European Rugby
New Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis will be counting on the support of his predecessor Keegan Daniel in the pre-season friendly against English club Saracens in London on Saturday.
The Springbok hooker, who was the natural choice by incoming director of rugby Jake White, said he had the full backing of the former skipper following the change of leadership last week.
Glasgow Warriors’ assistant coach Shade Munro has been named today as head coach of Scotland A for their game against England Saxons at Scotstoun Stadium later this month.
One can feel that South African rugby supporters are chomping at the bit for their season to start and the good news is that the weekend’s pre-season friendly match between the Cell C Sharks and Saracens at Allianz Park in London on Saturday 25 January will be televised live on SuperSport 1, SHD and CSN.
The Scotland squad came together yesterday with head coach Scott Johnson’s first task being to re-focus minds away from Heineken Cup disappointments and on to a Six Nations Championship.
Edinburgh loose forward Cornell du Preez and Connacht duo Kieran Marmion and Nathan White have been cited after the weekend’s final round of the European Cup pool stages.
Hi,
After an Off-season which certainly drove me slightly more batty than I already was, the new Rugby Season is now close at hand.
The coming weekend sees some of Super Rugby’s warm-up matches, with the Lions playing the Leopards on Friday evening 24 January, the Cheetahs playing against NMMU and again against the Kings on Saturday and of course the Sharks playing Saracens on Saturday 25 January in London. In addition there is the HSBC Sevens World Series Las Vegas tournament on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday and slightly into Monday very early morning.
Round 6 of the European Cup, which includes the Heineken Cup (Premier Competition) and Amlin Challenge Cup (secondary Qualification Competition) happened this past weekend and there was high drama and lots of action!
Sunday evening the full puzzle of who plays where in the Play-Off’s of both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge cup was revealed.
In the Heineken Cup, Ulster will host Saracens, ASM Clermont Auvergne will host Leicester Tigers, whilst the defending champions Toulon will host Leinster and Munster will host Toulouse at Thomond Park. The Quarter-finals will take place on the weekend of 4 to 6 April.
In the Amlin Challenge Cup Northampton Saints, Harlequins and Gloucester have booked their spots in the Quarter-finals along with the amlin Challenge Cup Pool winners Bath, London Wasps, Stade Francais, Sale Sharks and Brive.
Bath will host Brive, London Wasps will host Gloucester, Stade Francais host Harlequins and Sale Sharks will host Northampton Saints.
The race to these Cup winners will be interrupted by the Six Nations tournament, which takes place from 1 February 2014.
France have suffered a major blow for the Six Nations as Top 14 Rugby club Toulouse have announced that their captain Thierry Dusautoir has been ruled out of the championship.
The 32-year-old flanker – capped 65 times and world player of the year in 2011 – will be out for four months after he tore a tendon in his right biceps, Toulouse head coach Guy Noves said.
English Premiership clubs will reportedly benefit from a 10 percent rise in the salary cap in an attempt to halt the exodus of players to France.
Jackson Willison is the latest player to ink a lucrative contract with an overseas club, signing a two-year deal with Top 14 French outfit Grenoble.
Edinburgh Rugby forwards Ross Rennie and Stuart McInally will join former Scotland head coach Andy Robinson on loan to Bristol Rugby to the end of the season.
Chris Robshaw will continue as England captain in this year’s Six Nations, the Rugby Football Union said on Friday.
Former Springbok and Sharks No 8, Shaun Sowerby, is set to call it a day at the end of the 2014 Top 14 season.
If the qualification picture for the European Cup quarterfinals is now significantly clearer following last weekend’s Round Five games, the closing series of pool matches in Europe’s premier club tournament retains its customary intrigue.
Kelly Brown has been told the Scotland captaincy is his to keep – if he proves himself as their best openside flanker. Head coach Scott Johnson has named the 31-year-old Saracens skipper every time he has played.
Uncapped 23-year-old Edinburgh wing Dougie Fife was named in a senior Scotland squad for the first time – ahead of the Six Nations next month.
Fife, a product of Edinburgh’s development system and also nurtured by the Currie club, has been in prolific form for the capital pro-club, scoring five tries in his last seven outings.
The Ireland coaching staff have announced an extended squad of 44 players for the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations Championship and the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds fixture against England Saxons. Ulster’s uncapped former South African duo Robbie Diack and Rob Herring have been included in the squad.
