One of the institutions for expatriate SouthAfricans in the city of Kaohsiung is The Pig & Whistle, fondly known simply as “The Pig.”  I have some happy memories of The Pig that involved a very late night, a 120cc scooter and a girl in a nurse’s uniform, but that’s a looong story and my mother might be reading this! Nuff said.

Max Murphy, the owner from an old hang-out of mine, The Brass Monkey in Taipei and his (South African) manager of The Pig, Gregg invites all the Saffas in Kaohsiung as well as the thousands others scattered around the island to a meet-and-greet on the 18th July.  They promise that the BlitzBokke as well as other members of the SA contingent will be in attendance.

Those of you on FaceBook can visit their FB page for more information.

Cheers Max.

I first arrived in Taiwan, aka Ilha Formosa (the “beautiful island“) many moons ago.  Some of my everlasting memories of the island is strangely not the heat and humidity. I had experienced that in Singapore before.  I also did, after all, arrive in the heart of the Asian winter… on a wet and cold evening.  To get a feeling for what it was like, have a look (and listen to this great music video made by my pal Roy, a fellow South African who is now a Taiwanese resident:

That’s what it was like for me when I first arrived.  I’d like to tell you more about my first two experiences of  Taiwan.  I’m going to call them:

Part 1: Girls in Glass-houses

Part 2: “Blood” on the streets

(More about Part 1-2 later)

These are but 2 of my lasting memories of a very special place.  If you watch the following promotional video on “Ilha Formosa” you’ll see some of the wonderful sights of the island. 

To the Springboks: I know you will be spending only a few days in Kaohsiung, but like Taiwan “touched my heart” I hope you Boys will also leave there with lasting memories. (A Gold Medal each will not be too shabby, hey?!)

Mike Jansen

The 2009 edition of the World Games is less than a week away and word from Kaohsiung (Taiwan) is that the city is all set and raring to go!

If I read the SASCOC website correctly, the South African contingent will not depart for Taiwan as a group, rather the various codes of sport have staggered arrival days (even so-called “jet-lag days”).  I am still awaiting confirmation from the organisers.

Unfortunately I will depart for South Africa tomorrow so I will not attend the Games in my neighboring country of Taiwan (and previous home for a few years).  Also, I am not sure about the state of internet connectivity in Cape Town, and going on previous experience things are not looking up in terms of daily website updates.  One great thing about being at home though, is that I will have access to my DSTV Supersport dish (Yeah!).  I live in hope though so all’s not lost.

In the meantime, stay close to the Games website for all the latest from Kaohsiung.

All the best to Paul Treu and the Boys.

Mike Jansen

The International Rugby Board this week announced the much anticipated line up of teams for the Rugby Sevens tournament at this year’s World Games in Kaohsiung.

South Africa, the IRB Sevens World Series champions, will be joined in the eight-team, two-day tournament which kicks off on July 24, by Fiji, the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2005 champions and reigning World Games champions, with Argentina, Portugal, USA, Japan, Hong Kong and hosts Chinese Taipei completing the high level line up.

“We firmly believe that the Sevens tournament at the World Games plays an important role in the ongoing development and promotion of Rugby around the world, producing exciting matches and attracting new fans thanks to the remarkable talent of all the international teams competing,” said IRB President Bernard Lapasset.

“The Sevens tournament at the World Games has always proven successful and this year we are particularly excited that the competition is being held in Asia where Rugby is reaching out to new young audiences in a rapidly developing market for our sport. We are looking forward to what promises to be an exciting tournament.”

South Africa’s headline acts such as Mpho Mbiyozo, Mzwandile Stick, Gio Aplon, Neil Powell, Robert Ebersohn and Renfred Dazel are all set to be in Kaohsiung. Indeed, the South African team start as strong medal favourites for the tournament which will provide a platform for world class international Sevens stars to showcase their talent to a new audience in Chinese Taipei.

“The World Games is something that we are really looking forward to,” said South Africa captain Mpho Mbiyozo. “My teammates and I anticipate that being in Kaohsiung, competing for a medal with top level athletes from around the world and experiencing a truly international sporting event will be an inspiring experience.”

“We all aspire to compete at the very highest level on the world’s biggest sporting stages and we believe that the World Games gives us a sense of what we might experience at the Olympic Games. We wholly support Rugby’s re-inclusion in the Olympic Programme and hope to have an opportunity to compete at that level in 2016.”

However, the beauty of Sevens is its competitive and unpredictable nature and with Fiji and Argentina recording tournament victories in the IRB Sevens World Series this year and USA making a semi final for the first time, the competition promises to be intense.

Ron Froehlich, President of the International World Games Association, believes that the inclusion of some of the world’s finest Sevens teams, will add to the renowned international flavour of the World Games.

“The Rugby Sevens tournament has grown to become a highlight of the World Games sporting programme, providing an exciting spectacle for fans and participants alike. The inclusion of some of the world’s best Sevens teams from every corner of the world will broaden the Games’ global appeal even further.”

