I spoke to James O’Connor at the DHL Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup Fan Day last Sunday at So Kon Po.

“Mate, I just want to play. So, Robbie (Deans) if you’re out there…” the 20-year-old said a day after the Wallabies arrived in Hong Kong.

Hindsight being a perfect science, after Bledisloe Cup 4 has come and gone to Hong Kong we can but say: “And played you did, young man!”

And then some.

What a game the 26 210-strong crowd witnessed in Hong Kong on Saturday.

The Wallabies were trailing until the final seconds and facing a 4-0 series whitewash until man-of-the-moment James O’Connor converted his own injury-time try to secure the match for the Wallabies.

“I’ve been through that situation many times and I just went through my motions, my little triggers that I have been working on,” a jubilant O’Connor said after the final whistle. “It was just like every other kick.”

Tries by Quade Cooper and Adam Ashley-Cooper had put Australia in front but Jimmy Cowan and Corey Jane went over for the All Blacks to hand them a 17-12 lead at the break which was extended by Ma’a Nonu.

But a try by Wallaby winger Drew Mitchell kept Australia in touch before O’Connor’s heroics had the Australian fans roaring in delight.

“The way we went about it was the big thing, particularly James scoring the last try and scoring the last goal, which made us all a lot happier than the alternative,” Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom said.

A win in only the third trans-Tasman Test on neutral soil marks a huge boost for Australia as both sides embark on end-of-season European tours.

“The flight is a lot more pleasurable with a win than a loss,” said Aussie coach Robbie Deans.  “I guess what we got was a good response in the last 20 (minutes) which is an area we have been battling with. That was great. The boys persevered though there were occasions when they could have dropped their heads.”

After the game a disappointed All Blacks coach Graham Henry praised his opponents.

“The Wallabies played particularly well and they scored to win the game. They kept the ball and we gave away a few penalties which made it difficult for us,” he said.

“The Australians played some really good football and it was a great spectacle I would imagine.”

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw added: “I guess sometimes it comes down to one turnover… and they got the vital try at the end which was a little disappointing.”

Richie McCaw and the All Black management at the post-match conference (Pic: Mike Jansen)

Click on the PLAY button below to view our images (low res) from Bledisloe Cup 2010, Hong Kong:

I’m well settled in at the Hong Kong Stadium Media box for the 2010 edition of the 2010 Bledisloe Cup.

Despite only about 25000 tickets sold, special traffic arrangements are still in place with buses and car traffic being re-directed around the So Kon Po area.  Walking up to the Hong Kong Stadium, the energy and general vibe resembles that of a Hong Kong Sevens day.

Fans are making pitstops at 7-11′s and road-side stalls tanking up on beer and the odd hotdog along the way. 

Check here for regular updates:

Kick-off 4:40pm local time

8mins: Brilliant hands by Quade Cooper… goes over in the left-hand corner, conversion missed

(Score AUS 5 – 0 NZ)

(20 mins) Carter misses second penalty attempt

(23 mins) Adam Ashley-Cooper in for a great individual try, Giteau converts

(AUS 12 – 0 NZ)

(30 mins) Try Jimmy Cowan (NZ) Conversion good (Carter)

(AUS 12 – 7 NZ)

(24 mins) NZ 14 Corey Jane crosses for a try in the right-hand corner

Conversion good (Dan Carter)

(NZ 14 – v12 AUS)

Dan Carter converts a penalty on the stroke of half-time

((NZ 17 – 12 US)

Second Half

(13mins) Try time: Ma’a Nonu , Conversion successful (Carter) 

(NZ 24 – 12 AUS)

(20mins) Try time No.11 Drew Mitchell Conversion good (O’Connor)

(NZ 24 – 19 AUS)

Oh! What a final 5 minutes.

James O’Connor you beauty!

Try and a crucial conversion.

Australia pulls it off by beating New Zealand 26-24 after the hooter.

Nervous Aussies ahead of James O’Connor’s final conversion…

Rugby madness in Hong Kong!

Australia beat New Zealand in the final Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong.

Final score 26-24

Good on you Mates.

Tonight, in Hong Kong, we only drink XXXX!

All Blacks skipper Ritchie McCaw and the team management at the post-match press conference.

“Cheers for that final 7 points, Mate!” says skipper Rocky Elsom and his coach.  James O’Connor faces the media after helping the Wallabies break their win-less streak against the All Blacks.

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Session #13

It’s rugby weekend with the All Blacks and Wallabies in Hong Kong as well as the Currie Cup Final back home in Durban, so we’re upping the beat in celebration. 

(Go Province!)

