Wales
The last remaining bastion of the amateur era’s traditions looks set to fall.
Wales and Clermont fullback Lee Byrne looks set for a long lay-off after breaking a bone in his back during Saturday’s European Cup clash with Leinster.
Wales are set to play on a plastic pitch at the Millennium Stadium in a ground-breaking move being proposed by the Welsh Rugby Union.
Roger Lewis, the WRU’s go-ahead chief executive, has revealed behind closed doors talks have taken place about implementing the artificial surface at the home of Welsh sport.
Wales will be confirmed in the third band of directly qualified teams for the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool Allocation Draw when the latest IRB World Rankings are published on Monday 3 December.
England (12) 38 / 21 (0) All Blacks (Final Score)
England and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Twickenham, London at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 03:30 Sunday 2 Dec NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 2 & SH2 on TV in SA.
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Scorers:
England:
- Penalties – Owen Farrell (4), Freddie Burns (2)
- Drop Goals – Owen Farrell (1)
- Tries – Brad Barritt (1), Chris Ashton (1), Manusamoa Tuilagi (1)
- Conversions – Owen Farrell (1)
All Blacks:
- Penalties – 0
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – Julian Savea (2), Kieran Read (1)
- Conversions – Daniel Carter (2), Aaron Cruden (1)
Teams:
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (Captain), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Liam Messam, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Victor Vito, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Ben Smith.
Date: Saturday 1 December 2012
Venue: Twickenham, London
Kick-off: 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 03:30 Sunday 2 December NZ time)
Expected weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 7°C, dropping to -1°C.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
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Wales (6) 12 / 14 (9) Wallabies (Final Score)
Wales and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 01:30 Sunday 2 Dec EAST).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SHD 4 on TV in SA.
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Scorers:
Wales:
- Penalties – Leigh Halpenny (4)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – 0
- Conversions – 0
Wallabies:
- Penalties – Kurtley Beale (3)
- Drop Goals – 0
- Tries – Kurtley Beale (1)
- Conversions – 0
Teams:
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Ian Evans, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Scott Williams.
Australia: 15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Higginbotham, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Dave Dennis, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Digby Ioane.
Date: Saturday 1 December 2012
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT, 01:30 Sunday 2 December AEDST)
Expected weather: There is a chance of rain, but with the roof set to be closed it should not be an issue. However, as we have seen, the surface cuts up badly regardless. It will be a high of 7°C and a low of 1°C
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite, Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
The Southern Hemisphere Rugby season is fast approaching a welcome close for players , administrators and coaching staff, but at the same time some of us are are a bit despondant that we would have to watch cricket & golf as substitute in place of our crazy rugby addiction…. oh and lest we forget those things in and around the house we failed to have time for in the year.
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However, tomorrow and on Saturday there is still the HSBC Sevens World Series Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, and on Saturday we get our last brief fix of full Test match rugby when England meet the All Blacks and Wales host the Wallabies (pity these two games are on at the same time again) at the End Of Year Tours to the Northern Hemisphere. PLUS of course we get a sprinkling of Northern Hemisphere Club Rugby to view too.
So, what’s in stall for us as far as TV rugby viewing is concerned this weekend?
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Herewith the viewing schedule:
The All Blacks side has already been known and reported about, herewith the remaining 3 sides for this weekend’s End Of Year Toursgames on Saturday.
The Wales rugby player flattened by a swinging arm from New Zealand hooker Andrew Hore suffered three-day memory loss as a result of the incident.
Wales (0) 10 / 33 (23) All Blacks (Final Score)
Wales and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 19:15 SA Time (17:15 GMT, 06:15 Sunday 25 Nov NZ Time).
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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George North & Liam Williams
Wales have suffered a big blow ahead of their Test match at the Millennium stadium with New Zealand’s All Blacks as winger George North has been replaced by Liam Williams.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has made five changes to the team that lost to Samoa for this week’s Test match against World Champions New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
When Warren Gatland relinquished fulltime coaching duties with Wales in the summer, his side had just won the Six Nations and was still feasting on its run to the World Cup semifinals.
