Internationals
On the European and UK rugby front preparations for the Six Nations tournament of 2014 is gathering momentum, with news trickling through of injuries at this stage ruling some players out of the start of the Six Nations whilst others might miss the whole tournament.
England fullback / wing Ben Foden will likely miss only the start of the Six Nations, with a knee injury suffered for Northampton on the weekend against Newcastle.
England and Wasps wing, Christian Wade is out for 6 months after suffering a foot injury against London Irish over the past weekend.
Wales scrumhalf and “naughty boy” who was axed by Bayonne, Mike Phillips has reportedly signed a two and a half year deal with Racing Metro in France and will be available from Tuesday 3 December 2013.
Call it Federer Syndrome.
It is the condition, common in every era of sport, where journalists and fans stampede through the town square in a headlong rush to proclaim Jonny Rackets as the greatest player of all time. It is a very human instinct. If we are living in exceptional times, then maybe we are also somehow special, too.
A rip-roaring contest and magnificent entertainment it may have been, but Welsh faces after yet another defeat by Australia spoke only of more misery and another missed opportunity.
Wales (16) 26 / 30 (17) Wallabies (Final Score)
Wales and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT, 04:00 Sunday AEDT).
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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The Dubai leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series was played, with Day 1 on 29 November and Day 2 on 30 November 2013.
Here are the Results & Fixtures.
Fiji won the Tournament against the Blitzbokke of South Africa, by 29 / 17.
Barbarians (17) 43 / 19 (7) Fiji (Final Score)
The Barbarians and Fiji did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 03:30 Sunday Fiji Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 8 & HD5 on TV in SA.
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The Junior Springboks were grouped with hosts New Zealand, Samoa and Scotland when the pools and fixtures of the IRB Junior World Championship 2014 were confirmed earlier today in Auckland.
The future stars of world Rugby will come together in New Zealand from 2-20 June 2014 for the seventh edition of the Under 20 tournament which will see matches played at North Harbour Stadium and Pukekohe Stadium during the pool stages and semi-finals on 2, 6, 10 and 15 June 2014.
Round 5 of the End Of Year Tours is the last Round of the tour and also signals the end of the Southern Hemisphere season as well as the welcome rest period for Southern Hemisphere teams.
This weekend does not see quite as much rugby, compared to to the previous 4 Rounds as it only has 2 matches, but it is going to be two great clashes. Any weekend with rugby is all in all still a good weekend.
Here are some head to head statistics and predictions.
Ireland prop Cian Healy bought himself a whole lot of publicity – little of it complimentary – when he slammed the All Blacks’ haka in the lead-up to the test at Lansdowne Road.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie is calling Wales’ bluff, saying the Six Nations champions are ”worried” about falling to their ninth straight loss to Australia in Cardiff this weekend.
Australia’s overseas-based rugby players will have to put country over money if they want to play in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie said he would not consider for World Cup duties any player who was not signed with a Super Rugby club from the start of the 2015 season.
Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper will become Australia’s 40th player to reach the prestigious 50-game Test milestone.
He will achieve this in Saturday’s final year-end tour and James Bevan Trophy contest against Wales at Millennium Stadium.
The captains of the top four seeds – New Zealand, Australia, England and South Africa – admit that they expect a tough test in this weekend’s Dubai Sevens.
Record-breaking wing Bjorn Basson has extended his contract with the Bulls and will be available for the Pretoria franchise until the end of October 2016.
Basson, who holds the national and Currie Cup record for tries in a season and the Bulls’ record for tries in a Super Rugby season, was also part of the Springbok squad in 2013.
New Zealand’s Ben Smith and Kieran Read and Wales’ Leigh Halfpenny have been nominated for the players’ player of the year award, the International Rugby Players’ Association said on Wednesday.
Fiji coach Inoke Male faces a nightmare to ensure he can field a competitive team against the Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Springboks and South African fans on Wednesday received good news in the lead-up to the 2015 IRB Rugby World Cup in England, with the announcement that three of the team’s four round-robin matches will begin at 17:00 (19:00 SA Time) and only one at 20:00 (22:00 SA Time).
The Springboks kick off their Rugby World Cup campaign on 19 September 2015, against the top Asian qualifier at the Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton, at 20:00 (22:00 SA Time).
The Springbok Sevens will aim to improve on their Gold Coast performance of last month when they play in the Dubai Sevens on Friday and Saturday. The tournament marks Round 2 of the HSBC Sevens World Series, which consists of nine tournaments worldwide.
Veteran All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore confirmed his international retirement on Wednesday after 83 Test appearances for New Zealand.
The 35-year-old could not find a Super Rugby team for next season and said he planned to concentrate on working on his South Island farm.
There are 6 Springboks in the starting 15 and a further 2 on the bench for the Barbarians’ clash with Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday. It would have been 7 Springbok starters as the initial side was named including Flip van der Merwe as No 4 lock, but he has been withdrawn from the squad after the Blue Bulls said NO under such short notice. Flip is directly replaced by Mick O’Driscoll of Ireland.
Winger Alex Cuthbert has made a surprise return to the Wales team to play Australia on Saturday after recovering ahead of time from an ankle injury that initially seemed to rule him out of the entire autumn series.
Cuthbert will reunited with his British and Irish Lions back three partners George North and Leigh Halfpenny as Wales hope the Lions influence can end their own dismal run against the Wallabies.
The season may have ended for International sides like the South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks, but we still officially have one Test weekend left on the End Of Year Tours in 2013, and it is this weekend!
