SA Rugby
MTN Golden Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has announced his side to front DHL Western Province in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon.
Ackermann has made several changes to his starting line-up, with the majority of the changes taking place in the backline.
Steve Hansen, the All Blacks coach has made only 2 changes to the All Blacks starting 15 for their important Test match and a fitting finale to The Rugby Championship, against the Springboks of South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
As expected, Richie McCaw returns to captain the side and fill the openside flanker role, with Sam Cane dropping to the bench. Richie will play in his 120th Test match and has never had the opportunity to play in a Test at Ellis Park.
The injured prop, Owen Franks, has failed to recover from a groin strain and has been replaced by Charlie Faumuina at tighthead prop, with Ben Franks coming onto the bench.
Griquas coach Pote Human has made 3 changes to their team and specifically their forwards for the Currie Cup clash with the Free State Cheetahs in Kimberley on Saturday.
Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira will play in his 50th Test for the Springboks when they take on New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday, in the final round of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
The 28-year-old Mtawarira, who made his Test debut on 14 June 2008 against Wales in Pretoria, will become the 27th Springbok to reach 50 Test caps, following hot on the heels of his fellow front rankers, Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis, as well as Morné Steyn.
DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has made four changes to his team for Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup meeting with the MTN Golden Lions at DHL Newlands (kick-off 14h00).
Halfbacks Louis Schreuder and Demetri Catrakilis will start in the backline, whilst fit-again flanker Rynhardt Elstadt returns at No.7, which sees Michael Rhodes shift back into the second row where he began the Absa Currie Cup season.
Schreuder and Catrakilis come in for Nic Groom and Kurt Coleman, respectively, with Rhodes replacing youngster Tazz Fuzani in the No.4 jersey. Scrumhalf Groom and flyhalf Coleman will warm the bench this week, but lock Fuzani drops out altogether with loose forwards Schalk Burger and Josh Katzen continuing amongst the replacements.
Toyota Free State Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has made some subtle changes to his team selections after the loss to DHL Western Province last weekend and ahead of the Round 9 Currie Cup match against GWK Griquas at GWK Park in Kimberley.
Sharks flank Jacques Botes will equal the record for the most Currie Cup matches played when he runs out to face the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Friday (19:10 kick-off).
Botes was on Wednesday included in the Sharks starting team and will equal former Free State centre Helgard Muller on 142 Currie Cup games.
He has played 115 games for the Sharks and 26 for the Pumas.
Sharks skipper Keegan Daniel will also achieve a milestone by playing in his 100th Currie Cup game for the union.
New Zealand’s Super Rugby coaches are pushing for a team of Pacific island players to be included in the Southern Hemisphere competition when it expands in 2016.
The team, based in Auckland, would be part of an 18-team competition under a proposal from the head coaches of New Zealand’s five existing Super Rugby teams, the New Zealand Herald reported.
I am virtually speechless, gobb-smacked… I actually touched rugby history today!
Rugby-Talk was invited to the grand opening of the Ellis Park Rugby Museum, which happened this morning.
The museum boasts probably the biggest single collection of rugby memorabilia in South Africa and probably the entire world, with memorabilia from the earliest days of rugby, rugby in South Africa both Provincially and on a Franchise level and of course probably the biggest element being the fantastic Springbok collection.
There are International jerseys, blasers, signed balls, penadants, artworks as well as other visual elements from all over, it is mind-boggling and to do justice to the exhibition one actually needs several hours to see everything properly, let alone study every ehibit.
The collection is owned by Swys Joubert, who played Provincial rugby in SA, and also played rugby in the UK and France.
Firstly, well done Swys, what an awesome experience!
Bjorn Basson will make a welcome return to the Vodacom Blue Bulls side to play The Sharks in an Absa Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.
The winger, who scored two tries in his only appearance for the Blue Bulls in the competition this year, has been released by the Springboks ahead of their test match against New Zealand in Johannesburg.
Springbok Marcell Coetzee will play for the Sharks this week, but he will only come off the bench against the Bulls in Pretoria on Friday.
