Daily Archives: 19 July 2015
Wallabies jubelant for the last gasp try by Tevita Kuridrani
The Australian Wallabies overturned a 13-point deficit to beat the South African Springboks 24 / 20 in an enthralling Rugby Championship contest in Brisbane on Saturday.
The TMO awarded Tevita Kuridrani a try after the final hooter, which capped a brave comeback by the hosts, who had trailed 20 / 7 early in the 2nd half.
The sides scored a try apiece late in the 1st half via Adam Ashley-Cooper and Eben Etzebeth but 2 early penalties from the boot of Handré Pollard meant the Springboks led 13 / 7 at the interval, which was a fair reflection of the opening 40 minutes.
The South African scrum was on top and their loose trio were doing well at the breakdown, although Israel Folau proved a threat every time he touched the ball for the hosts.
Test debutant Jesse Kriel announced his arrival on the international scene with a fabulous try early in the 2nd half but the visitors were made to do a huge amount of defending as Australia swung the territory and possession stats around.
A change in front-row personnel on both sides ended the Springboks’ set-piece dominance and the tandem threat of Michael Hooper and David Pocock helped the Wallabies hang onto the ball in the last half hour.
Hooper muscled his way over in the dying minutes to set up a grandstand finish, before Kuridrani managed to get the tip of the ball down on the chalk to snatch victory in dramatic style.
Sonny Bill Williams & Dan Carter
Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams will not travel to South Africa for Round 2 of The Rugby Championship next weekend.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has named a 31-man squad to travel to Johannesburg for the Test against the Springboks on 25 July with Carter and Williams being rested.
“In deciding on the squad to travel to South Africa, the selectors based their selections on 3 criteria,” explained Hansen.
“Firstly, we have picked experienced players who are well aware of the challenge of playing South Africa at home.
“Secondly, we want to give some other players the opportunity to see how they cope under the extreme pressure of playing South Africa and thirdly, we took into consideration the fact that some players in the squad could do with having a break for various reasons, so they will be staying home to freshen up.”
Hansen feels Carter and Williams deserve a break.
“Normally if we had a squad of 31, both of them would be in it and would be coming,” he said.
“Sonny has got bit of a busy schedule so we will let him have some time at home and DC can have some time at home as well – along with the other guys.”
All players who are remaining in New Zealand will be given individual training programmes to work on and will reassemble with the rest of squad in August and be available for selection for the Bledisloe Cup Tests.
Kieran Read on the rampage
New Zealand kicked off their Rugby Championship campaign with a comfortable 39 / 18 win over Argentina in Christchurch on Friday.
Impressive at scrum time, the All Blacks showed their power in defence and attack in the 1st half, running in 2 tries through Richie McCaw and Ma’a Nonu, allowing them to take an 18 / 6 halftime lead.
Despite 2 2nd-half tries from Agustin Creevy, it was the All Blacks who controlled things, running in 3 more scores through Charles Piutau, Kieran Read and debutant Codie Taylor.
The key to the game was the difference in defence, with New Zealand able to knock back runners all day long, while the Pumas were constantly on the back foot.
With quick ball, they created plenty of opportunities and were never really in danger, giving McCaw and Dan Carter a fitting farewell for their final international games in Christchurch.
Argentina had rested a number of experienced players, putting in faith in the likes of Guido Petti and Facundo Isa, who impressed last November, as well as promising winger Santiago Cordero.
In contrast New Zealand were playing the most experienced side in Test history, despite the absence of the likes of Conrad Smith, Julian Savea and Sam Whitelock. There was an All Black debut for Waisake Naholo, the Highlanders winger who topped the try-scoring charts in Super Rugby this season.
The ORC Griquas maintained their slender 1 point lead in the ABSA Currie Cup qualifying race thanks to their 57 / 33 win over the Hino Valke in Kempton Park, Johannesburg on Saturday, while the Leopards stayed in the hunt by beating Boland Cavaliers 61 / 17 in Potchefstroom.
Heading into the final Round of matches next week, the Griquas and Leopards are the only teams in contention for the qualifying spot to the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division. Griquas are in front on 21 points, with the Leopards nipping at their heels on 20 points.
