European Rugby
England (22) 57 / 15 (10) Ireland (Final Score)
England and Ireland did battle in the August Internationals 2019 at
Twickenham Stadium, London, England on 24 August 2019 at 16:00 SA Time (15:00 UK Time, 14:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 8 on TV in SA.
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Scottish Rugby has appointed Jim Mallinder as its new Performance Director.
The highly respected coach has worked throughout the English club game at the highest level and led teams at senior age-grade and England Saxons, alongside roles in the English National Academy. He most recently worked as the performance pathway coach with the RFU.
Mallinder joins Scottish Rugby following Scott Johnson’s departure in April this year.
The former Northampton and Sale Sharks head coach will lead Scottish Rugby’s performance department from the newly created Super6 competition for part-time professional club teams through to the Scotland men’s national team.
George Ford and Owen Farrell will start together for the first time in over a year when they line up for England against Ireland on Saturday.
Captain Farrell partners Manu Tuilagi in the centres for the first time in a Test match.
Flankers Sam Underhill and Tom Curry are both named in the back row.
“This weekend we will be looking to gain more match fitness and test different sorts of game strategies,” said boss Eddie Jones.
Ford and Farrell formed a successful partnership for the first two years of Jones’ tenure, before Farrell switched to fly-half regularly last year.
The last time they started in the same midfield was the second Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein last June, which England lost 23-12.
After an incident in the Wales v England match at the weekend, World Rugby has announced an immediate amendment to Law 3 to stipulate that a match cannot restart until a player leaving the field of play for a blood injury or Head Injury Assessment (HIA) has been temporarily replaced.
In the World Cup warm up match, Pascal Gauzere allowed play to restart before the interchange had been fully completed. While England were still replacing their HIA player, they had 13 players on the field (with another in the sin bin). Wales went to to score from the penalty move. While the restart wasn’t wrong in law, most referees would have waited in such circumstances.
Italy head coach Conor O’Shea has named his squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan, with 15 Benetton Rugby and 10 Zebre players included in the 31.
Commencing their campaign against Namibia in Osaka on Sunday 22 September, the Azzurri, skippered by Sergio Parisse, also face New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
Parisse, set to appear in his fifth World Cup, is joined by Maxime Mbanda, Sebastian Negri, Jake Polledri and Abraham Steyn as the back-row options – with Dean Budd, Federico Ruzza, David Sisi and Alessandro Zanni the locks named.
Simone Ferrari, Andrea Lovotti, Tiziano Pasquali, Nicola Quaglio, Marco Riccioni, Federico Zani, Luca Bigi, Oliviero Fabiani and Leonardo Ghiraldini complete the pack as the nine front rows.
Scotland’s World Cup build-up got off to a poor start as they were crushed by an impressive France side in Nice.
The hosts claimed the initiative within two minutes through Alivereti Raka’s try and never looked back.
Maxime Medard and Gregory Alldritt scored further first-half tries, with Medard and Antoine Dupont crossing after the break as the free-flowing French ran riot.
The sides meet again at Murrayfield next weekend.
Wales (10) 13 / 6 (0) England (Final Score)
Wales and England did battle in the August Internationals 2019 at
the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales on 17 August 2019 at 15:15 SA Time (14:15 UK Time, 13:15 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 6 on TV in SA.
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Preparations are in full swing and happening in all earnest for the Rugby World Cup 2019, happening in just more than a month, in Japan.
Teams are positioning themselves, showing their hands, building their squads…
Having had a full Sunday und another half day to ponder the past weekend’s Test results, the following:
The Rugby Championship 2019:
Springboks:
Rassie seems to be building nicely for the Rugby World Cup and the Springboks are in a far better place now than a month ago. Depth in positions are fine, combinations seem more sorted… still little errors but a huge improvement overall.
Head Coach Gregor Townsend today named the Scotland team to face France in the opening Summer Test match at the Allianz Riviera in Nice this Saturday (kick-off 9pm SA time, 8pm UK time).
The match will be the first of four Test matches for the national team in the coming weeks – Scotland host France in the return fixture next Saturday at BT Murrayfield, before away and home Tests against Georgia – all of which are designed to refine the selection decisions of Head Coach Gregor Townsend, who will name his final squad for Rugby World Cup 2019 next month.
Townsend said: “A huge amount of work has gone in throughout the past two months in order to deliver our best level of performance in the Rugby World Cup.
“These four Tests are a vital part of that process in terms of testing our systems and combinations but also in seeing which players put their best foot forward when it comes to selection for the final 31-man group going to Japan next month.”
Head coach Eddie Jones said England “need people who have got a samurai spirit” after naming his squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Jones gave shock call-ups to flanker Lewis Ludlam and uncapped wing Ruaridh McConnochie in the 31-man group.
Gloucester scrum-half Willi Heinz, 32, whose England debut came in Sunday’s win against Wales, is also in the squad, but centre Ben Te’o is not.
