Player Movements
France scrumhalf Morgan Parra is set to miss the Six Nations opener against England after being ruled out for 10 to 12 weeks with a knee injury, his Top 14 club Clermont said.
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.
Ireland’s Rory Best broke his forearm in the heartbreaking last-gasp defeat by New Zealand, his province Ulster said on Monday, making the hooker a doubt for the start of the Six Nations in just over two months.
Australia comprehensively beat England in the first Ashes test that was played at Brisbane, with a day to spare. Victory, by a whopping 381 runs, was secured late on day four as Mitchell Johnson claimed the final wicket of James Anderson. England failed to get beyond 200 runs in either of their innings as Man of the Match Johnson bowled with venom and ended up with 9 England scalps.
South African-born loose forwards Antonie Claassen and Bernard le Roux won’t line up against their countrymen when France face the Springboks on Saturday.
Melbourne Rebels prop Eddie Aholelei replaces the suspended Sona Taumalolo in the Tonga front row for Friday’s Test against Wales in Cardiff.
Wallabies centre Matt Toomua will miss the remaining matches of Australia’s year-end tour due to a hamstring injury.
World Cup-winning Springbok Danie Rossouw may be forced to retire as a result of the onset of arthritis.
The Stormers’ Bok trio of Jean de Villiers, Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermuelen will only be required to join pre-season training in January.
The Lions have finalised their warm-up matches ahead of next year’s Super Rugby tournament, however there are rumours of demands and coaching demands by the Pumas, who form part of the Lions Super Rugby franchise.
These rumours want us to believe that the Pumas are insisting that their coach, Jimmy Stonehouse, has to be involved in coaching at the MTN Lions. With Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann’s coaching contract already extended and with him the designated figure to take the head coach role for the MTN Lions, this spat could easily turn ugly if the parties do not reach some compromise and consensus.
Wing Fergus McFadden compounded Ireland’s injury woes after being ruled out of Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks.
McFadden fractured his hand in the 15-32 loss to the Wallabies and joins Keith Earls, Craig Gilroy and Simon Zebo on the sidelines. Coach Joe Schmidt has subsequently called up Felix Jones.
Tevita Kuridrani, Australian outside centre was banned for 5 weeks for his tip-tackle on Peter O’Mahony on the weekend in the match between Ireland and the Wallabies.
Sona Taumalolo of Tonga was banned for 4 weeks and Yoann Maestri’s Red Card was deemed sufficient punishment for their involvement in striking each other in the match between France and Tonga on the weekend, which effectively means Yoann Maestri is free to resume play and to face the Springboks on the weekend.
News out of the Stormers camp is that coach Allister Coetzee says Wallaby wing Cooper Vuna has not signed and will not join them for the 2014 Super Rugby season.
One more Test match remains for the South African Springboks of Heyneke Meyer on the End Of Year Tour, probably the biggest of the 3 Tests, against the unpredictable team of France. Nick Mallett was still Springboks coach when last the Springboks won IN France, against France.
On the injury front, Francois Louw looks likely to be good to go on the weekend, with the injury he suffered not so bad and recovery going well.
France is always difficult to curb when their backline gets going, so Jaque Fourie at outside centre is under pressure to play well, both on defence and attack, where he has not really impressed on tour so far since he has re-joined from his stint in Japan.
Heyneke Meyer’s biggest quandry is probably who to pick as his starting tighthead prop for the weekend. Will it be Coenie Oosthuizen who has been the bench tighthead option in the last 2 Test or will Lourens Adriaanse supercede Coenie because Lourens is a recognised tighthead?
South Africa captain Jean de Villiers was one of nine Springboks included Tuesday in a 23-man Barbarians squad to play Fiji at Twickenham on November 30.
The squad contains eight members of the South Africa squad who have already beaten Wales and Scotland on their current tour of Europe, as well as legendary Springbok flanker Schalk Burger.
Wales have made 11 changes for the clash against Tonga on Friday evening with Newport Gwent Dragons’ Hallam Amos making his debut on the wing in a side captained by Ryan Jones.
