Internationals
France (9) 19 / 26 (9) All Blacks (Final Score)
France and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Stade de France, Paris at 22:00 SA Time (21:00 France Time, 20:05 GMT, 09:00 Sunday NZ Time).
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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In Round 2 of the End Of Year Tours of 2013 there will be a lot more games on the weekend, compared to Round 1, last week. This weekend almost gives the impression of a Mini World Cup, as virtually all the top teams in the world are somehow involved in rugby this weekend.
Some teams are playing their first games on tour whilst others started their tours last weekend already. This weekend will feature quite a few games that has been hyped up to be classic clashes on the yearly calendar. Wales vs the Springboks from South Africa and France vs the New Zealand All Blacks are the two clashes most talked and speculated about during the week. Here are some head to head stats to help you pick your winners.
Georgina Robinson of the Sydney Morning Herald, a pleasant lady who sat next to me at Loftus Versfeld during Super Rugby… or was it a Test between the Springboks and Wallabies, wrote an article about Ewen McKenzie, Wallabies coach, complaining bitterly about the unfair treatment the Wallabies scrum gets, due to the perceptions of the quality or lack of quality of Wallaby scums of recent years.
Now understand me clear here, I do not moan over Georgina article, after all she has a duty to report the news when it presents itself – and generally she is a fair lass as far as rugby matters go, in my opinion one of the better rugby scribes from Down Under.
The beef that I have is the smoke and mirrors, the side-show that Ewen McKenzie is trying to conjure up and the smoke he is trying to blow up the IRB and our combined arses, to make up for absolutely woeful Wallaby scrummaging!
We’re going to look at Georgina’s Article in the Sydney Morning Herald first… thereafter we will look at a video clip analising all 17 scrums in the recent Test between England and the Wallabies (a must watch clip) and finally, each will come to his or her own conclusion, mine being to laugh at McKenzie’s antics in disgust and disbelief!
England will field an all new front row in Saturday’s international against Argentina at Twickenham.
Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley and David Wilson replace Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole against the Pumas.
France manager Philippe Saint-Andre took a gamble on Thursday when he picked the inexperienced flyhalf Remi Tales in an untested halfback pairing with Morgan Parra to face world champions New Zealand on Saturday.
Wallaby forward Rob Simmons has been chosen at blindside flank in the only change made to the Australian starting line-up for Saturday’s second year-end Test against Italy at Stadio Olimpico.
Pumas speedster Rosco Speckman was this week added to the Springbok Sevens training squad in Stellenbosch.
The group is preparing for the next two legs of the IRB Sevens World Series – in Dubai and Port Elizabeth.
Springbok forwards Tendai Mtawarira and Eben Etzebeth will feature for the Barbarians against Fiji at Twickenham on 30 November 2013.
The most experienced team in All Blacks’ history will face France this weekend, after New Zealand coach Steve Hansen recalled his big guns for the Paris clash.
Hansen’s run-on team announced on Thursday has 853 caps, with a further 112 available on the bench for a combined record of 965, in a sign the world champions are not taking the mercurial French lightly.
Experienced backline stars JP Pietersen and Jaque Fourie are back in the Springbok team for Saturday’s Castle Lager Outgoing Tour opener against Wales in Cardiff, while Frans Malherbe will make his Test debut at the Millennium Stadium.
In naming his side for Saturday’s Test against the current Six Nations champions, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has decided to hand Fourie his first Test for South Africa since the Rugby World Cup in 2011, while a combination of injury and non-availability means Pietersen is back for his first taste of international rugby yet this season.
Argentina have made five changes from the team crushed 54-17 by Australia in The Rugby Championship last month for their opening tour match against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
New coach Daniel Hourcade named a side on Tuesday with three changes in the backs and two in the forwards plus a positional switch with Julio Farias Cabello moving from lock to openside flanker.
Munster back Keith Earls has been ruled out of Ireland’s opening Autumn International Test match against Samoa in Dublin due to a knee injury.
Wales have announced their team to play South Africa in their opening Autumn International Test match, initially with Ospreys wing Eli Walker being named to make his international debut. Walker has since been sidelined by injury and is replaced by Liam Williams (Scarlets).
Heyneke Meyer is taking the approach to take Wales quite seriously, so seriously that he has changed his game plan away from the expansive style the Springboks played during The Rugby Championship.
Meyer is approaching this game more conservatively with the mindset of building phases and keeping the ball in hand.
A week after losing the captaincy, Wallabies lock James Horwill could find himself on the bench for the clash against Italy this weekend.
Although he produced an improved performance without the burden of the captaincy in the defeat to England at Twickenham last week, the return of line-out specialist Rob Simmons could see Horwill riding the pine on Saturday.
Heyneke Meyer has given a clear indication as to what his intentions are for the 2013 End Of Year Tour.
It seems likely that Meyer will use this End Of Year Tour to test combinations building up to the 2015 World Cup.
Argentina captain Juan Manuel Leguizamon has denied there are splits in the Pumas camp ahead of this weekend’s Twickenham Test against England.
