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PRETORIA NEWS | Saturday, May 16 2020
12
| Graphic: MATTHYS MOSS
| Source: Yahoo; Reuters; planetrugby.com
• RUGBY
Sharks stars
remain but
Pieter-Steph
eyes France
JACQUES VAN DER WESTHUYZEN
THE Lions won’t get World Cup winner
Malcolm Marx back from Japan,
but Elton Jantjies is staying until after
next year’s series against the British
and Irish Lions.
But, there was no finality last night
about whether World Rugby’s 2019
Player of the Year, Pieter-Steph du Toit,
had opted out of his contract with
Western Province
and the Stormers
to take up a bigmoney
offer from
Montpellier in
France.
The Springbok
flank was
rumoured to
have made a
late decision on
Thursday night
to cancel his contract
in the Cape
and take up the deal abroad.
Pieter-Steph du Toit
The deadline for South Africa’s professional
players to cancel their employment
contracts with the local unions
was at midnight Thursday, a move
brought to light to help save the SA
Rugby industry millions of rands following
the spread of the coronavirus
and the suspension of all rugby across
the globe.
The players were given 21 days to terminate
their contracts, with employers
forbidden from negotiating with the
players.
Marx and young back Tyrone Green
were the big losses suffered by the
Lions, even though Marx didn’t play
at all for the team this year after he
joined the Shining Arcs in Japan after
last year’s World Cup. He, however,
was due to return in June and play
Super Rugby next year ahead of the
visit by the British and Irish Lions
next year. Green, meanwhile, has
apparently taken up an offer from
Harlequins, while Ruan Vermaak and
Shaun Reynolds have also chosen to
move on from the Lions.
Good news for the Sharks is that
hot-targets, World Cup stars, Makazole
Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am,
are staying in Durban, as are Curwin
Bosch and Thomas du Toit, who are
believed to have been targets for clubs
in Europe. Flank Tyler Paul though
opted “out” of his contract.
In Pretoria, centre Johnny Kotze has
decided to end his association with
the Bulls earlier than expected, while
at the Stormers flyhalf Jean-Luc du
Preez is believed to be on his way to
Japan, following flank Cobus Wiese
out of Newlands.
Meanwhile, South African rugby industry
stakeholders announced on Friday
they had taken pay cuts, among other
economies, to slice up to R1.2-billion
from the sports budget by the end
of the year. The plan was designed
and concluded by organisations representing
SA Rugby, provincial unions,
players and rugby industry employees.
The economies will be achieved by
reduced expenditure following the
cancellation of competitions (49.7%
of savings), cuts in other operational
budgets (37.3%) and in salary reductions
(13%).
“It was a complex process to find
alignment with a number of entities
representing 1396 people in the SA
rugby industry,” said Jurie Roux, CEO
of SA Rugby.
“(Among other things) it has meant
salary cuts for many, but we have
put together a plan that will ensure
the industry will be positioned and
resourceful to get straight back to
action just as soon as we are permitted.”
SA Rugby furthermore said they had
presented their “return-to-play” plan
to the government and, according to
Roux, had “a strong case”.
“The return to play of our provincial
teams - even if it is behind closed
doors - would be hugely beneficial to
a nation in lockdown,” said Roux.
MARK KEOHANE
Bulls Eye!
“INSPIRATION!”
Cheslin Kolbe, on the 23rd August,
2019, posted this one word on his
Instagram and Twitter account.
It was power.
Kolbe, who a few months later
would be the darling of South Africa
and recognized as one of the most
potent attacking weapons in world
rugby, was referring to Gio Aplon.
Bulls Director of Rugby and 2007
World Cup-winning coach Jake White
this week confirmed the short-term
signing of Aplon. It was as an inspirational
moment as Kolbe’s very public
acknowledgement of the player who
defied physics a decade before he was
saluted for making a case for the small
men of the game.
I use the rugby term “small” relatively
because there is nothing small
about Kolbe and there certainly is
nothing “small” about Aplon. Both
players are big in every sense, and
both have always been big in the way
they have played the game and also
in the way they have contributed to
success, whenever and wherever they
have played.
I first saw Aplon play for the University
of Stellenbosch (Maties) against
the University of Cape Town (UCT) at
the Green Mile in Newlands in 2005.
Former Springbok assistant coach and
Stormers head coach Alan Solomons
was helping out at UCT and I met up
with him afterwards.
“Did you see that bloke at fullback
for them?” said Solomons. He may
have phrased it as a question but he
said it as a statement. “He is special. He
will play for the Springboks.”
Aplon did play for the Springboks,
but it was more than five years after
my conversation with Solomons that
Aplon finally got his international
• INSIDE
SuperSport
United Bhasera’s
secret to
success
reward. The journey was too brief and
the man with the magical side step and
potent acceleration would play just 17
Tests between 2010 and 2012.
There would be a reintroduction to
the Springboks under Rassie Eramsus
at the end of 2018, but there would
be no on-field action for Aplon as he
mentored teammates more than he
monstered the opposition with his
step and go.
Aplon turns 38 in October and
I recall an interview he did with SA
Rugby Magazine in 2018, when he
said he aimed to play until he was
40-years-old. He qualified it by saying
he was only joking, but he needed
have because Aplon is unique as a
talent, and he comfortably has the legs
and the engine to play until he is 40.