Whilst the All Blacks will be without the injured Dan Carter in Dublin on Sunday, Ireland may miss the services of their own playmaker Jonny Sexton.
Wallaby wing Cooper Vuna has reportedly agreed to join the Stormers for next year’s Super Rugby competition.
No less than 11 Scotland players required treatment on Monday following the bruising 0-28 loss to the Springboks at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Argentina will not have a team participating in next year’s Vodacom Cup competition, it is reported.
Following the game between Scotland and the South African Springboks, there has been some movements amongst the Springbok player corps.
Fourie du Preez is on his way back to Japan and won’t be available for the France game, in his place Jano Vermaak has been recalled to the Springbok side, from France itself, where he has been in great form.
Injured Frans Malherbe will be replaced by Frik Kirsten who has been called up by Heyneke Meyer.
Francois Louw, who left the field on a stretcher in the Scotland clash with an apparent neck injury looks to be OK for the coming weekend.
France have recalled prop Thomas Domingo and No 8 Louis Picamoles to their squad for this weekend’s Test against the Springboks.
Tongan prop Sona Taumalolo, French lock Yoann Maestri and Australian centre Tevita Kuridrani will all face hearings on Tuesday after receiving red cards on the weekend.
Junior Springbok Cheslin Kolbe has joined the Springbok Sevens training group in Stellenbosch, ahead of the World Series tournament in Dubai.
Australia have suspended six players for one match for drinking in midweek before Saturday’s win over Ireland and warned nine more.
Wallabies coach Ewan McKenzie acted after “a group of players made the decision to stay out late and consume inappropriate levels of alcohol”.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has explained why he decided to not include lock Pieter-Steph du Toit in his squad to face Scotland on Sunday.
JP Pietersen will on Sunday become the 28th player to reach 50 Springbok Test caps when he runs out against Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in the second match of the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour.
The 27-year-old Pietersen, who will return from Japan to Durban to play for The Sharks in Vodacom Super Rugby next season, made his Test debut on 9 September 2006 against Australia in Johannesburg when he was only 20.
Philippe Saint Andre has made five changes to the France starting line-up for the test against Tonga in Le Harve on Saturday, the coach opting to overhaul a side that lost 26-19 to New Zealand last week.
The announcement of the South African Springboks side to face Scotland is expected this afternoon (Thursday 14 November 2013) and all the noises from the Springbok camp seem to be positive.
Bakkies Botha, affectionately called “Oom Bakkies” by some of the Bokke young guns is having a profound mentoring affect on the young charges in the side, specially on Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
For the 2nd Test of the tour, the Springboks are set to announce a number of changes in the match 23, most notably in the front row, locks & looseforwards.
Australian international wing Digby Ioane is still waiting for the medical staff of his Top 14 club Stade Francais to give him permission to start playing again, he said on Wednesday.
Teenage lock forward Jonny Gray is the only uncapped player in Scotland’s 23-man squad to face South Africa in the viagogo Autumn Test at Murrayfield on Sunday.
England’s front row crisis worsened afer it was confirmed that Alex Corbisiero has been ruled out of Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks at Twickenham.
England are also without Mako Vunipola, who is nursing a knee injury, while Joe Marler still has to pass a concussion test to prove his fitness.
Samoa centre George Pisi is set to miss the remainder of his country’s matches in November after he was handed a six week ban for a tip tackle on Ireland wing Tommy Bowe during last Saturday’s 40-9 hammering by the Irish at Lansdowne Road.
The South African Rugby Players’ Association (SARPA) has expressed concern at the financial situation at the Border Bulldogs.
The crisis started when players at the East London-based union did not receive their match fees for the month of September, and salaries for October have not been paid in full.
Rugby fans can start voting for their own International Player of the Year and World XV of the Year following the release of a 45-strong shortlist of contenders.
Part of the inaugural Ultimate Rugby IRPA Awards, the Fans’ Player of the Year, and World XV of the Year will be decided by votes cast on Ultimate Rugby’s mobile app, and announced in conjunction with other category winners on November 26.