Super Rugby
The Lions, promoted to Vodacom Super Rugby this season after a year’s absence, have revealed their new-look jersey.
Chiefs hooker Hika Elliot has been training with his team-mates but a decision on his short and long term playing future will have to be made.
The Super Rugby winning hooker has a serious neck injury which could force him into retiring from playing rugby altogether.
Blues coach Sir John Kirwan has revealed that his big name new signing Benji Marshall is likely to wear the No 10 jersey.
Brumbies winger Henry Speight says that he is ready to make the transition from Super Rugby winger to Wallabies international winger.
Speight wants to make a push for Wallabies selection as he became eligible last year having waited to become eligible.
Brendan Venter’s passion for coaching knows no bounds. His latest stop on a world-wide coaching tour is Port Elizabeth.
Robbie Kempson, the Southern Kings’ caretaker coach, revealed that Venter is assisting him with the PE-based outfit.
The Cheetahs were made to work hard for their narrow 31-26 victory over the NMMU Madibaz in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
It was a second-string Cheetahs side which faced the Varsity Cup outfit from the Eastern Cape, and they were pushed all the way in a tight encounter.
Stormers vice-captain Schalk Burger says they will pay more attention to their attacking game in this year’s Super Rugby competition.
The Stormers have been the best defensive team over the last few seasons, but their attack has been almost non-existent at times.
New Sharks captain Bismarck du Plessis will be counting on the support of his predecessor Keegan Daniel in the pre-season friendly against English club Saracens in London on Saturday.
The Springbok hooker, who was the natural choice by incoming director of rugby Jake White, said he had the full backing of the former skipper following the change of leadership last week.
Long-serving Southern Kings player Darron Nell is back as captain and relishing a return to the loose forward department when his side take on the Cheetahs in a Super Rugby warm-up match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The Kings will not be involved in the Super Rugby competition this year, having lost to the Lions in a promotion playoff last year. However, they were still determined to give a good account of themselves in the pre-season clash.
Lions coach Johan Ackermann named two 28-man sides to face the Leopards, in his team’s first Super Rugby warm-up matches.
Both games, scheduled for 16:30 and 19:00, will take place at Ellis Park on Friday.
A rolling substitution system will be in place for both matches, as the games will act as opportunities to test and assess various combinations.
Entrance to both matches is free to the public.
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Jean Cook, imported from the Bulls in the off-season, has jumped ahead of Sevens Springbok Johannes Prinsloo in the Cheetahs loose forward queue.
Cook, who started his career with the Cheetahs where he made only one senior appearance before switching to the Bulls in 2012, is set to fill the gap left by injured Bok openside flank Heinrich Brussow.
It has been confirmed that Cook will start – alongside Pieter Labuschagné and Philip van der Walt – as the Cheetahs’ first-choice loose trio against the Southern Kings on Saturday.
A lot of rugby will be played this weekend, with the much awaited friendly between Saracens and the Cell C Sharks, the HSBC Sevens World Series tournament in Las Vegas and the LV Cup, amongst others, happening.
The Referees & Match Officials have been named.
One can feel that South African rugby supporters are chomping at the bit for their season to start and the good news is that the weekend’s pre-season friendly match between the Cell C Sharks and Saracens at Allianz Park in London on Saturday 25 January will be televised live on SuperSport 1, SHD and CSN.
Hi,
After an Off-season which certainly drove me slightly more batty than I already was, the new Rugby Season is now close at hand.
The coming weekend sees some of Super Rugby’s warm-up matches, with the Lions playing the Leopards on Friday evening 24 January, the Cheetahs playing against NMMU and again against the Kings on Saturday and of course the Sharks playing Saracens on Saturday 25 January in London. In addition there is the HSBC Sevens World Series Las Vegas tournament on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday and slightly into Monday very early morning.
The excitement in Grant Doorey’s husky Australian voice was palpable, as the Blues assistant coach looked on while the backs ran through their attacking strike moves.
