Win two cases of SA Rugby wine from Ernie Els

THE Bokke may have drawn against England at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday but like their thousands of fans, golf’s “Big Easy” – Ernie Els – remains committed to the core in his support of the national team.

To celebrate the past weekend’s match, two MyWeekend readers can each win a case of Ernie Els’s rugby-themed wines. Now in its second season, the SA Rugby range is made in collaboration with SA Rugby by Louis Strydom, acclaimed winemaker of the Ernie Els Wine Estate. Els himself has been a keen supporter of Springbok rugby since he was a small boy.

Each case to be won contains six bottles of shiraz/cabernet sauvignon 2010 reds and six bottles of 2011 sauvignon blanc.
To enter, SMS the word BIGEASY to 40881. SMSes are R1.50 each, errors are billed and free minutes don’t apply. Avusa staff may not enter. Entries close at noon tomorrow (Tuesday June 26); winners will be notified before the end of the week. Prizes will be couriered to them. Entrants must be over 18.

All the colour, action of the rugby

WEEKEND Post chief photographer Mike Holmes took these pics at Saturday’s third test between the Springboks and England at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

Ex-Bok coach Div’s sex tape bombshell

By Yolandé Stander and John Harvey
CONTROVERSIAL former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has accused Southern Kings rugby boss Cheeky Watson and local ANC MP Cedric Frolick of being behind shock allegations that he had been filmed having sex in a parking lot in 2008 shortly after being appointed.

The accusations are made in De Villiers’s new book Politically Incorrect, released on Friday May 25. In the book, De Villiers claims he had been told the two were behind the sex tape smear which almost derailed his Bok coaching career before it had properly begun.

“The first time I heard about the so-called sex tape was the weekend of the Tri-Nations test against the All Blacks in Cape Town. Chris Hewitt, the South African Rugby Union (Saru) media manager who was later killed in a light aircraft crash, informed me about the existence of the tape. Apparently Cheeky Watson and Cedric Frolick were going to reveal a sex tape they had obtained of me in a compromising position with a woman in a car park during a trip to the Eastern Cape.

“By then Chris had informed me that Cedric, who as an ANC MP was involved with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, had told him he would rather have a white coach who would listen to him than a black coach who did his own thing.”

The sex tape allegations centre on an incident in April 2008 when the Bok coach was allegedly caught on tape having sex in a car with an unknown woman. Later that year Springbok communications manager Andy Colquhoun was quoted as saying Saru had found “no evidence of a plot and no evidence such a tape exists”.
Watson and Frolick both rubbished De Villiers’s claim on Friday. Watson told Weekend Post: “My only comment is: ‘Shame, I feel sorry for him.’ It’s completely unfounded.”
An equally incensed Frolick said: “As I said initially when the story [about the sex tape] broke in 2008, I do not know anything about it. I don’t get involved in people’s personal business.”
He was surprised this was even mentioned in the book, because De Villiers never raised the issue with him after the incident. “If he had a problem he could have spoken to me about it, but he never did.”
De Villiers’s book has already courted controversy in Eastern Cape rugby circles as it contains assertions about Watson’s son Luke and the fact that the Southern Kings should not be part of the Super Rugby competition next year.
Frolick said De Villiers’s disclosures were a “slap in the face” to the Eastern Cape rugby community.
De Villiers’s criticism of the Southern Kings being included in the tough Super Rugby competition next year also came as a shock to Frolick.
In the book, De Villiers says the Eastern Cape needs rugby to be developed, as 60% of all South Africa’s black players come from the region, but the Kings are not the answer. “If you want to introduce rugby, make every Super 15 team play a game there. If you want to develop talent, let it run its natural course, not by buying players from elsewhere. If they gave black players the chance, they would be the best they could be  …
“We don’t have enough players to justify it. Instead of creating a vehicle to develop and keep the best black rugby players in the country, we’re making a team for the seventh, eighth and ninth best white players who don’t have anything left to give.”
He says the Kings simply would not be competitive in Super Rugby.
Also tackled in the book is the issue of Luke Watson, the current EP Kings captain, and his controversial stint with the Springbok team. In a section of who would captain the team he details his decision not to make Luke skipper.
“Cheeky didn’t expect me to be so strong. Like most South African fathers, he couldn’t take a step back from his child’s sport. Luke is an outstanding player and captain, but he never lived up to my expectations.”

