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Name:
Simnikiwe Xabanisa


Biography

When Simnikiwe first walked into a rugby press box, the other scribes laughed at him because he looked like an extra from the Jamaican movie ‘Cool Runnings’. When he walks in nowadays, they still laugh because he writes rugby like an extra from the Jamaican movie ‘Cool Runnings’. Xabanisa’s column on rugby appears in the Sunday Times.


Latest Columns

Kirwan's blocks take shape

Sir John Kirwan, the All Black legend and Jonah Lomu's white predecessor, gives an animated halftime speech.

Underrated Ndungane twins

If the Sharks decide to call on him from the bench, tomorrow will mark a massive milestone for one of my favourite players of all time.

Jonny should be insurance

There was a telling moment at the conclusion of the Heineken Cup semifinal between Saracens and Toulon on Sunday.

Isn't it time to lay off Luke?

There's an irritating advert on Supersport which makes rational people want to do unspeakable things to cyclists and their equipment.

Naas's Bulls caught my eye

About a month ago I was taken to task by a couple of old schoolmates for admitting in public that I support the Bulls.

Burton gets chance to shine

Five minutes before Burton Francis's last-minute heroics in the Cheetahs' game against the Stormers, a colleague voiced a long-held opinion on the stand-in flyhalf.

Cheetahs have found their teeth

As rugby fans, we've all taken turns patronising the Cheetahs over the years.

Steyn: talent that has gone to waist

When John Plumtree put Sharks fans and Frans Steyn out of their misery by dropping the player from his starting line-up last week, the common refrain from the rugby public was: "What's eating the kid anyway?"

Slow start, but still winning

It's not often that it happens, but the Sharks would have felt like the ugly sisters of South African rugby at the end of the weekend's fixtures.

Goosen needs time to develop

One of my favourite rugby players of all time is Gaffie du Toit.

Don't write off Jantjies

Of the few people who made sense at the conclusion of last weekend's Super 15 fixtures, I must admit one never expected Ali Williams to be at the front of the queue.

Rooting for Southern Kings to baffle critics

A bit like there aren't that many people who thought Kamp Staaldraad was a good idea, very few people are admitting to supporting the Southern Kings ahead of their Super 15 debut.

Rathbone to prove a point

It is probably not the week to say it, but this year's rugby season promises to be better than last year's dreary effort despite not even having started.

It's time to throw down

There's something comforting about February for the regular rugby oke. As the month in which the Super 15 begins, it's a period when the conjecture stops and we start talking about something as tangible as teams taking to the field and actual results.

Jean's the right man now

There's something about a win against England at Twickenham that is guaranteed to get a Springbok coach off the hook.

World rugby hits new lows

Jean de Villiers framed the issues nicely by asking: "Since when is a win not good enough?"

Be wary of 'The Grudge'

The Scots have a history of bearing a grudge.

Meyer does flyhalf juggle

The great thing about announcing a Springbok squad which includes a character named Player 32 is that you can't possibly go wrong.

A 'Greek God' for 80 minutes

I owe one of my colleagues R3200 in unpaid sports bets. It sounds like a lot of money but it's a small price to pay (one day) for having unshakeable belief in the underdog.

Lambie is man for the job

Life, John Lennon once opined, is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

Shrek still has growing to do

There's a story that does the rounds about when Cheetahs and Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen was a new boy at a Grey College hostel.

Just let them play

There was a telling snapshot about who does the Springboks' thinking during their defeat by the All Blacks at Soccer City on Saturday.

Reasons to believe in Boks

Thanks in no small part to how far ahead of the rest of the free world the All Blacks are, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer's first Four Nations tournament wasn't the all-conquering affair many thought it would be when he took over from Peter de Villiers in January.

Flyhalf who is a delight to watch

With the two teams' well-documented problems in that area, flyhalf play will be the subject of intense scrutiny when the Springboks and Wallabies meet at Loftus Versfeld for their Four Nations game on Saturday.

