Western Force flanker David Pocock is set to spend between four to six weeks on the sidelines after scans revealed a medial ligament strain in his injured right knee.
Pocock was sidelined early in the first half of the club’s match against the Sharks last Saturday night in Perth and will miss at least the next month of Super Rugby.
The Crusaders could take Super Rugby to a completely new market by playing one of their matches in London England.
The Crusaders cannot use their home ground at AMI Stadium in Christchurch and are said to be considering playing a Super rugby match in Auckland or even London, England.
Western Force centre, Rory Sidey, has been suspended for three weeks after a SANZAR judicial hearing found him guilty on the charge of dangerous tackling under law 10.4(j) during the Forces’ games against the Sharks on Saturday.
The Highlanders ended the Bulls 20 home match unbeaten run with an outstanding 28-35 bonus point victory at Loftus Versfeld.
The last time the Bulls lost a match at Loftus was on the 12th of April 2008 against the Hurricanes.
Here are the views of the coaches and players during the After Match Interviews.
Spectacular, that is the only word to describe the Bulls’ fall from grace against the perennial whipping boys of New Zealand rugby. The 3-time champions were made to look like amateurs at a rugby-trial, each one trying to impress or stand out, and each one failing spectacularly…. there’s that word again. Are the Bulls out of it? Are they done? Naaaah… all things being equal, they’ll probably still head on to the play-offs later on, it’s a long season… but what went wrong?
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Marshmallows can’t withstand. Trap them in a clenched fist and they’re soon squashed. Heat them up and they become gooey and pliable, a little like the South African middle-order
The Stormers triumphed in their fourth consecutive win over the Cheetahs at Newlands with a final score of 21 – 15.
However, if last weeks Super Rugby clash at Newlands was a comical theatre production of errors, then the first 20 minutes of the DHL Stormers against the Toyota Cheetahs was the sequel.
Bulls (6) 28 / Highlanders (11) 35 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls hosted the Highlanders at Loftus, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD and M-Net on TV in SA.
The Highlanders continued their unbeaten run and scored a bonus point for tries whilst the Bulls end their unbeaten run at home and only salvaged a bonus point for losing by only 7 points.
It was a disasterous game from a Bulls perspective, with bad refereeing and general bad play and sloppy tackling by all the Bulls players. Today it is frustrating to be a Bulls supporter.
Stormers (6) 21 / Cheetahs (6) 15 (Final Score)
The Stormers hosted the Cheetahs at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
Force (9) 12 / Sharks (19) 39 (Final Score)
The Western Force hosted the Sharks at NIB Stadium, Perth at 13:05 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Sharks won well and convincingly but the attrition rate was also high with Odwa Ndungane spear-tackled and taken to hospital. Also looked like Willem Alberts was carrying an injury.
Bonus point in the bag for the Sharks on a very important away win.
Brumbies (15) 25 / Reds (22) 31 (Final Score)
The Brumbies hosted the Reds at Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 10:40 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Brumbies scored 4 tries to 1 but their ill-dicipline cost them as Quade Cooper was on song with the bott, slotting 7 penalties, 1 conversion and 1 drop goal.
Chiefs (16) 38 / Rebels (3) 10 (Final Score)
The Chiefs hosted the Melbourne Rebels at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 08:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
The Chiefs managed their bonus point try in the 79th minute to ultimately run out composed winners with 5 Log points in the bag.
A perfect Autumn evening in Johannesburg. Not too hot, no wind, and no threat of rain.
Perfect that is until the Blues from Aukland spoilt it all for the vast majority of the 26 532 people at Coca Cola Park in downtown Johannesburg.
Lions (25) 32 / Blues (17) 41 (Final Score)
The Lions hosted the Blues at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
In a frenetic game the Blues came out victorious after putting their All Black subs on in the second half. Both teams earns a bonus point for tries.
Golden Lions (3) 9 / Pampas XV (12) 15 (Final Score)
The Golden Lions hosted the Pampas XV at Coca Cola Park, Johannesburg at 16:45. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
Despite more than 67% possession and almost as much territorial advantage the Golden Lions contrived to lose this match, whereas a very ill-diciplined Pampas XV side (who conceded 2 yellow cards and countless penalties) used the meager chances they had to win against the odds.
Crusaders (26) 33 / Waratahs (13) 18 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Waratahs at Travalgar Park, Nelson (not in Christchurch due to the massive earthquake) at 08:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 and CSN on TV in SA.
The Crusaders won comfortably in the end but the nail in the Waratahs coffin were the 2 fast scores before halftime and the fast try just after halftime to give the Saders the buffer they needed.
We can look forward to the following rugby on TV this weekend in SA:
The Sharks made only one change to the starting line up for their match against the Force this coming weekend, with JP Pietersen who gets a start as Lwazi Mvovo drops to the bench after a slight twist of his ankle last weekend.
Blues coach Pat Lam has made six changes to his team to face the Lions with Luke McAlister coming in for Stephen Brett who has been dropped to the bench.
Allister Coetzee, coach of the DHL Stormers, on Wednesday named his team to take on the Toyota Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday. Kick-off is at 17:05.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has chosen to rest Bakkies Botha and play Danie Rossouw alongside Victor Matfield against the Highlanders at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Os du Randt has been axed as the Springboks’ scrumming consultant.Os du Randt confirmed to Sport24 on Tuesday that he had been informed in writing by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) that his contract as scrumming consultant will not be renewed and that he will therefore not be part of the Boks’ World Cup management team.
Yip, it's a dirty business
The South African rugby public knows very little about scrumming… fact. The reason for this is twofold, firstly SuperSport’s so-called forward experts, being Bob Skinstadt and Owen Nkumane have throughout their brief careers managed to steer well clear of the physical stuff, Bob, because he was a basically a slower centre and Nkumane, because he was basically a quota. The second reason, and perhaps the more pertinent one, is the new law interpretations, which causes so many reset scrums throughout the game, that no-one can stand watching them anymore.
Elton Jantjies capped of an impressive 2010 with a call-up to the Springbok squad, so why does the 2011 version seem so out of his depth? Continue reading
Schalk Burger has only suffered a strain on his medial ligament and will be back in rugby inside the next month — maybe even in time for the Stormers’ important north/south derby against the Bulls at Loftus on 19 March.
The Cheetahs will not field Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow against the Stormers in their Vodacom Super Rugby clash in Cape Town on Saturday.
Sonny Bill Williams is expected to make his Vodacom Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders against the Waratahs on Friday.
Vodacom Bulls utility back, Francois Hougaard, has lost the moonboot, but also the race against time to play against the Highlanders on Saturday.
Cheetahs captain Juan Smith will miss the rest of the Super rugby season but could play for the Springboks at the Rugby World cup.
The Bok flank had surgery on his Achilles on Monday after he injured it playing in the Cheetahs second round clash against the Bulls.
SANZAR have released the match officials for the third Round in the 2011 Super Rugby tournament and Chris Pollock starts the action on Friday.
This weekend has seven matches and the final match will be the Bulls against the Highlanders.
Melbourne Rebels star flyhalf has been fined one match payment for his role in a nightclub incident involving a bottle of Vodka.
Cipriani allegedly reached over and helped himself to a bottle of Vodka in a Melbourne nightclub and was then asked to leave the club.
The Waratahs have lost Berrick Barnes in the run up to their clash against the Crusaders in Nelson on Friday but Phil Waugh has been named in the team.
Phil Waugh will take his place in the team after sustaining a biceps injury against the Reds, and in doing so will become the first player to captain NSW 50 times at Super Rugby level.