After a nail-biting match the Springboks managed to stave off the All Black’s last ditch surge, and won what might as well have been the Tri Nations finals, 32 – 29 to claim the Tri Nations 2009 trophy.

When the South Africans conceded a penalty after just a minute and half of play and the New Zealanders pounced on the scoring opportunity to chalk up 3 points, I had flashes of Brisbane.  4 minutes later the Springboks got awarded a penalty of their own to equalise at 3 all, wiping my doubts.

The Bokke continued and opened up a lead they wouldn’t again relinquish and closed off the first half with a 22-12 lead.

The Springboks stood their ground in the 2nd half and opened up their lead to 17 points.  The All Blacks upped their game and in a particularly brilliant moment where the ball was passed in quick succession by overlapping players, they even looked like the All Blacks we fear-but-love.

Dying Minutes Action

And sure enough, their spirited attack paid dividends – hell, they even managed to win their own line-outs and steal 1 from the Springboks.

With minutes left and the All Blacks within 10 points of the Springboks, Dan Carter kicked from wide over on the left of the field placing the ball perfectly at the flag on far right of the field, where Richie McCaw literally stood waiting, picked it from the air and landed it in the corner with not a Bok in sight.

A move so brilliant, that as much as we hated it happening, the Springbok supporters had to applaud it for its sheer brilliance and flawless execusion.

With very few minutes remaining and the Springbok lead shrunk to only 3, the game became almost unbearable,  every second feeling like a minute, slowly ticking towards full time.  T All Blacks relentlessly pounded the Springbok defense, trying to punch a hole.  When the game time ran out the All Blacks had possession and in an all-or-nothing gamble Dan Carter tried to recreate the previous try, this time kicking from the far right of the field to the left.

2 metres from the Springbok try line 2 All Black players were ready. In slow motion the ball tumbled through the air. But luck was not on the All Black side and the ball went over the players head, just out of reach, and into touch.

The referee’s end-whistle was absolute bliss – the score fixed at 32-29 and the Springboks, bloody, but victorious and the Tri Nations 2009 champions.

Well done, Bokke!

Scored for the Springboks

• Fourie Du Preez – 5 pts (try);
• Jean De Villiers – 5 pts (try);
• Morne Styen – 13 pts (2 conversions, 2 penalties, 1 drop goal);
• Francois Steyn – 9 pts (3 penalties)

Scored for the All Blacks

• Sitiveni Sivivatu: 5 pts (try);
• Richie McCaw 5 pts (try);
• Daniel Carter 19 pts (2 conversions, 5 penalties);

With 1 games left in the 2009 Tri-Nations Tournament

Scoreboard:

Opportunities to score more points:

Fixtures:

Now all that remains is for the All Blacks to meet Australia in Wellington next week to see who will be the official loser of the 2009 Tri Nations.

Well, last night’s Tri Nations match between South Africa and Australia went very much unlike I expected it to in my blog post on Thursday.

Playing at the grounds in Brisbane where a few years ago the Springboks lost with a massive 0 – 49 against the Aussies, the Boks once against suffered a defeat, albeit with a much smaller margin this time.

Whatever conditions conspired against the Boks to have reduced them to the unorganised-on-the-back-foot rugby that they played last night, the Aussies had… well, a ball.

This loss now puts New Zealand a little closer to the Tri Nations title, albeit still with a slim chance.

Things are suddenly not looking so rosy for the Springboks, and it’s now not just a question of waltzing to the title anymore.  If they want to be crowned the winners of the Tri Nations Tournament and avoid being embarrassingly pipped to the post, the Boks will have to work for it. Hard.

With 2 games left in the 2009 Tri-Nations Tournament

Scoreboard:

Opportunities to score more points:

Fixtures:

So, as an update from my last post, here’s what can happen now:

• Australia are still sure losers, but ironically they could end up determining the winners of the Tri Nations tournament;
• New Zealand has a increasingly better looking chance of squeezing in a win if:
  1. they can win both their remaining games (4 x 2 = 8); and
  2. they can score 4 tries or more in each of those games (2 x 1 = 2); and
  3. they can prevent South Africa from scoring 4 tries; and
  4. they can ensure South Africa loses by more than 7 points;
  5. Australia managed to do 3 and 4 in their games last night, so it’s not impossible;
• South Africa, who still needs just 2 points to win the 2009 Tri-Nations Rugby Tournament, must
  1. win their game against New Zealand next week; or
  2. draw that game (but when last did you see a drawn rugby game?); or
  3. if they’re going to lose, score 4 tries in their last game; and
  4. lose by less than 7 points;

From being so sure on Thursday that the Boks were winners already, I’m now only cautiously optimistic.

