Australian Rugby
Reports out of Argentina suggest that the Pumas are lining up a bid to secure a Super Rugby franchise in time for the 2016 season.
Wallabies lock Dean Mumm has admitted it was an “easy decision” to extend his stay with Exeter Chiefs for a further two years.
Signed from the Waratahs ahead of the 2011/12 season, the vastly experienced Australian international has proven an instant hit at Sandy Park, both on and off the field.
Northampton have been fined £60,000 by a Premiership Rugby disciplinary panel for letting wing George North play for Wales against Australia on 30 November. The match, which Wales lost 30-26, took place outside of the International Rugby Board’s autumn window.
It is mid December 2013, 14 days till we welcome the new year.
Tell us about your holiday plans and / or your plans for the Festive season, coming up!
Rugby-Talk’s holiday plans and Festive season plans include keeping you up to date on the doings and screwings in the rugby world, but we acknowledge that Southern Hemisphere rugby news is in short supply.
In light of the above we’ll also focus on a bit of cricket in the lean times and most importantly we’ll start this week with detailed discussions on the SQUAD MEMBERS of the different South African Super Rugby sides for 2014. For each player position we’ll have a seperate article for each franchise, for instance there will be 5 seperate articles discussing the props, same with hookers, locks, looseforwards, scrumhalves, flyhalves, midfield & back 3. That equates to 10 new Super Rugby articles a week for 4 weeks, thus 40 new Super Rugby articles in total to feast on.
Former Wallabies and Waratahs hooker John Ulugia has agreed to play Top 14 Rugby next season for Clermont.
The British & Irish Lions of 2013 were named team of the year and Warren Gatland won the top coach honour at the 2013 BBC Sports Personality awards. Kiwi Gatland, 50, led the Lions to their first Test series win in Australia for 16 years.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie is not concerned by the possibility that the Waratahs may play Israel Folau at centre next year.
SANZAR are hoping to finalise their plans for the restructuring of Super Rugby early in the new year, with local derbies shaping up as a bone of contention.
With the current broadcast deal expiring at the end of next season, speculation is rife about the form that Super Rugby will take in 2016 and beyond.
Australian Rugby Union CEO Bill Pulver pulled no punches about what he thinks of Quade Cooper’s boxing career.
Former Reds and Wallabies scrumhalf Sam Cordingley will join the Queensland Rugby Union in 2014 as Queensland Reds Rugby Operations Manager.
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) will launch a new domestic rugby competition in 2014, the National Rugby Championship.
The Wallabies have agreed to play the Great Britain rugby league team in a $10 million hybrid-game spectacular at Wembley Stadium next year. London’s most famous football venue has been booked for December 6, a week after the Wallabies’ last game on their 2014 spring tour.
Wallabies loose forward Scott Higginbotham has been named as the Melbourne Rebels captain for the 2014 Super Rugby season.
Brumbies back Matt Toomua says that even though his selection for the Wallabies has boosted his bargaining power he will not shop around and will stick with the Canberra Super Rugby franchise.
However Toomua says that the Australian Super Rugby salary cap could complicate matters if the Brumbies hope to retain their current squad as the players start to look for new deals.
Ireland will tackle South Africa and Australia in next year’s November international Test series, the Irish Rugby Football Union announced on Friday.
Wales will have an opportunity to break their SANZAR bogey when they face the world’s top three sides in next year’s November internationals.
The International Rugby Board’s (IRB) top three ranked sides, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia will visit the Millennium Stadium along with Pacific Island nation Fiji.
The South African Rugby Union’s executive committee is set to hold a meeting here on Thursday to discuss the future structure of the Super Rugby competition.
More teams will to be added from 2016, when a new TV broadcast deal will come into effect.
Quade Cooper is set to meet with Reds CEO Jim Carmichael to discuss the future of the flyhalf’s budding boxing career.
Brumbies centre Christian Lealiifano will undergo ankle surgery that will rule him out of the start of next year’s Super Rugby season.
SANZAR have announced the draw for the 2014 Rugby Championship which will start on the 16th of August when Australia host New Zealand in Sydney.
The 2014 Super Rugby season ends on August the 2nd and then the Southern Hemisphere’s best players will get the weekend of August the 9th off and then the Rugby Championship starts a week later on the 16th.
