Internationals
Australians are today mourning the death of a legend.
Edward Heinrich, who is considered a classic Wallaby, has passed away last night at the age of 73.
All this hand wringing and cries of foul because the French ref Romain Poite, in this past Saturday’s game, sunk South Africa’s chances of winning in Eden Park Auckland, since 1937 needs a rethink.
As fans whose emotions are fueled by the learned and very emotional commentators and animated in studio television presenters, we need to make a far more calculated observation on this, as South Africa is now playing at the highest level of international sports and all occasions and events need to be anticipated, rehearsed, with a number of options planned to give South Africa the advantage.
Bismarck du Plessis is not likely to start when the Springboks name their side to face the Wallabies in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship match at Newlands on September 28.
Du Plessis, who has faced a torrid week after being incorrectly red-carded by French referee Romain Poite in Auckland last weekend, is set to be on the bench when the Boks resume their chase for the title next week.
James O’Connor, one of Australia’s most notorious bad boys, may have put his career in jeopardy with another drunken escapade.
The Australian media reported that the Wallaby wing, O’Connor, was ‘escorted’ from the Perth airport just hours after last Saturday’s 14-13 Test win over Argentina.
All Black flank Liam Messam has hit back at Springbok fans after a barrage of criticism in reaction to a tweet he posted.
Messam upset South Africans when he took to Twitter following the All Blacks’ controversial 29-15 Rugby Championship win over the Boks in Auckland last Saturday.
The South African Rugby Union has spiritedly knocked back suggestions that it did not take a powerful enough stance following the “Bismarck du Plessis affair” in the Castle Rugby Championship Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Auckland.
The Springbok hooker has subsequently had his controversial red card, issued by French referee Romain Poite at Eden Park on Saturday, erased by a SANZAR judicial officer, and he is clear to represent the country against the Wallabies if chosen at Newlands on Saturday week.
But some domestic critics and fans have raged that it is “too little too late” as the dismissal of Du Plessis badly dented the Boks’ prospects of winning at their long-time bogey venue; the All Blacks eventually won 29-15.
The Barbarians have confirmed that Schalk Burger will join Springbok captain Jean de Villiers in the team to take on Fiji at Twickenham in November.
The World Cup-winning Springbok flank has been sidelined through injury and illness since the start of last year, but it appears he is set to make his return to the international stage in what will be his fourth appearance for the Barbarians.
Twenty scrum machines will be required for Rugby World Cup 2015 in England
With just over two years to go until Rugby World Cup 2015, tournament organisers England Rugby 2015 and Rugby World Cup Limited are right on track to deliver a spectacular six-week celebration of rugby.
A massive amount of planning goes into the delivery of any major international sporting tournament, and RWC 2015 is no exception.
The Springboks face potentially more French referee heartache with the realisation that Jérôme Garcès has been appointed to take charge of their next Rugby Championship match against Australia at Newlands on Saturday, September 28.
Kick-off is at 17:00.
The Springboks will be happy to have the services of scrumhalf Fourie du Preez back for their final two Rugby Championship Tests.
Japan-based Du Preez was not available for the away leg in the competition but will be in the mix for the Tests against Australia at Newlands (September 28) and Ellis Park (October 5).
The recall of Waratahs prop Benn Robinson is one of the main features of a 28-man Wallaby squad for their two-match tour to South Africa and Argentina.
Australia tackle the Springboks in Cape Town on Septemver 28 and the Pumas in Rossario a week later.
England centre Manu Tuilagi has apologised for making a “bunny ears” gesture behind the head of British Prime Minister David Cameron in a photocall at 10 Downing Street.
“Apologies for messing around on Lions photo. No offence intended,” Tuilagi said on Twitter. “
Ewen McKenzie has not had the start he wanted in his first 10 weeks as Australia coach but, rejecting any talk of crisis, the former test prop is busy plotting a first win over South Africa in Cape Town in two decades.
