Varsity through to the Knock Out Final

Apparently it has been 13 years since Durban Varsity have played in a Knock Out Final. Come next Friday night, Durban Varsity will take on PMB Waratahs 1st and 2nd team. The 2nd XV won their 8th game in a row, downing Wentworth 34-0 scoring 5 tries including a brilliant first try by Steve Smith from a well rehearsed backline move. The 1st XV won 25-8 including 3 tries. Dion Viljoen the “Angry Dutchman” scored two minutes after returning from the sin bin. All of you that will be in Durban on Friday night I urge you to come down and support.

The All Blacks thumped Australia 39-10 in Auckland on Saturday, throwing the Tri-Nations wide open. Welcome back Richie McCaw! The presence that he brings to his team, the way that he leads the Blacks proves a very simple point, the All Blacks are lost without him. He is quite simply the best rugby player in the world. It dose not bode well for the Boks and the Wallabies. South Africa will have to ensure that they are top of their game when taking them on in two weeks time at Newlands.

In the Currie Cup, The Sharks are back in a very big way. They demolished Griquas 44-14 in Kimberly traditionally one of the toughest venues to play at. Jacque Botes scoring a brace and Deon Carstens scoring a great individual try from outside the opposition 22m line. The Blue Bulls thumped the Valke 7-50, Wikus van Heerden scoring a Hat-Trick of tries. Unbelievable how he is not in the Springbok squad above Luke Watson. Wikus has been playing superb rugby all season, big, strong and fast. The Lions downed Western Problems 27-13 adding to the woes for the men from the Cape. Old Varsity boy Doppies la Grange scoring the last try for the Lions to seal the victory. The High flying Cheetahs scraped home 15-10 away to Boland. The Sharks, Bulls and Cheetahs now share the top spot with 23 points. The Lions are 2nd with 21 points and WP is 3rd with 17 points.

It took South Africa 43 years to win a test series in England but thanks to a Captain’s knock from Fatboy Graeme Smith of 154 not out and dogged determination from Mark Boucher saw South Africa to a 5 wicket win over England by chasing down 283 run set for victory. It was the highest chasing total ever chase down at Edgbaston and also the first ever 4th innings century score at the ground. The Proteas go 2-0 up in the series with the Oval test coming up. Speculation is rife that Michael Vaughn will be quitting at the end of this series. His form has been poor and his captaincy less than intelligent at times. Too be fair his bowlers have not performed and besides Lords his batsmen have not scored much.

In Cincinnati Novak Djokovic stopped Rafael Nadal from reaching the world number one spot beating him 6-1, 7-5. It would have been the first time in 4 years that Roger Federer would have been dethroned from the top of world tennis. Sharapova will miss the Olympics and the US Open due to a shoulder injury. Ana Ivanovic it still at the top on the ladies rankings but only by 72 points from Jelena Jankovic. I predict that we will have a new number won soon as Ana has not been playing very well. T

he Hungarian Grand Prix proved to be quite the humdinger with a 7th different winner in 7 years. Heikki Kovalainen won his first on many GP’s today even although through some bad luck for Hamilton and Massa. It seemed a forgone conclusion at the start of the race that it would be a McLaren one two. But Massa had other ideas and jumped to the front of the field from a flying start. He never looked back from there and Ferrari found pace that McLaren could not match. With 3 laps to go Massa’s Ferrari engine blew handing the race to Heikki. Timo Glock racing for Toyota got his first podium ending 2nd and Kimi Raikkonen got the last podium spot. Kimi also set the fastest lap of the race. Hamilton left front tyre blew and that dropped him from 2nd to 12th. He did fight back well to end up 6th though. The Title race is still wide open with Toyota coming through strongly and BMW falling of the pace. Hamilton is leading by 5 points over Kimi and 8 points over Massa. There will be a 3 week break before the F1 circus moves onto the new venue of Valencia for the European grand prix.

Breaking New: Michael Vaughn has stepped down as England Captain. He was England’s most successful captain with 26 victories in 51 tests, including the historical Ashes victory and the series victory away to the Proteas two years ago. I would not be surprised if the Captaincy goes to Fred Flintoff or our very own Kevin Pietersen. It was also announced that Paul Collingwood has stepped down as England’s one day captain.

Until next time, take care, stay fit and stay healthy.

Cheers

ONETIME

Think beyond the horizon and you will find success!