Table of contents for July 2024 in SA RUGBY

It's mildly amusing when Irish rugby fans take exception to being derided by their traditionally erudite Springbok counterparts … Though Ireland will point to winning five Six Nations trophies since 2014, the team representing the Emerald Isle has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals or a World Cup, despite reinforcing their team with foreign imports in recent years. The best of the 18 pro-era Tests between South Africa and Ireland are showcased in this issue, dating back to a 37-13 win for the hosts at Free State Stadium in 1998. Ireland duly hammered the woeful 2017 Boks and then, in 2022, edged a team experimenting with tactics, but a cheeky two-win streak became an unforgivable insult when they had the audacity to beat the world champions in the pool stage of…

'THIS IS MY BEST-EVER CLUB MEMORY' EBEN ETZEBETH AFTER CAPTAINING THE SHARKS TO VICTORY IN THE CHALLENGE CUP FINAL AGAINST GLOUCESTER 'SOUTH AFRICA HAVE HIT THE JACKPOT, THEIR TEAMS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER AND BETTER. SUPER RUGBY IS SUFFERING, I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG IT'S GOING TO BE AROUND' FORMER ALL BLACKS CENTRE MA'A NONU ON SOUTH AFRICA COMPETING IN THE URC AND EPCR TOURNAMENTS 'WE HAVE ONE MORE OPPORTUNITY AND IF WE STUFF UP IN MONACO, THAT WILL BE IT. IT IS TIME FOR US TO DELIVER' BLITZBOKS COACH PHILIP SNYMAN AFTER HIS TEAM FINISHED SIXTH IN THE SEVENS GRAND FINAL IN MADRID 'IF WE DON'T WANT THE SCRUM IN RUGBY UNION, I GUESS WE SHOULD START WATCHING RUGBY LEAGUE' SHARKS AND SPRINGBOK PROP OX NCHÉ ON WORLD RUGBY'S LAW CHANGE…

SPRINGBOKS vs IRELAND Agnawing sense of unfinished business has agitated the Springboks to a singular focus on demolishing Ireland when the reigning back-to-back world champions host a two-Test series against the Six Nations winners in July. The Boks defended their 2019 title at the 2023 World Cup in France, cementing their status as one of the greatest teams in rugby history, but the quest to retain the Webb Ellis Cup was not without setbacks. A narrow defeat to Ireland in the pool stage opened a wound that has not closed in the months following the tournament, a gash that has got the Boks throbbing for payback. Despite ultimately triumphing, the Springboks, with Rassie Erasmus back in the driving set as head coach, are on a mission to prove that they…

Supplied by DEFENCE Keeping defence up-to-date Former SA U18 coach and current St John's College director of rugby Katleho Lynch shares some of his thoughts around coaching defence. www.youtube.com/@RugbyCoachWeekly WINNING THE COLLISION CONTEST AT THE RIGHT HEIGHT Rugby is a game of physicality, and when the attack is coached well, it can really make it hard to defend against because they are getting you behind the gainline. A defence coach looks to counter this with dominant tackles. Coach players to use their feet and get square and front-on so that they can dominate the collision and make those dominant tackles. But there's a danger that, to generate the power and unbalance the ball-carrier, the tackier goes too high. We can improve players' technique by breaking down this tackle to focus…

CLUB FOCUS The underdogs of Irish rugby, Connacht continue to punch well above their weight in the United Rugby Championship. Connacht are the smallest of Ireland's four professional provincial teams, but despite having a weaker player base than their three rivals, continue to prove their worth as Ireland's overachievers. The Galway-based side powered into the playoffs in the 2022-23 season and stunned Ulster in the quarter-finals in Belfast to progress to the semi-finals for the first time since they won the Pro12 title in the 2015-16 season. That famous victory against giants Leinster at Murrayfieid in May 2016 marked the ultimate high for the club, and they also dethroned defending champions Glasgow in the Galway semi-final. With the province containing just over 8% of the total Irish population, Connacht has…

