SA Rugby
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth will be given time to recover from illness as the team prepares to face the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
As anticipated, Butch James will be back at No 10 for the Sharks when the Durban team travels to DHL Newlands on Saturday to play DHL Western Province in the Absa Currie Cup match that represents the halfway point in their respective campaigns.
DHL Western Province may have suffered a blow to their chances of scoring the win they need against the Sharks to go to the top of the Absa Currie Cup log with the news that there is an injury cloud hanging over hooker Tiaan Liebenberg.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer on Wednesday announced a Springbok line-up showing three changes and two positional switches from the team that played in Mendoza for their third Castle Lager Rugby Championship Test of 2013, against Australia at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
SANZAR CEO Greg Peters has assured SARU boss Jurie Roux that South Africa will have six Super Rugby teams from 2016.
Peters was speaking in Sydney where talks are underway about the expansion of the competition when the current contract runs out in 2015.
Irish referee Alain Rolland has withdrawn from Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test between the Wallabies and Springboks in Brisbane due to injury and has been replaced by compatriot George Clancy.
As the 2013 Rugby Championship enters a defining phase, SANZAR will this week start the process of defining the shape of Super Rugby, post 2015.
They say they want a deal done by Christmas to present to the broadcasters.
The Sharks and Toyota Free State Cheetahs this weekend climbed into the top two spots on the log table in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division as favourable results pushed them ahead of DHL Western Province on the standings.
In an entertaining round, the Sharks thumped the Vodacom Blue Bulls 34-18 at GrowthPoint Kings Park, the Toyota Free State Cheetahs defeated GWK Griquas 40-20 in Bloemfontein, and the MTN Golden Lions and DHL Western Province played to a 31-31 draw at Ellis Park.
Western Province’s draw forced them two spots down on the log into third place, while the Sharks moved into the top spot for the first time and the Cheetahs moved into second place on points’ difference.
It was a balmy Brisbane which greeted the Springboks on Sunday evening (Australian time) after a trip of more than 20 hours that started in Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon, included a stopover in Sydney and ended at their hotel in the Queensland capital.
The Springboks face Australia in the third round of The Castle Lager Rugby Championship at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday. Although the South Africans have not beaten the hosts at this venue in a Test, they will approach the game with a quiet confidence after two good wins over Argentina last month.
Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer and Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie are both expected to make changes to their starting line ups for this week’s Rugby Championship match.
Rugby World Cup winning South African forward Juan Smith has signed a one year deal with Top 14 Rugby club Toulon.
Stade Francais marked their return to the refurbished Jean Bouin stadium with a crushing 38-3 victory over Biarritz on Friday, as they provisionally moved to the summit of the fledgling Top 14 table.
There was much annoyance among Springbok fans when it was announced not long before South Africa’s test match against Argentina in the Rugby Championship that the release of Bryan Habana was required by his new club Toulon. This increased even more when it came to light that five of the players in the current Springbok Squad for the Rugby Championship were being ‘released’ to go back to their clubs in France while the rest of the players would return for a break to South Africa.
Sharks (13) 34 / 18 (10) Blue Bulls (Final Score)
The Sharks and Vodacom Blue Bulls did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
Kings Park, Durban at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 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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FS Cheetahs (22) 40 / 20 (6) Griquas (Final Score)
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs and GWK Griquas did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Golden Lions (10) 31 / 31 (25) WP (Final Score)
The MTN Golden Lions and DHL Western Province did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
Ellis Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
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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Livewire Bulls blindside flanker Jean Cook has also returned to his roots. The Cheetahs were keen to retain the young star back in 2011, but were unable to do so, due to financial constraints. The Cheetahs on field performances, have positively impacted on their financial resources too, which has enabled the contracting of more players.
The Sharks have announced their side to face the Blue Bulls at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
SP Marais shifts to his more familiar position of Fullback and Odwa Ndungane to his more familiar position of Right Wing. At scrumhalf Cobus Reinach gets a start over Charl McLeod who in turn moves down to the bench. Fred Zeilinga retains his starting spot at Flyhalf over veteran Butch James.
A SANZAR judicial officer has found Pumas No 8 Leonardo Senatore guilty of biting Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth and suspended him for nine weeks.
The incident occurred in the 61st minute of the match between Argentina and South Africa at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza.
