The Rugby Championship
What an enjoyable Saturday late afternoon, bar the ridiculous 3G Internet signal at Loftus Versfeld, of course!
The Springboks totally dominated and comprehensively outmuscled and outplayed a very ordinary and injury ravaged Wallabies side, with the Springboks eventual winners by 31 / 8, after also leading at the halftime break by 14 / 3.
I guess 5 tries to 1 tells the story, with Bryan Habana scoring a hat-trick on the day to increase his Springbok all time record to 46 Test tries.
Springboks (14) 31 / 8 (3) Wallabies (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:00 SA Time.
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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The Springbok side to face the Wallabies on Saturday at Loftus, has been announced.
Two late changes have been made to the Springbok 22, with Francois Steyn failing a late fitness test and Coenie Oosthuizen also not fit enough to man the bench. Jean de Villiers moves to inside centre and Jaco Taute will make his Springbok debut at outside centre. PatCilliers replaces Coenie Oosthuizen on the bench.
It took guts and determination from Heyneke Meyer and clearly he has the best interests of Springbok Rugby as well as the individual interests of the players at heart, when making some hard and big decisions.
Johan Goosen starts at flyhalf and Andries Bekker starts at No 5 lock in place of Juandré Kruger. Elton Jantjies is on the bench and Morné Steyn drops out of the match 22 alltogether.
Flip van der Merwe moves down to the bench after a strong game against the New Zealand All Blacks, but one has to mention that Flip is carrying a niggling injury and did not practice with the squad on Monday and Tuesday.
Australia suffered another blow ahead of their Castle Rugby Championship match against the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday with reserve loose forward Scott Higginbotham set to be ruled out of the game.
First-choice flyhalf Dan Carter has been cleared to start in his 90th Test, when New Zealand play Argentina in a Rugby Championship match at Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in La Plata on Saturday.
Kurtley Beale will start his first Test at flyhalf on Saturday after Australia coach Robbie Deans chose the fullback to replace the injured Quade Cooper for the Rugby Championship clash with South Africa.
The Australian Rugby Union broke their silence over the public rants of controversial flyhalf Quade Cooper, confirming they have placed the volatile player on notice.
Argentina have named their side to face the All Blacks in this weekend’s Rugby Championship fixture on Saturday in La Plata, retaining the same starting side that put Australia under pressure a fortnight ago.
There was a buzz at Loftus today as thousands gathered to watch the afternoon open practice session on Loftus main field. Fathers, mothers and heaps and heaps of children attended to watch Heyneke Meyer’s squad of 30 go through their paces. My son, BonzaiGBS, was our resident photographer and took hundreds of photographs.
There’s some good news and some bad news, I’m wondering which you want to hear first….
Four players have been called up to the Springbok squad of 30 for the final two Tests of The Rugby Championship, in South Africa against Australia and New Zealand. Continue reading
New Zealand’s All Blacks have named their team to travel to Argentina and South Africa for their last two Rugby Championship matches against the Pumas and Springboks.
Rassie Erasmus says Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is tweaking his game plan ahead of next weekend’s Rugby Championship clash with the Wallabies in Pretoria.
Pumas coach Santiago Phelan has named a 27-man strong squad for Argentina’s home matches against the All Blacks and the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship.
The Wallabies have named uncapped Waratahs prop Paddy Ryan and Western Force winger Nick Cummins in their 28-man Wallabies squad for The Rugby Championship away leg.
Springbok utility back Patrick Lambie’s unavailability for Currie Cup duty this week has left Sharks coach John Plumtree a frustrated man.
Springbok Rugby coaches have released five players back to their Currie Cup squads from the squad that returned from New Zealand.
Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper has been ruled out of the remainder of The Rugby Championship after scans revealed an articular cartilage chip to his right knee.
Springbok prop Dean Greyling has been suspended from all forms of Rugby for two weeks after he pleaded guilty for foul play.
Morne Steyn’s indifferent performance against the All Blacks has increased the pressure on Bok coach Heyneke Meyer to start Johan Goosen at flyhalf.
There is a caveat, and given Heyneke Meyer’s insistence that his team employed the right game-plan in Dunedin it is a significant one, but the Springboks have ended the away leg of their Castle Rugby Championship campaign with reason to be encouraged.
Wallabies (3) 23 / 19 (6) Pumas (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and Argentina Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at Skilled Park, Gold Coast at 12:00 SA Time (20:00 Gold Coast Time).
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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All Blacks (5) 21 / 11 (3) Springboks (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time).
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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Nathan Sharpe has been named as the Wallabies fourth captain this year while fullback Kurtley Beale has been dropped for Australia’s clash with Argentina on Saturday.
Argentina have named their team to play the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship match at the Gold Coast on Saturday with Martin Landajo replacing Nicolas Vergallo at scrumhalf.
The Wallabies injury woes have continued with the news that hooker Stephen Moore and utility back James O’Connor’s return to fitness has been postponed.
The Springboks’ woes are set to continue for the remainder of the year due to the severity of their shortcomings.
Bakkies Botha has been placed on stand-by by Springbok management in case lock Eben Etzebeth loses his hearing into an alleged headbutt during South Africa’s 26-19 Rugby Championship loss to Australia, coach Heyneke Meyer said on Monday in Auckland.
You have to be careful these days not to use performances in the diluted Currie Cup as too big a yardstick toward international credentials.
Flyhalf Dan Carter will not be considered for New Zealand’s Rugby Championship clash with South Africa next week to allow him to recover completely from a calf strain, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said on Sunday.
Any suggestion the Pumas would be pushovers in their Rugby Championship debut was squashed for good on Saturday.
Australia were quickly brought back down to earth after a morale-boosting victory over South Africa in the Rugby Championship with world class scrumhalf Will Genia ruled out for at least six months with a knee injury.
Wallabies (6) 26 / 19 (13) Springboks (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at Patersons Stadium, Perth at 12:35 SA Time (18:35 Perth Time).
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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All Blacks (6) 21 / 5 (5) Pumas (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and Argentina Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 04:35 Arg Time).
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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