SA Rugby
It won’t all be plain sailing for Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer as on Monday he begins the buildup to Saturday’s first test match of the season against Italy in Durban.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has announced his Springbok squad for the 2013 June Internationals.
The surprise inclusions are Lourens Adriaanse, Trevor Nyakane and Bjorn Basson.
The surprise omissions are Raymond Rhule, Robert Ebersohn, Ryan Kankowski and Elton Jantjies.
Nine uncapped players, six of whom have not been part of the national set-up before, have been included in a 34-man Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Incoming Series involving Italy, Samoa and Scotland later this month.
Out of favour Sharks No 8, Ryan Kankowski may leave South Africa after playing for the SA Sevens team at the upcoming World Cup.
The Vodacom Bulls firmed their grip on the top position of the South African conference on Saturday by beating closet rivals, the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday, while the DHL Stormers kept their outside change of a play-off spot alive with a bruising win over the Southern Kings on a drenched DHL Newlands pitch in Cape Town.
The other South African team, The Sharks, enjoyed a bye.
Cheetahs (10) 25 / 30 (17) Bulls (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 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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Stormers (6) 19 / 11 (3) Kings (Final Score)
The DHL Stormers and Southern Kings did battle in Super Rugby at Newlands, Cape Town at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 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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Griquas pivot Burton Francis is set to leave Kimberley after signing a deal with French club Agen.
In the war of words Naka Drotske said “It’s our season for firsts”
A well-prepared South Africa Under-20 team leave for France on Thursday where they will defend their Junior World Championship title.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) have once again changed or shifted the goal posts for the remaining schedule of The Lions Challenge.
The French Barbarians game, which was cancelled and substituted with a SA Barbarians game, now falls away too, and in stead the Lions now have a bye weekend on that weekend.
They can colour it anyway they like, but it stenches of more incompetence and poor execution of a season which was always going to be a difficult one for the embattled Union.
6 International games have now been canned already!
Luke Watson’s much-anticipated return to Newlands is off. The Southern Kings captain has been ruled out of his team’s encounter with the Stormers.
Watson, who captained the Stormers during his stint in Cape Town, has been ruled out of Saturday’s Newlands encounter due to Flu.
French club Montpellier have snapped up the signatures of two top SA midfielders – Vodacom Bulls veteran Wynand Olivier and DHL Western Province centre JP Du Plessis among their acquisitions ahead of the new European season.
Sharks centre Piet Lindeque is heading back to the Cheetahs to continue his rugby career in Bloemfontein.
Die Toyota Cheetahs afrigter, Naka Drotske, het Raymond Rhule teruggebring as verandering in die beginspan vir die kardinale Super Rugby kragmeting met die Vodacom Bulls, hierdie Saterdag.
Fit-again forwards De Kock Steenkamp and Deon Fourie have been named in the DHL Stormers starting line-up for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby encounter against the Southern Kings at DHL Newlands (kick-off 17:05).
Die Vodacom Bulls-afrigter, Frans Ludeke, het vier skuiwe gemaak vir sy span se Vodacom Super Rugby-wedstryd teen die Toyota Cheetahs Saterdag in Bloemfontein, met Arno Botha, Jan Serfontein, Werner Kruger en Lionel Mapoe almal in die opdrafspan.
SANZAR has released the names of the match officials for Round 16 of Super Rugby 2013. Glen Jackson once again starts the action between the Crusaders and Waratahs on Friday.
This weekend sees 6 matches, with 2 on Friday and 4 on Saturday.
Taking a look at the Super Rugby season for The Sharks thus far has been painful and regrettable, the uncertainty and anger of supporters as to “What just happened out there” or “Why? Who is to blame?” and naturally the first thing that is thrown around is “Dismiss the coaching staff!”.
How will Heyneke Meyer fare in 2013?
The Vodacom Bulls and Toyota Cheetahs are now firmly in playoff contention with the June break looming after crucial away victories on an exciting weekend of Vodacom Super Rugby.
Bulls wing Bjorn Basson has been cited for a dangerous tackle during Saturday’s 18-16 win over the Sharks at Kings Park.
Sharks (3) 16 / 18 (9) Bulls (Final Score)
The Sharks and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at Kings Park, Durban at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 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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Stormers (3) 20 / 15 (0) Reds (Final Score)
The DHL Stormers and Reds did battle in Super Rugby at Newlands, Cape Town at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 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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Kings (12) 22 / 34 (13) Cheetahs (Final Score)
The Southern Kings and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at Nelson Mandela bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 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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Here are the Super Rugby Team Sheets as they are announded for Round 15 of Super Rugby 2013.
Vodacom Bulls scrumhalf Jano Vermaak will make a 100th Vodacom Super Rugby appearance on Saturday if he takes to the field in his side’s match against The Sharks in Durban.
The former Cats (11 caps) and MTN Lions (62 caps) player will represent the Vodacom Bulls for the 28th time and become South Africa’s 22nd centurion at that level.
Springbok flank Jacques Potgieter is set to leave the Bulls for good after requesting a release from his contract.
A group of 38 players, featuring eight players who were not part of the first camp, will assemble in Durban for the second Springbok training camp before the final squad for the Castle Lager Incoming Series is named early next month.
The Vodacom Bulls are set to announce a two-year contract extention to head coach Frans Ludeke’s contract on Wednesday.
Andries Bekker’s career at the Stormers may well have come to a premature end as he joined the Cape franchise’s ever-increasing injury list.
Bekker and fellow Springbok Juan de Jongh were the latest additions to the Stormers’ injury list, ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Reds at Newlands.
The Southern Kings team has remained relatively unchanged for the Round 15 Super Rugby encounter with the Cheetahs.
There is just one change in their starting line-up, as SP Marais returns at fullback for the Round 15 game in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
SANZAR has released the names of the match officials for Round 15 of Super Rugby 2013. Steve Walsh starts the action between the Chiefs and Crusaders on Friday after Chris Pollock was originally named to be in charge of the match at Waikato Stadium but a minor leg injury has ruled him out, Walsh coming in as replacement.
We have 7 matches this weekend, 2 on Friday and 5 on Saturday.
Being officially out of the Vodacom Super Rugby race has not exempted the DHL Stormers from further injuries, with several players on the doubtful list for a clash against the Reds at Newlands on Saturday that is of academic interest only to South African fans.
Of course former Springbok coach Jake White and his Brumbies, and the Waratahs that beat them this past weekend, may have different ideas about the irrelevance of the game.
The Sharks and the Springboks have received a blow with the news that wing JP Pietersen will be sidelined for an extended period.
Europcar South Africa has joined the South African Rugby Union (SARU) sponsors’ family as the official car rental supplier to SARU, its national squads and national teams, it was announced on Tuesday.