Daily Archives: 8 October 2015
Bryan Habana scoring his hat trick try (64th Test try, 15th RWC try) against USA at the Rugby World Cup 2015
Bryan Habana’s hat-trick against the USA in their Rugby World Cup clash in London on Wednesday saw him tie not 1, but 2 try scoring records.
Habana’s feat saw him not only join All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu atop the all-time World Cup try scoring charts – with 15 – but also moved him into a tie with former Wallaby David Campese for 2nd spot in the overall Test try list (64).
Habana now trails Japan’s Daisuke Ohata (69) by 5 tries in the all-time list.
But who did Habana score his very 1st Test try against? And his 50th?
Lood de Jager… a truly smashing tournament for him!
With the South African Springboks now confirmed as topping their Pool B in the Rugby World Cup and thus making the quarters, we take a general peek at the news from the camp.
Today allegations surfaced that tighthead prop Frans Malherbe was involved in a “biting incident” during the USA game on Wednesday evening, but those rumours have been dismissed by World Rugby as unfounded.
Lood de Jager ranks high in all facets of play, with a host of tackles, many ball carries, great lineout statistics and all round inspired play. He is having a whale of a tournament and is growing in stature with every subsequent game.
The Springboks know that they still have plenty to work on, despite rebounding nicely after their bomb-shell loss against Japan in their 1st Rugby World Cup encounter. They now end No 1 in Pool B, whether Scotland win with a bonus point or not against Samoa on the weekend and whether Japan beat USA on the weekend as well. They feel that all aspects of their play must and should still improve.
In the meantime Jean de Villiers has re-joined the Springbok squad, after an operation on his broken jaw in South Africa, as adviser and not as player and he was seen supporting the Springboks on Wednesday evening from the stands, next to his other Springbok compatriots.
With England leaving the Rugby World Cup scene after their last Pool game, against Uruguay on the weekend, the rumour is now that the Springboks will take over and occupy their posh preparation base for the rest of their Rugby World Cup participation.
Sean McMahon
Sean McMahon will replace Michael Hooper in 1 of 3 changes to the Australian Wallabies side to take on Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Wallabies have been forced into 2 changes – with Rob Horne (shoulder injury) and Michael Hooper (suspension) ruled out for the match which will determine the winner of Pool A.
McMahon slots straight into the No 7 openside flanker jumper, the 21-year-old’s 2nd run-on selection for the tournament, with David Pocock remaining at No 8 to make his 4rth start at the back of the scrum. Pocock will also share the vice-captaincy with Adam Ashley-Cooper.
66-Test veteran Drew Mitchell comes onto the wing for Rob Horne, after a 2-try performance against Uruguay earlier in the tournament made him the 3rd-highest try scorer in Rugby World Cup history.
Dean Mumm has also been included in the Wallabies run-on team for the 2nd time at the Rugby World Cup, pairing up with Kane Douglas at lock with Rob Simmons moving to the bench.
Fullback Israel Folau has overcome an ankle injury to take his place in the side, continuing his good run with the Wallabies, having not missed a Test through injury since his 2013 debut against the British and Irish Lions.
Gareth Anscombe
New Zealand-born Gareth Anscombe will make his 1st international start after he was named in the Wales team for their crunch match against the Australia Wallabies.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made 6 personnel changes from the team that knocked out hosts England. Besides Anscombe’s inclusion to the starting 15, the team also sees star wing George North shift from the wing to outside centre to partner Jamie Roberts.
Anscombe forms part of a new-look back 3 alongside Alex Cuthbert and Liam Williams. Cuthbert will be making his 40th test appearance since making his debut against Australia back in 2011 whilst Williams returns from injury after missing the victory against Fiji.
Dan Biggar and Gareth Davies, who have collected the last 2 man-of-the-match awards in Wales’ victories continue their partnership at flyhalf and scrumhalf respectively.
Paul James returns from injury to start in the front row alongside hooker Scott Baldwin and prop Samson Lee. Luke Charteris comes into the starting line-up to partner Alun Wyn Jones, who makes his 99th Test appearance at lock.
Captain Sam Warburton switches to blindside flank and features alongside fellow British and Irish Lions Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau.
Samoa coach Stephen Betham made 7 changes for the Pacific Islanders’ final Pool B game against Scotland in Newcastle on Saturday.
The 26 / 5 defeat against Japan in Samoa’s previous match prompted Betham to field new combinations in the midfield and among his loose forwards.