Australia have redeemed themselves by handing the Boks their first loss. New Zealand will also love to get on the bandwagon so that they too can claim a defeat over the Springboks in this Tri Nations. And once they’ve beaten the Boks, they only have to beat Australia (again) to claim the trophy.

There will be blood (and if New Zealand succeeds in doing that, there will be tears too).

It’s been a while since I’ve felt this level of excitement for a rugby tournament.  As the Springboks enter the home stretch of the 2009 Tri-Nations Rugby Tournament, butterflies dive-bomb my stomach every time I think about their next, exhilarating clash.

Update: 6 Sep 2009 – Find out from this post what the standings look like after Saturday, 5 Sep’s game between the Springboks and The Wallabies.

Rugby’s Spectacular Tri-Nations Tournament

If you’re not a rugby fan, or ignore Tri-Nations because it’s an all southern hemisphere affair, you’re missing out on the most spectacular full-contact team sport tournament on the planet.

The world’s top 3 rugby playing nations clash in this annual affair; South Africa’s Springboks, current rugby world champions and International Rugby Board (IRB) No.1, New Zealand’s All Blacks, who usually lead the IRB rankings, but are currently No.2, and Australia’s Wallabies who complete the trio of powerhouse rugby nations and are positioned on the IRB rankings at No.3.

The 2009 Tri-Nations started on July 18 and the last match will be in Wellington, New Zealand on September 19. Two grueling months of action packed rugby with 9 fixtures in as many locations in 3 countries.

Getting up to Speed with Springbok Domination

Last year’s Tri-Nations was a dismal affair for the Springboks who where pretty much out of the running just over halfway through the tournament.  This year the boot is quite on the other foot, and we’re just over halfway again, this time the Springboks are virtually a shoe-in to win.

Since their first game in this year’s tournament on 25 July against the All Blacks in Bloemfontein, the Springboks have made it clear that they were in it to win the 2009 Tri-Nations. The Springboks beat New Zealand in that game 28-19 and took the Tri-Nations standings’ lead over New Zealand who in turn out-played the Wallabies the week before, beating them 22-16.

The following weekend on August 1st, the Springboks reaffirmed the commitment by again beating the All Blacks 31-19. Morne Steyn was the poison on the unbeatable dart of the Springboks that day, scoring all the points with 8 penalty conversions and a try. South Africa then met the Wallabies for the first time on August 8 in Cape Town and made them feel quite unwelcome by handing them a 29-17 loss as souvenir.

Morne Steyn again booted 24 of the points, whilst Victor Matfield crashed the try-line as a reminder that the Boks can still score points on the ground too.  Reminiscent of the Naas Botha-era of rugby, the Springboks were then accused of playing boring rugby, winning with the boot, etc.  But the Springboks knew then, as they do now, that they dictate the game and paid no attention.

After the rest weekend and following the All Black / Wallabies clash the weekend after, the Springboks arrived in Perth 72 hours before their 29 August match against the Aussies.  Reminding fans and critics why the Springboks are the world champions, they plowed the fields of the Sabiaco Oval in Perth with spectacularly annihilating, ground-based rugby. The Wallabies, dazed and confused by a 22-6 half-time score, rallied valiantly to stop the Boks, but failed and the Springboks won 32-25.

What’s left of the 2009 Tri-Nations Tournament

Right, so here’s everything you need to know about the 2009 Tri Nations Rugby Tournament so far…

Scoreboard:

Opportunities to score more points:

Fixtures:

From the tables above, with 2 games left per team, you’ll note the following:

• Even if Australia score maximum points of 5 per game they will only end on 13 points, almost sure losers;
• New Zealand still have a snowball’s chance in hell at winning the tournament by 1 point, but only if
  1. they can win both their remaining games (4 x 2 = 8);
  2. they can score 4 tries or more in each of those games (2 x 1 = 2);
  3. they can prevent South Africa from scoring 4 tries;
  4. they can ensure South Africa loses by more than 7 points;
  5. Australia also manages 3 and 4 above;
• South Africa, who only needs 2 points to be out of reach of New Zealand, will win the 2009 Tri-Nations Rugby Tournament if they
  1. win any of their 2 remaining games;
  2. draw any of their remaining games;
  3. score 4 tries or more in both their remaining games;
  4. lose by less than 7 points in both their remaining games;
  5. score 4 tries or more in 1 game and lose by less than 7 points in another;

Essentially, if you’ve bet on the Springboks to do anything other than win this Tri-Nations Tournament, you’ve probably already lost your money.

