New Zealand Rugby
The Chiefs have announced their team to play the Brumbies in what looms as a tantalising re-match of the 2013 Super Rugby Final at GIO Stadium Canberra on Friday afternoon.
“It is special to be playing a match against an Australian team on Anzac Day,” said Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie.
Blues head coach Sir John Kirwan has made four changes to the starting XV for Friday’s Anzac day clash with the Waratahs at Eden Park.
In the only change to the forward pack, Peter Saili makes his first start since Round 6 at No 8 in place of Steven Luatua as Kirwan looks to inject more physicality into the Blues’ game.
“We wanted to pick a pack that was really physical,” Kirwan said.
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has said that South Africa’s Super Rugby conference is significantly weaker than their Australasian rivals.
In his role of guest speaker on SuperSport, Mallett said he had been disappointed by South Africa’s poor performance in the tournament thus far, particularly their lack of ability to create opportunities on attack and score tries.
“Our conference is definitely the weakest and our teams aren’t performing,” Mallett said.
As we head into Round 11 of Super Rugby 2014, an alarming stat for South African fans is the lack of tries on display from teams from these shores.
Four South African teams currently comprise the bottom six in the tries scored category.
The Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers were victorious on a weekend where all five South African Vodacom Super Rugby franchises were involved in low-scoring matches.
In all three matches involving teams from the Republic, the most points the different teams on the winning side in any of the encounters could score were 19. Only five tries were scored in these matches.
The Vodacom Bulls lost to the Waratahs for the first time since the 2005 semi-final when they were beaten by 19-12, with a try in the opening minute by Israel Folau the difference between the two sides in Sydney.
Vodacom Bulls lock Flip van der Merwe was cited after the match. He is alleged to have contravened Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking when he made contact with the Waratahs’ Paddy Ryan in the 75th minute of the match.
In Durban, the Cell C Sharks ground out a victory in a tough derby for the second successive week when they beat the Toyota Cheetahs by 19-8, with each side scoring only one try each.
The final match of the weekend saw the DHL Stormers end a five-match losing streak when they beat the Lions by 18-3 after leading 18-0 at the break in Cape Town.
SANZAR has released the names of the Match Officials for Round 11 of Super Rugby 2014.
Chris Pollock starts the weekend action in the game between the Blues and Waratahs, in Auckland.
This weekend sees 3 games on Friday and 3 games on Saturday.
The Crusaders, Lions and Melbourne Rebels have BYE weekends.
This talk of moving away from South Africa in Super Rugby is madness, says Jeff Wilson, ex All Black fullback.
This is the best international competition outside of test rugby and it would be foolhardy to mess with its essential formula.
My old All Black team-mate Andrew Mehrtens certainly ruffled a few feathers last week when he suggested it would be in New Zealand’s interests to move away from South Africa and align closer with Australia.
High-profile code hopper Benji Marshall is ready to tuck his tail between his legs and run back to Rugby League.
The Australian media reported on Monday that Marshall has asked for an immediate release from the Blues Super Rugby outfit, in order to return to the National Rugby League in Australia.
According to the reports Marshall has asked his manager Martin Tauber to open discussions with NRL clubs.
Chiefs lock Michael Fitzgerald has been suspended for one week after he pleaded guilty on a charge of dangerous tackling in his team’s 10th round Super Rugby match against the Crusaders.
SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC accepted a guilty plea from Fitzgerald for contravening Law 10.4 (e) Dangerous Tackling, after he was cited during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Crusaders lock Dominic Bird has been suspended for one week for foul play during his team’s 17-18 tenth round Super Rugby victory over the Chiefs on Saturday.
SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Jannie Lubbe SC accepted a guilty plea from Dominic Bird of the Crusaders for contravening Law 10.4 (e) Dangerous Tackling, after he was cited during a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Hurricanes prop John Schwalger has been ruled out of Super Rugby for an indefinite period, after being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs.
He was withdrawn at short notice from the replacement bench for Friday’s 39-20 win by the Canes over the Blues in Wellington.
Chiefs (17) 17 / 18 (9) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Chiefs and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
Hurricanes (13) 39 / 20 (17) Blues (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Blues did battle in Super Rugby at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
It is Round 10 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 6 games in Round 10, with 2 games on Friday and 4 games on Saturday.
The Brumbies, Highlanders & Reds have bye weekends.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
Tom McCartney has decided to swap Super Rugby for the Pro12 by signing a three-year contract with Irish side Connacht.
McCartney has been a consistent performer for the Blues since he made his Super Rugby debut in 2008 against the Chiefs.
He has since accumulated 64 appearances in the competition.
New Zealand flyhalf Stephen Brett will join second division leaders Lyon on a two year deal from Bayonne next season.
The 28-year-old, who has been capped by the All Blacks at Under-21 level, signed with Bayonne one year ago and has made 20 Top 14 appearances, kicking 15 penalties and a conversion.
All Black flyhalf Tom Taylor will start at outside centre when the Crusaders travel to meet the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday.
The 25-year-old playmaker has never started a match at outside centre in Super Rugby before, but with the injury to Kieron Fonotia and with Reynold Lee-Lo having fallen out of favour at the Christchurch-based team – the number 13 jersey will be Taylor’s on Saturday.
Tanerau Latimer will play his 100th game for the Chiefs when they host the Crusaders in Hamilton on Saturday.
The 4-cap All Black loose forward first played five Super Rugby games for the Crusaders in 2006, but since joining the Chiefs in 2007 he has racked up 99 caps, scored eight tries and won two Super Rugby titles.
The 27-year-old will become only the second player in the Chiefs 18-year history to become a centurion and will join Liam Messam in this elite club.
