I’m on a tram is pha-shiz!

Dawg, this video may be old-news on this side of the noodle-curtain, but check this out Aight…

Yo! BlitzBokke.com schemed we’d bring this pumpin’ music video to all you homies out there who haven’t seen it so far.

Marky “Manila Ice” Komar, Tom “T-Mac” McQueen, Mike “The Real Deal” Hayes, Stuart “The Tommy” Gunn, Taffy “I Got Titties” Gutu are Hong Kong rugby players who, earlier this year, put their own SAR-spin on another hit video featuring T-Pain called “I’m on a boat.”

Check out the boys taking over a local tram on Hong Kong Island in the slammin’ clip below.

PEACE!

“Rap star” Tom McQueen also plays ‘a bit of rugby…’

(I’m on a tram is directed & produced by former HK Rugby Captain, Semi Iafeta)

Rugby in Rwanda is booming after the national team’s historic tour to Hong Kong earlier this year.

Youngsters are taking up the sport in impressive numbers while the East African country is also attracting more and more women players.

And Rwanda’s fast expanding rugby scene will be given another boost in late November when three coaches from the famous Penguins academy pay a five-day visit to conduct a series of clinics.

“These are exciting times for Rwandan rugby,” confirmed Dave Hughes, organiser of last March’s visit to Hong Kong by the national team, the Silverbacks.

“There are now seven fully functioning and active rugby clubs in the country and the army and police also play the sport. One club, the Sharks, now have two youth teams, whereas before they didn’t have any, and the Buffalos also have a new youth team.  And whereas previously clubs would enter just one team in a sevens tournament, most of them now enter two.”

Many of the teams in Rwanda are playing in kit donated by Hong Kong clubs.

Youngsters from Sharks U13s proudly display their jerseys which were donated by Hong Kong’s Valley RFC. (Pic: Two Up Front)

Hong Kong clubs donate kit

Hong Kong Rugby Football Union director of development Ruth Mitchell organised a hugely successful kit collection during the Silverbacks’ visit.

The players returned to Rwanda with more than 40 bin bags packed with unused team strips donated by the likes of Hong Kong Football Club, DeA Tigers and Valley.

“We recently organised a tournament in the capital, Kigali, and it was heart-warming to see so many of the teams kitted out in Hong Kong club strips,” said Hughes.  “Ruth did an incredible job organising the collection and the response from the Hong Kong rugby community was overwhelming.”

Players from the National University of Rwanda (NUR) are pictured in their Hong Kong Football Club shirts.    (Pic: Two Up Front)

Life-changing experience for Rwanda skipper

The Silverbacks – named after Rwanda’s signature mountain gorillas – made a huge impression both on and off the pitch during their 11-day tour to Hong Kong.

They finished as Plate runners-up in the inProjects Kowloon RugbyFest, a 10-a-side tournament featuring 14 teams from around the world.

South African rugby great Bob Skinstad was among the impressed spectators and immediately gave them an open invitation to play in the Cape Town Tens, the tournament he co-founded last year.

The Silverbacks also trained with two elite touring teams, Aliens from New Zealand and Penguins from the UK, while Penguins staff put them through a first-level IRB coaching course.

The team then attended the world famous Hong Kong Sevens courtesy of the HKRFU, who waived the cost of tickets.

The trip was a life-changing experience for the players and especially captain Djuma-Adams Mugabo, who grew up homeless on the streets of Kigali, selling cigarettes for a living, before taking up rugby.

An anonymous benefactor who read Mugabo’s inspiring tale stepped forward to fund his further education, meaning the Silverbacks skipper will start college later this year.

Rwanda captain Djuma-Adams Mugabo will be starting college later this year after his tuition fees were paid by a Hong Kong benefactor. (Pic: Two Up Front)

Penguins chip in

The Rwandan rugby community is now eagerly awaiting the visit by the Penguins coaching team which will comprise two Scottish Rugby Union employees – U18s head coach Grant McKelvey and referee development manager Colin Brett – plus Penguins manager Craig Brown.

“Their visit is already generating huge excitement and it shows just how far we have come in a short time that we are going to have international-level coaches conducting clinics in the country,” said Hughes. “It will have a massive impact on rugby development in Rwanda.”