McCoy Mrubata

“I don’t compose,” reedman McCoy Mrubata asserts. “I get my songs through dreams. I’ll wake up, write it or tape it – and then go back to sleep again.”

It was in sleep that McCoy first learned the vocabulary of African jazz. Born in 1959 in Cape Town’s historic Langa township, he grew up with the sounds of African music: the soulful hymns of the Zion Church, the chants and rhythms of traditional healers and the brassy jive of the Merry Macs band, who rehearsed opposite his home.

“When I was seven or eight, all there was on the streets was music and boxing. I used to go across to that rehearsal room and just lose myself in the music. I’d wake up, and find myself back at home, with my mom and gran telling me how they found me there and carried me back.”

The reed-man playeth (McCoy captured by Steve Gordon)

When schooling became impossible in the fiery aftermath of the 76 uprising, the young McCoy then playing flute studied informally under Langa greats like the Ngozi brothers, Winston and Thulisile, the Ngcukanas, Ezra and Duke, Blackie Tempi and Robert Sithole.

(Source: Music.org.za)

McCoy Mrubata (Wanna talk about it)

Read more on Music.org.za

Additional information on WikiPedia

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Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

(This article originally appeared on BlitzBokke.com)

If there’s one thing Hong Kongers fear… it’s fever.

As local residents, my kids have to keep a daily log of their body temperature in their school log-books. Assistants at schools across the territory also check thousands of students’ temperature as they arrive at school every morning.

However, if there’s one fever the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union encourages this week, it’s definitely the rugby kind.

The Australian Wallabies and rivals New Zealand’s All Blacks are in town ahead of their second-ever Bledisloe Cup clash in the city and as it goes with the professional game, they have been kept very busy meeting-and-greeting fans and supporters throughout the week. In-between they’ve also been keeping fit and going through their paces on the practice-pitch at So Kon Po in Causeway Bay.

The Wallabies, eager to break a looong losing-streak against their neighbours arrived in Hong Kong first (on Saturday). The Kiwis followed on Sunday moning and was immediately involved in the DHL Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup Fan Day early the same morning.

My kids and I attended and took some pictures:

                       Micaela (14) and Ethan (10) with All Black Ma’a Nonu (Pic: Mike Jansen)

                       The Jansen kids with Mills Muliaina and some other bloke (lol!) (Pic: Mike Jansen)

While the state of the world’s economy as well as the recent earthquake in New Zealand are blamed for the absence of thousands of Tasman tourists from this year’s Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup match, several Aussie and Kiwi rugby greats are also in town. I attended a RWC 2011 cocktail party hosted by World Cup Ambassador and former All Black skipper (and chirper of note) Sean Fitzpatrick.

The gathering was held at The Canny Man, a basement watering hole in the heart of the Wan Chai party district. Also in attendance and trying to chirp the chirper’s speech was Australian great David Campese. This time around, however, the two former internationals combined to make the evening a very enjoyable outing.

                      Sean Fitzpatrick with Campo lurking over his shoulder (Pic: Mike Jansen)

Have a look at our DHL HK Bledisloe Cup Fans Day album:

Our friends at Rugby Asia Channel (RAC) also attended the Fans Day and put together this video:

Pugnacious batsman Scott Styris will return from injury to lead a strong New Zealand squad in search of an elusive Cup victory at the Hong Kong Sixes next month.

Styris will spearhead a team that includes two other Black Caps – Darryl Tuffey and Nathan McCullum – in search of honours at the Karp Group/PC Jeweller Hong Kong Cricket Sixes at the Kowloon Cricket Club on November 6-7.

“We have a nice mix of experienced internationals as well as seasoned campaigners in our domestic competition plus a couple of up-and-coming youngsters,” said Styris.

A 29-test and 160 one-day international veteran, Styris has successfully recovered from a partial stress fracture to his lower back which ruled him out of New Zealand’s recent tour to Bangladesh.

Logan van Beek and Harry Boam, two players who featured in the New Zealand Under-19 World Cup squad last year will provide a dash of young talent.

Apart from Tuffey and McCullum, the rest of the squad comprises a pair of experienced domestic players Carl Frauenstein and Kieran Noema-Barnett, with Styris picking the latter as one to watch out for.

“We have a very good side and one which can beat anyone,” Styris said. “But I’m mindful of the fact that the other teams too have some top-quality players while Hong Kong has shown they can also be a threat. It will be tough, but we are coming there to win New Zealand its first Hong Kong Sixes title.”

A more than useful all-rounder – he has 3,743 ODI runs and 125 wickets – the 35-year-old Styris revealed his immediate goals were to play in the World Cup next year as well as get another contract with in the Indian Premier League. He played for the Deccan Charges in his first three-year contract which ended this season.

