European Rugby
The British and Irish Lions have arrived in Hong Kong ahead of a month-long tour of Australia where they will seek their first Test series victory in 16 years.
How will Heyneke Meyer fare in 2013?
Well there are a lot of surprises in the mid-year appointments this year, and I’m not sure how much can be read into them.
Vern Cotter is to become Scotland’s next head coach – but at present will not be available until his contract with Clermont Auvergne ends in 2014. Unless an early release is negotiated for the New Zealander, Scott Johnson will remain head coach until next June.
Ulster and Ireland hooker Rory Best has been called up to the British and Irish Lions squad for their tour to Australia, which begins with a trip to Hong Kong to face the Barbarians next Saturday.
Stuart Lancaster may have unearthed a few sparkling young diamonds in the Twickenham turf as his new boys shone brightly during England’s 40-12 demolition of the Barbarians on Sunday.
Clermont scrumhalf Morgan Parra has been ruled out of France’s tour to New Zealand next month, the national side said on Sunday.
Dylan Hartley will miss out on this year’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. The Northampton Saints captain was sent off yesterday during the Aviva Premiership Final against Leicester Tigers at Twickenham.
Rob Webber will captain England for the first time in Sunday’s game against the Barbarians at Twickenham. The Bath hooker leads a youthful side which has nine players aged 24 or under in the starting XV and sees Matt Kvesic and Marland Yarde make their debuts.
We are all well aware of the host of South African rugby players who are plying their trade outside of South Africa. For this article we venture into the land of make belief and choose a squad made up entirely of players with South African connections playing in the current season’s RaboDirect Pro12 competition. – The ‘Raboboks’
After 22 rounds and two play-off games, the 2012/13 Pro12 season wraps up on Saturday with the Final at the Royal Dublin Society. It is, appropriately, between first and second seeds, Ulster and Leinster.
The culmination of many English players’ dream is to play at Twickenham and both Leicester and Northampton will be hoping to put on a spectacle in the Premiership final at HQ on Saturday.
English flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson will seek to add a continental crown to his honours when his Toulon take on French rivals Clermont in the European Cup final on Saturday.
The match at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium might be between two French Top 14 clubs, but on paper it is a truly international clash, with top players from across the globe ready to battle it out for the ultimate honour in northern hemisphere club rugby.
Brian O’Driscoll ended speculation about his future by signing a new one-year deal to play on for Ireland and Leinster, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) revealed on Thursday.
Saracens and former Springbok hooker Schalk Brits has been included in the Barbarians squad to face the British and Irish Lions.
Scotland international centre Joe Ansbro has announced his retirement from rugby today following the neck injury he sustained at the start of this season. The 11-times-capped London Irish back suffered a C1 fracture in his club’s pre-season friendly with Munster in Cork last August.
France coach Philippe Saint-Andre on Tuesday called up eight uncapped players for his 35-man squad to tour New Zealand tour next month.
Munster have announced that current squad captain Doug Howlett will retire from professional rugby at the end of this season.
The head of New Zealand’s Rugby Players Association says international representative players could take strike action “as a last resort” to press claims for an integrated international season with fewer matches.
Leinster (11) 17/15 (10) Glasgow Warriors
This is Saracens fourth successive Premiership semifinal and their fifth overall, however they have lost their last three semifinal encounters in all competitions.
After 132 games over 22 rounds just four of the 12 participating teams now go forward to the knock-out phase in the quest to find the RaboDirect Pro12 champions of 2012/13.
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has named 11 uncapped players in his squad for this summer’s Barbarians game and three-match tour to Uruguay and Argentina.
Springbok and Bath loose forward Francois Louw is one of three South Africa players included in the Barbarians squad to take on England and the British and Irish Lions.
The other two South Africans included in the squad are Munster prop BJ Botha and London Wasps lock Marco Wentzel.
Currie Cup winner Doppies Le Grange has been named in the SA Barbarians 22-man squad for their match against Saracens in London next week.
The squad is selected primarily from players that are based in Europe and the team has a handful of high profile names.
Edinburgh – Scotland have included nine uncapped players in a squad of 31 for next month’s quadrangular international tournament in South Africa.
Samoa have named a very strong squad – comprising just two locally based players – for their tour of South Africa next month.
Scott Johnson, the current head coach of the Scotland team has been appointed Director of Rugby for Scottish Rugby. The post has been described by Scottish Rugby as “absolutely integral to Scotland’s standing on the world stage in the next decade and beyond.”
Guy Mercer is under no illusions about the importance of Bath’s final match of the season, and insists the players are ready to end their Premiership season on a high.
With just four points separating the top three teams who have already qualified for the Pro12 play-offs, no-one can yet be certain of their position in the table.
The Queensland Rugby Union have confirmed that Super Rugby winning winger Digby Ioane will leave the Reds at the end of the season to play in France.
London’s Olympic Stadium will host five games at the 2015 Rugby World Cup which is being held across 13 venues.
South African hooker Gary Botha and Australian halfback Luke Burgess are to leave French Top 14 side Toulouse at the end of the season.
British and Irish Lions tour manager Andy Irvine has announced the squad of 37 players for the upcoming tour of Australia which starts at the beginning of June. The squad will be captained by Sam Warburton who was introduced to the media, gathered in London for the announcement, by head coach Warren Gatland.
The Irish Rugby Football Union have officially announced the appointment of Joe Schmidt as Ireland head coach.