Springboks
Louis Koen and Pieter de Villiers were officially added to the Springbok management on Thursday. Continue reading
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer will hold a fourth and final Planning Camp in Durban from Sunday, with 42 players across all five Vodacom Super Rugby franchises invited to attend.
New Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer finally put to bed months of media speculation over the possible return of retired lock Victor Matfield.
A while back I offered to manage a selection competition where we at Rugby-Talk could show our knowledge of SA rugby and who can read Heyneke Meyer’s mind the best. Bok Barometer was the driving force in this idea. The first Test is on the 9th of June, less than 4 weeks away.
Taranaki 3 / 3 South Africa – 11 August 1956, Rugby Park New Plymouth
The Springbok team arrived in New Plymouth in high spirits after winning the second test and constructing an impressive win against Wanganui – scoring 7 splendid tries. There was a feeling in the camp that the tour was back on track and that the team was starting to hit form. The struggling performance against a spirited Taranaki team therefore came as a bit of a shock; a reality check.
Within context of the tour it was a match as important and influential as the Waikato game. The spirit, commitment and overall performance of the Taranaki team showed the way for the All Blacks according to Terry McLean and this had a highly significant influence on the outcome of not only the third test but also the series:
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster has named a 42-man squad for next month’s five-match tour of South Africa.
Drawn mostly from the Senior and Saxons Elite Player Squads, nine Aviva Premiership clubs are represented for the three-Test series, with the party captained by Player of the Season, Harlequins’ Chris Robshaw.
Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez has committed himself to seeing out his contract with Japanese champions, Suntory Sungoliath, but he has also declared himself available should he be needed for Test duty with the Springboks.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer left Cape Town a happy man after overseeing three very successful Planning Camps over the past three weeks.
England coach Stuart Lancaster wiill be without six key players including flank Tom Croft and lock Courtney Lawes for the tour of South Africa in June.
With 10 Weeks done and dusted in Super Rugby 2012 and having a fair idea of which players are performing and which players are injured, maybe it’s time for the Guru’s of Rugby-Talk to do the Following:
- Name their 15 Springbok starters
- Next to the above names to pen down 2nd choice players in the various positions
- Explain in detail why players are chosen as starters and why 2nd Choice players are chosen
In turn the Guru’s out there in the blogesphere, whether registered as bloggers or not, will have the opportunity to name their own side (with 2nd Choices) and take some swings at the Authors and each other.
Registered Bloggers just Login with their normal particulars, Non-Registered Bloggers will have to supply a Name (nickname is fine) and an E-Mail Address.
The rules are… there are no rules except to leave parents, wives and children out of the picture and to behave within the bounds of decent undecency.
At the same time, as this Article will be seen as fun and good natured banter, nobody is allowed to get angry… and by participating accept that whatever is said, written or inferred, is done so in jest and with the general aims and purpose of Rugby-Talk in mind.
Here we will go head to head, toe to toe… and get our frustrations out into the open.
Are you clear about all of that, muppits, moepels & mopkoppe… and friends?
A dispute over the allocation of money towards Springbok rugby players is threatening to disrupt the team’s preparations ahead of the England series in June.
The final Springbok planning camp starts in Cape Town on Tuesday evening and Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer, after consulting with the national selectors, has invited 31 players to the camp.
I try not to copy and paste articles, but this one cannot be reworked.
Vodacom Blue Bulls flank Wian Liebenberg will lead a powerful SA Under-20 team at the IRB Junior World Championship 2012 in Cape Town, the South African Rugby Union announced on Tuesday.
SARU named the 28-man squad during a midday media conference held at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport.
Schalk Burger - Crocked
Stormers captain and flank Schalk Burger could possibly be sidelined until July, which would see him miss the Springboks’ three-Test series against England.
Every week readers of BOKzine (SA Rugby’s Electronic Magazine) are given the opportunity to ask questions of South African rugby personalities. This time was Heyneke Meyer’s turn.
Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has launched his fiercest attack yet on New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence, who officiated South Africa’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to Australia last year.
Former Springbok coach Jake White says it would make sense for current South African mentor Heyneke Meyer to select retired lock Victor Matfield as his captain.
Bulls scrumhalf Francois Hougaard has signed a new three year contract with the Bulls keeping him in Pretoria for another three years.
A total of 45 players from the Vodacom Bulls and The Sharks have been invited to the second Springbok Planning Camp, which will be held in Pretoria next week.
Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has approached the South African Rugby Union (SARU) about possible work.
Former Springbok lock Victor Matfield has confirmed that Bok coach Heyneke Meyer approached him about a possible return to rugby but nothing is decided yet.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer says he regrets Jaque Fourie’s decision not to make himself available for the Springboks while he plays in Japan, but he respects it.
Heyneke Meyer may only be in the first real testing week of his tenure but he is already setting up structures that are far more advanced than the national team has ever had before.
Along with Saru’s new General Manager: High Performance Rassie Erasmus, Meyer has already set the wheels in motion to see that players are up to speed with what he wants from them ahead of the England test series, including game plans, individual skills and a number of small intricacies that could make the world of difference when the international season rolls around.
England will play 2 mid week games and 3 Tests in a return to more conventional tours.
The Stormers have received a massive blow with the news that centre and captain Jean de Villiers has injured ligaments in his hand.
Veteran Springbok flyhalf Butch James, a member of the Rugby World Cup winning team in 2007, has decided to retire from Test rugby with immediate effect.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Sunday announced the appointment of former Springbok loose forward Rassie Erasmus into a senior management position at the organisation.
At 16.00 today (Sunday 15 April), Heyneke Meyer is set to release the names of his support team, but there may be a surprise in store……
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has named a group of players that will be attending the first planning camp in Pretoria next week.
Veteran Springbok World Cup winner Juan Smith, who has decided to take the entire year off, will decide in November if he will return to the playing field or retire permanently.
South Africa 36 / 16 Wanganui-King Country (8 August 1956 – Spriggenspark, Wanganui)
Terry Mclean wrote an entertaining piece about this game in his book ‘Battle for the rugby crown’. His pivotal story line is the fact that the Springboks for the first time on tour had some fun and approached the match in a more than usual relaxed manner. Craven actually took two days ‘holiday’ going with his wife to Mount Edmont –he only re-joined the players only the day before the Wanganui match– which might explain the relaxed and abundant behaviour of the players. Almost like kids who have at last escaped the scrutiny of their parents. Continue reading
Johannesburg – Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer’s appointment of his management team is at an impasse after the Blue Bulls Company demanded a big fee to release several of their coaching staff to the national union.
In an exclusive interview with Volksblad’s Hendrik Cronjé, Juan Smith has announced his immediate withdrawal from all rugby for 2012, to fully recover from the injury that has sidelined him since the beginning of 2011. Juan has indicated that he hoped to return to the field of play vs the Lions on Saturday, but after 4 operations, he has still not recovered sufficiently!
This weekend that was I went to a coaching course with a group of players. The course was generally speaking very informative. We rotated through different stations doing basic handling, rucking, tackling and kicking drills with lots of feedback to players and coaches.
At the end we played a game (10 players on each side) called touch and ruck. It is a really nice way to enforce some basic skills at the young age groups. Players learn about maintaining the offside line, to go up in a line on defence and on attack, to touch with both hands (essential to learn that you need to punch through with the arms when you tackle), to rip and place and to clean-out at the rucks.