Demetri Catrakilis looks set to start at flyhalf for DHL Western Province for the first time since returning to the Absa Currie Cup champions from the Southern Kings.
WP face the MTN Golden Lions at Newlands on Saturday in a match they hope will clinch them their home semifinal spot and, if they win, also set up a log decider against the Sharks in Durban the following weekend.
Injury is likely to rule Golden Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies out for the remainder of the Currie Cup season.
It may come as a surprise to Springbok fans, but coach Heyneke Meyer has lamented the fact that his team has fallen behind the All Blacks in terms of their kicking game, with the Boks being far too wayward in their kicking this season.
While the Boks have made massive strides at the breakdown under consultant Richie Gray and currently lead the Castle Lager Rugby Championship standings for turnovers won in the competition, they have fallen behind in terms of their kicking game – something that has always been a strength.
The All Blacks ex coach, Laurie Mains says Ellis Park is a daunting task for the All Blacks this weekend and leading Sports Scientist Tim Noakes says that the Jet Lag factor could catch up to the All Blacks this weekend.
Maties lock Reniel Hugo has decided to join the University of Pretoria where he will represent Tuks in next year’s Varsity Cup.
Hugo has decided to enroll for an honours degree in accounting at Tuks and will therefore play his rugby in Pretoria next season, which means he could come into consideration for Blue Bulls honours.
DHL Western Province will be boosted with 3 key players returning to the training squad this week after injury lay-offs.
SARU have made a public statement about the format of the Currie Cup PremierDivision for 2014.
In short, the proposed expansion to 8 teams from the current 6, has been rejected by a Special General Council meeting of the stakeholders of SA Rugby.
The Media Release reads as follows:
The All Blacks are flying Chiefs prop Ben Afeaki over to South Africa for their match against the Springboks this coming weekend.
Afeaki will be standing in for injured Owen Franks.
The Springboks were dealt a big blow when burly lock Flip van der Merwe was banned for one week and will miss the Rugby Championship decider at Ellis Park on Saturday.
A SANZAR judicial hearing found Flip van der Merwe guilty of contravening Law 10.4(e): Dangerous Tackling, which also constituted a breach of Law 10.4 (a): Striking.
The Bok lock was cited after South Africa’s 28-8 demolition of Australia in Cape Town at the weekend.
The All Blacks headed to South Africa on Monday banking on the return of talismanic captain Richie McCaw to put the seal on another successful season.
Although New Zealand require just a single bonus point to retain their Rugby Championship title, they are determined to seal it by beating arch rivals South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday.
And the All Blacks are confident they will have McCaw in their arsenal.
The Jake White saga continues as the most recent indications are that Brendan Venter will be leaving his temporary position as Sharks Director of Rugby at the end of the 2013 Currie Cup, making way for the appointment of Jake White in the same position.
Last week it was rumoured that White could become the new Director of Rugby at the Sharks, but Brendan Venter was already in the position and uncertainty surrounded whether Venter would stay on.
How big is the role that bonus points play in rugby these days? Are teams and specifically SA teams scared of bonus points or impotent to get them?
Has the bonus point hurdle become to high for SA teams to get over, or are SA teams just coached wrong in terms of bonus points?
It was the penultimate Round of rugby in The Rugby Championship of 2013, with the South African Springboks playing the Australian Wallabies at Newlands, Cape Town and the Argentinian Pumas playing the New Zealand All Blacks in Argentina.
The Springboks comfortably beat the Wallabies by 28 / 8, however a 4th bonus point try just barely eveded them, whilst the All Blacks won away from home against the Pumas by 33 / 15, barely getting their 4th try in the dying seconds of the match.
The All Blacks are now 5 points clear on the Combined Log (23 points), the Springboks 2nd (18 points), followed at quite some distance by the Wallabies (4 points) and the Pumas (2 points).
The competion is now poised for two games next weekend, where the Springboks and All Blacks will contest for the Championship title, whilst the loser between the Pumas and Wallabies will receive the wooden spoon for 2013.
Here are 2 highlites videos of the matches played:
The Sharks and DHL Western Province this weekend cemented their Absa Currie Cup Premier Division semifinal spots and set themselves in good stead for home semifinals, while the Vodacom Blue Bulls reignited their semifinal chances.