The SA sport authorities responsible for national representative teams, SASCOC (what is it with South Africa and accronyms?!) recently announced the sports codes as well as the players who will be representing South Africa at the 2009 edition of the World Games in the central Taiwan city of Kaohsiung from 16-26 July 2009.

While there some really obscure sports on the program (more about that later) Rugby Sevens will use this exposure to further emphasize to the ‘Lords of the Rings’ (IOC) their determination to be included in the ‘Olympic Family.’

SASCOC recently announced on their website:

Wednesday April 8, 2009
South Africa’s dominant Sevens Rugby Team will head for the 2009 World Games in Koashuing, Taiwan in July as one of the strong favourites to take the gold medal, after governing body SASCOC announced the team to represent the country.
Runaway leaders of the IRB Sevens circuit, and fresh from victory at the weekend over Kenya in the Adelaide final, SASCOC have been able to call upon the strongest available combination, with headline acts Mpho Mbiyozo, Mzwandile Stick, Gio Aplon, Neil Powell, Robert Ebersohn and Renfred Dazel all flying the Team South Africa flag.

The Sevens team will be especially keen to win the title, considering that the shortened form of rugby is one of the favourites to be included as a code in the 2016 Olympics, giving the country a strong chance of a gold medal.

They went on to say:

Those sports that SASCOC are sending to Taiwan for the 13-26 July showpiece are:

Cue sport, dance sport, tenpin bowling, gymnastics, orienteering, power lifting, squash, life saving, rugby sevens and waterskiing.
The full Team South Africa is:
Cue sport: Francois Ellis, Jason Theron, Aspra Punchoo. Official: Ishaun
Singh.
Dance sport: Keohantse Motsepe, Otile Mabuse, Clinton Soules, Meagan
Kleinhans. Officials: Christopher Bulpitt, Rafiek Hoosain.
Gymnastics: Lebobang Ramokopelwa, Stephanie Sandler, Matthew Levy, Lucky Radebe. Officials: Anne Cameron-Smith, Annette Nel, Tiaan van der Walt, Tseko Mogotsi.
Life saving: Donald Brierley, Shaun Dias, Ryan Brennan, Barjo van Niekerk, Armand Marais, Robin Saggers, Kim Brugman, Kendal Alford-Loots, Eloise van Gysen, Guinivere Roggers, Jade Antunes, Jayne Broderick. Officials: Winston Meyer, Valencia Walker.
Orienteering: Nicholas Mulder, Tania Wimberley. Official: Ian Bratt.
Powerlifting: Brian Green, Johan Smith. Official: Peter Erasmus.

Rugby sevens: Mpho Mbiyozo, Robert Ebersohn, Frankie Horne, Vuyo Zangqa, Philip Snyman, Kyle Brown, Renfred Dazel, Ryno Benjamin, Paul Delport, Mzwandile Stick, Gio Aplon, Chase Minnaar, Lionel Mapoe, Cecil Afrika, Neil Powell. Officials: Sebastien Prim, Paul Treu, Hugh Everson, Allan Temple-Jones.

Squash: Stephen Coppinger, Siyoli Lusaseni. Official: Tshepiso Sathekgo.
Tenpin bowling: Guy Caminsky, Gaye Mack. Official: Stan Caminsky.
Waterskiing: Shaun faccio, Heinrich Sam, Andre de Villiers. Official: Eugene Sam.
Medical team: Zakaria Moolla (chief medical doctor), Marlene Naicker,(chief physiotherapist), Tamlym Guest (physiotherapist), Fikile Phasha (physiotherapist), David van Wyk (physiotherapist).
General team management: Jerry Masia (chef de mission), Kaya Majeke (project manager), Jean Kelly (athlete services).

Those of you who have been loyally following BlitzBokke.com will know of my loyal/fanatic support for coach Paul and The Boys.  You will also know that, while there are 2 more tournaments left on the IRB Sevens World Series, the Sevens Springboks are on the cusp of winning their first-ever IRB Sevens World Series and will most probably start the World Games as Series Champions.

What you don’t know is that I lived and worked in Taiwan for 6 years and know the island (known in English as Formosa) and Kaohsiung intimately. My command of Taiwan Mandarin, not to be confused with the Mainland’s Mandarin Chinese language (which is slightly different) is thankfully still intact even after 2-odd years in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) known as Hong Kong.

So, given that information, what you can look forward to in this section of BlitzBokke.com are informative posts on Taiwan/Kaohsiung, what it’s like, the do’s and dont’s (especially for those of you who will be travelling there as well as for the Boys) and many more.

I’ll also try and rally the huge community of Saffas in Taiwan and in particular those in the City of Kaohsiung to come out in support of the BlitzBokke while they are campaigning for their Gold Medal.

So, as they say on TV…

Stay tuned!