New Zealand Rugby
All Blacks (17) 29 / 15 (10) Springboks (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand 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 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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It is the uncertainty factor that produces the biggest satisfaction and enjoyment in sport. That uncertainty; brought about by not being sure whether you’ll be able to be victorious or not. That’s why as athletes and human beings we seek and thrive on competition. We find it in challenging ourselves to complete a marathon or to play against individuals or teams with higher rankings. That’s why as nations we play test matches and why even in test matches we want to compete against the very best.
It is sort of boring to play against a team that you know you are going to win. The uncertainty factor is absent and therefore also the real joy in the victory.
I’ve been living in NZ now for 12 years and for only the second time in 12-years there is a real uncertainty in Kiwi land about a test match against South Africa. The last time was in 2010 after the 2009 Springbok victory in Hamilton. The uncertainness in 2010 was not because it was felt that SA played good rugby but because there was uncertainness about the All Black team’s ability to handle the box kick and Matfield in the line-out.
This is building up to be one of the classic clashes in the history of The Rugby Championship. Here is a head to head breakdown of how the two teams compare.
These teams have met each other 85 times in the past, with the All Blacks having won 48 of these encounters and the Springboks 35, only 3 draws have ever been recorded between these sides.
If history and statistics are to be believed, then it would seem that the All Blacks have the edge over the Springboks in this game, having scored a total of 1612 points against the Springboks while the Springboks have only scored 1313 points against the All Blacks. This is an average score of 19-15 in favour of the All Blacks.
The Springboks also have the highest success rate of all other teams against the All Blacks, by winning 40% of the encounters between these sides.
The largest winning margin by the All Blacks over the Springboks was 36 points and the largest winning margin by the Springboks was 17.
This however looks like the year of the BOK and if the Springboks can keep up to their form of late they could beat the All Blacks over the weekend. This is always as massive clash and the table is set for yet another massive clash.
The All Blacks selectors have named a strong team to play South Africa in The Rugby Championship Freedom Cup Test at Eden Park, Auckland, this Saturday, 14 September 2013, with the starting 15 featuring the return of several regular starters: prop Owen Franks in his 50th Test, Liam Messam at blindside flanker and midfielder Ma’a Nonu.
In other changes, Sam Cane starts at openside flanker replacing injured All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and Dane Coles starts at hooker, with 105-Test veteran Keven Mealamu to provide impact from the bench. With Franks starting, prop Charlie Faumuina moves to the bench, Steven Luatua is also in the reserves covering lock and loose forward along with injury replacement flanker Matt Todd who will cover openside flanker.
Heyneke Meyer, Springbok coach, has named an unchanged Springbok team for Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks from New Zealand.
The media is a buzz with content relating to how happy and positive the Springboks currently are, that there are no injury worries, that the Springboks are grounded and yet want to go up a step or two and continue to improve. Scribes from all over say the All Blacks are on edge and South African supporters seem to be favouring a win for the Springboks in New Zealand on the weekend.
The weather and possible game plan variations are being discussed at lenght, questions are asked whether the Springboks will continue to play more ball in hand rugby or whether this weekend will see a slight shift towards a more conservative approach.
The All Blacks say they will stick to their game plan and they will match the Springbok physicality.
Let’s face it though, it will be tough… it will be war, it will be hard as nails between the two best sides in the world.
With the victory by the Springboks over Australia at the weekend, the gap between the Springboks and the All Blacks on the IRB World Rankings has been closed to only 2.7 points.
At the start of last week the points gap was 4.35 and after the match on Saturday only 2.7.
The New Zealand Rugby Union has initiated a misconduct process with Counties Manukau coach Tana Umaga.
In the NPC match between Southland and Waikato in Invercargill, props from both sides, Jamie Macintosh (Southland) and Ben Tameifuna (Waikato), were cited for stamping, with Judicial hearings on Tuesday.
On a bright Monday morning, I look back on a weekend where the rugby gods smiled on me and the teams I support.
On Saturday morning at 09:35 SA Time, the New Zealand All Blacks and Argentinian Pumas met at the Waikato Stadium, Hamilton in wether which was never going to suit high-scoring running rugby, with wind and rain pelting down. The All Blacks won a tough encounter against a spirited Pumas side by 28 / 13.
A bit later, at 12:05 SA Time the Australian Wallabies and South African Springboks met in Brisbane, in perfect weather for rugby. By the end of this game the Wallabies would have given anything to rather have played in attrocious weather conditions, because the Springboks hammered, destroyed… and educated the Wallabies, setting up the biggest win against the Wallabies by a Springbok team in Australia of all time, the final score Springboks 38 / 12, a margin of 26 points!
With All Black captain Richie McCaw potentially ruled out for the rest of The Rugby Championship, coach Steve Hansen has called up Crusader flanker Matt Todd.
The All Blacks managed a win as expected over the Pumas, but it was far from convincing. The weather played a big part here as it rained for about 70% of the match. This contributed to the large amount of handling errors and lack of running.
The end result of 28 – 13 for the All Blacks and no bonus points, favoured the Springboks more over this past weekend, as they now top the Log with 1 point more than the All Blacks. Argentina still find themselves in third place ahead of struggling Australia and with their next match in Australia will most probably back themselves for a win.
All Blacks (15) 28 / 13 (10) Pumas (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and Argentinian Pumas did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 04:35 Arg 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.
