Ashley Johnson admitted at his first media conference as a Test Springbok that it’s quite intimidating to prepare yourself for a match in the Cheetahs’ dressing room in Bloemfontein.
YOU have to get up early to catch out Peter de Villiers, or even keep up with him.
In fact the Wallabies would do well to get to ANZ Stadium well ahead of time for Saturday’s Tri-Nations opener, or they might find the Sprinkboks are already halfway to victory before the first supporters have even passed through the turnstiles.
It seems to be de Villiers’ latest cunning plan to sweep away any opposition by simple dint of moving the clocks forward.
I recieved this mail from Old Griqua 14…
“If you get a chance, have a look at these pictures of Sydney last night – almost a cyclone. All this talk about climate change???
Might suit the bokkies on the weekend . . .
Best wishes, Old Griquas 14 in Sydney”
Allister Coetzee, head coach of DHL WP, today named his team to take on the Leopards at Olën Park, Potchefstroom on Friday 22 July.
South Africa, who travelled to Australia without 21 Test regulars, have included three uncapped players in their team for Saturday’s Tri-Nations opener against the Wallabies.
The Springboks will award Test debuts to props Dean Greyling and Werner Kruger as well as number eight Ashley Johnson on Saturday at Sydney’s Olympic stadium.
Australia have brought back their heavyweights to play South Africa after the embarrassment of last Sunday’s loss to Samoa.
Australia will field nine of the players who started in last year’s history-making win over South Africa at Bloemfontein after the Wallabies’ combination for Saturday night’s opening Test in the Tri Nations was named today.
This is relatively SHORT NOTICE but Ashley, our friend and fellow blogger has set up a Pool for us on testrugby.com for the Tri-Nations.
We have just more than a week to get registrations in and get raring to go, so please, all Rugby-Talkers, join up… and all Non-Rugby-Talkers, join up as a registered Rugby-Talker and then join up for this Competition as well.
This works diferently from SuperBru, here you have to select your players, do transfers of players and score according to your player performances. It still seems easy enough, nothing too fancy… and it did not take long for me to understand the Interface.
Come on, give it a go!
Go to www.testrugby.com and join!
Team name: rugbytalk
Password: blerriestormers
Come join our Tri-Nations + prediction game on SuperBru! It’s free and loads of fun.
Just Click on the SuperBru Logo, it will take you to the SuperBru web site, where you can join.
Pool Name: Rugby-Talk 3 Nations +
Pool Code: bidswoes
Folks, a lot of people seem to be all rugby’d out… but damn man, it is 5 days before a Tri-Nations Test against the old foe…
Wake up, shake yourself, get in the mood… it’s time for International Rugby again, time to watch the Green & Gold, time to stand behind our Bokke!
The President of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and the Springboks have sent messages of congratulations to Mr Nelson Mandela who celebrates his 93rd birthday today.
Western Province’s flyhalf woes seem to have followed them from Super Rugby into the Currie Cup with news that Gary van Aswegen will be sidelined for the next two months.
All Black Cory Jane’s run of bad luck took another twist as he suffered a compound dislocation of his finger at the weekend, which has put a cloud of uncertainty over his All Black prospects.
Samoa beat Australia for the first time in rugby history when they pulled off a shock 23-32 victory in Sydney on Sunday.
Sharks (22) 35 / Blue Bulls (9) 16 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Kings Park, Durban at 17:05 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, M-Net & SH2 on TV in SA.
The Sharks were full value for their money, scoring a bonus point win over a Blue Bulls side who had a lot of possession but who was also very blunt on attack.
WP (16) 26 / Griquas (16) 26 (Final Score)
The DHL Western Province hosted GWK Griquas at Newlands, Cape Town at 15:00. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, M-Net & SH2 on TV in SA.
A kiss-your-sister result probably suits Griquas more than it suits WP.
The Springboks’ scheduled arrival in Sydney on Saturday has been postponed.
Lions (16) 31 / Pumas (17) 27 (Final Score)
The MTN Golden Lions hosted the Ford Pumas at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & SH2 on TV in SA.
