Argentina
Some thoughts for you to chew on…
I was asked yesterday by someone at Sky what my feeling was on the future of SuperRugby and I said, all three Unions of SANZAR have recently released their year end figures and none of them made any real profit. They are all close to borderline break even.
The current number Super Rugby matches per annum is 125, so any reduction of matches would no doubt mean a reduction in broadcast money.
The talk is about South Africa splitting from SANZAR in terms of Super Rugby only. However the South African time zone goes a long way to pushing up the money that is earned from the broadcast deal.
If SA leave, more matches will be played in New Zealand and Australian time zones (according to the reports). This has no global appeal.
South Africa’s national football and rugby teams will play on the same day at the former World Cup showpiece stadium in Soweto to honour Nelson Mandela, bringing together the country’s two most popular sports that once portrayed its racial divisions.
Pumas (12) 26 / 51 (25) England (Final Score)
Argentina and England did battle in the June Internationals at Velez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires at 21:10 SA Time (16:10 ARG Time, 19:10 GMT, 20:10 BST).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SH2 on TV in SA.
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Marlan Yarde will win his first England cap as Stuart Lancaster aim to secure a clean sweep against Argentina on Saturday. The 21 year-old London Irish flyer comes into the side on the left wing replacing David Strettle while Bath’s Kyle Eastmond will make his first Test start in the No.12 shirt vacated by Lions-bound Billy Twelvetrees.
Wales (16) 25 / 20 (0) Argentina (Final Score)
Wales Under 20 and Argentina Under 20 did battle in the IRB Junior World Championship of 2013 at Stade Henri Desgrange at 16:45 SA Time (14:45 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Pumas (3) 3 / 32 (25) England (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and England did battle in the June Internationals at El Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta at 21:10 SA Time (16:10 Arg Time, 19:10 GMT, 20:10 BST).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Seven players will make their first senior starts for England against the Sudamerica XV in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Sunday (19:30 BST – British Summer Time; 20:30 South African Time).
Wales (9) 12 / 26 (6) Pumas (Final Score)
Wales and the Argentinian Pumas did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 16:30 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Wales interim coach Robert Howley has dropped Mike Phillips and brought in Scarlet Tavis Knoyle at scrum-half to face Argentina in Cardiff on Saturday.
Rob Howley has named a 35-man Wales squad to contest the 2012 Dove Men Series at the Millennium Stadium this Autumn (Northern Hemisphere) which includes just one uncapped player and the returning Jamie Roberts.
It is quite amazing that the IRB still permits referees to conduct tutorials during international rugby matches. The refs jabber on incessantly, telling players to release, roll away, get onside, wash the dishes, pick up the kids from school. But such a stream of communication creates a clear inequity that the IRB seems willfully oblivious to.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer pulled no punches when asked where things went wrong for his team as they drew the second Test in The Castle Rugby Championship, against Argentina in Mendoza, by 16-16.
For my 2 cents worth, I thought this was a good game from South Africa without it being a commanding one.
Only the 4th match into the Heyneke Meyer era, and after a very long and hard Super Rugby season, the number of injuries, the tiredness of the Sharks players in the Springboks and the short preparation time, these are all contributing factors that will always make the early games in The Rugby Championships seem a bit loose.
This was also very evident in the Australian Wallabies vs New Zealand All blacks match where a number of balls were spilled, knock-on’s, errors, etc was the prevailing trend.
This will improve, and I expect to see a much better performance in the next set of matches.
I have penned my feelings, lets open the debate and have your reactions to the match.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has showed his hand when he named a 26-man squad that will travel to South Africa next week for the opening round of the inaugural Rugby Championship.
The Pumas face the Springboks at Newlands on August 18, as they joined the SANZAR giants of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in the Southern Hemisphere showpiece.
Argentina’s preparations for the Rugby Championship took a step backwards after losing 25-21 to Stade Français at Velez Sarsfield Stadium in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Argentina (0) 17 / (19) 25 Wales (Final Score)
Argentina and Wales did battle in the IRB Junior World Championships, 3rd Place Play-off, at Newlands, Cape Town at 16:30 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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The scores from the various matches will be updated here as a live thread. All the games are live on SS1 and SS5
The Pumas this year become the fourth team in what used to be the Tri Nations. Michael Burgess visited Argentina and found nervous rugby people who know they face difficult times but believe they will do better than Italy entering the Six Nations.
The Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) have confirmed that the cities of Rosario and Mendoza will host Test matches in what will be a bumper home shedule of six games for the Pumas in 2012.
With the international season taking a bit of a breather, I thought some informative statistics would be interesting. I am looking at the home record of the top nations, seeing when was the last time they lost a home test to each of the other nations.
I would think any nation would expect at least a 75% home win record as the minimm standard to attain. anything less would mean your home ground advantage counts for very little and travelling teams do not find it a daunting task to tour.
People might think we are making a huge fuss about this Springbok “doping” scandal but I guess they do not see the implications of it for us, as sports lovers, and moreso the impact it has on our already tainted reputation as world leaders in Rugby. For me its a major embarassment, especially to think that our whole team may have been exposed. Continue reading
The chances of more positive tests for banned substances on the Springbok tour appear to be extremely slim.