Wallabies
Former Lions hooker Ettienne Reynecke will make his debut for the DHL Stormers off the bench in Saturday’s big north/south derby against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus.
Reynecke joined the Stormers on loan from Saracens last week to help buffer the loss of Tiaan Liebenberg to a knee ligament injury. Liebenberg is expected to be out for another four weeks, which means he should be ready to tour with the Stormers when they leave for overseas in April.
The Crusaders match against the Sharks match at Twickenham has been confirmed for March 27 at 4pm local time.
England’s Rugby Football Union have agreed to host the match on the Sunday as the previous date clashed with Harlequins playing Gloucester at the Twickenham Stoop in the Aviva Premiership.
The ACT Brumbies problems continued to mount on Sunday with the news that back-row forward Mitchell Chapman fractured his cheekbone and faces up to 10 weeks on the sidelines.
The Referees and Match Officials have been allotted for all the Super Rugby games of Week 5 to Week 8 (till 9 April 2011), announced by SANZAR.
They are:
The Waratahs are sweating over the availability of several of their top stars ahead of the clash with the Cheetahs on Saturday.
Skipper Phil Waugh (bicep) and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau (knee) are facing a race against the clock to be fit, while Wallaby duo Wycliff Palu and Berrick Barnes are expected to be back in the starting line-up after recovering from injury.
Vodacom Bulls players Gary Botha and Francois Hougaard will know on Tuesday whether they will be fit to face the Stormers this weekend.
DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee has said it is “touch and go” whether regular captain Schalk Burger will be back from injury in time to lead his team in their massive Vodacom Super Rugby challenge against the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus on Saturday.
Injury-plagued Blues lock Ali Williams will miss the next month of Super rugby after sustaining a hamstring injury during Sunday’s 22-22 draw with the Force.
Lions fullback James Kamana will appear at a SANZAR judicial hearing in Johannesburg on Tuesday 15 March after being cited for a dangerous tackle during last Saturday’s Super Rugby clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
In the last Super Rugby match of the weekend, the Toyota Cheetahs hosted the Lions in a bottom of the table clash in Bloemfontein.
In what was effectively a make or break game for both sides, it was the visitors from Johannesburg who emerged with the points that they hope will ressurect their Super Rugby season.
Cheetahs (14) 20 / Lions (16) 25 (Final Score)
The Cheetahs hosted the Lions at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 17:05. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, HD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Lions finally managed to break their 17 game Super Rugby duck, winning by 25 / 20.
Force (16) 22 / Blues (9) 22 (Final Score)
The Western Force hosted the Blues at nib Stadium, Perth at 13:05 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
A penalty to the Blues after the hooter equalled the scores, a draw, 22 / 22.
Hurricanes (10) 29 / Chiefs (13) 26 (Final Score)
The Hurricanes hosted the Chiefs at the Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 08:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD and CSN on TV in SA.
A chilly wind greeted the Highlanders and DHL Stormers at Newlands on Friday night which saw the home side walk of with a boring 18-6 win.
Although the Highlanders enjoyed a fair amount of possession, they found themselves idle by not converting the positive momentum they created into points, and rather made unnecessary errors.
Stormers (12) 18 / Highlanders (6) 6 (Final Score)
The Stormers hosted the Highlanders at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD and M-Net on TV in SA.
In a very hard battle where the Stormers had to make more than double the tackles compared to the Highlanders, the Stormers toughed out an ugly win.
Rather an ugly win though than a spectacular loss!
Rebels (18) 32 / Sharks (13) 34 (Final Score)
The Melbourne Rebels hosted the Sharks at AAMI Park, Melbourne at 10:40 SA Time. This was the game thread for discussion of the match. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD and M-Net on TV in SA.
The Sharks won by the skin of their teeth, 34 / 32, but in the process managed to get their bonus point for tries scored.
The worrying thing for the Sharks will be that they conceded 4 tries in return, after not giving a single try away before this match.
