SA Rugby
Anton Bresler
Sharks lock Anton Bresler has signed a three-year deal with Scottish side, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, who are coached by South African Alan Solomons, announced the news via their official website on Wednesday.
Bresler, who has played 39 Super Rugby games for the Sharks, will join his new team after the completion of this year’s Super Rugby competition.
Schalk Burger
Schalk Burger returns to the DHL Stormers line up as captain for this weekend’s match against the Bulls in Cape Town.
Burger who was in fine form for the Springboks in the June test series returns after missing the Stormers last game through injury. Springbok Sevens star Seabelo Senatla comes into the match day 22 for what looks to be his Super Rugby debut for the Cape based franchise. Senatla gets the nod due to Kobus Van Wyk not being available through injury.
Injuries have necessitated some positional shifts with Sailosi Tagicakibau lining up in the 13 jersey and Juan De Jongh will play at 12 in the absence of injured Bok newcomer Damian De Allende.
The South African Conference resumes this weekend in Round 18, after watching the Australian and New Zealand franchises in action which ensured that there is likely to be only one team from the Republic in the finals.
The Sharks, long guaranteed the South African Conference, will finish in the top three while two more victories will ensure that Jake White’s team finish in the top two position and lock up a home Semi Final.
The Bulls still have an outside chance of reaching the Finals Series, but their hopes were dealt a blow with a 32-21 loss to the Lions before the June break.
The Stormers have become one of the premier spoilers in Super Rugby so far, while the Lions and Cheetahs have likely already begun planning for the Currie Cup and 2015 season.
Fourie du Preez
Fourie du Preez will miss the Castle Lager Rugby Championship following an ankle injury sustained by the Springbok scrumhalf in last Saturday’s 55-6 Test victory over Scotland in Port Elizabeth.
Du Preez left the field in the first half of the Test. He was sent for x-rays immediately afterwards and went for an MRI scan in Pretoria on Monday, which confirmed earlier suspicions of an anterior syndesmotic injury. He will be sidelined for at least three months.
“It’s a massive blow to lose yet another world-class player and a key player due to an injury,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer. “Fourie is also a dynamic leader and one of the vice-captains in our team and his injury is a huge setback.”
Jean de Villiers
Jean de Villiers’s good nature in terms of positional flexibility may be exploited once again in a few weeks’ time.
The first-choice Springbok captain, who missed the entire June window period due to a knee injury, is an estimated four weeks away from a return to full fitness, which gives him a reasonable chance of being ready – albeit rather undercooked in match sharpness – for the Castle Rugby Championship opener against Argentina at Loftus on 16 August.
His status was confirmed as the Stormers on Monday issued an update on various sidelined players, some of whom will be available for consideration for Saturday’s Super Rugby derby against the Bulls at Newlands.
Both De Villiers and franchise colleague Damian de Allende, another midfielder who had cracked the Bok squad nod a few weeks ago only to be quickly struck down by wretchedly inconvenient injury himself, remain a few weeks out from renewed activity.
Allister Coetzee
DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee adopted a different approach to his former Springbok management colleague Jake White during the break from Vodacom Super Rugby for the June internationals.
While White had his Cell C Sharks players play club rugby in the last weeks of the break so they don’t hit the remaining phase of the season cold, Coetzee’s players haven’t played in any matches since the win over the Sharks in Durban on the last day of May. The only players to see action in June were the Springboks.
However, the Stormers shouldn’t expect to take any cobwebs into Saturday’s big derby match against the Vodacom Bulls at Newlands as in the two weeks back in training after the taking the first two weeks off, the Stormers have been steadily upping the intensity in training.
Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg
Roelof Smit
The Vodacom Bulls are set to hand Super Rugby debuts to two young players this weekend when they head to Cape Town for their Vodacom Super Rugby match against the DHL Stormers at Newlands.
