Internationals

Gurthro Steenkamp

Gurthro Steenkamp, getting massacred on and off the field.

Several retired Springbok front-rankers took to Twitter over the weekend to offer their varied takes on the national team’s scrummaging humiliation at the hands of Argentina in Salta.

The Boks summoned last-ditch reserves of energy and grit to squeeze past the Pumas 33-31 in a Castle Rugby Championship nail-biter, although the violent way they back-pedalled in the scrums at times will be a lasting, unpleasant memory for the players and their fans alike.

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Fireworks & Haka

Fireworks signal the end of the haka

The New Zealand Rugby Union has apologised to three fans who were hurt by fireworks during the build-up to Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup game at Eden Park.

One woman had to go to hospital after she was hit by debris from the fireworks which marked the end of the haka while another man suffered a gash to the head and was treated pitchside by paramedics.

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Sonny Bill Williams

Sonny Bill Williams

Sonny Bill Williams has been granted a special exemption to be picked for the All Blacks’ end of year tour.

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew confirmed on Monday Williams would not need to play in the National Provincial Championship following his commitments with the Sydney Roosters in the NRL.

NZRU rules state that players must take part in the preceding domestic competition in order to be eligible for the All Blacks.

However, the board voted on Friday to make an exemption for Williams should he not be able to make an appearance for Counties-Manukau either due to the length of the Roosters season, or injury.

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Josh Strauss

Josh Strauss in action for Glasgow Warriors

Josh Strauss admits he must deliver another sterling season for Glasgow Warriors in the Guinness PRO12 – and only then can he turn his attention to winning a Scotland cap.

Strauss, 27, made the move from South Africa to Glasgow in 2012 and will be eligible to play for Scotland on September 19, 2015 – four days before their opening World Cup match.

The back-row has been a formidable force for Gregor Townsend over the last two years, starting in 31 domestic games including last season’s final.

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Brodie Retallick

Brodie retallick

What a difference a week makes.

The All Blacks forwards confirmed they had the acid put on them during that week, both by their coaches and by themselves, to put things right.

The conditions were perfect at Eden Park on Saturday night and when the black pack turned up with much improved intensity, physicality and enthusiasm the platform was laid on for a rout.

At the centre of it was Chiefs lock Brodie Retallick – at the tender age of 23 already a tight five international veteran and continuing to build his reputation as a test rugby super star within a 2.04 metre, 119 kilogram body.

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Richie McCaw

Richie McCaw being congratulated by Aaron Cruden

Another Test, another couple of world records for All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.

The veteran flanker scored two tries, the third double of his 129-Test career, as New Zealand pummelled the Wallabies 51-20 in Auckland to retain the Bledisloe Cup.

In doing so, he took his tally to 23 tries, the most in Tests by any forward from a tier-one nation.

The previous record was 22, scored by former Wales No 8 Colin Charvis.

McCaw, 33, also holds the record for the most tries by any player against a tier-one opponent, surpassing a number of prolific outside backs.

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Richie McCaw & Kieran Read

Richie McCaw and Kieran Read showing off the Bledisloe Cup.

The All Blacks have become like those bad guys in western movies who you hate so much you end up loving them.

Yet again Australia had their pants pulled down and we have this deflating scenario where the Test year is nine days old yet nothing seems to matter any more.

The Bledisloe Cup is gone, the four nations title is on its way out the door yet for some reason I feel minimal pain because there is a sense that justice has been done.

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Ewen McKenzie

Ewen McKenzie

Ewen McKenzie is sharpening his axe, forecasting changes to the Wallabies side massacred by the All Blacks at Eden Park.

Injuries to hooker Nathan Charles and winger Pat McCabe will bring at least two new selections but more are in the offing following Saturday night’s 50-21 drubbing.

McKenzie confirmed he would look closely at promoting several squad members “itching to get a go” for Australia’s next Rugby Championship clash, against South Africa in Perth on Saturday week.

He earmarked powerful Brumbies centre Tevita Kuridrani for a return that would likely see Adam Ashley-Cooper move back to the wing spot left vacant by McCabe (neck).

