New Zealand Rugby
London Irish have signed flyhalf Chris Noakes from Super Rugby franchise, the Blues, on a two-year contract, the English Premiership side announced Thursday.
The 28-year-old, who has also appeared for the Highlanders, is eligible to play for England.
Super Rugby is poised to move forward with a four-conference model in 2016 – with two based in South Africa.
Australian Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver has revealed the announcement of an expanded and restructured model to take to broadcasters is only a fortnight away.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 12 of Super Rugby 2014.
Nick Briant starts the weekend action on Friday in Auckland when the Blues host the Reds.
This weekend sees 7 matches, with 2 on Friday and 5 on Saturday.
The Western Force have a BYE weekend, ahead of their tour of South Africa.
The Toyota Cheetahs delivered their best performance of the Vodacom Super Rugby season when they won comfortably against the DHL Stormers in an exciting local derby, but the Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks were kept try-less as they ended up on the losing side in Round 11.
The team from Central South Africa and the Capetonians were involved in an thrilling derby where the most tries were scored this season. The Toyota Cheetahs won this encounter in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon by 35-22, outscoring the visitors by five tries to three.
It was the most tries scored against the DHL Stormers in a local derby since the Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls put five and seven respectively past them in 2007.
Earlier on Saturday, the Vodacom Bulls had to battle the elements and Sias Ebersohn’s boot in Perth. The Force beat the visitors from Pretoria by 15-9 in a kick-fest where no tries were scored.
Gareth Anscombe has become hot property recently with coaches from Wales and New Zealand hinting that they would like to secure the play-makers signature.
Anscombe, who is currently contracted to the Chiefs for Super Rugby – but only until the end of the season – is on the Blues, Cardiff Blues, New Zealand and Wales international team’s wish list.
The Brumbies will be crowned 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby champions – if bookmakers are to be believed…
The Brumbies, currently atop the Australian Conference and in second place in the Overall standings, have been installed as 33/10 favourites to add to their titles from 2001 and 2004, by SA bookies BetXchange.
Alapati Leiua has decided to swap the gold of the Hurricanes for the gold of the Wasps as another high profile player exits the southern hemisphere.
Leiua, a Samoan international who can play centre and wing, has been a standout for the Wellington side in this years Super Rugby campaign.
The Highlanders will be without two key players in their Super Rugby clash against the Stormers at Newlands on Saturday.
Patrick Osborne and prop Craig Millar were injured in their 34-18 win over the Sharks in Durban last Friday and will return home to New Zealand.
Blues captain Luke Braid suffered a shoulder injury during Friday’s match against the Waratahs and is likely to miss this Friday’s game against the Reds.
Brendon O’Connor will be first in line to replace Braid on the openside flank if the skipper doesn’t recover.
After a rocky start to the Super Rugby season, the stars are aligning for Todd Blackadder’s Crusaders with Richie McCaw set to return from a long injury layoff and help drive the side toward the playoffs.
The All Black skipper has been sidelined with a broken thumb for the past two months but may ease back into the action off the bench against the high-flying Brumbies in Christchurch on Saturday.
Hurricanes (10) 35 / 21 (14) Reds (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Reds did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEST, 07:35 GMT).
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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Sharks (12) 18 / 34 (24) Highlanders (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and Highlanders did battle in Super Rugby at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, 05:10 Saturday 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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Brumbies (13) 41 / 23 (6) Chiefs (Final Score)
The Brumbies and Chiefs did battle in Super Rugby at
GIO Stadium, Canberra at 09:40 SA Time (17:40 AEST, 19:40 NZ Time, 07:40 GMT).
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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Blues (8) 21 / 13 (3) Waratahs (Final Score)
The Blues and Waratahs did battle in Super Rugby at
Eden Park, Auckland at 07:35 SA Time (17:35 NZ Time, 15:35 AEST, 05:35 GMT).
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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It is Round 11 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 6 games in Round 11, with 3 games on Friday and 3 games on Saturday.
The Crusaders, Lions & Melbourne Rebels have bye weekends.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph has made three changes to his team to face the Sharks at Growthpoint KINGS PARK Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
Joseph has made just two personnel and one positional change to team which beat the Bulls a fortnight ago as they kick of their South African tour.
The Hurricanes and the Reds will have the Anzac legacy at the forefront of their minds when they take the field this weekend.
Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith will lead his team out wearing a limited edition, poppy-embroidered jersey, which will be auctioned off to raise funds for the Returned Services Association.
Smith said playing the match on Anzac weekend was a huge honour and he was proud to represent the Hurricanes club on such an important day.
Blues flyhalf Simon Hickey will captain New Zealand at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship to be held in New Zealand in June.
Hickey, who has played six Super Rugby games for the Blues, scoring 78 points, returns having played in last year’s JWC in France.
A number of promising, young Super Rugby players have opted to leave New Zealand for bigger money deals abroad.
According to the Radio New Zealand website, Hurricanes fullback Andre Taylor has signed a two-year deal with Japanese club, Kintetsu Liners.
