WATCH: Mad scramble as team celebrations force giant swimming pool to burst
While the HSBC SVNS Cape Town is known for the great weather, food, atmosphere and of course, the rugby, fans on hand witnessed a definite first this past weekend.
On the field, the Australian women continued their fine form by backing up their performance in Dubai with yet another win as they held on to beat France 29-26 in the final in South Africa.
“We were talking a lot about back-to-back and we’ve never won in Cape Town on a World Series,” captain Charlotte Caslick said post match.
“We love to play here so it was something that we’ve always spoken about, winning here, and I’m really proud of the girls doing it.”
It wasn’t to be for the Australian men though, as they were destroyed 45-12 by Argentina in the men’s cup final, winning in Cape Town for the first time.
After the trophy presentations, and still on a high from their historic win, some of the players felt it was fitting to get into one of the giant 2000 litre inflatable swimming pools that were pitch side all weekend.
Soon more Argentinians joined, followed by the Australian women, and it was all going well as one by one they dived in.
Until the inevitable happened, much to the delight of commentators Sean Maloney and Karl Tanana.
It caused those approaching, including injured Demi Hayes on crutches and holding the trophy, to do a very quick u-turn as cameramen and dignitaries had to deal with the bizarre, yet comical, scene.
Argentina go top of the men’s SVNS table, while Australia stay top of the women’s, ahead of the next leg which they will host early next year.
Tickets are on sale now for the next SVNS Series event in Perth on January 26
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> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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