Both SA Under 20 lock Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Tuks flank Roelof Smit are likely to be among the reserves as the Bulls look to patch up the cracks left by injuries after a long and arduos Super Rugby season.
And there will be no rest for the weary. As predicted the Bulls will use all their Springboks for the game which they need to win with a bonus point to continue their mathematical hope of making the playoffs.
Heinrich Brussow
The Cheetahs will not able to call on the services of Heinrich Brüssow for their Super Rugby clash against the Sharks in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Coach Naka Drotské said that the loose forward is still struggling with a groin injury and won’t be risked for the game.
Philip van der Walt (hand) and Jean Cook (shoulder) are ready for action again, while Oupa Mohoje has also returned from the Springboks.
Patrick Lambie
The Cell C Sharks will return to Vodacom Super Rugby action this coming weekend one position lower on the log than they were when they went into the June break, but there is plenty of reason for them to be optimistic about their chances of going all the way to the title.
While the Sharks were out on their feet when the June international window arrived, as evidenced by their lame performance in the narrow home loss to the DHL Stormers, the break may have come at just the right time for them. During the off period they have welcomed Patrick Lambie and Anton Bresler back to training, while Jean Deysel is now over his suspension that was incurred for the stomping incident that saw him being sent off against the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Willem Alberts, one of the players who was looking tired before the break, had the week off from international duty last weekend because of the concussion that forced him off the field in the second test against Wales. He should be relatively refreshed when he does return, be it this week against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein or next week against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Adriaan Strauss
The Vodacom Bulls could have snapped up the signing of the year locally as Springbok hooker and Toyota Cheetahs captain Adriaan Strauss looks set to be heading back to Pretoria.
Strauss is yet to sign the contract, and the Bulls could only open negotiations with him today – 1 July – but sources close to the Cheetahs camp have confirmed that Strauss has already said no to a contract extension with his province and now seems set on returning to Pretoria.
The Grey College graduate, who played his junior rugby in Pretoria and made his Vodacom Super Rugby debut there as well, before returning to the Cheetahs is being chased as well by the Stormers, who also have made a big money offer to sign him.
But it seems the Bulls have won the race, with indications that the deal could be finalised this week already and that Strauss will be a possible captain for the Bulls in next year’s Super Rugby series.
Trevor Nyakane
Springbok and Cheetahs prop Trevor Nyakane may be on his way to the Cape to play for Western Province and the Stormers.
The Bulls were also keen to sign Nyakane, but it now seems the Capetonians may have won the battle for his signature.
Carlos Spencer
Southern Kings coach Carlos Spencer has rung the changes for the Super Rugby friendly against a Sharks XV in Port Elizabeth on Friday as he continues to assess his options ahead of the Currie Cup competition.
The Kings had a convincing 66-28 win over a young Bulls side in their last encounter and Spencer made nine changes to the starting line-up for the clash.
Reflecting on the team, Spencer said the Kings squad was well-covered in all positions, but some players still had to cement their positions.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 18 of Super Rugby 2014.
Nick Briant starts the action at Waikato Stadium when the Chiefs host the Hurricanes on Friday at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT) .
This weekend sees 7 matches, with 2 on Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 game on Sunday.
The Brumbies have a BYE weekend.
After this Round, a full 113 matches would already have been played in Super Rugby 2014.
Franco van der Merwe
Springbok lock forward Franco van der Merwe has recovered fully from the ankle injury that forced him to miss much of the Lions’ Super Rugby campaign, and has been drafted straight in to the starting side by head coach Johan Ackermann for Friday nights clash against the Rebels at Ellis Park.
The big Springbok’s inclusion will add some most welcome steel to the Lions second row for the clash against the team currently 1 place below the home side on the combined log.
In is a game the Johannesburg based outfit will be desperate to win before faceing the Cheetahs in their final round robin game which may well decide the Wooden Spoonists of the SA conference, Ackermann will be hoping for a dispaly at least as intense as that which saw the Lions to victory over Gauteng neighbours the Bulls just ove a month ago.
