ABSA and SA Rugby have not confirmed the bank's sponsorship of the Springboks but they are slowly getting the message out - albeit in a roundabout way.
The branding used by the bank at press conferences these days not only features the Currie Cup logo but also sports the leaping Springbok. Normally, Tightheads wouldn't give branding a second glance but it was hard to avoid at the Lions' team announcement this week. It was such a struggle to erect the branding, which forms the background to the top table, that the press conference started 20 minutes late.
TIGHTHEADS were reminded of how brisk the change in sporting fortunes can be when we chatted with Lions president Kevin de Klerk after his team's last-gasp victory over the Sharks. Someone put it to De Klerk that the team's recent good results might enable the Lions to lure back players who had left the union. "I'm not sure they are good enough to make the side," De Klerk quipped - and he may have a point.
SOMEHOW we can't see the South African Rugby Union rolling up their sleeves for a similar cause, but the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) are pleading with thieves to return a rare 100-year-old rugby jersey. Stuff.co.nz reported that the jersey, worn by New Zealand Maori hooker David Small in Australia in 1910, was stolen during the team's centenary celebrations in June. Small played for one of the first Maori sides. The Small family had allowed the jersey to be displayed by the New Zealand Maori team during their three-match centenary series and celebrations in Rotorua, where it was nicked.
CONGRATULATIONS to John Hart's 1999 Rugby World Cup All Blacks, who were voted sport's top chokers in a recent Kiwi poll. Some achievement - especially since online readers felt they reached for the self-destruct button with even greater glee than Hansie Cronje's 1999 Cricket World Cup Proteas. Aussie hacker Greg Norman who, in the final round of Majors, had the never-say-die qualities of a kamikaze pilot, took third spot.
"PROST!" Need we say more in support of the decision by Saracens to send captain Steve Borthwick to the Oktoberfest in Munich as part of a team-bonding exercise rather than the launch of the Heineken Cup in Cardiff? The organisers were hopping mad that Saracens were the only club not represented at the draw.
GLAMOUR ref Steve Walsh is back on the international panel and will mark his Test return when the Springboks play Wales at the Millennium Stadium on November 13, nogal. Walsh who was dumped by his NZRU bosses for repeated breaches of discipline involving alcohol, relocated to Sydney, where he relaunched his career.
OUR best wishes to Bok legend Syd Nomis, who last week had his left leg amputated. We know the man who always has the friendliest face in the room will bounce back.