Down Touch Griffons put in a powerful 2nd half performance to beat the Border Bulldogs 43 / 20 despite trailing by 5 points at the break. The win lifted the Griffons from the basement to 4th on the log while SWD Eagles, who were not in action over the weekend, slipped to last place.
Quade Cooper
Reports suggest that Wallaby star Quade Cooper has pulled out of a big-money move to France.
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) is set to confirm the Wallabies playmaker has signed a 4-year deal to remain in the country, opting out of his lucrative contract with glamour French club Toulon, Fairfax Media reported.
The media outlet said an announcement was expected to be made on Monday, confirming Cooper’s re-signing with the ARU, after his Reds team severed ties with him last month amid acrimonious contractual negotiations.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika gave nothing away to reporters on Sunday following his team’s last-gasp 24 / 20 win over South Africa in The Rugby Championship opener in Brisbane the previous night.
But Cheika has reportedly been a significant figure in the ARU’s talks with Cooper and his management and has repeatedly underlined the importance of keeping the skilful flyhalf in Australia.
5 of South Africa’s major stars will join the Barbarians line-up for 2 high-profile games this November.
Flyhalf Pat Lambie, lock Victor Matfield, prop Tendai Mtawarira and centre Jean de Villiers from the current Springbok squad will be joined by veteran forward Bakkies Botha against Gloucester on 17 November and Argentina on 21 November.
The Barbarians, who celebrate their 125th anniversary this year, will name their coach later this month and add further major names to their squad for the games at Kingsholm and Twickenham in due course.
In total, the South Africa quintet will bring 416 caps of international experience to the group. Botha, Matfield and De Villiers were all World Cup winners in France in 2007.
Jean de Villiers
The Steval Pumas were too strong for Western Province at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre, walking away with a 19 / 6 victory on Saturday.
The Pumas led by 19 / 3 at halftime thanks to 3 tries and 2 conversions but the hosts fought back strongly in the 2nd half to keep the visitors scoreless.
Currie Cup coach John Dobson was happy with certain aspects of the team’s performance in a match which saw Springbok captain Jean de Villiers start as he continues his comeback to top level rugby from a serious knee injury.
“Given the amount of time we had to prepare, compared to them, I am not disappointed with the performance. The only thing that’s disappointing is that it is Western Province and it’s this field with the occasion and we would have liked to have won the game.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls defeated the EP Kings 33 / 10 in their friendly rugby match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
After an early penalty by EP Kings fullback Scott van Breda, the Blue Bulls took the lead when No 8 Arno Botha barged over near the posts.
The visitors then struck twice in the final 4 minutes of the 1st half with tries by wing Travis Ismaiel and flyhalf Tian Schoeman, both converted by Schoeman, to lead 21 / 3 at halftime.
After the break, the Bulls scored further tries by centre Dries Swanepoel and flanker Roelof Smit from a lineout maul before EP crossed in the 69th minute when scrumhalf Enrico Acker scored their only try of the match.
In a sneak preview of their opening match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, world No 9 Samoa kicked off their Pacific Nations Cup campaign on Saturday with a 21 / 16 win over the USA.
Samoa, who dropped a close 25 / 16 decision to top ranked New Zealand earlier this month, jumped out to a 21 / 3 halftime lead against the Americans then held on for the victory at Avaya Stadium.
The Samoans used just 5 players from their game against the All Blacks.
Samoa and the 16th ranked USA open their World Cup quests with a match against each other on September 20 at the 30 750 seat Brighton Community Stadium in England.
In the earlier Pacific Nations Cup game, Japan easily defeated Canada 20 / 6.
Fiji came from behind to beat Tonga 30 / 22 in a bone-jarring Pacific Nations Cup encounter in Suva on Saturday.
In a clash full of direct running and big tackles, Tonga had every chance to beat their island neighbours for the 1st time since 2011, leading 22 / 16 going into the last 15 minutes before their high error count caught up with them.
There were 3 tries apiece with Fiji scoring 2 of theirs as they controlled the closing stages to make a positive start to the 10th edition of the tournament.
The Pacific Nations Cup – which also includes Samoa, Japan, the United States and Canada – is being played under a new format this year with the 6 teams split into 2 pools.
Each team will play the 3 sides in the opposing pool before the top 2 sides play off for the Cup.