Daily Archives: 17 March 2015
It’s PUB NIGHT again… Tuesdays seem to follow one another quicker and quicker!
The heading suggests we talk about the Cricket World Cup and the Quarter-final between South Africa and Sri Lanka tomorrow moring at 05:30 SA Time. So to put all doubt behind us, yes we are!
I sense that the general expectation is that the Proteas will once again CHOKE… like the Stormers and Sharks do every year!
South Africa’s Proteas have never won a play-off game in the Cricket World Cup, that is the history we face. Tell us, between songs, what you think their chances are this time round.
Will the Top order finally get things right or will they wilt again. Will the bowlers bowl with precision, aggression and finesse and demolish the Sri Lanka batting order?
I guess this makes for a few good discussions!
It is time to bat hard and protect your stumps in the PUB tonight.
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 and wheel in their old friends…
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:
The DHL Stormers have announced a 27-man touring squad for their upcoming trip to Australasia, which will see them take on the Highlanders, the Hurricanes, the Waratahs and the Western Force on their 2015 Vodacom Super Rugby away trip.
Captain Duane Vermeulen will lead a squad with no selection surprises and a playing group which includes hooker Bongi Mbonambi, prop Oli Kebble, lock Eben Etzebeth, flank Mike Rhodes and wing Johnny Kotze – all of whom did not play against the Chiefs at the weekend.
The only player unavailable because of injury is hard-working flanker Rynhardt Elstadt (broken leg – suffered against the Blues in Round 2), with DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee rightfully rewarding those players who have served the team so well thus far in 2015.
Warren Gatland
Wales have made 2 changes in their front row to face Italy in their final Six Nations encounter of the season, in Rome on Saturday.
Rob Evans and Aaron Jarvis come into the starting 15, replacing the injured duo of Gethin Jenkins (hamstring) and Samson Lee (Achilles).
The team which will take to the field at the Stadio Olimpico is otherwise unchanged team.
Evans will make his first start as he wins his 2nd cap in Rome and will line-up alongside Ospreys duo Scott Baldwin and Jarvis.
Luke Charteris and Alun Wyn Jones continue in the second row with Dan Lydiate and Taulupe Faletau lining up alongside captain Sam Warburton in the back row.
The backline remains unchanged with Rhys Webb (No 9) and Dan Biggar (No 10) at halfback, Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies in the centre and a back 3 of George North, Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny.
Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny Bill Williams’ delayed concussion symptoms are giving Chiefs coach Dave Rennie headaches of his own.
Rennie said he will wait until Friday, to give his star centre a shot at playing against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
The All Black superstar suffered a head-clash with Stormers prop Vincent Koch last weekend in Cape Town, forcing him to leave the field for a concussion test.
Williams returned to the playing field to complete most of the game, but has been suffering from headaches and showing symptoms of concussion.
For the Chiefs coach, Rennie, there is now a nervous wait to see if Williams can complete the mandatory protocols – in order to be declared fit to face the Sharks in this Super Rugby Round 6 crunch clash.
Michael Cheika
Wallaby and Waratahs coach Michael Cheika is backing the Waratahs to upset the Brumbies, but he acknowledged that on current form the men from Canberra are Australia’s best team.
Cheika, who is carefully juggling his Waratahs and Wallaby coaching jobs in the lead-up to the World Cup, said the Waratahs are close to reproducing the championship-winning form that saw them claim their first Super Rugby title in 2014.
Speaking ahead of the much-anticipated all-Australian derby – Waratahs versus Brumbies in Sydney on Sunday – Cheika said he is confident the Tahs will turn around a season that could spin out of control if they lose this week again.
With just 2 wins from 4 starts, the Waratahs are hovering in mid-table – already 10 points behind the table-topping Brumbies, albeit just a point outside a Top 6 spot.
Premiership Rugby’s bid to increase the size of the top flight to 14 clubs and suspend relegation for an unspecified number of seasons, forms a cornerstone of its negotiations with Twickenham over a new elite-player agreement.
Any change to replace the deal that runs out next year would have to be agreed by the Rugby Football Union’s 60-strong council.