However, with both New Zealand and Australia now playing for honour and respect in this tough world of rugby (add New Zealand’s slim chance to still win plus probably wanting IRB No.1 slot back), the remaining games promise to be filled with brutal, action-packed and ferocious rugby.  Which is exactly the reason why the mere thought of this Saturday’s clash and the next, is giving me heart palpitations.

There will be blood.

Wow, it’s 2009.  Where’d 2008 go, did anybody see?  I was just starting to settle into 2008, and now it’s 2009. And where’s those flying cars already?

Anyway, as I reflect on the year gone by I realise I became very jaded in 2008.

In 2008 I had to deal with certain people who sucked the life out of me and made my environment black and foul smelling. They smeared my personality with their hateful, excremental thoughts and numbed my optimism with their urine-odored actions.

But I closed 2008 off by wipping my arse of them with acceptance, flushing their fecal memories with hope and washing my hands of their ugly, piss-stianed actions with concentrated optimism that the one who matters will benefit from it all.

Now I want to find myself. The me who laughs in the face of adversity, the me who sees not a problem, but a challenge and the me who finds adventure in everyone and every place. The me I am underneath all this crud.

So here’s to 2009: Find Myself.

But to look to the future, you must study the past.  So here are the (mostly positive) highlights of 2008. Here, take my hand…

January 2008

At the start of 2008 I was needlessly in court fighting about something that needn’t have been fought over. My troubles were nothing compared to Chua Soi Lek, Malaysian Minister who started his year off with the most sensational sex scandal in Malaysia to date.

In Kota Kinabalu, I got a sneak peak at 1Borneo (which would open later in the year, way behind schedule and far from complete).  It had its share of controversies, floods and tenant woes, but 2009 might just be a good year for it.  Or not.

AirAsia.com brought their first Airbus to Kota Kinabalu and has since phased out all Boeings and now flies an all Airbus fleet.  They’ve added loads of destinations this year and I took advantage of a few of those.

February 2008

February we had some wicked celebration outings and parties.  I launched Sabahbah.com to showcase the tourism offerings of Kota Kinabalu and Sabah. It’s still getting over 5000 unique views per month and plans for it are in the works.

I bravely leap into the world of open source software and install a flavour of Linux,  Ubuntu 7.04.  My life suddenly becomes much richer, and easier as worries about viruses and Trojan horses all but disappear.

March 2008

I turn 31. The world remains the same.

Arthur C. Clarke passes away.  I read all of his books that I own as a tribute.

Issuu.com – the YouTube of the publishing world – hits the web. I quickly apply it for Sutera Harbour and  I introduce it to Breeze magazine who promptly adopts it too, and my blog post about it now ranks in the top 3 for ‘pdf page tunrning software’, turning tens of people per week onto the service.

The Loft is the only establishment in KK to observe Earth Hour, making a gesture that will possibly be echoed far and wide in 2009 when it comes around again.

April 2008

Our gaggle of Sabah Ultimate players, the Borneo Bristleheads, go to our first tournament, The Malaysia Ultimate Open in Kuala Lumpur.  We get our asses beaten, severely, but our love of the game of Ultimate is solidified and we start down the path of becoming Ultimate geeks. We now play much better.

Loving Ubuntu I upgrade to Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and discover something new every day.  Why doesn’t everbody use Ubuntu?

May 2008

Highlight of the month is my trip to Bali with Julia, joined by John and Pip. We scored some cheap flights on AirAsia, unfortunetally booked so far in advance that we didn’t even know they were to start flying direct.  John and Pip gets on the direct flight while we go via KL.  Excellent trip.