McKenzie’s appointment in the wake of the British and Irish Lions series defeat provoked a wave of optimism in Australia but that was quickly dissipated by two defeats at the hands of New Zealand and a humbling 38-12 home loss to the Springboks.
With only 730 days till World Cup 2015 the pools and qualifying teams are starting to take shape.
There is still quite a few qualifying matches ahead and still a playoff series to fill all open spots.
Bad news in the Wallaby camp seems to be at the order of the day.
This is turning into a year that Australia will never want to relive.
Having had a disturbed night’s sleep, and having blasted Romain Poite and his co-match officials here on Rugby-Talk, during and after the Rugby Championship match yesterday, it is fitting to have a look at what rugby analists, the rugby media here and abroad (including those from New Zealand), have to say.
Firstly, let’s look at the SuperSport media panel who sat during and after the match, with Nick Mallett (fromer Springbok coach) and John Mitchell (former All Blacks coach) the key ingredients here, augmented by Naas Botha (Former Springbok Captain) and Ashwin Willemse (former Springbok wing).
Both Mitchell and Mallett slammed referee Poite, point blank, so too Naas Botha and Ashwin Willemse.
Here’s a video exerpt of what these fine gentlemen had to say:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/LkptdOWWVIU[/youtube]
The Springboks, who lost over the weekend to the All Blacks, will feel a little undone by the result, but not all hope is lost.
It will take a big push to ensure they still win The Rugby Championship.
With the All Blacks having beaten the Springboks over the weekend, in The Rugby Championship, they have extended their lead to four points over the second placed Springboks.
It would however seem that not everything is sunny in the All Black camp though.
Four members of the Springboks’ 30-man Castle Lager Rugby Championship squad have been released to their provinces for Absa Currie Cup duty this weekend.
Australian coach Ewen McKenzie will give regular captain Horwill till Saturday to prove his fitness, ahead of a two-match Rugby Championship tour.
Horwill, who missed the last two Tests with a hamstring strain, is given a good chance of being passed fit for the Tests against South Africa (in Cape Town on September 28) and Argentina (in Rosario a week later).
SANZAR judicial officer Terry Willis has removed a red card from the disciplinary record of Bismarck du Plessis.
Du Plessis was issued with a red card after receiving two yellow cards during the Rugby Championship match between New Zealand and South Africa at the weekend.
The Rugby Chamionship match between the Australian Wallabies and Argentinian Pumas is was a strange old battle to basically decide who was not going to receive the wooden spoon in the competition, a clash with it’s own merits and demerits. Neither team had won in the competition for the year and were desperate to pick up the first win and the game went right down to the wire.
The build-up to this match was incredible, it was so hectic that it almost seemed like this was a World Cup final, or the last match before the end of the earth.
However, after just 15 minutes of play some fans wished for the end of the world to come.
The International Rugby Board has confirmed that French referee Romain Poite was wrong in his decision to give Bismarck du Plessis his first yellow card during the Boks’ clash against the All Blacks in Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship match in Auckland.
Du Plessis received two yellow cards and was sent from the field in the 42nd minute, making the Boks play with 14 men for almost 50 minutes in the game, which many feel allowed New Zealand to win 29-15.
Some Great pictures of big moments in South African Rugby
Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis will appear before a SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer after being shown a red card in the defeat to the All Blacks.
Du Plessis received two yellow cards for separate incidents in the 29-15 defeat at Eden Park on Saturday, and will have his case considered in the first instance by SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Adam Casselden.
All Blacks (17) 29 / 15 (10) Springboks (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 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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Wallabies (14) 14 / 13 (3) Pumas (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and Argentinian Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Patersons Stadium, Perth, Australia at 12:05 SA Time (18:00 Perth Time, 07:05 Arg Time, 10:05 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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It is the uncertainty factor that produces the biggest satisfaction and enjoyment in sport. That uncertainty; brought about by not being sure whether you’ll be able to be victorious or not. That’s why as athletes and human beings we seek and thrive on competition. We find it in challenging ourselves to complete a marathon or to play against individuals or teams with higher rankings. That’s why as nations we play test matches and why even in test matches we want to compete against the very best.