Bryan Habana
Schalk Brits
The Springbok Sevens team’s hopes of winning a medal at the Commonwealth Sevens could well have been given a blow if indications that Springbok fifteens stars Bryan Habana and Schalk Brits may have to be forced to withdraw by their respective leagues.
While both Brits’ Saracens club and Habana’s Toulon club have given them the go-ahead to be selected for the Games, it seems now that the Premiership and Top14 may well order both to withdraw as the Games falls within the prescribed off period for European rugby.
As both leagues stipulate a strict four week rest period for players during the off season, it is unlikely they will change their minds and Blitzbok coach Neil Powell may well be forced to look elsewhere to bolster his team.
Eben Etzebeth
Stormers lock Eben Etzebeth will not feature in this year’s Super Rugby tournament after suffering another injury.
The Springbok lock has been sidelined with an ankle injury since late last year, but was looking forward to returning to action during the latter rounds of Super Rugby.
However, an official injury report released by the Stormers on Monday revealed another injury to Etzebeth.
He has a broken toe, which will keep him out of action for another 2-3 weeks.
Jake White
Jake White has hinted at a bold strategy to rest his returning Springboks with the Sharks having sewn up the South African conference and guaranteed some play-off rugby already.
The Sharks have an unassailable hold on the South African Conference and cannot finish the tournament any lower than third.
However, the plan is to finish in the top two and earn a direct route to a home semifinal without having to play a qualifying knock-out match.
White has indicated that if they are to really be competitive when it matters, it may require some tactical selection policies.
Dawie Theron
The Northern Hemisphere has had a distinct advantage going into the annual Junior World Championship, but that may soon evaporate.
South African Under 20 coach, Dawie Theron, said discussions are underway to organise a four-nations Rugby Championship style tournament for juniors.
The reason is that when the Six Nations teams – England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy – get into the play-offs of the IRB JWC they have the experience of a tough competition to fall back on.
Heyneke Meyer
Lood de Jager
The joke is going around that Heyneke Meyer describes everything the Bokke does as “AWESOME“!
Well, the South African public have reason to be AWED by the AWESOME display of the Springboks and their AWESOME coach!
Not only are the Springboks playing a very well-rounded and balanced game, 2 and a half years into Heyneke Meyer’s tenure, but it appears that the Springoks can now call on 40 odd players to do National duty for them at any given time.
Not only do the Springboks have locks of absolute world class to burn, the looseforwards are equally impressive, the midfield options have been greatly bolstered… and the flyhalf stocks are suddenly no concern anymore, with well-rounded performances by Handré Pollard and Marnitz Boshoff.
The biggest problems still for the Springboks, seem to be adequate depth at both loosehead and tighthead prop.
With almost 30 frontline Springboks out with injury and / or not available due to the International Window having closed before the start of the Test on the weekend, the mix-and-match Springboks certainly excelled on the weekend.
The 5 Springbok debutants, Handré Pollard, Marnitz Boshoff, Marcel van der Merwe, Stephan Lewies and Teboho ‘Oupa’ Mohoje also distinguished themselves on the field of play.
At the end of the June Internationals, the Springboks and Heyneke Meyer finally have reason to smile!
Griquas took another giant leap towards regaining their place in the top echelon of the domestic game in South Africa.
The Kimberley-based outfit raced clear at the top of the standings in the Currie Cup qualifying competition, after beating the Griffons 43-24 in the Northwest Stadium in Welkom at the weekend.
Griquas ran in seven tries to accumulate the full five points and now find themselves six points above the second-placed Leopards, who had a bye this weekend.
In other Round Four matches at the weekend the Falcons beat the Border Bulldogs 54-40, while the SWD Eagles edged the Boland Cavaliers 21-17.