“But my first aim is to see that New Zealand win the Hong Kong Sixes. This is my first visit. I missed out on the last two occasions due to other commitments, and I’m really llloking forward to it as I heard it is a fun but serious event,” Styris added.

New Zealand is drawn in the preliminary Sobers Group with Indian, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Bradman Group comprises England, Australia, defending champions South Africa and last year’s runners-up Hong Kong.

China will also make a debut appearance at the Hong Kong Sixes when the Asian Games-bound squad takes part in an exhibition match against a Hong Kong development team on the Sunday of the tournament.

 The New Zealand side is:

Scott Styris (c) – Northern Knights

Daryl Tuffey – Auckland Aces

Nathan McCullum – Otago Volts

Carl Frauenstein – Canterbury Wizards

Logan van Beek – Canterbury Wizards

Harry Boam – Wellington Firebirds

Kieran Noema-Barnett – Central Stags

Anil Kumble will lead crowd favourites India in its bid to win the Hong Kong Sixes for only the second time in the history of the tournament.

Kumble returns with the core of the team which played last year – Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Stuart Binny and Sriram Sridharan – together with Rohan Gavaskar, another regular at the Kowloon Cricket Club.

But all eyes at the Karp Group.PC Jeweller Hong Kong Cricket Sixes on November 6-7 will be on one of the two new faces in the Indian squad – dashing batsman Ambati Rayudu.

Rayudu, 25, played alongside the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for the Mumbai Indians in this season’s Indian Premier League. A couple of outstanding knocks from Rayudu who opened the batting, went a long way in helping Mumbai Indians reach the IPL final.

“He is a very talented cricketer and one who holds a lot of promise,” said Kumble who captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. “He is a hard-hitting batsman and has come to the fore with some good knocks for the Mumbai Indians.”

The other first-timer to the Hong Kong Sixes is Kumble’s Royal Challengers teammate Akhil Balachandra. A useful all-rounder, Balachandra has a Twenty20 strike rate of 150 and his hitting could be what India needs.

“We didn’t do well last year winning only one of our matches. We can’t do worse than last year,” Kumble said. “The aim this time is to go all the way and be in contention on the last day.”

Kumble, and Indian fans will be hoping Reetinder Singh Sodhi will rediscover the cracking form he showed with the bat at the 2005 tournament which India won, defeating the West Indies in the final.

Kumble added: “We are in a tough preliminary round group, but I’m confident we can do well this year.”

Indian Cricket legend Anil Kumble returns to lead India in Hong Kong 2010

India are drawn with rivals Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the Sobers Group at the US$150,000 tournament. The other Bradman Group comprises defending champions South Africa, England, Australia and hosts Hong Kong.

“It is a good competitive side, and if guys like Sodhi and Rayudu get going, India will pose a strong threat to the others,” said Captain Shahzada Saleem Ahmed, president of the Hong Kong Cricket Association.

China, represented by the Asian Games side, will also be making their debut appearance at the Hong Kong Sixes when they take part in an exhibition game against a Hong Kong development team on the Sunday of the tournament.

INDIA: Anil Kumble (captain), Rohan Gavaskar, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Sriram Sridharan, Stuart Binny, Ambati Rayudu, Akhil Balachandra.

Despite only arriving in the city this morning, the New Zealand All Blacks met their fans at the very first DHL Hong Kong 2010 Bledisloe Cup Fans Day.  Their Australian rivals who arrived yesterday also made time to pose for pictures and hand out autographs ahead of the third-ever Bledisloe Cup clash on neutral soil.

For both sides, the HK stopover will be match 1 of their respective end-of-year European Tours that come after an arduous domestic and international season of Super 14 and Tri-Nations tournaments.  Some of the players also played in the championship Sevens match of the Delhi Commonwealth Games only a few days ago, where New Zealand walked away with the Gold Medal and Australia won Silver.  

A busy week of practice sessions and media engagements await both teams for the rest of the week before they clash in the DHL Hong Kong 2010 Bledisloe Cup at the Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday.

Word is that some 25 000 tickets have been sold thus far and while it means the Stadium may only be half-full come Saturday, the respective teams have promised nothing less than a test-match quality game.

“There is no such thing as a dead rubber between the All Blacks and Wallabies,” New Zealand coach Graham Henry reiterated in a tele-conference last week.

Fans who want to attend the match can still book their tickets at HKTicketing.

Kick-off is at 4:30pm

Here are some of the images I took at So Kon Po earlier today:

If you’re a regular reader of Howzit-HongKong.com you will be familiar with our Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions.

Not too long ago we featured a Cape Town performing artist called Brigitte Mitchell as our artist Number 9.