Wales dropped out of the top five on the IRB World Rankings following their 26-30 loss to the Wallabies in Cardiff on Saturday.
With only three international fixtures over the weekend, the focus was on the pulsating encounter between Wales and the touring Australians at Millennium Stadium.
Despite being axed as Wallabies skipper, James Horwill will not reliquish captaincy of the Reds according to coach Richard Graham.
A rip-roaring contest and magnificent entertainment it may have been, but Welsh faces after yet another defeat by Australia spoke only of more misery and another missed opportunity.
Wales (16) 26 / 30 (17) Wallabies (Final Score)
Wales and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT, 04:00 Sunday AEDT).
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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Round 5 of the End Of Year Tours is the last Round of the tour and also signals the end of the Southern Hemisphere season as well as the welcome rest period for Southern Hemisphere teams.
This weekend does not see quite as much rugby, compared to to the previous 4 Rounds as it only has 2 matches, but it is going to be two great clashes. Any weekend with rugby is all in all still a good weekend.
Here are some head to head statistics and predictions.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie is calling Wales’ bluff, saying the Six Nations champions are ”worried” about falling to their ninth straight loss to Australia in Cardiff this weekend.
Australia’s overseas-based rugby players will have to put country over money if they want to play in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie said he would not consider for World Cup duties any player who was not signed with a Super Rugby club from the start of the 2015 season.
Wallaby flyhalf Quade Cooper will become Australia’s 40th player to reach the prestigious 50-game Test milestone.
He will achieve this in Saturday’s final year-end tour and James Bevan Trophy contest against Wales at Millennium Stadium.
Winger Alex Cuthbert has made a surprise return to the Wales team to play Australia on Saturday after recovering ahead of time from an ankle injury that initially seemed to rule him out of the entire autumn series.
Cuthbert will reunited with his British and Irish Lions back three partners George North and Leigh Halfpenny as Wales hope the Lions influence can end their own dismal run against the Wallabies.
The season may have ended for International sides like the South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks, but we still officially have one Test weekend left on the End Of Year Tours in 2013, and it is this weekend!
The Barbarians take on Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT), with a number of prominent Springboks and All Blacks in the Barbarians side and Wales host the Wallabies from Australia at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
But that’s not all folks, we have some quality Sevens Rugby on Friday and Saturday (HSBC Sevens World Series, Dubai Tournament) and we also have the Varsity Sevens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday… all broadcast live. In addition we have Aviva Pemiership Round 9 rugby betwwen Gloucester vs Leicester Tigers and French Top 14 Round 13 rugby between Perpignon vs Clermont Auvergne on Friday night and an Aviva Premiershpi Round 9 rugby match between Newcastle Falcons vs Harlequins on Sunday
Here are the broadcast times for Friday, Saturday and Sunday:
The Wallabies will take on France in a three Test series in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney next year in their first tour to Australia since 2009.
Wales will face a refreshed Wallaby side in their final Test of the year at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday according to one of Australia’s key men.
Scotland (12) 15 / 21 (13) Wallabies (Final Score)
Scotland and the Australian Wallabies did battle in the End Of Year Tours at
Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 20:00 SA Time (18:00 GMT, 05:00 Sunday AEDT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 8, SH2 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
This weekend sees Round 4 of the 2013 End Of Year Tours. It is the last weekend on tour for the Springboks from South Africa, with their last game on tour probably the most difficult one. A a win over France will see the Springboks ending with what can be called a great season.
All in all a good weekend of rugby lies ahead and it will be enjoyed the world over, like always. Here are the head to head stats to help you with your SuperBru picks. Good luck to all sides.
For the Springboks this is the last weekend of competative rugby in 2013, bar of course the 9 Springboks who have been chosen to represent the Barbarians next weekend.
So, apart from some HSBC Sevens action and a weekend without the Springboks next weekend, the Southern Hemisphere season is fast approaching it’s end.
Just imagine all the Northern Hemisphere rugby and all the cricket we’ll have to get by on in December and Juanuary!
So, this weekend I’m stuck in front of the TVand watching every game I possibly can.
5 Tests will be broadcast live on TV in South Africa this weekend, 1 on Friday, 3 on Saturday and the last 1 on Sunday.