Sharks coach John Plumtree was all but impressed about the continuous bad publicity of Springbok Captain John Smit, and that he should retire from the game coming from no other then the former national coach Jake White. Continue reading
18 August 1976 – Quaggas-Barbarians 31 / All Blacks 32
This was without doubt the most exciting match of the tour. A thriller with some fantastic tries scored right up to injury time. The All Blacks had a shocking start to the match and was trailing 31-9 with 20 minutes of the second half gone when they started their come back. It was probably only due to the spirit in which the game was played which allowed them to come back as the Baabaas never closed down the match. Nevertheless, it was an unbelievable comeback and a match which had the crowd on their feet right up to the final whistle. Continue reading
India tour of South Africa, 2nd ODI:
India 190 (47.2 ov)
South Africa 189 (42.5 0v)
India win by 1 run
The newly-established SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia Rugby) organisation based in Sydney has appointed former international referee Lyndon Bray to the new role of Game Manager.
If history is anything to go by, the South African challenge for the new Super 15 trophy will be a 3-horse race. Continue reading
Time is running out to have your say on who should win the IRPA Try of the Year Award 2010. Be quick though, voting closes on Monday.
According to Sharks coach John Plumtree, Springboks skipper John Smit will have shed seven to eight kilos by the time the Super Rugby season starts.
With a little over 200 days to go until the IRB Junior World Championship 2011 kicks off in Italy, Pool C opponents South Africa and England are stepping up preparations in their quest to end New Zealand’s dominance of the prestigious Under 20 tournament.
India tour of South Africa, 1st ODI
South Africa 289/9 (50 ov)
India 154 (35.4 ov)
South Africa won by 135 runs
England tour of Australia, 1st T20
Australia 157/4 (20 ov)
England 158/9 (20 ov)
England won by 1 wicket (with 0 balls remaining)
Springbok rugby and South African rugby in general is coming to the end of an era, and it might be time to think about what the future holds. Continue reading
A packed calendar of events awaits those hungry to sample some rugby again. Diarise the following provisional DHL Stormers dates so that you don’t miss out.
Bulls have a tough start to the season. Losing coaches, key players injured and now management is hit by serious health issues to senior role players and their families.
Highly rated Vodacom Blue Bulls coach, Nico Serfontein, has been given permission to join the Guma group, a shareholding company of the Golden Lions Rugby Union, with immediate effect.
The time to feel sorry for the Freestate Cheetahs has to come to an end, they have no-one but themselves to blame for their ongoing problems. Continue reading
Having been on the losing end of two finals in 2010, Stormers coach Allister Coetzee believes his side can win the inaugural Super Rugby tournament.
With focus on the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in September, former Springbok coach Jake White says incumbent Bok coach Peter de Villiers faces a difficult task in deciding when to rest his key players in this year’s Tri-Nations.
Continue reading
London – Former Springbok coach Jake White will apply for the newly created position of Performance Director at the Rugby Football Union, a role which will see the current England coach Martin Johnson ultimately report to him.
India 168/6
South Africa 147/9
India won by 21 runs
South Africa team
MN van Wyk, HM Amla, AB de Villiers†, JP Duminy, CA Ingram, DA Miller, RJ Peterson, J Botha*, WD Parnell, J Theron, M Ntini
India team
RG Sharma, M Vijay, V Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, YK Pathan, SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, R Ashwin, P Kumar, A Nehra, MM Patel
Its now only 40 days away
The following articles comes from the Afrikaans newspapers, maybe later today or tomorrow it will appear in English. Thanks to Rapport we have a bit of Rugby news.
14 August 1976 – South Africa 9/ New Zealand 15
Test matches is about pressure; the ability to create pressure and to handle pressure. Handling and creating pressure has to do with tactics, key players, and senior players stepping up. This was in essence the difference between NZ and SA in the second test of the 1976 series. NZ had a superior game plan while South Africa’s strategic approach neither created nor alleviated pressure. Continue reading
Springboks Gurthrö Steenkamp, Pierre Spies and Jaco Pretorius are early casualties as the Vodacom Bulls started their preparations for the 2011 Super Rugby season, but there was good news for other test stars like Wynand Olivier, Fourie du Preez and Victor Matfield. Continue reading
10 August 1976 – OFS country XV 6 / All Blacks 31
Frankly, if Springs was bad, this match took the gold cup for agonizing rugby. The All Blacks played excruciating poor rugby against a bunch of terribly ordinary footballers whose only virtue was that they could tackle. Terry McLean in his book “Goodbye to Glory” writes: Continue reading
Jacques Kallis faced more adversity on the fourth day than he did in the first innings and came up trumps again, winning the mental battle against the Indians
The Bulls will play warm-up games against the EP Kings and a Premier XV as part of their 2011 Super Rugby preparations, the union announced on Wednesday.
IT IS official. The Beast will be in the black and white colours of the Sharks for the next three years after his employers at the KZN Rugby Union successfully fought off a ferocious bid for his prodigious talents from their Golden Lions counterparts.
Article thanks to Mike Greenway of the Natal Mercury.
Matt Giteau will wait to see if he needs “something fresh” before deciding where he will play beyond the end of 2011.
A national lottery organised to fund Fiji’s participation at this year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand could instead deepen its financial problems as it faces a fine of F$125,000 (US$82,500) for discounting tickets.
Die Cheetahs sal waarskynlik vandeesweek weet of hulle die Super15-rugbyreeks met of sonder die dienste van hul Springbok-flank Heinrich Brüssow gaan begin.
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder has revealed that just two of his All Blacks will be on prescribed resting plans in the new Super Rugby tournament for the Rugby World cup later this year.
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) have said that they will not negotiate for player release with England’s Premier Rugby Limited but only with England’s Rugby Football Union. This applies to Welsh internationals playing for Premiership clubs in England.
Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom is fearing that the start of his 2011 season could be hamstrung by injury, although there is hope that he won’t require any major surgery ahead of a busy World Cup year.
A New Zealand Herald and DigiPoll survey has revealed that precisely 70.4 percent of Kiwis believe that the All Blacks will win the Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2011.
7 August 1976 – Eastern Transvaal 12 / All Blacks 26
It was dreary, negative and mediocre; it was the 12th match of the tour, halfway anyway you look at it and the presumptions was that this All Black side was “gatvol” (had their gutsful) playing dreary, negative and mediocre rugby against a team with a knack for bringing opposition down to their own dreary, negative and mediocre way of playing. Continue reading
India tour of South Africa, 3rd Test: South Africa v India at Cape Town, Jan 2-6, 2011
South Africa 361 & 341
India 364 & 166/3 (82 ov)
Match Drawn
India won the toss and elected to field
Australia 280 & 281
England 644
England won by a Innings and 83 runs and wins the Ashes Series 3-1