IT'S ALWAYS nice to be wanted. It must be a strange feeling for referees, though. In an age where the men in the middle are as professional as players and…
South Africa
Rugby Championship: Minimal changes for Round 2
By Alan Dymock AS INEVITABLE as the front of the newspapers showing flaxen-haired teenage girls jumping for joy on school-results day, the big guns have made almost no changes for…
Beware the return of Juan Smith
By Alan Dymock AS RUGBY becomes more competitive, more sponsor-driven, more about the trophies than the humans involved, there is a chance that some folk could get chewed up and…
Rugby Championship: What the locals are saying before Round 1
By Alan Dymock AS OUTSIDERS we can analyse and chirp and break down what we can of the Rugby Championship from our cosy hemisphere, perhaps tainted by a little bit…
Take That Rugby Championship!: Four returnees
LIKE NIGHT-OUT stories, some rugby players just will not go away. Sure, tales of their exploits may become greatly exaggerated in the re-telling. However, in this upcoming Rugby Championship there…
A shake-up of Super Rugby could be forced through by 2016
LIKE A Katie Price lecture on the life of Liz Taylor, it is hard to avoid talk of shocking splits. News is floating north from the SANZAR regions that the…
French Top 14: New faces for the new season
OSTENTATIOUS OR talent-filled, either way, it is hard to deny that the Top 14 will have an impressive array of international stars next season. Indeed there is something for everyone…
Hong Kong celebrates record Sevens series audience
FIJI WON the on-field plaudits by sneaking past first-time Cup finalists Wales 26-19, to successfully defend their HSBC Sevens title. In a thrilling final, the South Sea Islanders scored four…
Silly season: Six spring signings
NO DOUBT the hope was, during the moments where we all jumped up and shouted about the harsh brilliance of the Heineken Cup and the layout of the Six Nations…
Getting to know Springbok great Bryan Habana
WITH THE flash of a mischievous smile, Bryan Habana reclines. “There is no greater feeling than drinking a beer out of a trophy,” he says. Habana is both open and…