European Rugby
Springbok forwards Tendai Mtawarira and Eben Etzebeth will feature for the Barbarians against Fiji at Twickenham on 30 November 2013.
The most experienced team in All Blacks’ history will face France this weekend, after New Zealand coach Steve Hansen recalled his big guns for the Paris clash.
Hansen’s run-on team announced on Thursday has 853 caps, with a further 112 available on the bench for a combined record of 965, in a sign the world champions are not taking the mercurial French lightly.
Experienced backline stars JP Pietersen and Jaque Fourie are back in the Springbok team for Saturday’s Castle Lager Outgoing Tour opener against Wales in Cardiff, while Frans Malherbe will make his Test debut at the Millennium Stadium.
In naming his side for Saturday’s Test against the current Six Nations champions, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has decided to hand Fourie his first Test for South Africa since the Rugby World Cup in 2011, while a combination of injury and non-availability means Pietersen is back for his first taste of international rugby yet this season.
A sports management company is claiming €79 200 (R1 million) from former Springbok and Blue Bulls hooker, Gary Botha.
Argentina have made five changes from the team crushed 54-17 by Australia in The Rugby Championship last month for their opening tour match against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
New coach Daniel Hourcade named a side on Tuesday with three changes in the backs and two in the forwards plus a positional switch with Julio Farias Cabello moving from lock to openside flanker.
Munster back Keith Earls has been ruled out of Ireland’s opening Autumn International Test match against Samoa in Dublin due to a knee injury.
Wales have announced their team to play South Africa in their opening Autumn International Test match, initially with Ospreys wing Eli Walker being named to make his international debut. Walker has since been sidelined by injury and is replaced by Liam Williams (Scarlets).
Kelly Brown will captain Scotland against Japan at Murrayfield on Saturday in the first viagogo Autumn Test. Back-row forward Brown, 31, returns after recovering from the leg injury which cut short his involvement in Scotland’s summer tour to South Africa. It will be his tenth Test as Scotland captain and 59th cap overall.
Heyneke Meyer is taking the approach to take Wales quite seriously, so seriously that he has changed his game plan away from the expansive style the Springboks played during The Rugby Championship.
Meyer is approaching this game more conservatively with the mindset of building phases and keeping the ball in hand.
With Jannie du Plessis out for the End Of Year Tours for the Springboks it seems likely that Frans Malherbe will make his debut for the Springboks.
With Du Plessis out, only two options remain at tighthead prop and these are Frans Malherbe and Lourens Adriaanse, who are both uncapped.
A week after losing the captaincy, Wallabies lock James Horwill could find himself on the bench for the clash against Italy this weekend.
Although he produced an improved performance without the burden of the captaincy in the defeat to England at Twickenham last week, the return of line-out specialist Rob Simmons could see Horwill riding the pine on Saturday.
Heyneke Meyer has given a clear indication as to what his intentions are for the 2013 End Of Year Tour.
It seems likely that Meyer will use this End Of Year Tour to test combinations building up to the 2015 World Cup.
Argentina captain Juan Manuel Leguizamon has denied there are splits in the Pumas camp ahead of this weekend’s Twickenham Test against England.
There were reports that ‘player power’ had led to the recent resignation of coach Santiago Phelan and his replacement by Daniel Hourcade.
Former New Zealand international wing Rene Ranger and South African centre Robert Ebersohn on Monday arrived to significantly bolster Top 14 highflyers Montpellier’s ranks.
James O’Connor has been seen at Toulon in a meeting with Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal.
O’Connor who made his debut appearance for London Irish over the past weekend is already linked with a move to Toulon.
England have closed the gap on second placed South Africa after their 20-13 victory over Australia this past weekend.
With the victory over Australia, England managed to gain half a ranking point and is now 1.55 ranking points behind South Africa.
England coach Stuart Lancaster has called up Junior World Championship-winning fullback Anthony Watson ahead of the clash with Argentina at Twickenham this weekend.
Wales will take heart from the British and Irish Lions’ demolition of Australia earlier this year when they tackle the Springboks in Cardiff on Saturday.
There were 10 Welsh players in the Lions’ starting team for the decisive third Test against the Wallabies in June – a game the Lions convincingly won 41-16 to claim their first series win in 16 years.
Australian coach Ewen McKenzie was left thinking of what might have been, after two controversial tries sparked England into coming from behind to beat the Wallabies 20-13 at Twickenham on Saturday.
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers said that his team is focused solely on their match against Wales this weekend.
