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ANC block Beast

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User1245

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Sharks loosehead prop Tendai “Beast†Mtawarira may be lost to Springbok rugby.

Mtawarira, who has played 22 Tests for South Africa, was omitted from the Bok side to play Wales in Cardiff on June 5.

His omission follows the insistence by the South African government that no overseas players may be included in national teams.

This is in spite of Mtawarira living in South Africa for longer than five years and that he has met the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) criteria. However, he apparently does not have a South African passport.

The concern around the 25-year-old’s inclusion was raised for the first time in November when Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile tried to stop him from touring France, Ireland and Italy with the Boks.

Stofile even went as far as placing advertisements in local media to protest Mtawarira’s inclusion. This after the player had already made his debut for South Africa in 2008.

SARU offered Mtawarira a contract in February with the hope that his application for citizenship would be speedily resolved. However, it is still dragging on for unknown reasons.

The issue also raised questions why other Zimbabweans such as Tonderai Chavhanga and Brian Mujati were allowed to play for the Boks by the South African government.

Sharks commercial manager Rudolf Straeuli confirmed to Sport24 on Wednesday that the Durbanites had followed all the regulations to get Mtawarira as a player.

“The Sharks followed all the correct procedures on Beast. We took all the legal steps. Beast joined our academy and is still with us,†said Straeuli.

Mtawarira may look to continue his rugby career elsewhere because of his treatment by the South African government.

On Wednesday he expressed his worry about the current situation on Twitter.

“To be left out of the Bok team for the first Test because of citizenship is really bad. I cherish that Bok jersey more than anything. I hope the problem can be resolved as soon as possible,†he said.

Rugby365 reports that SARU’s manager of national teams, Andy Marinos, confirmed that Mtawarira would need the government’s permission before he could play for the Boks again.
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The racist and xenophobic ANC show their true colours once again. Only they could ever do something this stupid, so blatantly stupid.
 
Crazy decision . If they were to ban him from representing SA, it should have been before he earned his first cap and not after 22 appearances. By now he's an established player in test limbo.

The Lions series last year turned Mtawarira into a very marketable player. I've no doubt that he'll earn huge money in Europe if this ban holds. He'll probably end up at SA_racens since everybody can see there's something special happening there..........
 
Banning him before 1 cap or after 22 caps was and never will be an option. It's goes 100% against his human and constitutional rights. This is discrimination of the highest order.
 
It's high time the ANC had some stiff political competition in South Africa - the're corrupt, and their agenda is completely out of touch with reality. They seem to have forgotten that their greatest man, Mandela, was great because he resisted any urge to get revenge on the whites. And the ANC now keeps attempting petty little policies here, there and everywhere that are interfering with rugby, because of the sport's former symbolism.
 
gingergenius said:
It's high time the ANC had some stiff political competition in South Africa - the're corrupt, and their agenda is completely out of touch with reality. They seem to have forgotten that their greatest man, Mandela, was great because he resisted any urge to get revenge on the whites. And the ANC now keeps attempting petty little policies here, there and everywhere that are interfering with rugby, because of the sport's former symbolism.
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I agree with that but this has nothing to do with Apartheid or whites. In South Africa there about 10 or so tribes, who "traditionally" hate each other, xenophobia if you want a word.
A Sotho wouldn't dare set his foot in a Zulu township, even today. He will get killed or get beaten severally and robbed and they'd burn his house down. Doctors, or any member of 'higher society' wouldn't be affected to this extent but there is still this discrimination towards them. For example they won't go into any local bar, they'd get their ass kicked.

Outsiders don't know these things but Africans are traditionally extremely xenophobic towards other African tribes.
 
Hell just take the whole Mbeki incident, the chief reason he got dropped as president and lost all support from the ANC is because there is a -lot- of infighting between
Xhosa and Zulu people in this country.

You'd think the people who spent decades fighting against discrimination would stop discriminating so much.
 
As much as I'd love to see him playing for Saracens, it's ridiculous. On a matter of principle you can't allow someone to play for their team then disallow them on nationality grounds. Typical Africa, you would've thought they'd moved on from their tribal racism but no :(
 
Steve-o said:
I agree with that but this has nothing to do with Apartheid or whites. In South Africa there about 10 or so tribes, who "traditionally" hate each other, xenophobia if you want a word.
A Sotho wouldn't dare set his foot in a Zulu township, even today. He will get killed or get beaten severally and robbed and they'd burn his house down. Doctors, or any member of 'higher society' wouldn't be affected to this extent but there is still this discrimination towards them. For example they won't go into any local bar, they'd get their ass kicked.

