Wales
The Brumbies will keep match-fit in the June Super Rugby break by playing a game against Six Nations champions Wales at Canberra Stadium on the 12th of June.
Wales (3) 27 / Scotland (3) 13 (Final Score)
Wales and Scotland did battle in week 2 of the Six Nations of 2012 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Ireland (10) 21 / Wales (5) 23 (Final Score)
Ireland and Wales did battle in the Third Six Nations Test of 2012 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Wales have suffered a further injury blow with the news that hooker Matthew Rees will miss the Six Nations opener away to Ireland and next week’s home match against Scotland.
Wales record try scoring winger Shane Williams will hang up his rugby boots and retire from all rugby at the end of this season.
Wales came from nowhere to win it in 2008 with a Grand Slam to boot. Ireland emulated them twelve months later, France followed suit in 2010 and last year England made it to the top of the pile before their World Cup implosion.
There is nothing to beat the RBS 6 Nations and not merely because of its capacity to spread the title around. Four different champions in successive years had last happened long before the Five became Six, a sequence completed in 1982 when Ollie Campbell’s fusillade of seven goals swamped a lone Scottish try to guarantee Ireland the Triple Crown and, ultimately, the championship.
Australian Super Rugby teams will attempt to hold on to their momentum and keep their players match fit in June with friendly matches against Scotland, Wales and a South African Currie Cup team.
The British and Irish Lions have revealed that three of the current Six Nations coaches will effectively be on trial for the Lions head coaching job to be announced later this year.
Wales’ Rugby World Cup captain Sam Warburton has been named rugby personality of 2011 beating World Cup winning coach Graham Henry to the title.
Almost time for the Six Nations competition. First games will be played in four weeks time. Here is some History of the Championship.
Played annually, the format of the Championship is simple: each team plays every other team once, with home field advantage alternating from one year to the next.
Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss and unlike most other rugby union competitions the bonus point system is not used.
Wales’s four major professional clubs have agreed to operate a salary cap from the start of next season despite seeing several leading players leave for lucrative deals with French teams.
I was sent a link to this Article by our friend and fellow blogger, TonyM… it’s long, but read it!
WALES’ four regions are ready to welcome official talks with English and French club bosses about revolutionary plans to reform the world rugby calendar.
Bath owner Bruce Craig is proposing a radical overhaul of the season structure to bring the two hemispheres in line regards their domestic and international games.
Wales (6) 18 / Wallabies (3) 24 (Final Score)
Wales and the Australian Wallabies did battle at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 16:30 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was NOT broadcast LIVE on TV in SA. There will be a recorded broadcast from about 18:00 SA Time.
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Twenty-one-year-old James O’Connor will start his maiden Test as a fly-half after today being named in the number 10 jersey for the Wallabies for Saturday’s game against Wales in Cardiff.
With the international season taking a bit of a breather, I thought some informative statistics would be interesting. I am looking at the home record of the top nations, seeing when was the last time they lost a home test to each of the other nations.
I would think any nation would expect at least a 75% home win record as the minimm standard to attain. anything less would mean your home ground advantage counts for very little and travelling teams do not find it a daunting task to tour.
With Rugby news now a bit scrappy and few and far between for Southern Hemisphere Rugby interests, at least we can look forward to some Rugby participation by the Southern Hemisphere this weekend.
There is the HSBC Sevens World Series Gold Coast Tournament, the first IRB Sevens Tournament for the 2011 – 2012 Season, on Friday and Saturday as well as the Wallabies vs Barbarians game on Saturday, where Springbok legend Victor Matfield bids his final farewell in any form of competative rugby, finally retiring after a wonderful playing career.
Australia’s long injury list from the Rugby World Cup has opened the door for three new Wallaby caps in the Australian rugby squad which will play two matches in Wales and England in late November and December.
Shane Williams has confirmed that he plans to end his international rugby career with Wales against Australia in Cardiff on December the 3rd.
Wallabies (7) 21 / Wales (3) 18 (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and Wales did battle at Eden Park, Auckland at 09:30 SA Time (20:30 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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The Wallabies take the spoils and the Rugby World Cup 2011 Bronze medal in a match which promised so much at the start and then deteriorated into a scrappy affair.
The best passage of play in the match was probably the last 28-phase possession play by Wales, leading to Leigh Halfpenny’s try after full time was well over.
While Australia and Wales arrived at the Rugby World Cup with different goals but have ended up with the same intention: To go home with something tangible to show.
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen has hosed down any speculation on Richie McCaw’s ability to play in New Zealand’s semi-final against Australia at Eden Park on Sunday. Continue reading
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen says Richie McCaw will play against Argentina this weekend, despite fears that a troublesome foot injury could keep the New Zealand captain on the sidelines for the quarter-final at Eden Park.
“He’s great,” Hansen told a press conference at the team hotel. “He’s going to play on Sunday.”
All Blacks star Daniel Carter is injured and won’t play in this week’s World Cup match with Japan.
Carter, who suffered a sore back in the opening clash against Tonga, was replaced by Canterbury’s Colin Slade in the starting XV, with halfback Jimmy Cowan coming on to the bench, and Piri Weepu moving out to provide first–five cover.
The Crusaders have suffered another cruel blow with the loss of Captain Richie McCaw for the rest of the regular Super Rugby season.
All Blacks’ inspirational captain Richie McCaw has confirmed that he has re-signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise, committing through until 2015.
Whilst South Africans might admire the fact that New Zealand Rugby has successfully retained Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and soon to be confirmed, Sonny Bill Williams – post Rugby World Cup 2011, there are some who believe the All Blacks have ‘sold their soul’.
The Crusaders have named their team to face the Highlanders this weekend with Richie McCaw and Dan Carter both missing the match due to injury.
Many rugby players will go down in history as legends, very few will be classed as a genius. Continue reading
All Blacks and Crusaders captain Richie McCaw will miss the first month of the Super Rugby season after fracturing a bone in his foot.
Continue reading
Springbok rugby and South African rugby in general is coming to the end of an era, and it might be time to think about what the future holds. Continue reading