Springboks’ bruiser baulks at ‘Borat’ comparison
IT WAS arguably the most bizarre question a Springbok rugby player has had to answer in a press conference – and it tested to the utmost the restraint of the Boks’ enforcer, Eben Etzebeth.
The latter has stepped into the considerable boots of bruising Bakkies Botha as the tough guy in the Springbok pack, and he was not amused when asked: “Eben, has anybody ever told you look like Borat (the character played by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen)? I mean, is that your nickname – Borat?”
The question was asked by a New Zealand reporter dressed in a jacket, tie, shorts and flip-flops, and he was clearly attending the press conference to stir a reaction for the offbeat television show he presents in New Zealand.
Etzebeth did not see the funny side of what amounted to an insult. All knitted brow and evil eyes, he glared: “No! I have no nickname.”
Nervous John McFarland, the Bok assistant coach sitting next to Etzebeth moved quickly to defuse the combustible situation.
“His nickname is, uh, Eben,” McFarland tamely offered.
The bruising lock, after the press conference, made a point of muttering something unrepeatable under his breath in Afrikaans as he walked past the stirrer.
The Boks would do well to parade the mischievous Kiwi before Etzebeth minutes before kick-off against Wales on Saturday.
THE 2015 Rugby World Cup has been hugely entertaining and there will still be many thrills and spills in the coming weeks, but the biggest highfives up to now go to the minnows of the tournament.
The little guys, often written off and laughed at, have come good big-time in England and helped make the tournament a truly special one.
They have got us cheering for them against the bigger, richer nations and wishing them to cause an upset – just as they did, unfortunately, against the Boks (not that we cheered for them on that occasion).
But, as hard as it was to accept losing to Japan, how can we not all celebrate the success of Japan at the tournament and even the performances of a good few of the other minnows of the world game? For they have been the ones who’ve kept things interesting, in what otherwise may have turned into a fairly drab affair.
We watch the bigger nations year-in and year-out hammering away at each other in the Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and also in the June and November Tests. But we never see Japan, Romania, Georgia, the USA, Canada and the like take on the big boys and that’s why their participation at the World Cup is vital for the intrigue, surprise and joy we get every four years.
In the coming week we will see eight of the world’s top nations (sorry, England, that you won’t be a part of it – the only big boy to miss out) fight it out for a shot at playing in the semi-finals and having a chance of going for glory.
There will be outstanding individual performances, heroes will be born and teams will make nations proud, but already heroes have been born and fans in the most unlikely places will be puffing out their chests, and young boys and girls will be wanting to pick up a rugby ball and run with it.
A World Cup winner will be crowned at the end of this tournament, a team will be hailed the best on the planet and they’ll be deserving and will go into the annals of history, but the 2015 tournament could also go down as the most successful ever and that’s because of the contribution made by the tier-two and tierthree nations.
Rugby is growing – the world governing body’s aim is to make it a truly global sport – and hats off to everyone who has helped make it happen.
Sorry New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Wales and Argentina... the team who’ve had the biggest impact at the World Cup are Japan.
Eddie Jones’s team may be heading home after finishing third in Pool B, but with three wins out of four, including that victory over the Boks, they were the outstanding side in the pool stages and have won fans across the world.
How the Brave Blossoms have grown. Before this tournament, Japan had played 24 World Cup matches and won just one – against Zimbabwe in 1991.
In 1995 they suffered a 145-17 pounding at the hands of the All Blacks... but roll on to 2015 and they’ve now won four times; three times in just the last month.
Rugby is growing in Japan, helped by the influx of starstudded players and experienced coaches from across the world, and they can hardly be called a minnow anymore.
European nations Georgia and Romania also played their part, giving their all in their matches even though they were generally out-gunned, but they’re hardly whipping boys, as was once the case.
Canada and the USA also fought gallantly, while the Pacific Islands teams – Fiji, Tonga and Samoa – were largely disappointing.
Uruguay and Namibia had their moments, but greater investment in rugby is needed in those countries.
It has been a joy to watch the so-called minnows, but it is time that World Cup (formerly the IRB) did a little more to help their development.
Playing at the World Cup every four years is not good enough if the likes of Georgia, Romania and Japan are to truly progress as rugby nations. These teams and their like should play against tierone nations on a more regular basis.
Why can’t the Boks, Wallabies and All Blacks make a stop-over in Tbilisi or Bucharest or Tokyo once a year – perhaps when they tour Europe every November? That is now something for the rugby powers to consider.