The Barbarians take on Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT), with a number of prominent Springboks and All Blacks in the Barbarians side and Wales host the Wallabies from Australia at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
But that’s not all folks, we have some quality Sevens Rugby on Friday and Saturday (HSBC Sevens World Series, Dubai Tournament) and we also have the Varsity Sevens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday… all broadcast live. In addition we have Aviva Pemiership Round 9 rugby betwwen Gloucester vs Leicester Tigers and French Top 14 Round 13 rugby between Perpignon vs Clermont Auvergne on Friday night and an Aviva Premiershpi Round 9 rugby match between Newcastle Falcons vs Harlequins on Sunday
Here are the broadcast times for Friday, Saturday and Sunday:
While 2013 may rate among one of the best years for Springbok rugby, enforcer flanker Willem Alberts said the team would not be satisfied until it had secured a perfect record.
“The season as a whole was very successful, it is one of the best years the Boks’ has ever had, but we will never be satisfied if you don’t win all our games,” Alberts said on arrival in Johannesburg on Monday.
New Zealand media have dubbed the 2013 All Blacks “The Unbeatables” after their perfect season, but acknowledged their rivals are closing the gap ahead of the next World Cup.
The tone was more relieved than triumphant after the New Zealanders snatched a 24-22 result over a desperately unlucky Ireland to record 14 wins from 14 and become the first international side in the professional era to win every single Test in a calendar year.
Springbok skipper Jean de Villiers will captain the Barbarians in Saturday’s clash against Fiji at Twickenham.
The Springboks have made South Africans proud in 2013, with 10 wins from 12 Tests, the only blight on their record 2 losses against the world’s No 1 side, the All Blacks from New Zealand. South Africa beat France on the weekend by 19 / 10 at Stade de France in Paris, capping off an undefeated tour.
But let’s put those 2 losses into some perspective… in New Zealand the Springboks were on the wrong side of poor reffereeing by Romain Poite, the French referee in charge of that match, resulting in the fact that the Springboks had to play 48 minutes without Bismarck du Plessis. In those circumstances, the Springboks were still highly competative and probably the most pleasing part was that the Springbok forwards dominated large parts of the game. The Springboks lost that one though, as the slow All Black poison came through for the home side in the end.
In South Africa it was do or die for the Springboks… go out and score 4 tries against the All Blacks and win by more than 7 was the challenge in The Rugby Championship, a tall order indeed! The Springboks managed their 4 tries but once again the slow poison of New Zealand worked in their fafour and they came back from behind in the last quarter to score their fourth and ultimately their fifth try, to also beat the Springboks.
So, well done to the All Blacks… and while we’re at it, well done on an All Black season of 14 wins from 14 Tests, what an enviable record, New Zealand certainly deserve the No 1 world crown at this juncture in time!
The positive side of the coin however for the Springboks is that South Africans, and the world in general, now realistically give the Springboks a chance against the All Blacks in every Test match, even away from home. Having looked at results on the End Of Year Tours by both the Springboks and All Blacks, it can also be argued that the Springboks had a slightly better tour north compared to the All Blacks, specially with the All Blacks only managing a last gasp win against Ireland with a try long after the hooter had sounded for full time on Sunday night. The Springboks also only conceded 1 solitary and fortunate try on the whole of the tour up north, whilst the All Blacks conceded far more.
Looking to the future of Springbok rugby, Heyneke Meyer said after the weekend’s Test against France that Jean de villiers will stay Springbok captain in 2014 and the total message out of the Springbok camp is that the Springboks will now aspire to the No 1 ranking spot in world rugby, from 2014 and thereafter.
That certainly implies that Heyneke Meyer wants to and needs to beat the All Blacks… but it does not stop there, seeing as the Springboks want to go to No 1, notwithstanding how or what the All Blacks do.
The Springboks certainly have improved their chances in 2013 to aspire to a World Cup win in 2015, in fact they are fast becomming joint favourites with the All Blacks in the race to this title.
France scrumhalf Morgan Parra is set to miss the Six Nations opener against England after being ruled out for 10 to 12 weeks with a knee injury, his Top 14 club Clermont said.
The Wallabies will take on France in a three Test series in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney next year in their first tour to Australia since 2009.
Wales will face a refreshed Wallaby side in their final Test of the year at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday according to one of Australia’s key men.
Ireland’s Rory Best broke his forearm in the heartbreaking last-gasp defeat by New Zealand, his province Ulster said on Monday, making the hooker a doubt for the start of the Six Nations in just over two months.
Former Italy prop Giampiero De Carli will take up the position as Azzurri forwards coach next season.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen was a proud man after a dramatic comeback against Ireland capped an unbeaten year for his side.
The world champions were forced to come from behind to become the first team to win every match in a calendar year in the professional era.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said it was devastating that his side had come within seconds of an historic first ever win over world champions New Zealand only to lose 24-22 with the final kick in one of the sport’s most memorable ever Test matches.
The Irish had possession deep in the All Black half with less than a minute to go, but they conceded a penalty and the Kiwis produced a stunning passage of play to move the ball downfield for Ryan Crotty to score a try – which Aaron Cruden converted at the second opportunity.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones has been released from hospital nearly 40 days after suffering a stroke while preparing his squad for their clash with the All Blacks. The 53-year-old Australian, a former Brumbies and Wallabies coach, left the Tokyo hospital on Saturday, the Japan Rugby Football Union said in a statement.
Australia comprehensively beat England in the first Ashes test that was played at Brisbane, with a day to spare. Victory, by a whopping 381 runs, was secured late on day four as Mitchell Johnson claimed the final wicket of James Anderson. England failed to get beyond 200 runs in either of their innings as Man of the Match Johnson bowled with venom and ended up with 9 England scalps.