Brigitte, a Cape Town lass plying her trade right here in Hong Kong, released her debut album today called “don’t explain.”

If you’re familiar with my rambling on Howzit-HongKong’s sister (Rugby Sevens) website BlitzBokke.com, you will know of my aversion to our young rugby players being managed by their fathers when they leave the schoolboy-rugby scene and enter the professional era.

Well, in the music industry, in particular the very emotive jazz genre, it is the complete opposite.

Brigitte Mitchell’s career is the the very able hands of her drummer, band-leader, manager and husband.  Gary Da Silva is partly responsible for the release of “don’t explain” and as he says in the album insert:

“The first time I heard Brigitte sing on stage, I was immediately captivated by her voice and magnetic stage presence. It was like a bird in flight, dancing on the wind, free and unpredictable.”

I was fortunate to be at Brigitte’s gig at The Gecko Lounge in Central on Tuesday evening where the regular patrons were joined by the (all-South African) cast of Grease, The Musical… currently playing in the city.

Brigitte Mitchell has drawn all of us into her world and once you hear her on “don’t explain” we have no doubt that you too will be.

“don’t explain” is available at any HMV throughout the city in the Jazz section.

Mike Jansen

Spot the Saffa artist! (Pic: Mike Jansen)

Gary Da Silva on drums at The Gecko Lounge (Pic: Mike Jansen)

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #12

Some time ago, I started a FaceBook Group in support of Cape Town’s own ”gentleman of jazz,” Mr. Tony Schilder.  It had been closed for a while until I restarted it about a week ago.  I did this because I got word that Tony’s health had taken a turn for the worse and I was hoping that the extra positive thoughts and support would help.

The Group currently has 23 members and I hope you too will join it after reading this tribute.

Cape Jazz pianist and composer, Tony Schilder, was born in 1937 to a well known Jazz Family in retreat. His parents, brothers and children are all musicians.  Tony grew up on the Cape Flats in a family of 14 children which included 4 step sisters.

His brother Chris Schilder is also brilliant composer and was a key member of the successful jazz rock group Pacific Express.

Being a completely self-taught musician and having never taken a single lesson in his life, all Tony’s compositions and everything he’s ever played is completely from memory.

His mother was into jazz and his father a classical music fan which indicates his influences from both of these genres.

At the age of 5 he discovered the piano and by the time he was 6 he was already playing for parties. He had to wait in line to take turns at the piano at home as most of the family members were musicians.

The entertainment bug had fully manifested itself when he got his first professional gig at a roller skating rink in Wynberg when he was 11 years old.

Whilst growing up he was exposed to the music of Errol Garner and Oscar Petersen and draws his inspiration from these two Jazz maestros of the piano.

At a time when the political climate in this country was in turmoil, he opposed the regime but as a musician under apartheid he faced challenges which concerned the welfare of his family and had to be careful not to be too outspoken for fear of being detained.

His son, Hilton, became very much an activist and expressed this in his music with indigenous and controversial sounds.

Some of Tony Schilder’s musical landmarks include his debut vinyl [LP] in the early 80’s called Introducing the Music of Tony Schilder, which was produced by(another Son of Cape Town) Jonathan Butler.

This was later re-released on CD and spawned the(Cape Flats) “anthem” Montreal.

Another significant production is a live recording at The Baxter as a guest with Morris Goldberg in 1982 called Jazz in Transit.

His latest offering is called B Positive and also features his son Hilton.

The title track which is his blood group is a song he penned in hospital after undergoing surgery a few years ago.

Last year he became seriously ill again and was rushed to hospital upon where an emergency life saving operation had to be performed.

The medical costs came to a staggering R195 000 and being an inactive musician Tony had no income to pay for this exorbitant bill.

Royalty payments were few and far between and the little life savings he and his spouse had accumulated had to be accessed and emptied to pay for the operation but was not nearly enough.

(Source: Western Cape Musicians Association/WCMA)

William Rezant from the WCMA has been supporting Tony Schilder (Pic: WCMA)

The WCMA has been instrumental in arranging fundraising events to pay for Tony’s treatment.

Last week I got word that Tony’s health had taken a turn for the worse and that he was admitted to hospital once again.

I have been planning to include Tony Schilder as part of the Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions but could never find anything by the pianist on YouTube.  However, Paddy Lee Thorpe of Tony’s record company Mountain Records recently added the following two clips and we thankfully share them with you.

Ladies and gentleman:

Mr. Tony Schilder.

Levitation (Tony Schilder)

Dedicated to his mother, the Tony Schilder Trio performs “Hymn for Hettie”

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Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…