South African international flyhalf Morne Steyn revealed he would only start on the bench for Stade Francais in Friday’s Top 14 clash with Biarritz.
The 29-year-old – capped 47 times – only arrived from Argentina on Monday after helping the Springboks beat the Pumas 22-17 in a Four Nations Test.
Australian rugby boss Bill Pulver has backed a proposal for Australia and New Zealand to form part of a two-conference Super Rugby competition in 2016.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské made one change to his starting line-up for their Currie Cup encounter against the Griquas at the Free State Stadium on Saturday.
Tighthead prop Rossouw de Klerk will replace Caylib Oosthuizen following the Cheetahs’ 18-15 defeat to the Sharks in Bloemfontein last Friday.
Junior World Cup winning flyhalf Handrè Pollard will make his Absa Currie Cup debut in Durban on Saturday after being named as pivot for the Vodacom Blue Bulls team to play The Sharks.
Pollard replaces injured Tony Jantjies in one of three changes to the backline.
With Francois Venter and Travis Ismaiel also casualties from last weekend’s loss to the MTN Golden Lions, Waylon Murray will start at outside centre and fit-again Akona Ndungane at wing.
Zane Kirchner and Chiliboy Ralepelle have been selected to travel with the Springboks to Australia and New Zealand for the next two Tests in The Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
The squad of 26 players who returned from Argentina on Monday was retained, with Kirchner (fullback) and Ralepelle (hooker) the only additions.
I do think the SA rugby public is sometimes a little unrealistic if not arrogant with their expectations regarding Springbok rugby.
Part of the Springbok success story is certainly the high expectations so one does not want to make excuses for average performances.
Make no mistake the Pumas is a handful at home. Not only passionate but they also have a very destructive style. There is a lot of niggle; a lot of in your face; substantial clever obstruction and push and shove stuff off the ball. A few years back the All Blacks almost lost a match against the Pumas in South America.
A host of players have signed with Griquas for the 2014 season, attracted by the lure of Super Rugby. The fact that relatively unknown players such as Lourens Adriaanse and Willie le Roux have experienced meteoric progress and been selected for the Springboks has enhanced the Griquas Union as a gateway to higher honours.
The reports suggesting that flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis has signed a two-year deal with Western Province Rugby, has now officially been confirmed by Western Province Rugby, which will see him remain in the Cape for a further two years after the 2013 Absa Currie Cup tournament.
MTN Golden Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has announced his team to face DHL Western Province, in round four of the 2013 ABSA Currie Cup, at Ellis Park on Friday evening.
There are a handful of changes to the team that thumped the Vodacom Blue Bulls 62-23 last weekend.
The Free State Cheetahs suffered a cruel blow ahead of their Currie Cup crunch match against Griquas in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Prop Caylib Oosthuizen is a doubtful starter for the Round Four encounter after injuring his shoulder in a freak training ground mishap on Monday.
Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie confirmed to this website that the injury is a “big worry” and that the powerful prop is going for scans to determine the full extent of the damaged.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie insists his team will not drastically alter their approach for their next Rugby Championship match against the Springboks in Brisbane.
McKenzie’s first two Tests in charge of the Australian side have yielded consecutive defeats to the All Blacks, but that has not deterred him from his goal of using possession more effectively.
The Wallaby coach made it clear that his team will continue to play to their strengths by holding on to the ball and using their ‘skill’ to put pressure on the opposition’s defence.
Flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis has reportedly signed a two-year deal with Western Province.
Griquas lock Jonathan Adendorf is lucky to be alive, after being attacked at the weekend.
A rugby fan beaten to death outside Durban’s Kings Park Stadium may have been involved in more than two fights on the fatal night, the Durban Magistrate’s Court heard on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Krishen Shah said information had been received that former Royal Marine Brett Williams might have been involved in another altercation prior to the two clashes he had with the five men accused of beating him to death.
This information needed to be investigated, he said.
DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has announced a team showing just two changes for Friday’s Absa Currie Cup clash against the in-form MTN Golden Lions in Johannesburg (19:10).
The Springboks’ decision to continue with their overseas-based players had its first impact as the team arrived back in South Africa on Monday with no fewer than six members of the 26-man squad having to fly back to France to represent their clubs this weekend.