It is sort of boring to play against a team that you know you are going to win. The uncertainty factor is absent and therefore also the real joy in the victory.
I’ve been living in NZ now for 12 years and for only the second time in 12-years there is a real uncertainty in Kiwi land about a test match against South Africa. The last time was in 2010 after the 2009 Springbok victory in Hamilton. The uncertainness in 2010 was not because it was felt that SA played good rugby but because there was uncertainness about the All Black team’s ability to handle the box kick and Matfield in the line-out.
In 6 games played this year in The Rugby Championship these teams have combined only managed to get 1 Log point. Here is a head to head breakdown of how the two teams compare.
These teams have met each other 19 times in the past, with the Wallabies winning 14 and the Puma’s winning 4 and only 1 draw. With the current form of these sides, a draw could not be a far fetched result in this case.
The Wallabies have scored a total of 493 against the Pumas compared to the Puma’s 287. This leaves a average score line of 26-15 in favour of the Wallabies.
Neither team has manged any wins this year, but the Pumas did manage a to get a bonus point against the Springboks in Mendoza.
The Pumas will be backing themselves for a win in Australia, coming off 2 good performances against the Springboks and All Blacks respectively.
Australia is playing their final home game in this year’s Rugby Championship before touring to South Africa and Argentina and at this stage a win is non negotiable for the Wallabies. They will attempt to trash the Pumas to earn back some respect from the Australian rugby public, as this is one their worst years in rugby history.
This is building up to be one of the classic clashes in the history of The Rugby Championship. Here is a head to head breakdown of how the two teams compare.
These teams have met each other 85 times in the past, with the All Blacks having won 48 of these encounters and the Springboks 35, only 3 draws have ever been recorded between these sides.
If history and statistics are to be believed, then it would seem that the All Blacks have the edge over the Springboks in this game, having scored a total of 1612 points against the Springboks while the Springboks have only scored 1313 points against the All Blacks. This is an average score of 19-15 in favour of the All Blacks.
The Springboks also have the highest success rate of all other teams against the All Blacks, by winning 40% of the encounters between these sides.
The largest winning margin by the All Blacks over the Springboks was 36 points and the largest winning margin by the Springboks was 17.
This however looks like the year of the BOK and if the Springboks can keep up to their form of late they could beat the All Blacks over the weekend. This is always as massive clash and the table is set for yet another massive clash.
The All Blacks selectors have named a strong team to play South Africa in The Rugby Championship Freedom Cup Test at Eden Park, Auckland, this Saturday, 14 September 2013, with the starting 15 featuring the return of several regular starters: prop Owen Franks in his 50th Test, Liam Messam at blindside flanker and midfielder Ma’a Nonu.
In other changes, Sam Cane starts at openside flanker replacing injured All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and Dane Coles starts at hooker, with 105-Test veteran Keven Mealamu to provide impact from the bench. With Franks starting, prop Charlie Faumuina moves to the bench, Steven Luatua is also in the reserves covering lock and loose forward along with injury replacement flanker Matt Todd who will cover openside flanker.
Following his victory over Australia in Brisbane, Heyneke Meyer’s Springbok win-record is the second best in the modern era.
Following a shaky start to his Springbok coaching career in 2012, Heyneke Meyer’s stocks have soared, with his Springbok team currently enjoying a run of nine consecutive victories.
But can Meyer make it the perfect 10 against the All Blacks in Auckland this weekend?
Wallabies scrumhalf Will Genia has been dropped for Australia’s crucial Rugby Championship clash against Argentina here on Saturday with Ben Mowen taking over the captaincy.
Genia is considered to be one of the best No 9s in world rugby but has struggled for consistency and paid the price for last weekend’s 38-12 drubbing at the hands of South Africa in Brisbane.
He drops to the bench for the must-win match against the Pumas in Perth, with Nic White replacing him in the starting line-up.
Heyneke Meyer, Springbok coach, has named an unchanged Springbok team for Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks from New Zealand.