Daily Archives: 28 October 2014
Julian Redelinghuys
Robbie Coetzee
Jaco Kriel
Nizaam Carr
Seabelo Senatla
Five newcomers and two returnees have been added to the bulk of the Springboks’ Castle Lager Rugby Championship squad as the national selectors opted for continuity and rewarding form in naming a 36-man squad for next month’s tour to the Northern Hemisphere.
Twenty-nine of the 36 players named for the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour were part of the Rugby Championship squad. They will be joined by the uncapped quintet of Robbie Coetzee, Julian Redelinghuys, Nizaam Carr, Jaco Kriel and Seabelo Senatla, while Coenie Oosthuizen and Johan Goosen have been recalled to the squad for the tour of four Tests.
“It’s wonderful to have this kind of continuity in selection, while the five uncapped players in the squad have all been rewarded for superb form throughout the season,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“Many of the selected players were at our training camp in Stellenbosch last week where we put in a lot of very hard work. We’ll have to hit the ground running when we assemble in Johannesburg on Wednesday before we depart on what will be a challenging tour.
It’s PUB NIGHT again… and what a shocking start to the week for me it was, have not even had time to change my mind, let alone put deserved news on Rugby-Talk.
Tonight it changes, I WILL catch up on the rugby news, even if it is the last thing I do!
Rugby-Talk.cm quietly reaches milestone after milestone and today Bullscot officially took us over the 11 000 mark, as far as news articles are concerned!
Tomorrow will see us reach 12 Million Page Impressions since we started counting on 31 October 2009 and at year end in 2014 we should stand at over 12.75 Million Page Impressions.
The ABSA Currie Cup concluded this past weekend, with DHL Western Province walking away with the spoils fopr 2014. Congratulations to Province, deserved winners after a stellar Currie Cup season. Heartfelt congratulations also goes out to the Xerox Golden Lions who came oh so close to forcing the game into overtime. All in all a good final!
OK, let’s focus on the PUB tonight…. the idea with PUB NIGHT is to lighten up our dull Tuesday evenings with music, comedy and fun.
Rugby takes a backseat tonight as the clan and fellow rugby nutters gather…
Read the rules below carefully, or you WILL get burnt!
Just for clarity sake, when someone does not adhere to the Rules of the PUB, EVERYBODY jumps on them and pummels them, right… understood?
Here’s how it works:
South Africa has set themselves the ultimate benchmark, beating none other than the All Blacks during their last outing, and the pieces very much seem to be falling into place for Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks.
It has been heady stuff for the second ranked Test nation, playing impressive attack, while their relentless carpet bombing of the ruck contest has been driven by the Meyer tendency to pick giants in the back row – and this has been a key area of their ability to match New Zealand.
This is a template that the team will only look to develop, while their squad balance is remarkably similar to their great rivals, with Meyer introducing new talent to complement some of the most experienced players in his country’s history.
The World Champions head to America and the United Kingdom in what is the ultimate live fire training run, for in less than 12 months the All Blacks will re-tread the same soil as they seek to defend the Webb Ellis Cup.
The paradox for New Zealand is that their first Test, against USA in Chicago next up, is followed by World Cup host’s England a week later.
This mirrors the fears that the All Blacks ‘soft pool’ in the 2015 tournament, an immense insult to Argentina, may be ill preparation for the knockout stages, something that caused some issues for the side in 2007.
The Rugby Championship winners play the United States, England, Scotland and Wales to round out their 2014 international schedule.
Australia embarks on a difficult trip to Europe, playing the busiest schedule of any Southern Hemisphere power, clashing with Sir John Kirwan’s Barbarians to open November for the Wallabies before four straight Tests against the best the old continent has to offer.
Michael Cheika is the newest Test coach on the highest stage, and the successful coach, the only mentor in rugby history to record a Super Rugby / Heineken Cup double, will relish the immediate challenge which has seen him get ready for departure without even trying on his Wallabies gear.
From an on field perspective, to suggest the men in gold are in crisis is ludicrous, after they made the All Blacks look decisively mortal for long periods in Brisbane.
Daniel Hourcade has worked wonders for Los Pumas so far, but the obvious progress seen throughout The Rugby Championship will need to continue if Argentina is to lay a marker in Europe.
After all, the Rugby World Cup will be played on the same soil next year, with the South Americans alongside the All Blacks in the same group.