Chiefs outside back Mils Muliaina has been ruled out for the rest of the Super Rugby season.
The former All Blacks fullback has succumbed to an elbow injury aggravated in their round two match against the Crusaders in February.
South-African born prop Reggie Goodes will make his first start of the season for the Hurricanes against the Blues in Wellington on Friday.
The introduction of the 22-year-old loosehead prop is the only change that Hurricanes head coach Mark Hammett has made to his side for the arrival of the Auckland-based side, and it is injury-inforced.
Veteran hooker Keven Mealamu will make his long-awaited return to Super Rugby against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday after battling back from another calf injury that sidelined him for more than a month.
The veteran Blues forward has battled calf injuries for the last three seasons and has played just once in 2014, as a second half replacement against the Crusaders on 28 February.
SANZAR has released the names of the match officials for Round 10 of Super Rugby 2014.
Nick Bryant starts off proceedings this weekend in the game between the Hurricanes and Blues on Friday at 09:35 SA Time.
This weekend sees 6 games, with 2 games on Friday and 4 games on Saturday.
The Brumbies, Highlanders and Reds have BYE weekends.
Highlanders flank TJ Ioane has been ruled out of his team’s two-match tour of South Africa due to a calf strain.
The explosive loose forward has been sidelined for the two home wins against the Rebels and Bulls, and has since been ruled out of their South African trip which features clashes against the Stormers and Sharks.
The Chiefs have been given a boost for this weekend’s Super Rugby match against a resurgent Crusaders team in Hamilton on Saturday as Brodie Retallick has been passed fit.
Retallick was forced to leave the field in Saturday’s ninth round match against the Melbourne Rebels after suffering a head knock but looks OK to play this weekend.
Former All Black Piri Weepu could potentially make a miraculous return to playing Super Rugby this weekend when the Blues face the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Thirty-year-old halfback Weepu has made a full recovery from a minor stroke and heart surgery and has returned to training.
Weepu says that he went through an emotional time a couple of weeks ago when he revealed that he had had a stroke before his two Super Rugby matches in South Africa and also a hole in his heart.
As Super Rugby nears its 20th year, I wonder if it’s time to shake things up and maybe take a step back from South Africa.
I got up in the early hours of the morning at the weekend and watched my old Crusaders team battle the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein – but I’m sure I was in the minority.
I can’t help thinking we might have lost a little interest in playing South African teams, and that ultimately the future of this competition might be more localised round time zones.
The Cell C Sharks ground out their sixth win of the Vodacom Super Rugby season to stay at the top of the standings, but for the other three South African teams in action this weekend, the ninth round wasn’t a happy one.
The KwaZulu-Natalians beat a plucky Lions side by 25-12 in front of more than 30,000 people at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday evening. It was a battle of attrition and the visitors from Durban scored the only try of the match.
Earlier on Saturday, the Toyota Cheetahs put up a brave fight, but for a second successive week they fell off the pace in the final 10 minutes as they lost by 52-31 to the Crusaders in Bloemfontein – the team from Canterbury’s first win in the Free State Stadium for seven years.
On Friday morning, the Vodacom Bulls could not put an end to a seven-year drought in Dunedin as they paid the price for making way too many errors with ball in hand and on defence as they went down by 27-20 to the Highlanders.
Every time the Cell C Sharks score a win there are mutters in the background that they still have to travel overseas, but the rate they are going they will leave for Australasia needing to do very little to confirm themselves as the winners of the South African conference in Vodacom Super Rugby.
It has been written that the Sharks, in beating the Lions at Ellis Park this past weekend, showed that they are not as commanding away from home as they are at Growthpoint Kings Park. But that should surely be a given in a season where until the past two weeks home ground advantage was so important, and these days a win over the Lions in Johannesburg is not something you just accept as an expected event. You have to work for it.
The Blues have called Hawke’s Bay Magpies and Maori All Blacks first five-eighths Ihaia West into their Super Rugby squad as replacement for the injured Baden Kerr who has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
After fracturing a bone at the base of his thumb in a pre-season match against the Hurricanes, 24-year-old Kerr then fractured two fingers playing rugby for his club side Karaka last month and was forced to have surgery, ruling him out of action for at least 12 weeks.
Legendary All Black Brad Thorn’s ageing body has broken down for a second time this season, a bicep injury ruling him out or the remainder of the Super Rugby competition.
It was revealed that the 39-year-old lock forward tore his bicep in the Highlanders’ 27-20 win over the Bulls in Dunedin at the weekend.
Connacht captured a major overseas signing for the 2014 / 2015 season to further strengthen the midfield.
New Zealand-born centre Bundee Aki, 24, a member of the two-time defending Super Rugby champion Chiefs, has signed a three-year deal with the Irish province, Connacht, and the Irish Rugby Football Union.
Cardiff Blues revealed a major coup in the signing of New Zealand international forward Jarrad Hoeata, from Super Rugby outfit the Highlanders.
Hoeata, who can play second row or back row, will move to the Arms Park at the completion of the 2014 Super Rugby season.
The Tauranga-born ace has been a member of the All Blacks, Maori and All Blacks Sevens teams.
Cheetahs (10) 31 / 52 (19) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and Crusaders did battle in Super Rugby at
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, 03:05 Sunday NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Chiefs (19) 22 / 16 (6) Rebels (Final Score)
The Chiefs and Melbourne Rebels did battle in Super Rugby at
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEST, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
Highlanders (13) 27 / 20 (13) Bulls (Final Score)
The Highlanders and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 09:35 SA Time (07:35 GMT, 19:35 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************