Proteas
John Smit was born on 3 April 1978 in Pietersburg, he went to Pretoria Boys High where he was head prefect and played for the first XV from 1996 to 1998. As natural born leader he was destined to become captain of the Springbok team and was identified at a very young age by Jake White, making his debut for South Africa against Canada at the tender age of 22. Since his debut in 2000 John Smit has played 111 test matches for South Africa, captaining his country on 83 occasions. South Africa won 69 of the 111 tests in which John Smit represented his country, he captained South Africa 83 times winning 54 tests.
All Blacks (12) 33 / Pumas (7) 10 (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and the Argentianian Pumas did battle in the Fourth Quarter Final in Auckland at 09:30 SA Time (20:30 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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The All Blacks progress through to the semi-finals, but only after the galant Argentinians gave them a bloody good go in the process.
The final four are now decided, they are Wales vs France and All Blacks vs Wallabies.
Springboks (3) 9 / Wallabies (8) 11 (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the Third Quarter Final in Wellington at 07:00 SA Time (18:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & 4, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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And so, the Springboks exit Rugby World Cup 2011….
England (0) 12 / France (16) 19 (Final Score)
England and France did battle in the Second Quarter Final in Auckland at 09:30 SA Time (20:30 NZ 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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France started like a house on fire and by halftime led by 16 / 0.
England did not give up though, and came back hard at France, but France prevailed.
England go home and France marches on.
Ireland (3) 10 / Wales (10) 22 (Final Score)
Ireland and Wales did battle in the First Quarter Final in Wellington at 07:00 SA Time (18:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & 4, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Excellent defence and an excellent match overall!
Wales knock out Ireland and is the first side to advance to the semi-finals.
When England and France line up against each other in Saturday’s quarter-final Martin Johnson’s men will take confidence from a record of three victories in four Rugby World Cup matches against their cross-Channel rivals.
Australia have all but restored the lineup they started the Rugby World Cup with for their Quarter final against South Africa.
Injuries have forced the All Blacks into making six changes to their starting side for their Rugby World Cup quarter final against Argentina on Sunday.
Argentina front row rock Rodrigo Roncero has been cleared to start in the World Cup quarter-final clash with New Zealand, enabling the South Americans to field their strongest available team on Sunday.
Springboks lock Bakkies Botha has been ruled out of the rugby world cup due to an Achilles tendon injury and will return to South Africa on Friday.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has made five changes to the team that beat Fiji 66-0 with Rhys Priestland keeping Stephen Jones out of the squad entirely and James Hook on the bench.
Jonny Wilkinson and Toby Flood will start for in England in one of four changes to Martin Johnson’s side for the Rugby World Cup quarter final against France at Eden Park on Saturday.
JP Pietersen trained with the Springboks as they continued their build-up to the World Cup quarterfinal in Wellington on Thursday morning.
Samoa’s controversial midfielder Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu may be facing a life ban from the game, but he refuses to go quietly.
Rugby’s equivalent of Hollywood’s famous “Brat Pack” went on show before a packed media contingent in downtown Wellington this morning, and while best mates James O’Connor, Kurtley Beale and Tatafu Polota-Nau attracted their share of interest, the spotlight was drawn to Quade Cooper, arguably the biggest gun in the World Cup west and certainly the Most Wanted.
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen says Richie McCaw will play against Argentina this weekend, despite fears that a troublesome foot injury could keep the New Zealand captain on the sidelines for the quarter-final at Eden Park.
“He’s great,” Hansen told a press conference at the team hotel. “He’s going to play on Sunday.”
Springbok wing JP Pietersen faces a race against time to be fit for South Africa’s Rugby World Cup quarter final against Australia on Sunday.
New Zealand winger Zac Guildford has joined All Blacks injury list after he pulled a hamstring at training just as the team welcomed back captain Richie McCaw.
Ireland coach Declan Kidney has named an unchanged team to play Wales in a Rugby World Cup quarter final match with hooker Rory Best hvaing to undergo a late fitness test.
I have raised this point before , here is a article that supports my view. We have spend many hours debating the time frame of the crouch, pause , engage calls by refs. I have asked many times , what did we gain in safety after all of this? Referees claim that they took control of the scrum engagement but with most penalties or free kicks the teams still opt for ANOTHER scrum.
The point i raised before was, how difficult is it for a prop to get a good grip on these skin tight jerseys? Read this article to see how the top players feel about it. At the end some of the comments already made about this article
Italy’s Leonardo Ghiraldini has been given a 15 week ban from rugby after he was found guilty of ‘gouging’ the eyes of Ireland prop Cian Healy during the teams’ World Cup pool match last weekend.
France forward Imanol Harinordoquy has slammed his coach Marc Lievremont for criticising the French players in public after they were beaten last weekend by Tonga in the Rugby World Cup.
Samoa’s Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu has been banned from playing rugby at all levels after calling Welsh referee Nigel Owens “racist” in a Twitter message following the team’s Rugby World Cup exit.
The centre, who in an earlier post said tournament organisers were guilty of “slavery” for the way they treated teams like Samoa, failed to attend a disciplinary hearing in Auckland on Tuesday.
I have been pondering the possibility of the Springboks being able to win this world cup, and after having seen the amount of criticism they have received (which is par for the course) I started to falter in my belief.
Five Kiwis, three Irishmen, three South africans, two Welshmen, a Samoan and an Anglo-Samoan. No, it’s not the England team, but RugbyHeaven’s (AUS) best XV for the pool stages as selected by Paul Cully.
We always love to pick our own teams, chop and change.
What do you think of this team?
Who would you pick? Go ahead , have your say in the comments.
If the old cliche about“Defence wins World Cups” applies, then the Wallabies and the All Blacks have cause for concern.
French utility back Fabrice Estebanez has been suspended for 3 weeks after admitting to a ‘dangerous tip tackle’ in the match against Tonga.
Georgia winger Lekso Gugava was on Monday suspended for five weeks after being found guilty of making a ‘dangerous tip tackle’ in his team’s final World Cup pool game against Argentina.
England winger Delon Armitage has been suspended for this weekend’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final with France but will be available for the Semi-final if England progress.
Armitage was cited for making a dangerous tackle in England’s 16-12 Pool B match against Scotland at Auckland’s Eden Park last Saturday.
Winger Digby Ioane looks set to make a dramatic comeback for the Wallabies in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final against South Africa after fracturing his thumb last month.