European Rugby
This weekend sees further action in the RaboDirect Pro12 as this season’s competition enters the twelfth round of matches in the league stage. Most of the games will be completed during the weekend but one of the matches, Scarlets versus Ospreys, is scheduled for the afternoon of Monday afternoon.
The attention in Scotland in particular will, for the second week in a row, be centred on the derby match between Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors. This match will take place at Murrayfield on Saturday, kick off due 18.05 South African Time.
Today we had 2 Aviva Premiership games on TV, and we had this Live Game Article… but with a difference.
We were more casual, giving updates whilst talking nonsense inbetween.
How’s that for a nice mix?
Toulon lock Bakkies Botha will be sidelined for up to two months as the Springbok international undergoes surgery on a fractured eye socket.
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll is on course to feature in the Six Nations tournament after returning to training with Leinster following ankle surgery.
Wales and Clermont fullback Lee Byrne looks set for a long lay-off after breaking a bone in his back during Saturday’s European Cup clash with Leinster.
Wales are set to play on a plastic pitch at the Millennium Stadium in a ground-breaking move being proposed by the Welsh Rugby Union.
Roger Lewis, the WRU’s go-ahead chief executive, has revealed behind closed doors talks have taken place about implementing the artificial surface at the home of Welsh sport.
Representatives and stakeholders from the European Rugby Cup met in London on Wednesday in order to agree on the way forward for the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup but again failed to find a solution.
English and French clubs are not happy with the current format as their opposition teams do not have to qualify for the Heineken Cup in the same way and have automatic qualification regardless of their level of skill.
South Africa’s star flank, Bath-based openside Francois Louw, has been cleared on a punching charge by a Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing.
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll has revealed that he will not take part in the 2015 World Cup in England as it is “18 months too far.”
Springbok and Bath flank Francois Louw will attend an RFU disciplinary hearing following his red card for punching against Leicester on Saturday.
Louw was not the only Bath player in hot water and will be joined by teammates Matt Banahan and Lee Mears at the hearing.
This past weekend saw the end of the Southern Hemisphere 15-man rugby season… a long and arduous season.
Now only the HSBC Sevens World Series Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens tournament remains, after which we, as proud Southerners, have to rely on the scraps of rugby coming to us from the Northern Hemisphere, and then fill in the gaps with some cricket action to keep our sport addictions alive.
The South African Blitzbokke provide scant hopes for a good result in Port Elizabeth this coming weekend, but the party will continue… and we will party right along.
On the positive side, it was a good season again for Southern Hemisphere rugby, spoilt by the fantastic wins by France against the Wallabies about a month ago and of course the Coup de Grace by the England rugby side against the world number one side, the New Zealand All Blacks, this past weekend – lambasting them by a massive 38 / 21.
Hereafter a quick look at the respective seasons of the BIG BOYS of Southern Hemisphere Rugby:
All credit to New Zealand for not blaming the virus in the team or end-of-year-tiredness for their loss at the hands of a committed England team.
The All Blacks players looked more than a bit pale and lethargic as they entered the field and even the Haka lacked its normal spark.
Punctiliously I don’t however think it was either the virus or tiredness that saw the All Blacks lose this match. It was the England tactics and their good defence that won them the match.
England (12) 38 / 21 (0) All Blacks (Final Score)
England and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 03:30 Sunday 2 Dec NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 2 & SH2 on TV in SA.
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Scorers:
England:
- Penalties – Owen Farrell (4), Freddie Burns (2)
- Drop Goals – Owen Farrell (1)
- Tries – Brad Barritt (1), Chris Ashton (1), Manusamoa Tuilagi (1)
- Conversions – Owen Farrell (1)
All Blacks:
- Penalties – 0
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – Julian Savea (2), Kieran Read (1)
- Conversions – Daniel Carter (2), Aaron Cruden (1)
Teams:
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (Captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Ben Smith.
Date: Saturday 1 December 2012
Venue: Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 03:30 Sunday 2 December NZ time)
Expected weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 7°C, dropping to -1°C.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
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Wales (6) 12 / 14 (9) Wallabies (Final Score)
Wales and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 01:30 Sunday 2 Dec EAST).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SHD 4 on TV in SA.
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Scorers:
Wales:
- Penalties – Leigh Halpenny (4)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – 0
- Conversions – 0
Wallabies:
- Penalties – Kurtley Beale (3)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – Kurtley Beale (1)
- Conversions – 0
Teams:
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Ian Evans, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Scott Williams.
Australia: 15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Digby Ioane.