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Matthew Burke

Matthew Burke

Two games are gone against New Zealand and it’s now time to move the attention to South Africa. That is a whole different kettle of fish. When you take on South Africa, the playing field changes slightly.

The first change is in terms of physicality, the second in aggression and finally in terms of tactics. Games against South Africa just seem to be just that little bit harder and definitely more scatty.

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Bob Dwyer

Bob Dwyer

I reckon we’ve heard a lot of talk over the last 24 hours about how well New Zealand played – which the did.

Did they play unbelievably well? There’s no way of making that assessment. There’s no way to completely evaluate their performance.

Sure, their passing was accurate and running straight. Sure, 95% of their passes weren’t too long.

Sure, their support play and their realignment in both attack and defence were good and urgent.

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Emily Scarratt

Feminine side: Emily Scarratt receives the England Women’s Player of the Year award in 2013.

The hostility Emily Scarratt suffered for wanting to play rugby as a teenager was made to look even more absurd when she sealed England’s World Cup triumph last Sunday with a superb individual try.

Like the rest of her team-mates, Scarratt is only too aware of the cliches surrounding women’s rugby.

‘Leave it to the men,’ the dinosaurs say. ‘The rugby field is no place for girls’.

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Heyneke Meyer

Heyneke Meyer, the coach of the team with the most “character” in the world.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer hailed the character of his team Sunday in the wake of a lucky 33-31 Rugby Championship victory over Argentina in Salta.

Serial match-winner Morne Steyn ignored whistling and booing to slot a penalty three minutes from time and give the Springboks a second win over the Pumas within eight days.

It was the climax of a stirring last-quarter comeback by the visitors as tries from right-wing Cornal Hendricks and flank Marcell Coetzee wiped out a 12-point deficit.

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Ryan Crotty

Jaw injury: Ryan Crotty

New Zealand centre Ryan Crotty has been ruled out for four weeks after fracturing a facial bone during the weekend’s win over the Wallabies.

The Crusaders back, who enjoyed an impressive first start on the international scene in the 51-20 triumph, suffered a heavy impact in Auckland.

Steve Hansen must now decide whether Malakai Fekitoa should don twelve against Argentina if Ma’a Nonu does not recover by September 6.

Meanwhile, Cory Jane (knee), Beauden Barrett (ankle) and Aaron Cruden (pectoral) are all expected to recover in time for the Napier fixture.

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Agustin Creevy

Agustin Creevy

Argentina captain Agustin Creevy bemoaned the fact that his team did not have the nous and fortitude to close out the game when they had a big lead.

Flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked a penalty three minutes from time to earn South Africa a very fortuitous 33-31 win over the Pumas at the 20,000-seater Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena in Salta at the weekend.

Trailing by 12 points with the final quarter approaching, a Springboks side – given a torrid time in the forward exchanges for much of the match – clawed back to snatch victory.

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Rapport KaartNogmaals broekskeur, nogmaals Morné Steyn en die reserwes wat Suid-Afrika se kastaiings uit die vuur moes kom krap.

Dít nadat die Bokke gister vir sowat ’n uur vodde gespeel is deur Argentinië in die tweede kragmeting van hul Rugbykampioenskap.

Suid-Afrika was met 33-31 baas, maar Harry Houdini sou trots gewees het op só ’n ontsnapping. Laat drieë deur die immer gewillige Cornal Hendricks en die reserwe-flank Marcell Coetzee het die oënskynlik onvermydelike gety omgedraai, maar die ooms tuis sou strykdeur gryp na die hartmedisyne.

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South AfricaMorné Steyn kicked a pressure penalty four minutes from time to secure a nailbiting 33-31 win for the Springboks over the Argentina Pumas in their Castle Lager Rugby Championship match in Salta on Saturday night.

Coach Heyneke Meyer likes character tests and his team most certainly passed this one as for the second time in four matches they came from more than a double figure score behind to win at the death.

However, Meyer will have added to the grey hairs on his head for it was a desperately tense affair and there were enough weak points in the Bok game to keep him awake at night mulling over his options ahead of the next match against Australia in Perth.