For once Div has a point

It was inevitable that former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers would have something to say about the progress of his successor, Heyneke Meyer.

Eben becomes the enforcer

Asked about the many life lessons one could glean from playing rugby, Morne du Plessis once said: "It teaches you restraint in the face of provocation."

Oscar is not such a saint

OSCAR Pistorius's "outburst", as his post-race hissy fit has come to be known, may well prove to be seminal in the history of paralympic sport.

Meyer's 'safety-first' style of rugby is dull viewing

The easiest way to lose your job as a Springbok coach is to change whatever it is that got you the position in the first place.

Deans' head on the block

"Saturday was branded as the start of something new, but it looked like an ending."

Currie Cup the one to watch

It is probably a little hypocritical for a guy who's desperately seeking two R600 tickets to the Springboks/All Blacks game to say this, but I'm probably keener on watching the Currie Cup than I am on the Four Nations this year.

K-Dawg is the inspiration

To all of those writing off the Sharks' understandably slim chances of winning this year'sSuper 15 title, consider the determined nature of the dog of war who will lead them into their mission improbable against the Chiefs on Saturday.

JP needs to own greatness

The lousy thing about being identified as a talented individual is that you spend a significant amount of your life trying to live up to other people's expectations.

Don't write off the Bulls

In a year in which the Stormers could make history by winning the Super 15 title without a single bonus-point victory, I'm baffled that we aren't more willing to grant the Bulls an outside chance of also breaking with an old tradition.

Mitch still has a role to play

In his book on leadership, Vince Lombardi jnr tells a story which goes some way towards encapsulating the kind of man his father, the legendary US football coach, was.

Nothing ventured, nor won

One of the reasons many people struggle to take the Democratic Alliance seriously is that it takes its role as the opposition a little too seriously.

Rugby players play for team

In his formative years as a coach, former England manager Fabio Capello spent time as a general manager for a variety of sports, which included rugby union.

Meyer earned his stripes

AN UNPRECEDENTED thing happened before the Springboks' first test against England - a Bok coach went into his first match having already frittered away the public's goodwill.

Mindset needs to change

SA rugby's current brute force over skill philosophy is unfair to the smaller-built players

Just another day at the office

For those of you still out there making Beast Mtawarira go viral on the internet by passing on what can only be called his Anton Bresler moment, I have got some sobering news for you.

Johnson is something different

In the same way rugby coaches accuse rugby hacks of favouring perception over reality in their reports, rugby fans have a habit of writing players off based on appearances.

Meyer, White much the same

There's a guy at my local pub who my friends have taken to calling my best mate.

Potgieter playing lethal game

One of the unsavoury by-products of being paid to write about rugby is that after a while one starts believing one's own press about being a purist.

Kings deserve a chance

If ever a decision showed how misleading the word "deserving" can be in sport, Harry Redknapp being overlooked for the England coaching job should be it.

Just Grant him a fair chance

Before last year's World Cup final, Stephen Donald was only known as a flyhalf who made playing in the position look every bit as hard as we imagine it to be.

Mitch needs to soften up

Years ago, when he could still comfortably call himself a coach, Rudolf Straeuli found himself confronted with a battle against relegation in the English Premiership.

Stormers can do everything

As a Bulls supporter, one tends to find that withholding praise from the Stormers is something that comes a little too naturally.

SA teams know what to do

Watching the Cheetahs go through their most successful Super rugby tour was a bit like being taken on a trip through the idiosyncrasies of South African rugby.

Respect Jake as a coach

One of our least attractive traits as South Africans is our willingness to judge people on the negative aspects of who they are.

Sharks under radar

As a long-suffering Liverpool supporter, I tend to think about Luis Suarez a lot.

Rugby's confusing language

In my first year at Dale College, there was a fellow new pupil who took the school rumour mill by storm.

Highlanders the real deal

The happiest man at the conclusion of last weekend's round of Super 15 matches wasn't the smug bastard who got all seven of his SuperBru predictions right.