This is a shortened version of an article that first appeared in the print edition of Weekend Post on Saturday, May 26, 2012.

How Bay really won the Sevens bid

By George Byron

ONLY tense manoeuvring behind the scenes at the highest level stopped heavyweights Cape Town from derailing Port Elizabeth’s successful bid to host the star-studded international IRB World Sevens rugby tournament later this year.

Last-minute lobbying of key players who favoured international tourism hotspot Cape Town caused the decision to be delayed on several occasions before last week’s announcement.

This has been revealed by EP Rugby Board member and parliamentary house chairperson of committees Cedric Frolick who played a key role in ensuring Port Elizabeth’s bid enjoyed exclusive government backing.

EP’s bid was also given extra impetus by the support of SA Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskin who threw his full weight behind Nelson Mandela Bay’s effort. Frolick is well connected at the top levels of South African sport and was previously deputy chairperson of the parliamentary sports portfolio committee.

“While Port Elizabeth’s bid had the full backing of EP Rugby, the municipality and government, the Cape Town bid was fragmented with its municipality and WP Rugby not always seeing eye to eye,” Frolick said. “They also did not enjoy government backing.” The sponsors also had to be told that Port Elizabeth was not this “little town down the coast” and that it had performed admirably when staging Fifa World Cup matches.

“There was lots of work done to ensure our bid was successful. Though they only entered the race late, once Cape Town put their name in the hat they were always going to be a major force.”

It is believed one of the biggest battles EP had to fight was to win over the confidence of Emirates Airlines – one of the major sponsors.

“Obviously Cape Town is a world brand and the airline has a big footprint in the city with its own terminal at Cape Town International Airport,” said Frolick.  “However, we spoke to Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) and they have agreed to accommodate the airline in every way possible in PE. They can bring their aircraft in here and have facilities inside the airport.

“The success of this bid shows EP is now firmly on the path to secure Super Rugby status in 2013. The first step was the awarding of the Tri Nations Test to the city, when the Springboks will face the All Blacks on August 20.

“We now have stability in EP rugby and everything is starting to fall into place.”

Frolick said he had entered into negotiations with Hoskin to convince the SA Rugby boss the city would be the ideal host. “I told Hoskin if George lost out he should not take the tournament away from the region. Every year thousands of PE fans travelled to George to watch the event and PE was the next logical option.”

While Port Elizabeth’s bid was unified, the same could not be said for Cape Town.

“Rugby does not have a footprint at the new Greenpoint Stadium which is administered by the municipality which made the original bid to host the Sevens.

“The municipality offered WP Rugby the chance to play at the new stadium at exorbitant fees which was turned down by rugby, who have continued to play at their traditional home at Newlands. It was only right at the end that WP Rugby threw their weight behind the Cape Town bid.

“I think that when considering the bids the rugby (bosses) decided they did not want to get involved in the local politics of WP Rugby.”

Frolick said the new stability brought to EP rugby by president Cheeky Watson and chief executive Anele Pamba had renewed SA Rugby’s faith in the region.

Frolick also heaped praise on the efforts of Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Zanoxolo Wayile, who said his city was ready to welcome the world.

“I also believe another big plus was the massive 48000 crowd which attended EP’s Currie Cup playoff match against the Pumas last season.”

Pamba said the event could bring in revenue worth about R80-million to the city.

“This event will be televised to between 16 and 20 countries and we can expect a massive influx of tourists,” said Pamba, adding there were plans to organise an additional week-long Sevens tournament leading up to the main event.

And it will also be a special occasion for Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu, who will relish the chance of a return to the city where he played for EP at the end of his career. Treu completed his masters studies in education psychology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

The tournament will be held in December over two days which have not yet been announced.

(The print version of this article was originally published in Weekend Post on Saturday, April 16, 2011.)