Possible Cape Town trip

Hughes, a Hong Kong-born rugby enthusiast and Rwanda volunteer worker, has two priorities in the months ahead.

* The first is to organise the Silverbacks’ return to Hong Kong next March and, he hopes, take up Skinstad’s offer to play in the Cape Town Tens a few weeks before that.

* The second is to secure land for a purpose-built rugby pitch and clubhouse in Kigali. At present, all games are played on a threadbare school field.

“We’re aiming to secure enough corporate backing to achieve all these objectives,” said Hughes. “The first tour to Hong Kong really raised awareness of Rwandan rugby and we’re determined to build on that.”

Fiji today retained their “title” of bogey team to the Springbok Sevens team.  The BlitzBokke went down to the Islanders by 14 – 12.

While the difference in the end was a mere successful conversion by the Fijians, the winners will go into the scorers log as having made 26 effective tackles to South Africa’s 9.  What also went against the Bokke were some crucial decision-making, taking the ball inside when they should have taken the ball through the hands to their speedsters.

All said and done, coach Paul Treu should be satisfied with the progress his charges have made over the past 4 games.  The young players are adapting well to the rigours of international Sevens at this level, while at long last the more experienced Bokke are beginning to fulfill their leadership role.  The final two tournaments in London and Edinburgh should be another opportunity for the Springboks to gel as a unit before the new season.

South Africa still has a chance of winning some silverware when they play Kenya in the sime-finals of the Plate competition. 

The teams for the Cup semi-finals are:

Samoa vs. England (16:30 local time)

Fiji vs. New Zealand (16:52)

In the Plate semi-finals:

USA vs. Australia (15:46)

SA vs. Kenya (16:08)

A Saffa show’s his colors in Hong Kong (Pic: Mike Jansen)

I just caught the Cathay Pacific television advertisement for the 2010 Hong Kong Sevens on local English-language TV channel Pearl TV. Cathay Pacific is, of course the national airline/carrier of Hong Kong and co-sponsor together with Credit Suisse of the BIGGEST Sevens on the IRB Sevens World Circuit.

The tag-line for Cathay’s 2010 tv advert is “The Fun Is Back” but with the Adelaide Sevens looming (in the way) a week before, at this stage of the season we should amend that to “The Fun Is (Almost) Back.”  For now.

Be that as it may, for any serious Hong Kong Sevens fan, now is the time to start preparing for Hong Kong’s un-official rugby week.

If you haven’t yet done so, put in that saved leave-days at the office to make sure you have a least 4-5 consecutive days come March 26-28, 2010. “But the Sevens is only THREE days” I hear you protest.

Hey, trust me, you’ll need 4-5 days.

Three days for the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens, one (or two) days before to get into the spirit by catching the GFI HKFC Tens over at the Football Club, maybe even the Cable & Wireless Worldwide HK Women’s Rugby Sevens (same venue) on the Friday and, most importantly… a day (again, or two) after March 28 to recuperate (aka sleep-it-off).

On the home-front Boys, now is the time to bank some extra time in the ‘good-house.’ You do not want to be sleeping on the sofa after HK Sevens.  Again, trust me… you’ll need that good-house time more. The boss can be worked with paperwork, but the Missus…neva!

Now is the time to be doing all those chores you’ve been putting off till ‘tomorrow.’ Arrive home with take-outs or a nice bunch of flowers (yes, you know by now: or two) or give her a totally un-expected full body rub (or more) until you’re dead on your knees or back (or whatever rocks her world). You’ll thank me after March 29.

Whether you take my advice or you have your own, do it now because, in the words of Cathay Pacific:

                                                                    The Fun Is Back!

                                       See you on March 26-28 at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Cathay Pacific is running a competition where you can enter a video to win some fan-tastic prizes like flights, event tickets and many more.  Simply go to their FaceBook page and enter your Sevens video.

(Fan-pic by: http://rugbydump.blogspot.com/2008/04/party-time-at-hong-kong-sevens-2008.html)

The official draw for the Cable & Wireless Worldwide Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens took place at King’s Park this evening where twelve women’s teams were drawn into four Pools.