Springboks (19) 55 / 6 (6) Scotland (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Scotland did battle in the June Internationals at
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth 17:00 SA Time (16:00 BST, 15:00 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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Adam Ashe (picture SNS/SRU)
Never can a nightmare have turned good as quickly as Adam Ashe’s. He spent almost the entire season fighting a recurring hamstring injury and though he did recover in time to win the chance to go training at the Canterbury International High Performance unit in Christchurch, New Zealand, everything was in reality geared to trying to make an impression next season.
He has not had to wait that long for his chance. Even though he had hardly played any rugby during the Scottish season and had managed only 36 minutes of pro play as a replacement for Glasgow, he has been propelled from the fringes of the game to centre stage as the starting No 8 against South Africa.
The magnitude of the step up is huge. For example, among the Springbok back row is Schalk Burger. Ashe was just ten when Burger started playing for South Africa in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, scarcely any older when Burger won the World Player of the Year award. No wonder that, with his strong ball carrying and kamikaze tackling style, Burger was one of teenage Ashe’s heroes.
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
A capacity crowd is expected at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday when the Springboks take on Scotland.
EP Rugby CEO, Charl Crous, said there were roughly 3 500 tickets left by Thursday afternoon and tickets were selling fast.
“We have seen an upsurge in ticket sales this week and we are encouraging those who have not yet got tickets to please get them as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.”
Crous said it would be great to be able to put up “sold out” signs ahead of the Test match and called on Nelson Mandela Bay residents to come out and support the Springboks.
He also advised people to come early to ensure that everyone would be able to get into the stadium before kickoff at 17:00 SA Time.
We run through some key players that went down in action during the June Internationals for Southern Hemisphere nations, that might impact some team’s Super Rugby chances.
South Africa and Australia are severely hit but things look a lot better for the New Zealand Franchises.
It is fast heading to crunch time in Super Rugby, with Round 17 on this weekend. The South African sides are of course excluded from Round 17 due to the fact that they started a week earlier than their Antipodian counterparts.
Including Round 17, there are only 3 weeks of the open Rounds left, before the weekend of Play-Off games ensue for the Top 6 Super Rugby sides and the margins for error is so small, specially for those Franchises still on the fringes of making the Play-Off’s.
After the 2 Play-Off games, featuring No 3 against No 6 and No 4 against No 5, there is one weekend of Semi-Finals (2 games) and a week later the Final.
Greg Peters
SANZAR on Friday said it will immediately introduce a strengthened concussion test for players in Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship in line with moves made by the International Rugby Board.
SANZAR, which runs the Super Rugby competition and the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, said player welfare was paramount.
Johann Sadie
The Cheetahs were hit by another massive blow when they lost their ninth player of the season, with midfielder Johann Sadie heading to Japan to join the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes at the end of the current Super Rugby season.
Sadie will make the move to the Japanese club, which also has South Africans Heinrich Brüssow and Riaan Viljoen on their books, after again missing on the Springbok training squad.
The Cheetahs midfielder has had a good season despite his team’s poor form in this year’s competition and will definitely be able to use his attacking skills in the pacy Japanese league.
It is Round 17 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend, the first Round after the June Test break! We have 5 games in Round 17, with 2 game on Friday and 3 games on Saturday.
All 5 the South African sides sits out this weekend, still in the last week of their June Test window, however this at the same time makes up for the fact that the South African sides started a week earlier than the rest in February.
After this Round it will mean that the Antipodian teams will have caught up in played games with the South African counterparts.
As a result, the Logs and Combined Log will no longer be skewed and will reflect a much more accurate accont of the Super Rugby season thus far.
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.
Flip van der Merwe
Flip van der Merwe’s season ended with a whimper rather than a bang as the big lock was ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Van der Merwe, who hurt himself in the closing minutes of the one-point victory over Wales in Nelspruit this past weekend, underwent a scan and was sent for a specialist opinion by the Springbok management on Monday.
And the news was not good.
