Australian Rugby
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 14 of Super Rugby 2014.
Garratt Williamson starts the weekend action in Wellington when the Hurricanes plays the Highlanders.
This weekend sees 6 matches, with 1 on Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday.
The Blues, Vodacom Bulls and the Chiefs have BYE weekends.
Western Force flyhalf Sias Ebersohn says he has a burning desire to play Test rugby and wouldn’t mind if it’s not for his country of birth.
The 25-year-old is having a stellar season for this year’s Super Rugby surprise packages, who have won seven out of 10 games and currently sit in a healthy fifth spot on the overall Super Rugby log and in with a real shot at making the playoffs.
The Rebels have signed experienced scrumhalf Josh Holmes as an injury replacement for Nic Stirzaker, who suffered his second ankle injury of the season during the club’s 22-16 defeat to the Sharks in Round 12.
Holmes, the younger brother of foundation Rebel Luke, has no shortage of Super Rugby experience and brings with him a strong passing and running game.
The newest addition to Vodacom Super Rugby in 2016 will not be a team of “mercenaries” put together with a big budget.
That’s the word of Sanzar chief executive Greg Peters, who said the 18th team that will go out to tender to join the Southern Hemisphere competition will need to be sustainable, and have the support of the market it bases itself in.
So far Sanzar has received interest from Spain, Singapore, Japan and the USA, but it is doubtful if any of these countries could put together a team that could be competitive over 17 weeks of the competition in 2016.
Hooker Benjamin Kayser is to miss France’s three-test tour of Australia in June because of a neck injury, his club Clermont said on Wednesday.
Henry Speight has recovered from a broken jaw making him available for the Brumbies against the Cheetahs clash in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Speight is also itching to stake his claim for a long-awaited Wallabies berth with only five rounds plus finals remaining to prove himself to Test coach Ewen McKenzie.
A move back to the Cheetahs may not be the wisest move for Western Force flyhalf Sias Ebersohn.
Ebersohn is having a stellar season for this year’s Super Rugby surprise packages, and last weekend returned to haunt his former team-mates by kicking 13 points in a 23-16 win in Bloemfontein.
He held his own against opposite number Johan Goosen – ironically the player who kept him out of the Cheetahs team a couple of seasons ago – which eventually led to Ebersohn’s move abroad.
The reluctance of the Home Unions to come to the party is what is preventing a more acceptable global season to be implemented.
It has long been suggested that the selfish nature of Home Union officials – those from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland – has been at the heart of the troubled and scattered international and domestic calendars.
New Zealander Chris Pollock will be the referee when the Stormers host the Western Force in a Super Rugby clash at Newlands this Saturday (17:05 SA Time).
Pollock will be assisted by South Africans Marius Jonker and Quinton Immelman, with Shaun Veldsman on television match official (TMO) duty.
Lopeti Timani has been declared fit to return to play following a knee injury which has seen him sidelined for nearly two months.
The powerful backrow-forward, who can also play at lock, will most likely return via the Dewar Shield before looking to add to his maiden Rebels cap against the Western Force in Round 2.
Jim Carmichael has led speculation that James O’Connor is poised for a controversial return to Australia via the Queensland Reds.
Reds boss Carmichael would not confirm whether O’Connor is set to join the Reds’ in the 2015 Super Rugby roster but admitted he was in the process of addressing their current deficiencies.
The Vodacom Bulls flew the South African flag in Vodacom Super Rugby this weekend as the other four teams all lost their matches on Saturday.
The team from Pretoria won their traditional North-South derby against the DHL Stormers by 28-12 on Saturday evening and had to dig deep early on when the Capetonians scored two very good tries in the first 20 minutes.
It was the Vodacom Bulls’ biggest victory over the DHL Stormers since round 11 in 2007, when they won by 49-12 in Pretoria.
Earlier on Saturday, the Lions almost caused a massive upset in Dunedin when they came back from 23-0 down at half-time to lose 23-22 after scoring four great second-half tries against the Highlanders.
Had their kicking been better – the visitors’ kickers missed three conversions – the Lions could easily have become the first South African team to win in New Zealand this year.