Hougaard is wasted in Bulls' No9 jersey

THERE comes a time in a man's life when he has to decide on the manner in which he will achieve his ultimate goal.

Bismarck no shoo-in

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook that he had decided not to watch any rugby this year to spend more time with his children.

Not the juggernaut of old

Not long after the Bulls' leisurely 39-16 win over the Cheetahs in their Super 15 friendly at the weekend, Frans Ludeke sought to do a bit of damage control.

All eyes will be on Meyer, Spies and Southern Kings

There's nothing like a long off-season to breed a fair bit of optimism.

The next Bok No10 is . . .?

TWO weeks ago, at the beginning of the Sharks' Currie Cup semifinal against the Cheetahs, a friend had one of those "you heard it here first" moments when he caught sight of the Free State side's young flyhalf Johan Goosen.

Undercats have nothing to lose

The first time I watched a rugby match on TV, Northern Transvaal put 50 points past Ian McIntosh's Natal.

AB win puts us out of their misery

A couple of hours after Bryce Lawrence versus the Springboks, I got a call from my bookie (rather, a friend who used to work for a bookmaker).

Local is not always lekker

Victor Matfield, one of the senior players with an influence on how the Springboks were coached, has advised Saru not to employ a foreign coach to replace Peter de Villiers.

Why John Smit is still hot

SOMETIMES the best way to find out what the man on the street is thinking about rugby is to watch a game at a pub.

Frans Steyn and other Cup truths

With the group stages of the World Cup concluding this weekend, it has been the kind of tournament which has done little to establish a pattern. The so-called favourites have been installed as such, largely on the basis of blow-outs against the minnows. Here are five things we've learned about the World Cup so far:

Boks must live up to billing

Two years ago, I wrote that if this current Springbok team wasn't the best ever to wear the green and gold, they were doing a great job of pretending to be.

World Cup is no place for new ideas

The Springboks' close-run thing against Wales on Sunday has led to predictable calls for the bench to do its rescue job from the first minute against Fiji.

Can Boks buck the trend?

It might come as a surprise to those with green and gold stars in their eyes, but there are very good reasons why the Rugby World Cup has never been successfully defended.

Bloodied Blacks will fight

Late last year, after a season in which New Zealand (narrowly) lost just once in 11 tests, I wrote a column saying they would not win the Rugby World Cup this year.

Starting 22 still undecided

ARD Matthews might disagree at this very moment, but thank goodness he made his ill-fated appearance at the announcement of the Springboks' World Cup squad.

Boks must slay real dragons

With the World Cup looming, Supersport have been airing a promo of the tournament which features the Springboks playing against virtual dragons.

Bok hopes pinned on missing 21

The Springboks' Tri-Nations game against Australia on Saturday has to be the most anticipated first home test since the British and Irish Lions' visit in 2009.

Desperation to win is killing our game

It would appear that the prospect of watching "real rugby" between the Wallabies and the All Blacks on Saturday has done little to stop our anger about the Springboks.

Forget about Fantasy Boks

As the Springbok coach and captain groped for elusive positives from their defeat against the Wallabies last weekend, one couldn't help but reach the illogical conclusion that they could also be telling us: "We told you so."

Eager to see mystery Boks

The South African sports fan is a beast after my own heart.

McKenzie showing the way

YEARS ago, I fell into conversation with a highly respected Currie Cup coach on one of those rare occasions when he seemed to have time after a training session.

Union back to square one

WHAT with the claims and counter-claims by the Lions and the Guma group in explaining the real reasons for their break-up, one has no hope in hell of telling who was more justified in calling the whole thing off.

The 15 players who won't go

PETER de Villiers's Springbok World Cup squad stands at 49 and counting, but anyone with a passing interest in the Boks probably knows to within five players who the final 30 will be.

Bulls' loss is a blessing

It might sound like a classic case of sour grapes from Gauteng, but the Bulls losing out on that final Super 15 play-off spot may have been a blessing in disguise.