The Crusaders have been forced to move their Vodacom Super Rugby home matches from AMI Stadium following a deadly earthquake this week, but the Christchurch mayor still hopes the city and stadium will be ready to host Rugby World Cup matches in September.
Continue reading
West Indies 222 (47.3 ov)
South Africa 223/3 (42.5 0v) SA won by 7 wickets
Man of the Match – AB de Viliers 107 off 105 Balls (8 x 4, 2 x 6)
SANZAR CEO Greg Peters has announced that the Crusaders will withdraw from their Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday, following the devastating earthquake that struck Christchurch yesterday.
Allister Coetzee, head coach of the DHL Stormers, today named his team to take on the Lions in the Stormers first game of their 2011 Super Rugby campaign. The match is on Saturday 26 February at the DHL Newlands Rugby Stadium.
The Cheetahs received a timely boost ahead of their Super Rugby crunch match with the defending champion Bulls on Friday.
Inspirational captain Juan Smith passed a fitness test and will lead the team out in Bloemfontein.
The death of a Crusaders board member during the Christchurch earthquake hung over a meeting of players tonight to determine the fate of Saturday’s Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes.
The Crusaders are still planning to travel to Wellington for Saturday’s match against the Hurricanes but players will be given the choice of opting out.
Tommy Bowe is one of eight players that have been drafted into the Ireland squad and added to the match 22 that were on duty in the last round of the Six Nations Championship.
France coach Marc Lievremont has dropped scrumhalf Morgan Parra to the bench and promoted Dimitri Yachvili in one of six changes to the team to face England at Twickenham.
The Chiefs have named their team to face the Highlanders this weekend with Isaac Ross earning his first start of the season… and a few surprise dropped players.
Wales have made one change to their starting line-up from the team who beat Scotland 24-6 for the Six Nations Round 3 clash against Italy in Rome on Saturday.
4 September 1976 – SA 15 / All Blacks 10
The series was square -one test all- and the third test was therefore of critical significance for both sides. As is often the case with so much at stake it was a brutal affair.
The tempers flared.
Tension related jittery movements caused heaps of unforced errors during the match while tentative decision making and mind boggling unintelligent option taking, incompetence and idiotic mistakes manifested itself at crucial stages before and during the test. Continue reading
More than a dozen players who competed in pre-season Vodacom Super Rugby and Vodacom Cup matches, as well as in the FNB Varsity Cup were selected in the South Africa Under-20 squad that will travel to Argentina to participate in a series of internationals against Argentina in March.
Springbok lock Victor Matfield has given his team-mate some sage advice ahead of an impending move to Toulon in France after the World Cup : Learn French quickly.
The Bulls have named their team to face the Cheetahs this weekend with Jaco Pretorius coming in to the starting line up.
Luckily for SANZAR the IRB CEO and Chairman, chose to watch the Bulls play the Lions rather than any other game on the weekend. Otherwise, they’d probably think SUPERRUGBY was decidedly underwhelming, and that the criticism of the Northern Hemisphere club rugby is completely misplaced. What a steaming heap of peanut infested uh…well, you know what I mean.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre after a massive quake devastated the city.
BIG-SPENDING French club Toulon has given up on getting Sonny Bill Williams back on their books after the Rugby World Cup.
ROBBIE DEANS is expected to be reappointed Wallabies coach before the World Cup in September for at least two more seasons.
Mercurial Frenchman Frederic Michalak looms as a potential reinforcement for a Melbourne Rebels outfit licking their wounds from a forgettable Super Rugby baptism.
The Cheetahs have followed the “correct channels” in order to find an urgent solution for their scrumming problems and eradicate all misunderstandings ahead of Friday’s Super Rugby match against the Bulls.
a Quick wrap up of the Varsity Cup games played on Monday 21 February 2011. Varsity Shield results are at the end of this article.
UJ (9) 28 / Shimlas (17) 24 (Final Score)
UJ hosted Shimlas at UJ Stadium, Johannesburg at 19:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
UJ fought back, like their bigger brothers at the Lions, but unlike the Lions they managed to make the comeback complete and to record a win over Shimlas by 3 points.
TUT (7) 12 / Maties (15) 44 (Final Score)
TUT hosted Maties at TUT Stadium, Pretoria at 17:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
Maties dominated most facets to earn a comprehensive win over TUT who fought bravely but desperately.
Reports from French Newspapers has suggested that Bakkies Botha signed a 3-year deal with French Club Toulon. Continue reading
Lions coach John Mitchell attributed his team’s 24-20 home defeat by the Bulls on Saturday to a lack of team work at crucial stages in the game.
An estimated Fourty five thousand spectators arrived at Coca-Cola Park on Friday evening to watch the first Super Rugby match to be played in Gauteng in 2011.
Fears that the inclement weather would keep the spectators away was unfounded, despite the fact that the game started in a slight drizzle.
Reds (6) 21 / Force (12) 20 (Final Score)
THE Reds broke out of jail in a scrappy Super Rugby opener against the Western Force, thanks to a late try by hooker James Hanson.
A game played at 100 miles an hour showed the difference in fitness levels. The Lions were much better prepared and in far greater match fit condition than the Bulls yesterday. Only the experience of the Bulls helped them to hang on and win their first game.
At a rainy Kings Park, the Sharks opened their Super Rugby season with a workmanlike 24-9 win over the Cheetahs on Saturday evening.
Continue reading
Lions (5) 20 / Bulls (24) 24 (Final Score)
The Lions hosted the Bulls 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, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
In the first half it was all Bulls and they built up a 19 point lead by halftime.
In the second half it was all Lions as they clawed their way back to lose only by 3 points.
The Lions look extremely fit…. and better under Mitchell.
Sharks (8) 24 / Cheetahs (3) 9 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Cheetahs at Mr Price Kings Park, Durban at 17:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
Brumbies (18) 28 / Chiefs (3) 20 (Final Score)
The Brumbies hosted the Chiefs at Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 19:40 (10:40 SA Time). This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
Bonus point-less win for the Brumbies and the Chiefs get no bonus point as the last kick of the match, an attemted conversion, hits the upright and bounces away.
Brumbies win by 28 / 20.
Blues (6) 24 / Crusaders (19) 22 (Final Score)
The Blues hosted the Crusaders at Eden Park, Auckland at 19:35 NZ Time (08:35 SA Time). This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
Enthrawling game, high intensity and high pace, attacking space well!
After trailing most of the match, the Blues put in a fantastic effort to come from behind and beat the Crusaders.
The only blemish on the match was some wayward goal kicking on both sides.
International Rugby Board (IRB) chairman Bernard Lapasset has said that South Africa have a “real chance” of hosting the 2023 rugby World Cup.
“Because of the soccer World Cup (in 2010) there is now a new possibility for South Africa to organise big events like the rugby World Cup and there’s a real chance that in 2023 they can organise it,” he told Reuters.