The Cell C Sharks went down by 16-9 to the Brumbies in a top-of-the-table clash in a very wet Canberra, but managed to hold on to their first position on the log thanks to a losing bonus-point.
And on Saturday afternoon, the Force won in South Africa for the first time since March 2011 and beat the Toyota Cheetahs for the first time in three years when they won by 23-16 in Bloemfontein, putting a dampener on Naka Drotské’s 100th match in charge of the team from Central South Africa.
Former South African Schools flyhalf Sias Ebersohn left his country of birth under a cloud, seemingly unable to convert his potential into form at Super Rugby level.
However, the 25-year-old made a triumphant return to Bloemfontein at the weekend – producing a mature performance and played a key role in the Western Force’s 23-16 Super Rugby Round 13 win over his former team, the Cheetahs.
Force coach Michael Foley commended the No 10, who left Bloemfontein for Perth two years ago after being overlooked – with Springbok Johan Goosen the preferred choice.
Western Force coach Michael Foley has lauded his team’s efforts in the scrums and at the break down area following their 23-16 Super Rugby victory over the Cheetahs at the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Force dominated the scrums and break downs while also using turnover possession optimally to gain valuable momentum for their next game on their South African tour.
The Brumbies have paid a dear after toppling former coach Jake White’s Sharks at the weekend.
Star wing Joe Tomane’s Super Rugby season may have come to an end, the result of a fractured cheekbone suffered in the 16-9 top-of-the-table win in Canberra.
Wallaby playmaker Christian Leali’ifano becomes the third Brumbies representative to re-sign with the Australian Rugby Union in the past week, signing a new two-year deal.
His signature follows the recent re-signings of provincial teammates Matt Toomua and Nic White and ensures Leali’ifano will remain in Australia beyond next year’s World Cup – with the talented backline star committing his future to at least the end of 2016.
The Rebels’ two Japanese internationals, Shota Horie and Male Sau, have jetted off to join their national side for the final two matches of their 2014 Asian Five Nations.
The tournament is the first chance for Asian nations to secure qualification for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
Reds (17) 29 / 57 (16) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Reds and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane at 08:05 SA Time (16:05 AEST, 18:05 NZ Time, 06:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Cheetahs (6) 16 / 23 (16) Force (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and Western Force did battle in Super Rugby at
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 17:05 SA Time (23:05 AWST, 15:05 GMT, 01:05 Sunday AEST).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Brumbies (6) 16 / 9 (3) Sharks (Final Score)
The Brumbies and Cell C Sharks did battle in Super Rugby at
GIO Stadium, Canberra at 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 09:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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This is the last article in the 3-part series where we run the rule over team performances so far and take a look at the chances of teams as we enter the final stretch of the regular season.
We conclude with the South African Conference, who are positioned as the bottom performing country overall, with 4 teams in the bottom 6 at present.
SUMMARY: While the Sharks fly the SA flag and have established the 1st major break at the top of the table, now 5 points clear, only the Bulls have any chance of joining Jake White’s team in the knockout stage of the season.
The Lions’ promising start has been tarnished, the Cheetahs record season last year is a distant memory, while the Stormers haven’t been so far down the table since 1996.
Rebels (10) 15 / 25 (12) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Melbourne Rebels and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
AAMI Park, Melbourne at 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 21:40 NZ Time, 09:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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This article is the 2nd of the series and continues the 3-part series analysing the fortunes so far and what could happen in the future with but several rounds of 2014 Super Rugby remaining.
It is time to look at the rising Australian Conference.
SUMMARY: With 3 teams in the top 6, Wallabies supporters have plenty of reasons to feel confident, the Brumbies and Waratahs are looking like contenders while the Force are arguably the fairy-tale of the campaign.
The Rebels have shown plenty of starch, even if there are few worried brows in Queensland of late.
All 5 South Africa’s Super Rugby franchises will be in action on Saturday, with the North-South derby in Pretoria the cherry on top when the Vodacom Bulls and the DHL Stormers clash at Loftus Versfeld.