The specialist ruled that Van der Merwe had to undergo surgery on his posterior cruciate ligament, and will therefore be out for six months.
Springboks vs Wales June 2014: Alun Wyn Jones & Steve Walsh discuss the Penalty Try incident
There is always something to discuss after a rugby Test match, especially one as thrilling as this.
There are the action and the special moments to discuss, the performance of players and all to frequently the Laws of the Game, the ever-changing, confusing and after controversial Laws of the Game and the demands of applying them accurately.
There were two tries especially discussed after the Nelspruit Test – one a try by the Welsh hooker and the other the definitive penalty try near the end – and penalty tries are rare and always debated.
Teboho Mahoje
The running joke may be that Heyneke Meyer is selecting his best side for the 2007 Rugby World Cup with the number of Springbok veterans in his side, but the inclusion of Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje for Saturday’s Test against Scotland may suggest otherwise.
The versatile loose forward had experienced a meteoric rise in his career and could make his Springbok debut playing off the bench against Scotland in Port Elizabeth only a few months after playing Varsity Cup rugby for Shimlas.
While a patch of grey hair in his primary school years secured him the Afrikaans nickname “oupa”, meaning grandfather, the versatile forward is anything but a geriatric.
Heyneke Meyer
Oregan Hoskins
Tank Lanning
Tank Lanning, former WP tighthead prop and head of Tankman Media has an interesting look at the Springbok team chosen to play against Scotland as well as the words of the uber-opportunist, Oregan Hoskins earlier this week regarding supposed instructions to Bok coach Heyneke Meyer.
This is pretty much they way I feel about it too and for once I am able to agree with something Lanning said, without hesitation!
Good piece, Tank!!
Handré Pollard
Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard is one of five uncapped players who have been named in the Springboks’ match-23 for Saturday’s final encounter of the Castle Lager Incoming Series against Scotland in Port Elizabeth.
In total, the Springbok starting team shows six changes from the side which beat Wales by 31-30 in Nelspruit last weekend.
The four uncapped players on a new-look bench are Marcel van der Merwe (prop), Stephan Lewies (lock), Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje (loose forward) and Marnitz Boshoff (flyhalf). Also on the bench are Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Francois Hougaard and Zane Kirchner, none of whom have played any Test rugby yet this season.
Two players, Pollard and Marcell Coetzee, have not yet featured for the Springboks this year, while four of these are replacements who have been promoted to the starting team, namely Lwazi Mvovo, Schalk Burger, Lood de Jager and Coenie Oosthuizen.
Adam Ashe, the 20-year-old Glasgow Warriors No 8, will become the seventh new cap of Scotland’s summer tour when he takes to the field against South Africa in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Ashe, a product of the Hillfoots and Stirling County clubs, was preparing for club training at Lincoln University in Christchurch one week ago, having been domiciled for a couple of months in New Zealand’s South Island as recipient of the John Macphail Scholarship.
Others have graduated to full international honours and have cited the “invaluable” experience the scholarship has bequeathed them, for example, John Barclay, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray and Kevin Bryce.
The match is played at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth at 17:00 SA Time, 16:00 BST, 15:00 GMT.
Louis Fouché
Vodacom Bulls flyhalf Louis Fouche has become the latest player to leave Loftus Versfeld after signing a one-year deal with the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan.
Fouche, who had a tough season with the Bulls, being dropped after the second game of this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby, has struggled to get back into the team with the likes of Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Handre Pollard ahead of him in the pecking order.
Since then, Fouche has played just a handful of games in the Vodacom Cup and decided to take up an offer in Japan to further his career there.
Tazz Fuzani
The Eastern Province Kings are reportedly interested in luring Western Province lock Tazz Fuzani to Port Elizabeth.
Fuzani, 23, made a promising debut for WP in last year’s Currie Cup, but appears to have fallen out of favour with WP / Stormers coach Allister Coetzee.