Daily Archives: 8 November 2015
Durban, and not Johannesburg, will host back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners, the New Zealand All Blacks next year.
The South African Rugby Union revealed that the 3-times Rugby World Cup champion All Blacks will play the Springboks in Durban on 8 October in The Rugby Championship encounter between the 2 sides on SA soil.
The Springboks and All Blacks have played each other in Johannesburg 5 times in the last 6 years – with 2011 the exception, when they met in Port Elizabeth.
Durban last hosted a Springboks versus All Blacks Test in 2009, with Newlands completely off the map (for the biggest face-off in the game) since 2008.
The exceptionally large All Black following in Cape Town, which have become increasingly vengeful towards the Springboks (even spitting at players), is the main reason why Newlands will not host the All Blacks in the near future.
Bloemfontein (2009) and Pretoria (2006) have also not seen an All Black Test in years.
Daniel Hourcade
Daniel Hourcade has named a group of 25 players to prepare for their match against the Barbarians at Twickenham on 21 November. Only 4 players come from outside of the squad that took park in the Rugby World Cup – Tomás Lezana, Felipe Ezcurra, Emiliano Boffelli, and Ramiro Moyano.
Of note is that all but 3 of the group is contracted to the UAR for the 2015 Super Rugby season, giving Southern Hemisphere fans an early glimpse at what the Jaguars side might look like. Exceptions include scrumhalf Ezcurra, loose forwards Leonardo Senatore, and tighthead prop Juan Pablo Orlandi. The latter was called into the Rugby World Cup group in place of Matías Diaz, ruled out with heart problems. Should Diaz by unable to take part in Super Rugby, Orlandi looks the most likely replacement.
Notable absentees are giant lock Tomás Lavanini, currently suspended, and scrumhalf Tomás Cubelli, whose squad place has been taken by Ezcurra. Cubelli’s absence could well be linked to his reported signing with the Brumbies for the Super Rugby season, with the Australian-based franchise said to have inked a 2-year deal with the Pumas star as a replacement for departed playmaker Nic White.
Eastern Province Rugby has the spotlight on them after Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula told the media he will be paying EP Rugby president Cheeky Watson a special visit in the near future.
The reason for the urgent visit stems from a total of R 35 Million Rand the Union received from the National Lotteries Board for the establishment and development of the SARU Kings Academy.
“I will be on my way to the Eastern Cape very soon so that I can personally see where the Academy is and where the black players are that were supposed to be recruited. I expect a report from him (Watson). The Kings are meant to be the homeland of black players and that was the reasoning behind them getting a Super Rugby spot. The last time I was there, all I saw was white players and never saw any of the black players who were supposed to be there,” Mbalula told a media briefing.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has delayed its General Council meeting by a week.
The meeting was originally due to take place on 4 December and is understood to have a major influence on whether or not Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s contract is extended following the Springboks semifinal exit at this year’s Rugby World Cup.
The meeting will now take place on 11 December and will follow a meeting of the Executive Council on 9 December.
Blue Bulls Men crowned SARU Interprovincial Sevens Champions
The Blue Bulls men’s and women’s teams on Saturday showed their class at the SARU Interprovincial Sevens at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit as they took top honours to round off a fantastic weekend for the Pretoria union.
The Blue Bulls men defeated Western Province 38 / 29 and the women pipped Western Province 24 / 22 in their respective Cup Finals in what was a thrilling tournament.