It is criminal that Aplon’s finest
years in South Africa were confined
to 180 matches for the Stormers and
Western Province. His Test career was
limited but on arrival in France, Aplon
instantly made a statement to all of
rugby Europe. Aplon, playing for Grenoble,
was adored by the rugby public,
rugby media and teammates. He was
also massively respected by the opposition.
Aplon’s global journey led him to
Japan to play under White, who has
now lured the Hawston-born wizard to
Pretoria for one last hurrah.
Aplon will mentor the Bulls backs,
as much as be a part of their attack.
SA Director of Rugby, Erasmus,
when explaining Aplon’s call-up in
2018, applauded the quality of rugby
Aplon was playing as a 36-year-old
and espoused the virtues of having
a fullback/winger with a kicking left
foot as powerful as his running game.
Erasmus believed in Aplon’s rugby
intellect, as much as his career on-field
experience and Erasmus, in his time
as head of rugby at the Stormers and
• RUGBY
Obsessed with size, Bok coaches turned their backs on a match-winning genius
“
... who knows how
many international caps
Gio Aplon might have
won if he’d been born
a Kiwi or an Aussie?
Gavin Mortimer
Rugby Writer
Western Province, always invested in
the skills of Aplon. Unfortunately, the
national coaches always took comfort
in the belief that Aplon was simply too
small to play Test rugby.
This mentality prompted veteran
rugby writer Gavin Mortimer to
lament Aplon’s absence at the 2015
World Cup.
Mortimer, for SA Rugby Magazine
in 2016, wrote: “Gio Aplon’s size has
not counted against him in France and
who knows how many international
caps Gio Aplon might have won if
he’d been born a Kiwi or an Aussie?”
Mortimer concluded: “South Africa
never got the best of Aplon, never
knew how to most effectively use his
pace, nor understood his strengths as
a runner who looked for space before
contact. All the Springbok management
ever saw was a man who stood at
1.75 metres and weighed 79 kilograms.
Too small for Test rugby.
“Can you imagine such short-sightedness
Down Under? Well, exactly.
Which is why Australia and New Zealand
contested the World Cup final.”
Fast forward to 2019 in Japan and
Kolbe’s stunning run against the All
The Good Read
Thanks for the memories,
Dillyn
Blacks and even more significant try
against England in the World Cup
final.
Fortunately for South Africa, there
was nothing short-sighted about
Erasmus when he picked the Toulouse-based
Kolbe for the Springboks.
Kolbe, like Aplon, had to leave
South Africa to finally get his recognition.
The French rugby public and
media love a composer more than they
do a rock star. They also appreciate that
skill can stream roll size.
Aplon prospered in France,
although his rugby had always been
as good when playing for Western
Province and Stormers. Cue the situation
with Kolbe.
Neither did anything different
when they went to France. What was
different is that coaches in France
spoke to the players’ strengths and
never questioned perceived weaknesses
because of size.
“I will always fight for the small
guys as a player and, as a fan, I’ll
always be shouting for the small guys,’
says Aplon.
Erasmus, who Aplon describes as a
tactical genius, never questioned the
capability of Aplon.
And neither does White.
“I was lucky to start under Rassie,
so I got a good base to understand
and analyse the game better. When
he came to Cape Town, he shook my
world with the way he thinks about
and analyses everything,’ says Aplon,
who is as much a disciple of White as
he is of Erasmus.
“Jake is a serial winner and to be
coached by him was one of the reasons
I went to Japan. I’ve already learned so
much from him in the past 18 months.
He is a fantastic coach. System-wise,
he is exceptional, he implements good
programmes and he will make every
player better.”
• FOOTBALL
Boost for
Bundesliga
GERMANY’S Bundesliga will attract
legions of new armchair fans around
the world this weekend when it
becomes the first of Europe’s major
soccer leagues to resume after a
two-month shutdown due to the
coronavirus.
In normal circumstances, the German
game, dominated in recent seasons
by Bayern Munich, lacks the marketing
pull of England’s Premier League
or Spain’s La Liga, which boasts the
world’s two biggest clubs in terms of
revenue – Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Yet even with a subdued atmosphere
given the absence of passionate fans,
with all games being played behind
closed doors to prevent the spread of
the coronavirus, the Bundesliga can
use the spotlight to show its worth to
devotees missing live action around
the globe.
“With the Bundesliga as the only
league to be broadcast on TV, I expect
we will have an audience of a billion,”
Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
told SportBild magazine this week.
In Britain, BT Sport is showing all
nine Bundesliga matches live this
weekend, including the Ruhr valley
derby between Borussia Dortmund and
Schalke 04.
The return of live action will also
enliven the advertising industry, with
the prospect of big audiences set to
drive up rates for commercials during
matches.
Misha Sher, vice president for sport
and entertainment at MediaCom, a
WPP agency that buys ad space for
clients, described it as a “huge deal”
at a time when people have so much
time on their hands.
“Football fans will tune in and watch
top level football because they’ve been
deprived of that for months,” he said.
In Scandinavia, all Bundesliga games
will be available on the Viaplay streaming
service with selected games on
pay-TV channels, said broadcaster
NENT.
“We know how strong the appetite for
live sport is, so we are delighted to offer
top-class football to our viewers once
again,” said a NENT spokesperson.
Gambling companies also welcomed
the resumption of top-level soccer in
Europe, with British bookmaker William
Hill describing it as encouraging
in an update on its business on Friday.
| Reuters