June 2008

Maxis sheds some customers with a mammoth coverage failure. The total black-out lasts for almost 2 days, and the aftermath of dropped calls, jammed networks and undelivered text messages lasts nearly a week. They compound the service failure by failing, for most of the first day, to communicate with their customers.

I get involved in exposing a blog-link scam, Maybank dupes anxious Malaysians with an over-hyped, function deprived bankcard, Firefox 3 sets a download record, and it rains the most of 2008 in KK, cause floods and hideous traffic jams.  I also work my last days at Sutera Harbour before bidding my employer of 2 years farewell (as I publish this, their official website is still the one I designed – check the code – and it ranks superiorly in Google).

July 2008

A bit of a dull month was July 2008 (or perhaps I was just busy).  I upgraded to Wordpress 2.6 (not without error, mind you) and South Africa starts their journey towards getting beaten in the Tri-Nations rugby tournement.

August 2008

I become very aware of Repetitive Strain Injury (result of sitting infront of my PC for increased hours) and I make a significant contribution to the environment (if I don’t toot my own horn, who will?) as I switch to Watershops’ 20c per litre water with my own container in lieu of a carton box with 12 plastic bottles per week.

September 2008

Busy month and emotionally the most taxing.  I do lots of posts, but most of them private. Beyond myself I pitch in and help with a Project Aware as we remove substantial amounts of rubbish from the national marine park.  A shadow of the Borneo Bristlheads also attend the Singapore Ultimate Open as part of team Satu Lagi.  We win nothing, but gain much knowledge.

October 2008

Turmoil of September spills into October, not much to blog about in public.

November 2008

Aside from a really rotten start to the month, Julia and I spend an epic holiday adventure in Thailand visiting Phuket, Phi Phi and Bangkok – we unwittingly escape exactly 1 day before the polical situation erupts and Bangkok airports are closed down, stranding thousands of tourists.

December 2008

The month starts off with World AIDS Day and the year closes with a feastive season that makes up for an otherwise reasonably sedate year with several parties of note. Using up the last of 2008’s leave, I geek it up a little when I use other people’s genius to get Windows XP to fully run inside Ubuntu.  I might never have to reboot into Windows again.

We started off relatively early this morning with a great French toast and mushroom breakfast that Ian produced from seemingly thin air.

We devoured our brekkie as Ian was taking us rock climbing at 1 Utama’s Camp 5 this morning, so we had to stock-up on energy as it’s a climb-as-long-as-you-like deal, and Ian likes to climb very long.

Camp 5 in 1 Utama – Where the mountain come to Mohamed

Camp 5 is located at 1 Utama, a huge shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur. It’s a climbing gym; a place where you go to climb on stuff. Walls, boulders, shapes, the roof, you name it. It tones, shapes and makes you strong for one day when, like in the opening sequence of Mission: Impossible 2, you’re stuck on a sheer rock face and have to hoist yourself from a thin ledge using only your fingers.

It’s quite a large area made up of walls of pre-fab slabs of rough-textured squares, into which hand and footholds have been bolted. These holds are multi-coloured, each colour representing a route that you can take from the floor to the top, graded in difficulty. Ian spends a lot of time here, because when he’s in Scotland he spends a lot of time against real life mountains.

The 4 of were was keen to play, but Julia’s red toes, acquired from the frisbee the day before, had turned nearly black, so she was in no shape to climb. Ian showed her how to belay using me as the guinea pig. It all went well, but at one point both of them were focused on Julia’s technique, I got pinned to the wall and I got myself a nasty little rope burn across the love-handle to show for it.

After that Ian, myself and Eve took turns to climb and after my first climb, which was very exhilarating, Ian showed me the ropes (chuckle) and taught me how to belay a climber, which I then did on his subsequent climb and for Eve later on. Ian continued some teaching with Julia, who then went on to gain her second injury on this Tour D’ Tom Yum when she belayed at 15kg sand bag and pulled a muscle or something.

We were at Camp 5 for a good 4 hours and when on my 4th climb I was unable to got further than 2m off the ground, I suddenly realised how long we had been at it. My arms and legs refused to co-operate in sending me scurrying up the walls any longer, so after the other two finished their last climbs, we packed it up and headed for a very late lunch.

The rest of the day was spent sleeping – partly because of our early start, but mostly because of our arduous day spent against the treacherous cliffs of the Camp 5 climbing walls.