Outsiders don't know these things but Africans are traditionally extremely xenophobic towards other African tribes.
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I have been aware of the racial in-fighting in Africa between various black tribes for a long while thanks to one of my South African mates who lives over here. If there's one thing I've learned through experience in my life regarding racism, it's that there is an equal amount of racism amongst black people from all parts of the world as there is from white people. It's just not generally allowed to be spoken of, as for some reason if it's pointed out, then your a racist for some insane reason. It's not getting dealt with though and the situation in South Africa is just highlighting it again.

Black people in the states being able to call each other the "N" word for some reason is another example. Hopefully one day everyone will be held accountable for these issues where they are responsible, just at the moment it's extremely one-eyed.

Poor "Beast", the man has loads of talent, is a great player and for all I know, a top bloke too. This is a disgrace.
 
Yeah, he was my favourite prop last season. If he hung in SA for a few more years, would he qualify under residency? Or has he already qualified and just been denied.
 
nickdnz said:
Yeah, he was my favourite prop last season. If he hung in SA for a few more years, would he qualify under residency? Or has he already qualified and just been denied.
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Thats the one. Ridiculous really.
I think the IRB should grant him special status to be able to play for another international team (such as england) once he qualifies on residency grounds. At the moment he will never be allowed to play international rugby again and that's just silly.
 
ranger said:
Thats the one. Ridiculous really.
I think the IRB should grant him special status to be able to play for another international team (such as england) once he qualifies on residency grounds. At the moment he will never be allowed to play international rugby again and that's just silly.
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Yep, the IRB, should grant him a special exemption to live and play somewhere else if he wants, with only one season club/provincial qualification for that. We'd welcome him, lol. Come to NZ Beast please!
 
ranger said:
Thats the one. Ridiculous really.
I think the IRB should grant him special status to be able to play for another international team (such as england) once he qualifies on residency grounds. At the moment he will never be allowed to play international rugby again and that's just silly.
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I agree, as far as SA are concerned he's not a SA player/citizen/his previous caps mean nothing, so let him have a chance elsewhere
 
I highly doubt the IRB will wipe his caps off-the-record due to him playing in IRB sanctioned games. Just not gonna happen, especially if you think of the long-term implications involved.

Olyy said:
I agree, as far as the ANC are concerned he's not a SA player/citizen/his previous caps mean nothing
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fixed
 
Beast today recieved his SA passport, which means he is now officially available for springbok selection
 
Tendai Mtawarira gets citizenship....DAMN IT!!!!!!!

Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira has got his citizenship and will probably be included in the Bok squad for the tri-nations. I'm guessing I'm one of the very very few people that see what a bad thing this is?

Tendai had a good series against the Lions last year when he was scrummaging against over-the-hill Phil Vickery. After that, he hasn't had one good performance. He was horrible throughout the tri-nations, especially in loose play when he foiled a great many opportunities. His scrumming was also disasterous and he was embarrassed by both New Zealand's and Australia's scrum.

The scrum continued with its problems at the end of the year, with Mtawarira constantly under-performing. The only good time came when BJ Botha came on against Italy. BJ Botha's exelllence helped hide Tendai's uselessness.

Then came the Super14 this year. SA Rugby Magazine has named Tendai the second biggest flop for the Sharks after Andy Goode. He started off in typical, terrible fashion and then got dropped when he got the flu. Things were so much better without him that he couldn't get back in to the Sharks starting XV. Despite this, he will probably start for the Springboks - South African rugby doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

So now I just wonder how long he has to play badly for in order for him to finally be dropped. Whenever guys like Jaques Fourie or Bryan Habana have one or two bad games, people call for their heads, but Tendai can go over a year of being nothing but terrible yet he still gets to start for the Boks.

The front row this year will mostly consist of Sharks. This shows how dumb the selections are. John Smit, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis (When fit) and Tendai Mtawarira will generally be the contenders for the Bok front row. Does anyone not see how stupid this is? Surely if the Sharks front row was good enough to be the Bok front row, the Sharks should have done a whole lot better? The vast bulk of players should come from the Bulls, Stormers or over-seas. This includes the front row. I'm not saying there musn't be any Sharks or Cheetahs players (No Lions players deserve it...except Vermaak), but can we just use our brains here? If we want to win the tri-nations, which is against Australia and New Zealand like the Super 14, where the Bulls and Stormers dominated. See what I'm saying? Bulls and Stormers players dominate against the Australian and New Zealand teams, so when we play against Australia and New Zealand we should have a vast majority of Stormers and Bulls. How can we have an all Shark front row when the Sharks came 9th?

But no, when Bismarck is back from injury we'll most probably see 1. Tendai 2. John Smit 3. Jannie du Plessis and Bismarck on the bench. It's incredibly stupid but I guess that's how SA rugby is starting to work these days. We could very easily win the world cup next year but I doubt we will. Not if all this shocking selection keeps up.
 
OMG, he has not even been selected yet (if he is going to be) and you are already complaining!
 

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