Australian Rugby
Quade Cooper returns to the Wallaby starting line-up for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash with the Springboks, an indication that Australia will unleash a running game on the Boks.
Coach Ewen McKenzie gave further indication of his intentions by shifting Israel Folau from wing to fullback – to make the best use of his attacking potential.
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth will be given time to recover from illness as the team prepares to face the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
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Irish referee Alain Rolland has withdrawn from Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test between the Wallabies and Springboks in Brisbane due to injury and has been replaced by compatriot George Clancy.
Wallabies wing Lachie Turner has left the Waratahs and signed a two-year deal with the Reds.
After earning 71 Super rugby caps for the Sydney side and 15 Test caps for the Wallabies, Turner heads to Brisbane to further his career.
Cricket Scotland and the Scottish Rugby Union welcomed the Australian cricket team to Edinburgh on Tuesday ahead of the One Day International which is taking place at the Grange today.
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.
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.
The Reds have named their squad for the 2014 Super Rugby season and James Horwill retains the captaincy and Will Genia the vice-captaincy.
The Reds have retained the nucleus of the playing group, which has seen the Reds reach three straight Super Rugby Finals series.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies says he is in favour of a global rugby season which would see the Super Rugby competition finish earlier in the year.
The subject has been the focus of much speculation with the current SANZAR agreement set to expire in 2015, and Spies added his voice to the calls for the entire season to be restructured.
Exciting outside back Israel Folau has rebuffed a return to the National Rugby League by signing a two-year deal with the Australian Rugby Union.
The ARU said Thursday that Folau, 24, had committed to the code after a stellar first season with the Waratahs that led to his outstanding Test debut for the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions.
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.
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.
All Blacks (15) 27 / 16 (6) Wallabies (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington 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 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Wallabies and former Melbourne Rebels fullback has agreed to return to New South Wales and play Super Rugby for the Waratahs in 2014.
Twenty-four-year-old Beale has signed a one year contract with his former Super Rugby team the Waratahs and the Australian Rugby Union.
Former Australia winger Digby Ioane has avoided conviction over an assault charge in an incident at a Melbourne bar when he was in the city with the Queensland Reds in March, local media reported on Thursday.
The 28-year-old, who is undergoing rehabilitation after sustaining a shoulder injury in the first test against the British and Irish Lions in June, was involved in a scuffle over a mobile phone.
Wallaby back row forward Scott Fardy will make his run-on debut for Australia in the sole change made to the starting line-up for Saturday’s second Rugby Championship clash against New Zealand.
The encounter in Wellington also doubles up as a must-win for the Wallabies in the Wallabies if they are to have any hope of wrestling the Bledisloe Cup from the All Blacks.
Coach Ewen McKenzie has backed his new-look squad to respond to their opening loss against the All Blacks by giving them a chance to atone while continuing to develop as a group.
Tom Taylor will make his All Black debut at flyhalf against Australia in the second Bledisloe Cup Test in the Rugby Championship in Wellington on Saturday
The starting 15 features two injury-enforced changes from the team that started last week’s Bledisloe Cup Test, with lock Brodie Retallick coming in for Luke Romano and Taylor slotting in at No.10 for Aaron Cruden.
Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie looks set to resist the temptation to dump his rookies after one bad performance.
There has been a clamour for McKenzie to make changes – with fullback Jesse Mogg and Matt Toomua the two players most in the firing line of the Australian critics.
Media analysts love to roll out the stats. They point to the number of missed tackles by one team or the percentage of territory of the other, but the surface numbers are utterly meaningless. They tell coaches next to nothing about the game. The stats are often numerical fiction.
Australia, still reeling from the humiliating 29-47 loss to New Zealand last week, have had injury added to the insult.
Wallaby back row forward Hugh McMeniman will miss the remainder of the Rugby Championship and also the year-end tour after being forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury.
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To all our recently added Users / Subscribers, this counts for you lot muppits, moepels and mopkoppe as well, you can now join in the fun!
Invitations have been sent to our regular Pool members, but in case I missed you, register for these Pools too… this of course counts for our new and recently registered Users / Subscribers too.
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This was supposed to be the Bledisloe that sparked the Wallaby revival. Instead, after an emphatic All Black victory, all it’s done is heap more pressure on Australian rugby.
The Wallabies had such a huge buildup and high expectations around how they were going to turn things round.
Wallabies (19) 29 / 47 (25) All Blacks (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and New zealand All Blacks did battle in The Rugby Championship at
ANZ Stadium, Sydney at 12:05 SA Time (20:05 AEST, 22:05 NZ 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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Engineers will undertake checks at Wellington Regional Stadium ahead of next week’s Rugby Championship clash between the All Blacks and Australia following a 6.5 magnitude earthquake south of New Zealand’s capital city on Friday.
Flyhalf Matt Toomua will make his debut for Australia, while Quade Cooper was named on the bench for Saturday’s opening Rugby Championship match against New Zealand in Sydney.
Toomua was given the starting No.10 assignment ahead of Cooper by new Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie, for the match doubling up as a Bledisloe Cup encounter.
Blindside flank Liam Messam on Thursday withdrew from the All Black team to face Australia this weekend due to a hamstring strain, forcing coach Steve Hansen to draft in inexperienced Steven Luatua.
Messam pulled up sore at training, preventing him from featuring in the Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.
Pote Human has gone “Down Under” to find a replacement for injured lock, Ligtoring Landman. Landman who broke his thumb in the match versus the Sharks will be out until at least the second round of the Currie Cup.
With Martin Muller (Lions), Frikkie Spies (France) and Edwin Hewitt (Sharks) all gone to greener pastures, Landman, Nepgen and Lobberts were the only lock options. Pote has brought in the man mountain Rory Arnold from the Gold Coast Breakers Club in Queenslan Australia, to trial for the Currie Cup season.
Controversial back James O’Connor said on Monday he is prepared to change his ways to be part of the Wallabies set-up under new coach Ewen McKenzie.
Veteran prop Benn Robinson and scrumhalf Nick Phipps were among the 10 players cut from the Wallabies squad.
New coach Ewen McKenzie narrowed his selection pool for the opening Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand on August 17 – an encounter which doubles as a Bledisloe Cup contest.
McKenzie, who replaced Robbie Deans as head coach after Australia’s 1-2 series loss to the British and Irish Lions last month, included eight uncapped players in the 30-man squad announced Friday.
He still needs to trim that down to 22 for the Test in Sydney.
Experienced hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and lock Peter Kimlin are out of the Wallabies’ extended squad for the Rugby Championship because of injury and will miss the opener against New Zealand.
Springbok and Bulls flank Jacques Potgieter has signed a two-year deal with the Waratahs.
Potgieter will this week join Japanese outfit Fukuoka Sanix Blues on a six-month sabbatical, but was expected to return to the Pretoria-based franchise for next year’s Super Rugby tournament.
The new scrum laws will wind the clock back, says Dan Cron. Hookers actually hooking, halfbacks putting the ball in straight – it won’t be scrummaging as we’ve come to know it.