San Isidro not on cabbies’ road map
THE travelling SA media enjoyed some epic taxi rides in the sprawling urban jungle of Buenos Aires, thanks to cabbies having no idea where they were going. Two hacks spent 90 minutes getting to Bok training after touring most of the city. After numerous stops to conduct enthusiastic conversations with pedestrians and other drivers, the pair were deposited at the San Isidro club, $50 poorer and in time to see the Boks ending their session.
TAXI rides continued to be a hit-and-miss affair when the four newspapermen on tour attempted to reach local scribe Frankie Deges’s home for an asado (braai) in the distant suburbs. After nearly two hours in a cab and a $70 bill, with a driver who ignored one-way roads and laughed maniacally at oncoming cars, the shaken group arrived, fashionably late, at Casa Deges. Among the guests they kept waiting were former All Black and Pumas coaches Graham Henry and Marcelo Loffreda.
WHEN one scribe greeted Henry as “Sir Graham” he was quickly put down. “I don’t answer to ‘sir’ — only to Graham or Ted,” Henry said with that familiar twinkle in his eye.
LOCAL media were enthusiastic when interviewing Bok players this week. Willem Alberts was asked to sip the local mate tea while being filmed. Alberts’s face betrayed his thoughts about the brew, but he bravely mustered “it’s interesting”.
HEYNEKE Meyer didn’t fall into the old Irish trap like former Bok coach Jake White when he was presented with a tricky question. “If you could choose one Pumas player to represent the Boks, who would it be?” Meyer was asked. He quickly replied “Hugo Porta”, which took the sting out of the question.
SEEING the glass half full is to be encouraged, but Tightheads thought the Australian RU took it a tad far in a press release following last weekend’s defeat to the All Blacks. Judge for yourself: “The Wallabies opened a new era under head coach Ewen McKenzie with a bright, attacking display before going down 47-29 against the All Blacks at ANZ Stadium in Sydney tonight in the opening match of this year’s Rugby Championship.”