Crusaders (19) 52 / Brumbies (10) 10 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Brumbies at Travalgar Park, Nelson at 08:35 SA Time. This was the game thread for discussion of the match. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD and M-Net on TV in SA.
The Crusaders started slowly and by Halftime were only 9 points in the lead but after Halftime they let rip in the first 9 minutes and scored try after try, demolishing the Brumbies.
Sean Maitland scored an impressive 4 tries on the night.
The Bulls may have been given the week off, but the team’s brains trust has still been mulling over a few important issues in the wake of their defeat to the Highlanders. Continue reading
Lock Chris Jack will play his 100th game for the Crusaders when he takes the field in the Super Rugby match against the Brumbies at Trafalgar Park, Nelson, on Friday.
Jack, who plays his provincial rugby for Tasman, made his debut for the Crusaders 12 years ago and will start in the number four jersey, replacing Brad Thorn.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has dropped his captain from last week, Naas Olivier, and brought back Heinrich Brüssow in his team to face the Lions.
John Smit aka “Barney” will start for the first time in this year’s Super Rugby Tournament as he leads the side out in their second tour match against the Melbourne Rebels on Friday.
The Sharks have been approached by the Crusaders about playing their match on March the 25th at Twickenham in London.
The Crusaders cannot play their scheduled matches at AMI Stadium as it was damaged by the earthquake that hit Christchurch last month.
Herewith the Super Rugby team sheets as thet are announced for week 4 of Super Rugby 2011. The rest of the teams will be added as team sheets are made available.
Allister Coetzee, head coach of the DHL Stormers, today named his team to take on the Highlanders at DHL Newlands on Friday 11 March. Kick off is at 19h10.
The Cheetahs look set to pick their fourth captain of the season with flyhalf Naas Olivier facing the axe in a tactical ploy designed to engineer their first Super Rugby victory of the year.
The DHL Stormers back three reshuffle that some critics have been speculating over has moved a step closer to becoming a reality as Conrad Jantjes battles with an Achilles niggle that could keep him out of the match against the Highlanders on Friday.
Lions scrumhalf Jano Vermaak will, in all likelihood, be relegated to the bench for Saturday’s Super Rugby clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, coach John Mitchell said on Monday.
The quickfire scrumhalf took a knock to his head in last week’s match against the Blues and, although he should be ready for action by the weekend, Mitchell said he will not be taking any risks.
The match officials for Week 4 of the 2011 SANZAR Super Rugby tournament have been confirmed by SANZAR with two late changes to the original schedule.
All Black and Chiefs fullback Mils Muliaina is expected to miss the next month of Super rugby with a back injury.
Muliaina had to leave the field in the Chiefs home win against the Melbourne Rebels at Waikato Stadium on Saturday.
Current Saracens and former Lions hooker, Etienne Reyneke has been loaned to the Stormers for Super Rugby.
The Bulls impressive home record was dashed this weekend by the most unlikely team. Continue reading
Western Force flanker David Pocock is set to spend between four to six weeks on the sidelines after scans revealed a medial ligament strain in his injured right knee.
Pocock was sidelined early in the first half of the club’s match against the Sharks last Saturday night in Perth and will miss at least the next month of Super Rugby.
The Crusaders could take Super Rugby to a completely new market by playing one of their matches in London England.
The Crusaders cannot use their home ground at AMI Stadium in Christchurch and are said to be considering playing a Super rugby match in Auckland or even London, England.
Western Force centre, Rory Sidey, has been suspended for three weeks after a SANZAR judicial hearing found him guilty on the charge of dangerous tackling under law 10.4(j) during the Forces’ games against the Sharks on Saturday.
The Highlanders ended the Bulls 20 home match unbeaten run with an outstanding 28-35 bonus point victory at Loftus Versfeld.
The last time the Bulls lost a match at Loftus was on the 12th of April 2008 against the Hurricanes.