Springboks
Springboks (14) 31 / 8 (3) Wallabies (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:00 SA 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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The Springbok side to face the Wallabies on Saturday at Loftus, has been announced.
Two late changes have been made to the Springbok 22, with Francois Steyn failing a late fitness test and Coenie Oosthuizen also not fit enough to man the bench. Jean de Villiers moves to inside centre and Jaco Taute will make his Springbok debut at outside centre. PatCilliers replaces Coenie Oosthuizen on the bench.
It took guts and determination from Heyneke Meyer and clearly he has the best interests of Springbok Rugby as well as the individual interests of the players at heart, when making some hard and big decisions.
Johan Goosen starts at flyhalf and Andries Bekker starts at No 5 lock in place of Juandré Kruger. Elton Jantjies is on the bench and Morné Steyn drops out of the match 22 alltogether.
Flip van der Merwe moves down to the bench after a strong game against the New Zealand All Blacks, but one has to mention that Flip is carrying a niggling injury and did not practice with the squad on Monday and Tuesday.
There was a buzz at Loftus today as thousands gathered to watch the afternoon open practice session on Loftus main field. Fathers, mothers and heaps and heaps of children attended to watch Heyneke Meyer’s squad of 30 go through their paces. My son, BonzaiGBS, was our resident photographer and took hundreds of photographs.
There’s some good news and some bad news, I’m wondering which you want to hear first….
Four players have been called up to the Springbok squad of 30 for the final two Tests of The Rugby Championship, in South Africa against Australia and New Zealand. Continue reading
Rassie Erasmus says Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is tweaking his game plan ahead of next weekend’s Rugby Championship clash with the Wallabies in Pretoria.
Springbok Rugby coaches have released five players back to their Currie Cup squads from the squad that returned from New Zealand.
Springbok prop Dean Greyling has been suspended from all forms of Rugby for two weeks after he pleaded guilty for foul play.
Morne Steyn’s indifferent performance against the All Blacks has increased the pressure on Bok coach Heyneke Meyer to start Johan Goosen at flyhalf.
There is a caveat, and given Heyneke Meyer’s insistence that his team employed the right game-plan in Dunedin it is a significant one, but the Springboks have ended the away leg of their Castle Rugby Championship campaign with reason to be encouraged.
All Blacks (5) 21 / 11 (3) Springboks (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 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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Aaron Smith has had an early reminder of the standards that go along with being an All Black, the young Manawatu halfback benched for Saturday’s test against the Springboks for breaking a team recovery protocol.
The Springbok team that will face New Zealand in the fourth Test in The Rugby Championship in Dunedin on Saturday shows two changes from the side that played Australia last weekend.
Both changes are in the forwards, where lock Flip van der Merwe replaces the suspended Eben Etzebeth while Francois Louw comes in for Marcell Coetzee at flank.
The Springboks’ woes are set to continue for the remainder of the year due to the severity of their shortcomings.
Since I did not watch the game let me rather deal with statistics. I don’t know whether this will support Heyneke Meyer or not because I will post them as I source them. You sift through it and make with it whatever you will.
Wallabies (6) 26 / 19 (13) Springboks (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at Patersons Stadium, Perth at 12:35 SA Time (18:35 Perth 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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DHL Western Province No 8 Duane Vermeulen will make his Springbok debut against Australia in Perth on Saturday, in South Africa’s third test in The Rugby Championship for 2012.
Robbie Deans has brought in five players to an extended Australia squad for the Rugby Championship clash with South Africa.
Captain Jean de Villiers says the Springboks need to learn from their mistakes as they prepare for the Australasia leg of their Rugby Championship campaign.
DHL Western Province No 8 Duane Vermeulen and Toyota Free State Cheetahs flyhalf Johan Goosen are the two uncapped players that have been added to the Springbok squad for the Australasian leg of The Castle Rugby Championship.
The squad of 28 for Tests against Australia in Perth (September 8) and New Zealand in Dunedin (September 15), was finalised on Wednesday.
Apart from the inclusion of Vermeulen and Goosen, there were recalls for DHL Western Province midfielder Juan de Jongh as well as loose forward Francois Louw, who has captained Bath in England.
Any thoughts that Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer may have about selecting Toyota Free State wunderkid Johan Goosen should be shelved until the Boks get back from Australia and New Zealand.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer pulled no punches when asked where things went wrong for his team as they drew the second Test in The Castle Rugby Championship, against Argentina in Mendoza, by 16-16.
Pumas (13) 16 / 16 (3) Springboks (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championships at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza at 21:10 SA Time (16:10 ARG Time, 19:10 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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The Springboks have named their team to face Argentina in the second Rugby Championship Test match which will be held in Mendoza with two changes and one positional switch.
Media reports are quick to plug that the Springboks have never lost to the Pumas.
However I can still remember the day in 1982 when Hugo Porta’s South American team, the Jaguars, gave the Springboks a hiding 21-12 with Porta scoring all his team’s points by running in a try, kicking a drop goal, and slotting a few penalties and a conversion.
South Africa are facing an anxious wait over the fitness of Bryan Habana and Andries Bekker ahead of their match with Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday. Bryan Habana even disbarked in Mendoza on crutches and sporting a moonboot on one leg.
Sharks hooker Craig Burden has replaced injured hooker Bismarck du Plessis in the 26-man Springbok squad that will travel to Argentina for their second Rugby Championship match this coming weekend.
For my 2 cents worth, I thought this was a good game from South Africa without it being a commanding one.
Only the 4th match into the Heyneke Meyer era, and after a very long and hard Super Rugby season, the number of injuries, the tiredness of the Sharks players in the Springboks and the short preparation time, these are all contributing factors that will always make the early games in The Rugby Championships seem a bit loose.
This was also very evident in the Australian Wallabies vs New Zealand All blacks match where a number of balls were spilled, knock-on’s, errors, etc was the prevailing trend.
This will improve, and I expect to see a much better performance in the next set of matches.
I have penned my feelings, lets open the debate and have your reactions to the match.
Springboks (20) 27 / 6 (6) Pumas (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Argentinian Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship Newlands, Cape Town at 17:05 SA 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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Keegan Daniel’s inclusion into the Springbok team at No 8 was one of five changes to the Bok side which last played against England at the end of June.
Daniel comes in for the injured Pierre Spies, and coach Heyneke Meyer said the young player would provide the team with “that X-factor”.
Springbok centre Frans Steyn will on Saturday play in his 50th Test for South Africa when they take on Argentina in the opening round of The Castle Rugby Championship at DHL Newlands in Cape Town.
Springbok No 8 Pierre Spies has been ruled out of The Rugby Championship due to an injury he sustained playing Super Rugby last month.
Herewith some nice short audio clips from the Bok camp, as they prepare for this weekend’s clash at Newlands, Cape Town in the Springboks opener in The Rugby Championship.
The Blue Bulls have set their sights firmly on former Springbok and current Stormers defensive coach Jacques Nienaber and have made a big offer to him to join their coaching ranks as from 2013.
DHL Western Province centre Juan de Jongh has been called up to the Springbok squad in the place of the injured JP Pietersen.
Cape Town – Quickly freshening up the significant Sharks contingent in his Springbok squad is going to be a key, fairly formidable task for coach Heyneke Meyer ahead of the home-and-away Castle Rugby Championship Tests against Argentina.