I haven’t blogged in eons it seems. A lot of things have happened. And I really do need to write about Mahela’s retirement. Which I haven’t been able to do yet. It’s old news, but it does need to be addressed. I will. Soon.
Hayman
The Royal – Thomian water polo clash is coming up tomorrow. To see this encounter grow into another well attended clash between the two schools is great. Unfortunately, this means that it has had to move from its previous home and away format, which was nice, but two legs in a neutral pool is the only way to go. Unless they decide to have just one game. Given that there is no need for home and away logistics. I dunno. Just a thought.
There was some drama while I was away, at the National Age Group Championships when both Visakha and S.Thomas’ refused to play the finals against Bishop’s and Royal respectively due to various issues surrounding the officiating of the tournament. Not sure how those issues have been resolved, or whether they even have, but it should add a nice bit of spice to this encounter with both coaches Zainudeen for STC and Mubarak for Royal having a point to prove to each other.
The shot clock has become a standard feature in the local water polo scene now, and not a moment too soon. Playing domestically in international conditions has helped the Sri Lankan team immensely. And their recent fourth place showing in the Asian Water Polo Championship was a commendable effort when compared to similar tours from last year. The improvement has been very. very good. Now the challenge is to increase the player base and get some depth to the junior teams and the domestic game. The shot clock has sped up the game and this is likely to play into the hands of the faster Royal team.
Royal have had a stranglehold on the Hayman for a few years now. From a Thomian point of view that is concerning. Especially since this was the one sport the Thomians were dominant in from the start. The last few encounters have been close, and this one promises to be no different. STC have benefitted greatly from playing the local league season with Zoltan, their Hungarian coach. He has worked on individual skills and one v one match ups should be what S. Thomas’ hope for in this game. However, in most of the games he played the Thomians looked to him to do a lot and as a result may not have had sufficient time to adjust to playing as a team without them.
Royal have had their own plans and conducted their Royal Splash – or whatever it was called – five a side water polo tournament recently. This was with the idea of playing some free spirited water polo and increasing the tempo of the game. It appears to have been a success and we will see the outcome of the two different approaches on Saturday at Sugathadasa Stadium.
Springboks v All Blacks
Aaron Cruden returns to the line up and that’s a good thing for the Blacks, but hopefully he won’t try to do too much to redeem himself for his drunkenness a fortnight ago. Barrett is great coming on, and that’s what he should do for a while yet.
Somehow, as an All Black fan, I have a bad feeling about this game. That this maybe the one in which they become unstuck. Maintaining the sort of discipline and intensity that they have over the last 24 months will take a toll. Before the Rugby Championship started I said they may lose two games away from home. They drew one in Sydney, which in my book equals a loss, and this might just be the other one.
The long travels from Beunos Aires to Jo’burg will take its toll no doubt, and I do think in the last few games the All Blacks have been helped rather a bit by the referees. Even last week’s thrashing of the Argies did leave a little to be desired, and it’s almost as if the Blacks have, like the Lakers and the Manchester Uniteds before them, achieved that status where referees give them everything. That is likely to change in South Africa as the home crowd will insist that it does. South Africa though are severely hampered by the loss of Ruan Pienaar, and Hougard at the base is nippy, but doesn’t have the same game changing ability that Pienaar does. Alongside Pollard, the new half back combination has little to lose.
Unfortunately Nonu comes back at inside centre and will pair up against the brilliant Jean De Villiers. I’m backing the South African captain to show Nonu a thing or two. I really don’t know why they persist with Ma’a. He brings very little to the game and Ryan Crotty and Malakai Fekitoa haven’t really done a lot wrong in that position for Nonu to be the automatic choice if he’s fit. The South African physicality stretches through their backs as well and if Willie Le Roux has a good game things could get a little hairy for the New Zealanders. Cornal Hendricks scored an outstanding try the last time these two met, and Habana is always electric and dangerous. The match up between the young Serfontein and the most intelligent players on the planet in Conrad Smith should also be one that decides the game. The young Bok is smart as well as physical. If he can take Conrad out of the game by forcing him to defend and taking him to ground, there’s gonna be something on for the Boks from the next phase. Both Savea and Nonu need Smith’s presence and it’ll be interesting to see if Serfontein gets some first phase ball to try and take him out of the equation.
The open side match up goes easily to New Zealand where McCaw is up against unimpressive Mohoje, but Duane Vermuelen has been playing almost as well – in a different style – as Keiran Read has been. On the blind side Marcel Coetzee has been really good and Steven Luatua comes in for Jerome Kaino mostly due to Sam Whitelock’s absence in the line out. Whether Luatua can match up to Kaino’s work rate in the lose is likely to affect the result and the sooner Sam Cane comes on, I think, the better.
With those two changes and the potential for Dagg to have an average game despite having a scorcher last week, is what leads me to think that the Boks may just sneak this one. But a loss before the World Cup is hardly the worst thing in the world. Should be an interesting game, to say the least. I’ve got Phantom tickets, so don’t tell me the result.