Rey Lee-Lo and George Pisi will form a new centre pairing, while Maurie Faasavalu, Jack Lam and Alafoti Faosiliva will be together in the loose forwards for the 1st time.
Samoa, who will be captained by scrumhalf Kahn Fotuali’i, cannot advance beyond the pool stages.
Jacques Burger
Namibia captain Jacques Burger has been ruled out of his country’s final Pool C game against Argentina on Sunday, thereby ending an illustrious international career.
Burger suffered a confirmed concussion, 9 minutes into the match against Georgia on Wednesday evening at Sandy Park in Exeter and will not be able to play against the Argentinian Pumas in Leicester.
Burger’s test career for Namibia spanned over 9 years and 36 caps, which included 3 Rugby World Cup appearances in 2007, 2011 and 2015. Last night he equalled Hugo Horn’s 11 Rugby World Cup appearances for his country.
Before the team’s departure for Leicester on Thursday morning, Burger reflected on his career.
“It was a huge disappointment that I could not complete last night’s match and an even bigger disappointment that I will not be able to play on Saturday. I am very proud of my team and it is not the way that you would want to end an international career. But that’s the game of rugby for you.”
Robert du Preez snr
Leopards coach Robert du Preez has been linked with a coaching role at the Cell C Sharks.
A newspaper report on Wednesday indicated that the former Springbok scrumhalf will coach the Cell C Sharks during next year’s Currie Cup competition, while also assisting Gary Gold during Super Rugby in 2016.
The report indicated that Du Preez, 52, will start his job in Durban on 1 November.
The Cell C Sharks did not respond when contacted about official confirmation on the matter.
Du Preez has now taken the Leopards to the ABSA Currie Cup First Division title, when they beat the SWD Eagles on Thursday evening (today).
The final Round, Round 10, of league fixtures in the ABSA Currie Cup Premier Division takes place this weekend and all eyes will be on the Free State Rugby Stadium in Bloemfontein, where the Toyota Free State Cheetahs and the Cell C Sharks will battle it out for the remaining Semifinal spot.
Unbeaten Log leaders, the Xerox Golden Lions, are already assured of a home Semifinal, while the Vodacom Blue Bulls and DHL Western Province are also through to the Semifinals.
However, with only 2 points separating the Free State Cheetahs and Cell C Sharks on the Log standings, the 2 teams have everything to play for in what is effectively a Quarterfinal in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon.
The Free State Cheetahs currently have 21 points and the Cell C Sharks 19, and both teams know that a victory will book a meeting with the competition’s in-form and most prolific team this season, the Golden Lions, in Johannesburg. The losing team, meanwhile, will crash out of the competition.
DHL Western Province and the Vodacom Blue Bulls also have a lot to play for. Both teams are in action on Friday and their respective matches in Cape Town and Nelspruit kick off at the same time at 18:00 SA Time.
The Blue Bulls, 2nd on the Log with 34 points, face the Steval Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium and the Pretoria side knows that a win, even without a bonus point, will be enough to guarantee them a home Semifinal in the capital. Steval Pumas stalwart Marius Coetzer will deservedly earn his 100th cap when he takes to the field from the bench, while skipper Stefan Watermeyer will earn his 50th cap.
Western Province, in turn, face an injury-hit EP Kings side at DHL Newlands and the Capetonians will run out knowing that a bonus-point win is a must if they want to keep alive their slim hope of hosting a playoff match. However, for that to happen they must hope for a Blue Bulls defeat in Nelspruit.
Meanwhile, the free-scoring Golden Lions will round off their league commitments with a home clash against the bottom-of-the-log ORC Griquas in a 16:00 SA Time kick-off at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.
Interestingly, the Nel-brothers, Ruhan of ORC Griquas and Jacques of the Golden Lions, will line up opposite each other, with both playing in the No 13 jersey for their respective teams. Ruhan, a Springbok Sevens international, plays outside centre for Griquas after playing on the wing against the Cell C Sharks last weekend. The brothers played together for the Golden Lions in the Vodacom Cup, but this will be the 1st time they will play against each other.
High-level discussions between Eastern Province Rugby, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and the South African Rugby Players’ Association (SARPA) took place in Port Elizabeth on Thursday to review the current and future financial stability of the union.
The talks stemmed from concerns over the recent delayed payments to EP Kings players.
SARU President, Mr Oregan Hoskins, SARU GM Operations and Finance, Basil Haddad, and SARPA CEO Piet Heymans met EP Rugby officials.