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Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson

Beware the Boks. The more things change with our old mates across the Tasman, the more they stay the same with our greatest rivals in the republic.

We’ve been a bit preoccupied with the Wallabies of late but when you think about the challenge last year and the challenge that never goes away, it remains the South Africans. Nothing changes there.

Their tests against the All Blacks this year are important for them, not just for the Rugby Championship but working out how to beat the world champions.

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Richie McCaw

Richie McCaw once again holds aloft the Bedisloe Cup

There is no hiding at Eden Park.

The rain, wind and mud confused the picture in Sydney a week ago, allowing the Wallabies to draw with the All Blacks and their fans to hope.

Not so in Auckland.

In the clear, cold air of Mt Eden, back on their turf, the All Blacks made a mockery of Australian confidence with a six-tries-to-two massacre of Australia, keeping the Bledisloe Cup in New Zealand hands for a 12th straight year with their biggest ever score against their neighbours.

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South AfricaArgentinaLos Pumas (13) 31 / 33 (16) Springboks (Final Score)

The South African Springboks and Argentinian Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at

Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta at 21:40 SA Time (16:40 ARG Time, 19:40 GMT).

This was the live match discussion Article.

The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.

*******************

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Joost van der Westhuizen

Joost van der Westhuizen

 

The Springboks have accepted the challenge:

WATCH: Springbok video here:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZ_Xxx8_XY[/youtube]

 

Former Springbok legend Joost van der Westhuizen has become the latest celebrity to take the Ice Bucket Challenge, to raise funds for motor neuron disease, according to the Times Live website.

WATCH: Joost take the Ice Bucket Challenge:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntQgJXwgIoM[/youtube]

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Jean de Villiers

Jean de Villiers

Jean de Villiers has said that he is hoping that his team can dominate in the forwards like they are used to ahead of Saturday’s game against Argentina in Salta.

The Springboks have been famed for the physicality since the inception of the game in the Republic with the forwards often being the heroes on game day.

The Springbok captain is calling for that famed physicality to take centre stage again on the weekend so that the Boks can play their natural game.

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Ewen McKenzie

EWEN MCKENZIE: ‘‘Steve has got lots of thoughts. I enjoy reading his thoughts. Last week he was picking the team. This week he’s wondering about our improvement.”

This time, Ewen McKenzie couldn’t bite his tongue.

Two weeks in a row All Blacks coach Steve Hansen fired barbs his way – the first about the Australian Rugby Union influencing Kurtley Beale’s selection and this week questioning how much more the Wallabies had to give.

Before yesterday, McKenzie wasn’t biting. But, finally, the Wallabies coach couldn’t help throwing out one subtle jab.

“Steve has got lots of thoughts. I enjoy reading his thoughts,” McKenzie began.

“Last week he was picking the team. This week he’s wondering about our improvement. We’ll just concentrate on what we’re about. That worked alright for us last week.”

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SuperBruRound one of the Rugby Championship is done and dusted, and it would seem as if the rain was the winner in both games.

Two players picked a draw between the Wallabies and All Blacks and are sitting pretty on 3 log points.

Well done Angostura and Charo, brave call to go for a draw and the rewards for bravery means a yellow cap for Angos.

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imageSelectors are sitting targets, an inevitable butt for criticism of the teams that did not quite work out.

But there are times when they are entitled to congratulate themselves, never more than when a single selection meeting launches not just one, but two or more outstanding international careers.

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Richie McCaw

Richie McCaw, does he still have plenty to offer?

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen disagrees Richie McCaw is a fading force but insists neither he, nor his captain, will be afraid to make the right call to end his illustrious career.

On either side of the Tasman, there are growing concerns an ageing McCaw won’t make it to next year’s World Cup.

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Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu says South Africa deserves to have a Springbok team representative of its rainbow nation, The Star reported on Friday.

“Now, nearly 20 years later, I lament the tortoise pace at which transformation at the highest level is being effected,” he said in a letter to The Star’s sister paper, The Cape Times.

Tutu criticised the SA Rugby Union (SARU) for the pace of transformation in the team, and said it was “particularly hurtful” to see the selection of black players as “peripheral squad members never given the chance to settle down and earn their spurs.”

