Fresh off the 'plane from New Zealand with a large trophy in tow, John Smit quietly slips iafrica.com Contributing Editor Dan Nicholl an airline serviette with hastily scribbled highlights of the week leading up to the Tri-Nations victory.

Monday 7 September: Monday morning on the Gold Coast, and some bruised players after a tough Saturday. Forwards weary after a long 80 minutes, Bryan tender after tweaking a hamstring, and Jean nursing an ankle after slipping over while working out with a Riverdance video last night, all part of his preparations for going to Munster. He's been practicing his Irish accent, with bizarre results; sounds disconcertingly like the coach. Frans has been working on his French, with dismal results; so far, all he can manage is telling Schalk what he'll do to him if Schalk calls him 'Bruno' again. That Sports Illustrated cover has kept us very entertained. Lots of focus though — Saturday's game is huge.

Tuesday 8 September: News from New Zealand suggests we won't be very popular on arrival in Hamilton, after the coach's call to arrive on Thursday. Coach reckons there's not much to do in Hamilton; hope that doesn't mean we're flying to Queensland next time we have a game in Rustenberg. Good training session, guys looking sharp; ruckus at the hotel when we got back, though. Emergency services on the ground, looked like a suicide; turned out Victor and Bakkies were hanging Bryan out the window by his ankles after catching him trying on a Province jersey in the mirror. Managed to calm everyone down, and left Bryan in Schalk's protective custody, but wouldn't want to be Bryan in a Stormers jersey at Loftus next season.

Wednesday 9 September: Had the afternoon off, half a dozen of us went to watch 'Lethal Weapon II', which has just come out in Australia. Better bet than staying in the hotel and watching television, as both of Australia's television channels went down at the same time; turned out Frans had been practicing his up and unders, and knocked out the satellite beaming down the signal. Good thing we're leaving tomorrow, as there are some very upset Australians who might have to go for weeks without 'Home and Away', 'Blue Heelers', and new episodes of 'Mash'.

Thursday 10 September: Arrived in Hamilton, reception wasn't too bad; surprising how many of the locals were in Bok jerseys, and spoke with accents that sounded eerily South African. Hotel had large pictures of Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood above reception, much like Zimbabwean hotels I've been to had pictures of Robert Mugabe, and as always happens here, every single person in the hotel had been in 'Lord of the Rings', and couldn't wait to tell us about it. Friendly people, though, and all in all a good evening. Got a good feeling about Saturday.

Friday 11 September: Strong captain's practice, albeit one with an unfortunate ending — Frans ran some late practice at posts, middled one properly, and brought down a light aircraft coming into land at an airstrip on the other side of town. Thankfully the 'plane landed okay, and everyone was alright. Early night in Hamilton, with Jean having an embarrassing moment at dinner: told everyone he was on the line to Bono, who he claims will be his next door neighbour in Ireland, and then accidentally hit speakerphone on his mobile. We now all know what colour scatter cushions Jean's girlfriend wants in Munster...

Saturday 12 September: Match day is usually a nervous affair, but we all felt pretty good. Went for a walk around Hamilton three or four times, had a good lunch, and then hit the stadium. 80 minutes went by in a blur, whistle sounded, and an almost perfect tournament wrapped up. Great feeling, and the perfect way to say goodbye to Jean and Frans. And as the coach said at the press conference, there is something to do in Hamilton: win a Tri-Nations.

  • Citings update: Following Jaque Fourie's four-week ban for knocking over little Ma'a Nonu on Saturday, the Sanzar citing committee has confirmed several further citings.

    Fourie du Preez has been banned for six weeks for 'looking at Dan Carter in an aggressive manner that might have hurt Carter's feelings', while Schalk Burger has received eight weeks for 'deliberately entering successive rucks with an untucked shirt, and a general sartorial approach detrimental to the spirit of the game'.

    Meanwhile, video evidence showing Richie McCaw pulling a knife on Heinrich Brussow to secure the ball in an early maul has been dismissed by Sanzar, with McCaw applauded for 'creative approach to the contest'. Sanzar biased against the Boks? Never.

  • Contact Dan at dan@metropolis.co.za
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