Former Grahamstonian Rosko Specman is still pinching himself after a scintillating performance that saw him named as the best player in the HSBC Wellington 7s rugby tournament.
However, New Zealand-born referee Matt O’Brien left him seething during the All Blacks’ 24-21 Cup final victory over the Blitzboks.
Former Grahamstonian Rosko Specman is still pinching himself after a scintillating performance that saw him named as the best player in the HSBC Wellington 7s rugby tournament.
However, New Zealand-born referee Matt O’Brien left him seething during the All Blacks’ 24-21 Cup final victory over the Blitzboks.
Having earlier scored his fifth try of the tournament, Specman was yellow carded in the final for playing the ball on the ground from an offside position. At this point, South Africa led 21-7, but they were never able to recover.
Although Specman admitted to having felt “very angry” after the yellow card, he claimed that he had yet to review the incident.
“There were some calls [where]the ref didn’t favour us, but that’s something you can’t change. If the ref decides to make that call, that’s his call,” said Specman.
However, Specman expressed delight at both his individual performance and the team’s position at the top of the World Series log. “It’s amazing [to be top]. I was interviewed this morning and I didn’t know what to say [when they showed me my individual stats],” he said.
Specman also claimed that Coach Neil Powell had praised the character shown by the Blitzboks during a 31-0 Cup semi-final demolition of Fiji, their nearest World Series challengers.
He rued the shoulder injury to Justin Geduld – a player with whom he claims to have formed a good on-field understanding. However, the stroke of bad luck has seen new call-up EP Kings star Tim Agaba given a chance to follow in Speckman’s footsteps and make a name for himself. The Eastern Cape – and the rest of the country – will be holding thumbs that Agaba can make an impact at this weekend’s Sydney 7s.
Meanwhile, former Graeme College exchange student and England 7s star Dan Bibby was named in the Wellington 7s dream team alongside Specman, rounding off a perfect weekend for Grahamstown and Eastern Province rugby.
sport@grocotts.co.za
