Internationals

Neil PowellHaving steered the Springbok Sevens to a credible second place on the HSBC Sevens World Series, Blitzboks coach Neil Powell admitted that he needs to improve the depth of his squad to make them more competitive next season.

Powell took over the reigns as head coach of the Springbok Sevens when the 2013/14 season started in October last year. His immediate aim was to install a good level of consistency, and to reach the semi-final of each of the nine World Series tournaments.

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WalesEngland’s leading clubs will not allow players to take part in the Wales trial on Friday, 30 May.  The availability of some Wales stars was in any case in doubt because the Aviva Premiership final takes place a day later.

A spokesman said Premiership Rugby’s Wales players would not be free for the trial as it falls outside the International Rugby Board (IRB) window.

But Wales remain hopeful of reaching a deal over England-based players.

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WalesThe Welsh Rugby Union have revealed on Thursday that they will stage their first full trial match in 14 years ahead of next month’s two-Test South Africa tour.

Rob Howley will coach the Probables, with his fellow Wales assistant Robin McBryde in charge of the Possibles for a game that will take place at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium on 30 May.

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EnglandAlex CorbisieroTom YoungsTom CroftBritish and Irish Lions forwards Alex Corbisiero, Tom Croft and Tom Youngs will miss England’s forthcoming tour of New Zealand.

Croft and Corbisiero have recently returned to full fitness but are not yet considered ready for what is set to be a gruelling three-Test series against the world champion All Blacks.

Meanwhile Leicester hooker Youngs will miss the June campaign to help support his wife, who is having treatment for an illness.

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Schalk BritsRory KockottNick MallettFormer DHL Western Province favourite Schalk Brits will return to Newlands along with rising French-based star, Rory Kockott, as 2 of 6 South Africans, four of whom have played test rugby, as part of the Samsung-sponsored World XV squad for their match against Heyneke Meyer’s Springboks at DHL Newlands on 7 June.

All 6 of these South Africans play their rugby abroad and have been released by their clubs for this match.

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Frederic MichalakFranceVeteran Toulon flyhalf Frederic Michalak has been preferred to Montpellier’s Francois Trinh-Duc in France coach Philippe Saint-Andre’s squad to tour Australia in June.

Saint-Andre named a 31-man squad on Wednesday and once again Trinh-Duc finds himself out in the cold, with Michalak recalled as back up for first-choice flyhalf Remi Tales.

Although first choice under Saint-Andre’s predecessor Marc Lievremont, Trinh-Duc has found himself eased out of international reckoning under the new coach.

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South AfricaDawie TheronThe Junior Springboks continued their preparations for the IRB Junior World Championship 2014 with a hardworking 60-14 victory over Argentina Under-20 on Tuesday afternoon at Stellenbosch.

Last week, the South Africa Under-20 side won the first of three encounter 78-31 in Saldanha Bay. The third and final clash between the two sides takes place on Saturday at 16h00 at the City Park Stadium in Crawford, Cape Town.

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FranceFrance will travel to Australia eyeing a successful three-test tour ahead of next year’s World Cup, coach Phillippe Saint-Andre said Tuesday.

Les Bleus could only finish fourth in this year’s Six Nations, with three victories in their five matches, but Saint-Andre was quick to proclaim his team as potential World Cup winners on English soil in 2015.

The first step in that mission was a testing tour of Australia.

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HSBC Sevens World SeriesThe Glasgow leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series took place this weekend.

Super Rugby’s broadcast times largely clashed on Saturday with these games, therefore we looked at the results already done and dusted and we followed the rest of the games as they progressed.

The Fixtures and Results were updated from time to time here on Rugby-Talk.

New Zealand takes the Cup, beating Canada in the final by 54 / 7 and now have an unassailable lead of 19 points in the season, effectively already winning the overall title for the season, with one leg to go in the season.

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South AfricaHeyneke MeyerA Springbok training squad for a Durban camp from 25 to 28 May will be named after Round 14 of Vodacom Super Rugby as the national team kicks off their preparations for the Castle Lager Incoming Series.

The Springboks will be in action for the first time in 2014 when they take on the Samsung-sponsored World XV at DHL Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday 7 June.

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AustraliaAustralia’s 2015 World Cup preparations will be well tested on their end-of-season European tour in November with coach Ewen McKenzie trying to replicate their potential campaign for the Webb Ellis trophy as much as possible.

McKenzie’s side will play five matches on five successive weekends, which includes clashes against World Cup Pool A opponents England and Wales.

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Fikile MbalulaThe South African Rugby Union will on Monday get a better idea of the government’s new ‘adapt or die’ transformation policy.

Speaking at a general meeting of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee recently Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula revealed that the minimum requirement for the number of blacks in teams have been increased to 60 percent.

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Nick MallettNick Mallett, who will take charge of the World XV against the Springboks in June, has ruled out a return to coaching full-time.

Mallett, 57, was earlier this week confirmed as coach of the team to face the Springboks at Newlands on 7 June.

He did, however, state that he was not interested in getting a coaching role on a full-time basis.

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Marcell CoetzeeCell C SharksCell C Sharks flank, Marcell Coetzee, knows that he has to stay on top of his game if he hopes to break into the Springbok loose trio this season as competition is ‘insane’.

Coetzee got his international break in 2012, with Bok coach Heyneke Meyer showing great faith in him from the start of his tenure, but the emergence of Francois Louw and Siya Kolisi saw the Sharks flank play a supporting role from the sidelines last year.

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Heyneke MeyerNick MallettSouth AfricaSpringbok coach Heyneke Meyer will start his international season by going head to head against his friend and former boss Nick Mallett at Newlands on 7 of June.

The South African Rugby Union confirmed that the Springboks will open their international season against a World XV – coached by former Springbok coach and SuperSport rugby expert Mallett before heading into tests against Wales and Scotland in the June international window.

The game will be at Newlands – and not the Cape Town Stadium – as initially reported with tickets going on sale Monday for the clash, priced at R250 and R350.

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South AfricaThe South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Friday named a reduced SA Under-20 training squad of 36 players for the remainder of the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship (JWC) training camp following two trial matches in Stellenbosch this week.

An large group of almost 50 players were selected for the camp as SA Under-20 coach Dawie Theron opted to cast his net wide in search of the best players to represent the country at the JWC in Auckland, New Zealand, from May 27 to June 20. This will be the first time the country hosts the tournament.

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Ewen McKenzieAustraliaWallabies coach Ewen McKenzie said on Friday that the attitude of players as much as form will help him decide the makeup of his team as he plots a course towards next year’s Rugby World Cup.

McKenzie said the desire to wear the gold jersey and professionalism would be major factors in weighing up contenders ahead of June’s three-Test home series against France.

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South AfricaHarold VersterFree State Rugby Union CEO Harold Verster says the union will next host a Test match in the 2016 season.

Verster wrote a column on the Volksblad website where he explained to fans the situation regarding the union’s hosting of Test matches.

Verster said the union gave up its right to host last year’s Rugby Championship Test between South Africa and Argentina.

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