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The Melbourne Rebels have added Highlanders centre Tamati Ellison to their Super Rugby for the 2014 season.
In anticipation for this weekend’s clash between the All Blacks and the Pumas, here is a head to head breakdown of how the two teams compare.
These teams have met each other 16 times in the past, with the All Blacks not having lost once against the Pumas, there is however 1 draw between these teams but this was way back in 1985 with a final score of 21-21, which ironically is also the highest ever score posted by a Puma side against the All Blacks.
The All Blacks score a average of 43 points per match vs the 13 of the Pumas. So an average result of 43-13 in favour of the All Blacks sounds like a very accurate prediction. The All Blacks will be firm favourites to take this one and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise.
New Zealand rejected suggestions that Argentina will resort to foul play in Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test in Hamilton as they brace for a physical challenge from the South Americans.
Argentina came under the microscope after their recent defeat to South Africa, with Leonardo Senatore receiving a nine-week suspension for biting while Pablo Matera was accused of eye-gouging, though he was found not guilty.
Flyhalf Daniel Carter will return to the New Zealand side for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against Argentina after recovering from a calf strain, while centre Francis Saili will make his test debut.
The 31-year-old Carter had been expected to play the first Rugby Championship match against Australia in Sydney last month but pulled up with the injury at training and missed the return fixture in Wellington.
SANZAR CEO Greg Peters has assured SARU boss Jurie Roux that South Africa will have six Super Rugby teams from 2016.
Peters was speaking in Sydney where talks are underway about the expansion of the competition when the current contract runs out in 2015.
Argentina will welcome back a key figure, in one of four changes to the starting fifteen to take on New Zealand in a Rugby Championship Round Three match in Hamilton on Saturday.
Having missed the opening games of the competition captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe returns at blindside flank, with Pablo Matera shifting to openside and Juan Manual Leguizamon moving to No.8.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen believes New Zealand’s former head coach, Graham Henry, is having an even greater impact over Argentina this year.
As the 2013 Rugby Championship enters a defining phase, SANZAR will this week start the process of defining the shape of Super Rugby, post 2015.
They say they want a deal done by Christmas to present to the broadcasters.
The All Blacks look set to welcome back star flyhalf Dan Carter from injury as they returned to training ahead of their Rugby Championship clash with the Pumas next weekend.
The bulk of the squad – excluding 10 players who were released for provincial duty – reassembled for their first training session in Hamilton on Sunday following a timely week-long break.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies says he is in favour of a global rugby season which would see the Super Rugby competition finish earlier in the year.
The subject has been the focus of much speculation with the current SANZAR agreement set to expire in 2015, and Spies added his voice to the calls for the entire season to be restructured.
Veteran All Black hooker Keven Mealamu has re-signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and the Blues.
34-year-old Mealamu has so far played 105 Tests for the All Blacks and is New Zealand’s most-capped Super Rugby player with more than 150 games.
Australian rugby boss Bill Pulver has backed a proposal for Australia and New Zealand to form part of a two-conference Super Rugby competition in 2016.
Hurricanes midfielder Rey Lee-Lo will be moving south to join the Crusaders on a two-year deal next season.
The All Blacks’ Bledisloe Cup victory over Australia on Saturday was not the summer solstice, a holy day or the dawn of the age of enlightenment.
It was a poor performance over fatally flawed opposition, aided and abetted by a South African referee who has clearly not yet come to terms with the principle of equality.
Bay of Plenty lock Culum Retallick has been suspended from rugby for two weeks, following a judicial hearing on a charge of foul play from his team’s NPC match against Hawke’s Bay last weekend.
All Black coach Steven Hansen released 10 players from the national team to play for their national provincial championship teams in the next week.
The latest flyhalf injury to hit the All Blacks seems a minor setback for coach Steve Hansen whose major issue appears to be who to cut when all players are fit.
Tom Taylor, New Zealand’s fourth-ranked flyhalf, has been sidelined for three weeks with a rib injury suffered late in Saturday’s 27-16 win over Australia where he made his Test debut with a confident display.
All Blacks (15) 27 / 16 (6) Wallabies (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship 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.
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Wallaby back row forward Scott Fardy will make his run-on debut for Australia in the sole change made to the starting line-up for Saturday’s second Rugby Championship clash against New Zealand.
The encounter in Wellington also doubles up as a must-win for the Wallabies in the Wallabies if they are to have any hope of wrestling the Bledisloe Cup from the All Blacks.
Coach Ewen McKenzie has backed his new-look squad to respond to their opening loss against the All Blacks by giving them a chance to atone while continuing to develop as a group.
Tom Taylor will make his All Black debut at flyhalf against Australia in the second Bledisloe Cup Test in the Rugby Championship in Wellington on Saturday
The starting 15 features two injury-enforced changes from the team that started last week’s Bledisloe Cup Test, with lock Brodie Retallick coming in for Luke Romano and Taylor slotting in at No.10 for Aaron Cruden.
Sevens looks to be the big winner as New Zealand’s professional rugby players are set to receive a significant pay increase through the new collective employment agreement.
The New Zealand Rugby Union and the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association said today they had signed an agreement covering the professional game through to 2015.
All Blacks and Hurricanes winger Julian Savea has revealed that the Crusaders are trying to sign him for the 2014 Super Rugby season.