The participating teams are:

Arabian Gulf, Aussie Amazons, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia (debut), NZ Aotearoa Maori, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand, SA Tuks (South Africa debut). 

Pool A: Aussie Amazons, Arabian Gulf, Singapore

Pool B: China, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea

Pool C: Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong

Pool D: NZ Aotearoa Maori, Kazakhstan, Tuks (SA) 

Members of the Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Team at today’s Official Draw at King’s Park.

The Cable & Wireless Worldwide Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens takes place during Hong Kong’s rugby-week on Friday, 26th March 2010

Time: 7.30am-6.20pm

Venue: Hong Kong Football Club, 3 Sports Road, Happy Valley

The Cup Final will take place at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday, 26th March 2010

Time: 7:04pm

Venue: Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po

The Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens kicks off at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday March 26, 2010 and to get the locals into the Sevens Rugby spirit, local English-language TV station, Pearl TV has started screening the first 4 tournaments of the 2009/2010 IRB Sevens Series (Dubai, George, Wellington and Las Vegas).  Pearl TV is, of course the official broadcaster of the Hong Kong Sevens.

As we reported on before, the draw for the mens’ Sevens tournament has already taken place, while the organisers of the GFI HKFC Tens also announced their draw for the un-official kick-off tournament of the Hong Kong Sevens. BlitzBokke.com will attend the draw for the Womens’ Hong Kong Sevens at King’s Park tomorrow afternoon, so stay tuned.

Catch the spirit of the IRB Sevens World Series on Pearl Tv every Saturday at 8pm so…

Bring on Hong Kong Sevens!   

Organizers of the Cable & Wireless Worldwide Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens 2010 (HKWRS) today announced the 12 participating teams to compete in this year’s event.

Due to the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup being held in England in September, this year’s tournament field will play host to a mixed roster of highly competitive national teams from around Asia Pacific and some of the women’s rugby world’s most prestigious club and invitational sides.

The 12 participating teams include eight national representative sides from Asia, led by the reigning IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 Bowl Champions China, who recently beat the United States Eagles in a major upset at the Las Vegas Sevens, and Kazakhstan, Asia’s sole direct entry to the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup (15s) this year in London. Other Asian teams include the Arabian Gulf, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and hosts Hong Kong. 

The national team of Papua New Guinea rounds out the full representative squads at this year’s tournament. Three of the world’s premier women’s club sides are also taking part including five-time Cup champions Aotearoa Maori from New Zealand. The Aussie Amazons from Australia and Pretoria University’s Tuks from South Africa complete the competitive field.

The Tuks Rugby Club is attached to South Africa’s University of Pretoria and has been in existence for more than a century.  It is one of the biggest rugby club in the country with around 55 teams and more than 100 coaches and team managers running the Tuks rugby machine.

The Cable & Wireless Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens will be played from 07.30am – 06.00pm on Friday, 26 March 2010 at the Hong Kong Football Club. The Cup final will be held at 19.04 during the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens at the Hong Kong Stadium.

Now entering its thirteenth year, the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens has grown into one of the top annual fixtures in the women’s rugby world. The tournament is fully supported by the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, the Asian Rugby Football Union and the International Rugby Board. For the fifth consecutive year, the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens is being title sponsored by Cable & Wireless Worldwide.

                                               2009 Cup Finalist China (7) vs. Australia (24) at the Hong Kong Stadium.

 Visit the 2010 IRB Women’s World Cup here

Folks, the Hong Kong Sevens is just over 3 weeks away, so you have just SO many days to get your replica jersey now if you have any chance of showing your Bok allegiance on the South Stand, or in the “South African Corner” of the Hong Kong Stadium for that matter!

Canterbury South Africa has an online store just for those of you who have not yet acquired your Bok Jerseys.

Imagine these Japanese girls on the HK South Stand in authentic Canterbury Springbok Sevens jerseys:

At the recent Las Vegas Sevens I saw some blokes with Springbok jerseys sporting the OLD Lion Lager logo! 

Ag Nee Boet!  We’ve moved on from then you know?!  (Pic: Riette Pretorius)

If you are one of those Springbok Sevens Supporters who do not yet have a Canterbury Springbok Rugby Jersey (or one of those who bought theirs at Hong Kong’s Stanley Market!) go to Canterbury SA and order one NOW!

