Daily Archives: 11 August 2015
Xerox Golden Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has named his side to face the Steval Pumas this Friday at Emirates Airline Park.
Ackermann has made just 1 change to the match day side, which beat the EP Kings 51 / 14 last Saturday. The single change sees Sampie Mastriet bracketed with Anthony Volmink at left wing.
The match will get under way at 19:10 SA Time.
Daniel Hourcade
Los Pumas have retained the squad that stunned the Springboks at the weekend, except for injured centre Jerónimo De la Fuente.
They have also added 6 players for the Test rematch in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
A rib injury rules De la Fuente out of a game which offers the Pumas a chance to prove that a historic 37 / 25 Rugby Championship triumph in Durban 3 days ago was not a fluke.
It was the 1st Pumas victory in 20 Tests against the Springboks from South Africa and their 1st away win in the Southern Hemisphere championship after 10 losses since debuting 3 seasons ago.
Argentina took 26 players to South Africa last week and coach Daniel Hourcade has expanded the squad to 31 for the rematch with the Springboks at the 50 000-capacity Estadio Jose Amalfitani.
The 6 additions are fullback Santiago Cordero, centre Matias Moroni, flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez and loose forwards Javier Ortega Desio, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Facundo Isa.
Glen Jackson
New Zealand referee Glen Jackson is set to make the history books this weekend, becoming the 1st New Zealander to both play and referee 100 first-class games.
Jackson will reach the significant milestone this coming Sunday August 16 when he takes charge of the Pumas vs Springbgoks match in Buenos Aires.
New Zealand Rugby General Manager – Neil Sorensen said this was a fantastic achievement for the former flyhalf who joined the New Zealand professional referees team in 2010.
Sonny Bill Williams
All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams could miss Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup decider in Auckland after sustaining an injury against the Wallabies in Sydney.
New Zealand’s coach, Steve Hansen, said Williams injured his tailbone after a heavy fall midway into the 1st half of The Rugby Championship clash, which the Wallabies won by 27 / 19.
He is unlikely to train on Tuesday but has not been ruled out of the upcoming Test at Eden Park.
“He landed on his rear end… got a knock on the buttock and that’s tightened up so we’ll have to see how he goes,” explained Hansen.
Williams looked out of sorts for most of the match and his injury could explain his hesitation to take the ball in to contact against the Wallabies and he was eventually replaced by Malakai Fekitoa in the 55th minute.
SA Schools coach Hein Kriek and his SA Schools A counterpart Lance Sendin on Monday made wholesale changes to their starting line-ups for the 2nd Round of the Under 18 International Series at Outeniqua Park in George on Tuesday.
The SA Schools team will take on France at 17:00 SA Time and the SA Schools A team will go up against England at 13:00 SA Time.
In the other clash Wales will take on Italy at 15:00 SA Time.
Kriek made 7 changes to his team, which sees 2014 Coca-Cola Craven Week player of the year Curwin Bosch move from flyhalf to fullback, while flyhalf Damian Willemse will join forces with scrumhalf Embrose Papier in a new halfback combination.
The other changes in the backline were on the left wing where Wandisile Similane replaces Manie Libbok and centre Heino Bezuidenhout is selected alongside Stedman Gans, who scored 2 tries in their opening fixture against Wales.
Up-front Kriek retained the flanker combination of Cobus Wiese and captain Ersnt van Rhyn, while Hacjivah Dayimani has been selected at No 8. In the engine room lock Ruben van Heerden will start alongside Ruben de Villiers.
Ashwyn Adams, meanwhile, will start at loosehead prop in a strong front row with tighthead prop Carlu Sadie and hooker Johan Grobbelaar.
Manu Samoa’s 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup features all 3 Pisi brothers – Tusiata, Ken and George as well as some other notable inclusions.
Leicester Tigers prop Logovii Mulipola is 1 of 11 English-based players to be selected, and there is a return for Hurricanes midfielder Rey Lee-Lo who, like the Pisis, were not part of the recent squad that finished 2nd to Fiji at the Pacific Nations Cup.
Mulipola has not appeared for his country for over a year while the last of Lee-Lo’s 2 caps came against England on the 2014 November tour.
The Pacific Nations Cup did present an opportunity for other players to put their hands up for selection, though. Locally based trio, prop Jake Grey, scrumhalf Vavao Afemai and goal-kicking flyhalf Patrick Faapale, all did enough in North America to warrant inclusion despite stiff competition from professional players.
Samoan coach Stephen Betham said that the tournament had been invaluable from a Rugby World Cup point of view, even if the title eluded them.
Henry Pyrgos
Glasgow scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos was on Tuesday named captain of a 25-man Scotland squad for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against Ireland in Dublin.
He is joined in the squad by 4 uncapped players: New Zealand-born flanker Hugh Blake, Glasgow prop Mike Cusack, South Africa-born Edinburgh prop Allan Dell and Edinburgh hooker Stuart McInally.
Head coach Vern Cotter will name his starting 15 for the clash at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday.
The squad is missing several key players, such as regular captain Greig Laidlaw and 2nd row brothers Richie and Jonny Gray.
After playing Ireland, Scotland will also face Italy twice and France once as they gear up for their opening World Cup Pool B match against Japan in Gloucester on 23 September.
Zac Guildford
Former All Black winger Zac Guildford is likely to cancel his plans to play Super Rugby for the Waratahs next year.
Guildford, 26, signed a 1-year contract with the Waratahs outfit last week but last night said there was a chance he would exercise an out clause.
“I’ve had a rethink and I’ve decided it might be better to stay closer to home and family and friends.”