The local action starts on Saturday morning at 09:35 SA Time with the Lions’ 2nd tour match in New Zealand, against the Highlanders in Dunedin. Looking back at history, the team based in Johannesburg have reason to be optimistic, but they will have to front up in the deep south of Kiwi-land.
In the 2nd match on Saturday, former Brumbies coach Jake White returns to Canberra where his Cell C Sharks take on the team from the Australian Capital Territories. These 2 sides occupy the top 2 positions on the Combined Log and it promises to be a high-intensity humdinger.
In Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon, Toyota Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské will become only the 2nd South African coach to reach 100 matches in charge at Super Rugby level when his team takes on the Force.
The Vodacom Bulls’ Frans Ludeke is the most experienced South African Super Rugby coach with 127 matches at the helm at this level (104 for the Bulls and 23 for the Cats), but current Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie tops the list with 131 matches as coach (66 at the Waratahs and 65 at the Reds).
It is Round 13 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 7 games in Round 13, with 2 games on Friday, 4 games on Saturday and 1 game on Sunday.
The Waratahs have a bye weekend.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
Reds flanker Curtis Browning will make his run-on debut this Sunday in one of 6 changes to the starting line-up to face the Crusaders at Suncorp Stadium.
Browning, a former Australian Under-20 captain, has already played 5 games for the Reds, but never in the starting lineup. He will start at blindside flanker, in place of injured loose forward Eddie Quirk.
Fotu Auelua returns to the starting line-up for the first time in 2014 when the Brumbies take on the Sharks in Canberra on Saturday.
Auelua is the only change to the starting side that went down to the Crusaders last weekend, with Jordan Smiler dropping back to the bench and Jack Whetton out of the game-day 23.
The Western Force has named an unchanged squad to tackle the Cheetahs at Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium on Saturday.
Head Coach Michael Foley has maintained the same 23-man squad that overcame the Bulls, 15-9, in the team’s last match in Perth a fortnight ago.
Nic Stirzaker’s injury sees Luke Burgess retain the No 9 jersey for the Rebels clash with the Hurricanes while Ben Meehan takes the spot on the bench.
Ben Meehan returns to the matchday 23 for the first time since Round Six in one of two changes made by Head Coach Tony McGahan.
Pat Leafa, who scored his first try for the Club in the 16-22 defeat to the Sharks last Friday, replaces Shota Horie in the starting lineup.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 13 of Super Rugby 2014.
We see 7 games this weekend, with 2 on Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday.
Mike Frazer strats the weekend action in the game between the Chiefs and Blues in New Plymouth.
The Waratahs have their BYE weekend.
The Waratahs have signed exciting winger Taqele Naiyaravoro until at least end of the 2015 Super Rugby season from NRL club Wests Tigers.
The Brumbies have re-signed Matt Toomua until the end of the 2017 Super Rugby season after he signed a three-year contract extension
Toomua is one of two players that have been signed to full-time Brumbies contracts from school and his new deal will see him playing for the Brumbies for 10 years.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham says his side will add some variations to their game to counter the inside knowledge of former coach Jake White this weekend.
White left the Brumbies last season after two years in charge, having guided them to the Super Rugby Final against the Chiefs, and he returns to Canberra this weekend as coach of the table-topping Sharks.
The struggling Reds have been dealt a triple injury blow, with Liam Gill, Chris Feauai-Sautia and Eddie Quirk all ruled out for multiple weeks.
Three wins and only one defeat against Australasian opposition meant the last round of Vodacom Super Rugby was the best weekend from a South African perspective since round two earlier this year.
However, two of the three wins in the second round were in local derbies. This weekend, only the Vodacom Bulls’ victory over the Toyota Cheetahs was an all-South African affair as the Cell C Sharks and the DHL Stormers clinched victories over Australasian opponents.
In fact, the Cell C Sharks broke a losing run of 13 matches in Australasia for the South African franchises (this includes the Toyota Cheetahs’ defeat in their 2013 Qualifier against the Brumbies in Canberra) when they beat the Rebels by 22-16 in Melbourne on Friday morning.