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AustraliaThe Wallabies are brimming with confidence and have challenged the All Blacks to bring their A game to tomorrow night’s test at Eden Park in Auckland.

The Australian side arrived in Auckland yesterday and have their captain’s run this afternoon.

They come to Auckland having not won at Eden Park since 1986 but captain Michael Hooper said at a press conference it was not something that bothered his side.

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Juan Smith

Juan Smith

The boyish smile on the face of Juan Hugo Smith masked the trauma that he endured in the past four years, when it seemed an Achilles injury ended his career.

At 33, with 69 Test caps for South Africa, he is one of the most seasoned players in the Springbok team to face Argentina in Salta on Saturday.

Captain Jean de Villiers, also 33 and 97 Tests, and recalled prop Gurthrö Steenkamp, 33 and 51 Tests, are among the few that can match him for experience in the team that will take to the field at Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.

Smith is the epitome of a player who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to return to the international arena, after it seemed his career had come to an abrupt end.

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Reuben Norville

Winger Reuben Norville starred with a hat-trick of tries

The touring Scotland Under 19 development side opened their two-Test account with a convincing, five-try win over their Romanian counterparts at the Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest on Wednesday (31-3).

After what would turn out to be a relatively slow start, in which the side created a lot but finished little, the young Scots quickly found their feet and kicked into gear.

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Steve Hansen

SOBERING NIGHT IN SYDNEY: Is All Black coach Steve Hansen running out of ideas for his All Blacks?

Love the rain. Give me a stick of dynamite and I would blow the roof off the Millennium Stadium. Wet weather rugby is a whole new ball game. It demands a higher skill level, a flexible tactical mind and it gives the fate of the contest to the forwards.

Suddenly these All Blacks didn’t look half the team that some people had assumed they were.

Don’t tell me the conditions were impossible or that they ruined the spectacle. And don’t tell it to the 39,523 people, it is still hard to believe the size of the crowd, who were jammed into Wellington’s Athletic Park back in 1996.

The conditions that day were far worse than they were in Sydney last weekend, because a howling wind drove the rain, but those All Blacks played the rugby of the gods.

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Trevor Nyakane

Trevor Nyakane

Trevor Nyakane must feeling a bit like chopped liver at the moment, or perhaps more like the dressing that retailers put in their shop windows?

Not a good look in a world that sees sports minister Fikile Mbalula brushing aside the off-side flag in his push for goals using his political football. But given that both loosehead props ahead of Nyakane are also both “Of colour”, perhaps this will be left to slide.

Beast Mtawarira, just back from a neck injury, looked to be opting out of the scrum contest last week, and as such, took an awful hammering from an Argentinean side that put their famous Bajada technique to very good use at Loftus.

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ArgentinaArgentina have made two changes to the starting team for the return Rugby Championship match against South Africa in Salta on Saturday.

Centre Juan Martin Hernandez, a late withdrawal from the side defeated 13-6 in Pretoria last weekend, returns at inside centre in place of Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias.

The other change is also in the backline with Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino coming in on the right wing for Horacio Agulla.

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Jaco Peyper

Referee Jaco Peyper gives a yellow card to Beauden Barrett of the All Blacks during the Bledisloe Cup opener

The performance of Romain Poite in this weekend’s Bledisloe Cup re-match will be under more scrutiny than ever after provocative comments from the All Blacks and Poite’s contemporary Jonathan Kaplan this week.

Kaplan, who refereed 68 Test matches, including seven Bledisloe Cup battles to become the most experienced international referee before his retirement last year, opened the batting with a defence of Jaco Peyper, who has come under fire for his officiating of the Wallabies’ 12-12 draw in Sydney last week.

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Play hard on and off the field

Play hard on and off the field

Pearse Egan has only played rugby since the start of 2014, but even in a matter of months he has found himself transformed by the sport.

Ever since his school days, Egan has faced discrimination for his homosexuality.

“Over the years I’ve always left every group I’ve joined. Karate, scouts, basketball – not for me. I was never able to stick with anything because I never felt a part of anything,” he said.

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