Ireland are now the 2nd best team in the world according to the World Rugby rankings, with newly-crowned Rugby Championship champions Australia moving up to 3rd.
According to World Rugby, Ireland have moved up to 2nd place in the World Rugby rankings for the 1st time since they were introduced in 2003.
Saturday’s 35 / 21 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff earned them 1.13 ratings points, putting them a fraction ahead of Australia who jumped 2 places to 3rd on the back of their Rugby Champions / Bledisloe Cup triumph against the All Blacks on the weekend.
The Nic White-inspired Wallabies gained 1.61 points to move on to 86.84 points, 0.05 behind the Irish and 1.44 in front of England, the only Top 6 side not in action at the weekend, who remain in 4th spot.
For New Zealand it was their 1st defeat since they lost to South Africa a year ago and a disappointing way to mark Richie McCaw’s record-equalling 141st test appearance. It also saw their lead at the Top of the rankings cut to 5.83 points.
Meanwhile, hat-trick hero Juan Imhoff helped Argentina to an historic 37 / 25 win over South Africa at Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban and they a gain of 2 full rankings points. Los Pumas are now within touching distance of France in 7th place, the gap between the 2 nations now down to 0.57 of a point.
With a drop of 3 places from 2nd to 5th, South Africa were the weekend’s biggest losers from a rankings perspective. 3 Consecutive Rugby Championship defeats have seen their rankings points total reduced to 84.37 points – 1.43 more than 6th-placed Wales.
Jean-Luc du Preez
Thomas du Toit
Lourens Adriaanse
The Cell C Sharks are sweating over the availability of 3 players who were injured in their Currie Cup loss to the Steval Pumas in Nelspruit last Friday.
Props Lourens Adriaanse and Thomas du Toit and loose forward Jean-Luc du Preez sustained blows during the Sharks’ 33 / 24 defeat and could be sidelined for some time.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls coach, Nollis Marais, received good news on his playing squad preparing to face ORC Griquas in Pretoria on Friday. The team returned from Bloemfontein with no serious injury issues, with only a handful of players nursing slight niggles.
All of Dries Swanepoel (quad), Burger Odendaal (shoulder), Deon Stegmann (hip flexor) and Francois Hougaard (foot) will be back on the training field on Tuesday and will be considered for selection for the match against the Northern Cape team.
A number of players are also approaching their comeback date from injury. Justin Forwood trained on Monday and Neethling Fouche (ankle) will be back next week.
The EP Kings have suffered 2 new injuries after their hapless display against the Xerox Golden Lions in their Currie Cup opener on the weekend.
A burst of 4 converted tries in the 1st 16 minutes of the match set the Lions up for a decisive 51 / 14 win over the EP Kings at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in the opening weekend of the tournament.
2 Of the Kings’ cavalry have come away with fresh injuries after the defeat, the team doctor confirmed on Tuesday.
Prop Lizo Gqoboka has a pectoral muscle strain and his time on the sideline is still to be confirmed, while flank Paul Schoeman is setback with a knee injury which is under investigation this week.
Defending ABSA Currie Cup champions, DHL Western Province, the Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Xerox Golden Lions all scored impressive wins in the opening Round of South Africa’s premier provincial competition over the weekend.
The 1st Round of the famous competition saw a number of outstanding individual performance as the teams got their new campaign underway. 6 Of the 8 teams started with new coaches at the helm, while several of the line-ups included numerous Junior Springboks and also a few Springbok Sevens stalwarts.
Springbok scrumhalf Francois Hougaard gave a masterclass performance for the Vodacom Blue Bulls, who scored 6 tries in total in their comprehensive 57 / 19 win over the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
In the other match played on Saturday afternoon, Junior Springbok flank Kwagga Smith was equally impressive for the Xerox Golden Lions in Port Elizabeth where he scored a hattrick of tries in their 51 / 14 demolition of the Eastern Province Kings.
Champions Western Province kicked off their campaign in perfect fashion on Friday afternoon with a 6-try victory over the ORC Griquas in Kimberley. Springbok Sevens flyer Seabelo Senatla scored 2 tries to demonstrate his deadly finishing abilities.
Meanwhile, history repeated itself in the late match on Friday when the Steval Pumas beat the Cell C Sharks 33 / 24 in the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. The score was almost identical to the 32 / 22 shock win of the Pumas over the Sharks in the opening Round fixture of last year at the same venue.
Pumas live-wire flank Marnus Schoeman scored 2 tries and was denied a 3rd by a desperate Thomas du Toit tackle just as he was about to launch himself over the try line.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls currently sit on Top of the Log, thanks to their bonus point win and better points’ difference and they are followed by the Xerox Golden Lions, DHL Western Province (both also on 5 points) and the Steval Pumas (4 points).
Sam Burgess
Sam Burgess will make his England debut at centre when Stuart Lancaster’s side host France on Saturday.
The former Great Britain rugby league player is one of three debutants, with centre Henry Slade and flanker Calum Clark the other new faces in the 15.
Head coach Lancaster says Saturday’s match is the final chance for some of his players to impress before he selects his 31-man World Cup squad.
“The following week we’ll probably change a lot,” he said
Burgess, 26, started his union career in midfield for Bath before switching to the back row.
Former England scrumhalf Matt Dawson has questioned Burgess’s “game-management” at inside centre, but Lancaster described the former South Sydney player, who switched codes last October, as a ball carrier who could threaten the gain line.
“It’s an option for us to look at and it’ll be an interesting insight to see whether it goes well at the weekend or not,” he said.
“It’s about what’s right for the team. We’ll see if he can translate what he does in training and see how it goes.”