OX NCHÉ 'Thank you, Sharkies!' - The Bok prop celebrated with front-row teammates Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch after beating Gloucester in the Challenge Cup final in London. EBEN ETZEBETH 'What a feeling! Thanks to this incredible group of players and management and also the supporters that stuck with us through the very bad times and kept on believing in us.' - The Sharks captain on his way to the dressing room following his team's triumph in the Challenge Cup final. ETHAN HOOKER 'One for the books.' - The former Junior Boks centre celebrated winning the Challenge Cup with Sharks teammate Werner Kok. SIYA MASUKU 'Challenge Cup Champions 2024!' - The Sharks flyhalf with Werner Kok after guiding his team to a historic first cross-border title. STEPHAN LEWIES 'Memories made…

JD SCHICKERLING When JD Schickerling decided to take his career to Japan in 2021, it was a leap into the unknown. However, the 2.03m lock has returned to the Stormers a renewed force, ready to drive John Dobson's team back to the summit of South African rugby. 'I'm very, very excited,' Schickerling tells SA Rugby magazine. 'I feel like a kid again going back to school. It was a hard decision at first for me to go abroad. When Dobbo and I spoke about getting me back to the Stormers, I was really excited because the team has been doing so well.' Offered a salary that the Stormers couldn't match, the then 26-year-old was granted an early release from his contract to take up a move to the Far East.…

• South African Steph Nel served as Connacht's director of rugby between 2000 and 2003. A former Bulls age-group player, Nel retired due to injuries at 21, before stepping into coaching at Hoërskool Waterkloof and Pretoria Boys' High. • Former Lions and Springbok flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff played three games for Connacht in the 2016-17 season. • Connacht's only major piece of silverware in the professional era is the 2015-16 Pro12 title, when they beat Leinster 20-10 in the final at Murrayfield. • Former Wallabies, Brumbies and Leinster utility forward Scott Fardy currently serves as Connacht's defence coach. • Connacht hosted Jake White's Springboks (below) in a pre-World Cup friendly in August 2007, a game that saw the Bobby Skinstad-captained visitors win 18-3, thanks to tries from Ashwin Willemse and Jacques…

CAREER IN PICTURES…

SA Rugby magazine The Sharks became the first South African team to win an EPCR title with a 36-22 victory over Gloucester in the Challenge Cup final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. PURE GOLD COMMENT! Wins a six-month subscription to SA Rugby magazine Dhirshan Gobind Chasing the Ocean doccie coming soon. Leon de Villiers The best I have seen the Sharks play for a very long time. Great team effort. A number of players really impressed and the future looks good. Mark Ogley What a game. I was there and it was epic. The Sharks destroyed them with clinical rugby. Only Gloucester's two tries at the end made it respectable. Kobus van der Merwe Weil done Sharks, good game. Just keep Eben as captain, he ignites everyone around him. Patrick…

It wasn't a surprise when the Proteas' 15-man squad for this year's T20 World Cup, which included just one black African, was criticised for being 'too white'. But I certainly didn't expect that charge to be levelled against the Springboks a few weeks later. Anyone who has watched Chasing the Sun can attest to the fact that the 2019 and 2023 World Cup-winning Bok squads were representative of South Africa, with a diverse group of players from alt backgrounds. That was the direct result of Rassie Erasmus tackling transformation head-on after being appointed director of rugby in 2018. Erasmus made it a way of life for the national team, giving players genuine opportunities and meaningful game time. The days of a black player coming off the bench for the Boks…

One of the world's best No 12s, New Zealand born-and-raised Bundee Aki is one of the big-name players in the Connacht squad, and what makes the Galway outfit such a difficult team to beat in European cup competitions. The midfield battering ram was central to Ireland's Grand Slam win earlier this year and was shortlisted for World Rugby's Player of the Year award following his star turn at the 2023 World Cup in France. At 34, Aki is at the peak of his playing powers and always among the leading players in carries, metres run, metres gained, gain-line success and in defenders beaten for club and country, while his defence, when required, has been the equal of his attack. A native of Canberra, prop Finlay Bealham moved to Ireland in…

This season's Springbok scheduie is a South African supporter's dream. Ireland, at home in a two-Test series in the first fortnight of July and the All Blacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town on successive weekends to complete the Rugby Championship. This is the best of the best. The game's top-three ranked sides in battle in the Republic. Then there is the challenge of the Wallabies in Australia for successive Tests, a country in which the Boks have won just three and drawn two Tests in the 30 played since South Africa's international rugby readmission in 1992. Ireland's visit is the most anticipated, even if the All Blacks in South Africa is always the most popular fixture of the Test season for Bok supporters. Ireland have not played in the Republic…