The Lions squeeked a win, which they really did not deserve on the night against a very gutsy Pumas outfit
Rugby World Cup winner Johann Muller and star flanker Heinrich Brüssow were included in the Springbok squad on the away leg of the Tri-Nations Series on Friday.
The pair have responded well to treatment and will be part of a 28-man party to take on Australia in Sydney on July 23 and New Zealand in Wellington a week later.
It’s the start of the Currie Cup, the Craven Week u/18 Tournament draws to a close, the ITM Cup in New Zealand is featured and the Big Guns in the Southern Hemisphere start their Internationals for 2011.
The Currie Cup kicks off this weekend and there are some massive clashes in store in Round One of South Africa’s premier provincial competition.
New Brumbies Head Coach Jake White arrived in Canberra on Friday and has already started working on the 2012 Super Rugby season.
England’s Rugby team will wear an All Black rugby kit when they start their 2011 Rugby World Cup campaign against Argentina in New Zealand on September the 10th.
London – New Zealand rugby coach Graham Henry plans to rest several members of his squad ahead of September’s World Cup to guard against the possibility of burnout.
Henry told the BBC in an interview Thursday that several All Blacks stars were “overdone” as the New Zealanders head into an international season which will culminate with the World Cup on home soil.
Allister Coetzee, head coach of DHL WP, today named his team to take on the Griquas at DHL Newlands on Saturday 16 July 2011.
The side is captained by Deon Fourie at hooker.
Auckland 3 / South Africa 6
The third tour match against Auckland at Eden Park was disastrous for many reasons and had in many ways a lasting negative impact on the tour. This match changed the perception the New Zealand public had about the Springboks essentially leaving the kiwis very negative about the touring side. Warwick Roger recalls how -as he walked home after having watched the match as an 11 year old- the realisation dawned on him that the Springboks were not gods at all and how in the ensuing weeks they started kicking each other on the rugby field like the Springboks did against Auckland. An Article in the Star stated on the Monday after the match that: ‘It was a rubbishy, unintelligent game… rugby at its most depressing… exactly the sort of game that makes league fans out of rugby supporters.’
All accounts of this fixture assert to the fact that is was an awful match with both teams being incredibly, humiliatingly bad and more concerned to brawl, kick, punch and shoulder charge than to play rugby.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske named a strong team filled with Super Rugby players for their opening Currie Cup clash against the Leopards in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Sharks have named their team for the Currie Cup opener against the Blue Bulls with former Cheetahs centre Marius Joubert making his debut for the Sharks.
Vodacom Blue Bulls Currie Cup coach, Pine Pienaar, included three Springboks in his side for Saturday’s opening fixture in Absa’s Currie Cup competition against the Natal Sharks in Durban.
Samoa have named their rugby team to face Australia which includes five players who have played under Wallabies coach Robbie Deans whilst he was coaching the Crusaders.
The New Zealand Rugby Union and All Black Luke McAlister are at loggerheads over a $60,000 payment for his release so that he can move to France to play in the Top14.
At a media function in Johannesburg earlier this afternoon, the Golden Lions announced their Currie Cup squad, as well as the team to play the Pumas in the opening fixture of the 2011 competition on Friday night.
The 2011 edition of the Coca-Cola Craven Week for high schools (Under 18) is currently taking place in Kimberley.
Check here daily for all the results.
Springbok and Sharks captain John Smit has confirmed that he will join Aviva Premiership team Saracens on a two year deal after the rugby world cup this year.
Waratahs and Wallabies prop Benn Robinson has been ruled out of Rugby for the rest of the season ruling him out of the TriNations and the world cup.
The GLRU recently held a meeting with their Sponsors MTN and Discovery Health following the demise of their equity partnership deal with Guma TAC.
Despite a distinct lack of communications to the media over the last week from the GLRU regarding the talks with the sponsors, recent communications indicate that MTN are still on board as an investor in the Johannesburg based Rugby Union.