The South Stand will look so much better in authentic Green & Gold, no?!

It’s the right thing to do.

No… it’s Ayoba!

PS.

Take note that I am posting this unashamedly in the vague hope that the good folks at Canterbury SA will actually SEND me a Sevens Jersey (which is NOT on their online list, I’m afraid to say) for niks, for fokkol, basically… free of charge!  But I’m cheap like that, any Bok jersey  XL size will do, Canterbury.

Ek lees vanoggend hierdie goeie nuus in the Kaap-Rapport:

(Scroll to the end of the page for an English translation. Story by Carryn-Anne Nel in Worcester, Picture by Lizane Louw)

’n Persoonlike deurbraak vir ’n Kapenaar – en dít met haar fluitjie.

Roslyn Fortuin (38), ’n skeidsregter van Worcester, blaas in Maart in haar eerste internasionale rugbywedstryd by die (Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse) Hongkong-sewestoernooi vir vroue. Dit vind saam met die manstoernooi van 26 tot 28 Maart plaas. Sy is die eerste Suid-Afrikaanse vrou wat in dié internasionale toernooi blaas.

Fortuin is tans die land se nommer een-vroueskeidsregter op die merietelys van die Suid-Afrikaanse Rugbyunie.

Dié klein bondel dinamiet, wat erken sy skrik vir g’n man of muis op die rugbyveld nie, sê dis ’n geleentheid waarvoor sy lank gewag het. Trouens, sy moet haarself af en toe knyp om seker te maak sy droom nie.

“Ek is nou nog geskok, dit het te gou gebeur,” vertel sy. “Ek glo in die Here en in sy plan vir my. Ons sê altyd ons wíl, maar die Here sit vir jou die pad uit.”

Sy het ook groot lof vir haar mentor, mnr. Ivan Pekeur, skeidsregtersontwikkelingsbeampte by die Boland-Rugbyunie, en mense soos Andre Watson.

Fortuin sê sy berei haar nou al voor vir dié big break. “Ek moet nou op my fiksste wees en al my rugbyreëls ken.”

Sy sien die toernooi veral as ’n geleentheid wat deure kan oopmaak vir ander Suid-Afrikaanse vroueskeidsregters.

Twaalf vrouespanne ding in die (Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse) Hongkong-sewestoernooi mee en Fortuin voorspel dat sy op ’n daaglikse basis seker vier keer vier gaan blaas. Elke wedstryd is 14 minute lank.

“Ek is nou opgewonde om internasionaal met ander vroue te kan meeding om my peil aan hulle s’n te meet.”

Enige skeidsregter moet maar taai wees. “Daar is nie plek vir sissies in die sport nie, jy moet leer om hare op jou tande te hê.

“Ek onderskei nie tussen mans en vroue nie. Die belangrikste is dat jy ’n aanvoeling vir die spel het.”

Pekeur sê hy is in die wolke oor die prestasie. “Verlede jaar dié tyd was Roslyn nog teen die planke. Sy het ’n besering gehad en het haar posisie op die ranglys verloor.

“Op ’n dag het sy vir my gesê sy wil ophou blaas, want daar is te veel faktore wat teen haar tel.”

Pekeur het haar daarna belowe as sy hard werk sál sy die nommer een in die land word. “Sy het vasgehou aan daardie hoop.”

Pekeur beskryf haar as ’n harde werker wat haar álles op die veld gee. “Ons volgende doelwit is om haar die beste vroueskeidsregter ter wêreld te maak. Roslyn het al die kwaliteite daarvoor.

“As sy op die wêreldverhoog gesien word, soos nou in Hongkong, sal sy uiteindelik die nommer een word.”

Fortuin verdien haar daaglikse brood as onderwyseres by die Eden-opleidingsentrum, ’n skool vir leerders met verstandelike gestremdhede.

———————————————————————————————————————————–

A personal breakthorugh for a Capetonian – with the use of her whistle.

Roslyn Fortuin (38), a referee hailing from (the Western Cape Town of) Worcester will be officiating in her first international rugby game at the (Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse) Hong Kong Sevens Tournament for women.  The tournament happens in the same week as the mens’ tournament from 26-28 March 2010.