Mr Hoskins said he had full confidence in the current leadership under EP Rugby President Cheeky Watson.
The Van der Walt brothers, Jaco and Gerdus will run out together for the Xerox Golden Lions in their match-up against the ORC Griquas at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday 10 October 2015.
Jaco will don the No 10 jersey while Gerdus will be at inside centre, partnering with Jacques Nel in midfield.
The side will be lead on the field by No 8 Warren Whiteley, while a host of Under 21 players have been given the opportunity to taste Currie Cup rugby in this last game of the pool stages.
Up front Robbie Coetzee returns after a 2 week lay-off and is joined by Pieter Scholtz at tighthead. The locks are MB Lusaseni and Bobby de Wee (Martin Muller failed his late and final fitness test on Friday after limping off with an injury at Thursday training), while Kwagga Smith and Ruaan Lerm will complete the loose-trio with Warren Whiteley.
Mark Richards and Sampie Mastriet are the wings and Vainon Willis the fullback.
Cell C Sharks Gary Gold has only made 1 change to his starting 15 which thrashed the ORC Griquas, for his side’s must win game against the Toyota Free State Cheetahs on Saturday.
The single change sees Garth April start at fullback for Odwa Ndungane, who shifts to the right wing in place of Wandile Mjekevu.
On the bench, Monde Hadebe replaces Kyle Cooper and veteran Waylon Murray comes in as cover for the backline.
It is do or die for both teams as the final pool clash between the Cell C Sharks and the Free State Cheetahs is effectively a quarterfinal game for both, chasing a Top 4 finish.
Franco Smith
Toyota Free State Cheetahs coach Franco Smith has named his team for their crucial Currie Cup clash against the Cell C Sharks in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Smith made changes to his pack from the team that drew 37 / 37 with the Steval Pumas in Nelspruit last weekend.
Loose forward Boom Prinsloo is fit again and replaces Gerhard Olivier in the No 6 jersey, with Olivier moving down to the bench in place of Ruan van Rensburg.
Neill Jordaan also replaces De Wet Kruger at No 8, while Armandt Koster replaces Reniel Hugo at lock, with the latter moving to the bench in the place of Willem Serfontein.
Jacques du Toit is also back at hooker, with Neil Rautenbach on the bench in place of Chase Morison.
BG Uys and Teunis Nieuwoudt also switch places at loosehead prop, with Uys in the starting line-up.
Deon Stegmann
Vodacom Blue Bulls openside flanker Deon Stegmann returns to the starting line-up to take on the Steval Pumas in the Mbombela Stadium on Friday.
Stegmann was a late withdrawal from the team that beat the EP Kings at Loftus Versfeld last weekend. That prompted the call-up of Clyde Davids to the bench and Jacques du Plessis moving to the flank, but with Stegmann fit again, it is back to the regular starting pack for the match in Nelspruit.
Du Plessis and Marvin Orie will start at lock, with RG Snyman dropping back to the bench in place of Davids.
The Steval Pumas have made 6 changes to their starting 15 for their clash with the Vodacom Blue Bulls in Nelspruit on Friday.
2 Of those changes to the team that held the Toyota Free State Cheetahs to a draw last week were injury-enforced with Marnus Schoeman coming in for Jaco Bouwer on the flank and Hoffman Maritz replacing JW Bell at fullback.
There are 2 more changes to the forward pack with hooker Francois du Toit coming in, with Frank Herne moving to the bench and Rudi Mathee replacing Marius Coetzer who also finds himself amongst the replacements.
In the backline there are 2 further changes with Jerome Pretorius moving from wing to outside centre to fill the gap left by Maritz and Bernardo Botha starting on the wing in place of Pretorius.
Head Coach Vern Cotter today named the Scotland team to face Samoa in this Saturday’s decisive Rugby World Cup Pool B match at St James’ Park, Newcastle (kick-off 15:30 SA Time, 14:30 UK Time, 13:30 GMT).
A win would guarantee the Scots a place in the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup for the 7th time since the competition’s inauguration in 1987.
Standing in their way are the formidable Pacific Islanders who, despite being out of contention for the last 8, will look to end their campaign on a positive note.
Scotland Head Coach Vern Cotter, said: “Every Test match is a ‘must-win’ when you represent your country.
“We’ve put in a huge amount of work to get us to this point, and our performances and commitment have put us in a position to qualify for the last eight. We’ll need to be up to the challenge, enjoy the opportunity, and maintain the awareness needed to play to our strengths and impose our game.”