Super Rugby
This weekend sees the start of Super Rugby, but only with 2 games in South Africa. For the rest of the Super Rugby Francises, including all New Zealand and Australian franchises, it’s another weekend of preparation matches for Super Rugby.
In New Zealand, the Hurricanes report that Tim Bateman has suffered a grade one medial knee ligament injury at training and will miss 2 to 6 weeks of rugby. Also in New Zealand the Crusaders have named Richie McCaw on the bench for their warm-up encounter with the Hurricanes.
In Australia, the Reds have made some changes amongst their props, with James Slipper in at loosehead and Greg Holmes in at tighthead and a few changes were made in the backline too, for their warm-up clash against the Melbourne Rebels. Also in Australia, Hugh McMeniman returns from injury and will run out for the Force A side to face the Pampas XV and Samoa A.
Cell C Sharks director of rugby, Jake White, has named a 39-man squad that will contest the 2014 Super Rugby tournament, which includes 17 Springboks.
White has insisted that having one of the best squads in Super Rugby means little if his team cannot transfer the weight of expectancy into results.
Big Brumbies loose forward Fotu Auelua has been ruled out for 10-12 weeks with a knee injury that will see him miss eight Super Rugby matches.
Australian Rugby Union chief executive Bill Pulver has revealed that Super Rugby in Australia will lose money in 2014, but they are putting together plans to address the problem.
The 2014 Super Rugby season starts later this week and Pulver has revealed that the tournament will run at a loss this year.
The match officials for the 1st and 2nd Rounds of the 2014 Super Rugby season have been released.
South African teams alone will contest the opening round and the Stormers have a bye in the first week.
Australian and New Zealand teams will start their Super Rugby seasons in Round 2.
Naka Drotske has announced the first team of the Toyota Cheetahs for the 2014 Super Rugby season!
This weekend sees the start of Super Rugby, but only in South Africa, with the New Zealand and Australian sides joining a week later.
Four of the 5 South African teams will be in action and the DHL Stormers side start their campaign with a bye weekend.
Lions head coach Johan Ackerman has announced his squad to compete in the 2015 Super Rugby competition.
The Lions, back in the competition after a year in the wilderness have done their best to choose a squad with as much experience as is available, mixed with a group of talented youngsters who will have to take a step up to the next level if the Lions are to avoid a disasterous 2015 Super Rugby campaign.
Coach Allister Coetzee has announced a much-changed line-up for the DHL Stormers’ final warm-up game ahead of the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season.
The DHL Stormers will take on the Boland Cavaliers in Wellington on Saturday afternoon and Coetzee has named a new-look side in a bid to give his entire group of players a run before the start of the season proper.
Experienced hooker Tiaan Liebenberg will lead the Stormers into battle this weekend, with flyhalf Gary van Aswegen serving as his vice-captain.
The Vodacom Bulls have released a statement about the finess of its players.
Bulls Fitness Update
The Vodacom Bulls will have to face the Cell C Sharks in Saturday’s season opener of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition without Arno Botha, Mornè Mellett and Jesse Kriel, it was announced on Monday.
The last thing the DHL Stormers need ahead of the new Vodacom Super Rugby season is more injuries at lock, so even though coach Allister Coetzee is confident there is nothing to worry about, the squad will nonetheless be waiting with bated breath for results of a scan conducted at the weekend on Rynhardt Elstadt’s ribs.
The powerfully built forward came off at halftime of the 40 / 7 win over the Southern Kings in a warm-up match in Port Elizabeth with sore ribs. According to Coetzee, he was walking comfortably afterwards, but nonetheless he underwent a scan on the affected area, the results of which will be made available on Monday.
The Stormers are hunting the services of Tongan utility back, Fraser Anderson, for this year’s Super Rugby competition, according to reports.
SANZAR is proud to announce a two-year extension of its long-standing partnership with GILBERT to continue its role as the exclusive Vodacom Super Rugby ball supplier.
The Stormers could lose another frontline player with wing / fullback Gio Aplon linked with a move to France.
The Blues will be short on experience when they start their Super Rugby campaign later this month.
The Crusaders look set to start their 2014 campaign without two of the most influential players in the world – Richie McCaw and Kieran Read.
It has already been confirmed that Read will miss the Crusaders’ Super Rugby opener against the Chiefs on 21 February.
With the Super Rugby season less than 6 days away, here is a bit of history on the Competition.
Super Rugby is run by SANZAR and consists of franchise teams from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, 5 teams each, devided into 3 Conferences.
Super Rugby is the Southern Hemisphere’s prime Franchise tournament and part of the reason why the Southern Hemisphere currently dominate world rugby, with the New Zealand All Blacks 1st on the IRB World Rankings, the Springboks from South Africa comfortably in 2nd spot and the Wallabies from Australia in 3rd spot.
Super Rugby gets underway in South Africa first in 2014, on 15 February 2014 and a week later the Antipodion sides join in.
The Brumbies are hoping that their 67 / 0 Super Rugby warm up victory over an ACT XV at Viking Park has not come at a price after they picked up several injuries.
The scoreline of the brutal match shows how convincing the victory was but David Pocock had to have attention to his bleeding eye, flying winger Henry Speight bruised his ribs and No 8 Fotu Auelua picked up a knee injury.