“I said the first time I had the backs group together that there wouldn’t be any backs coach in Super Rugby that was as excited as me in terms of the quality he had in his room so we’ve got real star quality across the park,” Doorey said.
Springbok fullback Willie le Roux will be rested from the Cheetahs’ two warm-up matches in Port Elizabeth this week, according to reports.
Le Roux fell on his shoulder during the Cheetahs’ warm-up game against Shimlas last week. He is not badly injured but won’t be risked for games against NMMU (Tuesday) and the EP Kings (Saturday).
Carel Greeff is the latest Varsity Cup product looking to leave his mark in Super Rugby.
Greeff, who played loose forward for Wits University last year, is the big bolter in a 36-man Cheetahs squad that will head to Jeffreys Bay on Monday for a week-long training camp.
Jackson Willison is the latest player to ink a lucrative contract with an overseas club, signing a two-year deal with Top 14 French outfit Grenoble.
This is the 8th and last article in the series of Bulls Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for BACK THREE in the Vodacom Bulls 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 8th and last article in the series of Cell C Sharks Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for BACK THREE in the Cell C Sharks 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 8th and last in the series of Stormers Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for BACK THREE in the DHL Stormers 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 8th and last in the series of Cheetahs Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We did 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for BACK THREE in the Toyota Cheetahs 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 8th and last in the series of the Lions Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for BACK THREE in the Lions 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
It may have been a low-key pre-season outing, but the Cheetahs put all their attacking prowess on display to beat Shimlas 66-19 on Friday.
And in a later game, also at Shimla Park in Bloemfontein, Griquas accounted for the Cheetahs’ second string 21-19.
New Sharks mentor Jake White may know what he wants to do with Pat Lambie and Frans Steyn, but question marks remain over a few other players.
White has made known that Lambie will be his first-choice flyhalf and Steyn will play No 12.
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby, Jake White, on Thursday announced that Springbok hooker, Bismarck du Plessis, will captain the Cell C Sharks in 2014.
Regarded as one of the best hookers in the world, Bismarck has been colossal figure for the Cell C Sharks over the years. With 103 Vodacom Super Rugby appearances to his name, he is a player who leads by example and is well respected by the team.
This is the 7th article in the series of Bulls Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the Vodacom Bulls 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 7th article in the series of Cell C Sharks Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the Cell C Sharks 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
The Cell C Sharks have named their squad to face Saracens on Saturday 25 January 2014, when they will play in a pre-season friendly at Allianz Park in London.
It will be the first time in a game situation that Jake White will be in charge of the Cell C Sharks and this game is one of 2 scheduled warm-up matches for the Sharks, in preparation of the 2014 Super Rugby season.
The squad is minus a few players, notably with Patrick Lambie, JP Pietersen, SP Marais and a couple of locks not going on tour.
Cheslin Kolbe’s Super Rugby debut has been pushed back after the rising star suffered a serious knee injury during a Stormers training session on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old suffered a torn lateral meniscus in what coach Allister Coetzee described as a “freak accident” and requires surgery that will sideline him for at least eight weeks.
Senior Springboks Jean de Villiers and Schalk Burger will head up the Stormers’ leadership group in the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season.
De Villiers, who has led the Springboks with such success in 2012 and 2013, will again captain the Stormers this season, while Burger, back to full health and fitness, will serve as his vice-captain.
Springbok and Stormers wing Gio Aplon’s preferred destination, if he leaves South African rugby, will be Japan, and not France, as earlier reports had indicated.
Western Province Rugby chief executive Rob Wagner has moved to dismiss reports that Aplon had signed a contract with French team Grenoble.
The Lions Super Rugby pre-season preparations are in full swing and head coach Johan Ackermann says he is happy with the squad’s progress so far.
This is the 7th in the series of Stormers Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the DHL Stormers 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
This is the 7th in the series of Cheetahs Squad Contenders for Super Rugby 2014. We do 2 articles per week per South African Super Rugby participating franchise.
We discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for MIDFIELD in the Toyota Cheetahs 2014 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.