He joins team-mates Jarrad Hoeata (lock) and flank Jack Lam, Blues prop Tom McCartney and Chiefs centre Bundee Aki in recently accepting big overseas offers, while former All Black flank Tanerau Latimer is reportedly also heading to Japan next year.
New Zealand Rugby and the Blues have agreed and confirmed the terms of Benji Marshall’s release from his Super Rugby contract.
Following Friday night’s match against the Hurricanes, Blues head coach Sir John Kirwan and Benji Marshall had some frank and honest discussions and mutually agreed the best path forward was for Marshall to return to rugby league.
The Chiefs have announced their team to play the Brumbies in what looms as a tantalising re-match of the 2013 Super Rugby Final at GIO Stadium Canberra on Friday afternoon.
“It is special to be playing a match against an Australian team on Anzac Day,” said Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie.
Blues head coach Sir John Kirwan has made four changes to the starting XV for Friday’s Anzac day clash with the Waratahs at Eden Park.
In the only change to the forward pack, Peter Saili makes his first start since Round 6 at No 8 in place of Steven Luatua as Kirwan looks to inject more physicality into the Blues’ game.
“We wanted to pick a pack that was really physical,” Kirwan said.
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has said that South Africa’s Super Rugby conference is significantly weaker than their Australasian rivals.
In his role of guest speaker on SuperSport, Mallett said he had been disappointed by South Africa’s poor performance in the tournament thus far, particularly their lack of ability to create opportunities on attack and score tries.
“Our conference is definitely the weakest and our teams aren’t performing,” Mallett said.
As we head into Round 11 of Super Rugby 2014, an alarming stat for South African fans is the lack of tries on display from teams from these shores.
Four South African teams currently comprise the bottom six in the tries scored category.
The Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers were victorious on a weekend where all five South African Vodacom Super Rugby franchises were involved in low-scoring matches.
In all three matches involving teams from the Republic, the most points the different teams on the winning side in any of the encounters could score were 19. Only five tries were scored in these matches.
The Vodacom Bulls lost to the Waratahs for the first time since the 2005 semi-final when they were beaten by 19-12, with a try in the opening minute by Israel Folau the difference between the two sides in Sydney.
Vodacom Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe was cited after the match. He is alleged to have contravened Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking when he made contact with the Waratahs’ Paddy Ryan in the 75th minute of the match.
In Durban, the Cell C Sharks ground out a victory in a tough derby for the second successive week when they beat the Toyota Cheetahs by 19-8, with each side scoring only one try each.
The final match of the weekend saw the DHL Stormers end a five-match losing streak when they beat the Lions by 18-3 after leading 18-0 at the break in Cape Town.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 11 of Super Rugby 2014.
Chris Pollock starts the weekend action in the game between the Blues and Waratahs, in Auckland.
This weekend sees 3 games on Friday and 3 games on Saturday.
The Crusaders, Lions and Melbourne Rebels have BYE weekends.
This talk of moving away from South Africa in Super Rugby is madness, says Jeff Wilson, ex All Black fullback.
This is the best international competition outside of test rugby and it would be foolhardy to mess with its essential formula.
My old All Black team-mate Andrew Mehrtens certainly ruffled a few feathers last week when he suggested it would be in New Zealand’s interests to move away from South Africa and align closer with Australia.
High-profile code hopper Benji Marshall is ready to tuck his tail between his legs and run back to Rugby League.
The Australian media reported on Monday that Marshall has asked for an immediate release from the Blues Super Rugby outfit, in order to return to the National Rugby League in Australia.
According to the reports Marshall has asked his manager Martin Tauber to open discussions with NRL clubs.
Chiefs lock Michael Fitzgerald has been suspended for one week after he pleaded guilty on a charge of dangerous tackling in his team’s 10th round Super Rugby match against the Crusaders.
SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC accepted a guilty plea from Fitzgerald for contravening Law 10.4 (e) Dangerous Tackling, after he was cited during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Crusaders lock Dominic Bird has been suspended for one week for foul play during his team’s 17-18 tenth round Super Rugby victory over the Chiefs on Saturday.
SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC accepted a guilty plea from Dominic Bird of the Crusaders for contravening Law 10.4 (e) Dangerous Tackling, after he was cited during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Hurricanes prop John Schwalger has been ruled out of Super Rugby for an indefinite period, after being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs.
He was withdrawn at short notice from the replacement bench for Friday’s 39-20 win by the Canes over the Blues in Wellington.
Chiefs (17) 17 / 18 (9) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Chiefs and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
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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Hurricanes (13) 39 / 20 (17) Blues (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Blues did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
It is Round 10 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 6 games in Round 10, with 2 games on Friday and 4 games on Saturday.
The Brumbies, Highlanders & Reds have bye weekends.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
Tom McCartney has decided to swap Super Rugby for the Pro12 by signing a three-year contract with Irish side Connacht.
McCartney has been a consistent performer for the Blues since he made his Super Rugby debut in 2008 against the Chiefs.
He has since accumulated 64 appearances in the competition.