Original Contributions
2012 Saw the Stormers topping the table in the round robin, only to lose out to the Sharks in the semi’s. 2013 Will be a big year for the boys. With almost the whole of the young 2012 squad still available and the coaching staff remaining unchanged (unlike the very disruptive 2012 start), this side has every chance of going all the way this year. Add to the squad the likes of Burger, Cilliers, Rhodes, Taute and Jantjies, depth in every position looks so much better.
In the first week of discussion of Super Rugby squad contenders (17 to 23 December), we will discuss 2 positions in seperate Articles (Props & Hookers) and also seperate the Articles of the 5 SA Super Rugby participating franchises.
That means 10 Super Rugby Articles every week from now on.
The basic idea is to discuss the players IN the Super Rugby Group, and not all the options beyond that.
In this Article we look at the contenders for PROPS in the Vodacom Bulls 2013 Super Rugby group, and whether they could force their way into Bok contention.
A year has come and gone, and now we face a “rugby drought” until Super 15 kicks off mid February 2013. It is the “dry season” as far as rugby news goes, so am sure most of us are getting withdrawl symptoms. Hopefully this will solicit some debate or scorn.
I list the possible contenders for props in the Cheetahs 2013 Super Rugby group. The Cheetahs seem to have a penchant for grooming young props, with most of the contenders still puppies as far as props go.
With a R1-million first prize and some of the fastest speedsters in the business, it was time for the inaugural IPL-style NBM Sevens Premier League tournament in George, South Africa
The Matches were hosted here and all 34 matches were broadcast live on SuperSport 6, with the first match at 11am on Friday between the NBM All Stars and Boland.
Saturday’s play began at 11:00, and culminate with the final at 6pm.
With the 5 South African Super Rugby franchises, or should I rather say the 5 participating Super Rugby franchis in 2013, all busy with pre-season preparations already, I suppose it would be wise to list the Fixtures for 2013 (although they have been up under Super Rugby, 2013 under the top menu for some time already now).
In addition, I am going to delve lightly into the games in the month of February, giving my very, very early views on what might transpire.
This past weekend saw the end of the Southern Hemisphere 15-man rugby season… a long and arduous season.
Now only the HSBC Sevens World Series Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens tournament remains, after which we, as proud Southerners, have to rely on the scraps of rugby coming to us from the Northern Hemisphere, and then fill in the gaps with some cricket action to keep our sport addictions alive.
The South African Blitzbokke provide scant hopes for a good result in Port Elizabeth this coming weekend, but the party will continue… and we will party right along.
On the positive side, it was a good season again for Southern Hemisphere rugby, spoilt by the fantastic wins by France against the Wallabies about a month ago and of course the Coup de Grace by the England rugby side against the world number one side, the New Zealand All Blacks, this past weekend – lambasting them by a massive 38 / 21.
Hereafter a quick look at the respective seasons of the BIG BOYS of Southern Hemisphere Rugby:
All credit to New Zealand for not blaming the virus in the team or end-of-year-tiredness for their loss at the hands of a committed England team.
The All Blacks players looked more than a bit pale and lethargic as they entered the field and even the Haka lacked its normal spark.
Punctiliously I don’t however think it was either the virus or tiredness that saw the All Blacks lose this match. It was the England tactics and their good defence that won them the match.
The Southern Hemisphere Rugby season is fast approaching a welcome close for players , administrators and coaching staff, but at the same time some of us are are a bit despondant that we would have to watch cricket & golf as substitute in place of our crazy rugby addiction…. oh and lest we forget those things in and around the house we failed to have time for in the year.
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However, tomorrow and on Saturday there is still the HSBC Sevens World Series Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, and on Saturday we get our last brief fix of full Test match rugby when England meet the All Blacks and Wales host the Wallabies (pity these two games are on at the same time again) at the End Of Year Tours to the Northern Hemisphere. PLUS of course we get a sprinkling of Northern Hemisphere Club Rugby to view too.
So, what’s in stall for us as far as TV rugby viewing is concerned this weekend?