A cold and rainy Cardiff greeted the Springboks on Sunday upon arrival in Wales, where they will kick off their tour at the Millennium Stadium.
From time to time Rugby-Talk is approached by rugby enthusiasts, who read our content, who enquire whether they can write guest articles for publication.
My response is the same every time… send it along, if it is good, we will publish it. More aptly, I also invite these people to register and become part of our wonderful website, to join in the comments with us and should we see value in their style and knowledge, there will be no hesitation to make them fullyfledged authors here on Rugby-Talk.
I hope this is an inspiration to more people to contribute…
Here is a wonderful piece on the history of the Six Nations:
England (6) 20 / 13 (13) Wallabies (Final Score)
England and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 01:30 Sunday AEDT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
Round 1 of the End Of Year Tours of 2013 is upon us and it is that time of the year where we see the teams from the South migrate to the North to go do battle with those from Europe and beyond.
The Test rugby games of the End Of Year Tours or November Internationals are always a nice spectacle to see. Some teams use this as an experimental base, whilst other teams use this competition to prepare for other competitions like the 6 Nations. The big thing here is that the 3 Southern Hemisphere giant teams are ranked No 1 to 3 in the world. So, every team wants to beat these sides for bragging rights and to also get an indication of where they stand in preparation of the next Rugby World Cup.
So let the battles begin!
The top-of-the-table clash at Thomond Park between Munster and Ospreys on Saturday headlines Round Seven of the Pro12. Munster currently lead the pack thanks to winning one more game than Ospreys, but Ospreys have garnered more bonus points in the six rounds than their hosts, so the scene is set for an epic battle.
Fullback Juan Martin Hernandez is out of Argentina’s squad to face England at Twickenham on November 9 with a torn right thigh muscle, the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) said on Thursday.
Joel Tomkins will make his England debut in Saturday’s international against Australia at Twickenham Stadium.
The centre will be joined by Saracens teammate Billy Vunipola and London Irish wing Marland Yarde, who both won their first caps in Argentina in June and make their first starts at Twickenham.
Veteran lock Alun Wyn Jones said Wales’ upcoming clash with South Africa promises to be a fast, frenetic encounter.
South Africa have had a lot of changes to their squad in the last couple of years, but they’ve still got a number of guys who have been playing in the Green and Gold jersey for a while.
James Horwill has been axed as Wallaby captain amid a radical leadership overhaul which has swept controversial playmaker Quade Cooper into the vice-captaincy.
Back row forward Ben Mowen will captain Australia for a second time in Saturday’s Cook Cup clash against England at Twickenham.
World rugby supremo Bernard Lapasset has warned English and French clubs wishing to form a breakaway European club competition that they do not have the right to impose their will on other leagues reluctant to join them.
The 66-year-old Frenchman – president of the International Rugby Board since replacing Irishman Syd Millar in 2008 – has kept his own counsel while the English and French clubs have tried to persuade their counterparts in Wales, Ireland, Italy and Scotland to leave the European Rugby Cup (ERC), who organise the European Cup and Challenge, and join the planned 20-team Champions Cup from next year.
Glasgow scrum-half Nikola Matawalu has been cleared of biting Munster lock forward Donncha O’Callaghan in last Friday’s PRO12 game at Scotstoun.
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has backed current coach Heyneke Meyer NOT to rest his key players on the end of year tour, despite the risk of player burn-out.
Speaking to BallzRadio, Mallett said that the Springbok Tests should take precedence over the Currie Cup and Super Rugby, and said franchise coaches should take responsibility for managing players better. Mallett also praised Sharks Director of Rugby Brendan Venter as one of the few coaches using proper player rotation.
England lock Geoff Parling has been ruled out of Saturday’s opening November international against Australia at Twickenham with concussion.
Parling was concussed during a training session at England’s training base in Bagshot, south-west of London, on Tuesday and will now follow the standard procedure for players who’ve suffered head injuries.
Captain Sergio Parisse and popular prop Martin Castrogiovanni are closing in on a century of caps after the Argentine-born pair were named in Italy coach Jacques Brunel’s 30-man squad for next month’s international tests.
Both Stade Francais No 8 Parisse and Toulon’s Castrogiovanni have 98 caps and could surpass the century landmark during tests against Australia, Argentina and Fiji in November.
Scotland wing Tim Visser will be sidelined for up to four months after breaking his shin and damaging ankle ligaments in a club game.
Argentina will be without their captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe on their upcoming European tour after he injured himself playing for Toulon.