Date: Saturday 1 December 2012
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 01:30 Sunday 2 December AEDST)
Expected weather: There is a chance of rain, but with the roof set to be closed it should not be an issue. However, as we have seen, the surface cuts up badly regardless. It will be a high of 7°C and a low of 1°C
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite, Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
The Southern Hemisphere Rugby season is fast approaching a welcome close for players , administrators and coaching staff, but at the same time some of us are are a bit despondant that we would have to watch cricket & golf as substitute in place of our crazy rugby addiction…. oh and lest we forget those things in and around the house we failed to have time for in the year.
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However, tomorrow and on Saturday there is still the HSBC Sevens World Series Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, and on Saturday we get our last brief fix of full Test match rugby when England meet the All Blacks and Wales host the Wallabies (pity these two games are on at the same time again) at the End Of Year Tours to the Northern Hemisphere. PLUS of course we get a sprinkling of Northern Hemisphere Club Rugby to view too.
So, what’s in stall for us as far as TV rugby viewing is concerned this weekend?
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Herewith the viewing schedule:
The All Blacks side has already been known and reported about, herewith the remaining 3 sides for this weekend’s End Of Year Toursgames on Saturday.
The Wales rugby player flattened by a swinging arm from New Zealand hooker Andrew Hore suffered three-day memory loss as a result of the incident.
Courtney Lawes was on Tuesday included in England’s 23-man squad for Saturday’s Twickenham Test against world champions New Zealand as coach Stuart Lancaster promised to meet the All Blacks’ challenge “head-on”.
The latest news regarding Player Movements, the appointment of coaches and player movement miths set straight.
Some players are definately moving, some are extending their stay, some refute rumours of possible movement, whilst on the coaching side of things the John Mitchell saga carries on. The Crusaders also appoint 2 vital Assistant coaches for 2013.
You will find the news, item by item below:
England (6) 15 / 16 (9) Springboks (Final Score)
England and the South African Springboks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT).
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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Wales have suffered a big blow ahead of their Test match at the Millennium stadium with New Zealand’s All Blacks as winger George North has been replaced by Liam Williams.
Ireland have named their team to play Argentina at Aviva Stadium with Jamie Heaslip retaining the captaincy for the third straight Test match .
Italy coach Jacques Brunel made two changes to the side which suffered a 42-10 defeat to New Zealand ahead of Saturday’s third and final November test against Australia in Florence.
Morgan Parra will start at scrumhalf against Samoa at the Stade de France on Saturday in one of three changes to Philippe Saint Andre’s team who beat Argentina.
Scotland play the last of their three end of year tests on Saturday against Tonga at Pittodrie Football Stadium in Aberdeen. Both teams were announced yesterday with various changes being made by Scotland from the team that played the Springboks while Tonga only made one change to their team that beat the United States last weekend.
Joe Launchbury will make his first Test start as England make six changes for Saturday’s Test against South Africa. The lock, 21, replaces Wasps team-mate Tom Palmer, who drops out of the 23, as one of four changes to the pack.
Uncapped, Inverness-born stand-off Tom Heathcote has tonight joined the Scotland squad in Aberdeen in preparation for Saturday’s EMC Test against Tonga. Heathcote, 20, who has already featured in the Heineken Cup for Bath Rugby, has previously played age-grade for England but is “delighted” to accept the call-up from the land of his birth.
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson said: “Tom has worked his way into the Bath first team squad from the academy and we’ve been monitoring his progress for the last couple of years.”
When Warren Gatland relinquished fulltime coaching duties with Wales in the summer, his side had just won the Six Nations and was still feasting on its run to the World Cup semifinals.
France (24) 39 / 22 (13) Pumas (Final Score)
France and the Argentinian Pumas did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Grand Stade Lille Metropole, Lille at 22:00 SA Time (21:00 France Time, 20:00 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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Ireland (29) 53 / 0 (0) Fiji (Final Score)
Ireland and Fiji did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Thomond Park, Limerick at 19:30 SA Time (17:30 GMT).
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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Scotland (3) 10 / 21 (14) Springboks (Final Score)
Scotland and the South African Springboks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 16:30 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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Wales (13) 19 / 26 (10) Samoa (Final Score)
Wales and Samoa did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 21:30 SA Time.
This is the live match discussion Article.
The match is broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Scotland flanker Ross Rennie has been given treatment on his dislocated shoulder suffered in the 22-51 loss to Rugby World Cup champions New Zealand at Murrayfield.
Wales are sweating on the fitness of two of their marquee players, centre Jamie Roberts and lock Alun Wyn Jones, in the wake of their 26-12 defeat to Argentina at the Millennium Stadium.
Biarritz centre Marcelo Bosch and Montpellier full-back Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino have been included in the Argentina squad to face France next Saturday in Lille, the national federation announced Sunday.
France (16) 33 / 6 (6) Wallabies (Final Score)
France and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Stade de France, Paris at 22:00 SA Time (21:00 Paris Time, 20:00 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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