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Herewith the viewing schedule:
Nick Mallet during his tenure as Springbok coach made himself very unpopular by saying that he is not too concerned about criticism from South African rugby fans because in his opinion they don’t know much about the game anyway.
Seems that the planners of the End Of Year Tours all colluded to make it as difficult as possible for us to see all the games. This afternoon no less than 3 important Tests takes place at the same time, being Italy vs All Blacks (16:00 SA Time), England vs Wallabies (16:30 SA Time) and Scotland vs Springboks (16:30 SA Time). The other matches following are the Ireland vs Fiji (19:30 SA Time) and France vs Pumas (22:00 SA Time) matches.
Hello folks,
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The regular Authors will get their Addresses whether they want them or not, I’ve already created them!
A Mail will be sent to you with your unique E-Mail Address as well as detailed instructions on how to configure the E-Mail Address!
The Springbok Team to take on Ireland in the 1st Test of the Springbok End Of Year Tour to the Northern Hemisphere, taking place on Saturday 10 November, was announced at about 13:40 SA Time on Wednesday 7 November 2012.
In the same week that the Cheetahs lost the highly promising lock, Carl Wegner, they announced the acquisition of another young lock. Lodewyk (Lood) de Jager was considered unlucky, by many to miss out on selection for last years IRB Junior World Championships. He was only cut from the group during the final trials. Apparently the Bulls were also interested in his services.
Three players in Naka Drotske’s 2013 Super Rugby wider training group, have been selected to play 7’s rugby with Paul Treu’s Blitzbokke. Robert Ebersohn, Kevin Luiters, and Hansi Graaff will be available for the Dubai, and Port Elizabeth legs of the IRB Sevens Tournament.
When the Springbok squad of 31 (one more player to be added) was announced on Sunday, my first impression was that there was a squad of fully fit players, bar maybe some niggles after the Currie Cup Final of the day before.
It now appears that there were indeed real injuries to be considered, specifically the injuries of Adriaan Strauss (knee) and Francois Louw (neck) as well as Springbok Captain Jean de Villiers (hamstring).
Jaco Taute, Lions and Springbok centre and fullback has penned his deal with the Stormers on loan from the Golden Lions Rugby Union, for Super Rugby 2013.
With the first game done and dusted already in the Currie Cup Premier Division Promotion / Relegation series and the EP Kings needing a mighty 40 point win, including bonus point for tries, it is an uphill battle for the men from Eastern Province.
We see calls from EP’s Alan Solomons going out not to judge the EP Kings and Southern Kings on these two games, but seriously, what else are we supposed to do?
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs is hardly featuring a full Free State side, let alone a full Super Rugby side, due to the plethera of injuries they are currently experiencing, coupled to the fact that the Griquas portion of their Super Rugby Franchise is NOT included in these games at all.
What we DO KNOW is that the mainstay of these two Super Rugby Franchises will be players from the respective Currie Cup sides, so the current reflection is the nearest we can come to judging what might transpire next year in Super Rugby at the Southern Kings.
Well, enough of that, we have to concentrate on Friday’s Promotion / Relegation game first and foremost, and here’s the Team sheets for this encounter:
The Currie Cup, Premier Division only has one week to go in the regular rounds, before the semi-finals… and still there is all six teams in with a chance of winning the eventual title.
The Springbok side to face the All Blacks at FNB Stadium (Soccer City) on Saturday, has been announced.
The same side which played the Wallabies has been selected, with only Coenie Oosthuizen coming in on the bench in place of Pat Cilliers.
Due reward was given to the side who played so well against the Wallabies, by keeping the entire squad in tact.
The convincing win of the Springboks on Saturday was followed by news on the injury front.
Most notably Francois Steyn, who rolled his left ankle last Monday morning, will have to undergo an operation to clean the ankle up and will be sidelined for 3 months recovering from the surgery.
What an enjoyable Saturday late afternoon, bar the ridiculous 3G Internet signal at Loftus Versfeld, of course!
The Springboks totally dominated and comprehensively outmuscled and outplayed a very ordinary and injury ravaged Wallabies side, with the Springboks eventual winners by 31 / 8, after also leading at the halftime break by 14 / 3.
