Internationals
The head of New Zealand’s Rugby Players Association says international representative players could take strike action “as a last resort” to press claims for an integrated international season with fewer matches.
Australian Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver has warned top players they will have to accept smaller contracts to play for the Wallabies due to the code’s worrying financial situation.
The SA Under-20 squad had their first training session at the Green Point Track in Cape Town on Monday afternoon after the 28-man squad and four standby players assembled in the Mother City ahead of their friendly international against Namibia.
Former Western Force and Wallabies captain Nathan Sharpe will join the Wallabies coaching team ahead of the British & Irish Lions tour.
Although Australia’s most capped forward never received the opportunity to play a Test against the combined side himself; Sharpe has signed on to assist the Wallaby forwards ahead of this year’s British & Irish Lions tour of Australia.
All Blacks and Crusaders winger Zac Guildford could be playing his last Super Rugby season in New Zealand.
Cheetahs and Bok pivot Johan Goosen’s knee operation to repair damage to his knee ligament was a success, and he was present at the Cheetahs training session on Monday.
France (0) 23 / 16 (6) Scotland (Final Score)
France and Scotland did battle in Super Rugby at Stade de France, Paris at 22:00 SA Time (20:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 6 & SHD 4 on TV in SA.
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Record-breaking South African test referee Jonathan Kaplan will retire from professional refereeing at the end of the 2013 South African season.
The first weekend of Six Nations 2013 has come and gone with two of the results as expected by many as Ireland and England claimed victories over Wales and Scotland respectively. The final match of the weekend saw Italy score what was seen as a surprise victory over France in Rome.
The intensity of the games took their toll though with various injuries incurred by the teams. We bring some of the news from the various squads regarding the injuries and player availability.
Italy (13) 23 / 18 (15) France (Final Score)
Italy and France did battle in the Six Nations tournament at Stadio Olimpico, Rome at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT, 16:00 Rome Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD4 on TV in SA.
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Former Crusaders wing Sean Maitland has expressed his pride in his Scottish roots after being named in Scotland’s Six Nations squad.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s priority will always be to pick local players first, but the South African Rugby Union may have conceded the fight to keep top Springboks in South Africa in the near future.
Junior Springboks coach Dawie Theron on Thursday named a strong starting line-up for the South African Under 20 training squad’s match against the University of the Western Cape, to be played on Friday afternoon at the Markötter Sports Field in Stellenbosch.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is keen to stay in the job until the 2015 World Cup, but Australia’s new rugby chief says he will have to reapply when his contract runs out.
I am always nervous of drawing too many conclusions from the annual burst of Autumn Internationals, especially because it’s the final round of games for all the Southern Hemisphere sides at the end of a long season. Nonetheless, there are some fascinating observations to make as many sides rebuild towards the next World Cup.
Veteran hooker Keven Mealamu has become the latest player to opt for a ‘sabbatical’ during next year’s Super Rugby competition.
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.”
Leading South African referee Marius Jonker has announced his retirement from international match officiating, although he will continue to referee in South Africa’s domestic competitions.
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)
Friday 30 November & Saturday 1 December 2012 sees the HSBC Sevens World Series Emirates Airlines Dubai Sevens Rugby Tournament take place.
Herewith the Results, times given in Dubai time (2 hours ahead of SA Time).
Samoa took the overall title, winning the Cup by 26 / 15 against New Zealand.
In the Womans final, New Zealand trounced the South African woman’s side by 41 / 10.
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.
Flyhalf Dan Carter has recovered from a calf injury and will start for New Zealand in their final test of the year against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
New Zealand hooker Andrew Hore apologised on Thursday for a hit from behind on Wales lock Bradley Davies that resulted in a five-match ban, saying he had let down his team and the entire country.
This week there was two important citings for Southern Hemisphere teams who still have to play this coming weekend, that of Andrew Hore the New Zealand hooker and the other one that of Sitaleki Timani the Australian lock.
Both were found guilty and Andrew Hore received an effective 5-week suspension whereas Sitaleki Timani received a 1-week suspension.
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”.
I suspect that more important offenses are missed in rugby than any other sport. But don’t blame the refs – or not too much, wouldn’t want to spoil all the fun. The problem is so many things are happening at the same time on and off the ball, it is almost impossible for one man to pick up.
Australian second row forward Sitaleki Timani has been cited to appear before the International Rugby Board disciplinary commission.
Going through articles on various web sites I came across one where Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer explains some of his selections, where he sometimes got it wrong and sometimes got it right.
It was a try. The referee awarded the try and the referee is ‘the sole judge of fact and Law during a match’. But was his judgement right.
He did take advice from the TMO whose scripted advice was: ‘You may award the try.’
But should it have been awarded? Was the judgement right? Was the Law correctly applied? It is an interesting situation.
Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper on Monday said he was putting his Rugby Union career on hold, as he prepares to make his debut in the boxing ring early next year.
Wales (0) 10 / 33 (23) All Blacks (Final Score)
Wales and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 19:15 SA Time (17:15 GMT, 06:15 Sunday 25 Nov 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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