Happy 92nd Birthday Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, grandfather of our proud nation.

We wish you health, happiness, peace, and lots of rest.

To: the ultimate Springbok Supporter

From: all of the others.

Here at BlitzBokke.com HQ in far-flung Hong Kong, we are moerse (very) privileged to have dedicated Springbok Sevens fans in all of the cities where the IRB Sevens World Series takes place.  Many of you stay in touch with us by sending in pictures of the BlitzBokke, stories, updates, suggestions or just to say Howzit!  For that we are rêrig (really) appreciative. 

One such fan, Lucy Benjamin sent us some pictures from the London & Edinburgh Sevens to share with you.

Cheers Lucy!

The BlitzBokke at Murrayfield, Edinburgh (Scotland):

The BlitzBokke at Twickenham, London (UK):

I recently noticed the following post on the Springbok Sevens IRB Sevens World Series 2009/2010 Campaign FaceBook Group:

Apologies for the belated post, just found the group. Many won’t like what I have to say but it comes from the heart. We were there when the bokke won in Adelaide and we’ve been here and supported them when they’ve lost.

But this year the loss Hirt less than the snubbing bok fans received from the team. Let me explain, a highlight for many supporters is to chat with the players after everyhring is said and done. Win or lose we’re proud of our guys and for some strange reason feel a burning need to express it. A photo , an autograph or jus getting to say well done face to face brings people from as far away as Brisbane and Perth.

So, to have the team just packup and leave while the supporters beg them to do a lap around the oval, as every othe team win or lose had done, is disappointing and frankly hurts. For three days fans fly the flag shout and sing your guts out and their team doesn’t acknowledge their support.

One friend of mine has said she’ll be supporting the Australian team next year and for an expat that’s really tough.

Perhaps they’ll remember what the point is next year.

The coach responded

The author, Lionel Dieperink goes on to say that he has also written about his observations via the SARU website and that he was happy to have received an e-mail from Paul Treu.  In it the coach undertakes that they will look into opportunities for more/better interaction between the Team and the fans at the Adelaide Sevens.

(Continues below. SA readers, please click on the advert below to support BlitzBokke.com)

The role of the Team Manager

I would like to add that while we appreciate the efforts in this regards that the coach has made, he already has a lot on his plate and that someone like Sebastian Prim, the Team Manager should really step up and become more hands-on with regards to communication between the Team and the fans.  Here at BlitzBokke.com we have already set up a great communication infrastructure and we implore the team management to use us. 

In the light of this issue and to expand on a discussion I had with Riette Pretorius after the USA Sevens (read more about that here), we here at BlitzBokke.com decided to add a feature to the BlitzBokke.com online mix that will hopefully help to enhance communication between the fans of the Springbok Sevens Team.  Our ultimate aim is for the Team and management to become actively involved in this initiative.  Only time will tell. 

Let’s talk

We have revived what we would like to call the BlitzBokke Community Forum.  The techies amongst you would proably argue that this kind of an online bulletin board is outdated but we feel strongly that the Forum allows the kind of interaction that a website or even FaceBook cannot. 

So let’s give it a go.

How can you become part?

Basically, you register as a Member in 4 easy steps.  Once you’re registered, you can interact with other Members about anything that pertains to our Team.

The Forum is brand-new and we depend on you to guide us as to how we can tweak it so as to make it as effective as possible. 

Please visit The BlitzBokke Community Forumand let’s become more active in our support for the BlitzBokke.

Cheers,

Mike Jansen

 A challenge awaits

If there was ever a challenge set for a brand-new skipper of a Springbok team, the recent call to duty for Kyle Brown is it.  His side already decimated due to injury and SuperRugby call-up, the new Springbok Sevens Skipper will be leading what will be a Sevens team made up of primarily young, inexperienced players.

To add to the challenge, coach Paul Treu did not travel with his charges to Australia, choosing instead to remain behind to be by his sick mother’s bedside in hospital. 

The senior players, guided by the rest of the BlitzBokke management team will be called upon to lead the preparations for Adelaide with the full knowledge that South Africa is the defending champions in Adelaide while woefully trailing the rest of the top teams on the IRB Sevens World Series log.

Thankfully, the young University of Cape Town player will have in his side one remaining former Bok skipper in Mpho Mbiyozo, ably supported by the other senior players in Frankie Horne, Rayno Benjamin, Chase Minnaar and Cecil Afrika. 

Thanks to Treu’s mission of preparing all of his players to be leaders, Brown’s baptism as skipper of the 2008/2009 Series Champions will be less of a baptism of fire.  Instead it will be but the next step in his development as a well-rounded international Sevens player. 

We wish him and the Boys well in Adelaide and Hong Kong.

Bokke Bo!

(“Kaptein” is an Afrikaans song sung by popular Afrikaans artist Kurt Darren.  “Kaptein, span die seile” translated into English means: “Captain, set the sails” While the song is primarily about a bloke and his girl, we chose to use it in this clip because it’s just such a lekker song about a captain getting ready for a challenge!)

The Hong Kong Sevens is almost upon us and with the Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu having declared his mission to capture the Cup for the first time ever, it’s time to polish our knowledge of the South African National Anthem. 

I noticed at the previous Cup Finals, notably the New Zealand and USA Sevens, that the anthems of the finalists were not played.  I could be wrong, but as far as I remember, the anthem of the Cup finalists are still played here in Hong Kong. OK, Maybe I visited the sponsor’s brew bar too many times in previous years! Cheers to that Guinness!