The Brumbies had 11 internationals in their line up as they want to be as ready as they can be for their Super Rugby season opener against the Reds at Canberra Stadium on 22 February.
2011 Super Rugby champions the Reds kicked off their pre-season warm ups with a 31 / 20 win against reigning champions the Chiefs in Toowoomba on Saturday
The Reds notched four tries in front of a 7 438-strong crowd at Toowoomba Sports Ground in the first of two pre-season clashes in 2014.
The Melbourne Rebels edged the Hurricanes 24-22 in their pre-season clash at Simonds Stadium in Geelong on Saturday.
The Rebels made it two from two this pre-season thanks to the decisive penalty kick from Jason Woodward.
Springbok Siya Kolisi scored a hat-trick as the Stormers dispatched the Southern Kings in a Super Rugby pre-season outing.
The Stormers eventually won 40 / 7, after racing into a commanding 19 / 0 lead inside the first half-hour, at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday.
Our featured image just features the Cell C Sharks, and not the Lions, because at times it seemed like there was just ONE SIDE on the field!
The Lions were given a reality check when a full-strength Sharks team handed them a 57 / 14 drubbing in their pre-season friendly.
In what was their last run-out before their return to Super Rugby, a young and inexperienced Lions selection were outscored by 9 tries to 2 at Ellis Park on Friday.
Toyota Cheetahs coach Naka drafted in a number of Varsity Cup stars when he unveiled his 2014 Super Rugby squad on Friday.
For the second week in succession high-profile Rugby League convert Benji Marshall failed to live up to the pre-match hype.
The spotlight shone brightly on Marshall in the build-up to the game, but it was the New Zealand-born Rugby League convert Alofa Alofa that lit up a Super Rugby trial between the Blues and Waratahs in Sydney on Friday.
Alofa even outshone illustrious teammate Israel Folau as the former Aucklander produced two evasive runs before deservedly nailing the game-sealing try as the Waratahs triumphed 33 / 12.
There are two vastly different approaches from the teams going into Friday’s Super Rugby pre-season showdown between the Lions and Sharks in Johannesburg.
While Lions coach Johan Ackermann continued to experiment with his team, Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White have risked injury to his vast array of Springboks.
The Crusaders kicked off their Super Rugby pre-season warm ups with a 28 / 15 victory over the Highlanders in Motueka.
The Crusaders played an internal match last week against a development team so this is their first match against another team.
The Lions head coach Johan Ackermann has announced his team to take on the Sharks in a Super Rugby warm up game at Ellis Park on Friday evening.
Ackermann has opted to make wholesale changes to the side that narrowly beat the Kings last weekend.
The Lions will face a stern examination of their Super Rugby pedigree when they face the Sharks in Johannesburg on Friday.
And the biggest test will be in the scrums, where they will come up against the all-Springbok front row of Jannie and Bismarck du Plessis, as well as Tendai Mtawarira.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has identified three areas of concern as they prepare for their Super Rugby opener against the Sharks in Durban on 15 February.
The Bulls lost a pre-season match in Polokwane 26 / 19 to the Stormers last weekend and according to Ludeke they must improve their scrums, tactical kicking and work ethic before the season-proper starts.
Highlanders wing Buxton Popoalii will miss the entire Super Rugby season to focus on recovering from surgery planned for later this month.
Australian Super Rugby franchises are all gearing up for Super Rugby 2014, with their plans and preparations taking shape.
The Reds have named a Wallaby-strewn side to face the Chiefs on Saturday.
The Waratahs have given Bernard Foley the nod at flyhalf and have moved Kurtley Beale to fullback for their warm-up encounter against the Blues on Friday.
Cell C Sharks Director of Rugby Jake White has named a powerful line-up for Friday night’s pre-season warm-up match against the Lions at Ellis Park, in this, their final hit-out.
White pointed out after training on Tuesday that he would name potentially a similar side to the one that will play the Bulls in the Vodacom Super Rugby opener at Growthpoint KINGS PARK next Saturday. This will obviously give the team the best opportunity to gel as a unit in the match scenario.
The Vodacom Bulls have dismissed worries about the quality of their scrum ahead of this year’s Vodacom Super Rugby series.
Eyebrows were raised after Saturday’s pre-season loss to the Stormers, and while the team have pronounced themselves happy with their performance in the 26 / 19 loss, a question mark still hangs over the set piece.
The DHL Stormers have announced that Juan de Jongh has injured his knee and will miss 6 weeks of rugby.
In addition, Schalk Burger makes double news, being named the Captain of the side who will take on the Southern Kings on the weekend and with the further news that he wants to stay put in the Cape, at least till after the next World Cup.
A somewhat changed Southern Kings team will take to the field against the DHL Stormers under the leadership of Steven Sykes on Friday evening, says caretaker coach, Robbie Kempson.
Announcing the team at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Kempson said Sykes would take the role of captain this week, following an injury to Darron Nell’s elbow that has resulted in him being excluded from selection.
Cheetahs defence guru Michael Horak is convinced their defence will stand them in good stead in this year’s Super Rugby competition.
With only three tries conceded in 200 minutes during their pre-season games – against Shimlas, Kings and Pumas – Horak believes they are ready for the coming season.