New Zealand Rugby
Highlanders (14) 27 / 41 (16) Chiefs (Final Score)
The Highlanders and Chiefs did battle in Super Rugby at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 08:35 SA Time (06:35 GMT, 19:35 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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Here are the Super Rugby Team Sheets for Round 2 of Super Rugby 2013.
Hurricanes openside flanker Ardie Savea has been suspended for four weeks following a judicial hearing but he will be out of Super Rugby until the end of March.
The Crusaders have revealed that they will play with a more expansive style in 2013 as they look to win their eighth Super Rugby title.
The last time these teams met the Chiefs secured their place in the playoff’s beating the Highlanders on their own paddock. The men from Otago will be looking for revenge, as usual. Shame, they’re always looking for revenge having won just 2 of their previous 10 encounters with the warriors from Waikato. They’ll be hoping this time things will be different.
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Emerging Test referee Lourens van der Merwe will make history when he officiates in the first Vodacom Super Rugby match involving the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth next Saturday.
The Crusaders have called up all their big guns, including captain Kieran Read, for their third and final pre-season game, against the Waratahs in Sydney on Thursday.
All Black and Chiefs midfielder has announced he will leave New Zealand rugby to play rugby in Japan after the current Super Rugby season.
All Blacks and Hurricanes winger Cory Jane says that he is resigned to missing the entires 2013 Super Rugby season and he could also miss New Zealand’s end-of-year tour due to a ligament injury.
New Zealand’s referees will be stepping out in pink in this year’s Super Rugby tournament thanks to a three-year sponsorship deal with Pink® Batts®.
A try to Peter Saili in extra time snatched a thrilling 40-36 victory for the Blues over the Waratahs in their pre-season match in Whangarei on Saturday.
Any expansion of Super Rugby in the near future is likely to leave the Pacific Islands out in the cold in favour of the United States or Canada.
SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters stated earlier this month that they are looking at United States and Canada after they were included in the Pacific Nations Cup.
All Black bad boy Zac Guildford has voluntarily stood down from the Crusaders following his involvement in a late-night incident at a residential home in Christchurch last weekend.
Racing Metro have admitted their chances of obtaining the services of either Dan Carter or Jonathan Sexton are slim to none.
We all have our predictions and gut feelings, this is what the International top betting sites have to say:
Super Rugby News is now starting to come thick and fast!
Below you can read about the Super Rugby HALFTIME BREAKS being extended to 12 minutes, about Ben Mowen who remains Brumbies Captain, about the Super Rugby Draw for 2013, about Bismarck du Plessis’ injury and Frans Steyn gearing up for the 2013 season and about Wynand Olivier who is still in Japan. Tamati Ellison will miss the majority of the Competition for the Highlanders, due to injury.
And then, if a sub-standard squad was not enough, the Southern Kings lose two key forwards due to injury.
The Western Force have completed the overhaul of their Super Rugby backline for the 2013 season with the signing of Waikato flyhalf Sam Christie who claimed the final Extended Playing Squad contract for 2013.
With the 2013 Super Rugby season just around the corner the fixture list of all warm up games has been released.
Some teams have opted for tougher opponents and some less so, much of course depending on their requirements and strategies they have planned for. The tournament itself kicks off on the 15 February 2013.
With most of the pre-season fitness programmes out of the way, the next few weeks will be vital as each side starts to focus on honing their game ahead of another grueling season. Teams will be trying to get their best combinations together as to find cohesion, coaches of course will hope not to pick up injuries as some teams are starting the season with numerous injured stars.
Struggling Sale Sharks have been boosted by the arrival of All Black Dan Braid, who have signed to play for the Premiership club until the end of the current season.
The world’s best player, All Black flyhalf Dan Carter, is the latest target of the cash-flush French clubs.
The wait is finally over for Sonny Bill Williams, with the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) informing the Sydney Roosters that the code-hopping superstar’s 2013 playing contract has been registered.
SANZAR announced their 18 referees for the 2013 Super Rugby season, the group of referees includes 5 new as well as the Argentinean Francisco Pastrana (who controlled his first Super Rugby match in 2012).
The Crusaders Super Rugby licence has been awarded to a limited partnership that is owned by the six provincial unions within the Crusaders region with the Canterbury Rugby Football Union (CRFU) being the major shareholder.
SANZAR CEO Greg Peters has intimated that it’s unlikely that Super Rugby will adopt television match official (TMO) rule changes next year.
Empowering the TMO to review possible infringements during try-scoring movements and incidents of foul play have been trialled in the Currie Cup and English Premiership competitions this year.
All-conquering All Black captain Richie McCaw has been named New Zealand’s Player of the Year.
The Blues on Monday named veteran lock Ali Williams as captain for the 2013 season, with coach John Kirwan saying it will give the 77-Test veteran a chance to prove his doubters wrong.
Veteran hooker Keven Mealamu has become the latest player to opt for a ‘sabbatical’ during next year’s Super Rugby competition.
Richie McCaw is the All Blacks’ most capped player of all time, having represented New Zealand on 116 occasions to date.
With the 5 South African Super Rugby franchises, or should I rather say the 5 participating Super Rugby franchis in 2013, all busy with pre-season preparations already, I suppose it would be wise to list the Fixtures for 2013 (although they have been up under Super Rugby, 2013 under the top menu for some time already now).
In addition, I am going to delve lightly into the games in the month of February, giving my very, very early views on what might transpire.
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:
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.