Wales (13) 19 / 26 (10) Samoa (Final Score)
Wales and Samoa did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 21:30 SA Time.
This is the live match discussion Article.
The match is broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Wales have named former Grand Slam winning captain Ryan Jones to captain the team against Samoa at the Millennium Stadium on Friday.
Wales are sweating on the fitness of two of their marquee players, centre Jamie Roberts and lock Alun Wyn Jones, in the wake of their 26-12 defeat to Argentina at the Millennium Stadium.
Wales (9) 12 / 26 (6) Pumas (Final Score)
Wales and the Argentinian Pumas did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 16:30 SA Time.
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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The customary time of the year when Southern Hemisphere International teams descend on the Northern Hemisphere is now upon us. We can look forward to four action packed weekends with twenty matches involving the various international teams (nineteen of which will be test matches).
Wales interim coach Robert Howley has dropped Mike Phillips and brought in Scarlet Tavis Knoyle at scrum-half to face Argentina in Cardiff on Saturday.
Brian O’Driscoll said after the 3rd New Zealand/Ireland test match that speed at the ruck is what matters most and that the scoreboard reflect (60-0 for the All Blacks) in essence what happened at the breakdowns.
McCaw on questioned what did the AB’s rectify, after the second test, to produce the marked improvement in the All Blacks game said: “We kept our line better and were more successful (as compared to the second test) to create forward momentum at the rucks”.
Wallabies (12) 20 / (9) 19 Wales (Final Score)
Australia and Wales did battle in the 3rd Test of the series at Akianz Stadium, Sydney at 07:00 SA Time (15:00 Sydney 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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Argentina (0) 17 / (19) 25 Wales (Final Score)
Argentina and Wales did battle in the IRB Junior World Championships, 3rd Place Play-off, at Newlands, Cape Town at 16:30 SA Time.
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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Wales have questioned the legitimacy of the Wallabies breakdown tactics and want a meeting with the referee before this weekend’s third Test in Sydney, assistant coach Shaun Edwards said on Monday.
Wellington – World champions New Zealand will play Tests against Scotland, Italy, Wales and England on their tour of Europe in November, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said on Monday.
The apparent closing of the gap between the northern and southern hemisphere rugby teams evident at the weekend is in part the result of a change in scheduling, according to Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards.
The scores from the various matches will be updated here as a live thread. All the games are live on SS1 and SS5
Wallabies (13) 25 / (7) 23 Wales (Final Score)
Australia and Wales did battle in the second Test at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne at 12:00 SA Time (20:00 Melbourne 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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Wales survived second half comeback by the Brumbies to win 15-25 after taking a strong half time lead at Canberra Stadium on Tuesday.
Wales have named their team to face the Brumbies on Tuesday next week with lock Luke Charteris as the only who survives from the first Test defeat to Australia.
Wallabies (10) 27 / (3) 19 Wales (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and Wales did battle in a Test at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane at 12:00 SA Time (20:00 Brisbane 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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Wales have made four changes to the team that won the Six Nations Grand Slam for the first test against Australia on Saturday with Scott Williams coming at centre.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has responded to his side’s shock loss to Scotland, making eight changes to the starting line-up for the first Test against Wales in Brisbane.
Wales (3) 44 / (12) 18 Fiji (Final Score)
Wales and Fiji did battle in th IRB Junior World Championships at Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch at 14:45 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Wales (13) 30 / (14) 21 Barbarians (Final Score)
Wales and the Barbarians did battle at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 15:00 SA Time (14:00 UK Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 6 on TV in SA.
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Wales have named three debutants in their team to face the Barbarians and have also named veteran flanker Martyn Williams on the bench wherehe is set to win his 100th cap at Millennium Stadium.
The Barbarians Summer Series proper begins this weekend with the Killik Cup against England at Twickenham, and not much has been spoken about it here.