rugby causes it or because we live in a violent un-policed country?
this momentous event/s coming in 3 months, what is it and exactly when will it come as every blog you mention it but it is…’always coming.’

Brent

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