There were reports that ‘player power’ had led to the recent resignation of coach Santiago Phelan and his replacement by Daniel Hourcade.
England have closed the gap on second placed South Africa after their 20-13 victory over Australia this past weekend.
With the victory over Australia, England managed to gain half a ranking point and is now 1.55 ranking points behind South Africa.
England coach Stuart Lancaster has called up Junior World Championship-winning fullback Anthony Watson ahead of the clash with Argentina at Twickenham this weekend.
Wales will take heart from the British and Irish Lions’ demolition of Australia earlier this year when they tackle the Springboks in Cardiff on Saturday.
There were 10 Welsh players in the Lions’ starting team for the decisive third Test against the Wallabies in June – a game the Lions convincingly won 41-16 to claim their first series win in 16 years.
Australian coach Ewen McKenzie was left thinking of what might have been, after two controversial tries sparked England into coming from behind to beat the Wallabies 20-13 at Twickenham on Saturday.
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers said that his team is focused solely on their match against Wales this weekend.
A cold and rainy Cardiff greeted the Springboks on Sunday upon arrival in Wales, where they will kick off their tour at the Millennium Stadium.
The New Zealand Maori team suffered a double blow in the wake of their impressive win in the opening match of their North American tour.
Jamison Gibson-Park, a late entry at scrumhalf after Piri Weepu was unable to start, scored two tries to spark the New Zealand Maori team to a 40-15 victory over Canada on Sunday.
It was confirmed on Monday that Weepu and hooker Hika Elliot are returning home as a result of injuries.
From time to time Rugby-Talk is approached by rugby enthusiasts, who read our content, who enquire whether they can write guest articles for publication.
My response is the same every time… send it along, if it is good, we will publish it. More aptly, I also invite these people to register and become part of our wonderful website, to join in the comments with us and should we see value in their style and knowledge, there will be no hesitation to make them fullyfledged authors here on Rugby-Talk.
I hope this is an inspiration to more people to contribute…
Here is a wonderful piece on the history of the Six Nations:
England (6) 20 / 13 (13) Wallabies (Final Score)
England and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 01:30 Sunday AEDT).
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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Japan (6) 6 / 54 (28) All Blacks (Final Score)
Japan and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground, Tokyo at 07:00 SA Time (14:00 Japan Time, 18:00 NZ Time, 05:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 5, HD5 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Fullback Juan Martin Hernandez is out of Argentina’s squad to face England at Twickenham on November 9 with a torn right thigh muscle, the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) said on Thursday.
Joel Tomkins will make his England debut in Saturday’s international against Australia at Twickenham Stadium.
The centre will be joined by Saracens teammate Billy Vunipola and London Irish wing Marland Yarde, who both won their first caps in Argentina in June and make their first starts at Twickenham.
Veteran lock Alun Wyn Jones said Wales’ upcoming clash with South Africa promises to be a fast, frenetic encounter.
South Africa have had a lot of changes to their squad in the last couple of years, but they’ve still got a number of guys who have been playing in the Green and Gold jersey for a while.
Springbok and Kobelco Steelers centre Jaque Fourie has scoffed at suggestions that he won’t be able to take the step up to Test level for the Springboks on their end of year tour, after having spent two years playing in Japan.
Speaking to BallzRadio, Fourie said Suntory Sungoliath and Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez’s return to the Springbok fold had proved that players playing in Japan could return to the national side without appearing out of their depth.
James Horwill has been axed as Wallaby captain amid a radical leadership overhaul which has swept controversial playmaker Quade Cooper into the vice-captaincy.
Back row forward Ben Mowen will captain Australia for a second time in Saturday’s Cook Cup clash against England at Twickenham.
Japan were given a timely boost ahead of their one-off Test against the world’s top-ranked side, New Zealand, in Tokyo on Saturday.
The home side was boosted by the fitness of centre Harumichi Tatekawa, who missed training earlier this week due to a knee injury and had been a doubt for Saturday’s game.
With Japan coach Eddie Jones still in hospital recovering from a stroke, assistant Scott Wisemantel could not have been handed a tougher task for his first assignment in charge.
Experienced Springbok tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis has been ruled out of the forthcoming Castle Lager Outgoing Tour to Wales, Scotland and France because of injury.
His place in the touring team will be taken by the uncapped GWK Griquas prop Lourens Adriaanse, a member of the Springbok squad during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship who was on the official standby list and will play with Du Plessis for The Sharks next season.
The All Blacks have named four uncapped players in their matchday squad for the historic Test at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday
The starting XV sees bustling Counties-Manukau and Blues wing Frank Halai selected in an All Blacks side for the first time, with massive Crusaders and Canterbury lock Dominic Bird also making his debut.
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has backed current coach Heyneke Meyer NOT to rest his key players on the end of year tour, despite the risk of player burn-out.
Speaking to BallzRadio, Mallett said that the Springbok Tests should take precedence over the Currie Cup and Super Rugby, and said franchise coaches should take responsibility for managing players better. Mallett also praised Sharks Director of Rugby Brendan Venter as one of the few coaches using proper player rotation.