Gethin Jenkins has been included in a 32-man Wales squad for the Six Nations despite concerns over his damaged knee. The 33-year-old prop had a scan on Monday after he was injured in Cardiff Blues’ Heineken Cup defeat by Toulon.
Springbok and Stormers winger Gio Aplon is set to become the next high-profile South African to head to France after it was revealed he was “close to signing” a contract with French club Grenoble.
Injury concerns are threatening to overshadow Wales coach Warren Gatland’s Six Nations squad announcement on Tuesday.
Wales are bidding to win a third outright title in succession, something never achieved before in the tournament’s history.
Scottish Rugby continues to monitor carefully the international pitch at Murrayfield Stadium. The playing surface at the home of Scottish Rugby has been regarded with justifiable pride for many years; therefore its current condition is a matter of understandable concern.
Concussion protocols in English rugby will be tightened up to protect players who have suffered head injuries with the aim of ensuring they do not return to the field of play.
Eighteen European Cup clubs are still in contention for silverware, following a pulsating weekend of Round Five action.
In the Heineken Cup race, reigning champions, Toulon, as well as ASM Clermont Auvergne and Munster emerged as winners of Pool 2, Pool 4 and Pool 6 respectively to seal their places in the last eight of the Heineken Cup – while Ulster, Leicester Tigers and Toulouse are also guaranteed coveted spots in the quarterfinals.
Joe van Niekerk, Juan Smith, Bakkies Botha and Craig Burden were part of a dominant Toulon pack that created three penalty tries in the European champions’ win over Cardiff Blues.
Seven South African players were involved in Sunday’s match between Toulouse and Saracens, with Jano Vermaak, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Schalk Ferreira starting for the victorious French side who had Gurthrö Steenkamp on the bench. Neil de Kock, Alistair Hargreaves, Schalk Brits and Ernst Joubert were all on the losing side for the visitors.
Toulon (15) 43 / 20 (13) Cardiff Blues (Final Score)
Toulon and the Cardiff Blues did battle in the Heineken Cup at
Allianz Riviera at 17:40 SA Time (15:40 GMT, 16:40 Fra Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Harlequins (13) 13 / 16 (3) Clermont (Final Score)
Harlequins and ASM Clermont Auvergne did battle in the Heineken Cup at
The Twickenham Stoop at 15:35 SA Time (13:35 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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The world’s best hooker, Bismarck du Plessis, is among 12 Springboks named in a provisional Sharks squad to play Saracens at Allianz Park on Saturday, January 25.
The reigning Currie Cup champions will play the current Premiership leaders, a unique clash between north and south, between the Heineken Cup in European Cup and Super Rugby.
Morgan Parra will make a surprise return to action against Harlequins in the European Cup on Saturday, his Clermont head coach Vern Cotter said on Thursday.
Versatile back Mirco Bergamasco was named in Italy’s pre-Six Nations 30-man squad by coach Jacques Brunel Thursday, for the first time in more than a year.
The 30-year-old has not played for Italy since November 2012 when he broke his knee against Australia in Florence.
It is crunch time in Europe’s premier club tournament, as we enter Round Five of the Euro Cup. The build-up this week may have shone the spotlight on the heavyweight Anglo-French clashes – between Toulouse and Saracens, and Harlequins and ASM Clermont Auvergne – but two other French giants will also be in crucial matches. Defending European champions Toulon host Cardiff Blues in Nice on Saturday, while French champions Castres are at home to Leinster on Sunday.
opean RugbyUncapped Bath fly-half George Ford has replaced Toby Flood in England’s elite squad (EPS) ahead of the Six Nations.
The dropped Flood, 28, has won 60 caps for his country but is leaving Leicester at the end of the season for an as-yet unspecified French club.
Toby Flood’s 60-cap England career could come to an end on Thursday when Stuart Lancaster names his initial elite player squad ahead of this season’s Six Nations.
Saracens have named a powerful 23-man squad for the historic north-south clash against the Sharks of South Africa at Allianz Park on Saturday, January 25.
The squad – to be captained by Steve Borthwick – includes several South Africans, including former Sharks centre Brad Barritt and Sharks lock Alistair Hargreaves.
Former Springbok centre Wynand Olivier badly injured his face while training for his French club, Montpellier, on Tuesday.
World Cup-winning Springbok Johann Muller will decide soon whether to hang up his boots or continue playing.
The 34-year-old lock is pondering a possible contract extension with Irish province Ulster, but admitted he is also considering putting an end to his career and return home to South Africa.