Xbox 360 South African Community - Top Sport http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/ en Sat, 11 Sep 2010 01:00:10 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/images/xbox/misc/rss.png Xbox 360 South African Community - Top Sport http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/ Please say its true!! http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78904-please-say-its-true.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:47:28 GMT It seems they might axe the snor on sunday

This will realy make my year :)

PdV’s free ride is over - Keo.co.za ]]> Top Sport Vissie22 http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78904-please-say-its-true.html Hectic: Bulls player held over cops death... http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78708-hectic-bulls-player-held-over-cops-death.html Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:51:57 GMT Just saw this now...

Bulls player held over cop's death: News24: South Africa: News

Quote:
Pretoria - A Blue Bulls rugby player was in police custody on Friday following the death of a Tshwane metro policeman in Pretoria, his lawyer said.
]]> Top Sport GeneralG http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78708-hectic-bulls-player-held-over-cops-death.html WP vs Sharks http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78369-wp-vs-sharks.html Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:04:39 GMT Dont know why nobody started a currie cup thread,anyways go WP JOU LEKKER DING!!!!!!!!WP JOU LEKKER DING!!!!!!

Might be yesterday's news,but hey we are winning the Sharks!!!!

Check it out here - WP come up with some surprises - SuperSport - Rugby

"There were a couple of surprises when Western Province announced their team for Saturday’s big Currie Cup match against the Sharks in Durban. Most critics expected Province to stick almost 100% with the group that won against the Bulls last week.

But one of the three changes to the starting team would not have been anticipated, while in an effort to combat the mobile, fast tempo approach they expect from the Sharks, WP have also made changes to their bench configuration.


Instead of the five/two split between forwards and backs that was in place last week, WP will this week go in with four forwards and three backs. This in spite of the fact that reserve scrumhalf Conrad Hoffmann has massive utility value in that he can play almost anywhere in the backline.

“We are anticipating the Sharks coming at us with a fast game and mobility is going to be important, and we have covered for that on the bench,” said coach Allister Coetzee.
“Against the Bulls we were expecting a hard, physical confrontation, which it was. The Sharks are also physical, but the way they have been playing, they pose a different kind of challenge to that which was posed by the Bulls.”
The new bench configuration means that JD Moller, who started last week at loosehead prop, now drops right out of the 22.

“It is a pity as JD has been playing well, but we needed to bring back Wicus Blaauw, and we have gone for Buhle Mxunyelwa on the bench as he covers tighthead,” said the coach.
Apart from Blaauw’s return to the run-on team, also back in the starting side are flanker Rynhardt Elstadt and wing JJ Engelbrecht. The later was an anticipated replacement for the injured Fabian Juries, but Elstadt’s recall was unexpected as it is at the expense of Nick Koster.
The young former Bishops star was in excellent form in his first top class match in a long while against the Buls after playing for the WP under-21 side earlier in the season following a long injury break.

However, Koster is on the bench, and Coetzee’s explanation for the change did make a lot of sense.
“Rynhardt is not the sort of player you would expect to come on and make an impact late in the game, whereas Nick can definitely do that,” said Coetzee.
Indeed, and if the game is the fast tempo affair most anticipate, Koster could come onto the field jut when WP are in desperate need of some injection of pace.

Koster showed last week that he is as speedy around the park as ever, and he is the fastest loose-forward on the WP books.
Elstadt was the first choice WP blindside flank in the early stages of the Currie Cup before making way for the temporary return of Springbok Francois Louw, and then he was ruled out for two weeks after a farming accident.

Morgan Newman, in the Springbok training group at one stage of last season, comes back into the squad as the additional backline reserve.

Western Province team: Conrad Jantjes, JJ Engelbrecht, Tim Whitehead, Paul Bosch, Frikkie Welsh, Willem de Waal, Dewaldt Duvenage, Duane Vermeulen, Rynhardt Elstadt, Pieter Louw, Anton van Zyl (captain), Adriaan Fondse, Brok Harris, Tiaan Liebenberg, Wicus Blaauw.
Reserves: Deon Fourie, Buhle Mxunyelwa, De Kock Steenkamp, Nick Koster,
Conrad Hoffmann, Lionel Cronje, Morgan Newman. ]]> Top Sport Ninjascreed22 http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78369-wp-vs-sharks.html Real Madrid Sign Oezil for Just €15m http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78347-real-madrid-sign-oezil-just-15m.html Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:57:24 GMT For those who might not know, Real Madrid's financial prowess has managed to finally persuade Werder let Oeil go. For just €15m.

