Super Rugby
Looking at the hooker position, the Cheetahs have had a fair bit of consistency over the last few seasons of Super rugby. As we look at the contenders, it will be more a case of who to select as back up for current Springbok vice captain, and current Cheetahs captain, Adriaan Strauss.
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).
2012 Saw the Stormers topping the table in the round robin, only to lose out to the Sharks in the semi’s. 2013 Will be a big year for the boys. With almost the whole of the young 2012 squad still available and the coaching staff remaining unchanged (unlike the very disruptive 2012 start), this side has every chance of going all the way this year. Add to the squad the likes of Burger, Cilliers, Rhodes, Taute and Jantjies, depth in every position looks so much better.
In this Article we look at the contenders for PROPS at the Southern Kings 2013 Super Rugby group.
It is extremely difficult to pre-judge the Southern Kings and the performance we could expect from them, hell it is even difficult to get full player particulars of the players who are squad contenders in many instances, so here it goes.. warts and all.
Vodacom Bulls lock Juandrè Kruger did not extend his contract with the Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd beyond the the 2013 Vodacom Super Rugby season and will leave the Vodacom Bulls to join up with French club Racing Metro 92.
In the first week of discussion of Super Rugby squad contenders (17 to 23 December), we will discuss 2 positions in seperate Articles (Props & Hookers) and also seperate the Articles of the 5 SA Super Rugby participating franchises.
That means 10 Super Rugby Articles every week from now on.
The basic idea is to discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for PROPS in the Vodacom Bulls 2013 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
A year has come and gone, and now we face a “rugby drought” until Super 15 kicks off mid February 2013. It is the “dry season” as far as rugby news goes, so am sure most of us are getting withdrawl symptoms. Hopefully this will solicit some debate or scorn.
I list the possible contenders for props in the Cheetahs 2013 Super Rugby group. The Cheetahs seem to have a penchant for grooming young props, with most of the contenders still puppies as far as props go.
The Southern Kings have admitted they went ahead and signed additional foreigners, despite a South African Rugby Union statement that they are allowed just two imports.
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.
Brumbies scrumhalf Nic White was assaulted at a music festival and has fractured his jaw, but is not expected to miss the start of the Super Rugby season.
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.
The Southern Kings have signed Toulouse hooker Virgil Lacombe as their fourth international player for Super Rugby next year.
Adidas, the global sports brand, on Friday unveiled the new-look DHL Stormers kit which brings the Western Province and the Stormers brands much closer for the 2013 season.
South Africa’s Player of the Year, record-breaking Springbok wing Bryan Habana, is yet again in the sights of Toulon’s eccentric boss Mourad Boudjellal.
EP Rugby CEO Anele Pamba has resigned from his position with immediate effect, leaving President Cheeky Watson in “shock”.
The Brumbies have announced that they have signed former Rugby League coach Brian Smith as their defence/collision coach for the 2013 Super Rugby season.
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.
The Brumbies will establish a talented-player squad to boost depth and give players a pathway to Super Rugby less than a year after the ARU abolished the province academies.
It was revealed that Jake White is moving to bridge the gap between amateur and professional rugby with the top 20 players from the capital’s premier division to be added to a Brumbies talent squad.
Veteran hooker Keven Mealamu has become the latest player to opt for a ‘sabbatical’ during next year’s Super Rugby competition.
The Kings have been working hard on their fitness ahead of what they know will be a gruelling debut Super Rugby season next year.
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:
The Southern Kings will have two New Zealand coaches at the helm during next year’s Super Rugby competition.
The Official Media Release of the Golden Lions Rugby Union, reads as follows regarding former head coach, John Mitchell, who has been redeployed as a technical advisor to the Union, and Johan Ackermann has been appointed as head coach. I hope this long and drawn out saga has finally been resloved and the Lions can concentrate on the Lions Challenge and Currie Cup in their quest to regain Super Rugby status.
Super Rugby newcomers, the Southern Kings, are busy finalising their squad for next year’s tournament.
The Cheetahs started their preparations for the 2013 Super 15, with fitness assessments today. All the injured players, and new signings were present, except Cornal Hendricks, who the Cheetahs have contracted, but SARU maintain he is still contracted to them.
Private investors have been granted the licences to run two of New Zealand’s Super Rugby teams from 2013, the New Zealand Rugby Union said on Monday, in a move aimed at better exploiting the commercial potential of the franchises.
The Southern Kings appear to have given up on their pursuit of foreign imports, while also confirming that they are in talks with another Springbok.
The Sharks squad for the new season is taking shape and what is encouraging is that it seems that the only players leaving the Sharks are Steven Sykes who will Join the Kings in Port Elizabeth as well as Piet Lindeque who will be furthering his studies and rugby career at the university of Pretoria although the latter not yet confirmed.
Springbok winger Bryan Habana was on Thursday named South African Rugby Player of the Year for the third time, while DHL Western Province picked up a brace of awards as their Absa Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup success was recognised at a glittering ceremony at the Cape Town International Airport. The Sharks also scored off the field, with three awards heading to Durban.
The five New Zealand Super Rugby franchises have announced their squads for the 2013 Super Rugby season with 43 debutants being named in the 159 listed players.
The Southern Kings have been given a player boost by the news that both Western Province Currie Cup hero Demetri Catrakilis and Lions and Bok hooker Bandise Maku will be joining them for the 2013 edition of Vodacom Super Rugby.
Australian Super Rugby sides are allowed 35 players each, moved up from 30 in 2012, in their Extended Player Squads for Super Rugby 2013.
The worst kept secret in South African rugby has finally been confirmed. Elton Jantjies will be a Stormer in 2013.
Lions flyhalf Butch James is set to return to play for the Sharks, which would delay his retirement until July 2013.