I guess 5 tries to 1 tells the story, with Bryan Habana scoring a hat-trick on the day to increase his Springbok all time record to 46 Test tries.
Since I did not watch the game let me rather deal with statistics. I don’t know whether this will support Heyneke Meyer or not because I will post them as I source them. You sift through it and make with it whatever you will.
We were asked the question – So what is a full house, about 40,000 or so? Lets be generous and call it roughly 70% empty. Even Newlands in Cape Town is nowhere near full for Currie Cup matches, yet all the big stadiums are near full house for Super Sugby, so back to my question, any theories on why this apparent lack of interest in Currie Cup matches?
My thoughts are as follows. Add yours!
Talented Cheetahs pivot Johan Goosen has been cleared to start and not surprisingly coach Naka Drotske has opted to start with him.
The good news is the probable return from injury of some stalwarts for the Free State Cheetahs.
For my 2 cents worth, I thought this was a good game from South Africa without it being a commanding one.
Only the 4th match into the Heyneke Meyer era, and after a very long and hard Super Rugby season, the number of injuries, the tiredness of the Sharks players in the Springboks and the short preparation time, these are all contributing factors that will always make the early games in The Rugby Championships seem a bit loose.
This was also very evident in the Australian Wallabies vs New Zealand All blacks match where a number of balls were spilled, knock-on’s, errors, etc was the prevailing trend.
This will improve, and I expect to see a much better performance in the next set of matches.
I have penned my feelings, lets open the debate and have your reactions to the match.
Rugby-Talk started on 13 August 2009, and is therefore a naughty 3-Year old upstart, on Monday 13 August 2012.
It has not always been easy or simple, and hard work has gone into making this Rugby Community what it is.
The silly season is truly upon us, with players moving like pieces on a chess board. Promising young Bulls tighthead prop, Rossouw de Klerk will join the Toyota Free State Cheetahs for 2 years, at the end of the current Currie Cup competition. The loss of de Klerk is likely to be offset, by the Bulls signing of young Marcel van der Merwe. Apparently Rayno Gerber was also attempting to get onto the the Cheetahs player list. Naka has signed Ross Geldenhuys, and Pieter Stemmet, to cover the departure of WP Nel, but they have been signed fr the CC only thus far.
Hi, we have created pools for Rugby-Talk for both the Currie Cup Premier Division 2012 and The Rugby Championship 2012.
Here are the details:
Naka Drotske continues to blood young players and is clearly not afraid to back them, but his latest selection is sure to have caught most pundits unawares.
Naka has selected Junior Bok flyer, Raymond Rhule, on the wing. Rhule announced himself in spectacular fashion vs Argentina in the Junior Boks semi-final of the Junior World Championships, scoring two tries. He has carried that form into the Under 21 Currie Cup, and has obviously impressed Naka sufficiently for him to get the nod.
The team shows a number of changes, due to injuries and Bok commitments, but it is an exciting team regardless. Naka hasn’t announced his replacements yet, as he awaits the results of a scan on lock Andries Ferreira.
Looking at the Toyota Cheetahs website, my eye caught some interesting names listed under their Currie Cup Squad for 2012.
First of all, a heartfelt congratulations to the Sharks. A better team, a better Game plan, and a better execution. They came, they saw, they conquered.
In what is regarded as an significant coup for Cheetahs rugby, Volksblad reported this morning that it is confirmed that Johann Sadie, the promising WP star, who joined the Bulls earlier this, is heading to Bloemfontein to join the Cheetahs. It is believed that he will flourish in the Cheetahs playing pattern. Lack of game time, and a host of other players in the center position at the Bulls led to the players frustration.
Whilst the Cheetahs are not involved in further participation of the Super 15, some interesting players signings bode well for the Cheetahs 2013 season. Of course more players will sign, and some will leave, but it is interesting to note the movements.
In this, the first of a planned series of articles on players from the northern hemisphere who may be less well known, we look at young Welsh winger Harry Robinson.
There have been various references made to the inexperience of the Springbok lock pairing for this Saturday’s test match in Durban against England since the announcement of the team.