The Premiership has resisted calls in the past decade to go up from 12 to 14, not least because each club’s share of central funds would drop, but the change in the way the European Cup is organised has had a significant effect. Other factors to be considered include a new television deal with BT Sport, which kicks in from the 2016 / 2017 season and is worth significantly more than the present contract, together with the extra income that will come with the new elite-player agreement. This will lead to considerably more money for all, even with 2 extra sides.
FNB UP-Tuks and FNB UFS-Shimlas both secured home semifinals with big wins in Round 6 of the FNB Varsity Cup on Monday.
Shimlas beat defending champions FNB UCT 44 / 24 in Bloemfontein to remain the only unbeaten side in the competition, and Tuks handed Gauteng rivals FNB UJ a 34 / 0 defeat in Johannesburg to maintain their place at the Top of the standings.
Despite the top 2 sides having wrapped up home advantage in the play-offs already, with the 4 teams below them fighting for the 2 remaining places next week.
3-Time champions FNB Maties came from behind to secure a 26 / 16 bonus-point home win against FNB NMMU to keep their play-off hopes very much alive with a clash against the winless FNB CUT Ixias in Bloemfontein next week.
The vital 5 log points saw the Stellenbosch outfit move up to 5th place, 1 point ahead of UJ who will need a few results to go their way next week if they are to sneak into the knock-out phase of the competition.
UJ were humbled in front of their home crowd by a powerful Tuks outfit who shut them out to show how tough they will be to stop at the business-end of the competition.
Another team that will be riding high is Shimlas whose convincing 7-try win against the Ikeys means that they are still only 2nd to Tuks on points difference, ahead of their mouth-watering clash with NWU-Pukke next week.
The Potchefstroom outfit handed newcomers CUT a 53 / 16 defeat in Bloemfontein to move up to 3rd place, just 1 log point ahead of 4th-placed UCT who will slug it out with UJ on the Green Mile in Cape Town next week.
Eben Etzebeth
Jean Kleyn
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth will not head abroad after this year’s Rugby World Cup, the Western Province Rugby Union has assured.
Reports in French media stated late last year that Etzebeth could join Toulon after the conclusion of this year’s World Cup.
However, Etzebeth is contracted to WP until 2016, which would see him stay in Cape Town until then.
Tevita Kuridrani
Wallabies and Brumbies centre Tevita Kuridrani has signed a 2-year contract extension with Australian Rugby that will take him through until the end of the 2017 season.
Kuridrani joins Wallabies Nick Phipps, Sean McMahon, Rob Horne, Sam Carter and Scott Fardy who have committed to the Australian Rugby Union in recent months.
The 23-year-old has quickly established himself as one of the Wallabies rising stars since his maiden Test campaign in 2013, where he has since worn the gold jersey 20 times scoring 4 tries.
Kuridrani is highly respected amongst his peers, having polled strongly with 202 votes in the John Eales medal in his last international season.
However, the Fijian-born flyer still feels the need to improve as a player.
Philippe Saint-Andre
France coach Philippe Saint-Andre on Monday gave a strong indication that Saturday’s game against England at Twickenham would be his last match in charge of a Six Nations game.
Asked if that would be the case he replied: “the chances are high that it will be, yes.”
“But I prefer to stay in the present and on this hugely important week ahead of us,” he added.
Saint-Andre, who won 69 caps for France as a wing, took over as France coach after the World Cup of 2011 and his present contract takes him through until the end of this year’s World Cup in England.
Emirates Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has named his team to take on the Melbourne Rebels in his side’s penultimate Vodacom Super Rugby tour match on Friday.
Ackermann has opted to rotate several players for the match.
In the forwards, Schalk van der Merwe, Armand van der Merwe and Ruan Dreyer will make up the front row. Robert Kruger will start at lock, while Derick Minnie has also been promoted to the starting line-up at flank.
Meanwhile, in the backline, Faf de Klerk will start at scrumhalf with Marnitz Boshoff linking up with him at flyhalf. Courtnall Skosan fills the left wing berth, shifting Sampie Mastriet to right wing.
Elton Jantjies will start at inside centre and Jaco van der Walt will start at fullback for the match.
Kick-off is at 10:40 SA Time on Friday.