On Saturday night (5 June) 5FM DJ and MK Presenter Elma Smit was announced the winner of SuperSports' Lady Rugga search for a dude'ette presenter to cover the Rugby World Cup.
The search took the form of an
open casting call at rugby stadiums round the country. The auditions happened in April and the hopefuls were narrowed down to a shortlist of 16.
On Saturday the Top 16 faced a panel of judges who consisted of TV presenter Ashley Hayden, TV presenter Elana Afrika, SuperSport furniture Darren Scott and Daddy Rugga Naas Botha.
While the auditions were open to everyone, it was clear from the Top 16 line-up that many in the entertainment industry went along to try their luck because there were numerous TV presenters and DJ's in the mix.
Elma, Motshidisi and Janina.
Once the judges had seen the Top 16, they narrowed them down to a Top 3: Elma, YFM sports and news anchor Motshidisi Mohono and Jacaranda FM DJ and news reader Janina Oberholzer.
Each of the three had to do a final audition by interviewing Bulls rugby player Wynand Olivier, who seemed to have the time of his life grinning from under his highlights.
All three impressed the judges but Elma made her mark when she dexterously handled a monoslylabic grunt from Wynand. She also proved that she knows her stuff when it comes to rugby terminology and knows how to keep both men and women interested in her questions.
A clip from her audition:
Elma: This is a World Cup year so everyone's looking ahead, hoping the Springboks will be in top form. A lot of Bulls fans were, however, a little disappointed in your tour earlier in the season and then somehow you came back from tour and as soon as you started playing in South Africa again, things started going alright for The Bulls. What is it do you think that really changed there?
Wynand: I can't put my finger down on one thing - I think it's just a mind change. The whole thing changed against The Chiefs. We were 20 points to three down and half-time we just went in and said: "Listen guys, let's just enjoy it and give it our all and see what happens."
Elma: Besides being a formidable rugby player, I know we had a chat at the MK Awards and you're also a big local music fan - what do you listen to before a game?
Wynand: The rougher the better. Anything to psyche me up before a game. I'm a big fan of the South African music scene and I'm good mates with the guys from prime Circle and I love supporting the boys.
In feather lashes at the 2011 MK Awards
Elma, who hosted this year's MK Awards, DJ's the 04:00 to 07:00 slot on 5FM at the weekends.
She makes her SuperSport debut at the Rugby World Cup in September, reporting live from New Zealand.