SA Rugby
Uncapped loose forward Arno Botha has been called into the Springbok starting team in the place of the injured Willem Alberts for Saturday’s Castle Lager Incoming Series opener against Italy at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban.
Wian du Preez, is already training with the Cheetahs for the upcoming Currie Cup season. Wian has 1 Springbok cap, but it could be argued that he could have had a few more. He has been a stalwart at Munster since the end of 2009. His experience will be invaluable, as the real possibility exists that the current Cheetahs front row could be called upon for The Rugby Championship.
Other returnees, are Piet Lindeque (Tuks, Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup, and Sharks), and Pieter Jordaan (DHL Western Province).
The Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd announced on Thursday that Vodacom Bulls and Vodacom Blue Bulls hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle did not accept an offer to extend his contract past October 31st, 2013. The hooker indicated that he will instead take up an offer with the French club Toulouse.
Italian coach Jacques Brunel has benched veteran prop Martin Castrogiovanni for Saturday’s Test against South Africa in Durban.
The encounter, in a four-nations tournaments that also features Samoa and Scotland, will feature an Azzurri team that shows seven changes for the side that beat Ireland in their last outing – a Six Nations match in Rome back in March.
Centre JJ Engelbrecht believes he wouldn’t have made the Springbok side had he continued playing his rugby in the Cape.
Engelbrecht will make his run-on debut for the Boks against Italy at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday after coming on as a replacement against Argentina at Newlands last year.
Bokkies (54) 97 / 0 (0) USA (Final Score)
South Africa Under 20 and USA Under 20 did battle in the IRB Junior World Championship of 2013 at La Roche-sur-Yon at 20:45 SA Time (18:45 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Five uncapped players, two of them in the starting line-up, have been selected in the Springbok team to face Italy in the opening round of the Castle Lager Incoming Series at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
Willie le Roux (fullback) and Jano Vermaak (scrumhalf) will earn their Springbok debuts in the starting team, while the trio of uncapped players on the bench are Trevor Nyakane (prop), Arno Botha (loose forward) and Jan Serfontein (centre), who was part of the SA Under-20 team that won the Junior World Championships last year.
MTN Golden Lions lock Franco van der Merwe, currently on loan to The Sharks, has been called up to the Springbok squad in the place of the injured Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Defensive coach John McFarland says the Springboks are far better prepared for the 2013 international season compared with 12 months ago.
South Africa face Italy in their season-opener in Durban on Saturday in coach Heyneke Meyer’s first full term in charge, after he and his coaching staff were appointed in early 2012.
The South Africa Under-20 team to face the United States in their first match of the IRB Junior World Championship 2013 has been named.
Vodacom Blue Bulls forward Ruan Steenkamp will captain the side from the back of the scrum in the number eight jersey.
Some very good rugby right througout the week this week… clear your schedules!
Springbok prop Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira has overcome his heart condition and is relishing the opportunity to wear the green and gold again when South Africa tackles Italy at Kings Park on Saturday.
Toyota Free State Cheetahs centre Robert Ebersohn has been called up to the Springbok squad currently preparing for the Castle Lager Incoming Series in Durban.
Ebersohn’s inclusion follows uncertainty over the availability of midfielders Jean de Villiers (mild hamstring strain) and JJ Engelbrecht (quad contusion), while Juan de Jongh has already been ruled out of Saturday’s Test against Italy because of a finger injury.
Vodacom Bulls player Lionel Mapoe will miss the remainder of the Vodacom Super Rugby season due to a shoulder injury. The versatile outside back sustained the injury on Saturday during his side’s 30-25 win over the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Former Varsity Cup-winning Maties head coach and a current member of SARU’s High Performance Mobi-unit, Chean Roux, has been added to the Springbok Team Management in the role of Performance Analyst.
It won’t all be plain sailing for Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer as on Monday he begins the buildup to Saturday’s first test match of the season against Italy in Durban.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has announced his Springbok squad for the 2013 June Internationals.
The surprise inclusions are Lourens Adriaanse, Trevor Nyakane and Bjorn Basson.
The surprise omissions are Raymond Rhule, Robert Ebersohn, Ryan Kankowski and Elton Jantjies.
Nine uncapped players, six of whom have not been part of the national set-up before, have been included in a 34-man Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Incoming Series involving Italy, Samoa and Scotland later this month.
It may not be a squad of superstars, but Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu can announce a squad of virtual allsorts to mould into a World Cup-winning team on Monday.
Out of favour Sharks No 8, Ryan Kankowski may leave South Africa after playing for the SA Sevens team at the upcoming World Cup.
The Vodacom Bulls firmed their grip on the top position of the South African conference on Saturday by beating closet rivals, the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday, while the DHL Stormers kept their outside change of a play-off spot alive with a bruising win over the Southern Kings on a drenched DHL Newlands pitch in Cape Town.
The other South African team, The Sharks, enjoyed a bye.
Saracens and Barbarians hooker Schalk Brits has been slapped with a three week ban for punching his Saracens team mate Owen Farrell in the British & Irish Lions’ tour opener in Hong Kong.
Cheetahs (10) 25 / 30 (17) Bulls (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT).
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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Stormers (6) 19 / 11 (3) Kings (Final Score)
The DHL Stormers and Southern Kings did battle in Super Rugby at Newlands, Cape Town at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT).
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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Griquas pivot Burton Francis is set to leave Kimberley after signing a deal with French club Agen.
In the war of words Naka Drotske said “It’s our season for firsts”
Here are the Super Rugby Team Sheets as they are announded for Round 16 of Super Rugby 2013.
A well-prepared South Africa Under-20 team leave for France on Thursday where they will defend their Junior World Championship title.
The Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) have once again changed or shifted the goal posts for the remaining schedule of The Lions Challenge.
The French Barbarians game, which was cancelled and substituted with a SA Barbarians game, now falls away too, and in stead the Lions now have a bye weekend on that weekend.
They can colour it anyway they like, but it stenches of more incompetence and poor execution of a season which was always going to be a difficult one for the embattled Union.
6 International games have now been canned already!
Samoan coach Stephen Betham has been left scrambling to field a fully fit team against the Lions in their challenge match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Luke Watson’s much-anticipated return to Newlands is off. The Southern Kings captain has been ruled out of his team’s encounter with the Stormers.
Watson, who captained the Stormers during his stint in Cape Town, has been ruled out of Saturday’s Newlands encounter due to Flu.
French club Montpellier have snapped up the signatures of two top SA midfielders – Vodacom Bulls veteran Wynand Olivier and DHL Western Province centre JP Du Plessis among their acquisitions ahead of the new European season.
Sharks centre Piet Lindeque is heading back to the Cheetahs to continue his rugby career in Bloemfontein.
Die Toyota Cheetahs afrigter, Naka Drotske, het Raymond Rhule teruggebring as verandering in die beginspan vir die kardinale Super Rugby kragmeting met die Vodacom Bulls, hierdie Saterdag.
Fit-again forwards De Kock Steenkamp and Deon Fourie have been named in the DHL Stormers starting line-up for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby encounter against the Southern Kings at DHL Newlands (kick-off 17:05).