Roslyn will be the first female South African to take up the whistle at this event.  She is also the number one ranked women’s referee on the South African Rugby Union’s order of merit.

According to Fortuin this is an opportunity that she has waited for a long time.  “I am still  overwhelmed by this opportunity and have to pinch myself often to make sure I’m not dreaming,” she gushes.  “I believe in God and His plan for me.  One tends to say I WANT but God determines your path in life.”

Fortuin, who is a teacher at the Eden Training Centre, a school for mentally challenged kids, ascribes much of her success to Mr Ivan Pekeur, the Boland Rugby Union’s referees development officer as well as SARU’smanager of referees Mr Andre Watson.

While waiting for her international debut, Roslyn Fortuin will make sure that she is at her fittest and that she knows all her rugby rules.

Twelve womens team will take part in the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens and Fortuin thinks that she will probably officiate in about four games per day.  Every game lasts for 14 minutes.

“I am very excited at the prospect of officiating on the international stage and to see how I measure up to the other international referees.” Fortuin says.  “Every referee has to be rather tough.  There is no place for cry-babies in sport.”

She continues: “I don’t differenciate between men’s and women’s referees.  The most important aspect is to have a feel for the game.”

He mentor Ivan Pekeur says he too is excited over Fortuin’s achievement.  “This time last year Roslyn had quite a setback.  She was injured and subsequently lost her position on SARU order of merit.  One day she told me that she wanted to stop refereeing because there were to many thing that counted against her.”

He then promised her that if she works hard, she WILL become the number-one ranked referee in South Africa.  “She clung to that wish,”  Pekeur added and continues: “Roslyn is a hardworker and gives only her best on the pitch.  “Our next aim is to make her the best women’s referee in the world.  Roslyn has all the qualities to become just that.”

“When she gets noticed on the international scene, like when makes her international appearance in Hong Kong, she will eventually become number one.”

South Africa will be determined to build on their improved performance in Las Vegas when the Springbok Sevens team contests the next two IRB Sevens World Series tournaments in Australia and Hong Kong next month.

In previous years, the IRB Sevens World Series resumed with the Hong Kong Sevens following the USA-leg, moving on to Adelaide a week later.  However, this year around, the tournaments are reversed with Hong Kong following a week after the Aussie Sevens.  The Adelaide Oval is home to the Australian leg, on 19– 21 March, while the popular Hong Kong Sevens will be staged from 26 – 28 March at the 40 000-seater Hong Kong Stadium.

South Africa has never before been victorious in a Cup Final in Hong Kong.  The only Hong Kong silverware they have managed to capture to date was the Plate Final back in 2002.   For some reason, a week after Hong Kong, the Springboks are always in better nick in time for the Australian Sevens.  Treu’s team defended their Adelaide crown successfully last season and will be aiming for more of the same in a month’s time.

With the tournaments reversed this time around, we hold thumbs that the BlitzBokke will save their best for Hong Kong and that they can at last make the large number of expatriate Saffas and the many who will fly in from home, proud of the Green & Gold.

South Africa lost the Hong Kong Cup Final last year against Fiji.  BlitzBokke.com was sitting in the Media Box at the Final last year, and few would have noticed our coach’s profound disappointment while the Fijians and their fans were celebrating:

The team returned home last week and are enjoying a short break before resuming training on 1 March in Stellenbosch in preparation for the Adelaide and Hong Kong tournaments.

Mzwandile Stick, stand-in captain in place of the injured Delport, said the team is now determined to build on their performance in the USA.

“In Sevens you must always be prepared to start from afresh, because it is natural for players to move on to Super Rugby or our provincial teams. In saying that, it also opened the door to new guys like Cecil Afrika, Steven Hunt and Branco du Preez to come and show us what they’re capable of.

“Cecil has been outstanding so far, while the rest of the newcomers now all have experience of World Series action, which will only benefit us going forward.

“As a team we’re obviously not pleased with seventh place on the log and our overall performance so far. However, we are working very hard to eliminate those marginal errors and hopefully our Plate victory in Las Vegas will kick-start a better run of results for us,” said Stick.

This is how the Cup Final of the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong ended last year: