Daily Archives: 6 January 2015
Springboks Pierre Spies, Arno Botha, Handré Pollard, Marcel van der Merwe and Adriaan Strauss will all return to Vodacom Bulls training from next week onwards, it was confirmed in Pretoria on Tuesday.
The Vodacom Bulls squad assembled in Pretoria on Monday to prepare for the 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby season, but a couple of senior players will only join the fray later this month.
James O’Connor
Former Wallabies backline star James O’Connor is returning to Australian rugby after year-long exile in Europe, saying he has matured and is ready to resume his 44-Test career.
O’Connor was released from his Australian Rugby Union contract after a series of off-field incidents and forced to continue his career in Europe when shunned by local Super Rugby teams.
Now 24, O’Connor says he has grown up and is determined to leave behind his bad boy image.
Another Pacific Island nation has fallen foul of the international controlling body of the sport, World Rugby, over the political meddling of its government.
A letter leaked from World Rugby has shown the organisation’s anger at the Fijian government’s seizure of television rights for Sevens and their intention to make it only available to a state owned network at no cost.
Its angry tone hints that Fiji faces a black out of next month’s Wellington tournament and they could also potentially miss out on this year’s 15-man World Cup.
World Rugby (the renamed International Rugby Board) explicitly says any failure to broadcast rugby in Fiji will not be their fault, but the fault of Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s government.
Bryan Habana
World Cup-winning Springbok Bryan Habana is enjoying his stay in Toulon so much, he might extend it.
The 31-year-old, Player of the Year after equalling the record set for most tries in a World Cup, said discussions are underway to extend his contract the French and European champions when it expires in 2016.
His arrival in the south of France was marked by a groin injury that sidelined him for most of his first season.
Morné Steyn & Mosese Ratuvou
Veteran Springbok Morné Steyn claims he was ‘eye-gouged’, which is why he kicked out at Fijian wing Mosese Ratuvou.
The 30-year-old flyhalf was red-carded for the kick in the first half of the Stade Français’ 9-12 loss to Lyon in a French Top 14 match last Friday.
Steyn, the top-scorer at the 2011 World Cup and a holder of numerous international records, had confidently kicked Stade into a 6-0 lead – courtesy of a 40-metre penalty and a quick-thinking drop-goal.
But after Ratuvou had cut the deficit with the game’s opening try, Steyn saw red in the 31st minute for kicking the Fijian wing as the two tussled on the ground.
Rhys Priestland
Aviva Premiership Rugby club Bath have signed Welsh international flyhalf Rhys Priestland from the 2015 / 2016 Premiership season from Welsh side the Scarlets.
Twenty-seven-year-old Priestland is closing in on 150 appearances for the Scarlets for whom he has scored over 1000 points.
Priestland, who has 32 caps for his country, burst onto the international scene in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he steered Wales to their first semi-final since 1987.
South Africa and the West Indies battled each other in the 3rd and last 5-Day Cricket Test at Newlands, Cape Town. The Test ran from 2 to 6 January 2015.
The 2nd Test in Port Elizabeth was a bit of a disapointment, with wet weather spoiling the Test and forcing a draw. Better weather was expected and delivered in Cape Town for the 3rd Test.
Play started on schedule on Day 1, at 10:30 SA Time (08:30 GMT).
The score cards were updated at regular intervals, here on Rugby-Talk.com.
The West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
The first West Indies wicket fell with their score on 30. At Lunch on Day 1 the West Indies were on 80 / 2 after 27 overs and at Stumps on Day 1 the West Indies were 276 / 6, after the day’s 90 overs.
The Proteas wrapped up the West Indies tail relatively quickly on Day 2 (within 9.5 overs), with the West Indies all out for 329 after 99.5 overs. The Proteas started batting and lost the wicket of Dean Elgar at 48 / 1. At Tea on Day 2 the Proteas were 135 / 2, after 42 overs. With the Proteas on 227 / 3, rain interrupted play… which should lead to Stumps – Day 2.
On Day 3 the Proteas resumed batting and lost the wicket of Hashim Amla on 63, with the Proteas on 254 / 4. Proteas were on 313 / 5 at Lunch – Day 3, still 16 runs behind. AB de Villiers easily reached his TON after Lunch on Day 3 and eventually perished on 148 as he tried to hit it out of the park. Proteas lead by 92 at the Innings break, having scored 421 All Out.
The West Indies 2nd Innings started off well for them and after the first 10.5 overs they were on 23 / 0 before Morné Morkel struck, making it 23 / 1 after 11 overs. The 2nd wicket fell shortly afterwards, on 27. The West Indies soldiered on and were 88 / 2 at Stumps – Day 3.
Morning Day 4… it is raining and the outfield is soaked. Prospects of play did not look good for the rest of Day 4. Play eventually resumed at 15:00 on Day 4. The West Indies hung in for most of the afternoon, till the wickets started falling rather fast, losing the last 7 wickets for just 33 runs. West Indies All Out for 215 in their 2nd Innings, a lead of 123. This leaves the Proteas needing 124 for the win, with a Day and a few overs remaining in the Test. Alviro Petersen falls without troubling the scorecard, with the Proteas on 9 / 1 after 2.3 Overs, as Stumps was called on Day 4.
The Proteas needed 115 runs for the win on Day 5 of the Test and lost the wicket of Faf du Plessis with the score on 51 / 2, leaving 73 runs to win. South Africa won the Test before Lunch on the final Day, a win by 8 wickets.
West Indies:
First Innings – 329 All Out (99.5 Overs)
Second Innings – 215 All Out (79.5 Overs)