“You need guys who are mature, who enjoy life,” said Jones.
“And we’ve deliberately picked a squad like that because it’s going to be an important factor.
“This is an enormous cultural event apart from being a sporting event and you’ve got to be able to cope with the different culture.”
Head Coach Gregor Townsend today released four players from Scotland’s Rugby World Cup training squad, reducing it to a 40-man group.
Glasgow Warriors Kyle Steyn (wing/centre) and Nick Grigg (centre), Edinburgh scrum-half Henry Pyrgos and Newcastle Falcons back-row Gary Graham have all returned to their clubs.
Townsend said: “I’d like to thank these players for the work-rate and commitment they’ve shown as part of our preparations for the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
He added: “Players are often called up from beyond the 31-man group that travels to a world cup, so I’d encourage these players to keep working as hard on their skills and fitness as they have over the summer, as we may need to call on them in the weeks ahead.”
Gloucester scrum-half Willi Heinz and Bath wing Ruaridh McConnochie will make their England debuts against Wales at Twickenham on Sunday as they make a late bid for Rugby World Cup selection.
Heinz will be vice-captain and partners skipper George Ford at half-back, with Piers Francis at inside centre.
Sam Underhill and Tom Curry play as flankers together for the first time.
Head coach Eddie Jones said his focus for the four warm-ups is on “developing a team capable of winning in Japan”.
Both Heinz and McConnochie were surprise inclusions in the wider training squad, with Heinz now edging ahead of Ben Spencer in the battle to be Ben Youngs’ back-up.
The New Zealand-born playmaker now looks almost certain of a place in the final 31-man World Cup squad, which is named on Monday.
August Internationals 2019 – Rugby-Talk August Tests 2019
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Exeter have signed lock Jannes Kirsten from South African Super Rugby side the Bulls on a one-year deal.
The 25-year-old joined the Bulls in 2012 and this will be his first time playing for another club.
Kirsten, who can also play back row, is the sixth signing of the summer for Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter.
Kirsten told the club website: “If you ask any South African player, they want to come here and have a taste of the Premiership.”
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The Red Roses secured a bonus-point 38-5 win over USA Women in their Women’s Rugby Super Series opener in San Diego.
In glorious sunny conditions at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in California, it was England who opened the scoring when Amber Reed, on her 50th cap, launched a crossfield kick that bounced kindly for Poppy Cleall to feed Kelly Smith to stroll in – Emily Scarratt converting.
The hosts were level five minutes later when a couple of powerful forward drives saw Hope Rogers cross from close range, but Claudia Macdonald’s sniping run off the back of a ruck saw her dart in from 10 metres out for her first England try.
Scarratt then read a USA attacking move to intercept the ball and canter in under the posts, and then converted her own score, before some powerful work from the pack was rewarded when hooker Heather Kerr drove over for the bonus-point, and a 26-5 half-time lead.
Edinburgh have continued to strengthen their squad ahead of next season with the signing of South African scrum-half, Nic Groom.
Groom, 29, joins from Super Rugby side Lions and brings a wealth of experience having amassed over 100 appearances for both the Stormers and Northampton Saints in recent seasons.
The scrum-half was a key man in the 2019 Lions Super Rugby squad that narrowly missed out on reaching the knockout stages of the competition, appearing in 13 out of 16 conference fixtures.
On joining the club, Groom said: “I’m really excited to link-up with Edinburgh. I’ve been keeping an eye on their results from South Africa and it’s definitely a club on the rise. I can’t wait to play my role in the seasons to come.
“My time at the Lions has been awesome. I’ve had the chance to work with fantastic coaches alongside some great players and I’m hugely grateful for the opportunity they gave me to play for them.
“From what I’ve heard, Edinburgh is a great place to live and play your rugby. My family can’t wait for the adventure that lies ahead.”
Rugby’s most capped Scotsman, Ross Ford, today confirmed his decision to retire from playing the sport to take up a role bringing on the next generation of young Scottish players in the Fosroc Scottish Rugby academy.
Ford earned his last – and record-breaking 110th – Scotland cap against Fiji on the 2017 summer tour and has brought an end to a historic career that was accompanied by close to 300 professional club games for Border Reivers and Edinburgh Rugby and a Test appearance for the British & Irish Lions on the 2009 tour to South Africa.
He won his first senior cap for Scotland when he was introduced as a replacement during the opening match of the 2004 Autumn Tests against Australia at BT Murrayfield around two years after making a positional switch from back-row to hooker.
Two tries by Yoann Huget proved the difference as Toulouse capped a superb season by beating Clermont Auvergne 24-18 in the French Top 14 final in Paris on Saturday to lift the trophy for the first time since 2012.
The winger crossed the line in the 28th and 55th minutes to give Toulouse a deserved victory, although five Greig Laidlaw penalties meant the outcome was never a formality.