Bundesliga Comment: By Selling Mesut Oezil To Real Madrid, Werder Bremen Have Committed Champions League Suicide And Sold Out The Bundesliga - Goal.com

Where do you stand - do you think Bremen made a sound decision to let him transfer, or do you think honour should come first and they made a bad call to let him go?

Honestly, I think letting him go was the right option. But, €15m is absolute rubbish. Especially from R. Madrid. I was expecting something around the €20-25 million mark. Oezil is going to dominate one day and I expected Bremen to get much more than just 15mil.

The Bundesliga is rising up with an average attendance higher than the Premier League. It has the highest number of goals per match (according to Goal.com) and is the most financially stable league in the Top 5.
As such, I really did expect a little more from Bremen. They are great with young players (Oezil, Boenisch, Diego, Marin) and I have no doubt they'll find someone to replace Oeil, but Im just shocked they let him go for so little.

What are your opinions on this? ]]> Top Sport Stubbs http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78347-real-madrid-sign-oezil-just-15m.html Its official: NZ are being favoured by refs http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78266-its-official-nz-being-favoured-refs.html Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:24:41 GMT By Peter Bills

It's official! New Zealand are treated differently by referees to either of their Tri-Nations opponents.

The statistics from the first five games of this year's competition show a staggering difference in the ratio of penalties per yellow card. Suspicions are rife at the highest levels of South African rugby that the All Blacks get a special deal, and are favoured whether sub-consciously or consciously by referees.

Now, the official figures seem to prove the point. South Africa are the most regularly penalised, conceding six penalties per yellow card. The Australians' figure is remarkably similar - just seven per card.

But by the same calculations, the New Zealand tally is incredible. Official figures show they incur 43 penalties per yellow card, more than seven times the figure of the Springboks. This appears to reveal at best an extraordinary imbalance in the way the three countries are refereed and at worst, a complete lack of consistency by the match officials in the way they deal with the individual southern hemisphere nations. Some might suggest, on the evidence of these figures, that referees' tolerance of New Zealand indiscretions appear to know no bounds.

It also seems to bear out the view of certain Bok officials that there is one law for the All Blacks, quite another for their southern hemisphere rivals.

As Australia's former World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer said: "It is difficult to argue with the facts."

Just days ahead of the crucial Springbok versus All Blacks Tri-Nations Test at FNB Stadium in Soweto, Dwyer wrote a revealing analysis on the New Zealanders' play so far in this Tri-Nations competition.

He calls their form "scintillating" yet his analysis offers an insight of much value to Peter de Villiers' men as they prepare to try and halt the All Blacks juggernaut on Saturday: "Just as the All Blacks value the necessity of quick ball for their own attack, they clearly recognise the threat that opposition quick ball poses to their defence. In fact, I thought the NZ defence was unusually vulnerable to attack from quick ball, as evidenced by two quite simple Springbok tries in their second Test in Wellington. They strive therefore to limit such recycles from their opponents.

"There is nothing wrong with that so long as they do so within the laws of the game. It is here that I, and many others, question their tactics. Black-jerseyed tacklers finish on the ground, on the wrong side of the ball so often that I can't believe that it's by accident. This prevents their opponents from arriving quickly to support their teammate, and allows other All Black support to attack opposition ball on the ground.

Further, opposition scrumhalves are having difficulty getting in close to clear the ball and are forced to 'lift' the ball for their pass to clear All Black bodies. This slows down the clearing pass and gives valuable time to the defence. And it's illegal."

The Australian also highlighted what he called New Zealand's "outrageously offside" positions when they enter the breakdown on their own ball.

"Sometimes they are clearing out opponents from positions a metre or two BEYOND the ruck/maul," he says. "This has the beneficial effect of limiting opposition hands to the tackle ball and allowing their 'early, long place' ball for instant recycle to their excellent support players. If any one doubts this, they should Google 'All Blacks at the Breakdown' and view an excellently compiled video from the Wellington Test against the Boks. It is even on the increase.

"All players play their part, and while McCaw, Franks and Smith have been serial offenders, Kieran Read has perfected his technique also. It is dramatically effective, it frequently brings tries - and it's illegal."

Another former World Cup winner, 1999 Wallabies hooker Michael Foley said: "Referees will lean in favour of the dominant team so that the border line decisions tend to fall their way. Conversely, those tight decisions often go against the team that is not playing well. But I don't believe it is a conspiracy."

With thanks to IOL: News for South Africa and the World ]]> Top Sport Generic User Name http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/top-sport/78266-its-official-nz-being-favoured-refs.html