In a weekend of away wins, the Sharks fought their way to a 31-25 victory against the MTN Golden Lions in Johannesburg, DHL Western Province pipped the Toyota Free State Cheetahs 29-27 in Bloemfontein and the Vodacom Blue Bulls thumped GWK Griquas 52-10 in Kimberley.
Both Springboks coach and captain, Heyneke Meyer and Jean de Villiers were very pleased following their convincing 28-8 win over the Wallabies at DHL Newlands on Saturday night.
The Springboks scored three tries, but neither the coach nor captain dwelled on a fourth try that would have resulted in a bonus point win.
The vital Springbok win temporarily placed them on equal terms with the New Zealand All Blacks on The Rugby Championship Log, till the All Blacks beat the Pumas from Argentina later in the night, by 33-15 and in the process scoring a 4th try on the final hooter. This now leaves the All Blacks (23 Log Points) 5 Log Points clear of the Springboks (18 Log Points) prior to the finale at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 5 October. The Springboks would have to achieve a full haul of 5 Log Points whilst also beating the All Blacks by more than 7 points and at the same time not conceeding 4 tries in the last match to clinch The Rugby Championship. In anybody’s language THAT is a tall order against the No 1 team in the world, but at least the Springboks are in with a fighting chance.
Flip van der Merwe of South Africa has been cited for alleged foul play during a Rugby Championship match at the weekend.
Van der Merwe is alleged to have contravened Law 10.4 (a) Punching or Striking when he made contact with Australian winger Joe Tomane. The incident occurred in the 39th minute of the match between South Africa and Australia at DHL Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 28 September.
Springboks (23) 28 / 8 (3) Wallabies (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Newlands, Cape Town at 17:00 SA Time (15:0 GMT, 01:00 Sunday AEST).
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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Griquas (10) 10 / 52 (15) Blue Bulls (Final Score)
GWK Griquas and the Vodacom Blue Bulls did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
GWK Park, Kimberley at 14:00 SA Time (12:00 GMT).
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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Golden Lions (20) 25 / 31 (16) Sharks (Final Score)
The MTN Golden Lions and The Sharks did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
Ellis Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
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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FS Cheetahs (17) 27 / 29 (13) WP (Final Score)
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs and DHL Western Province did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division at
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT).
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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As we enter Round 8 of the 2013 Currie Cup, the Sharks and Western Province are setting the pace at the top of the Log, with 24 Log points each. The Griquas find themselves in last place with only 10 Log points.
With only 2 rounds remaining after this weekend the Sharks and Western Province have probably already booked their places in the semi-finals. The Blue Bulls find themselves in a must win scenario this weekend as a loss this weekend could see them end last on the Log and totally miss out in the race for a semi final place, they now already find themselves 5 Log points behind the 4th placed Free State Cheetahs.
A win in this match is crucial for the Springboks if they are to still have a chance of winning the tounament at the conclusion of the Test against the All Blacks next weekend, a loss could mean season over as far as silver wear goes.
The Wallabies are battling under new coaching staff and winning has become an extinct species down under.
They managed their first win this year in The Rugby Championship in their last encounter against the Pumas, with one solitary point, having scored zero points in the second half.
All in all it is doubtful that the Wallabies will walk away with a win in this match, having said that, they will not make it easy for the Springboks, in a must win match.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has named his team to face the Wallabies at Newlands on Saturday.
Fourie du Preez makes a welcome return to the starting lineup at scrumhalf and Adriaan Strauss gets the nod at hooker, with Bismarck du Plessis set on the bench.
Ewen McKenzie, Wallabies coach, has announced his team to play South Africa’s Springboks at Newlands in Cape Town this weekend, with James Horwill returning to the starting line up and captaining the side.
Nic White and Quade Cooper retains the halfback berths, with scrumhalf Will Genia and replacement flyhalf Matt Toomua on the bench.
Adam Ashley-Cooper moves to the wing in place of suspended James O’Connor and Tevita Kuridrani is brought in at outside centre, for his starting debut.