Toulouse had finished top of the regular season table with a record points tally and reached the European Champions Cup semi-finals while Clermont finished second having scored more points than any other side during the 26-match campaign.
Pre-match billing spoke of a “dream final” and a 79,000 crowd in the Stade de France were treated to a grand occasion even if the game failed to match the blockbuster between the sides in April when Toulouse won 47-44.
Toulouse will not care, though, as they claimed their 20th French championship.
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Johnny Sexton starts on the bench as Pro14 champions Leinster defend their title in the semi-final on Saturday against Munster in Dublin.
Leinster make four changes from the Champions Cup final defeat by Saracens.
Ross Byrne, Dave Kearney, Rhys Ruddock and fit-again Josh van der Flier, in his first game since Ireland’s Six Nations win over France, all start.
Munster also make four changes from the quarter-final win over Benetton with Keith Earls and Joey Carbery included.
Van der Flier has not played for Leinster since January, after sustaining a groin injury while on Six Nations duty. There were doubts whether he would be available again this season and his return is a timely boost for club and country in a World Cup year.
He replaces Sean O’Brien in the back row with Rhys Ruddock, who will captain the team, coming in for Scott Fardy.
Glasgow (24) 50 / 20 (3) Ulster (Final Score)
Glasgow Warriors and Ulster Rugby did battle in a Semi Final of the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland at 20:35 SA Time (19:35 UK Time, 18:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 8 on TV in SA.
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Cheetahs (28) 61 / 25 (13) Kings (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and the Southern Kings did battle in Round 21 of the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa at 17:30 SA Time (15:30 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Prop Mako Vunipola will make his first Saracens appearance since January against Munster after an ankle injury picked up on England duty.
Centre Brad Barritt, who was injured in the quarter-final win over Glasgow, and number eight Billy Vunipola also start.
Winger Keith Earls is missing for Munster after failing to recover from a thigh injury.
The flanker was one of a number of players rested in last weekend’s 37-28 win at Benetton.
Liam Williams returns on the wing for Saracens after missing the club’s last two games with a minor hamstring problem.
Kings (0) 7 / 43 (33) Ospreys (Final Score)
The Southern Kings and Ospreys did battle in Round 20 of the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
Madibaz Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa at 19:35 SA Time (18:35 UK Time, 17:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 6 on TV in SA.
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Kyle Steyn in action for Scotland 7s
Kyle Steyn tells a story about unity, forgiveness and love, the tale of a white South African cop assigned to protect Nelson Mandela amid some of the most volatile days the nation had seen.
The subject of the yarn is Steyn’s father, Rory, a former Johannesburg police officer raised in the days of apartheid and conditioned by division. In 1994, he was hired to lead the security team who watched over the newly-elected president during his five-year term – he knew little of what to expect or what kind of man he had been tasked with guarding.
Warriors (21) 35 / 17 (5) Cheetahs (Final Score)
Glasgow Warriors and the Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Round 18 of the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland at 21:45 SA Time (19:45 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Ulster (21) 33 / 19 (12) Kings (Final Score)
Ulster Rugby and the Southern Kings did battle in Round 18 of the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
Kingspan Stadium, Belfast, Ireland at 19:30 SA Time (17:30 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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England (31) 38 / 38 (7) Scotland (Final Score)
England and Scotland did battle in Round 5 of the Guinness SIX Nations 2019 at
Twickenham Stadium, London, England at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 5 on TV in SA.
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Wales (16) 25 / 7 (0) Ireland (Final Score)
Wales and Ireland did battle in Round 5 of the Guinness SIX Nations 2019 at
Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales at 16:45 SA Time (14:45 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 5 on TV in SA.
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Leinster (12) 19 / 7 (7) Cheetahs (Final Score)
Leinster Rugby and the Toyota Cheeaths did battle in the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
the RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland at 21:35 SA Time (19:35 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Wales (3) 21 / 13 (10) England (Final Score)
Wales and England did battle in Round 3 of the Guinness SIX Nations 2019 at
the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales at 18:40 SA Time (16:40 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 6 on TV in SA.
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Leinster (24) 59 / 19 (12) Kings (Final Score)
Leinster Rugby and the Southern Kings did battle in the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland at 21:55 SA Time (19:55 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Josh Strauss
Forward Josh Strauss is available for Scotland’s Six Nations match against France in Paris on Saturday – despite losing his passport.
Strauss was a doubt for the match after his South African passport went missing, with it being too late for the 32-year-old to get a replacement.
However, the Scottish Rugby Union says the situation has now been resolved and he will make the trip.
Munster (12) 43 / 0 (0) Kings (Final Score)
Munster Rugby and the Southern Kings did battle in the Guinness PRO14 2018 / 2019 at
Irish Independent Park, Cork, Ireland at 21:35 SA Time (19:35 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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