The last time Los Pumas played the quadrennial tournament in the old continent, they defeated hosts France twice to finish third overall, an achievement that many believe was the genesis for their eventual inclusion into the South’s premier international competition.
Nizaam Carr
Nizaam Carr has realised his dream of becoming a Springbok after the No 8 was included in the year-end squad that will travel to the Northern Hemisphere.
His selection is warranted after being the stand-out player in the Stormers’ Super Rugby campaign as well as being pivotal to the success of Western Province winning the Currie Cup.
An emotional Carr said he rushed to the television at 11.30 on Monday morning for the announcement of the squad and, when he saw he had cracked the nod in Heyneke Meyer’s year-end squad, he nearly jumped a hole in floor.
Sir Ian McGeechan
The Springboks’ recent evolution from a kicking strategy to a more ball-in-hand approach has been noted in the Northern Hemisphere.
Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks are set to play four Tests there next month, starting with a clash against Ireland in Dublin on 8 November. After that, they will face England (London 15 November), Italy (Padova 22 November) and Wales (Cardiff 29 November) in consecutive weeks.
The Boks have shown more attacking intent in recent times after been criticised for playing a one-dimensional, kicking game.
The change in strategy has caught the eye for former British and Irish Lions coach Ian McGeechan.
Sampie Mastriet
Lohan Jacobs
Marvin Orie
Rohan Janse van Rensburg
The Xerox Golden Lions have snapped up a quartet of Vodacom Blue Bulls players – including two SA under-20 stars and a Springbok Sevens player for the upcoming season as more discontent sets in in Pretoria.
Already the Bulls lost one of their rising stars, hooker Bongi Mbonambi, to Western Province earlier this year, while snapping up Boks Trevor Nyakane and Adriaan Strauss for the upcoming season as well as Toyota Cheetahs flanker Lappies Labuschagne.
But now the cross-Jukskei trek has seen the Bulls lose not only Springbok Sevens flyer Sampie Mastriet to the Lions, but also top young players Marvin Orie, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Lohan Jacobs.
The quartet have signed for the Lions after failing to find any meaningful game time at the Bulls as the bottleneck at the top continues.
Western Province hooker Tiaan Liebenberg has been forced to retire after being plagued by back injuries for some time now.
The 32-year-old will be returning to Bloemfontein to join up with his family and to get involved with the business.
The hooker was a mere spectator during Western Province’s 19-16 Currie Cup victory over the Lions on Saturday and although the veteran has reached some lofty heights in rugby, he was still sad not to be a part of it.
All Blacks centre Conrad Smith expressed his excitement ahead of their historic match against the United States, which will be the first time New Zealand has played on American soil in 34 years.
Smith stated that the All Blacks are enjoying anonymity in the city of Chicago, Illinois as they were free to walk about largely unrecognised by the local population, as they explored the Windy City.
“We enjoyed the walk, the different sites and playing in a place we haven’t played at before. For old guys like myself, it’s a bit of a novelty but I think the guys will enjoy the week.
Romain Taofifenua
Toulon second row forward Romain Taofifenua has been cited, following the European Champions Cup Round Two match against Ulster last Saturday 25 October.
Faofifenua is alleged to have kicked the Ulster centre Stuart Olding in the head, in the 47th minute of the Pool Three game at Kingspan Stadium in contravention of Law 10.4(c).
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has added Dave Ewers, Henry Slade and Thomas Waldrom to the squad preparing for the 2014 Autumn Internationals.
The Exeter Chiefs trio come in as injury cover for James Haskell (Wasps), Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints) and Billy Vunipola (Saracens).
Burrell is remaining with Saints for specialist assessment on his injured right hand on Monday and Tuesday while Vunipola will undergo the return to play protocol in camp after suffering concussion in Saracens’ game at Munster on Friday.
Haskell is still getting over a viral infection and, with Will Fraser (Saracens) also suffering a concussion, Ewers comes in.
Head coach Vern Cotter yesterday added two players to Scotland’s viagogo Autumn Test training squad in Newcastle.
Peter Horne, the five-times capped Glasgow Warriors centre, and uncapped Edinburgh scrum-half, Sam Hidalgo Clyne, have been brought in as precautionary injury cover for Alex Dunbar and Chris Cusiter respectively.
Dunbar reported ankle discomfort during the Warriors’ European Rugby Champions Cup win over Montpellier in France on Saturday, while Cusiter missed Sale Sharks’ corresponding Cup clash with a calf strain.
The pair will require further assessment from the medical team over the coming days to determine their time of return.