So, mense, to prepare you for the Hong Kong Sevens Cup Final 2010, where South Africa will play …..? here’s a little tutorial to help you sing you South African National Anthem uit volle bors (like we say in Afrikaans!):

(The Afrikaans translation is within brackets, for the English translation, refer to the YouTube video below)

[Xhosa]

Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika

(Here, seën Afrika)

Maluphakanyisw’ uphondo lwayo,

 (Mag haar gees opstyg)

[Zoeloe]

Yizwa imithandazo yethu,

(Hoor ons gebede aan)

Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

(Here, seën ons, u kinders.)

[Sesotho]

Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,

(Here, beskerm ons nasie)

O fedise dintwa la matshwenyeho,

(Verban oorloë en twis)

O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso, Setjhaba sa South Afrika – South Afrika!

(Beskerm ons, beskerm ons nasie, Suid-Afrika)

[Afrikaans]

Uit die blou van onse hemel,

Uit die diepte van ons see,

Oor ons ewige gebergtes,

Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

(English)

Sounds the call to come together,

And united we shall stand,

Let us live and strive for freedom,

In South Africa our land.

Daar het jy dit nou!

The full rendition will be done just before the Cup Final of the 2010 Cathay Pacific/Credit Suiise Hong Kong Sevens.  See you at the Hong Kong Stadium!

No matter what IRB Sevens World Series tournament you attend, there are always very distinct supporters groups in the stands.  Two stand-out groups at these tournaments inevitably are the Kenyans & Fijians.  How is it that they are seemingly so organised and the Saffas not?  Mense, it is time we change this anomaly.

Kenyan fans at the USA Sevens (Pic: IRB/ Martin Seras Lima)

Here in Hong Kong it is common knowledge that the ‘South African corner’ is in the east-side’s main level of the Hong Kong Stadium, next to where the teams enter the pitch.  If you’re a Saffa and not up to the madness that is the South Stand, this is where you want to be heading.  But that all there is to it.  There is so much more that can be done to organise team support.  An why limit it to just here in Hong Kong?  The IRB Sevens World Series consists of eight tournaments around the world and BlitzBokke.com is more than happy to play a leading role in coordinating support for our Boys in all eight cities.

To kick off this initiative, we would like to highlight an initiative by one Saffa who is based in the USA.

Riette Pretorius had such a great time at this year’s Vegas Sevens that she has volunteered to coordinate all South Africans who are planning to attend next year’s event.  You may have noticed all her pictures from The Sam Boyd Stadium that she kindly made available to BlitzBokke.com.  She literally roamed the stadium and snapped away at anything and anybody sporting the Green & Gold.  Now that’s what we call a proud South African!

BlitzBokke.com will be looking for more people like Riette who will “take charge” of procedings all over the Sevens Series.  If you are that person, let us know what you are planning and we’ll help you all the way!

To get things started for the USA Sevens 2011, Riette has started a FaceBook Group, so if you’re based in the States or are planning to travel there next year for the Sevens, that is where you should start.  The Group already boasts 33 members and a collection of 130 pictures!  Who knows, the Vegas Sevens 2011 may just be the first tournament to have boerewors & Castle Lager/Carling Black Label beer in the stands!

If you’re planning to attend USA Sevens 2011, Riette is your go-to-girl! (Pic: Riette Pretorius)

BlitzBokke.com will keep you abreast of their plans so stay tuned if the USA Sevens 2011 is on your radar.

Cheers vir eers!

Renfred Dazel, the experienced Springbok Sevens sweeper, has withdrawn from the team and his place will be filled by the Vodacom Blue Bulls U21 player Branco du Preez.

Dazel missed the season opening IRB Sevens World Series tournaments in Dubai and George late last year after undergoing minor knee surgery. However, after making the fans happy with his return to the Wellington and Las Vegas squad, his troublesome knee flared up again during training earlier this week.

The 19-year old Du Preez, who is equally at home at flyhalf and centre, is the fourth uncapped player called by up BlitzBokke coach, Paul Treu, for the next two IRB tournaments in New Zealand and the United States.

All the newcomers received their Springbok Sevens colours at a capping ceremony in Newlands yesterday. The team leaves for New Zealand on Saturday via Johannesburg and Sydney. The other newcomers in the team are Philip van der Walt, Hoffman Maritz and Steven Hunt.

Treu said the Wellington and Las Vegas tournaments offer great opportunities for the youngsters to impress in the absence of the team’s regulars.

“We trained very hard in Stellenbosch and youngsters added a lot of enthusiasm and new energy to our team environment. It is unfortunate that we have to travel to New Zealand and the USA without so many regulars, but these tournaments present the youngsters with an opportunity to step up to a new level.

“They impressed me during the warm-up tournaments in Sri Lanka and Argentina, but the Series tournaments are obviously much tougher and more demanding,” said Treu.

The squad end their local preparation this morning with the customary captain’s run in Stellenbosch.

Finally, the BlitzBokke can never be accused of not being motivated enough prior to tournaments because coach Treu is well-known for calling on experienced motivational speakers from the worlds of sport and business to speak to his charges. Later on Thursday, the squad will attend a talk by Ernst van Dyk, South Africa’s Paralympic medallist and a multiple winner of the Boston wheelchair marathon.

I regularly receive pictures from lucky BlitzBok-fans able to watch the Boys play all over the world.  I once again have many photographs  in my inbox waiting to be placed on our Flickr account.  I received the following set from Susan Van Der Riet, a Saffa based in Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who attended the Sevens Rugby World Cup.  I couldn’t help put put them in what I thought should be the sequence.  See if you can pick up the story:

Someone decides to booby-trap a friend’s vuvuzela,

The friend, none the wiser, picks up the spiked vuvuzela to cheer on the BlitzBokke,

Huh? 

Is that what I think it was?  

Nope.  It’s definately not Castle Lager!

Nice!

You owe me a case, South African Breweries!