Delighted to have been a guest on the Honest Truth with Benito on Smile FM with Dylan Jack last night Talking 2023 Rugby World Cup

Dylan Jack is a  superb writer for SA Rugby magazine and many other titles and Dylan and I don’t hold back this week as we speak about Ireland beating the Boks and more.

Big games loading over the next few weeks, teams can’t flop now. 

We both loved this quote from The Guardian newspaper by Robert Kitson:

At a critical late juncture the Boks’ hybrid stand-in Deon Fourie was pinged for a crooked throw and South Africa visibly missed the ball-carrying and turnover threat of the injured Malcolm Marx. 

Perhaps even more than a goalkicker, they also require Duane Vermeulen to give them more forward punch. 

The time has come, too, for Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber to jettison their overblown 7-1 bench split and opt for something more balanced.

Ireland, though, can rest up this week with a sense of genuine satisfaction at a job well done. 

Winner of 2023 World Cup comes from France, Springboks or Ireland and my tip for the finals is:

 France vs Ireland and France to win it.

Do Listen, but let me tell you … The All Blacks are not winning the World Cup, the pack is weak and the tight 5 does not exist, backline is superb, but games are won with a pack and a good loose trio and the Foster Flops … AKA The All Blacks don’t have that at the moment.

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Also a fantastic book is out by Mike Greenway called The Fireside Springbok – its coffee table beauty 

ISBN: 9780639797724

Size: 28cm x 21.5cm

Book Details: Hard Cover / 256 pages

Go get it 

I am great friends with Mike Greenaway. Our friendship goes back over 27 years, from 1996 when we both worked for a major record company, myself in Cape Town and Mike in Durban.

Mike has toured the world with the Sharks and the Springboks, and this book is a beauty: rich personal stories from players Mike knows well and his stunning research on the Boks in days gone by. The book is a must-read for any sports lover.

Each chapter is short, maybe three pages, with stunning pics and or cartoons with rich stories from  the likes of:

Breyton Paulse 

Mark Andrews

Solly Tyibilika

H O de Villiers 

Siya Kolisi 

Frik du Preez 

Eben Etzebeth

Boy Louw, and many, many more.

The book comprises 256 pages of bliss reading, and the stories in this book are meticulously researched.